Pulse of Heroes

by A. Jacob Sweeny

  “Michelle, hurry up. It’s already 4:45,” Michelle’s mom warned through the bathroom door.

  Michelle was still in the shower, and in all honesty she wished she could remain in there and just skip the evening completely. “Ouch!” she winced as she cut herself shaving her leg. Luckily it was above her knee so the dress would cover it up. That’s the last thing she needed, to walk in there looking like some scratched-up alley cat. Why oh why did she have to shave her legs? She hated it. She was finally able to stop the bleeding when another knock on the door alerted her that she was running late.

  “Fine, I’m coming out,” she yelled, annoyed, as she marched into her bedroom wrapped up in her large striped towel. Just at that moment, Samantha arrived to help her do her hair and makeup.

  “It fits you perfectly. I wish I filled out the dress like that,” Samantha said, admiring Michelle’s ample décolletage.

  “Yeah, right,” Michelle answered, “You have no idea what a pain it is to find a good fitting bra.”

  Samantha looked at Michelle sideways, “Oh, the pain. Spare me.”

  At sixteen, Michelle already wore a size C bra cup, and sometimes that felt tight depending on the time of the month. Her mom told her that she might be complaining about her ‘assets’ now, but later she would grow to appreciate her body. She was almost ready; the final touch was a delicate white gold chain with the tiniest teardrop diamond ever seen by man. Unless one looked real close it was hardly noticeable. But that was all the dress needed, since the top bodice was fitted and had tiny blue beads lining the chiffon fabric attached to the sweetheart neckline. Although the bodice fit tightly around the waist, it continued down, widening to just below the hips where layers of blue fabric attached to create the skirt, giving it an irregular hemline. Some parts were longer then others, that’s what gave the dress a sense of weightlessness. Just the tiniest amount of natural lip liner with a layer of darker gloss on top, and a hint of mauve rose blush, and Michelle was ready.

  When Michelle’s father saw her descend down the stairs he broke out in a huge smile and helped her down the last two steps because she looked like she was struggling with Samantha’s high heels. “You look amazing, Michelle. What a beautiful woman you have become. I hardly noticed it until now.” Michelle blushed and thanked her father for the compliment, even though she hated it when he talked like that; it was so cheesy. In the car, sitting in the back seat and listening to more holiday music, Michelle caught a view of her mom’s profile in the rear view mirror. She looked so beautiful, Michelle thought to herself, and so young. Michelle hoped that she would look like that when she grew up.

  Mayor Janice Riesely owned one of the most beautiful and largest homes in all Willow’s Creek, a creamy white Victorian surrounded by beautiful gardens. It was a stunning property with its own private driveway leading up the hill to the house. That evening, the entire place was magnificently decorated for the holidays. The trees that lined the private drive were twinkling with white and yellow Christmas lights, and then the huge reveal. The house was glowing with white, yellow and red Christmas lights, emphasizing the classical outline of its gables, doorways and window frames. From the tall rooftop and rafters hung hundreds of twinkling icicles that went all the way around the house. Huge red bows were tied on the banisters to greet the guests as they walked up the steps. Michelle couldn't help but smile, seeing the house in all its glory. All it needed was some snow she thought, but of course, that would definitely be a Christmas miracle around here.

  Once inside, Michelle marveled at the transformation that the home had undergone for the holidays. She walked around the rooms, noticing that many of the familiar pieces of furniture had been removed in order to make space for narrow serving tables that hugged the walls. Although she wasn't too hungry, she immediately scanned the food and couldn't believe the tremendous assortment of dishes and desserts so beautifully displayed. Her father introduced her to many people there, although it was hard for her to tell them apart as most of the men were wearing the same type of suits in the same shades of black. Michelle had never seen such a vast array of red and green ties in her life, she thought as she scrutinized the guests. Most of them were in their 50s and 60s, her parents being an exception as they were only in their 40s. Michelle also quickly concluded that she was the youngest person there by far. Now what, she thought to herself? She needed to relax because it was going to be a long night, and fretting about the time was just going to make it pass that much slower. When her parents got into a conversation with a nice elderly couple, she took that cue to slip away and wander around by herself. She was tired of the old folks asking her jokingly if she were single, and she had also had enough of the different scents of perfumes that followed some of the women. It’s not that they all smelled bad; some were nice, but the combination of all of them together amounted to a smell similar to that of rotting flowers left in a vase for too long. Yuck!

  “Hi Michelle,” an unfriendly voice said behind her. She turned around; it was Bethany. Michelle had completely forgotten that Bethany's mom was the president or second-in-command of some Rotary Club. Of course she was going to be there, how could she space that.

  “Hi Bethany,” Michelle said in the same tone of voice, returning the unfriendly gesture.

  “Nice dress,” Bethany said, “I saw one just like it at the formal.”

  What a bitch, Michelle thought to herself. She had to come up with a reply, and quickly.

  “I let Samantha borrow it because I was too sick to go.” Michelle wasn't sure if Bethany was buying it.

