Jenny looked down at her lap. She thought she had nice legs, but in the seated position she was in, the skirt pulled halfway up her thighs and she felt very suddenly to be much too exposed.
“I can’t believe my dad let me out of the house like this, to be honest. We’d better get to class.”
She slid out of the passenger door, careful to hold her skirt down, and joined Rachel on the way to the school’s entrance, where a large crowd of students gathered, waiting for the first bell to ring out and warn them that they had four minutes to get to class. As they neared the throng, a gawky boy with secondhand clothes that were a size too small and a peppering of acne on his forehead separated himself to approach.
“Hey Jenny! Holy cow, you look really pretty today.” As soon as he said it, his face lit up red, making the pimples on his forehead stand out more, and he looked to the ground in embarrassment.
“Thank you, Ricky. That’s very nice of you to say.” Ricky was a regular member of the youth group at her dad’s church and she had suspected his main motivation in joining was just to be around her. She didn’t mind, he was a sweet boy, if not a bit of a tag-along.
“Can I walk with you to class?” His eyes were looking up at her now, owlish and hopeful. Jenny pitied him too much to say no.
“Sure, Ricky.” She looked over at her friend, almost uttering an apology. Rachel was a sweet girl, but still a typical teenager who didn’t prefer to be seen too much with people that she feared would tarnish her chance at popularity. In Jenny’s opinion, it was her biggest flaw.
“Guess I’ll be off, then. You two enjoy your morning History lesson. Jenny, I’ll see you at lunch?”
“Just save me spot.” She knew Rachel would look for a place with only two seats together. For obvious reasons.
The two of them made their way up the wide staircase entering the school, Jenny scanning the crowd, looking for a dark form standing out amongst the crowd, and Ricky trotting along happily but quietly beside her. She passed through the large metal doors, resigning herself to the idea that she wouldn’t be seeing him this morning, when a familiar voice cut through the din and sang in her ear. That voice had such a distinctive timbre, rich and smoky, and it set her nerves on fire.
“I thought I might have missed you in all this chaos. What a tragedy that would have been. Just look at you.”
Jenny met his eyes, getting lost for a moment in those depthless wells, then recovered herself just long enough to respond. “Good morning, Kai.” She offered up what she hoped was her sweetest smile, though her lips felt numb and clumsy. He didn’t seem to notice, and for that she was immensely thankful.
“I was hoping I would see you this morning. I’ve been thinking about you.” He reached out to take her hand and began walking, leaving Ricky to stand there at the entrance, looking like a lost puppy.
“See you in class, Ricky,” Jenny said, but as soon as it was out, Ricky was already forgotten. “You were thinking about me?” His hand felt so warm and she was nervous that he would notice the sweat that was slicking up her palm.
“You sound surprised. You weren’t thinking about me?”
In fact, she’d barely stopped thinking about him. The last time she had looked at the clock it was nearing midnight. Kai had filled her mind all last night, and again upon waking. Just what those thoughts consisted of she was reluctant to admit, even to herself.
“Maybe,” she responded slowly, “a little.”
He continued to stare at her, his eyes intense and unblinking. She had the unsettling sense that he knew exactly what kinds of thoughts had been on her mind of late.
“That’s good. Even if it’s just a little. Listen, we don’t share any classes, but I want us to spend some time together. Meet me near the track at lunch, near the concessions and the bleachers. Will you do that?”
Will I do that? That’s all she’d thought about, spending time alone with him, but it suddenly felt like a very dangerous thing to do. There was a sense of losing herself when she was near him. Like he was the one in control of her choices. Even now, as she questioned it, she knew the answer was already made for her.
“Yes, that sounds nice.” Her voice sounded distant as it came out.
“I’ll see you there.” He smiled.
With that, he let go of her hand and moved off through the crowd, which seemed to magically part before him. Jenny had a moment to marvel at the way her hand felt suddenly cold, as if there was a chill breeze passing, then she made her way dreamily toward her first period History class.
