In Your Arms (14 page)

“You are pretty good at this,” Phillip said, looking at Sam, “but too bad I’m faster!” Phillip passed Sam as he made his way to the entrance.

“You’re a cheater.” Sam smiled as she skated up to Phillip, panting, out of breath.

“Well, just a little,” he said, his own breath uneven. “I lied when I said I hadn’t skated in a while.”

“You did, did you?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sorry I did it,” Phillip said.

“Why?” Sam asked.

“Because it gave me a reason to hold your hand.”

Sam blushed as she looked up at Phillip, not looking away this time. “Well, if we’re divulging secrets, then I better tell you something.”

“What?” Phillip asked softly.

“I knew that you were faking it, and that you knew how to skate,” Sam said, her smile growing bigger.

“And you didn’t tell me?” Phillip asked.

“No, because I wanted to hold your hand too,” Sam said.

She turned her head, focusing on the skaters on the ice. She couldn’t believe she had just told Phillip she wanted to hold his hand. She looked away before she could see his reaction, but he had told her the same thing. Phillip had wanted to hold her hand. It may have been a small symbol to other people, but to her it felt so intimate. Looking across the rink, she noticed Michael and Alex sitting down on one of the benches.

“Look, there’s Michael and Alex.” Sam pointed, changing the subject.

Sam and Phillip walked over to the bench where Michael and Alex were sitting.

“You tired?” Sam asked Michael skeptically.

“Yeah, if you can believe it? She can be pretty forceful on the ice.” He pointed at Alex.

“Oh, I believe it,” Sam said. “This one time, when we were younger, there was this group of small kids who were huddled at one part of the rink and Alex—”

“Okay, Sam, no one needs to hear this story,” Alex said loudly, cutting her off.

“No, I think I want to hear it,” Phillip said.

“Me too,” Michael added.

“Samantha Baker, don’t you dare tell the rest of that story,” Alex said commandingly.

“All right, geesh! Whenever you use my full name, I know I better not do it,” Sam said.

“Ready to skate some more?” Alex asked Michael.

Michael had a pained expression as he slowly followed Alex back onto the ice.

“I guess he’s still tired,” Sam laughed as she sat on the now vacated bench. Phillip followed and sat down next to Sam.

“So what really happened to those kids?” Phillip asked.

“Huh? Oh, I can’t tell you,” Sam answered.

“I won’t say anything. I won’t even tell Michael.”

“No,” Sam laughed, “did you see the look she gave me? Besides, she would know I told you.”

“How?”

“Just trust me, she would know.”

“So you knew I was faking?” Phillip asked.

“Yeah.” Sam gave him a calculating look. “You didn’t need my help when you stepped on the ice.”

“That’s it?”

“And I saw you here a couple of weeks ago. I was here with Alex and Benjamin.”

“Ah, now I understand. So do you come here often?” he asked.

“I used to, but now, I just come when I have the chance or when my mom wants me to take Benny. So are you ready to skate some more?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Phillip said.

Sam and Phillip walked to the entrance and glided onto the ice. Phillip reached over and took Sam’s hand in his. She looked down at their hands then back at Phillip. All he did was smile at her. She smiled back and entwined her fingers with his.

“Can I tell you something?” Phillip asked.

“You can tell me anything.”

Phillip was interrupted by the loud ring of his cell phone. “Sorry. I’ll just be a minute.” He reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind,” Sam said even though she wanted to know what he was going to tell her.

“Hello?” Phillip answered the phone. “Yeah, hey, man…It has to be one of the other guys…What? No, I haven’t seen him…No, he’s not with me…I’m at the ice skating rink…With Sam…Josh, come on…”

At the mention of Josh’s name, Sam grew tense. Phillip was talking to him about what? Who were they talking about? Was it Billy?

“All right, talk to you later, man,” Phillip said then hung up the phone.

“What was that about?” Sam asked.

“Oh, Josh was wondering if Billy was with me.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Sam asked.

“Nothing that I know of. Josh just can’t find Billy and was wondering if I’d seen him.”

Sam got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d done pretty well during the last few days blocking thoughts of what had happened to Chris from her mind, but Josh’s name brought it all rushing back.

“You okay, Sam?” Phillip asked, sounding concerned.

