Anywhere But Here (16 page)

I tried to shake my hand free but he held it tighter
. Damon’s face lit up as he nudged me with his shoulder.  “You two are like a couple, huh? Cool.”

“We are
not
a couple,” I said through clenched teeth as I struggled to loosen Fin’s hold.

“We’re not?” Fin asked as he lifted a brow in mock confusion.  “Hmm.  Maybe after our
real
date this Friday we will be.”

I growled at him as Damon draped an arm over my shoulders.  “Chill out, Rena – it’s cool.  I sort of figured you two would hook up sooner or later.”

I surrendered with a heavy sigh and shrugged out from under Damon’s arm.  I began my trek through the halls, hand still trapped in Fin’s.  It was sort of nice, even though as more people appeared in the halls, the more curious looks we received.  I just ignored them like I had in the past and concentrated on the sport-filled conversation between Damon and Fin.

My morning classes flew by as it seemed every one of my teachers wanted to take out their frustrations on what must have been a miserable weekend on all of us.  My right hand started to cramp from constant note taking.

It must have been all of the intense assignments and lectures that kept me from paying any attention to the whispers and texting all morning. It wasn’t until Reg mentioned it during casual conversation at lunch that I realized what had been going on all around me. 

Reg’s friendly demeanor
had returned – toward our table, anyway.  She still had an outward annoyance for the rest of the school population and showed her disgust by glaring at anyone who dared look our way.

Shane was quizzing Fin on Saturday’s game, leaning across the table, greedily digesting every detail while the rest of us nibbled on our lunch.

“Did you go to the game, Rena?” Reg asked.

I shook my head, brows dipping over my eyes.  “No.”

“Oh,” she said as she unwrapped a brownie.  “I was just wondering because everyone is talking about you again.”

A sliver of carrot stuck in my suddenly dry throat and I coughed until Fin thumped me on the back.  He eyed
me in concern but I was intent only on what Reg had to say.  “What are they saying?”

She lifted a shoulder.  “Just talking about how friendly you and Fin are now, that’s all.  Wondering if you two are a couple or not.  You know how the rumors are in this school.”

“Unfortunately,” I grumbled.

“At least it’s not something bad this time,” Fin said with a smile.

“So says you,” I muttered but couldn’t help but return his smile.

He leaned over and pecked my cheek, just as Gina walked by on her way to her table.  Her eyes glazed over us, a nonchalant mask on her face.  But I could read the tension in her shoulders like a dog-eared book.  She wasn’t happy in the least and I’d have to face her wrath – most likely in the form of a tongue lashing – during my free period.

I pushed Gina out of my mind during Creative Writing as I listened to Mr. Ellis explain the next few assignments we’d have to turn in before the end of the month, including an essay on our families.  Great.  A sliver of fear sliced my heart and lodged deep inside as I contemplated exactly what I would write.

I was sure I could probably get out of the assignment or at least get a new topic, but that would require me explaining exactly why I didn’t w
ant to write about my family.  As I already had to endure one night a week talking about them, I didn’t want to have to tell another adult – one that I would have to face five days a week.  I’d already experienced the uneasiness other people felt when they discovered what happened.  And that uneasiness most times morphed into sympathy.  I didn’t want either.

I fretted over the assignment as I settled in my usual seat for Study Hall. 
As I absently pulled my Spanish book from my bag, opening it to the correct chapter, my mind turned the family assignment over and over in my head.  Suddenly, a dark shadow fell across my desk. I groaned as I peered up into Gina’s dark eyes.

“So, you and Fin, huh?” she asked, not waiting for an answer.  “I thought you weren’t interested in him that way?  I knew you were lying but that’s neither here nor there.”

“Oh?” I said, lifting a brow and sliding a false, bored façade on my face.  “Bully for you.”

The corners of her mouth lifted as she leaned in closer.  “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”

“What, do you think he’s going to come running after you or something?”

Her smile grew but the darkness in her eyes didn’t lighten.  “Possibly, but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Then spit it out and move on, already,” I said hoping to sound irritated.  “I have homework to do.”

She straightened as her lips pulled away from her teeth in an ugly smile.  “I’ve heard some things about you – about why you came here.  Fin is a good person working hard for a scholarship – he doesn’t need to be mixed up with someone like you.  Once he hears this stuff, he’ll drop you like a bad habit.”

“What now?” I asked, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. 

She shook her head, her hair bouncing off her shoulders.  “You should know by now but if you don’t, I’m sure you’ll find out sooner or later.”  She waggled a couple fingers at me and trotted off to join her friends.

I maintained a stony exterior but inside, my entire body was like a gelatin mold.  What had they heard and more importantly, what did they know?

I tapped my fingers on the scratched up, yellowing countertop, my chin propped in my free hand, one eye flickering back and forth to the clock.
  Time ticked by slowly as I released frequent little sighs in hopes of coaxing it to move a bit faster.

I did not want to be stuck at work.

My mind continued to toss around the possible rumors that could be floating through the school - rumors I cared more about than I was willing to admit.  I'd already been the target of a harmless, though mean and sticky, prank, not to mention the previous stupid little rumor spread about me being a 'second homer'. 

"I can handle whatever these small-town idiots want to throw at me," I mumbled under my breath as the little bell above the door tinkled.
  I straightened, ready to greet my customer, when Damon's somber face appeared.

"Talking to yourself?
  That's a sign of insanity," he tried to tease.

"Yeah, well, what can I say?"
  I scooted off my stool and met his gaze.  "What's up?  Don't tell me you broke your new snowboard."

"Nope," he said, wincing as he pictured that scenario.
  "Bite your tongue!"

