Unconventional Scars (7 page)

“Well, if you aren’t just the sexiest thing I’ve seen today.
Do you believe in love at first sight?”

Anna nearly choked on her pretzels. She coughed while Alex watched the theatrics with amused interest and Karen giggled.

“Run away with me,” the blonde suggested impishly. “We can live on love. I promise you won’t starve.”

“Get lost, Sebastian,” Erica said. “Nobody here wants to run away with you. Why don’t you run away with your right hand. I’m sure the two of you would be very happy together.”

“Well, nobody asked you, did they now?” Sebastian rested his chin in his hand and surveyed Anna intently. “And who might you be, besides my future ex-wife?”

Anna found it hard not to laugh. The guy admittedly had a charming personality, even if he
was
over
-
the
-
top. “I’m nobody’s ex-wife. I might be her future divorce attorney, though.” The picnic table erupted in
mirth.

“
Touch
é
.” He stood up
to leave, then unexpectedly
grabb
ed
her hand, kiss
ing
it dramatically. “If you ever come to your senses,
my love
, I’ll be waiting for you, counting the moments until I possess your heart. Don’t keep me waiting too long
!
Farewell
!
” And with
a
theatrical
bow
, he left, strolling away with all the aplomb of someone who truly
and honestly
believes they are God’s gift to the world.

“What was
that
all about?” Anna wondered, staring after him in
befuddled
amazement.

Karen snorted. “Girl, take my advice, you better stay away from that one.
The only thing
he
wants to possess is
your body
.
”

“She’s not kidding,” Erica agreed. “
The
debauchery
of Sebastian Westbrook
is well known
. His personal mission in life is to corrupt as many girls as possible. I
guess
he gets his kicks that way. He could charm the pants off a marble statue, and he knows it. But
trust
me, he’s always got an ulterior motive.”

“Listen to Karen. She used to date him,” Josh announced cheerfully.

“Shut up, Josh.” Karen blushed. “We only went out a couple of times. And that was at the beginning of the year.”

“Seems I remember you flying into hysterics when he dumped you,” Alex affirmed, smirking.

Karen glared at him. “You can both bite me. And just for the record, he did not ‘corrupt’ me.”

“Yeah, it was already
way
too late for that,” Josh teased. Erica slapped him lightly on
the
arm while Karen threw a
n empty water bottle
his way. By the time lunch period was over, Anna knew already that Uncle Phil was right.
She’d never had such an optimistic perspective in her life.

****

During the following weeks, Anna fell into a comfortable pattern of school, homework and a pleasant, newly stable home life. Phil worked mostly from home, reluctant to take any out-of-town consulting jobs until he was confident that his niece was secure enough to leave alone for any length of time. She thought he was being overprotective.
It wasn’t as if she’d been permanently traumatized or anything.

He did spend a couple of Saturday nights at Lisa’s house. Anna wondered how much her presence had cramped their love life. Lisa
visited
sometimes, but she never stayed the night, which Anna found absurd because if Uncle Phil was spending the night at
her
place, what difference did it make if she
slept
at
his
house?

She was also getting to know the unique personality of each of her new friends. Already she had secured a place in their small group. Erica, she discovered, was a brilliant student who took a lot of advanced placement classes. As a result, the only class they shared was first period. Driven and ambitious, she spent a lot of time at various club and student council meetings.

Karen Peterson, who at first had resembled a spoiled, outspoken drama queen, was in actuality a warm and funny person. She constantly kept Anna in stitches with her outrageous stories. Scandalous gossip never missed her ears. They shared second period
C
reative
W
riting and fifth period
Biology
101
, which
they
both
despised
. They agreed that nobody
cared
what a dead frog’s insides looked like
.
Often they
compared their homework during lunch.

Josh North was the affable type who got along well with everybody at school. He had a cheerful, pleasant personality, enjoyed cracking jokes, and was undeniably devoted to Erica. He also appeared to be Alex’s closest friend. Occasionally Anna would see his truck in the driveway next door. Josh was in her sixth period French class and one day when they had a substitute teacher they spent their study time attempting to learn foreign expletives.

Alex, she learned, was level-headed and intelligent. He
inherently
had a
logical
solution for any given situation, and for this reason he was often the one called upon to dispense advice. He had a dry sense of humor and frequently made snarky comments that Anna found hilarious. Because of his Canadian accent, sometimes she would deliberately
mispronounce
the word
about
just to tease him
. He
would merely smile, resting his tranquil
blue
eyes on her in a way that elevated her mood for the rest of the day. Since they both had fourth period
Modern World H
istory, they began to walk there together after lunch.

