UI 101

by M. K. Claeys

  “She’s gone,” I breathed, looking around me in disbelief. “All her stuff is gone!”

  I went into the bathroom and looked in the shower for her shampoo and razor, as well as for her toiletry bag of makeup. Everything was gone. Jamaal closed the door and checked the closet and dresser—every shelf and drawer had been emptied. There was no note, but her key was in the bowl on top of our dresser.

  “Where’d she go?” he wondered aloud.

  “Tanya’s,” I answered immediately. “Where else?”

  Jamaal nodded slowly. “Yeah. You’re pro’ly right.” He shrugged. “Well, guess now I don’t have an excuse to sleep in your bed when I stay over. There’s an open one right there.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” I cried. “And besides,” I added slyly, “there is no way that my boyfriend is sleeping anywhere but with me when he comes over.”

  “Ah, so you caught that, did you?” He paused after I nodded. “Are you sure you want me, Mitzy? I mean, there’re lots of people you could have other than me.”

  “I don’t want anyone other than you, Jamaal. You’re too good to pass up. You don’t need me to tell you how much I want to be with you. I think you already know. And even if I wasn’t sure, after today there’s no way I’m letting you get away. Especially not with how nice you were to me about putting up with all my roommate drama!”

  “Mitzy, even if you didn’t have an amazing personality and a stellar IQ, you’d be worth all that drama and more just on looks alone. I can’t believe I found you right here in Illington.”

  I giggled and pulled him in for a kiss. “I don’t know whether or not to be insulted by that remark, but I’ll just go with instinct and feel the good vibes.”

  “That’s not all you’re gonna feel!” Jamaal growled.

  Grabbing me firmly around the waist, he pulled us both onto the bed and began kissing me ferociously. It was an amazing feeling to be kissed so passionately in the first place, and it was made even better by the knowledge that we didn’t have to worry a single bit about Tasha walking in on us.

  13

  Auraelia

  “So, Rae,” began Brad as he helped me load up the Dodge for my trip home, “what are your plans for the holidays?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Hang out with my sister; maybe see my niece and nephew. I’m sure I’ll get dragged to some party or other in the desert, but other than that, I’m planning on sleeping. A lot. Finals week kicked my ass.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, me too. So, um, there’s no one, um, waiting for you back home, then?”

  “Well sure, Brad. I mean, my dad and Sara Lynn have been bugging me about coming back to Evansdale for weeks.”

  “Oh. Right. So, um, I can call you, then?”

  I stared at him. “Of course you can. You know how to work a cellular phone.” But Brad didn’t laugh. “Why couldn’t you call?” I asked, and he shrugged.

  “I thought maybe you wouldn’t want me to. You know, what with going back home to all your old friends and boyfriends and stuff. I thought you might want to leave Illington to Illington and just see me when you get back.”

  I stared at him some more. “Brad, what is with you? Are you nuts? Illington is my life. If anything, I feel like I’m being uprooted instead of going home. Here is home for me. Being with you is home for me. I like you, Brad, and I’m not looking forward to spending nearly a month without you and Ryn and Mitzy and Paul and Jamaal. I’m going to miss you all, a lot.”

  “Cool. So, I can call you, and you’ll come back in January, same as everyone else, and…maybe we can take it up a notch or two?”

  I grinned. “Sure. A notch or two. We can take it up a notch or two, and sooner or later you can actually start saying what you really mean instead of speaking in metaphors.”

  Brad blushed. “Right. So I’ll work on what I really mean over the holidays and tell you in January, okay?”

  “Sure. And if you figure it out before then, just call me. Because after all, you can call me. I’ve decided to let you.”

  “Cool. Thanks, Rae.” He leaned in and kissed me. “Try not to miss me too much.”

  “Who are you trying to convince, Mr. Davis? Me, or yourself?”

  “That’s for me to know, Ms. Formosus, and if you’re a good girl, I’ll tell you in January.”

  “All right. See you then.”

