365 Days Alone

by Nancy Isaak

  And since—as per Orla’s orders—we were all respecting her privacy, no one I knew had asked her about it. We were all waiting for Yaz to talk to us.

  Which would never happen.

  * * * *

  About two hours into the party, Orla, Tray, and their Protection Detail entered the gym. Some of the band girls were playing guitars and drums up at the front of the room, but they stopped the moment they saw the door open.

  Immediately, Sophia ran forward, clapping as she went. This was taken up by some of the other girls and soon there was an avalanche of applause.

  Orla stood at the doorway for a moment, just taking in the adulation. Then, with a smile and a wave, she motioned for everyone to stop. When the room had quieted, she moved forward.

  “This is absolutely beautiful,” Orla said, looking at the blue and green streamers and tin foil stars plastered all over the walls. “You’ve all done an extraordinary job!”

  Sophia leaned over to whisper into Orla’s ear. Nodding, Orla glided over to the table of younger girls.

  “Amelie,” she said, smiling widely. “You were in charge of the decorations?”

  The younger girl nodded, blushing.

  “Good job, Amelie…really good job.”

  “We all did it together,” explained Amelie, motioning to the girls seated around her.

  Orla immediately made her way around the younger girls’ table, shaking each girl’s hand. “I’m so proud of all of you.”

  And the little faces just beamed.

  Meanwhile, I looked over at Peyton, expecting her to be smiling at the praise her younger sister was receiving. But she was just sitting there, staring sullenly at Orla.

  Then—in an ironic salute—Peyton lifted her beer up toward her fellow Fox, before emptying her bottle in one long gulp.

  * * * *

  One of the biggest problems with not having running water, was the complication of organizing a ‘bathroom’. With so many people attending the New Year’s party, the Council assigned a small group of girls to dig a series of holes to be used as a ‘foul area’.

  Each hole had two bricks on either side that held up a toilet seat scavenged from the local hardware store on the other side of the 101 Freeway. Around each hole, the work party had also placed a small privacy screen and—attached to the screen by string and a chip-clip—a roll of toilet paper.

  It wasn’t pretty—but it was workable.

  * * * *

  Halfway into the evening, on my way back from the foul area, I ran into Traynesha Davis—literally.

  “Oh, sorry!” I squeaked, trying to move around her. “Excuse me.”

  Before I had taken a step, however, Tray reached out and grabbed my arm. She pulled me in close, peering down at me.

  “I’ve been searching for you, Kaylee,” she said, softly.

  “Wh—why?”

  “It’s New Year’s Eve…have you ever been kissed on New Year’s Eve?” she asked, still holding onto my arm.

  “Um…pardon?” I was both confused and a little scared.

  Tray didn’t move a muscle—just continued to gaze at me with those amazing amber eyes of hers.

  * * * *

  My head spun around—searching—looking for help.

  The walkway was deserted.

  Tray and I were in an area dark with shadows. Although I could hear the muted sounds of music coming from inside the gym, the actual door was on the other side of the building we were standing behind. I strongly doubted that anyone would hear us—or me, if I needed to call for help.

  Meanwhile, Tray tightened her grip, her nails biting into my arm. With her other hand, she reached out and touched my hair.

  “I’ve always been partial to blonds,” she murmured.

  Then she leaned in and sniffed at my hair. It creeped me out, especially when she didn’t pull back—just stayed in close, speaking softly next to my ear.

  “No boys anymore,” she whispered. “No Jacob.”

  “I-I have to get back to the party,” I stuttered. “Jay will worry.”

  “Is she your girlfriend, Kaylee?”

  “She’s my friend.”

  Tray pulled back slightly—just enough so that her face was mere inches away from mine. She took a finger and drew it down the side of my face. “You look so pretty in that dress you’re wearing. What do you think of my little party dress?”

  What did I think?

  Tray was wearing a cherry-red micro-mini that was so tight, her breasts were practically squirming to get out. Every time she moved, they bounced like jelly.

