Lingering Touch - A Story of Young Love (14 page)

After the last step there was a pause, and I could feel her eyes on us.

"Trevor?" I stopped breathing. Her voice was cracked and quiet, she sounded like a little mouse, like she was afraid of something.

"Um, hi, Mrs.—er, miss Rushton." I whispered, and turned my head ever so slightly so I could look at her without jostling Trevor. Her hollow eyes gazed at me confusedly. Her thin eyebrows furrowed slightly, causing the pale skin on her forehead to crinkle.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" Her voice suddenly sounded hard, and her eyes shone with a bit of light.

"I'm Trevor's friend," I said gently, slowing easing myself away from him to stand up. "He let me stay the night, I hope you don't mind. He's sleeping right now." She walked over to where I stood above Trevor and gazed down at him. Her face softened and she suddenly looked very tired again.

"I want you to get out of my house," she whispered, and sat next to her son. I nodded and grabbed my shoes and purse by the door, backing out slowly. When I left she was still sitting next to Trevor, petting his hair while silent tears streamed down her face.

I was seriously debating whether I would actually get up and go to school Monday morning. My cheek looked even worse and it looked like someone was going for a black eye but missed, which may very well have been what happened. Besides how they looked, my face and side hurt even more now, too. You know what they say, the bruise is always its worse after a few days.

Eventually I decided on going, because I really didn't want to stay here. I covered the bruise as best I could with makeup, and it looked a
little
better, but still not great. I had to stay away from the mirror at all costs so I wouldn't see it and convince myself not to go after all. Missing school sucks a lot worse than looking bad for a day… or a week…

Whatever. I'd think of something to tell people once I got there.

"Oh my gosh! Like, what happened to you Ariana?" Elizabeth Jones asked me when I got out of my car. Well, I guess I'll have to come up with a story sooner than I thought.

"Uh, well actually—"

"It looks like you, like, got in a fight!" She exclaimed, awed. Hmm. Interesting prospect. After all, what other excuse did I have?

"Yeah, yeah that is what happened." I grinned.

"Wo-o-ow! That is like, so bad ass."

"I know," I smiled and stepped around her, walking in the school with my head held high. Elizabeth was one of the biggest gossips in school, surely the story would be around by 2nd period, if not 1st. She caught up to me and walked right next to me, I could almost see the gossip wheels scheming in her head.

"So, like, what happened? Who did you fight? Oh my gosh I, like, have to know!"

"Um, it's actually a funny story, ha." Crap, what was I going to say? I said the first words I thought. "Um, well, I was uh, walking to Kohl's and there was this chick, and uh, I don't know man. She was crazy! I went to grab this dress—it was the last one—and this girl like, freaked out at me. I think she wanted the dress, too, but I saw it first. I wasn't going to let her have it.

"She like, jumped on me! Like some crazy rabid dog or something. I was like, "Dude, what the heck?" And she cussed me out! Then she started pulling my hair and hitting me! But she hit like a girl. Well, I wasn't going to just stand there while she hit me, so I hit her back. Soon we were in an all-out brawl! You could barely tell just from looking at me, but she looks way worse I swear. Eventually the chick working there called security and they came and split us up. Ugh, I didn't even get the dress! They kicked us out and threatened to call the cops! But I mean, you know, it wasn't a big deal."

I was flushed and smiling from ear to ear when I was finished fabricating my cover story. Ok, so it wasn't exactly super realistic, so what? Besides,
everything
in High School is exaggerated. And I did do a pretty good job considering I made it up on the spot.

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she inspected my battle scars with new wonder. She cussed under her breath and smiled back at me. "Wow, I mean, just, wow. Like, that is
so
cool! Can I, like, take your picture or something?" At first I thought that was a little strange, but she does do a column in the school newspaper, at least I think. As if I ever read that thing…

I put on my best brave face while she took the picture with a small black camera, and laughed while she hustled away, stuffing the camera in her bag and yanking out her phone, her fingers working as fast as lightning. Oh, this story will definitely get around. Unfortunately, most people didn't know yet, so I got plenty of wide-eyed stares as I walked down the hallway. I shrugged them off and smiled at everyone I knew, (which was almost everyone).

