Sidney cast a glance at them over the box of pens. She suddenly felt a strong resentment toward her beloved teacher. Harlan’s eyes strayed to Sidney as if noticing her for the first time. She looked away and replaced the pens to the shelf.
Harlan looked back at Miss Fisher and remained cheerful. “Uh, perhaps when I have some free time.”
“I’m available anytime,” Miss Fisher announced then collected her papers. “I’ll be back tomorrow with that film.”
The attractive teacher gave a little wave then turned and walked down the middle aisle. She didn’t even notice Sidney in the third aisle. Sidney approached the counter and watched Harlan’s eyes follow Miss Fisher, as many men did. Harlan looked at Sidney and smiled pleasantly.
“Well, hello, stranger,” Harlan said then laughed softly in his throat. “What can I do for you today?”
She shook her jealous image of Harlan and Miss Fisher from her mind and insecurely looked down at the counter with some embarrassment.
“I thought you might be interested in a photo opportunity,” Sidney said then looked up.
“Always interested in that,” he said with a soft laugh. “What am I photographing, love?”
“It’s a surprise.” Her cheeks immediately reddened. “Do you have your camera?”
“Never leave home without it,” he replied with a slightly crooked smile.
“Then we have to hurry before we lose the lighting,” she said with a little more confidence.
Harlan raised a suspicious brow. “What? Now?”
“We have to,” she insisted. “Dad won’t mind.”
Harlan chuckled lowly, finding humor in her comment. “You say that a lot, but he always does.”
“Please, Harlan.”
He groaned softly and rolled his eyes. “I do hate when you beg,” he said with a sigh. “All right. I’ll get my camera; you get your father’s permission.”
Chapter Four
The wooded area to the stone bridge was a five-minute walk from town and directly past Mrs. Cooper and Mrs. Randall’s houses. Thankfully, neither were home to see her with Harlan. The gossip would surely fly then. Once they entered the woods, Sidney led Harlan along a path just before the stone bridge. It was another ten minutes through the woods before they reached a clearing. The old, gray, stone house had been abandoned for nearly twenty years. The overgrown driveway appeared to be more of a path anymore. The house was well secluded and mostly used by teenagers as a party site. Sidney walked toward the large, stone well and sat on it. The wooden posts on either side of the well were half rotted, yet remained sturdy. She looked around the area and sighed softly.
“This must have been a quiet place to live,” she announced with a dreamy sigh.
Harlan snorted a soft laugh and studied the house. “A little too quiet,” he replied and adjusted his camera lens. “I’ve never seen this place before. Where are we?”
Sidney pointed down the overgrown driveway. “That’s Cressman Road just beyond the woods. The driveway entrance has a chain across it to keep traffic out.”
He looked in the direction she pointed then back at the house and the darkening sky. “There must be a storm coming,” Harlan announced with a frown. “The lighting is getting bad already.”
Sidney admired Harlan while he walked the area, apparently searching for the best angle. She gently bit her lower lip and held back her sigh. Harlan had a clean-shaven, baby face, beautiful green eyes, and thick, dark hair that touched his collar. He wasn’t very muscular or very tall, but he did have broad shoulders and the most handsome smile. Thunder rumbled in the distance and interrupted her fantasy. She looked up to the sky and studied the darkening clouds with great interest. Her lips parted slightly as she admired the almost black sky. She loved a good thunderstorm. She then heard the click of a camera. Sidney looked back at Harlan as he lowered the camera and grinned.
“Sorry,” he said timidly. “It’s a bad habit of mine. Most people put on a false smile when a camera’s pointed at them.”
“I really hate having my picture taken,” she said simply with embarrassment.
“Me too,” he said with a soft chuckle and walked closer to the house.
“Harlan,” she said almost in a whisper.
“Yes, love?” he responded without looking back.
Sidney looked down to her feet while nervously rocking them. “Do you think I’m mature enough to make my own decisions?” she finally asked.
