Quantum (38 page)

“Strange? How?”

“Well, Mr. Harvey, one of my teachers, was actually nice to me in spite of my falling asleep in class. I usually just get handed a detention slip. And everyone looked at me a bit strange.”

“Did anyone say anything weird?” David inquired.

“Weird? Why would they?”

“It’s just that you said that they looked at you strange….” He shrugged.

“You know, it’s nothing. Just stupid high school stuff. Who cares? Whatever it is, it’ll be forgotten by tomorrow.”

David nodded.

“Tell me about
you
now. I’m really glad to see you. How long are you staying?”

“I was going to travel back tomorrow, but I think I’ll stay for a bit longer, at least until your dad gets back.”

“That’s great, but he may not be back for a few days, can you stay that long?”

“Yeah, Dad’s not due to be released just yet and Mom’s over there anyway. She’ll look after him until I get back.”

“Are they divorced?”

“Yeah, for quite a while now. They are still best friends, but I want to go back and look after him when he moves back home. It doesn’t feel right to have Mom do it. She has her own life.”

I nodded. I knew exactly what he meant. I wish my parents could have at least remained friends. I don’t think they ever were to start with, though.

“Arizona, how would you feel if I transferred to your school? I really don’t like being so far away from you.”

“That would be awesome, David! How? When?”

“I’m not sure. It depends on how quickly Dad recovers. A couple of months, maybe.”

“How did this happen, David? Are your parents moving here?”

“No, I’m moving here on my own.”

“Get out! Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“How come? My dad would never allow me to do that–live on my own.”

David nodded and sighed. “It wasn’t easy convincing them. They do think this is a slightly out-there decision on my part. However, I promised that I would be sensible, and they’ve always tried to let me follow my dreams. Mom, in addition, feels you’d benefit from having me around. She really took to you, and is worried about you.”

I had strangely taken to David’s mom as well. I felt an instant connection with her. Whichever way David had persuaded his parents to allow him to move–and I was sure there was more to the story–it was beyond awesome. I’d still have to be without him for two months. Just having him here with me today had taken the edge off my pain and loneliness. Did I just need him for that? Or, was there more to it? I guess the distance could be a good thing. It would help me sort the bad from the good and make sure that I wasn’t just using David to dampen my sadness. I had to kick myself back into real life again and deal with what was going on. But two months, that’s an awfully long time.

“I’ll try to visit you as much as I can, but it won’t be easy. Between looking after Dad, school and homework, it’s going to be a challenge. Especially since the flights are so long.”

We were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. “David, go hide in my bedroom. It’s probably Beth. I really don’t want her seeing you here.”

I dealt with Beth the best I could. I could tell that she was disappointed when I insisted that I would be fine and wanted to sleep in my own room. She left saying that she would ask the agents to keep a special look out.

When I went to tell David that it was all clear, he’d fallen asleep in my bed. He looked peaceful, gentle snoring sounds coming from where he lay on my pillow. I went and lay beside him, feeling safe, giving way to my dreams.

B
y the time Christmas came along, I was proudly zooming around on my spanking new Harley, which I had guilted Mom into buying for me. It hadn’t been all that difficult once she found out about my misadventure in Mountain View and that I had tried to find her. Turns out that Ella and she had moved to Hollywood when Ella got cast in a TV show. She had apparently told me all about it during our last lunch, but I had been too busy listening to my iPod. So that whole news bulletin totally eluded me, as did the slip of paper on which she jotted down her new number. I vaguely remember throwing it in the garbage. Anyway, the Harley was mine.

I had spent a hard two months without David. He
hadn’t been able to visit at all, so I was by myself most of the time. I was busy, so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Monica was a bit weird with me and, shortly after David left, when I spent a girl’s evening out with her and some of the girls from the lacrosse team, she took me aside.

“
A
, what’s going on? Why did you change your look?”

Okay, I admit it. Ever since I met David, I was paying more attention to the way I looked. I was even using some of the perfume my mom left behind. I couldn’t have him think I was totally gross. I was even wearing my hair down instead of pulled into my usual ponytail. So what? “Oh, do you
have to
go on about it? Seriously, can’t we talk about regular stuff?”

