PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  I fall into an easy routine with Skeeter in the morning, Henry at lunch and Seth for the last two hours of school.

  Skeeter’s fourth hour class is near the gym, so we walk together from art.

  “What are you doing this weekend?” She asks me as we round the corner.

  “I don’t know yet. What do you have in mind?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugs. “I’m thinking, maybe, Friday night going to that senior party. I need to get away this weekend.”

  “Have fun at the party.” I smile. “What’s goin’ on that you want to get away?” I ask.

  “My parents are having a get-together on Saturday. Bunch of old fogeys blabbing about the weather or some shit.” She shudders. “You won’t come with me Friday?”

  “No,” I say emphatically. “Parties aren’t my thing.”

  What I don’t say, is “anymore.” I don’t enjoy being around people so much, not since the accident.

  “Okay, okay. No party for you.” She nods and stops next to her classroom. “Where do you live? I should be able to get out before people show up, I can come get you, and we can go to the movies or paint our nails pink.” She giggles.

  The thought of pink puts me back in my sister’s room. She always tried to paint my nails and do my hair like I was some kind of Barbie.

  I swallow the lump in my throat. If I would’ve known she wouldn’t be here now, I probably would’ve let her. “Uhh . . . I’m actually not going to be home this weekend,” I lie. “I’m sorry.” I rush off to gym.

  I can’t believe I just told a bald-faced lie.

  The gym hall is empty. Shit! I’m late. About halfway to the locker room doors I hear footsteps behind me. I glance over my shoulder and no one is there. Shrugging, I continue on my way. The footsteps get louder, faster. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end, and I jog to the girls’ locker room.

  The rest of the day quickly goes by, and soon I find myself walking with Seth to study hall. He tells me about his mom’s birthday, and how he took her to see the latest tearjerker.

  “No way!” I laugh at Seth. “I can’t believe you watched that movie!”

  “Well, she wanted to see it for her birthday.” He shrugs. “I didn’t really have a choice.”

  That’s sweet. He took his mom to see a chick flick.

  “Don’t,” he groans. “She gave me that look, too. ‘Seth, you’re so sweet!’” he mimicked a woman’s voice.

  “It’s not a bad thing.” I tell him, while sidestepping another student.

  “So,” he puts an arm on my shoulder to steady me from being jostled. “What did you do last night?”

  “Nothing really, finished my homework and listened to music until dinner was ready.” I shrug. I don’t tell him that my uncle and I watched a really bad movie just for laughs.

  “Your parents make you do the ‘family meals’, too?”

  My heart squeezes almost painfully and my breathing picks up. “Yea . . . ” I trail off and fish for something else to talk about. “So, do you play any sports for the school?” I blurt out my thought.

  “No.” He shakes his head and gives me a look that says he’s confused.

  When we take our seats, I release a quiet sigh, thankful for this hour of silence.

  It’s hard talking to Skeeter and Seth sometimes. I’m just not ready to talk about my family.

  ***

  It’s Friday, and Gemma, a senior, is having a party. Henry is going with his football buddies and doesn’t want me to go. That’s fine with me, since I had no intention of going.

  After the bell for fourth, I head to the lunch hall and find my brother standing near the doors with three giants. I’m not kidding. My brother stands at six foot and these guys have, at least, six inches on him. They also have, I’d say, anywhere from fifty to eighty pounds of muscle larger than Henry’s.

  They. Are. Huge. Like, steroid-filled, pro-wrestlers on TV.

  Henry spots me and points. Four loud voices boom through the masses, “Jazzy!”

  I’m not exactly sure who to look at because all four of them are grinning like hyenas.

  What does Henry have up his sleeve now and who are the Giant Triplets?

  “Come on, Jazzy, the guys are joining us today,” Henry says.

  “And probably every day,” the one in the red shirt says around his fist.

  The blonde and the one in green lead the way to a lifted, dirty Jeep. Whoever the owner is could be pretty awesome to hang with.