  “Well, that's very nice of you,” Bethany answered, helping herself to a hors d'oeuvre that a server had just offered them.

  “Yeah, it is,” Michelle answered. Her father swooped in at just the right moment and whisked Michelle away to introduce her to some more important people. Thank God for fathers, Michelle thought. She looked back at Bethany, who lifted her hand and gave her a fake wave goodbye.

  As soon as she could get away, Michelle rushed up the stairs to the powder room, locked herself in, and dialed her cell phone immediately. She needed to clue Samantha in on her story about the dress and she needed emotional support. When she was ready to rejoin the party, she freshened up her lip-gloss and exited the bathroom only to bump into the next person trying to enter.

  It was a man, and he was tall because the first thing Michelle saw was two buttons of his waistcoat neatly fastened. She blushed out of sheer surprise, said she was sorry, and tried to get out of the situation without looking up to see who it was. But before she could squeeze herself out of the uncomfortable position, he said something back to her in a voice that she had heard before. She slowly looked up to be shocked one more time; it was Xander. Michelle was trapped, and her heart accordingly began to beat rapidly. Xander took a step backwards to let her step out of the bathroom, but not far enough that she could get away completely.

  “I seem to be running into you everywhere I go, Queen Nefertiti. Quite a strange coincidence, wouldn't you say,” he said with a smile. Was he talking about seeing her at the mall, she wondered, or just on Halloween night. She could instantly feel her body temperature rising, and the palms of her hands were already sweating. She looked at him but couldn't say anything, which only embarrassed her even more. At that point another door opened just up the hallway from where they were standing, and Mayor Riesely walked out of it carrying some papers with Michelle’s father right behind her. When she saw Xander and Michelle standing there she smiled and walked up to them.

  “I see you two have already met,” said the mayor with a wide, warm smile.

  “Actually, we were just about to introduce ourselves,” Xander replied.

  “Do let me do the honors,” the Mayor said. “Michelle this is Mr. De Costa, Xander De Costa, and this is Michelle Andrews, Councilman Andrews’ daughter.

  Michelle had to keep up the charade; there was no escaping now. The only thing she prayed for was that Xander wouldn’t mention the
accident. Michelle shook Xander’s hand knowing full well that he would feel how clammy it was. Xander looked deep into Michelle’s eyes and played right along, “Nice to meet you, Michelle Andrews. May I compliment you on that beautiful dress you are wearing. Most lovely and unusual shades of blue. I have had the pleasure of spending much time in your father’s company these last few months, and I assure you that I have heard nothing but praise for you.”

  “Xander is the Regent of the new school,” said Michelle’s father. Michelle could think of nothing other than how much longer would she have to stand there.

  “Wow, that’s really great,” she answered, immediately biting her lower lip, angry that that’s all she could come up with.

  Michelle eventually pried herself out of the uncomfortable situation, but not before Mayor Riesely had taken a photo of her standing in between Xander and her father. Downstairs, she found herself pacing back and forth, considering every possible outcome of that chance meeting. Xander knew her dad... even worse, he had known him for months. Was there a possibility that he had already told her father about the near-accident? And if he didn’t, would he now? Why did Xander give her that look? Like he knew what she was thinking? Why did he pretend he had never met her? She was going to go crazy if she continued going over these questions. And some of the party guests were beginning to stare at her. Maybe it was time for her to find somewhere else to pace.

  Michelle found herself in a room where there was a full service bar with a bartender. She was definitely too young to order a drink, so she gave the bartender a quick glance and headed towards another table that featured all the other beverages. There was an older lady standing there, and when she saw Michelle approach she gave her a wide smile and gestured to her to come in closer as if she had a secret to tell her. Michelle played along. The lady told her that her name was Francesca and that she was 93 years old, but she could still remember being a little girl playing in that exact house with the children that used to live there. Michelle acted more fascinated than she really was, but for some reason she liked this lady. Francesca was petite, her hair, although gray, was shiny and beautifully curled up on top of her head. Her face was covered with wrinkly transparent skin, and her lips were beautifully lined and rouged with a pinkish hue. But what Michelle found fascinating were her eyes. Although they were small and slightly hidden behind tired lids, they had a spark in them, and they fit beautifully with Francesca’s smile, who suggested that Michelle try some of the eggnog with a little whipped cream on top. The eggnog didn’t look particularly appetizing to her right then and there, but she took one anyway so as to not hurt the old lady’s feelings. Just as she was about to take a sip, Francesca grabbed her arm. “Not like that,” she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a beautiful glass crystal bottle with a silver top attached to it by a small chain. She opened up the bottle and smelled its contents, smiling. “Mmm… Cuvee 1888,” she said, then whispered, “Too good for mixing, but at my age I have to enjoy things. Can’t take them to the grave. Just very old sour grapes, my dear.” She poured some into her drink and gestured to Michelle to bring her glass so she could pour some in it also. Before Michelle could protest, Francesca replied, “Don’t worry young lady, this won’t make you an alcoholic, although sneaking around and drinking it by yourself definitely will. Besides, it’s just for the flavor.”

