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Authors: Misty Provencher
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apples and sandalwood fill every breath I take, “I
got incredibly lucky that I didn’t have to take a toad for the
team. In fact, if you are half as much on the inside as you are on
the outside, Hale, than I didn’t even have to dodge a bullet. What
I did was hit the mother of all jackpots.”
He stands there a minute, making me sway
under the compliments, and his scent, and his closeness. Then he
leans over me, brushing up against me as he grabs his clothes.
“ I’m going to grab a
shower,” he says. “I’ll try to leave you some hot
water.”
#
He’s on the phone when I emerge from the
bathroom, my teeth chattering. Despite his quick shower, the hot
water ran out half way through mine. I throw on a pair of jeans and
a long sleeve white tee, and they stick to me, but I thank God
again that my father actually threw some of the clothes I like into
my bags.
I don’t sit with him at the table. His
conversation never pauses, but his eyes follow me to the chair near
the wall of windows. The sun shines in, and the chair is warm as I
brush out my hair. I put my back to Oscar, and I can’t help but
hear every word of his conversation.
“ You can come up and meet
her, sure...You’re bringing Amy? So, you guys are making it work,
huh? Yeah, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea...they’re best
friends...What do you think she’s going to do? Ok, yeah, ok...we’ll see you
then.”
I hear him click off his phone and set it
down on the table. I keep brushing my hair, even as the chair grits
across the floor and his footsteps tread toward me. I think he’s
going to put his hands on my shoulders, or lean down and try to
kiss my neck. As I think of all the things he could do, and how it
might feel so shamefully good in the warm sunlight, he walks past
me instead.
“ Ready to go?” he
asks.
“ Go where?”
“ Town. We need food. Aren’t
you hungry?” he asks. I just nod. I feel so stupidly helpless
without money, a car, or even a phone. I’ve got no way to take care
of myself right now besides trusting him to do it for me. Part of
me wants to kick him in the nuts and steal his truck. The other
part knows that, even if I had his truck, there’d be nowhere for me
to really go. So,I get on my shoes, even though I feel as though
I’m moving like a tin man.
Outside, the air really hits me. It’s colder
than I expect and it smells cleaner than I’m used to. I can hear
the water rippling up to the shore as we get into the truck, and it
seems like I should be happy instead of still so tense. Oscar must
see it too, because he starts talking.
“ My friend, Landon, is
coming up on Friday,” he says. Two days from now. Then, with a
little less enthusiasm, “He’s bringing Amy, his new girlfriend
too.”
“ Isn’t it going to be create
a total train wreck that I’m here?” I say, as Oscar puts his arm
over the back of my seat to back up the truck. Something about it
feels intimate, like I’m in his arms, even though I’m really only
at his fingertips. I press my back to the edge of the seat. “Sophia
doesn’t even know about me yet, does she?”
“ No. But Landon won’t bat an
eye. He’s the closest friend I’ve got, and he never liked Sophia
much anyway. But he’s also with Amy. That could be more of a
problem.”
“ Didn’t you say on the phone
that Sophia and Amy are best friends?”
“ I did,” he says, removing
his arm from the back of my seat. He puts the truck in drive and
steers us down the winding dirt drive back to the paved, main road.
The Marees seem to have a thing for long, obscured driveways, and
this one is beautiful. The trees stretch up along the sides and
nearly touch overhead, like a cathedral ceiling. “I’ll have to call
Sophia today and tell her I’m leaving her for you.”
“ Great,” I grumble. “I get
to be the bitch that took you away from your
girlfriend.”
“ No,” he corrects me softly.
“What I’ll tell her is that you are the girl I
got incredibly lucky that I didn’t have to take a toad for the
team. In fact, if you are half as much on the inside as you are on
the outside, Hale, than I didn’t even have to dodge a bullet. What
I did was hit the mother of all jackpots.”
He stands there a minute, making me sway
under the compliments, and his scent, and his closeness. Then he
leans over me, brushing up against me as he grabs his clothes.
“ I’m going to grab a
shower,” he says. “I’ll try to leave you some hot
water.”
#
He’s on the phone when I emerge from the
bathroom, my teeth chattering. Despite his quick shower, the hot
water ran out half way through mine. I throw on a pair of jeans and
a long sleeve white tee, and they stick to me, but I thank God
again that my father actually threw some of the clothes I like into
my bags.
I don’t sit with him at the table. His
conversation never pauses, but his eyes follow me to the chair near
the wall of windows. The sun shines in, and the chair is warm as I
brush out my hair. I put my back to Oscar, and I can’t help but
hear every word of his conversation.
“ You can come up and meet
her, sure...You’re bringing Amy? So, you guys are making it work,
huh? Yeah, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea...they’re best
friends...What do you think she’s going to do? Ok, yeah, ok...we’ll see you
then.”
I hear him click off his phone and set it
down on the table. I keep brushing my hair, even as the chair grits
across the floor and his footsteps tread toward me. I think he’s
going to put his hands on my shoulders, or lean down and try to
kiss my neck. As I think of all the things he could do, and how it
might feel so shamefully good in the warm sunlight, he walks past
me instead.
“ Ready to go?” he
asks.
“ Go where?”
“ Town. We need food. Aren’t
you hungry?” he asks. I just nod. I feel so stupidly helpless
without money, a car, or even a phone. I’ve got no way to take care
of myself right now besides trusting him to do it for me. Part of
me wants to kick him in the nuts and steal his truck. The other
part knows that, even if I had his truck, there’d be nowhere for me
to really go. So,I get on my shoes, even though I feel as though
I’m moving like a tin man.
Outside, the air really hits me. It’s colder
than I expect and it smells cleaner than I’m used to. I can hear
the water rippling up to the shore as we get into the truck, and it
seems like I should be happy instead of still so tense. Oscar must
see it too, because he starts talking.
“ My friend, Landon, is
coming up on Friday,” he says. Two days from now. Then, with a
little less enthusiasm, “He’s bringing Amy, his new girlfriend
too.”
“ Isn’t it going to be create
a total train wreck that I’m here?” I say, as Oscar puts his arm
over the back of my seat to back up the truck. Something about it
feels intimate, like I’m in his arms, even though I’m really only
at his fingertips. I press my back to the edge of the seat. “Sophia
doesn’t even know about me yet, does she?”
“ No. But Landon won’t bat an
eye. He’s the closest friend I’ve got, and he never liked Sophia
much anyway. But he’s also with Amy. That could be more of a
problem.”
“ Didn’t you say on the phone
that Sophia and Amy are best friends?”
“ I did,” he says, removing
his arm from the back of my seat. He puts the truck in drive and
steers us down the winding dirt drive back to the paved, main road.
The Marees seem to have a thing for long, obscured driveways, and
this one is beautiful. The trees stretch up along the sides and
nearly touch overhead, like a cathedral ceiling. “I’ll have to call
Sophia today and tell her I’m leaving her for you.”
“ Great,” I grumble. “I get
to be the bitch that took you away from your
girlfriend.”
“ No,” he corrects me softly.
“What I’ll tell her is that you are the girl I
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