Arrows (8 page)

I peeked out the front door with Nell balanced on my hip. Who was that with Leah? I stole onto the cold concrete and blinked into the darkness.

Aaryn’s deep voice directed Leah. “Watch out for that rock.” Patient. “You’re sure this is the right house?” Sultry and smooth. The kind of voice that would be perfect for audiobooks. A voice to be alone with. Svetlana would die when I told her he’d been at my house.

“Leah?” I clutched Nell tight. “What happened to you? Are you bleeding?”

“Is Mom home?”

“Oh my God, there’s blood all over your chin.”

Aaryn stood behind her with his arms crossed. He was wearing a fitted black T-shirt and jeans. I pulled my sister under the porch light. “Tell me what happened. Did someone hurt you?” I exhaled against the top of Nell’s head. “You reek of cigarettes and beer.”

“Where’s Mom?”

“She’s shopping in Medford.”

Leah hugged me. “Everyone saw me. The music stopped and everything.”

“Saw what? What happened?” I rubbed her back as Nell grabbed a handful of her hair.

“I fell,” she said.

“How?”

“I’m clumsy. I drank too much beer?”

“You said you were going to watch movies with your friend,” I said. Aaryn studied us like he wasn’t sure what he should do next. My stomach flipped. I sighed and gave my sister a squeeze. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Come on in, Aaryn.”
What?
I don’t know what possessed me to invite him in. It just came out.

“Whose party were you at?” My voice wavered as Aaryn followed us inside. Seriously, she was going to get herself killed. I switched Nell to the other hip and thrust a handful of wet paper towels at my sister. “I thought you were done with all that trouble.”

“It smells good in here,” Leah mumbled. The chocolate chip cookies I’d baked—Danny’s favorite—cooled on the counter, my open social studies book beside them. I’d been studying between batches. Social studies: still the most pointless course in the history of high school. The tests were so hard, all those names and dates, made worse by lack of sleep.

I had to review those chapters before the night was over.

“Help yourself.” I nodded to Aaryn. “You can have one, too.”

It was weird having a guy in the house. The lavender walls, the lace curtains, Mom’s eggplant-colored sofa. He held his elbow as he stood next to the lamp with the jeweled fringe.

Leah chewed slowly. “I saw Danny.”

“Okay. So you were at Dmitri’s.”

Aaryn bit into his cookie and smiled. “You made this?”

“Yes,” I said. “My wild Thursday-night plans.”

“But—how?”

“Just followed the recipe,” I said. “Added a little love.”

“Recipe?”

Leah and I watched him for a couple of seconds before he said, “Oh. Recipe. Anyway, they’re really good.”

“They’re for Danny. It’s our one-year anniversary tomorrow.”

“He brought Jen to the party,” Leah said. She pushed her cookie aside on the place mat.

“Jen who?” When my heart sped up, I pretended to be very busy fixing Nell’s shirt, which was always riding up above her baby stomach.

“Jen from your class, the only Jen we know. Did he tell you they were going together? He didn’t, did he?”

I held my sister’s gaze. “I’m not getting into this with you.”

“I don’t think they expected me to be there.”

“You shouldn’t have been there, that’s why.”

Aaryn picked up another cookie without asking. What was he thinking of my life? My living room? The baby bouncer, the swing, the bottles I hadn’t had a chance to wash? I fit Nell into her swing, but she squirmed angrily. I jabbed the power button for the music. Electronic violins, some kind of reggae beat, played over the sound of the swing gears. “Did you say anything to him?” I didn’t want to seem like I was pumping her for information.

I wanted to ask her so bad.

“I called him an asshole,” Leah said, quite proud of the fact. “I told him he shouldn’t be at a party with another girl while you’re at home taking care of Nell.”

“He’s just trying to have a life.” My throat felt really dry. “What do you think, Aaryn?”

His eyebrows shot up. A few cookie crumbs fell from his lips. “Me?”

“What do you think about Danny going to a party with another girl? A friend, maybe? Someone he’s grown up with?”

“Oh, uh…I’m the one who invited Jen to the party.” He paused and grabbed a third cookie fast. “Not Danny. We rode in his truck, though.”

