Sanctity (20 page)

“Ah, ha,” I thought and tried the third
gear.  We were on a level bit of trail and the same thing
happened again; my cadence dropped and though I was not pedaling
nearly as fast as I was a moment before I had picked up the pace
again. 

Charlie was smiling as he realized what I
was up to.  He egged me on and everything changed.  We
started riding much more aggressively.  He knew the trails
well and started telling me when to use the left shifter. 
There were only three gears on the left and he called out the
appropriate number for each part of the trail as he thought I would
need them.

“Three,” he called when we
were about to level out or go downhill or either one or two when we
were approaching a hill or a 
climb
 as he called them. 
He knew I had gotten pretty comfortable with the right shifter and
the various gears so he didn’t bother instructing me with
those. 

I was feeling absolutely exhilarated. 
As we were racing downhill one time I had a strange sensation of
déjà vu.  I felt like I had either done that before or
something very similar.  As our ride continued I admired how
Charlie easily climbed the hills while I was struggling and lagging
behind.  He was whipping through the corners, too but I had to
break a lot when we came to a tight turn.  Charlie seemed to
blow right through them as I tried to figure out how he could keep
from skidding off the trail every time he hit a curve.

“How does he do that?” I wondered and
smiled.

We rode for about 45 minutes altogether and
although Charlie made it look easy and I knew it would take me a
good long time before I was even close to keeping up with
him.  I had so much fun and it was so exciting and I dearly
hoped to try it again sometime soon.

When we got back to the trailhead Charlie
screeched to a stop and whipped his helmet off, “Are you sure this
is your first time mountain biking?”

I was breathless with exertion and the
exhilaration I felt, “I’m sure, well, actually I can’t be sure-sure
but as far as I know this is my first time.  I don’t really
remember much before I came to live with Aunt Margaret.”

“Oh, right, sorry, the accident.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Charlie. 
It sounds a lot worse than it was.  Margaret has been
super-good to me and I’m just happy to be here.”

“Me too,” he said, “so is it love at first
bike?”  We both laughed and asked at the same time, “Do you
want to go again?”  Another hearty laugh ensued followed by a
play by play discussion of our ride. 

Charlie gave me a few tips and plenty of
critiques as well which spilled over into our drive home.  As
Charlie’s mom dropped me off I thanked her for the ride.  I
made Charlie promise to thank his brother for the loaner bike and
told him to e-mail me the next time he would like some company on
the trails.  I waved as their car pulled away and hurried in
to share my experience with Margaret.

Charlie and Missy (who we’d discovered was
Charlie’s date for the formal) and one other couple had decided to
take Margaret and me up on our limo offer.  Margaret made the
reservation for us and got in touch with each of the parents to
work out the other details while we were left to sorting out
the times and locations for pick-ups and drop-offs.  Dani was
coming to my house to get ready, Zach would be at Charlie’s so we
would pick them up then go to Missy’s, Christine’s, Jake’s and
Patrick’s.  I had everyone e-mail me their addresses and I
printed them all up for Margaret to give to the limo service.

Jake hadn’t said much to me since he learned
we were intended to go together.  It was awkward, I thought,
for both of us.  I didn’t know him well and based on prior
impressions I really didn’t care to.  Part of me believed that
the only reason he agreed to the scheme when Zach broached it was
to get back at Brooke in some way.  She seemed to have learned
of our plans and so far only had the courage to scoff in contempt
at me whenever the opportunity presented itself.  I wondered
if she was plotting something but tried to ignore the thought.

The weekend was coming and Margaret offered
to take me and Danielle shopping for something to wear.  She
actually seemed to be looking forward to the formal nearly as much
as Danielle.

“I’m so excited for you,” Aunt Margaret
would say whenever we had the need to talk about our plans.

I would just smile and nod.  I wished I
could share her enthusiasm.  I wished I wasn’t going with
Jake.  I wished there was someone else I was going with,
someone I actually cared to go with. 

