Starburst

by Jettie Woodruff

“The same way I always get in,” she snapped.

  “Why were you there?”

  “I told you why, and furthermore it’s none of your business.”

  “It is my business, and I don’t want you doing anything like that again,” he demanded, and she snickered.

  “Hey Trevas,” she said. “Fuck you, you’re not my dad, and I don’t need you. Why don’t you go back in there and take your little girlfriend home? I bet you don’t even have to worry about her being a fucking virgin.”

  “I wasn’t going to take her home Alley,” he told her in a more calm voice which in turn calmed her down.

  “Do you promise?” she asked, and although he wanted to now, tell her that it was none of her business, he didn’t and only replied, “yes.”

  “Where does your dad think you are?”

  “In my room, he’s having a party.”

  “I have to take you home,” he said, starting the car and pulling out.

  “Call him and warn him first,” she said, knowing that he was going to take her home, and her dad was going to be furious with her.

  Trevas didn’t reply and continued to drive.

  “Where are you going?” she wanted to know, when he was going in the wrong direction.

  He didn’t answer and continued to drive, turning down a dark alley and came out on another street where he turned down again and parked in a dark abandoned warehouse parking lot.

  “Trevas?” she spoke again with still no response.

  He shut the car off and got out and came to her side. “Get out,” he told her and she looked up to him with a frown but did as she was told.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Don’t you ever do that again, promise me,” he demanded.

  “I promise,” she said as they looked at each other.

  Trevas grabbed her face, holding her by the back of her neck and placed his thumbs on her jaw line. He took a deep breath and knew that he had to kiss her and did just that. She moved her hand up and placed it on his and parted her lips for him.

  He pulled away and stood beside her leaned up against his car. “You have got me so fucked up girl,” he stated, running his hand through his hair.

  “Trevas, I was trying to tell you something the other day on the couch, when we were at your apartment.”

  “I know what you were going to say Alley, and you can’t say it.

  “Why, because you can’t say it?”

  “No, I could say it, but it’s still not going to change the fact that in about three or four more weeks, we are never going to see each other again.”

  “Wait for me Trevas,” she begged and kicked a bottle cap across the parking lot.

  “Alley I could wait until you’re thirty and your dad still wouldn’t let us be together and you know it.”

  “I will be eighteen in a little over five months, and then he has no say in it.”

  “I’m not going to promise you that Alley, I can’t,” he added.

  “Then Promise me the next few weeks, until you leave.”

  “I’m afraid of what it will do to you when I do leave,” he admitted and wondered if he was afraid of what it would do to her or him.

  “It’s not going to do anymore then it has the last couple of days.”

  That tugged at Trevas’s heart, and he moved back in front of her. “Why didn’t you tell you were a virgin? Did you not think that I would find out?”

  “I knew you would, and I didn’t tell you because you didn’t ask.”

  “I just assumed with the pictures that I saw, and you being on the pill that you weren’t.

  “And I told you not to believe everything that you read standing in line at Wal-Mart.”

  Trevas laughed. “Yes you did. I have to call your dad.”

  “I know,” she said quietly and watched him take his phone from his pocket.

  “Fletcher,” he answered, and Trevas could hear the crowd of people in the background.

  “Hey Fletcher, its Trevas, I’m just calling to let you know that I just dragged your daughter out of the Breeze, and I will bring her home.”

  “The Breeze? What the hell is she doing there? I thought she was in her room.”

  “That I couldn’t tell you, I was there with some friends and spotted her on the dance floor.”

  “Son of bitch, what about cameras?”

  “I don’t think so. She wasn’t there long before I saw her.”

  “Thanks Trevas, but I can send Simon after her. You go have fun with your friends.”

  “That’s okay. They have already moved on to the next club. I will bring her home, but it will probably not be for an hour or so. I have to take a cab to pick up my car,” he lied.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah I’m sure, I will bring her.”

  “Hey, thanks a lot Trevas,” he added before hanging up and Trevas felt like he had gained a little more respect from him and then felt guilty about it.

  “Liar,” Alley told him, and his phone rang.

  “Hey Chase.”

  “What the fuck was that Trevas?”

  Trevas knew exactly what he was talking about. “Sorry about that Chase, I just got carried away. I won’t let it happen again.”

  “Is there something going on with you and that girl?” he asked.

  “What? No, why would say something like that?”

  “Because of the way you reacted and if there is Trevas you better stop it now.”

  “There’s not Chase, don’t worry. I will talk to you tomorrow.”

  “What are you going to do with me for an hour?” Alley wanted to know.

  “Half an hour,” he corrected her. “We have a half hour drive.”

  “Okay, what are you going to do with me for half an hour?”

  “Talk,” he replied and she moaned as he opened her door. She didn’t want to talk, she wanted him to kiss her and pull her close to him.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, and he turned to her and kissed her for a long time.

  “I thought we were talking,” she said to his lips.

  He didn’t reply and forced his tongue in her mouth again and moved his hand under her shirt.

  “Trevas you can’t do that anymore,” she told him to his lips again.