  Christmas that year was small and quiet at the Andrews family home. The main highlight was Michelle getting a kitten from her parents. She named him ‘Crumb’, and he spent his time terrorizing her room and sleeping soundly next to her during the nights. During the few days between Christmas and New Years, Michelle spent her time trying to fill Samantha in on the strange events that had taken place at the shopping mall and at the party. Samantha wasn’t quite sure what Michelle was getting at. She agreed that Xander was a bit strange, but that was most likely due to the fact that he was a foreigner. “He obviously had an accent,” Samantha replied, “and he was shaken up the night of the ‘near’ car accident, wouldn’t you be?” In terms of the boys at the mall and the one with the strange eyes, she couldn’t really comment since she wasn’t there and she reminded Michelle that she was running a fever when she saw them, after all. When James came over to hang out with Samantha, Michelle told him all about it too. He was even more of a skeptic than Sam. Michelle wasn’t satisfied. If things really were completely normal then she must be going crazy, she thought. If no one was going to believe her then she needed more proof. She overheard Xander tell someone at the party that the students were going to move into the school on January 1st. Perfect, she’ll go spy on the situation. And just to humor her, James and Samantha agreed to go also.

  Since word had gotten out that the students were moving in, the little town was up in arms and nervous all over again. Michelle’s mom was no exception. She told Michelle that she was not to leave any door unlocked in the house no matter what time it was, that the alarm system had to be on during the day, and she also forbade her from going beyond their backyard into the woods. Which meant that Michelle was going to directly defy the new rules, because nothing was going to stop her from checking out the happenings at the school.

  On the first of the year Samantha showed up at Michelle’s house wearing khakis, boots, a hat, and carrying binoculars. Michelle took one look at her and busted out laughing. But Samantha wasn’t having any of it, and argued that Michelle should dress the same. So she quickly raided Toby’s closet for some oversized camos. Maybe Samantha had a point about not wanting to be seen. James was supposed to meet up with them at Michelle’s, but he called to say that he was running late.

  The girls waited for him down in the front yard. While they waited, Michelle’s mom pulled up into the driveway returning from her morning gym routine. She saw the girls and approached them, going on about New Year’s Resolutions and how the gym was so packed that she couldn’t find a place to park for 30 minutes. Once she finished ranting, she looked at the girls as if seeing them for the first time. She wanted to know why they were dressed like that, and why was Samantha carrying binoculars. Samantha was ready with a perfect answer. “We are going bird watching,” she said, completely straight-faced.

  “Bird watching?” Michelle’s mother was really confused.

  “Yes,” Michelle replied. “Those are Sam’s mother’s bird watching binoculars. We thought for our New Year’s Resolution that we should do something that had to do with nature.”

  “And get more exercise,” Samantha added.

  “She wasn’t supposed to be here yet,” Michelle told Samantha after her mom went indoors. Now they had the dilemma of walking out from the backyard without alerting Michelle’s mother. They quickly devised a plan to sneak across the neighbor’s yard, but first Samantha would have to drive them away in order to hide the car up the street, then they would have to make their way back on foot without attracting too much attention. Samantha texted James and told him to park at her house and start walking towards Michelle’s, and they would meet him on the way.

  After Samantha found a semi-hidden parking spot on the shaded side of the street, the girls waited behind another overgrown hedge. This was exciting and fun, Michelle thought; they should do stuff like that more often. They saw James’ car drive past. “He should be here in two,” Samantha said. And a few moments later, they heard James’ voice as he was approaching. They guessed that he was on the cell phone. But as he got closer they heard another voice. Someone was with him. It was Tim.

  Michelle immediately turned around to face Samantha with an accusatory look, but all she had to do was look at Samantha's shock to realize that no, she didn't set this up. So many feelings and thoughts went through Michelle’s mind within a second: was she happy, sad, pissed off, complemented, excited, and why should she even care at all? But Michelle and Samantha were not the only ones that were shocked, because when the guys finally spotted them in their commando-style outfits they both took a step back and looked at one another, confused.r />
  “I guess I misunderstood the seriousness of this mission,” James said, looking at his own clothes. “I hope jeans and a hoodie will do, right?”

  That's right, Michelle thought, she must look like a complete fool in her brother’s huge camouflage outfit. She had been forced to roll up the pant legs and the sleeves, yet she was still swimming in them. She avoided looking at Tim, and that was quite obvious to all of them. It was definitely uncomfortable and somebody had to break the silence. “Hey Sam, Michelle,” Tim said.

  “Hey Tim.” Samantha said in her cheeriest voice possible, “What brings you here?” Michelle was still avoiding his eyes.

  James explained that he and Tim had been shooting hoops, and he had just invited him to tag along. It's not like there was much to do over winter break. “Besides, we thought you ladies might need a little extra protection from these strange creatures in the new school,” Tim added teasingly. Michelle exploded with anger.