The first four periods were the longest she had ever experienced before. Staring constantly at the clock, each minute seemed to pass by at half the usual rate. In her fourth period Geometry class, she began to sweat, which made her feel sick to her stomach. What if he noticed her less than flowery smell? And why did she wear such a short skirt? The plastic of her chair kept sticking to her thighs, which had never happened before. Most of her focus now was on the clock and on keeping her legs pressed tightly together for fear that anybody in front of her could see right up to her underwear.
Eventually the magic hour came, and the bell sounded off to signify a fifty-minute lunch break. Normally, the lunch period always seemed entirely too short to her, but now she worried at it. A lot could happen in fifty minutes.
Making her way out of the classroom, she contemplated heading to her locker to grab her bag with her lunch, but decided instead to go directly to the field. As nervous as she was, she was also excited, and she wanted to have a chance to get there first so she could compose herself.
Performing a beeline for the outer doors, she pushed through into the warm midday sun, walking past the outdoor classrooms and around the large brown building that acted as a concession stand during school sporting events. As she came around the end of the building, the bleachers popped into view. He was already there, sitting alone along the bottom row and casually tossing a pine cone from hand to hand. Sophie stopped dead in her tracks, her lungs feeling suddenly tight. Her whole body seemed to be buzzing.
Pull it together, Jenny. He’s just a boy and it’s only a conversation. You’ve had those before. She took a deep breath, feeling herself loosen up just a little in response, and made her approach.
She approached from his side and once she was near, she was feeling more excitement then she was nervousness. Thank God. He favored her with an impish grin and patted the seat next to him, tossing the pine cone off to the side. As soon as she took a seat, her hand was swallowed up by his once again. At once, the heat radiated up through her arm and across her neck and chest.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” He was looking out over the field toward the distant landscape of hills lined with tall pines.
“Yes,” she replied, somewhat disappointed at the lack of attention. “It’s very pretty.”
He looked at her with amusement. “The hills and the trees, they’re very beautiful. I love to walk through them. I walk a lot out in nature. But that’s not what I was referring to.” He placed a hot hand on her knee. “I was speaking of us. Our connection. It was instant, you felt it too.”
All she felt now was the warm radiance spreading throughout her body, making her feel like a flower unfurling for the first time under the heat of the sun. The large hand on her leg shouldn’t be there, her conscience whispered. She buried the thought.
His face was moving closer to her own. She realized her lips were parting before she’d even given the command. That was all the sign he needed. His mouth was on her, the soft lips pressing over hers, then sucking softly at her bottom lip. His tongue probed gently into her mouth and she met it with her own. Lightly at first, then more urgently. She was losing herself in the moment, and without even realizing that it had happened, his hand was between her legs. She broke away and let out a gasp of surprised rapture.
“Kai,” she panted, “we should stop. It’s wrong.”
He smiled, pulling his face back from hers, just enough to let her breathe. But
his hand didn’t pull back at all. It continued to press and rub and soon she felt like her nerves down below were singing, building quickly into a symphony of forbidden pleasure.
The deep pits of his eyes seemed to fill her vision and she was losing herself not only in the moment, but in his intense gaze. His black eyes were like whirlpools, pulling her in. All she wanted at that moment was to lose herself completely. To go wherever those strange depths led her, but then it all stopped, and it was like agony.
Kai pulled back, his hand gone from her lap, leaving a cold void behind. “As you wish. If you feel it’s wrong, then I can wait.” His smile was still there, teasing. “You’re very special to me, Jenny. We will be together. When you’re ready.”
I’m ready, she wanted to scream. But before she could form the slightest protest, he was up and extending his hand.
“I’ll walk you back to class.”
15
A white BMW came to an abrupt stop in front of the long, asphalt driveway that ran from Shady Slope Road to Kai’s sprawling ranch home. The skidding tires sent multitudes of pebbles careening off in every direction and a plume of dust kicked up in the air to ride the breeze east over an expanse of grass and dead pine needles.
