Unconventional Scars (5 page)

She pulled out a metal patio chair and settled herself on it,
blissfully
taking in her surroundings. Phil, standing in front of the gas grill, turned to look at her and smiled. “What do you think of the mountains?”

“The view is
incredible
! You are the luckiest person in the world. I never saw a place so
beautiful
in my life
!
”

Once
she had her fill of
staring
starry-eyed at the mountains, Anna turned her attention to the activities next door. Two boys, by appearances probably close to her own age, were engaged in a spirited game of basketball, and they heckled one another good-naturedly. They were
just
far enough away that she couldn’t get a thorough look at them, but she could see that one of the boys had black hair and a muscular build, while the other had
more of a sable-
brown hair and was very slender
. They were both around the same height, fairly tall.
It was interesting to watch them, shooting hoops while laughing and occasionally shoving one another.
Boys bond in
such
strange ways.

Lisa materialized through the sliding glass door and caught Anna’s gaze. Joining her at the patio table, she offered, “Those are the
Somerville
boys. I sold their mother that house when they moved here about, oh, I’d say nearly two years ago. She’s a public defender. Smart as a whip. Nice family.”

“
Cool. What's her husband do
?”
She didn’t really care. It was just something to say, something to delay asking what she
really
wanted to know, so she didn’t seem too obvious.

“
She's d
ivorced.”

“Oh.”

“I never met him. They had already divorced when she moved here.”

“Mm-hm.”
Anna hesitated. She didn’t want to
appear overly
interested or anything, but her curiosity won out. “How old are her sons?”

Lisa laughed. “I thought you’d ask me that. I’m not sure exactly, but I know they both go to your school. I think Creed – that’s him with the dark hair – is the oldest.”

“Creed?”

“Short for Creedence.
Unusual
name, huh?”

“I like it.
It’s unique.
What about the other one?”

“That’s Alex. Definitely a more conventional name. And . . . speak of the devil.” Before Anna knew what was happening, Lisa had her arm up in the air and was calling out, “Hey,
Charlotte
!”

The tall redhead who had just emerged from the house next door shielded her eyes from the sun, and catching sight of Lisa, waved back and called, “Hey! Come on over for a minute. I want you to see my new
bedroom furniture
.”

Lisa stood up. “Steaks almost done, Philly?”

“Will be in a couple of minutes.” He was flipping them over with a pair of tongs.

“We’ll make it quick.” Lisa grabbed Anna’s arm and gently tugged.

“
We?
” Anna
protested
. “Oh, no!
I’m
not going over there.
I'll wait here.
”

“Oh, come on. They won’t bite, I promise. Anyway, they’re your neighbors. You’ll have to meet them at some point, right?”

How could you argue with logic like that? Anna braced herself and followed behind Lisa. As they approached the house, the boys caught sight of her and stopped their game.

“Well,
hello
,” the dark-haired one said in a flirtatious manner. Anna smiled self-consciously.

“Charlotte,” Lisa was saying, “I want you to meet Philip’s niece, Anna. She’s just moved in with him and is going to be attending school with your boys.”

Ms. Somerville turned her attention to Anna. “Oh really? Well, welcome to
the
Hollow. What grade are you in?”

“Tenth.”

“Same grade as Alex. These two barbarians here are my sons, Alex and Creed.”

“Hi,” Anna said.

Alex mumbled
some sort of
unintelligible greeting
while Creed grinned broadly
, his
dark eyes twinkl
ing devilishly.
Watch out for that one
,
Anna thought.
Bet he breaks a lot of hearts.

“You just let us know if there’s anything at all you need,” Ms. Somerville continued. “I know Philip travels
out of town sometimes,
so if you ever need a ride to school, please don’t hesitate to ask. Good luck with your first day!”

“Thank you.”

“Come inside, Lisa, I want your opinion. I’m
wondering if I need to change the color of my curtains.
” As Lisa stepped inside with her, Ms. Somerville called over her shoulder, “You boys behave!”

Creed rolled his eyes. “Mom apparently doesn’t trust us not to hit you in the head with a
basketball
or something. So are you going to be living here permanently or what?”

“Yeah, looks that way.”

“Awesome. Too bad you aren’t a senior. We probably won’t have any classes together.”

“No, I guess not.”

“Hm. I didn’t even know Mr. Moore
had
a niece. I definitely would have remembered seeing
you
before.”

“I didn’t get a chance to visit much.”
Especially in the last ten years.

“That’s a shame. Well, now that you’re here, maybe sometime we could . . .”

From inside, his mother’s voice yelled, “Creed! Jennifer’s on the phone.”

“Yeah, Jennifer’s on the phone,” Alex repeated sarcastically.

“Crap. I forgot to charge my cell again.” Creed tossed the basketball he was holding to his brother. “Hope I see you
around
soon
, pretty girl.”

Nobody had ever called Anna “pretty girl” before. She knew he was just teasing, but it still felt nice. Now alone together, she and Alex stood in awkward silence
until
a black
cat with white paws
suddenly appeared from nowhere and began rubbing against Anna’s leg, purring loudly. She stooped to scratch his head. “Hi, kitty.”