  Henry introduces us before we climb in. “Jaz, this is Barry.” The blonde. “Flynn.” The one in the green shirt. “And this is Tony.” The red shirt. “Guys, this is, obviously, my sister.”

  Barry, the blonde, is in front of me and begins to look me over. I raise a brow, wondering if I pass his pop quiz.

  Henry smacks the back of Barry’s head hard. “Dude! That’s my sister!”

  “Sorry man, no worries! I’ll protect her . . . ” he pauses dramatically. “From myself, I promise.” He rolls his eyes then gives Henry a shove toward the back door of the Jeep.

  Before Henry gets in, I grab his arm and pull him away from the guys.

  “Who are they?” I whisper and throw my thumb over my shoulder.

  “Well, Barry is the . . . ”

  “Seriously?” I interrupt him and raise my eyebrow. “I remember their names. Just tell me who they are.”

  “They’re guys on the football team.” He shrugs. “They’re cool. You’ll like them.” He shakes his head and jogs over to the passenger door. Not really having much of a choice, I follow him.

  We head to the pizza pub down the road from the school and get a table near the back. Between the jokes, snarky comments, and the way Tony charms our waitress, I’m laughing so hard I can hardly breathe, let alone eat.

  There’s a pause in the conversation and suddenly, all eyes are on me.

  “What?” I swipe my napkin over my face, thinking I’ve got a ketchup smudge.

  Tony turns to me and takes a deep breath. “So . . . When do we get to meet this boyfriend of yours?”

  What boyfriend? I look at Henry and raise a brow.

  “Guys, they’re not dating. At least, not yet anyway, but his name is Seth Neill. He just looks at her like she’s his next notch,” Henry answers on my behalf.

  I throw one of Barry’s fries at Henry. “He does not, you moron! What’s it matter anyway? I. Don’t. Date. End of discussion.” I don’t get it. How did Seth get brought up in this conversation - and who are these guys to ask about who I’m dating?

  Flynn is kinda flushed, Tony looks pissed, and Barry is laughing hysterically - like I just said I was going on a freak-show tour wearing a fruit hat, a muumuu and fuzzy bunny slippers. I’d hate to see the reaction if I was actually dating someone. Maybe Flynn would hide, Tony would crap himself, and Barry would choke on a French fry.

  “Jaz, he’s kinda strange,” Flynn says.

  “He’s the only kid we know that can beat us at almost anything,” Tony adds, without looking at anyone.

  “Jaz, you hooked yourself a pretty boy, but you better let us figure out if he’s good enough for you,” Barry finishes.

  “I say, until Leland meets him, you stay away from him.” Henry practically orders.

  I just stare at him. My face probably resembles a fish with the way my mouth is opening and closing. I’m trying to wrap my brain around this conversation, but it’s all so confusing, and frustrating. How is Leland meeting him going to change anything? How is it that three guys I just met get to be the deciding factor for who my friends are?

  “So, what do you know?” Henry addresses the guys, before I can add my two cents to the conversation, and decision.

  “Let’s discuss Pretty Boy later. We should get back,” he says, glancing at his phone. “We’ll figure out a game plan for this weekend, maybe Flynn can pencil in some interrogation time,” Barry says, while tossing some cash on the table.

  As we walk to the exit,
I slowly regain control of my thought process and function of my voice.

  I hear the door swing shut behind me and snap. “Guys!” I yell. The four of them look at me in various expressions, ranging from stoic to amusement. “You three have absolutely...”

  Barry interrupts me. “Dude, Jaz, chill out. We grew up here, so we know what kind of sticky situation you got yourself into. Let the men handle this. Just sit back and relax.”

  Henry smiles crookedly and mouths, “He means well.”

  I roll my eyes and growl. Yeah right!

  They’re the strange ones, not Seth.

  The guys go back to joking and goofing off, the whole way back to school like nothing happened. I, on the other hand, am getting angrier by the second and chewing at my cuticles to keep from blowing up on them.

  Who do those giants think they are? They have no right to tell me what to do or who I should spend my time with.

  I can kind of see where Henry feels he should be heard, but honestly, he has no right either.