“There ya go, my man. Need me to pick you up in the morning?” The driver’s eyes were barely visible under the wide, flat bill of his Seattle Seahawks cap that was pulled low enough to cover his eyebrows. A gold bracelet slid up his forearm, which was slung casually over the top of the steering wheel, and cast glints of sunlight on Kai’s face, only to be swallowed up by the black holes of his eyes.
“Maybe. I’ll let you know. Thanks for the ride, DJ.”
“No sweat, player. You need me, you hit me up.”
Kai shook his head as he watched the luxury sport car, purchased no doubt by two rich but absent parents, speed off down the road. Then he turned his attention to his crusty old neighbor. Ms. Garret was nowhere to be seen, probably inside watching reruns of Judge Judy, a likely kindred spirit, but the lawnmower was gleaming out next to the front gate.
As he walked up, he also saw a rake leaned against the fence, and a box full of black plastic garbage bags. Not for the first time, he questioned himself on why he bothered, and not for the first time, he came up with no satisfactory answer. There was just a compulsion in him that people should like him. Want to be near him. To follow him. Ms. Garret, to this point, seemed completely oblivious to his charms, so he worked what magic he could, which came in the form of menial tasks of labor. At least his mother approved, and she seemed intent that he should be some good Christian boy. This ought to keep her off his back for a time.
He unlatched the metal gate and stepped into the yard, wondering whether he should ring the bell to announce his presence or just get started. Before he could come up with an answer, a familiar ratlike form came bursting through a small pet door in a fury of growls and yaps, to come skidding to a stop halfway between him and the house.
“Ralphie-boy, so very nice to see you again.” He looked at the dog with a feeling of tired exasperation and was greeted with another succession of annoying machine-gun yaps that assaulted his senses. His annoyance turned quickly to anger, and he kicked out at the dog, who skittered expertly away from the blow and took a new position at the top of the entry steps, where it watched him intently, but blessedly, silent.
Kai spent the next half-hour working up a sweat under the midafternoon sun, raking away the long pine needles that littered the small lawn. Once he had a nice pile put together on the edge of the grass, he piled it all in to a large steel burn barrel. Then he cranked up the mower and zipped it across the yard in neat, rectangular patterns. That done, he emptied the mower bag in a large, blue, yard waste receptacle then pushed the mower into the storage area of the shed. As he stepped out and slid the flimsy aluminum door shut, Ralphie saw an opportune moment to make a sneak attack, rushing up on Kai in silence and taking a hard nip at the back of his calf. Kai jerked in surprise, then kicked out once more at the daring fur ball, who leapt back just out of reach, but held his ground, snarling and growling.
“Damn you, you little bastard!” Kai said, hissing under his breath. The nip hadn’t broken the skin, nor caused any real pain, but it had torn a flap in the leg of his jeans. He looked back at the fleabag, thinking about how he could get his hands around him, but he knew he couldn’t catch it. Whatever the thing was, it was fast. They appeared to be at a standoff.
The work was done, all that was left was bagging up the pine needles and tossing them in the recycling. Or burning them. That thought was infinitely more appealing, plus it gave him a wonderful idea.
He looked around behind him to see where he’d left the rake, locating it where it leaned against the storage shed. Then he slowly turned his head toward the house to survey the three windows that looked out over the lawn. No sign of the old hag.
Creeping backward in a totally unthreatening manner, he reached behind him and grabbed hold of the wooden handle of the rake, keeping it hidden behind his back. The dog continued in its terrorizing stance, jumping quickly from side to side, while baring its teeth and snapping its jaws open and closed.
He knew he couldn’t catch the thing with his hands, but he thought he might be able to catch it with the extended reach of the rake.
“Hey there, Ralphie-boy, got something for you. Got a treat!”