Monica shrugged. “What about David? Where did he go?”

“He went home. His dad’s not well. He’ll be back in a couple of months.”

And he did come back. But Gertrude didn’t. It was like she’d disappeared into thin air. Like Raj, in fact. No one had seen him either. I was devastated losing Gertrude. She was a permanent fixture in my bed; I needed her warmth at night. Mom offered to buy me a new dog for Christmas, but Dad wouldn’t hear of it. He was right. No other dog could take Gertrude’s place anyway.

David moved into a small apartment in Princeton, just a few blocks from my house. He started coming to school with me.

“David, are you going to tryout for the hockey team?” I asked him, after he’d been at school for a few days. We were standing by Lake Carnegie in Princeton. I wanted us to have our very own lake here. It was way less isolated than the lake David had taken me to in Mountain View, but just as pretty, I thought anyway.

“You think I should?”

“Yeah, definitely! You’ve been playing for Mountain View varsity, right? You probably won’t even have to try out. Just talk to Coach about it.”

“All right, I will. Just bear in mind that I’ll outplay you,” he smirked.

Yeah, right
. I ate those words. David could play! I was sure that he would become our next Captain, when Christian left for college next year. So, David and I practically spent all our time together. We were in all the same classes, played hockey and hung out. I didn’t feel lonely anymore. Furthermore, I felt secure in the knowledge that David had my back. I felt connected with someone–other than Gertrude–for the first time in my life.

We were only apart twice during the remainder of the year. Once was at Christmas when David went home to see his parents. He did ask Dad and me to come, but Dad didn’t want to go–poker game–and I didn’t want to leave Dad on his own. So Christmas was difficult.

The second time was now–October. He’d been gone for almost a week–during school time. He didn’t give me any warning as he burst through my door early in the morning last week.

“Arizona, I’ve got to leave for a while. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourself.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, concerned. He looked unusually stressed.

“I have to go home. Mom needs me.”

“Is everything okay? Is your dad all right?”

“Yeah, they’re fine.”

“Then what? Is Raj back?” There had been no signs of Raj during the last year. It was like he and his family had evaporated, they had left no clues behind. There had been a few sightings of Dan and Sophie, but they made a run for it whenever they were spotted.

“Don’t worry about this, Arizona. I’ll be back in no time. Okay?”

“I guess. Call me every so often to let me know you’re okay,” I said, making sure I wasn’t sounding clingy. I could cope just fine. I was just worried about him; he looked so tense.

“Babe, I have to go,” he said, as he held me tight for a last time before he left.

It was now a week later. I didn’t know if I should be pissed or seriously worried. I looked down at my cell. No point calling David again, he’d turned off his phone. I hated to, but I called his dad.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Is this Dr. Sanderson?”

“Yes, who is this?”

“Oh, pardon me. This is Arizona Stevens. I’m David’s….”

“Hi, Arizona! How are you doing? Inez and I were hoping that you would join us at Christmas. We were sorry you couldn’t make it.”

“Me, too. I’d love to come down this Christmas.” I’m sure we could find Dad a poker game in Mountain View. “Dr. Sanderson, is David there with you?”

“No, he’s with his mother.”

“Have you heard from him at all? Is he okay? I’m just a bit worried. He hasn’t called me at all.”

“I haven’t heard from him, but I’m sure he’s fine. Probably just busy with Inez.”

“Okay, thanks. Bye.”

“Goodbye, Arizona. I look forward to seeing you at Christmas.”

So that was that, I thought to myself as I dragged the duvet up to cover my body. It was too warm, but the duvet afforded a feeling of security. I lay back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Dad was away, the house was wonderfully quiet. It would be Halloween soon. It would be my first Halloween with David. I hoped he would be back in time. I would miss dressing Gertrude up in a Halloween costume. Just as I was drifting off with images of different costumes running through my mind, the doorbell rang. Sheesh.

I stumbled out of bed and went to open the door. I could tell that it was
him
even before I opened it. The whole house suddenly felt
happy
. I flung the door open and jumped into his arms. “David!” I smooshed his face with mine.

“What’s that?” I yelled as something scratched my leg. I looked down. I was overcome with happiness as I jumped off David and gathered her up in my arms. Gertrude.