The Nights Were Young (3 page)

III

A week went by, enough time for Marie to settle in.
Old friends were already contacting her less as they went on with their own lives and their own senior years. Marie watched a lot of television. Her father was in and out, and when he was in, he was on his cellphone. Her mother roamed around the house like a ghost, tidying things up and spending a lot of time in her bedroom sleeping or reading home decorating magazines. This was life. They had packed up their boxes, changed their surroundings, but nothing changed from the unmoving existence they led before.

When Marie had to attend her first day at Crossfalls High School, she was excited just to finally get out of the house. The excitement was hardly enough to overcome her nerves, however.

              It was a small-town high school, set in a decades old building made of brick and steel. Everyone knew everyone, and most of the students had grown up together. From what she could tell the population was divided not among who wore what but among who had known who longer. She met a few people in her classes. Of course they were classes for students with above average grades and intellect, as the principal informed her parents. She met a few teachers who smiled and said, “Welcome to Crossfalls,” before they always left and went about their day. These people were as temporary to Marie as the fading summer. They were the same type of people she had known before, the same conversations of worthless gossip she heard at her former school, the same staring at cellphones and the same apparent lack of sincerity for what they spent their time on. Maybe it was the uprooting, and maybe her parents were to blame, but Marie hated everyone without rationality; she didn’t need rationality… she needed to go back to where she came from. This wasn’t home.

              Marie sat by herself at lunch for a few days. It was Wednesday when she skipped the food lines and went straight to her usual table in a solitary corner of the cafeteria. She sat down and pulled out her textbook to begin reading for English class. A table full of athletic boys was close to hers, and she could not help but notice the eyes of a bulky, letterman-jacket-wearing football star looking at her. She avoided eye contact at first, but a few moments of the pressure forced her to look his way. He smiled and made a kissing motion at her; his buddies laughed and punched him in the arm. Marie uncomfortably looked back to her book.

              Suddenly the chair across from her was pulled out. Marie looked up to find a girl who was short, chubby, wearing torn jeans and a tight shirt that showed off her larger than average chest. Her brown hair was back in a ponytail and she was smiling.

“Mind if I sit down?” the girl asked.

              “Uh, sure.” Marie closed her book.

              “Thanks.” The girl dropped into the seat and leaned forward on the table. “I get really tired of those guys.”

              “What guys?”

              She pointed towards the table at the wall, not far from Marie’s. There was a group of boys sitting in the chairs around the table while some sat on the table. They seemed like what Marie’s parents would call “trouble”: baggy jeans, messy hair, shirts with graphic images of half-naked girls and blood. They were laughing and cursing, and one was even making a vulgar motion with his hand shaped in a circle.

“Those guys,” the girl said. “They’re being nasty right now.”

              “Nasty?” Marie asked.

              “Yeah, talking about what they want to try with girls and stuff like that.” She drummed her fingers on the table and tightened her lips a little. “Some of them were talking about you.”

              “What?” Marie asked. “You mean like,” her voice lowered, “sex?”

              The girl laughed. “Oh my God I’m just kidding! They weren’t even talking about you! Relax.”

              Marie sat back. Her eyes wandered back and forth to the group of boys and down at her lunch table.

              “I’m Kate,” the girl said, extending her hand. “Kate Sanders.”

              Marie shook it. “Marie.”

              “Nice to meet you, Marie. My brother actually
does
think you’re hot. That’s him right there.”

She pointed to one of the boys. He looked like her, except thin as a rail and hairier.

“His name’s Brandon, but you can just ignore him,” Kate said. “So why do you sit alone all the time? You’re new here, right?”

              “Yes,” Marie answered. She remained quiet.

              “So…” Kate insisted. “Why do you sit alone?”

              “I guess I just don’t feel like sitting with anyone.”

              “You look like the type that likes to sit with people, though.”

              Marie shrugged.

              “Apparently not,” Kate said. “I don’t think I’ve ever even seen you eat.”

Marie tensed up.

“I’m never really hungry, I guess.” Marie was lying. She was constantly hungry, but even a bite of a sandwich was enough to make her think about her fat rolls that stuck out when she sat.

“Okay…,” Kate continued, “I like your shirt.” She sounded like she was simply reaching for any type of conversation.

              Marie looked down at her purple collared shirt. Then she started analyzing the rest of her outfit. It was plain, plain jeans, plain sneakers, plain everything. “It’s not that great.”

              “Well – you look very…”

              “Boring?” Marie asked quickly.

              Kate laughed.

“Nice. You look very nice.”

              “Stop it. I look boring.” Marie hunched over and looked down. Maybe if she was quiet enough this girl would go away and she could just eat alone like always.

              “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I’m sorry,” Kate said.

              “I’m fine.” Marie still avoided eye contact.

              “I’ve got some clothes you could try if you want.”

              “We just met,” Marie said, puzzled.

              “Yeah, so?”

              “And you’re offering me clothes.”

              “I’m not the Goodwill,” Kate said, laughing. “I’m just offering to let you borrow some if you’re tired of what you wear. Where do you live?”

              “Crossfalls Estates.”

              “That little rich neighborhood by the lake?” Kate asked excitedly.

              Marie sighed. It was agonizing how “uncool” she felt around this girl. “Yes,” she reluctantly answered. She should’ve said something cooler like she lived alone in a swank apartment or that she was a wandering, free spirit who lived in her car in the school parking lot.

              “Okay. Well, we’re definitely partying at your place sometime.”

              Marie laughed in surprise. “That’s never going to happen.”

              “That’s what you think,” Kate said. “Trust me, I get my way and I want to party at your house.”

              “You don’t even know me,” Marie said, folding her arms. She’d never met someone so straight forward.