  By the time we get back to the school, I’m so mad I can’t even see straight. I slam the back door in Flynn’s face as I exit the Jeep.

  And who else would be standing by the doors to the lunch hall?

  Seth.

  He frowns slightly at my approach. “Hey, Jaz, you okay?”

  “Uh, no,” I admit. I glance over my shoulder and see the guys coming our way, and they aren’t looking all that friendly. “Let me just apologize now,” I groan and tug on my hair as my brother and his three annoying friends surround us. I give Seth an apologetic smile, but he doesn’t notice.

  “Hey there, Pretty Boy,” Barry says through his teeth.

  Oh, crap. This is going to go over like a wet fart in church.

  Seth’s jaw is already clenching, and his eyes are vibrant with anger. On my other side, Tony’s left eye is twitching, Henry’s teeth are grinding, Flynn is visibly shaking, and Barry is looking awfully cocky with his arms crossed over his enormous chest.

  My temper flares. “What is wrong with you? Is this a stupid vampire versus werewolf joke that I’m not getting?” I look at each one of them. Not getting a response from any of them, I stamp my foot and growl. “Stuff you! I’m going to class!”

  I leave them standing at the doors, staring at each other like idiots.

  I don’t see Seth the rest of the day, and I wonder why I even care.

  ***

  By Sunday afternoon, I’m ready to tear Henry’s head off.

  He’s ignoring me and I’m sick of it.

  How does making new friends at school cause your brother to ignore you? It’s not like Skeeter’s a hooker and Seth’s her pimp.

  I barge into Henry’s room to find him sitting at his desk with his face glued to the computer screen. He doesn’t even look up when I come in, and I was not exactly quiet about it.

  I’ve had enough. “Henry, what is going on?”

  “Not really sure, Jazzy. Leland and I are on it though,” he mumbles.

  I stare at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your new friends are weird. Something isn’t right.” He still hasn’t looked away from his computer.

  “My friends are weird? What about your giants?”

  His face stays glued to the screen.

  This ends now.

  “Henry, Skeeter and Seth are normal compared to you and your friends. My friends don’t question my relationship with you, my need for music, or ask why the color pink makes me nauseous.” He looks at me now, but I can tell he really isn’t looking at me. “Why is it such a problem for me to have friends?”

  Henry says nothing and turns back at the computer screen.

  I stomp back to my room and crank up my music. An angry rock song flows from the speakers. It soothes my anger as I dive headfirst into my pillows and scream out frustration that seems to be boiling over. Tears threaten to burst through an invisible dam as I pull my body into a sitting position.

  Dammit!

  We never fight like this.

  We get each other.

  It’s got to be those damn giants.

  I snatch up my pillow and press it to my face as I scream again.

  In the past, when Henry thought someone was bad news or not good for me, he was right. I trust his judgment.

  Not this time.

  There’s just something inside of me that won’t give into Henry on this. I can’t let Seth go, for a reason I can’t name.

  After a few songs, my door cracks open, and from the corner of my eye, I see Henry’s head float in. I toss my pillow back to the head of my bed.

  “Can I come in?” he yells over the music.

  Knowing that I can’t stay mad at him and I somehow have to get him to trust me where Seth is concerned, I nod to him and turn down my music so it’s just background noise. When I sit on my bed, I bring my knees up to hug them to my chest.

  Henry sits on my desk chair and takes a deep breath before beginning. “Look, the guys remember when he moved here, three or so years ago. They said he was a scrawny little twerp. When school ended, they didn’t see him until the first day of school. It was like, in the two months of summer he grew to be the size of an eighteen year old.

  “Jaz, that’s not normal, no matter how normal you think he is. It’s like he was a band geek before summer, and then after summer he was a star athlete.” He rakes his fingers through his hair and gives me a pleading look.

  “You just described a growth spurt,” I point out.

  “What he did, was more than a growth spurt, Jaz.” He glares at me. “He grew too much in too little time.” He grinds his teeth. “There’s something not right with him, and I’m going to figure it out.”

  My eyes are wide. “Henry, you’re scaring me.”