Snorting, I
smacked the counter with my palms.  "So what gives?  Why the long face?"

 
He exhaled heavily as the scent of bitter cold clung to his down coat and his gloved fists clenched and unclenched.  Sympathy flickered in his lovely eyes as he considered me carefully, forming his words.  "Rena, dude, I'm asking you this because you're my friend and maybe I'm doing a mini intervention thing or something, I don't know, but I feel like I should do something, right?  I mean, sure, I'll party a little bit here or there but I try to keep it to a minimum.  My uncle was a drunk and it wasn't pretty."

 
"Damon, shut up and just tell me what the rambling is all about," I ordered, a mixture of annoyance and trepidation sloshing in my stomach.  "What's all the party talk?"

 
He nibbled his bottom, chapped lip, his eyes still on mine, then released a long breath, his cheeks puffing with the expenditure of air.  "Reg called me earlier and told me the latest rumor going around.  About you."

 
I rolled my eyes and plastered a fake, careless grin on my face.  "What now?  I'm a drunk?  Is that what you were all worried about?"

 
"Well, some chick that works in the administration office during free period told a bunch of people that she saw some file on you that said you were suspended from your old school for drinking on school property."

 
My stomach plunged to the dirty floor as the anger-demon, who I'd thought had gone into hibernation, yawned and stretched, shaking out its flaccid muscles.  I maintained what I hoped was a neutral expression as I lifted a nonchalant shoulder.  "Well, that's about the gist of it I suppose."

 
His jaw fell, his eyes bulging out of his red face.  He gaped, sputtering unrecognizable words as I yanked my stool back to the counter and planted my body on it as I waited for him to get himself back under some sort of control.  His lips smacked together as he reached up with both hands and straightened the black knit beanie on his head. 

 
"Rena," he gasped, his eyes still dazed.  "Wow."

 
"It's not a big deal," I said as heat flushed my cheeks and my eyes fell to the counter.  I picked at a hangnail, resisting the temptation to gnaw the damn thing off and spit it on the floor.  "Geez.  I went outside at lunch and got busted drinking a couple beers.  Not the most intelligent decision of my life, sure, but it could have been worse, you know."

 
"Whoa," he said, semi-impressed.  "People don't do that sort of stuff around here.  Oh, sure, they party and drink and dabble with the drugs, but not at school."

 
Shame filled my heart as I avoided his eyes.  I didn't want his hero worship - what I'd done was really stupid and moronic and downright selfish, considering the trouble I had caused.  So what if kids around here didn't do it.  Good.  They shouldn't.

 
"Anyway, instead of getting expelled, like I should have been, Dunewood agreed to enroll me on a probationary basis.  If I screw up one time, I'm out."

 
"Heavy," Damon said in a low voice.  He shook his head, clearing my words from his thoughts. "Everyone at school knows by now - or at least has an idea.  They might not know the whole truth and if they don't, they'll make something up."

 
"I don't care," I snapped even though deep down, in the hidden crevices of my heart, I did care.  I'd come here to start fresh, not relive old memories.  "People around here are desperate to believe the worst of everyone - especially me.  Let them think what they will - I refuse to defend myself."

 
"Amen, sister," Damon grinned.  He rapped his knuckles on the counter twice, readjusted his beanie, and winked.  "I'm out of here.  I'll see you at school tomorrow."

 
"Sure," I mumbled as he left again, allowing a blistery gust of cold air into the tiny store in his wake.  I shivered as I walked around the counter and began straightening the shelves.  I only had a few hours left and I was certain - hopeful actually - that Fin would drop in after practice. 

 
I wasn't disappointed.

 
About a half hour before my shift ended, as I restocked the dairy cooler, Fin and Isaiah entered the store.  My pulse kicked up a notch and even though I was immersed in the arctic temperatures of the cooler, my face heated and sweat collected on the back of my neck.  I finished my chore while keeping one eye on the guys browsing the sports drinks.

 
"Hey," I greeted, my cheeks red.  I stood beside them as I pulled off my gloves, not for the first time noticing how tall they both were.  "How was practice?"

 
"Good," Fin said with a distracted frown.  "How's things?"

 
"Okay," I said slowly, drawing out the word. My brow furrowed as I watched his eyes scan the various sports drinks and vitamin waters.  Isaiah perused right beside him and I wondered what the problem was - they knew exactly what we stocked. 

 
Yanking a door open, Isaiah chose a bottle with red liquid, gave me a tight smile, and wandered down one of the aisles.  I drew a breath, folding my arms over my chest, as Fin continued to stare at the cooler.  Even though he wore a thick winter coat, I could tell his shoulders were bunched up tight, just as tightly as his jaw was clenched and it set my heart into a nervous tizzy.

 
"All right, Ian Finley," I huffed.  "Spill."

 
He finally glanced down at me, his eyes brimming in uncertainty.  He blinked a couple of times before a small, unsteady smile broke out on his lips.  "What?"

 
"You're wound up tighter than a drum.  What's the problem?  Are you hurt and not able to play or something?  Did your next game get canceled?  Did someone run over your hockey stick?" I asked in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.  He was obviously upset at something and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what would get him so worked up.  We hadn't argued all day - not seriously at least - so I doubted it was my fault this time.

 
"I'm fine, Rena," he said as he reached out to place a hand on my shoulder.  "How are you?"

 
"There is nothing wrong with me," I insisted as a thought struck me like lightning.  "Oh.  I get it.  You heard the rumors, huh?  About my raging drinking problem?"

 
"Yes," he said as the tightness returned to his jaw and anger flickered in his eyes.  I was touched.