Thank God.
I faced my sister with my hands on my hips. “All that drama for nothing.”

Leah’s eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t Danny tell me that? I called him out on it, and he acted so stupid.”

Aaryn finished the cookie, holding the tip of his thumb in his mouth. “I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Leah grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and held it against one half of her mouth. “Megan told me he was saying how hard it is to be a teen dad. Give me a break. Real hard, talking about it at drinking parties.”

Nell started to cry, a nasally, coughing kind of cry, which usually meant she was really tired. “He does the best he can.”

“It’s like you’re not even dating him anymore, you’re like, life-following. You follow whatever he wants, and he
does
whatever he wants. I’m sick of seeing him at parties. All I can think about is how he shouldn’t be there. He should be home with you.”

I sighed, so, so tired of this conversation and of worrying. I hadn’t told her about Louisiana, but she was acting like she knew. Life-following. I stopped the swing. Nell smiled at me.

“You don’t get it,” I said. She wasn’t thinking about all the good times Danny and I had shared. The school dances, the dates when it was just us two, and our double dates with Peyton and Nick. “But I guess I do hope that he’s not giving Jen a ride home. They’re not that great of friends.”

“Right, while you’re sitting here with a kitchen full of his favorite cookies,” Leah said.

Aaryn inched toward a fourth—yes, fourth—cookie.

“Hey—save some for Danny,” I said.

“Sorry. They’re just really good.” Nell cooed for his attention and he grinned. “She looks a lot like you.”

My little babe. I picked her up and kissed her cheek, bringing her closer to him. She tried to whack him with her fist.

“Can I hold her?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

I fit Nell into his hands. She was wide-eyed and excited, pounding him with both fists. His chest appeared solid enough for the beating. “Hi, sweetie,” he said, and Nell answered with her adorable baby talk, cute enough to make me think it had all been worth it.

Then she puked.

“Oh my God.” I grabbed her burp rag as Leah snorted, and began to wipe the white stain on his shirt. The fabric puckered where the liquid sank in. “I’m so sorry. That’s probably why she was crying.”

Aaryn held Nell at arm’s length, like he was afraid she might do it again. “Wow. That’s a first.”

Smiling, I gathered her up and cradled her. Funny how shocking puke could be when it wasn’t part of your everyday routine.

“Oh well, a little puke never killed anyone, right?” he said.

I aimed and tossed the rag at his chest.

“Hey!” He dodged that thing pretty fast.

“How old are you?” Leah asked. Great, now she was interested in him. I knew my sister too well.

“Nineteen.” He picked at his shirt to help it dry. “Hey, Karma, did you know I’m going fishing with Danny tomorrow?”

“Oh?” I filled a bottle with water, then shook the formula out.

“Yeah.” Aaryn sat on one of the stools behind the kitchen island, the one with the ruffled vinyl edge. “I told him to invite you to the café after, but I think he took it the wrong way. He got kind of jealous.”

My face flushed at the thought. Danny, jealous of Aaryn? “Really? Well, tell him I said sure. That would be nice.” I smoothed Nell’s hair from her ear to her neck with my fingertip. Silky and soft, so precious. “I mean, it’s our anniversary, so it would be nice to get some extra time together.”

“Is he normally a pretty jealous guy?”

“Danny? Oh no, not really. I don’t know.”

Aaryn clapped his hand to his forehead. “Duh—I guess he’d rather hang out with you instead of fishing. Not too romantic if I’m there. I’ll cancel.”

“No, no, no, it’s okay, really. You don’t have to cancel. I have dance and homework, and it’s not like we have a sitter.” Nell squirmed when I hugged her. “Do you want to see what I got him?”

“The suspense is killing me,” Leah said.

“Yes,” Aaryn said.

It wasn’t until I was at my bedroom door that I realized he’d followed me. “Oh, uh, you can just wait in the kitchen.” But the door opened when Nell banged on it, and he saw the mess, my God, how embarrassing. Thankfully the path to Nell’s crib and her neat pile of belongings looked somewhat responsible.