              “Well then I’ll get to know you, Miss Marie,” Kate said, smiling. “And then when we’re best friends we can cause all sorts of trouble.”

              From the halls, a young man walked into the cafeteria and strolled to the table of boys where Kate’s brother was. He was tall and thin with dark, shaggy hair. His jeans were baggy and torn and he wore a white wife-beater with a plain, black jacket over it. The boys greeted him immediately at the table.

“Finally showed up, huh?” Kate’s brother said.

The young man punched him in the arm and laughed with the rest of them. He hopped up onto the table and sat, putting his feet in one of the chairs. He was saying something too low for Marie to hear and smiling about it, and she noticed dimples in both cheeks. His eyes were dark brown, and he had eyelashes that were longer than most girls’. He gazed around the cafeteria as if he owned it, and when his look came around to Marie, she realized she was staring at him. She turned away quickly.

              Kate noticed she was turning red.

“What are you looking at?” she asked, turning around. “Oh. You’re looking at Travis aren’t you?”

              “Travis? Who’s that?” Marie asked, trying to play it off.

              “He’s gorgeous, right?” Kate turned around. “Travis! Come here!”

              “Kate, no!” Marie whispered.

He got off the table and strutted towards them with a confidence Marie had never seen anyone walk with. He approached their table and wrapped his arms around Kate.

“What do you want?” he asked in a sarcastic, playful groan. He was nearly knocking her over with the way he had his arm around her and leaned his body weight onto her.

              “Stop it, you lunatic.” Kate pushed him off of her. “I want introduce you to someone.”

              Travis looked straight at Marie’s blue eyes, and her stomach dropped just looking back at his.

“I’m Travis.”

He held out his hand, and Marie just stared at it for a second. She forced herself to move and was about to shake his hand when--

              “Damn,” he said.

He pulled his hand away. He looked behind Marie.

              Marie turned around. The assistant principal, Ms. Harrison, marched towards them, and she did not look happy.

              “What’d you do this time, Travis?” Kate asked.

              “I’m actually supposed to be in lunch detention right now.”

              “For what?”

              “They get mad when you skip the first few days of school or something like that.”

              The assistant principal arrived. “You know what I’m going to say. Let’s go.”

              She grabbed Travis’s arm and pulled him away. He quickly jolted around and leaned over the table, looking at Marie.

“I didn’t get your name,” Travis said.

              “It’s Ma…” she said, but her throat was dry. She coughed, and then answered clearly, “It’s Marie.”

              He smiled and kept his head turned towards her as the assistant principal tried to pull him by his arm. He walked a few steps with her, then swung back around, escaped Harrison’s grip, and returned to the table.

“One more thing,” he said.

              Marie waited.

              He smiled. “You’re so damn gorgeous it hurts.”

              “That’s enough!” Ms. Harrison grabbed his arm again with a firmer grip, spun him around, and dragged him away.

              Marie let out a deep breath. She was still red in the face; she could feel the burning in her cheeks.

              “Does he,” Marie asked, “does he use that line all the time?”

              “I got no idea what made him say that,” Kate answered. “I’ve never heard him say that, to any girl, so… good for you, Miss Marie.” Kate drummed her fingers on the table.               “You have to be careful around that one, though. I love the guy, but he’s dangerous.”

              “What do you mean… dangerous?” Marie asked.

              Kate looked her in the eyes. “Just trust me on this one, Marie.”

IV

James got out of the shower ten minutes after the phone call from Kate. Marie was still leaning against the wall, barely keeping herself from sliding down onto the floor. She couldn’t hear the water running anymore. She had no energy to move, so she stayed put at the wall.

              A few minutes passed, and the bedroom door opened.

              Marie panicked.

              She hurried to put her phone back together and set it back on the kitchen counter. She walked into the living room.

              “You should really get ready,” James said. He wore a nice collared shirt and some slacks.

              Marie stared blankly at him and began twisting her engagement ring around her finger nervously. “I know. I’m – uh – going to take a shower real quick, too.”

              “Well get going. Your parents will be here in half an hour.”

              Marie walked past him and into the bedroom, softly shutting the door behind her. She stepped into the bathroom. For a second she wondered how she got there, or even what she was doing there. Travis… he was… he was…

              Her eyes started to water and her face was burning. She looked in the mirror. She was ready to cry, but she couldn’t do it. People would be coming soon, and this was not the time. What would her mother say? She couldn’t do this to James, ruin his celebration with some dark call that had brought forth her past.

              She reached into the shower and turned the knob. The water was freezing cold. Holding her hand under it, she stared into space and let herself sink towards numbness. She wanted to be numb, to forget the phone call, but the numbness would not take her. Her head ached and throbbed, and a sick feeling moved into her stomach. She raced to the toilet and vomited, and then again and again until there was nothing left. Her hands were shaking. Her face was scrunching, and tears were blurring her vision. She fell against the wall and sat.

              Without thinking, she let out a small gasp, and then stopped. She was holding back emotions she could not handle, and she finally realized that she would not be able to do it without help.

              She opened the bedroom door and peeked out. James was in the kitchen scrolling the screen on his cellphone, his back turned to her. She tip-toed as quickly as she could through the living room and into the sitting area where the bar was. She snatched up a bottle of Black Velvet whiskey, James’s favorite, from the cabinet, then crept back to the bedroom and silently shut the door.

              She sat down on the floor, staring into the shower, not caring that the water was running and wasting. She tore the cap off the whiskey bottle and downed some, barely feeling the burn she had always hated.

              Travis was… he was…

No, it was
not
true.

              She gulped more. That numbness would take her if she had to force it.

              Travis was… he was…

              She drank more.