  I won’t lie; I was trying desperately not to look at them.

  What did I think? Was she kidding?

  Tray looked like a frigging supermodel!

  “Do you like what you see, Kaylee Michelson?” she asked me.

  “You look—very pretty,” I squeaked, trying to pull back my hand.

  If anything, she hung on even tighter. “Then kiss me, Kaylee.”

  “What?!”

  “It’s New Year’s Eve,” she shrugged—as if it should have been obvious. “If you want to go back to the party—kiss me.”

  * * * *

  I didn’t know what to do.

  Frankly, Tray scared me.

  At that moment, all I wanted was to find a way out of the shadows and to go back to the party—and as far away from Tray…and as quickly as possible.

  So, would giving her a small kiss really be all that bad, if it meant that I could escape?

  * * * *

  I leaned in slowly, intending to give her the quickest of pecks on the cheek.

  She wasn’t having any of it, however. “Uh-uh…I want to be kissed on the mouth. A real kiss.”

  It was an amused voice—not mine—that responded. “Why I would love to kiss you on the mouth, you hot little piece of ass!”

  Tray jumped away from me, as if she’d been stung.

  Meanwhile, Cherry Winslette came out of the shadows, a wicked grin on her face. “I’ll even give you tongue,” teased the pink-haired girl—and she stuck it out, wiggling it in our direction.

  For a moment, Tray just stood there, staring at Cherry with what looked like intense hatred.

  A moment later—she was gone.

  * * * *

  I was shaking so much that I had to put a hand against the wall to steady myself as Cherry came up beside me.

  “You okay, Kaylee?”

  “She was just like, suddenly there, you know. One minute, I was walking back to the party and the next minute Tray was just there and I didn’t know what to do!” I was talking way too quickly, but somehow I couldn’t stop.

  “You know that Tray is crazy, right?”

  “She’s kind of mean,” I admitted.

  “Yeah, well…she’s also dangerous.” Cherry frowned—lowering her voice to a whisper. “Like you have to remember that, Kaylee. Because, no matter how beautiful Tray is, that bitch is also probably the most dangerous girl here. That means…you never be alone with her if you can help it…never.”

  I nodded.

  “Everyone okay?” It was Wandy, coming around the side of the building. “I got worried. Tray just stormed through the gym like she wanted to kill somebody.”

  Cherry reached out and pulled Wandy in for a hug. “I’m fine. It was Kaylee she was after.”

  Yup—they were a couple.

  Wandy looked over at me, if anything, more worried now. I tried to look tough, but she must have seen the tears in my eyes. “Did she hurt you?”

  I shook my head. “I just got scared a little. It was stupid.”

  Turning back to Cherry, Wandy gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You need to go in there and dance with Kaylee, I think. Let Tray see you together.” Wandy turned back to me. “If you’re okay with that, of course. If Tray thinks you and Cherry have a thing, maybe she might leave you alone.”

  I looked at Cherry; she shrugged. “I’m okay with it if you are,” she told me. “And I promise I won’t try t
o kiss you.”

  “Better not,” warned Wandy—only half-joking.

  * * * *

  The confused look on Jay’s face when I was slow-dancing with Cherry was priceless. Beside her, Jude smirked and pointed. I tried to ignore both of them, by concentrating on my partner.

  “Can I ask you something, Cherry?”

  “Sorry…I’m already taken.”

  “Seriously.”

  “Sure. But hold on a sec.”

  She swung me around, moving quickly across the floor, to where the Foxes were sitting at their table. On one side, Orla was talking quietly at Peyton—who seemed to be both listening and disagreeing. Peyton kept shaking her head at whatever Orla was telling her, stopping only to take more swigs of her beer.

  Tray, meanwhile, was on the other side of the table. She was holding her own bottle of beer in two fingers, swinging it slowly back and forth in obvious irritation. Orla and Peyton’s animated conversation seemed to hold no interest for Tray; instead, her eyes never left Cherry and me.

