My Sweetest Escape (5 page)

movies on my computer.

I threw in movie reviews every now and

then on my blog just to spice things up.

They usually got quite a few hits, especially

if they were classics from the eighties.

There’s something so comforting about

watching a movie you’ve seen a ton of

times. I started out with
Sixteen Candles,

and then because I was in a John Hughes

kind of mood, I moved on to
Ferris

Bueller’s Day Off,
and then
Pretty in Pink,

which took me almost to the end of Renee’s

shift at the hospital.

I was camped out in one of the lounges,

and for a hospital it was pretty quiet except

for the occasional squeak of a nurse’s shoes

on the linoleum, or a restless kid fussing, or

a monitor going off. I’d had dinner at the

cafeteria, but that had been a few hours

ago, and I was in need of munchies.

Renee had showed me a vending

machine down the hall, so I fished in my

bag for some quarters and paused the

movie.

“Yes,” I said as I saw that they had both

M&M’s and Skittles. I couldn’t eat one

without the other. It was something I’d

started doing as a kid, and it was one of

those things I’d always done that had never

changed.

My M&M’s came out fine, but the stupid

Skittles bag got stuck. Great. The universe

was out to screw me. I banged on the

machine, trying to shake the candy loose.

Luckily, there was no one around. I didn’t

want to get busted for destruction of

hospital property. That would most

definitely be against Renee’s rules.

I turned my shoulder and shoved the

side of the machine, trying desperately to

get the bag of candy to fall from the

clutches of the machine.

“Come on, you son of a
bitch,
” I said,

ramming my shoulder into the machine.

“You have to put your hips into it,” a

voice said, making me look up from my

assault of the vending machine.

“What?” A guy wearing a baggy hoodie

and equally baggy jeans over torn-up

high-tops was looking at me like I was

something he’d never seen before. He had

darkish skin, cropped black hair, but the

most astonishing green eyes.

Unlike mine, which shaded toward blue,

they were almost goldish. They popped in

his face, especially since they were fixed on

me. He jerked his chin at the machine.

“You have to put your hips into it. Here,”

he said, glancing over his shoulder to make

sure no one was watching before motioning

to me to move aside. “The key is to thrust

your whole body into it. Not just your

shoulders.”

Was it just me, or did he make that

sound sexual on purpose? I gaped at him

and he laughed. Nope, wasn’t just me.

It was one of those laughs that made

you want to laugh, too, like a reflex. I was

barely able to hide the smile that

threatened to spread on my face.

“On three,” he said, putting his hands on

the machine next to mine. Up close, his

eyes were even brighter. They almost

glowed.

“One. Two. Three,” he said, and we both

shoved at the machine, which moved a hell

of a lot more than when I’d been the only

one pushing it. I heard a satisfying clunk of

the Skittles falling. The guy went around the

front of the machine and pulled the bag

out.

“Mission accomplished.” He winked as

he held it out to me.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the bag and

making sure to avoid touching his hand. I

was about to turn around and leave when

he made a sound, like he was going to say

something.

I stood there, waiting.

“I should get back,” I finally blurted out

to break the uncomfortable silence that

stood between us.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Of course, of course,” he

said, shaking his head as if he’d forgotten

something and just remembered it.

He smiled and stuck his hands into his

pockets.

“Okay. Well, ’bye.” I gave him a little

wave and turned around. What a weirdo.

“Don’t forget. Put your whole body into

it next time, Red,” he said, making me turn

back around. He was grinning again. Red?

Like I hadn’t heard that one before. At least

he hadn’t called me Carrots.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks.”

For the last time, I spun around and

walked back to the lounge, his laughter

echoing behind me.

The lounge was still empty when I got

back, and all my stuff was still there, so I

settled back in to finish another movie.

Next thing I knew, someone was shaking

my shoulder.

“Hey, Jos. Time to go,” Renee said, her

voice softer than I’d heard it in a long time.

It was the voice she probably used with

patients. I’d fallen asleep on the couch. I

couldn’t even remember it. My computer

was dark; it, too, had gone to sleep.

Renee sat down next to me, pulling my

feet into her lap and letting out a heavy

sigh.

“So what did you do?”

“Nothing,” I said, tilting my neck back

and forth to work out some kinks. “What

time is it?”

“Ten. You ready to go home?” Home.

Was that what her place was now?

“Yeah.” I swung my feet over and sat up.

“I see you raided the vending machine,”

she said, picking up the empty candy bags.

“You freak and your candy combinations.”

She crumpled them up and found a trash

can as I packed up all my stuff.

“Did you get to do anything

interesting?” she said as we walked back

down to her car.

Other than the interaction with the

Vending Machine Hero? I was about to tell

her about that and changed my mind.

“Nope,” I said around a yawn. Maybe I’d

sleep tonight.

Usually I got to a point where I was so

exhausted that my body just shut itself

down. This felt like one of those times.