  I revved up the Dodge and plugged in my phone, letting the engine warm up. I let one song cycle through, waved my last goodbyes to East Williams, and put the Dodge in gear.

  God, why do I feel like crying? I’ll be back in a few weeks, for Pete’s sake.

  And so I drove on. The miles ticked away, and for a while I turned the music off and just listened to the sounds of the road. I stopped at the same Waffle House in Kansas and walked over to the same booth I had occupied last August, but not before I had asked to make sure it was Molly’s section. Crazily enough, she remembered me, and something told me that it had nothing to do with the odd, fifteen-dollar tip I’d left her. Even so, she gave me my pineapple juice for free, and I still tipped her fifty percent.

  It seemed that Exit 43 to Evansdale came up entirely too quickly. I actually pulled off the road just shy of the sign and took a few minutes to myself. As much as I wanted to see my daddy and Sara Lynn, if I had been given the option to spend the holidays in my dorm room, I probably would have. I didn’t want to leave my Illington bubble, where people actually treated me how I wanted to be treated, not to mention called me what I wanted to be called.

  I’d already secured my holiday-help position with Abigail, and I had the weekend off to get myself situated before I took up my usual shifts alongside Sara Lynn and some extra ones since I didn’t have school. It would be interesting to work with my sister, but Abigail had told me that she followed in my footsteps as far as task-oriented-ness was concerned, so I didn’t think we’d have a problem. That, and I was working to make a little extra cash, not to socialize with the Evansdale Erratics.

  I put on my happy face and started the Dodge back up and headed straight down the exit ramp to my home town. Pulling into the driveway of my house, I actually smiled. Daddy and Sara Lynn were waiting on the front porch for me, and it looked like they had a plate full of cookies sitting between them. Maybe coming home wouldn’t be so bad.

  “Auraelia, I have a favor to ask.”

  My younger sister knocked on the open door to what was my new room at my dad’s house. It had been hers before I left, but now she’d taken my old one, the bigger of the two.

  “Sara Lynn, I already told you I would pick up your shift on Monday and work the double. What more could you possibly want?”

  “For you to come to the party with me.”

  I stopped typing on my laptop and turned to face her. “What party? And why can’t you go by yourself? You’re a big girl.”

  “Because,” interjected my dad from the hallway as he passed by to put the clean towels in the linen closet, “I told her she couldn’t go unless you went with her. I know what goes on at those parties, Auraelia, which is why I didn’t let you go until you were seventeen.”

  “Right.”

  “And Daddy said that I could go to the one tonight if you came with me to make sure nothing happens.”

  I groaned. For some reason, my mind had tricked me into thinking that since I was no longer a permanent resident of Evansdale, New Mexico, I would be exempt from leprosy status should I not attend the all-night Christmas Kegger.

  “Sara Lynn, do you really want to go that badly? They’re honestly not that fun.”

  My father’s footsteps echoed as he walked down the stairs. Sara Lyn closed the door. I had the feeling she was going to let me have it.

  “Don’t tell me they’re not fun, Auraelia,” she whispered viciously, “because I already know how fun they are. I went to the last one at Thanksgiving.”

  “You went to the last one? How did you manage that?”

  “The same way you did, doofus. Just because Dad doesn�
�t think it’s physically possible to climb out the window and down the back deck post doesn’t mean that I can’t do it, or that you couldn’t do it when you were here. Why else did you think I wanted your room?”

  She had me there.

  “Figured that one out, did you?” I said coolly. “Fine. I’ll go. You can get smashed, and I’ll even cover for you, but when I say I want to leave, we’re leaving. No questions allowed, do you understand?”

  “No problem,” Sara Lynn said, equally as cool.

  I grabbed my keys. “Are you ready to leave?” I asked. She stared at me.

  “You are not wearing that. Sister or no, Auraelia, I will disown you if you wear destroyed jeans, Birkenstocks, a baseball cap, and a men’s undershirt to the biggest party of the year.”

