by Kate Morris
“Yeah, it’s cool. Sometimes in the summer we go out there and swim. Then when the weather’s like it is out tonight, we go have a bonfire.”
“Sounds fun,” she commented warily.
Destiny came up to them with Brian and announced, “Hey, we’re going to the quarry tonight…”
“Yeah,” Roman said, interrupting her. “I just talked to Aaron about it.”
“Oh, awesome! So, you guys are coming, too?”
“What? No!” Jane stated firmly and wrinkled her pert nose.
“Come on, Jane,” Destiny pleaded. “It’ll be fun. One of Brian’s friends just told us it would only be a few people.”
“I don’t know,” she said and looked across the gym cautiously toward Stephanie and her gang of ten or twelve girls huddled in a corner now.
“We don’t have to,” Roman told her. “Pull over some chairs, guys,” he offered Brian and Dez.
When they were done talking about the decorations, the ambient lighting, and whatever else it was that Destiny and the others on the homecoming committee had done to transform the gym into “A Night Full of Stars,” he brought up the subject he was more interested in.
“Hey, what have you guys heard about this flu?”
Brian looked at him and said, “It’s all anyone’s talking about. My parents are like freaking out about it. Mom’s being all anal-retentive nagging about hand washing and all that.”
“Yeah,” Roman agreed.
“I guess Vanessa’s doing better,” Brian told him.
“Really?” Roman asked. “I went to the hospital today to check on her and Randall, but nobody would tell me anything.”
“She texted me about an hour ago before I left the house,” he said.
“Texted you?”
“Yeah, she said she was feeling a lot better. But she also said that Randall’s worse. His mom told her that the doctors told his family ‘to pray’,” he said, using air quotes. “You know when the doctors are saying that, it’s bad.”
Roman nodded solemnly and thought about that. So, Vanessa got better. She was what the doctor on the kook network described as immune or someone who contracted the original RF1 sickness and could beat it on their own. Randall was getting worse. He was already in a coma. ‘Worse’ must’ve meant that his organs were shutting down. If Randall also died, then it would mean that three people out of the four that they knew who were sick with this flu had died. That would mean it had a seventy-five percent fatality rate, or possibly more if they knew of more people who were currently infected.
“I’m sure the doctors will figure something out,” Destiny said with optimism.
Roman wished he could share in that feeling of youthful optimism and the unbridled hope that doctors would find a cure for this. He just couldn’t. And he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.
“I don’t know about that, Destiny,” Brian said. “My dad’s an oncologist, and I heard him talkin’ to my mom the other night about it. I don’t think he wanted anyone overhearing them, but I just happened to be walking past his office on the first floor at our house.”
“What’d he say?” Roman asked.
“He works at the children’s hospital in Cleveland, ya’ know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“He said they’ve seen a lot of this. He said the CDC came in and set up an entire wing of the hospital for it. He said they didn’t want anyone taking risks. They literally moved six floors of patients to other buildings at the Cleveland Clinic to prepare or make room for what was coming.”
“Six floors,” Roman said. “I don’t know how many beds are on each floor, but that’s gotta be a ton of them.”
“Yeah, it is,” Brian said. “He said they’re taking extra precautions, but he also said he thinks they ordered it done because they anticipate that many more patients will be coming in soon to be treated. He doesn’t work over there, thank God. He’s in pediatrics.”
“Good,” Roman said. “Has he seen it there?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to ask him some questions, but I got the feeling he wasn’t even supposed to be talking to my mom about it.”
“What else did he say?”
“Just for our mom to make sure we showered as soon as we got home from school every day and that she should order stuff online and not hit any stores for a while.”
“Wow,” Roman said quietly. That was the confirmation he’d been looking for. A level-headed doctor with common sense like Brian’s dad issuing a clear warning about the significance of this sickness. “Sounds like we should all be doing that.”
They nodded as another slow song started. He danced for another hour with Jane and Brian and Destiny, and they even got Jane to stay up for a few fast songs. The whole time, Roman was distracted by the idea that she could get this sickness like Randall and die just when he was finally getting somewhere with her. She was a very petite person, probably not someone who would survive long if they were ill to the point of being in a coma.
He pulled her closer at those dreary thoughts as they danced another slow dance. Roman took her hand in his and rested them both against his chest as he allowed the rest of the room to fade away. He stooped and pressed his cheek to the side of her head as he thought about losing her to some stupid illness. Life wasn’t always fair, and he knew that. He just wanted some time and a chance to get to know the girl he’d watched from afar for so long.
Chapter Eleven
Reluctantly, Jane agreed to go to the quarry with them even though she would’ve rather done just about anything else. They left the dance an hour early, so she texted her grandmother and told her where she was going. They drove together, leaving Brian’s car at the school. It wasn’t hard to perceive a party was going on at the quarry. There was a massive bonfire down by the water and loud music pumping through the night air. Roman parked the car and came around to open her door. Brian and Destiny went ahead of them.
“Are you going to be warm enough?” he asked as Jane pulled on her cardigan.
“There’s a fire,” she said, wishing she could kick off her heels and run home barefoot.