  “Why?” he asked but already knew the answer.

  “Because I can’t take it,” she told him honestly. “And if you are not going to make love to me than you need to chill out.”

  “I do want to make love to you Alley, more than you could ever know, but it scares the hell out of me.”

  “Really?” she asked with a doubting sarcastic tone.

  “Yes really,” he demanded.

  “Why did me being a virgin, upset you so much?”

  “I don’t know. I guess because it made me feel like I was taking something from you,” he told her taking her hand.

  “You were, and I wanted you to take it, and you kind of did you just didn’t finish it.”

  “I’m sorry Alley,” he said quietly, and she didn’t reply.

  “I missed you Trevas,” she said quietly.

  “I missed you too, and I can’t get you out of my head.”

  “I don’t want to be out of your head.”

  “I know Alley,” was all that he could think to say. What else was there to say? He knew he couldn’t be with her as much as she knew it, and he had done nothing but fuel her fire, and he felt like it was too late to put it out.

  They talked for a little bit longer, and he kissed her some more and then drove her home. He stopped before they got to the gate and kissed her again.

  “I don’t want to be here without you,” she told him.

  “I can’t stay here and even if I did we couldn’t be together.”

  “I know,” she answered.

  “Call me,” he told her and held her hand as she got out of the car.

  Alley did call as soon as she took her lecture from her dad and was alone in her room. She hung up l
ong enough to take a shower and lay on her bed with his jacket under her head and called him back. They talked until three in the morning and then Trevas lay in bed, shaking his head and hating himself for falling for a seventeen year old girl.

  The next day was long, and he couldn’t wait until Monday to get back to her. He did finally go and meet with the auctioneer at his grandparent’s house and was glad to have that out of the way. They talked or text each other several times, and she told him about her dad being mad at her for going to the Breeze, and he told her, he was mad at her for that too.

  “What time will you be here,” Alley wanted to know before they said goodnight.

  “Seven, I think your dad is leaving around eight.”

  Chapter 4

  Trevas arrived, Monday morning right before seven. He dropped his things in his room and went into the kitchen and stirred up a bowl of eggs with cheese, onions, mushrooms and green peppers and mixed up a batch of fresh biscuits.

  “Hmm, something smells good,” Fletcher said, entering the kitchen, tying his tie.

  Trevas turned and smiled,” coffee?” he asked, and poured him a cup. Fletcher sat at the end of the table, and Trevas continued to cook and set the table with butter, jelly and two plates, one for him and one for Alley if he could get her to come down, he thought.

  “It is almost ready if you want to get Alley,” Trevas said as he put the biscuits on a plate and the eggs in a bowl.

  Fletcher disappeared to retrieve his daughter and Trevas continued to put the food on the table.

  “She’s fine,” Fletcher said, returning and mocking his daughter’s attitude.

  “Of course she is,” Trevas replied, and they laughed.

  “I wanted to run something by you Fletcher,” Trevas explained.

  “Okay, go ahead,” he beckoned for him to continue.

  “This is usually the week that I go to Utah with my family, and we stay at my grandparent’s lake house. We usually stay for two weeks, and I was wondering if I can talk your stubborn daughter into it if it would be okay if we went there. We will only stay a few days, unless she likes it and enjoys herself, which I doubt,” he joked.

  Fletcher laughed. “Trevas Evans, if you can talk my daughter into going to a lake for one day let alone two weeks, I will give you a raise,” he joked.

  “Yeah, I know exactly where you are coming from.”

  Trevas walked back to the kitchen and took out his phone and text her.

  “Get your skinny ass down here.”

  Alley came down wearing white sweats and Trevas’s light blue t-shirt that he had made her put on one night to keep her from walking around half naked. He watched her descend the stairs with half a smile. She sat at the end beside her dad and gave Trevas an annoyed look for making her join him for breakfast.

  Simon showed up and started loading his bags and Fletcher ate breakfast with his daughter.

  “Your mother wasn’t very happy about you, not attending your own gradation,” he told her. “This is very good,” he added taking another bite of the eggs.

  “Yeah I know, she already called me, but I don’t think she minded too much because now she isn’t coming home next week. She is flying to the Caymans with some friends.”

  “Yeah, she told me, she tried to get you to fly out and meet her. Why wouldn’t you want to go to the Cayman Islands? It is beautiful, and you haven’t seen your mom much lately.”

  “That’s not my fault. She is always working and why would I want to sit around and watch her with her boyfriends?”

  “What do you mean her boyfriends?”

  Alley tilted her head to the side and looked at him with a frown. “Really dad?” she asked, and he changed the subject knowing that his daughter was about to remind him how she got there.

  Fletcher kissed her on the cheek and shook Trevas’s hand. He thanked him for going the extra mile the other night and wished him luck as he turned and looked at his daughter and she noticed.

  “Good luck on what?” was the first thing out of her mouth when her father was out of site.

  “Wait,” he demanded.

  “Wait for what?”

  “Wait until I know your dad is down the road and not coming back for something.”