  Younger sisters. They just don’t get that this is considered perfectly acceptable attire to any dormitory function and that the derogatorily named “wifebeater” is actually deemed to be quite sexy on a girl. And the baseball cap is Brad’s, so I am kind of attached to it. In fact, I’m so attached that I will leave it at home to save it from the possibility of being puked on by some novice high school drinker

  So I took a shower, shaved my legs, and changed clothes. I let my hair down and pinned it to the side the way Ryn had painstakingly taught me, put on a mid-calf length flowy skirt, and changed my shirt to a white camisole. With Sara Lynn watching my every move, I put on makeup the way Mitzy had showed me in order to bring out my eyes, then added earrings and a chunky necklace and bracelet pair.

  “Are you satisfied?” I asked my sister grouchily as I grabbed my keys and hooked the carabiner onto the waist of my skirt.

  “Yes. But now you look better than me, so I’m going to have to change clothes.”

  “Not on your life,” I said through gritted teeth. “Now get in the car.”

  I must have looked pretty seriously intimidating because she scooted.

  “You do look really nice, though, Auraelia,” Sara Lynn commented as we took the turn off the paved road and onto the dirt two-track. “Will you teach me how to do my hair like that later?”

  I smiled at her. Little sisters could be so sweet sometimes. “Sure. And if you come to visit over spring break, I’m sure Ryn and Mitzy will teach you everything they know about hair and clothes and makeup, and all the boys on our floor will want you. And then you can go home and have one up on all the girls in Evansdale.”

  “Cool. And don’t worry, I remember that when you say you want to leave, we leave, no questions allowed.”

  “Right.”

  I stepped out and locked the car, not that it was really necessary in Evansdale, but it had become something of a habit since I’d moved to Illington, where stereos were stolen on a regular basis. I had made one concession, though, and had left the windows halfway down.

  Which kind of defeats the purpose of even locking it, but oh well.

  My sister and I headed up the dune to where the party had already gotten started. A small breeze blew past me as Sara Lynn ran off to meet up with her friends, and I traced the unmistakable scent of Curve for Men on the air.

  No. Not now, God, please, not now.

  “Auraelia? Auraelia Formosus, is that you?”

  Dave Baxter.

  “Hey, Auraelia!” Dave Baxter was running up toward me, where there was no way I could feasibly pretend not to have seen him. “How are ya, girl?”

  “Oh, Dave. Hi. I’m fine.” I began to walk away, but he fell right into step with me.

  “Really? That’s great! I mean, you look great, like, wow, Auraelia. You look nice—I mean, it’s nice to see you.”

  I inclined my head. I honestly couldn’t say “likewise,” but I had to think of something else to say. The trick was to still remain civil. I mean, I hadn’t seen the guy in four months, and he hadn’t done anything in the last five minutes that could warrant my being rude to him. Or was his cheating on me with my best friend eight months ago still reason enough to flip him off and walk away?

  “Thanks. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I said neutrally.

  “Yeah, no kidding! Here, come with me to the keg, and I’ll get you a drink.”

  Honestly, what could I do but follow him? The way he was prattling on, it seemed like he was planning on talking for a while, whether I liked it or not. The least I could do for myself was load up on liquid barrier. We walked to the keg, and Dave kept yammering on about how great I looked, how he liked my hair and my outfit, and everything and anything that had happened in Evansdale since I’d left.

  I had almost finished my first beer before I was finally forced to make what had been a one-sided conversation into a two.

  “So how is Bloomington? Do you like it there?”

  I sighed. “Dave, I go to school in Illington, not Bloomington. Bloomington is IU and Illington is UI. I go to the University of Illington.”

  “Oh! No wonder I couldn’t find you on IU’s website, then.”

  I was shocked into speaking voluntarily. “You tried to look me up?”

  “Well, yeah! I wanted to see how you were holding up, so I looked you up. I mean, I went to your house and asked your sister, but she wouldn’t tell me anything. She seemed kind of angry at me, really, though I couldn’t tell you why.”

  Oh, I could tell you, you cheating, lying, backstabbing, son of a—

  “So Illington then. Well, how do you like Illington?”