  It was unnerving.

  And difficult to ignore.

  Although I tried—by turning my attention to Cherry. “How come you stole that pug? The one you were going to sell for drugs.”

  Cherry burst into delighted laughter. She actually pulled me in closer, giving me a squeeze. As she did, she whispered in my ear. “Don’t worry…just using the moment.”

  I stole a quick look at Tray; she appeared to be seething. Sophia made the mistake of crossing in front of her and Tray actually pushed her away, so that she could see Cherry and me better.

  Meanwhile, we moved off, dancing toward the center of the room, Cherry leading all the way. I felt relieved when I couldn’t see Tray anymore, when her disapproving glare got swallowed up by the other dancing couples (mostly the younger girls or lesbians—the older ones were too ‘cool’ apparently to dance with other girls).

  “The pug I stole,” explained Cherry, “was Christabelle. She was 13-years old and I’d had her since she was 3-months old.”

  “It was your dog?!”

  Cherry nodded, as her eyes became moist with tears. “Christabelle was old and she was sick. It was her ‘time’, and I just wanted to be with her as much as possible before the end, you know.”

  “But everyone thought that you stole her. That you were going to sell her for meth. Why did you let us think that?”

  Cherry shrugged. “My hair always changes color and I’ve got a ring through my nose. Everyone always thinks the worst of me…So why disappoint them?”

  I was dumbfounded.

  First Jude—now Cherry.

  How could I have been so wrong about these two girls?

  * * * *

  We left the party a little before midnight.

  Lily was falling asleep, Jay was bored, Jude couldn’t care less, and frankly—I was afraid of being cornered by Tray when the clock reached midnight.

  Because—no way in hell was I going to give her a New Year’s kiss!

  Just outside of the gym, we turned a corner to find Peyton leaning against a wall. She was throwing up, while Yaz held back her hair, trying to comfort her. “That’s it, Peyton. Get it all out, honey…you’ll feel a whole lot better.”

  “Shouldn’t of told ‘em any of it,” slurred Peyton, between dry heaves. “S’wrong.”

  It felt awkward, witnessing Peyton’s distress. I wanted to turn around and find another way to the street, but Jay was already ahead of us, and Jude—carrying Lily—was just passing Yaz and Peyton.

  Instead, I sped up, intending to race by as quickly as possible. Peyton, however, glanced up and saw me.

  “You!” she barked. “10th grader!”

  I reluctantly stopped, turning slowly toward her.

  In front of me, Jude kept walking. I could hear her chuckling under her breath as she quickened her pace, trying to catch up to Jay.

  “Wanna’ hear a secret?” mumbled Peyton.

  “Peyton, no!” urged Yaz. She reached out to place a hand over the other girl’s mouth.

  “S’annoying!” Peyton batted Yaz’s hand away. “Not even Fox…go ‘way, lying bitch!”

  “Stop it, Peyton!” Yaz was more forceful this time. Then she turned in my direction, ordering me to, “Just keep walking!”

  She didn’t have to say it twice.

  As I hurried away, Peyton continued to talk loudly, ignoring Yaz’s attempts to shut her up. “Stupid idea...stupid Yaz…s’a prison…supposed to be fun…s’not fun…stupid!”

  “Peyton, shut up!”

  “You shaddup! Didn’t even wan’ stupid you at my stupid birthday party anyway…so shaddup you…shaddup!”

  If only I had realized the significance of what Peyton was actually saying—

  —that she hadn’t wanted Yaz at her birthday party.

  JANUARY

  A FOX AT THE FRONT DOOR

  It was a surprisingly cold beginning to the new year.

  Being Southern California, we didn’t get any snow, of course. That said, there was frost when we woke up in the morning, which made it eerie when we walked to our work details past all of the dead and iced-over vehicles—silent relics of another age.

