The Crescent

by Jordan Deen

remember?” She smiled as I let out a small laugh.

  “Don’t try to make me feel better.” She tried to cheer me up by making funny faces, but nothing could make me smile once the burn from the antiseptic came.

  “I guess you won’t be wearing anything too revealing tonight.” I looked in the mirror to see my face red from tears, my hair disheveled and large pink marks running from my collarbone almost to my breasts. The cat had clawed me worse than I thought.

  Aunt Jamie finished covering each of my opened wounds with medicine and gauze; I winced each time she applied more antiseptic. “Go ahead and get going. Put some peroxide on it later before you go out. It’ll help.”

  Yeah, right. I might as well pour straight alcohol onto the wounds too. I walked back to the house shuffling my feet the whole way. I’d have to call first thing in the morning to make sure the cat was ok.

  I jumped in the shower being mindful not to get the water on the over abundance of gauze my aunt put all over my chest. It looked like I was ready for Halloween and going to the party as a mummy.

  It took me almost an hour to decide to wear my crystal blue v-neck wrap top with dark blue jeans and black heels. This was dressier than I normally was, but you could still see the top of the pink scratches. I grabbed some cover up and called for Mom to help me. Mom came through the doorway with Grant on her heels.

  “WOW. You look wonderful.” My hair was down and slightly curled at the ends to let it bounce freely. My blue contacts were even more accentuated by the shirt.

  “Thanks. Can you help me with this?” I held up the tube of makeup. Grant came over and whined at my feet almost causing me lose my balance. I wasn’t steady in the high heels as it was, but I wanted to wear them so I wouldn’t be so short compared to Alex. Not to mention they made me feel sexy.

  Mom made quick work of applying the concealer to the lines on my chest. “He is going to be blown away.” Mom said. She tended to over exaggerate. She walked over to my jewelry box and pulled out my heart pendent necklace and diamond earrings Dad gave me for my sixteenth birthday. “Just a few finishing touches.” She helped me put the necklace and earrings on. “So …” Mom hesitated and I looked at her in the reflection of the mirror. Grant sprawled across my bed. “Aunt Jamie said she …” Oh no. She told Mom about my make out session. I knew where this is going. I needed to head off the talk.

  “Mom I don’t want to have the sex talk right now.” My parents didn’t know that I had already lost my virginity. I hadn’t even had a boyfriend really for all they knew.

  “I know you don’t. But it’s important for you to know that we know it’s going to happen for you sometime … and if it’s with Alex …” Mom hesitated. It was painfully apparent that this conversation would happen now.

  “Look, I just want you to know that sometimes we don’t mean for things to happen, and then they do. If you determine that Alex is the one, well, your father and I think he’s nice and we’d like to get to know him better. If that is what you want. We know you are a senior and you are going to start making very important relationships that are going to last.”

  I’m not sure what would last. Next year I’d be in San Diego. I didn’t plan on getting serious with anyone. Alex sort of came out of nowhere. Grant groaned and rolled over on the bed to look at me upside down. Maybe I could find an apartment that would let me at least take him with me. I reached over and scratched his belly and rubbed his head. “Yes Grant, I love you too.” Mom gave me a knowing look; she knew I was strategically changing the subject.

  “You know I love your dog, but your dad wants him gone.”

  “I know I’ve put up signs and put ads in the paper. No one has responded.”

  “Well, maybe it’s time to start looking for a home for him.” Grant let out a small, low growl that I could’ve sworn only I heard. Mom went on. “You know how your dad feels about having pets. Having Tippy was a fluke.”

  “Mom, I don’t want to get rid of him. Can’t we at least keep him with us until I go to college?”

  “You are still insistent on going to San Diego?”

  “Mom, we already talked about this.”

  “I know. I was just hoping you changed your mind.”

  No chance.

  “I have to finish getting ready.” I went back to my bathroom to finish with my makeup. Mom left and Grant got up to follow her. The doorbell rang and my father’s voice echoed up the stairs calling for me to hurry up. I wasn’t sure that I was really ready for tonight, but I couldn’t back out now.

  c h a p t e r

  SEVEN

  Alex looked like a male model straight out of Vogue with a dark black t-shirt and crisp new jeans. “Wow.” He outstretched his hand to reveal a bouquet of orchids with red roses and lilies mixed in. They were the most vibrant, beautiful flowers I had ever seen. “For you.”