“What?” Sam turned to look up at Phillip and lost her balance and fell to the ice, dragging Phillip down with her.

Phillip was trying to keep Sam up, but instead ended up falling down to the ice with her. She managed to land fairly light on the ice, not causing too much pain, but Phillip’s luck wasn’t as good. After the initial fall, they tumbled over and landed on their backs, Sam’s head resting on Phillip’s outstretched arm.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked as she sat up, realizing Phillip had broken her fall.

Phillip moaned loudly. “Not really.”

“I’m so sorry. Where does it hurt?” she asked, placing her hand on his chest.

“Everywhere,” he groaned.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to try and keep me up.”

“It’s okay, Sam. You can make me feel better though.”

“How? You want me to help you up? We can sit down for a while,” Sam babbled.

“Kiss me.”

“What?” Sam said with a slight laugh. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Sam. I’ve wanted to kiss you since that night in your room.”

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head?” Sam said.

“Kiss me, Sam.”

“Here? Now?”

“Yes. Kiss me.”

Sam smiled at Phillip, who was still lying on the ice, unsure quite what to do, but knowing she might never have another chance. She bent down, her hair falling to one side of her face, gently brushing his chest. Sam moved her hand to Phillip’s other side, supporting her weight on the ice as her face drew closer to his. She looked into his crystal blue eyes.

Everything around them went silent, nothing but the two of them mattered. Sam leaned further down, her face inches from his.

“Are you two all right?” Alex asked.

Sam bolted upright, only to slip on the ice again, falling straight back onto Phillip.

Phillip groaned.

“I’m sorry, was I interrupting?” Alex asked with a smirk.

“Just help me up, Al,” Sam said, holding up her hands, her tone a little sharper than she meant it to be due to her intense disappointment. She’d been so close to kissing him.

“Glad to see that you’re doing fine,” Alex said, helping Sam up.

After she stood up, Sam held out her hand for Phillip and helped him off the ice.

“I think I’ve had enough fun on the ice,” Phillip said as they both glided to the edge of the rink.

“So I guess you two are okay then?” Alex asked.

Phillip tore his gaze from Sam. “Yeah.”

“Just a little bruised,” Sam commented as they both took off their skates. They grabbed their things from the locker and sat down to put on their own shoes.

“So what happened out there?” Alex asked.

“I just lost my balance,” Sam admitted.

“I saw you were on your cell phone,” Alex said to Phillip.

“Yeah, it happened after I hung up.”

“Who were you talking to, just out of curiosity? Was it Tracy?”

Sam gave Alex a panicked look, but she didn’t notice.

“No, it was Josh. Tracy and I broke up,” Phillip said.

“You two broke up?” Alex repeated, her voice rising with excitement.

“Yeah, she was cheating,” Phillip said.

“Cheating?” Alex asked. “So Sam told you?”

“What?” he asked.

Sam cleared her throat, but Alex kept going.

“Sam told you about Tracy and Mr. Stevens.”

“What? You knew?” Phillip said, turning to look at Sam.

Sam looked into his eyes. She didn’t want to hurt Phillip, but she had to tell the truth. “Yes.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” he said, sounding hurt and angry.

“No. I didn’t know what to say,” she said helplessly.

“How about the truth? Why didn’t you tell me today?” Phillip’s voice grew harder.

“I don’t know. I wanted to tell you, but it wasn’t my business,” she miserably.

Phillip stood up. “If I hadn’t found out today, would you have told me about Tracy?”

“I don't know. Probably not. No,” Sam said simply.

Phillip turned around and started to walk away.

“Phillip, wait!” Sam called but Phillip kept on walking. “I wouldn’t have told you. I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t any of my business. Tracy should have told you herself, not me.”

Phillip walked out the door, but Sam knew he had heard her. She turned to look at Alex. “What were you thinking? I gave you the shut up look.”

“No, that was your scared look. I was wondering why you were giving it to me.”

“Well, can you get this one?” Sam said, narrowing her eyes. “It’s my I’m-Annoyed-At-You-Because-You’re-So-Stupid look.” Sam sighed. “It was going so well, too. Now he won’t trust me again.”