“Take my arm. This might be slippery going down the hill,” he said.
Jane did as he requested and was glad she did so because the gravel incline was a little treacherous but thankfully not too long or steep.
“Ever come out here before?” he asked to which she shook her head.
It was slightly easier to walk once they made it to the bottom where the gravel was very fine and sandy. There were at least a hundred people present. It was dark, though, which made her thankful for that. So much for just a few of his friends going. Girls were dancing provocatively to base thumping music blaring at a loud decibel around the fire in front of their boyfriends, who were hooting and hollering. The music was coming from a portable speaker system which was set up near an eight-foot folding table that held bowls of chips and pretzels. A beer keg was already in full operation near the same table. There were also supplies for making s’mores.
“Want something to drink?” he asked.
“No, thanks,” Jane replied.
“Let’s find somewhere a little quieter to sit,” he suggested and took her hand confidently in his.
He walked around to the other side of the fire and offered her a log to sit on. Then he sat beside her. It was a lot warmer and quieter farther from the music and close to the roaring fire.
It didn’t stop the girls dancing around. One of them even came over and tried to entice Roman to dance with her, but he turned her down. Then she motioned for Jane, who promptly rejected the offer. The girl then offered them both a hit on her joint. They also both shook their heads.
“Boo, bitches! Party poopers,” she said drunkenly and stumbled away to lure others. Jane tried not to gawk. The girl’s bra strap was hanging down her arm. Her sultry, hot pink micro mini dress covered in sparkly beads that swished when she moved barely covered her butt, and she gyrated her hips
for attention in front of the boys. Others were doing the same.
“Yeah, they kind of lose their heads sometimes,” he said of the girl that Jane knew ran with Stephanie’s group.
“I guess so,” she said quietly.
They sat there watching the fire for a while before he took his phone and earbuds out of his pocket and offered her one. She placed it against her ear. He leaned close and did the same with the other end. He pressed play, and they listened to some old blues tunes. She smiled at him. Roman Lockwood was a lot different than she ever would’ve guessed.
He scrolled through his song selection, and she pointed out ones that she liked, which he promptly placed in the queue to play next. It felt a little odd sitting so close and sharing earbuds and touching his phone. A couple of times, their fingers bumped as they pointed to songs on the dimly lit screen, and he looked as nervous as she was when she caught his gaze. He probably wasn’t at all. He had a lot more experience being around girls than she did being around boys. Or girls. Or anyone other than Dez.
“So, you like to play guitar?” she asked, then looked down. It felt strange asking him personal questions.
“Yeah, I do,” he answered. “I took lessons for a while, but most of what I know is self-taught.”
“Cool. I wish I knew how to play an instrument,” she confessed.
“I could show you some stuff on my guitar if you want,” he offered kindly.
“Thanks, that would be nice,” she said as the fire crackled and sparked in front of them. The warm glow was illuminating Roman’s face which was so close to hers she could feel his breath. They sat there by the roaring fire for close to an hour just talking and listening to music as people got drunker and louder and the music selection raunchier and filled with crude lyrics. She just tuned them out. If that was one thing she was good at, Jane had excelled at fading into some corner away from the crowds at school. Besides, the tall flames from the massive bonfire kept them concealed, as well. It was almost like they were the only two people on the sandy beach next to the water. It almost felt romantic, although she was pretty sure that Roman Lockwood would think that was corny and probably didn’t feel the same.
“Jane,” he said, causing her to look directly into his eyes, which were so blue in the firelight they seem to glow, “I need to ask you a question.”
“Sure,” she said sheepishly and tried not to stare at his long, sleek jawline that was so sharp it could cut diamonds. Over the last four years, she’d heard every comment available about the finer attributes of Roman Lockwood from girls in school. Some of it was pretty graphic. Most of it was just longing and compliments of how hot he was, sexy his eyes were, thick his black hair was, how tall and proud he carried himself. Others were about his body and all of his assets. She tried to ignore those ones.
“Steph! Don’t!” someone shouted behind him, interrupting whatever it was that Roman had to say. A second later Stephanie stumbled onto the scene and actually sloshed beer from her red plastic cup.
“Hey, asshole,” she said to Roman, pointing at him while still holding her red cup of beer in one hand and her cell phone in the other.
“Steph,” he returned.
“What the fuck, Roman?” she said in an antagonizing way.
“What do you want, Stephanie?” he asked with less patience.
“Did he tell you? Huh? Did he tell you that we slept together?”
Jane looked at Roman to gauge his reaction to the accusation, but he was glaring at Stephanie. She felt her own eyes grow wide.
“Stephanie, for God’s sake, have some class already,” Roman said, his anger growing.
“No matter what you do with him, fake tits trailer trash, you’ll never be as good as me in bed,” she said and hiccupped. “I’m the fucking best he’s ever had and ever…” she paused to belch, “gonna have.”
“Go away, Stephanie,” Roman warned. “You’re drunk. Go sleep it off. You’re a lousy drunk, and you know it.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Roman. You aren’t my boyfriend anymore, remember? You screwed me and dumped me.”