Some part of me knew it was all wrong, that
I shouldn’t have been going at all.  I was starting to feel
envious of the others and that made it all the more difficult to
stay true to my intentions.  I was happy for Danielle and the
way she felt about Zach and even though I didn’t feel more than
friendship towards Charlie, I sometimes wished we were going
together instead of me and Jake.  They all seemed so natural
and happy; Danielle and Zach, Charlie and Missy, holding hands as
they walked to class or stealing kisses in the hallway.  That
was more of what I envisioned when I imagined myself at the Spring
Formal; being there with someone I at least had significant
feelings for. 

When Saturday and our trip to the mall
rolled around Margaret let us run off to look for dresses while she
did a little shopping for herself.  We had two hours to
hopefully find something suitable and to meet her back at the food
court.  Dani found a dress she liked in just about every store
but I tried on one after another only to be disappointed each
time.  By the fifth store Danielle was clearly frustrated with
me and I was getting a little antsy myself.

“I’m sorry.  I guess I’m just not in
the spirit of shopping today.”  I tried to apologize but it
was a feeble attempt and Danielle wasn’t buying it.

“Seriously?  That is the best excuse
you can come up with.” 

I tried to smile but Dani knew there was
more to it than I was letting on, “Look I know Jake is worst
case scenario in your opinion and that you are only doing this as
my friend.  I promise it won’t be as bad as whatever you are
imaging.  I’ve heard Jake talking to Zach and I know he is
going to put his best foot forward.  I actually think he might
even like you.”

“Ugh, anything but that!”

“Come on, give the guy a break.  He’s
been out from under Brooke’s thumb for a few weeks now. 
Surely he’s bound to have improved at least a little bit.”

“If you say so.” 

“Let’s try this one,” Brooke ducked into the
next store. 

I browsed the racks for a few minutes and I
was about to give up when the saleslady approached me.  “That
man over there wanted me to give you this,” she held out a
full-length black slip dress.  I turned to look where she was
pointing but there was no one there. 

“Very funny, Danielle,” I thought to
myself.  I took the dress and headed to the changing
room.  I tried it on and it was like coming home.  It fit
perfectly, looked exquisite and I couldn’t get over how incredible
I felt in it.

I stepped out of my stall, “Danielle, are
you in here?”

“Wow,” she exclaimed from behind me, “that
dress is amazing!  Where’d you get it?”

“Duh, I know you gave it to the saleslady
for me.”

“Uh, afraid not, I’ve been in here for the
past 10 minutes,” she pointed to the stack of dresses she had been
trying on.

“Huh, that’s odd.  I was browsing the
racks and the saleslady came up to me and said that some man had
asked her to give it to me.  There was no one else in the
store when she tried to point him out to me so I thought you were
having a bit of fun.”

“Maybe it was your fairy godfather here to
help you get ready for the ball,” Dani teased. 

“Whatever.  Well, I don’t care how it
got to me, it’s mine now, or at least it will be once I pay for
it.  Are you getting anything here?”

“No, I think my favorite is back at the
second store.  You get yours and we’ll head back.”

“OK.”

I hurriedly changed back into my clothes and
brought the dress to the register.  “Oh, yes, here you are,”
the saleslady handed me a bag from behind the counter. 

“What’s this?”

“The man that told me to give you the dress,
he already bought it.  Here’s the receipt.”

It was a cash sale, so there was no name
from a credit card printed on it.  “Are you sure?  I
don’t know anyone who would do something like that.  It’s
really weird.”

Danielle came over and I gave her a quick
rundown of what had happened.

“Wow, I wish something like that would
happen to me!”

“Are you crazy?  Some stranger stalks
me in the mall, buys me a dress then disappears and you think that
is OK and something you want to happen to you.”

“Well, not when you put it like that,
no.  Hey, what’d this guy look like, anyway?”  Danielle
turned back to the salesperson.

“Oh, you know, tall, dark; stunning
actually.”

“There, you see, nothing to
worry about, I haven’t seen a 
stunning
 guy all day.  Now
let’s go get my dress.”