“Calm your horses, woman. He heard you. From what I could tell, he likes you,
really
likes you. He just needs some time to cool off. Believe me, he’ll be calling you soon. He’ll realize his mistake and call to ask your forgiveness.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I know people. People are my thing, Sam. Oh, and by the way, thanks for not telling him the rest of the skating story.”

“Alex, you continually amaze me.”

* * *

On Monday morning, Sam managed to get to Mr. Stevens’ classroom just as the bell rang. No Tracy. Sam wondered if it had something to do with what happened on Friday. Mr. Stevens was still teaching. Were Mr. Stevens and Tracy still together?

“Did you hear that Billy Lederman is missing?” Michael said as he and Alex sat down next to Sam.

“What? How do you know that?” Sam asked, her stomach twisting.

“We just heard some guy talking in the hallway,” he said.

Sam looked at Alex, knowing exactly what she was thinking. Was it Josh? Did Josh do something to him?

“Okay class, settle down,” Mr. Stevens said.

Sam sat through class, preoccupied, thinking about Phillip, and about Billy and Josh. Was Phillip going to forgive her? Would he ever talk to her again? Was Alex right? Did he like her? If so, how much? Was this just a passing fad? What about Billy? Had Josh done something to him or had he just ran away because he couldn’t take the guilt?

“Uh, Sam?” Alex said, waving her hand in front of Sam’s face.

“What? Oh sorry, did the bell ring?” Sam asked.

“Yes, Miss Baker,” Mr. Steven’s said, “but I’ll excuse you this once for not paying attention in my class.”

Sam looked up at Mr. Stevens. She had completely forgotten that he had seen her with Phillip after school on Friday. “Uh thanks,” she said. This was awkward. Her once favorite class had now become the most uncomfortable. Was this going to continue the rest of the year? What would happen when Tracy came back to class? Where was Billy?

* * *

At lunch, Sam sat down with Alex and Michael at their usual table.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked Sam.

Sam looked blankly at her lunch. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just not hungry.”

“Is it because of Phillip?”

“No, it’s a lot of things—”

“Because he keeps looking over here,” Alex said in a stage whisper. “I don’t think he’s upset anymore.”

“You don’t know that and besides, if he had forgiven me, then he would have talked to me. I haven’t seen or heard from him all weekend. And he’s avoided me all morning.”

“You mean, you’ve avoided him all morning. Anyway, sometimes, guys just need some time to cool off, especially after a week like Phillip’s had.”

“Attention, students!” Mr. Norton said over the loudspeaker. “My intent is not alarm you, but Billy Lederman has just been found—”

Cheers and whispers spread around the cafeteria the moment Mr. Norton mentioned Billy’s name.

“He was identified this morning—”

Identified? What happened? What did he mean by that?

“I’m sorry, students. There’s no easy way to say this, but he’s dead,” the principal concluded.

Students erupted in a buzz of concern and sorrow. They couldn’t believe what was going on. First the shooting with Chris and now Billy.

Only Sam knew what had really happened. Her eyes welled up with tears as the full realization of Billy’s death hit her. If Josh killed Billy to silence him, it was possible she could be next if he found out what she knew.

Sam ran out of the cafeteria. She couldn’t be there any longer. How could she be in the same room as Josh? How could she act normally around a murderer?

No one was in the hallway as Sam ran toward her locker. She wanted to leave, just get away from everything. As Sam opened her locker, she realized that leaving was not an option if she wanted to remain unnoticed by Josh. She couldn’t make Josh more suspicious of her, couldn’t let him suspect her. Tears fell down Sam’s cheek. She sank to the floor, crying.

Sam felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. She looked up, expecting to see Alex, but it was Phillip. “So does this mean you’re not mad at me?” Sam said, wiping the tears from her face.

“Of course I’m not mad at you,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I never called you. I just needed time to think about some things.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“I shouldn’t have been mad. I can understand why you didn't tell me,” he said, looking into her eyes. He reached up and wiped away a fresh tear that had rolled down her cheek. “Were you crying about Billy or were you upset with me?”

“Don’t give yourself so much credit,” Sam said, still able to find something funny to say. “I just don’t think I can take anymore.”

“Anymore what?”

“Deaths. First Chris, now Billy,”