  “Thank you.” I said feeling uncomfortable before my dad’s prying eyes.

  “It’s good to see you again Alex. Don’t be a stranger. Do you like to fish?” Dad loved to fish, but hadn’t for years.

  “I haven’t been fishing since I was a kid. But if you have a trip planned …”

  “We’ll have to talk!” Dad said upbeat. The ever-present bags under his eyes were less pronounced tonight. Mom came walking out of the kitchen with a tray full of glasses and a pitcher of tea. I glanced at Alex hoping he would tell them we needed to get going. I slightly raised my shoulder, hoping he would get the hint. Alex reached out and took my hand.

  “We really need to get going. I told Jillian she could come too.” Thank you Alex. Both my parents looked disappointed.

  “Home by 1. Ok?” Dad said to Alex.

  “Yes sir.” Alex shook my dad’s hand and then we were out the door.

  “Well, that was strange.” I mumbled, thankful to be free from the house.

  “What happened to your chest?” Damn. Even with the makeup, he realized the cat had attacked me.

  “I had a run in with a rather wrangly cat.” I tried to laugh it off. There was no way I would tell him what I had done.

  “I hate cats.” I was so thankful to hear that. “There’s just something about them. You can’t trust them. They don’t listen, you can’t train them.” He rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand making it hard for me to think about anything but the feeling of his skin. “Don’t get me wrong, I love animals. But I’m more of a dog person.”

  “Me too.” I responded trying to fight the warmth spreading through me.

  “Guess we have one more thing in common.”

  I forced myself to pay attention. “One more thing?”

  “Yeah, I listened to your iPod when I brought you home the other day.” He looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry, I know some people see that as a violation of privacy. I just wondered what you’re always listening to.” He spied on me … well … sort of. Should I feel violated or excited that he was curious enough to browse through my iPod while I was passed out? Alex was silent waiting for me to respond to his sneakiness.

  I hesitated, not sure that I was really offended. “So, what on there did you like?”

  “Everything, actually.” He squeezed my hand. “I like Blink, Green Day, Plain White T’s, Avenged Sevenfold, Linkin Park, Lit.” Alex named off every band on my favorites list. “I have a few bands that I think you’ll like too. I’ll have to bring you copies.”

  Uncomfortable in the silence, we made small talk all the way to his house. Alex said he had lived in many countries including England and France. He confided his parents were dead and his grandparents primarily raised him. He emancipated himself last year when he decided he wanted to have a normal high school experience for his senior year.

  “So why did you come to California?”

  “I have aunts and uncles that live not far from here. I wanted to be close to my cousins. You wouldn’t know it, but we are actually a really close-knit family. What about you? Is it just you and your folks?”

  “Pretty much. Well, my parents
and my Aunt Jamie. My mother’s family died before I was born.”

  “What about grandparents? Other uncles or cousins?”

  “I know my grandmother on my dad’s side. I don’t see her often, but she is nice enough. My aunt doesn’t have any children and she isn’t married.”

  “Is she seeing anyone? I have a cousin …”

  “I’m not sure I really want to set up my aunt with someone.” I grinned thinking how weird that would be.

  Alex winked. “Guess I’ll have to work on you.”

  We pulled into a gated complex one city over from Brookefield. Alex’s condo had large vases of fresh flowers everywhere that looked like the ones he gave me tonight. The condo was two stories and there were more people here than I had seen at any high school party. I felt horribly underdressed and unprepared.

  “I thought you said this was your party?” Servers crisscrossed the floor as guests sipped wine and ate designer appetizers that I couldn’t pronounce; others were slow dancing gracefully by the large windows in the living room.

  “It is.” Alex smiled. “Let me introduce you to some people.” Classical music played from the surround sound speakers that hung from the walls. I followed complacently behind him trying not to fidget as he introduced more than a half of a dozen people including a girl named Kayla and a boy, Brent. He said both were his cousins. The last woman he introduced me to was a striking red head with harsh features and bright blue eyes.

  “Sophie, this is Lacey. She is my lovely date this