"Holy shit! What happened to you?" Lyssa asked when she saw me. My smile faded a little, she always knows when I'm lying.

"Haven't you heard yet? Well, I'll just tell you anyway. I got in a fight." I opened my locker and hid my face behind the door.

"Oh come on, you act so tough but we know you couldn't hurt a fly." Amber said, coming out of nowhere. Lyssa and she stood shoulder to shoulder, blocking my way.

"Okay, so maybe I didn't get in a fight. But no one else knows that!" I whisper/yelled.

"Ugh, whatever," Lyssa grumbled as the bell rang, "But you
will
tell us what happened at lunch!" She snatched Josh from the hall where he was talking with his friends and strode off, hips swaying in classic Lyssa-walk and causing Josh's friends to whistle at her.

"Are you ok?" Amber asked, stopping me from walking away by touching my arm lightly. Her light brown eyes were concerned, though if you weren't her best friend you would be able to see through her easy-going façade.

"Um, yeah. Really, I'm ok. Don't worry about it." I smiled at her and walked away before she could decipher whether I was lying.

I decided to skip first period, it's only floral design class and we're just taking notes today. Besides, it would allow the gossipers in that class to talk freely about me without me physically being there. I spent the morning in the restroom, well, gagging myself. You can't blame me though! I spent all of yesterday and the day before moping. Ok, actually on Saturday Trevor and I walked around a little, but I also ate ice cream. I hadn't had time to work it off yet.

Ugh, I forgot how awful it feels to purge.
Never again.
I promised myself, clutching my stomach, which was still bruised, in case you had forgotten. I wiped my mouth and flushed the toilet. When I walked out, I was greeted with 2 big, familiar green eyes. That girl from the ice-cream vendor… just heard me make myself throw up.

"Wow, are you ok?" She asked.

"Ha, yeah. I got kicked pretty hard in the stomach, I guess it's just now coming back to me." I shrugged. She gasped.

"Who kicked you?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? I got in a fight, that's how I got this sexy bruise," I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. I remembered I had told her I ran into a door! Oh no. No, no, no. This could be very bad. I had to convince her not to tell anyone. She had to have been a freshman, so she was naïve. She would believe me if I said the right words.

"Right, I told you I ran into a door, didn't I?" I said, glancing at her through the mirror. She nodded. "Eh, well, that was just a cover story. I mean, you don't normally tell random people you got in a fight with someone. And you look a lot younger, I wouldn't pin you for a high schooler. At any rate, I never actually ran into a wall or door or whatever I told you."

She nodded again, smiling a little. I smiled back. "What class do you have right now?"

"Floral Design, I think, we um, have that class together."

"Oh yeah? Huh, I never noticed. Have you been in there yet?" I asked, glancing at her bag. She shook her head, and I grinned. "Well then, wanna ditch with me?"

Her eyes got even bigger than they already were. "
Ditch?
It that even allowed?"

I laughed. "Of course not! But neither is being late, technically. Come on, we'll get a frappuccino or something." I held the door open for her and she tentatively walked out. I led her to my car, pulling out my phone and pretending to do something useful on it so the awkward silence falling between us was slightly less awkward.

"This is your car?" She exclaimed when I got in.

"Ha, yeah. Who else's would you expect it to be?"

"Um, good point." We laughed and she got in carefully.

"So what's your name little freshman?" I asked, pulling out.

She looked surprised that I knew she was a freshman, but didn't comment on it. "My name is Lilly, and yours is Ariana, right?"

"Very good." We made small talk until I got to Starbucks. Inside I ordered a caramel macchiato and poor Lilly looked so confused, so I just ordered one of the same for her, too.

We drank our coffees quietly for a minute. Then Lilly spoke, "So, in the bathroom, you weren't uh,
making
yourself throw up, were you?" She asked.

For a quiet little freshman, this girl was pretty bold.

"I told you, I got kicked in the stomach." I stated without looking at her.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make people throw up, if they are kicked in the stomach. Especially a few days after it actually happened."

"Chill girl, so I wasn't feeling well? Don't go spreading it around." This seemed to finally shut her up, and she became her quiet self once again. "Okay, first is almost over. You wanna head back now?"