  There was also an increasing number of wild animals wandering along the streets. We’d always had rabbits, raccoons, egrets, and coyotes in Agoura Hills. Now, however, it wasn’t unusual to see deer munching on a neighbor’s lawn or a bobcat slinking along a fence.

  One of the 12th graders insisted that she had even seen a black bear walking along Kanan Road. Another girl swore that there had been a mountain lion up by the giant ‘A’ on the hill above the school.

  Thankfully, nobody had seen any sign of the beasts—yet. The hope was that they would remain on the other side of the hill—in the San Fernando Valley.

  * * * *

  What we did see was a Fox—at our front door.

  Along with the Continuation girls—after a full day of scavenging through townhouses—we had all brought our suppers back to Jude’s house, just to have some social time. Cherry, Wandy, Jay, Jude, and I were in the living room, just talking. Shawnee and Lily, meanwhile, were playing in the backyard.

  Pugly—luckily—was hidden in Lily’s secret fort.

  * * * *

  “She’s doing so much better now,” Cherry observed, looking out the glass doors at Shawnee. The young girl was chasing Lily around, playing tag. “It was really hard for my sister at the beginning.”

  “For Lily, too,” I said. “She didn’t even talk until she found Jude.”

  Cherry looked over at Jude, who held up her glass of apple juice in a faux-salute. “I have that effect on people,” she bragged.

  Wandy reached out and poked Cherry in the shoulder. “Just like you.”

  Cherry blew her a kiss, then turned back to me. “So, Kaylee…I’ve been meaning to ask. Is that a picture of Jacob Riker I saw in your bedroom? Not that I was snooping around or anything.”

  Jay immediately started giggling.

  “Shaddup!” I told her.

  “You like Jacob Riker?” asked Wandy.

  “Who doesn’t?” said Cherry. “If I was straight, I’d be his sex-slave. That boy has the eyes of a god?”

  “And he’s a cool dude,” added Jude. “Even says hi to me.”

  “That’s saying something right there,” laughed Cherry.

  “But what about all that stuff going around…like doing the sex tape with Peyton?” asked Wandy.

  “There was no sex tape,” I snapped, irritated. “That was just Peyton dreaming.”

  “She wanted it for her reality show,” added Jay. “The one she never got.”

  Cherry snorted. “That’s so ridiculous! I can’t stand girls who think that they should get famous just for going down on a guy on camera.”

  “Plus it’s demeaning,” frowned Wandy.

  “And nasty,” giggled Jay.

  Suddenly—there was a knock at the door.

  We all went silent.

 
Knock, knock, knock.

  Nobody moved. We just looked at each other.

  Knock, knock, knock.

  A small figure raced by us.

  It was Lily, running toward the door. “I’ll get it!”

  Jay, Jude, and I all jumped up at the same time. “NO!”

  Lily didn’t stop, however. “It’s okay,” she said, happily. “It’s just Amelie. I invited her over to play.”

  And then she pulled the door open.

  Sure enough—there stood Amelie—with her big sister, Peyton. Behind them, guns in their belts and whips in their hands, were two 12th graders from the Protection Detail.

  * * * *

  It was actually Peyton who spoke first.

  “I’m sorry if we’re interrupting,” she said, politely. “Amelie said that Lily had asked her to come over today.”

  Shawnee chose that moment to run into the house through the back door. She crossed over to Amelie and grabbed her by the hand. “Come on…we’re outside!”

  A moment later, and all three girls raced off.

  Peyton continued to stand in the entryway; she looked as uncomfortable as the rest of us probably felt.

  Just outside the front door, meanwhile, the 12th graders guarding her didn’t move an inch. They simply stared in at us, as if waiting for a reason to pull out their guns or crack their whips.

  Jude—surprisingly—made the first move.

  “We’re drinking apple juice,” she said to Peyton. “It’s canned, but I’ve got a glass with your name on it if you want.”

  Peyton didn’t exactly smile—but her lips made a slight movement in that direction. “I need to get back. The Council is working on a charter for the community. Will Amelie be okay with you guys for about an hour?”