Kai watched the flames die down into a smoldering orange and ashy clump. Dark smoke filled the air, in a billowing trail rising high up over him, giving him a fleeting sense of déjà vu. For a moment, he felt the pump of adrenaline associated with conquest and victory, then it passed, and he stared hypnotically once more into the fading embers of the fire.
A door slammed shut behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Ms. Garret standing on the front porch in grey sweat pants and a large, white T-shirt. A decidedly laid-back appearance for the normally fussy ex-teacher. Her expression was not so casual, however. It was still the same stern countenance as ever. He watched the eyes sweep over the lawn, appraising his efforts.
“Another satisfactory effort, I suppose.”
Satisfactory, huh? A brief urge came on him to rush the crusty old lady, but then decided that her suffering at the loss of her constant companion would be even more satisfying and the feeling passed. He smiled.
“A thank-you is expected, I should guess.” But she didn’t actually say it, instead she looked once more about the yard. “Have you seen my little Ralphie? He always sleeps alongside me during my midafternoon naps, but I can’t find him anywhere in the house.” For once, her typical stony voice was edged with concern, which made her seem suddenly weak, in Kai’s mind. Up to now, even in all her wrinkles and saggy skin, she’d always presented herself as a formidable figure. Now she was just a pathetic old woman.
“Afraid I haven’t, Ms. Garret,” he said in his most sympathetic voice. “I’ve been busy out here. Not sure I would have noticed if he’d run out back or not. Little dog like that has to watch himself, with all the hawks and coyotes around.”
Her shrewd eyes snapped to him, holding him in a glare that brought back her old, fierce self. “Ralphie may be small, but he can take care of himself. He’s a tough old badger, just like his mama.”
“Oh, for sure, Ms. Garret. I’m sure he’s just rooting around in the back, or something. I tried to give him a treat earlier, but he just ran off toward the back. I hope you find him. I’d help you look, but I’ve got homework to get to.”
Her eyes narrowed as they watched the tall boy stroll out of the gate and cross the road, all the while with a suspicious and satisfied smile on his dark face.
16
Jenny had just sat the last of the serving dishes on the table when Dennis exited the study and made his way toward the dining room. He was wearing a charcoal grey cardigan over a maroon shirt over dark-brown corduroy pants. A pair of dark-rimmed glasses perched on top of his thick black and grey peppered hair. He had all the air of an intel
lectual fatherly type, a look that Jenny knew he strived hard to achieve. It comforted the flock, he always said.
He stood at the head of the table, with Jenny at her customary place to his left. That was his good side, he would also say. “And what do we have on the menu tonight?” He took his seat and examined the selection.
“Chicken breast with Rosemary and olive oil, roasted corn and potatoes, grilled French bread, and a green salad on the side,” she announced, looking at him to judge his reaction.
“Some of my favorites. Very good.” He poured himself a glass of red wine and waited for her to load up his plate. She noticed him watching her from the corner of her eye, but pretended to be unaware of his scrutiny. “You look lovely this evening.”
“Thank you, daddy.” She had changed from her too-short skirt the moment she’d arrived at the house, fearing that it wouldn’t go unnoticed a second time around. Now she suspected that it hadn’t gone unnoticed the first time around. The makeup had come off before she’d left the school grounds.
“Not what I recall you leaving the house in this morning when you left for school. That dress goes nearly to your ankles. Considerably longer than the one you had on earlier today.”
Jenny finished serving up his food and focused intently on getting her own food to her plate without dropping anything on the table during transit. It wasn’t the easiest task. Her hands had begun to shake. “Yes, well, I borrowed the other skirt a month ago and only tried it just today. Once I sat down on the bus I realized that it was much too short for my taste. I was embarrassed, actually, and changed out of it as soon as I could.”
Brilliantly played, she thought.
He’d already noticed and was prepared to chide her, so why not head him off at the pass with an admission of guilt?
“Yes. Well, that’s good. I would expect you to be more diligent in the future in regard to your attire. I’ll not have anybody thinking my daughter has the makings of a loose woman.”
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