I thanked the saleslady for her help and
shamefully left the store.  I knew I shouldn’t take the dress
but I couldn’t bear to part with it either.  I kept seeing
myself in it over and over again.  I couldn’t wait to show
Margaret. 

“OK, wipe that grin off your face, you look
like a lunatic.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little,” I shook my head,
“overwhelmed, I guess.  This isn’t exactly a common occurrence
you know.”

“Eh, whatever.  Don’t look a gift horse
in the mouth, that’s what I say.”  Dani hurried into the
second store we visited and bought her dress. 

Margaret was a minute or two late so
Danielle and I passed the time over a smoothie.  “Let’s not
mention this to Margaret,”

“Sure, whatever,” Danielle shrugged.

When she found us I saw that Aunt Margaret
had picked up a few new clothes for herself and a little something
from the cooking store as well.  “So how’d you girls make
out?”

We each held up our shopping bags. 
“Would you like us to model them for you when we get home?”  I
asked.

“I would love that,” Margaret smiled.

We all gathered our respective bags and
headed for the car.  I couldn’t help but peer at every man’s
face as we passed them by.  I wondered who bought the dress
and I prayed that it was just a generous, indiscriminate
gesture.  I hoped it was one of those random acts of kindness
you sometimes heard about on the news.  I hated to keep
thinking about it, because the more I did, the more certain I was
that I had made the wrong decision. 

“How did he guess my size, or did he just
assume the saleslady would exchange it if it didn’t fit?” I
wondered to myself.

I was starting to lose some of the earlier
exuberance I felt at finding such a great dress.  I also felt
badly knowing I was again keeping something from Aunt Margaret that
I was sure she would care to know.  After a few more minutes
of self-crimination I started to become visibly irritable. 
Dani nudged me to improve my expression as we journeyed
home. 

“Everything alright Lily?”

“Yeah, fine, I was just thinking that
Danielle got the better dress,” I sighed.

“Right, we’ll see about that when we get
home.  Can you be an impartial judge Mrs. Donovan?”

“You bet,” she smiled back at us both.

Once we were home Dani and I ran up to my
room.  We both scampered into our dresses and fished through
my closet looking for shoes for each of us.  She was a bit
more petite than I was and my shoes were a size or two too big but
she managed to find a pair that looked well with her dress. 
She slung them on two fingers, hesitant to try navigating the
stairs in them and we headed to the kitchen to model our outfits to
Aunt Margaret. 

She was sipping a cup of tea with her back
to us but spun around as she heard us come into the
kitchen. 

“Oh my,” she said, “you two look just
lovely.  She studied each of us for a moment and I couldn’t
help wondering if she was somehow disappointed in the dress I was
wearing.

“Don’t you love it?”  I asked.

“I do, dear, I do but, I guess I’m just
being motherly.  You look so grown-up and so elegant. 
I’m not used to seeing you like this.  It reminds me that in
another year or so you will be off to college and that my time with
you is almost up.”

“Oh, Aunt Margaret, don’t say things like
that.  You’ll make me cry.” 

Hearing Margaret talk like that was very
upsetting, especially with all the other variables that were in
play.  Danielle and I went back upstairs and changed into our
regular clothes.  I put my dress on a hanger and pulled the
bag over it before I hung it in the closet.

“Do you want to go for a walk?”  I
asked Danielle.

Kaley perked right up.  She was quite
familiar with the word and was always ready to go.

“Sure, why not.  Hey, what’s Margaret
making for dinner?”

“Why would you like to stay?”

“Is that even a question?”

I grinned, “I’ll ask Margaret before we head
out.”

Kaley raced ahead of us and took a position
at the front door.  I let Margaret know what we were up to and
when we would be back.  I asked what we were having for
dinner.

“Chicken tenders,” she said, “Would you like
to join us Danielle?  I’m sure there will plenty for the three
of us.”

“I’d love that.  Can I call my mom just
to be sure?”

Once our dinner plans were settled we headed
to the greenway and took our walk.

“Don’t worry about the formal,” Dani began
our conversation.  “It’s going to be perfect, you’ll see.”