“You weren’t supposed to see that,” I said, flipping on the light. I really had to make it a priority to clean my room.

“I mean, who could expect that your clothes would, you know, go
into
the basket instead of onto the floor?” Aaryn said.

“Shut up. I have bad aim. And bad rebound.” I found Danny’s gift among the clutter without any problem.

“Here it is. Cute, right?” The photo frame had three images. “This one’s from homecoming, the day I knew he was my Mr. Right.” I wore a pink dress; he, a suit coat and baseball cap. Aaryn’s smile had changed to a weird half gape. “I was so nervous,” I said, and let out a weird, three-second giggle, almost like I was there again. Maybe my nerves had something to do with how crowded the hall felt with Aaryn next to me. He seemed comfortable standing inches away. “I guess this one speaks for itself.” The shot of me and Danny, him giving my belly a thumbs-up—classic. Nell kept trying to grab the frame. “So yeah. That’s his gift.”

“ ‘You’re my everything,’ ” he read aloud, which is what I’d doodled across the final photo, one of me taken during a dance shoot.

“Is it dumb?” I cradled the frame against my chest, feeling insecure from the intense look he was giving me.

“Not at all.” He nodded, urging me to show him again, one finger on the corner of the frame. “That pose is amazing.”

“Oh, thanks. Juliette’s a nag about angles. I hope Danny likes it.”

“Me too.” Nell beat his shoulder. “I really don’t want to take up all his time tomorrow. Maybe you two can make plans.”

“Maybe.” I felt jumpy from all the questions I wanted to ask. “Anyway, are you and Jen dating, then? You just moved here, right? The girls told me about the hike.”

Aaryn cleared his throat. “I’m not seeing anyone right now.”

My pulse was erratic from the stress of Leah, the Jen thing. Lots of things. “Oh. Okay.” I tapped Nell’s diaper. The reggae music on her swing was still on, so I wound my way through the room and turned it off. Maybe Danny would leave the party early if I asked. It would be really good to see him, maybe just sit on the couch and watch a movie while I finished my homework. Something.

“I’m going to bed before Mom gets home,” Leah said. Aaryn took this as his cue to leave.

“Yeah, well, great,” he said. “Glad you got home okay.” He stood in the entry with lace curtains framing him. The puke stain had dried into a crusty smear. He extended his hand and my heart did a leap. “Here’re the keys.”

“Oh, of course, thank you.”

Leah waved and made her way to the bathroom. After a second of hesitation, I walked over. Even though he smelled like smoke, I felt relaxed around him. He had an honest face, like he wouldn’t bullshit me. His gaze was direct. Curious. “Thanks for tonight,” I said. “I’m glad you were at the party to help Leah. She’s annoying, but I love her.”

“I know.” He reached for the door. Nell was punching me, eyes glued to his face. She found him very intriguing. “It’s good to see you again, Karma.”

He left before I could find my voice. I shivered. The dead bolt clipped in place, me with my eyes closed, inhaling Nell’s scent in long, even breaths.

He was the one who invited Jen.

With a satisfied nod, I messaged Danny. He’d probably want to ditch that stupid party and be with his girls. He loved my chocolate chip cookies.

Day 10

“Ready to catch some fish?” Danny said. There was no hint of enthusiasm in his voice. He had dark circles under his eyes and a scrape on his jaw.

“Oh, we’re still on?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”

“Uh, no reason. I’m ready.” I had a new plan—make that a very necessary plan—after his near freak-out over me “liking Karma” the night before. First part of the new plan? I had to stay cool. So far, me leaning against the wall with an open copy of
Fight Club,
not at all wondering if Karma might meander by? Check and check.

“Before I forget—you were great at practice yesterday.”

“You think so?”

I clapped his shoulder. “Definitely. You had some nice moves out there. Best I’ve seen in a while. I told Walt he has to start you next game.”

He grinned. “Awesome. Thanks, man.”

When Karma rounded the corner, his mouth went straight. I pretended to be very interested in the view outside.

“Hey, guys.”

“Oh, hey,” Danny said. “We were just heading out.”