“Just…”
“No, I won’t shut up!” she shrieked and stumbled, which looked painful as her ankle twisted slightly sideways in her sky-high gold stilettos that matched her sequin tube top and mini skirt. “You may screw him, too, but you’ll never be as good as I was. He told me so. He told me I was the best he ever had.”
“Gross,” Jane commented softly. It caused Roman to chuckle.
“What’d you say, trailer trash?”
“I just don’t think you should go around telling everyone about your sex life, Stephanie,” Jane said, trying to be brave. “It’s not something you should brag about.”
“How would you know, you fucking, stupid virgin with your fake boobs?”
Roman stood, “Jesus, Stephanie. She’s just being honest. Try taking her advice because bragging about all the guys you’ve screwed makes you a slut. It’s not something to be proud of. It’s not a badge of honor. As a matter of fact, it’s a badge of dishonor. People make mistakes all the time, but they don’t go around bragging about them. Jane has more class in her little finger than you or all your clones do in your whole bodies, including in your actual fake boobs. Just get lost.”
She screamed in a rage, threw down her beer, and lunged for Roman. He held her back until some of his friends came forward to help. Jane sat helplessly on the log afraid to move. Why did this girl hate her so much? She’d never done a single thing to her.
“Why don’t you tell everyone about your mother, bitch?” she screamed as she was being held back. “She’s in prison, isn’t she, trailer trash? You’ll be a whore probably just like she was, huh? You’ll eventually sell it, too.”
This went on for a few more seconds until Aaron came forward and took her away. He looked over his shoulder at Roman and sent him an apologetic glance. Roman inclined his chin in accord.
“Sorry about that,” he said and came back to stand in front of Jane. She also stood with the help of his outstretched hand. Then she pulled free. She wasn’t sure why he kept holding her hand all the time.
She shook her head, “It’s fine. I should be used to it by now.”
“Nobody should have to get used to that.”
“I just don’t get why she thinks I have breast implants,” she said honestly as he shook his head as if he were very angry with his friends. “That’s so random and weird.”
“No, I’d say she’s jealous. You have what most girls want and don’t have or have to pay to get put on like she did.”
“I don’t think so,” she said self-consciously and pulled her sweater closer.
“No, you do. Trust me. Those bikini pics proved it. Every guy in the school has the hots for you now.”
“Ew,” she whispered, to which he chuckled, showing his bright white teeth against his tan skin. Being partially Asian, she’d noticed over the winters that his skin never lightened up like everyone else in Ohio during the cold, sunless months. She was jealous. She rubbed her arms to ward off the cooler night air.
He shrugged out of his pea coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“You’ll be cold,” she pointed out even as she took comfort in his body heat still lingering in the black satin lining.
“No, I’m good,” he said, although he was only wearing his black shirt from the dance. He hadn’t worn a tie like most of the boys. He wore a black jacket, which he’d removed earlier, a matching shirt open at the collar, and black trousers. He actually looked handsome but definitely not like the others. Unlike her, Roman didn’t seem to care if he stood out in a crowd, even if he wasn’t doing it on purpose.
Someone on the other side of the beach shot off some fireworks. It startled her and made her jump. Roman stepped closer, wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and watched the fireworks with her. It went on for quite some time, mostly because the boys were lighting them off one at a time. Some of them were pretty good, though,
and sent colorful sprays high into the clear night sky.
“You wanted to ask me something before Stephanie went on her rampage,” Jane reminded him after a purple explosion lit the night sky in a giant circle with a red heart inside. The water showed an exact replica in its reflection, and the hills around them echoed the boom.
“Right, I…”
Yelling at the other end of the beach where the boys were doing the fireworks interrupted him yet again. It sounded like it was escalating. It sounded like it was getting violent. Some people were starting to run that way in anticipation of seeing something exciting like a drunken fist fight. Roman looked down at her with concern.
“I better go over there,” he said as a girl screamed loud enough to raise the dead. He was always the responsible one. “Stay here, Jane.”
He took off at a run. Unlike the other boys in their class, he seemed like the adult in the room when they were all together. She’d noticed that before all this, too. If his friends got rowdy at school, Roman stepped in to cool the scene. Perhaps it was simply because of having to care for Connor all the time. It forced a sense of responsibility and maturity on him. Or maybe he was already like that.
She looked around and suddenly felt unnerved. Jane wasn’t staying by herself at the fire another minute. Nobody else was around. She followed his trail, found Destiny in the crowd, and stayed with her friend. They pushed their way into the tight crowd all gathered in a big circle. When she managed to get to where she could see, Jane’s heart sank.
Roman and Aaron were trying to subdue another boy, a junior named Caleb. He was wielding a hunting knife. There was blood dripping from it. He was screaming at them but not actual words. They were more like incoherent ramblings of rage mixed with too much saliva. He lunged toward Roman with the knife, who swiftly sidestepped and grabbed Caleb’s wrist, twisting it and forcing him to drop the weapon. Then Aaron wrapped him in a bear hug. Together they managed to get him to the ground, although he was still yelling and uncontrollable.
“Jane!” Roman called out to her as if he knew she’d be there and instantly spotted her in the crowd. “Call 9-1-1.”