"Oh my gosh, really? Crap, I am so dead! My parents are gonna kill me!" She groaned.

I pulled out a slip of paper and a pen and scrawled a quick note,
Please excuse Lily
"Hey, what's your last name?"
Wess for being tardy.
"What's your mom's name?"
~Sally Wess
and signed it. "Here, problem solved!" I smiled at her. She smiled widely back and followed me to my car. After dropping her off, I didn't feel like staying, so i wandered aimlessly.

I ended up at some random gas station, I think it was a 7-11. Inside I found some cheap sunglasses that would cover most of the bruise on my face. I bought it and a couple packs of gum, because I found I was all out when I purged.

Hey baby, what class are you in?
I texted Austin. He had called and texted me several times over the weekend, none of which I answered. There were eight unread voice messages in my phone as well, none of which I listened to.

im in ellisons, y?
I really hate text language. I didn't text him back, just drove up to the college he attended and asked around until someone was able to direct me to Ellison's room. I peeked in the doorway and saw him sitting straight up near the front of the room, listening intently like the good boy that he is.

How do I get him out without causing too much attention? You can't just leave during the middle of a lecture. A girl walked down the hallway, and I called out to her. After telling her my plan, she took the 20 dollars I handed her gratefully and threw open the door of Ellison's room.

"Excuse me? Excuse me! I need Austin Skye! Please sir, it's an emergency! Austin Skye, come here! Please! It's urgent!" Then she ran out, giving me a wide smile over her shoulder.

Austin bolted out the door a few seconds later, panting. I grinned at him and put my arms around his neck. He looked around frantically, confused, and then seemed to realize what I did. He grinned and lifted me up, twirling me. I giggled and he set me down.

"Babe! What?" He couldn't even form a sentence, how endearing.

"I just figured you needed to get out for a minute," I grinned, hugging him again and pecking him lightly on the lips.

"Well then let's go!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside. We didn't actually go anywhere, though. We sat in my car and… talked.

"I called you," he said.

"I know."

"Why didn't you answer?"

"I don't know." We were silent. I hadn't planned on talking.

"Listen, you don't need to—holy crap!" He seemed to notice for the first time the cut on my lips and the bruise peeking out from behind my glasses. "What happened?!"

"Oh uh, well, um. I got in a fight?" I squeaked, making it a question.

"You're dad did this, didn't he?" He groaned, putting his face in his hands. "I shouldn't have left! I'm so sorry babe! I just, I didn't think he would actually
hurt
you! I just thought… I was a coward. I'm so sorry Ariana, are you ok? How can I ever make it up to you?"

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm fine. Can you just, not tell anyone? I've been saying I got in a fight. You gotta admit, it sounds a lot better than 'my dad hit me'". I added when he frowned at me.

Austin sighed. "I won't tell anyone. But I don't think it's a good idea to lie about it, it's wrong morally, yes, but you should probably get some help about this, don't you think?"

"Yeah, probably. Just, not yet. Ok? Let me do it, please," I begged.

"Ok, fine. Um, I love you."

Again with the I love you. I had the whole weekend to think about what I could say to him but I haven't. "Um…"

"You don't need to say it back! I just want you to know. I love you." He smiled tentatively at me. I smiled back.

"Let's go do something, shall we?"

Chapter 12 - Last Night

Austin and I ended up just going on a walk, and funny enough, we walked through that same park Trevor and I walked through the other day. I couldn't help but recall that day and compare it to this one. As he talked, I let my mind wander, drifting back to the night before, when I had shown up at Trevor's house unexpectedly, hoping with all my might that his mother wouldn't see me again.

"Are you sure you don't just want to go home?" Trevor asked, concerned.

"Definitely sure. There is no way I will go back there tonight. My dad would kill me! How am I supposed to explain another bruise? Thank goodness people believed the story about the fight, but what now, I got in another fight? No, people will get curious. And I won't be able to come up with yet another excuse for the beating he'd give me if I went back tonight. Can't I just stay with you one more night? Please Trev?" I was ready to get down on my knees, but he held the door open and gestured for me to come inside.