  “I’m sorry, Jaz. I didn’t tell you this to scare you.” He reaches out for me, and I brush him off lightly. “Just stay away from Seth. Let us take care of everything, okay?”

  Every time he says to me, “stay away from Seth,” my heart clenches and I feel weird, like I’m panicking or coming undone. It’s completely irrational to feel that way. I’m not attached to him, I can’t be.

  I sigh and shake my head. “You sound like some crazed stalker or something! So what if he’s strange?” I shrug. “He’s a nice guy, and he’s my friend. Maybe Seth needs a friend as badly as I do.” I begin to run out of steam and pause. “I’m not going to stop being friends with him just because you find him weird. Just like, you won’t stop bringing the giants around, because I find them annoying.”

  Henry releases a sharp breath. “I get it, okay. I just get a weird vibe from him.” He groans when he sees the look of steel in my eyes. “I’m not letting it go, but I’ll try not to let it come between us. Just promise me one thing please?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t, well, just don’t. If you . . . ” he sighs.

  “Don’t swallow your tongue, out with it already!” I snap.

  “Warn me before you start dating him, please?” He asks quietly.

  I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. He and I are just friends,” I shrug. On a whim I ask, “Think you could get the guys to back off, too? They’re making me crazy.”

  When he shrugs, I flop onto my back and stare at the ceiling again while he softly closes my door.

  He can be the best brother and friend sometimes, but other times, he can be an overprotective butt.

  A switch flips in my brain and I find myself wondering what exactly he meant by Seth’s change. Maybe I should check out a yearbook or the trophy case.

  Actually, it doesn’t matter what he looks like now or what he looked like in the past.

  I will stay friends with him.

  Chapter 3

  Bad Day

  Seth was absent on Monday, and Skeeter wasn’t acting herself being extra quiet and nervous. She seemed like she wanted to say something to me a few times but just couldn’t form the words, so it was a fairly boring d
ay. But today is Tuesday, and I get to see my mom this afternoon, so today has to be a good day.

  “So, Jaz,” Derik says, as he flops in the chair next to mine. “How are things goin’ for ya?”

  I roll my eyes. “Just dandy Derik, what do you want?” It’s coming . . . I know it’s coming. Whatever he has to say will surely ruin my good day goal.

  He smiles. “I was just wondering if you’d like to join me for lunch today.”

  And there it is. He’s like a broken record.

  There must be a sign on my back saying “This girl needs a good day! Bet you can’t ruin it for her!”

  “No,” I tell him and go back to working on my lake.

  “I guess what they’re saying is true,” he says with a sigh. “You do like them older.”

  I have no idea what he’s talking about, but I’m a little curious, so I shift in my seat to look at him.

  “Alright. I’ll bite. What are you talking about, Derik?”

  “Ignore him, Jaz. He’s trying to get under your skin,” Skeeter warns.

  Derik smiles, but the smile doesn’t bring out the warm and fuzzies. “No. That’s not true, Skeeter. Some of the guys have noticed who she chills with. There’s a line of guys waiting to have their turn, and I’m next, after she’s done with Seth.”

  My breath whooshes out of my lungs as I process his innuendos. This is insane.

  He’s insane.

  “You’re such a jagoff! If I was the type of girl you assume I am, you’d still be waiting on the sidelines.” I glare at him and fist my free hand.

  “Touchy subject?” He grins. “We can talk about something else then. Say, you and me . . . ” He stares into my eyes and does this weird thing with his fingers.

  I ignore him completely and go back to my painting, finding a zone and am completely absorbed in what I’m doing until Skeeter breaks the spell by touching my arm.

  “Welcome back to Earth. It’s time to pack up,” she grins.

  What? Oh right, time to go to gym.

  In gym, we’re playing volleyball, my sport, but I’m in my head too much to keep focus on the ball, my serve is off and I’m having a hard time with the set up for another girl to spike.

  The ‘My Daughter Spiked Your Daughter’s Face Off’ bumper sticker on the back of the crushed Mazda flashes in my mind.