“About what?” he asked simply and moved to the front of the house.
She looked up and saw him step onto the half-rotted porch. It creaked, forcing him to back off and make a face.
“About whom I can date,” she said simply.
Harlan looked at her with a knowing smile and let out a throaty laugh. “Do you honestly think your father will ever allow you to date?”
She chuckled with some embarrassment. “My father’s not that protective.”
He walked toward her and sat on the edge of the well just near the post and crank. “Yes, he is,” he replied simply with a grin that mocked her. “But I suppose I can’t blame him. He has a fifteen-year-old daughter who looks eighteen and acts twenty. It’s his job to protect you from--” his brows raised evilly, “the elements of nature.” He added a low, throaty laugh.
Sidney stared at him with some surprise and embarrassment. “You think I act like I’m twenty?”
He leaned against the post and placed one foot on the well ledge. “You don’t act like any fifteen-year-old I’ve ever met.”
She smiled and felt her cheeks redden. Sidney swiftly stood up on the well ledge and leaned against the opposite post. Harlan’s eyes followed her with some disapproval.
“Be careful,” he warned. “It would look bad for me if you’d drown.”
“I won’t drown,” she said with a teasing smile. “There’s no water at the bottom. I’d just break my neck.”
Harlan raised a cocky brow. “Yes, that would go over much better,” he muttered.
She laughed softly and walked along the ledge while continuing the conversation. “Think my father would flip if I dated a guy a couple of years older than me?”
“Your father would bloody well flip if you dated period. Maybe you should come down,” Harlan announced with a concerned look on his face.
Sidney teetered along the edge and eyed him. “I’m serious, Harlan.”
Harlan set his expensive camera down and slowly stood on the well ledge while keeping his left arm securely around the post behind him.
“If you’re thinking about dating a senior, I suggest you forget it,” he lectured firmly. “Typically they only have one thing on their mind.”
Sidney looked at Harlan and frowned. “Yeah, seeing who has the fastest car. They drag race on the road near here.”
Harlan chuckled lowly and shook his head. “Not what I was referring to,” he remarked. “I think you’d better hold off dating for a couple of years.”
Sidney tilted her head and smiled deviously. “Aren’t you the prude?” She laughed softly. “I was just kidding,” she said and stood still on the ledge halfway toward him. “I knew you were talking about sex. I know all about that already.”
His dark brows rose sharply with noted surprise and possible horror. “Oh?”
She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “Not like that,” she scolded. “I’m not that kind of girl. Guys don’t want what they know they can have.”
Harlan appeared relieved and laughed aloud. “You’re quite unique, Sidney.”
The thunder cracked more loudly, getting closer. Both looked to the sky.
“We’d better get you home before that storm hits,” he announced and extended his hand to her. “Anything happens to you, and it’s my ass.”
Sidney stared at his hand a moment as her heartbeat quickened. She couldn’t refuse actual, physical contact. She’d never touched him before. Sidney nervously accepted his hand as her heart skipped a beat. When their hands
touched, she swore she felt something magical. She walked toward him, now feeling somewhat dizzy and off balance. As she teetered on the stone, her foot slipped, and she nearly lost her footing. Harlan leaped forward to catch her. In his attempt to keep her from falling, he threw her off balance. She fell forward, throwing him backward, and they crashed separately to the ground. Sidney attempted to brace her fall with her hands with little success. She lifted herself to her hands and knees then sat back on her feet. Harlan scrambled to his knees, appeared concerned, and hovered over her.
“Are you okay?” he asked with some fear while holding his elbow.
She looked at him and laughed from their tumble. He groaned and rolled his eyes. Sidney looked at her scraped elbows and palms then brushed the dirt from her clothing. When she looked back at Harlan, he was also brushing the dirt from himself as he stood. He had several scrapes on his lower arms and a scratch on his forehead above his left brow. He helped her to her feet then studied her face with noted concern.