  “Illington’s fine.”

  Dave seemed to be looking for more information.

  “It’s more than fine, really. It’s fantastic, actually, much better than Evansdale. I really love it there. I can’t wait to go back,” I added somewhat viciously.

  I finished my beer and rolled my eyes as Dave took the cup away from me when I tried to fill it, insisting that I let him do it. I accepted the cup when he handed it to me, downed it in one fell swoop, and passed it directly back for him to fill again. This conversation was taking a lot out of me, and from the looks of it, it had only just begun.

  “Oh,” Dave began, somewhat taken aback as he refilled my beer. “That must be nice, you know, to have that.”

  “It is,” I responded icily.

  “So do you ever think about—when you’re in Illington, I mean—do you ever think about us?”

  “‘Us’ as in you-and-me us? Why should I?”

  “Um, no, not us us, I meant ‘us’ as in everyone back home.”

  “I think about my dad and Sara Lynn, yes, and Martin and Ashley, and my niece and nephew, of course. I suppose sometimes I wonder if Doug has had to pull toilet paper and scrape shaving cream off his car lately, but other than that, no, I don’t.”

  “Oh. So I take it that what happened…you don’t think about that either?”

  I clenched my jaw and stared at him. It seemed he was finally done beating around the bush. “Not consciously, no, but something like that you don’t forget in a hurry, if you know what I mean.”

  “Right. Of course not. Auraelia, I’m—uh, what I mean is, well, I thought maybe we could…”

  “You thought what, Dave?” I began sweetly, my voice dripping with venomous honey. “That we could forget it ever happened and go back to how things were before we ever dated?”

  “Well, yeah! I mean, yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking, or something like that anyway.” He sighed with relief. “I’m glad you feel the same way, Auraelia.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Baxter. I don’t feel the same way, and I won’t ever forgive you for what you’ve done to me— you or Becky Jackson. Why the hell do you think I was so anxious to leave this godforsaken town anyway?”

  “Um, I-I don’t know. Auraelia, look, I don’t know why—you left without telling anyone goodbye, days before all the others, and that was that. You disappeared. It was a mystery, and it was all a lot of people talked about for months.”

  So they still liked to talk about old Auraelia Formosus behind her back, did they? Well, I’d show them.

  �
��Because of you, Dave!” I shouted. “I left because of you and Becky!” There was no stopping it now. He’d asked for it, and boy, was he going to get it. “I left because everywhere I turned in this shit-hole town reminded me of all the horrible things that had happened to me. My mother. My crazy neighbor blaming every little thing on me. My friends taking Becky’s side when you left me for her. The rumors. The lies. The gossip. Take your pick! Any single one or combination of those is a legitimate-enough excuse as to why I’d want to leave this town and never come back!”

  I was shaking now, positively convulsing with rage. Heads were beginning to turn in our direction. I took a breath and calmed myself a bit before I went on, hoping people would go about their business of getting wasted and forget about us.

  “My entire life, Dave, was nothing but a crock. I was always the nice girl, always the one people picked on. And then I was stupid enough to think things were looking up when you seemed to see me for the person I really was, the person I really am, and then you had to go and drag my name through the mud.”

  “I—”

  “And not only that, you had to go and do it with my best friend! You had the balls to do that, but you didn’t have the guts to even say you were sorry!”

  “Auraelia, that’s what I—”

  “Don’t you ‘Auraelia’ me!” My calming breath hadn’t taken me very far—I was shouting again. “So I left, Dave. I left! I went to a city where people don’t judge you by your past and no one knows anyone else’s business unless they choose to divulge it, which I don’t. I went where no one knew my name and no one knew that I got hosed by the high school quarterback and my best friend since kindergarten. I went where I wouldn’t be a laughingstock.”

  “You’re not—”

  “Don’t tell me what I am or am not, Dave Baxter. You know nothing about me, which you proved all by yourself when you thought that I would just take four months to cool off and then everything would be hunky-dory again.”