Alex laid the basketball on a bench. “That’s Sylvester. Pet him and he’ll love you forever.” He had a pleasant voice, with the same vague accent his mother and brother had and
that
Anna couldn’t place. She gave Sylvester a few more strokes, then straightened up.

“Where are you from, originally? You kinda have a different accent.”

“
Canada
, originally.
Toronto
.
We moved here from
Indiana
, though. Lived there for about a year.”

Now that she had a clear look at him, Anna saw that his hair was a soft brown, as she’d thought, but in the sunlight it probably appeared lighter than it really was.
He had, in her opinion, the gorgeous profile of a Greek god, and
his
startlingly
light blue eyes were favored with long lashes.
She wondered enviously why it always seemed that boys were the ones blessed with
beautiful
eyelashes. It didn't seem fair.

“So where are you from?” he
wanted to know
.

“
Florida
.”
Among other places
.
Anna searched her mind for a way to change the subject, afraid he’d ask her why she’d moved in with her uncle. How could she divulge her
humiliating
past? She made a mental note to think of a lie before school started on Monday. No doubt that question was going to come up at some point. “So . . . you’re a sophomore, too? Do you like the school here?”

“Yeah, it’s not bad actually. You missed spring break, though. That was week before last. It was early this year.” He picked up Sylvester, who was underfoot meowing for attention.

“Is he yours?”

“Mine and Creed’s. We’ve had him since he was a kitten. He’s really spoiled. I guess you can tell
that, though
.” Alex’s eyes settled on Anna. She found it hard to look away from them. They held her in, gentle and friendly,
seductive
somehow
in their mere
warmth
.

He’s not like his brother
, she decided.
He's more genuine
.
Without
stopping to think
, she reached over
and rubbed
Sylvester’s ears as Alex held him. She could feel his blue eyes studying her and her stomach fluttered nervously.

“Do you have your schedule yet?”

“What?” Anna’s eyes left the cat to meet his once more.

“Your schedule. So I can see if we have any of the same classes.”

“Oh. No. I think I’m supposed to get it from the office when I get there.”

“I guess we’ll find out on Monday then.”

The patio door opened again, and Lisa reappeared. “You ready? We don’t want those steaks to get cold. Bye, Alex.”

Anna pulled her hand away from Sylvester reluctantly. “See you later.”

“See you,” he echoed.

****

Still cradling the purring cat, Alex watched Anna and Lisa walk away. The girl seemed nice. Kind of shy. Cute, too. Golden-brown eyes, sexy lips. And she sure could fill out a pair of blue jeans. He found himself intrigued, in spite of himself, by the idea of her living right next door. It would be nice if they shared at least one or two of the same classes. Not that a girl like that would ever be interested in him. More than likely she’d attract the attention of one of the
resident studs at school
, or even that of his own rakish brother. Jennifer better watch out.

And w
hat difference does it make to you anyway, dummy? It’s pointless to even consider. You’d better keep your distance from her if you know what’s good for you. That one could be trouble. Forbidden fruit is hard to resist when it’s right underneath your nose.

****

Anna spent Sunday arranging and rearranging her school supplies. Then rearranging them again. She picked out her clothes for Monday, then changed her mind. Four times. She painted her fingernails pink, then decided against it and removed the polish. So antsy she could barely stand it, she offered to make dinner. Phil declined at first.

“I didn’t bring you here so you could be my personal maid, Annie.”
Already h
e had fallen into the habit of calling her
by
th
e name he’d bestowed upon her as a toddler.
Anna was discovering that he was just as easygoing as she’d suspected. “Your only job, as far as I’m concerned, is to do well in school. That’s all you need to worry about. Marie and I can take care of the rest.”

“Who?”

“Oh, that’s right. You haven’t met her. Marie comes in twice a week to clean, cook, do the grocery shopping and laundry, whatever needs doing. She’s here Mondays and Thursdays. If there’s anything in particular you want from the store, just write it down on that notepad on the fridge and she’ll get it for you. Anything at all - don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Okay. But
,
um . . . I don’t mind fixing dinner. I
like
to cook.”

“You do?” Phil looked skeptical.

“Honest. Miss May taught me how to make lots of stuff.
I used to eat at her place a lot because Mom didn't shop all that much.
She didn’t like to cook
either
, but I did. Anyhow, she
usually
ate dinner some
where
else.” Anna wondered why her uncle was looking at her so funny.

“Sweetie, you’re more than welcome to cook anything, anytime you like, if that’s what you want. Just don’t do it because you feel obligated, okay? All I want you to do is enjoy your time here. You’re only sixteen years old. You’ve taken care of yourself long enough. It’s time for you to be young again, for a while anyway. No worries. All right?”

“All right. But . . . if I don’t cook dinner tonight, then who will? Is Lisa coming over?”

“Not tonight. She had some laundry and other
chores
to catch up on today. We can order in. You like Chinese food, right?”

Anna laughed. “I get the feeling you don’t eat too much health food. Am I right?”

“Absolutely not. The fact that every delivery driver in town knows me by name means nothing.”

“Okay, Uncle Phil, you win. Chinese it is.”