School itself was primarily fun. The only class that gave her any trouble was
Algebra II
, but whenever she was
confused
by a problem
she sought out
Erica
, who would
patiently explain it to her in a way that made sense. She had a knack for simplifying things.

Algebra problems weren’t the only
baffling
thing about third period. Sebastian was in that class as well, and continued to flirt with her in his flamboyant
manner
. Whenever he happened to catch her eye, he would wink or purse his lips into a kiss. He amused Anna with his antics. Another girl who shared their class, a
stunning
but shallow blonde named Bailey Blake, was not
quite
as amused. She would glare in Sebastian’s direction whenever he paid any attention to Anna. Karen, with her vast knowledge of all things melodramatic, confided that Bailey had recently dated Sebastian, but he’d broken
it off
with her
because of her possessiveness.
It made no difference to Anna. She was too deliriously happy with her new life to care.

6

Three weeks after Anna’s arrival, Phil informed her that he had an assignment in
Pennsylvania
and would be leaving on Monday for approximately four days. It was a Saturday morning, and they were in the breakfast nook having cereal together. He was munching on
some high-fiber stuff that resembled tree bark
, but Anna had filled her bowl with Count Chocula, stocked at her request by Marie.

“I hope you’re not worried about
me
, Uncle Phil,” Anna told him, poking at the cereal with her spoon. “I know how to handle things.”

“I don’t doubt that, pumpkin. I just want you to promise me that you’ll call Lisa if you
have any problems.
All right?”

“Sure. But honest, I’ll be fine.”

Phil opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something else, then closed it again. He ate a few more bites before finally speaking.

“
Annie,
I don’t know the first thing about raising
teenagers
.
You
know that and
I
know that.
So
we’re both just going to have to learn as we go along. Kind of play it by ear, you know?
” He paused, scratching his chin. “
I
. . .
um, assume I should impose some kind of guideline or something while I’m away. But
honestly,
I don’t really know what to say that you shouldn’t already know. I’m not going to insult your intelligence by telling you not to throw a wild party and wreck the house because I know you’d never do that.”

Unable to stop herself, Anna giggled. “
Sorry.
I was just picturing the house filled with motorcycle gang members.”

“The neighbors would
love
that.”

“Totally.
So you’re saying
I
shouldn’t
mail the invitations, then.”

“Funny.”

“I’m a funny person.” Anna munched on her cereal. She loved how it turned the milk all chocolatey. “So do you care if any of my friends come over?”

“No, not at all. Just do me a favor and don’t mess with anything in my office, okay?”

“No problem. I won’t even go in there.” There was no need to – she had her own computer now. Her first week here, Uncle Phil had bought it for her, along with her own cell phone. He seemed to revel in spoiling her.

“I’ll call
Charlotte
and make sure it’s okay for you to ride to school with her boys.
I’m sure Creed won’t mind giving you a lift.”

Anna smiled.

“I’ll leave the keys to the Suburban here but since you only have your learner’s permit, don’t drive it unless there’s an emergency
involving massive
blood
loss
and requiring
lots of
stitches. Got it?”

“Got it.” Anna stood up and took her bowl to the sink. “Everything’s within walking distance from here, anyhow,” she commented. “It’s
so
cool being able to just walk a few blocks over to rent a movie or whatever.” In her pocket, her cell phone buzzed. It was Erica, informing her that everyone was meeting downtown at seven to see a new
horror movie.

Phil appeared to have said everything that was on his mind and had gone back to reading the paper between bites of cereal.

****

Around
six-fifteen
, as Anna was
brushing her hair
and preparing to leave for the theater, she got a text from Alex
.
W
alk with me?
It made her
want to bounce up and down on the bed like a hyperactive kindergartener.

She texted back
OMW
, then spritzed herself with some perfume and hurried downstairs, calling
out
, “Going to the movies now
, Uncle Phil
. I don’t need a ride. See you later
, okay?
”

“Have fun,” she heard him yell from his bedroom. He was getting ready to go to Lisa’s.

Alex was already
halfway across her yard
,
so
she met him
by the mailbox
.
They began to walk
along
the sidewalk together in silence.
Glancing
surreptitiously at him
, Anna
promptly felt nervous butterflies in her middle. Oh man, was he ever cute! Being near him at dusk was even more exciting than being around him at school. It felt more intimate.

He
was dressed in
cargo
pants, a navy blue
golf
shirt and the brown
suede j
acket that he
frequently
wore to school. His hair
touched
the collar of his shirt and for some reason she wanted to run her fingers through it. She wondered if it would be as soft as it looked.
She also wondered if she was going to get through the evening without making a complete fool of herself.

A few
minutes
passed
before Alex spoke. “This movie’s probably not going to be all that great.
And Josh is the one who suggested it, so don't blame me if it sucks.
”