“You have a nasty scrape on your cheek,” he said and pointed to it.
Sidney touched her cheek, cringed, and then looked at the blood on her finger. She shrugged with little care. “I’ve done worse falling from the bridge.”
Harlan rolled his eyes.
Chapter Five
Friday, September 25th, 1981. Sidney ran toward the woods to catch up to Trisha. Trisha shook her head with annoyance and hugged her books.
“I can’t believe you’re late,” Trisha said with a huff. “Only I’m allowed to be late.” She then looked at Sidney. Her mouth opened slightly, and she stopped just before the path in the woods. “My God, what happened to your face?”
Sidney frowned and touched her make-up covered bruise and scrape. “I fell off the well by the stone house,” she said softly. “My father flipped. He thought I’d been attacked.”
“Of course he did,” Trisha remarked lowly as they continued to walk. “You’ll be lucky if any guy ever asks you out on a date. Your father has quite a reputation.”
They headed through the woods and approached the bridge at a quick pace.
“So what’s the plan for after school?” Trisha asked and cast a look at her friend. “Do we go to your father’s press or not?”
Sidney gently bit her lower lip. “I want to, but I’m a little nervous.” She looked at her friend. “Do you think he knows it’s me?”
“No,” Trisha said bluntly without looking at her. “He probably thinks it was Miss Fisher.”
Sidney glared at her friend while feeling a jealous pang. “Don’t say that!”
Trisha shrugged as they crossed the bridge. “You told me last night on the phone that she had been flirting with him at the press.” She immediately frowned with distaste. “Though I can’t understand why. She already has a boyfriend. Alex is certainly better looking than Harlan.”
Sidney lightly smacked Trisha’s arm while frowning her disapproval.
Trisha yelped slightly then laughed. “It’s just an opinion,” she said. “Don’t be so touchy.”
“I can’t help it,” Sidney whined softly and placed her free hand in her jacket pocket. “I can’t compete with Miss Fisher.” She moaned and looked across the bridge as they nearly reached the other side. “What’s the use? He’ll be married long before I’m allowed to date.”
Trisha smiled and brushed her shoulder against Sidney. “Can’t hurt to dream, can it?”
Sidney frowned feeling her heart ache. “Yes, it can,” she muttered.
§
After the first couple of classes, Sidney was tired of hearing about the mark on her face. She heard every comment thinkable from her unfeeling, fellow classmates. She entered Miss Fisher’s class and collapsed into the desk next to Trisha. Trisha looked at her and smirked, knowing the torment she’d received most of the day. Sidney looked at the front of the class while Miss Fisher took attendance. Sidney felt another pang of jealousy while studying her attractive teacher. Miss Fisher wore a white, lacy blouse that showed her incredible figure, and her black pants weren’t tight, but they showed her curves, displaying the round butt the teenage boys adored. Her long, raven hair was French braided in the back. Miss Fisher was dressed to kill. Sidney frowned and looked back at the book on her desk.
The class seemed to drag on forever, giving Sidney too much time to brood over the possibility of Miss Fisher moving in on her would-be boyfriend. Near the end of class, there was a knock on the classroom door. Miss Fisher looked at the door along with every student. Sidney immediately recognized the man in the black, leather coat through the window on the door. It was Alex Trexler, Miss Fisher’s boyfriend. Miss Fisher frowned then looked back at the class and forced a nervous smile.
“Would you excuse me,” she said then walked toward the door and stepped into the hall.
Some of her classmates began to talk and throw things the moment their teacher had left the room. Sidney and Trisha watched the couple through the glass in the door with great interest, since it obviously wasn’t a friendly visit. They could see an explosive argument, though they couldn’t hear their words, just murmurs. As the argument became louder, the other students became silent and watched the door with great interest as well. Miss Fisher threw her hands in the air then pointed at him. Alex raised his hands and shook them with anger. He pointed a warning finger at her. She harshly pushed it away and yelled something back. Alex became silent then walked away. Miss Fisher entered the room with a flushed look on her face, and she no longer smiled.