  “He’s not coming back,” she said, getting up from the table and coming to the kitchen where Trevas was cleaning up the breakfast dishes. “Why is my dad wishing you luck, Trevas?” she wanted to know again.

  “How would you like to get out of LA and go spend two weeks alone with me in a rustic old lake house?”

  “A lake?” she said crossing her arms, “with bugs and fish and snakes?”

  “And me,” he smiled and couldn’t stand not to touch her for one more second and took both of her hands and pulled her to him.

  “Two weeks?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.

  “We don’t have to stay two weeks. I just wanted to get it cleared with daddy for as long as I could keep you.”

  “You asked my dad if you could take me to a lake house?”

  “Yeah, but I told him it was a family thing, and my family would be there too.”

  “But they won’t?”

  “No, but my mom lives there and we should stop and see her some.”

  “And where is this lake house at?”

  “Allendale Utah.”

  “Are we flying?”

  “No, it’s only about an eight hour drive. Let’s drive”

  “When did you want to leave?”

  “We can leave whenever we want. Do you want to go today or wait till the weekend, or tomorrow, it doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Let’s go today,” she smiled and kissed him.

  “Go call your dad before he gets on the plane. Tell him the service isn’t the best there but if he leaves a message you can call him back. Make it sound good,” he added.

  Alley sat at the table and dialed her dad.

  “Dad did you give Trevas permission to take me to some bug infested lake? She asked in her teenage attitude form and Trevas had to laugh.

  “Yeah I told him it was okay with me if it was okay with you.”

  “Well he just tricked me, and I think you should call him and tell him you don’t want me to go there.”

  “What do you mean he tricked you?”

  “He asked me if I would like to go and made it sound all cool and there are going to be girls my age and all the things that they do there, and I don’t want to go there. I told him you would never let him take me to another state and then he asked me if I would go if you said yes and I told him yes, but you would never let me and he told me to go pack because he already asked you.”

  Fletcher laughed at what he thought was Trevas’s conniving ways. “I think you should go Alley. Its summer go have some fun and get out of that bedroom. You might actually have a good time.”

  “Dad there isn’t even any cellphone service; you won’t be able to get a hold of me unless you leave a message first.”

  “I’m sure that if Trevas needs to get a hold of me, he will, and if I need to get a hold of you then I will leave you a message, no big deal.”

  Alley groaned a fake groan. “I am not staying there for two weeks,” she demanded.

  “Fine stay a few days and you never know, you might want to stay longer.”

  Trevas wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

  “Oh, Trevas wanted me to tell you that you owe him a raise,” she said and looked at Trevas confused.

  Fletcher laughed. “You tell Trevas he’s got it. Go have fun for once Alley, enjoy yourself. I will talk to you in a couple of days.”

  Alley hit the end button.

  “You are a damn good actor,” Trevas admitted.

  “Why does my dad owe you a raise?”

  “Because when I asked him if I could take you there he told me that if I could get you to go to a lake house he would give me a raise.”

  “Are we really doing this?” she asked, not believing that she
was going to go stay in a cabin by a lake. She had never been to a lake, let alone a cabin.

  “I have one condition,” Trevas replied and took her hand.

  “I already know what it is, but go ahead, just in case I’m wrong.”

  “We don’t talk about feelings, or being together after this is all over. We are going to go have a good time and as soon as your dad comes home, we walk away, deal?”

  “I don’t make deals that I don’t know if I’m capable of controlling,” she said, playing with the end of her t-shirt and not looking up at him.

  “Then maybe we shouldn’t go,” he said, mimicking her soft tone.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t,” she agreed and turned her eyes to his.

  Trevas leaned in and kissed her. “Stop being difficult, let’s do this.”

  “I’m only going because I like the idea of being alone with you in a cabin for two weeks,” she answered, and kissed him back and left him to pack.

  Trevas and Alley went their separate ways to pack. “Should I take my laptop, are there any internet services?” Alley stuck her head out and called downstairs.

  Trevas stuck his head out of his room and called upstairs. “Yes there is internet, you can take the laptop but not the MP3 player,” he yelled, and she laughed.

  They had to stop by his place, and Alley stared at the bed, remembering their last encounter there as Trevas packed a few things.

  “Stop it,” Trevas told her and kissed her, knowing what she was reflecting on and she gave him a frail smile.

  They were on the rode by noon and Trevas ignored a call from Chase, afraid to tell him what he was up to, but answered a couple of hours later.

  “Where the hell are you? I have been trying to call you all day?” Chase scolded.

  “You tried to call once, and I’m on my way to the cabin in Utah.”

  “What for? Where is your little client?”

  “With me,” he answered and waited for the storm.

  “Trevas you’re playing with fire,” he said and didn’t yell at all, which totally shocked Trevas. “You are the one that is going to get burned, you do know that don’t you?”

  “I haven’t done anything to get burned by Chase.”

  “I beg to differ and if you haven’t you will. Trevas you will not only, never get another job around here, you will go to prison. Don’t forget who her parents are.”