“You know, you should call Mom.” I

didn’t want to. I knew it would just end up

in another yelling match, and I was too tired

to deal with that right now.

“I will.” Renee was about to say

something, but changed her mind.

“Okay.”

Everyone was deep in study mode when

we got back to the house. Paul had taken

up almost the entire dining room table with

something that, at a glance, looked far too

complicated to even begin to understand.

Taylor and Hunter had the living room,

and both had their heads buried deep in

textbooks. Darah was at a little desk that

was tucked next to the stairs, and I

suspected Mase was also around

somewhere. Nine months ago, I would have

been right there with them. Now I thought

they just looked like a bunch of people

wasting their time.

“Little Ne,” Mase said, coming down the

stairs, a textbook in hand, big surprise.

“How’s life?”

“Peachy,” I said, putting my bag down

on the bench by the front door. The sound

of the door closing seemed to rouse

everyone else, and they descended on us.

There were just so many of them. It was

overwhelming. Plus the happy.

That was equally overwhelming. Paul

came over and gave Renee a kiss, and she

went to sit with him at the dining table to

catch up.

“I’m going down to my…room,” I said,

catching myself before I could say
cave.
It

wasn’t really a cave. Or, if it was, it was the

nicest cave ever. With Wi-Fi and everything.

“Are you sure? This house is yours now.

You don’t have to stay down there,” Hunter

said. “We’re not that scary, are we?”

He turned to Taylor, whose eyes were

pretty glazed over.

“What? I’m still thinking about

suffragettes.” He gave her a look and shook

his head.

“Seriously, Jos, this is your home.” It

wasn’t really, but it was nice of him to say

that.

“I’m just really tired. I’m going to bed.” I

said good-night to everyone, including

Renee.

“Not planning any nocturnal activities?”

she said.

“Nope,” I said, popping my lips on the
p.

“Well, just in case, I’m watching you,”

she said, making a gesture with two fingers

to her eyes and then pointing them at me.

“Whenever you think I’m not there, that’ll

be when I show up.”

“Jesus, enough with the third degree. I

got it. Message received. Mission

accomplished.” I stomped down the stairs

and banged the door shut.

Ahh, peace and quiet.

The rest of the week went pretty much

like that first full day, with the exception of

Renee letting me go to the admissions

office by myself to sign up for all my classes

and get everything transferred over from

UNH. Since my first year grades were so

high, even with the shitty grades I’d gotten

last semester, they were still willing to let

me in.

When it came to classes, I just picked

whatever. I’d decided to stick with my

major, political science with a prelaw minor,

since it seemed easier than picking a new

one.

I’d thought transferring would be a pain

in the ass, but it was relatively easy, and

before the end of the week I was officially a

UMaine Black Bear, with an official decal for

my car and a copy of the school song, the

“Stein Song.” I was sure I wasn’t the first

person who found it ironic that a college

had a drinking song as their official school

song. What kind of message did that send?

I’d only really missed the first week of

classes, so I was going to be able to catch

up no problem, according to all the

professors who had emailed me on my new

UMaine account to send me the syllabi

from their classes.

Renee wasn’t around to take me to get

my textbooks, because of a meeting of her

nursing club, so the task fell to Hunter and

Taylor, who drove me to campus on

Saturday.

They fought about what music to play

the whole way there.

“I think that Jos should pick,” Taylor

finally said when we were practically driving

onto campus.

“I don’t care.”

“The rule is that the driver gets to pick,”

Hunter said, skipping a song that Taylor had

picked out.

“Uh, no, the rule is that I get to pick.”

“Since when?”

“Since you put this swell ring on my

finger,” she said, holding up the amazing

ring that Hunter had gotten her when

they’d first started dating. It was fucking

huge, and nearly blinding when you looked

at it. Yet another show of his wealth. It was

just wrong that some people had so much

money and others had less than nothing.

Not that Renee and I were poor, but we

definitely got our fair share of financial aid,

what with our parents having so many kids

between them.

“That ring does not give you totalitarian

radio powers,”

Hunter said, taking her hand and kissing

it.

“Thank God,” I said under my breath as

he found a parking spot by the performing

arts center, which wasn’t too far from the

bookstore. They continued to argue as we

walked into the Union and then went

downstairs to the bookstore.

I was about to tell them that I could just

find my books myself when Hunter grabbed

my list from my hand and started grabbing

books.

“Hold up, dude,” Taylor said, poking him

in the stomach and snatching the list. “Not

all of us can just pick out whatever books

we want.” She gave me a sympathetic

smile.

Hunter had pulled all new books off the

shelves, ones that were still wrapped in

plastic. There was no way I could afford

those. I’d have to get used ones, and even

then it was going to be tight.

Taylor started pulling books off the

shelves, all with that bright yellow USED

sticker on them. She flipped through to

make sure they didn’t have strange stains,