“I’d like everyone to read chapter five in your text,” she said curtly then turned toward the blackboard and stood motionless for a moment. She was undoubtedly attempting to pull herself together after the major blowout with her boyfriend.
It was apparent the couple had broken up in the heated argument. Sidney knew it meant Miss Fisher was now free to pursue Harlan, but she couldn’t help feeling sorry for her teacher.
§
The last class of the day seemed to linger on forever. Ms. Palmer had the class read from their textbook nearly the entire period while she talked with a distraught Miss Fisher in the hallway. Persha Palmer was a thin woman in her early thirties with straight, light brown hair, and clay-colored skin. She never wore make-up nor styled her hair. She wasn’t much to look at and not very entertaining as far as teachers went. She had never been married and insisted upon being called ‘Ms’. Ms. Palmer hated men, and it reflected in her attitude toward the male students as well. Everyone knew she was unfair toward the guys in the class.
She placed a hand on Miss Fisher’s shoulder and said something. Sidney wished she could hear some of their conversation. She then looked back at her book with some concern. Was she the future busybody of Marilina? Sidney needed to shake that image as she sank down in her chair and concentrated on the pages before her.
Ms. Palmer entered the classroom and loudly cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “I hope everyone’s finished reading the assignment. We’re going to have an exam on it now.”
There were several moans around the room.
Ms. Palmer looked down her nose at the students. “It’ll be an essay.”
Chapter Six
“Thank God that’s over with,” Trisha muttered and threw her books into her locker. “I know I failed that test.”
Sidney didn’t seem to hear a word her friend said. “I’m concerned about seeing Harlan,” she announced gently and leaned against her locker while facing Miss Fisher’s classroom. Sidney looked into Miss Fisher’s room and saw her teacher unfold a piece of paper and read it.
“We’ll have to stop next door at the junior high first,” Trisha said drearily, practically withholding her moan. “I have to pick up my cousin’s homework.”
Sidney looked at Trisha and frowned. “Did he play sick again? I swear that’s the third Friday in a row.”
“I wonder what the little twerp did while alone all day,” Trisha remarked.
Sidney felt compelled to l
ook back into Miss Fisher’s room. Miss Fisher carefully folded the paper several times and put it in her pants’ pocket.
Sidney looked back at Trisha. “I’d like to get to the press before Miss Fisher gets there. She’s supposed to be dropping off a roll of film today.”
“Relax. We will,” Trisha said and closed her locker door with a disgusted sigh. “Let’s get this over with.”
They walked to the junior high, which was along a private road just past the senior high school. Woods surrounded the entire senior and junior high. There was a steep, treacherous path in the woods that eventually came out on Cressman Road, though it was rarely traveled.
§
Sidney paced the junior high hallway while the teacher insisted upon explaining to Trisha the entire work assignment in great detail. By the time Trisha was able to break away, they had been there nearly an hour. It was already after four o’clock by the time Trisha entered the hallway. Sidney hurried behind Trisha, attempting to keep up with her friend’s fast pace.
“That took forever,” Sidney snapped, irritated that they were now running late.
“If Steve paid closer attention in class, he wouldn’t have felt the need to explain everything to me. He said my cousin has a problem following directions,” Trisha snarled. “Now I get to go to his house and explain the entire assignment to him, and when he doesn’t do it, Mr. Orloff will blame me.”
They hurried from the junior high through town, past the library, and to her father’s press. As they entered the press around ten after four, they saw Sidney’s father busily stocking some new merchandise.
He straightened and smiled at them. “A Friday visit? This is unusual,” Herb announced cheerfully. “What are the big plans for this weekend? Where am I carting you?”
“I was thinking about seeing the horror film festival,” Sidney informed him.
Her father frowned, displaying his disapproval. “Doesn’t that last until midnight?”
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