Unconventional Scars (15 page)

“What is it, love?”

She couldn’t speak. There was nothing to
be said
. His touch and taste were the only language she could remember. He lifted his head and looked down, his nautilus-blue eyes caressing her.

“It’s okay, Anna. I’m not going to hurt you. We won’t go any further. I just want to kiss you. Is that all right?”

She closed her eyes and
released
a shaky breath. “Yes.”
In that instant h
e could have told her he wanted to open her veins and she would have gladly agreed. Her will belonged to him
now
. She trusted him
completely,
implicitly.

He began again to kiss her, this time on her neck, then her collarbone, then just above the swell of her breast, where the cotton of her nightgown began. She shivered.

“Do you like that?” he whispered. “Do you like it when I kiss you there?”

Her only response was a soft moan
as h
er leg tightened around him. The hand that still grasped the side of her panties now slipped under her backside, underneath the silk, gripping her naked skin. His mouth found hers again, and he kissed her more urgently. Anna felt as though her pounding heart would surely burst from the pleasure. Nothing could
feel
this good, nothing could
be
this good, it wasn’t
possible
. . .

Abruptly, he
pulled away from her and, breathing heavily, rested his head next to hers, just above her shoulder. She felt his mouth on her neck as he said, “Oh God, Anna, we have to stop. Now. Right now.”

She didn’t say anything, but held him close, unwilling to let go. For a short time he didn’t move, trying to slow his breathing back to normal. Then he nipped her gently on the earlobe. “I think you answered my question satisfactorily. You taste like heaven.”

Anna was still shaky. She didn’t yet trust herself to speak. The night was like some kind of bizarre
,
carnal dream. She was searching her foggy mind for something clever to say when suddenly Alex asked, “What was that?”

“Hm?”

“I heard something.”

Anna heard it then too – the sound of a key in the door leading to the garage. “Uncle Phil’s home,” she said, panicky.

Alex pulled away from her quickly and they both straightened into respectable positions, just as Phil came sauntering in from the kitchen. “How long has the power been . . .” Seeing them, he stopped short. “Oh. Alex. Hello.”

“Hey, Mr. Moore. How’ve you been?”

Anna couldn’t believe how calm his voice was. She was impressed.

“Can’t complain. You taking care of Annie for me?”

“Yes, sir,” Alex said innocently. Anna desperately wanted to laugh. She bit her lip
instead
.

“He thought I might be scared since the power was out,” she offered, hoping her voice sounded nonchalant.

Phil settled into the recliner. “It never went out at Lisa’s house. I wouldn’t have even come home except she wasn’t feeling well. I think she’s coming down with a cold. Did it get that bad on this end of town? You weren’t scared, were you?”

“No, of course not.” She realized for the first time that the storm had abated
somewhat
, and the rain was now a
slow,
steady drizzle.

Alex glanced over at her. “I should go. It’s getting late. My mom’s probably waiting up for me.” He stood, and scooped up his cell phone and flashlight from the coffee table.

Anna stood up
,
too. She walked with him to the front door and wordlessly handed him his raincoat. Phil called out, “Thanks for checking up on Annie for me. I appreciate it.”

“Anytime.” Moving his head closer to Anna’s, he said softly, “I’ll call you tomorrow. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said. He left, and the house seemed emptier.

“I hope they get the power back on soon,” Phil was saying. “Everything in the fridge will be ruined.”

Sighing faintly, Anna curled back up on the couch.
She felt dazed.
Did that really just happen?
It was a struggle to return to
banal
reality.
Say something normal, Anna. Come back to earth.
“Is Lisa okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. She just had a runny nose. I figured she needed her rest.”

“Mm.”

“Are you feeling all right?”

“Sure. Why?”

“No reason.”

Anna reached forward to switch off the CD player. It was doubtful that darkwave was Uncle Phil’s preference for music.
Also, the removal of the sultry strains helped to ground her.
“Do you think the ice cream’s all melted?”

“I don’t know. What say we go find out?”

An hour later, just before going to bed, she sent Alex a text
,
s
weet dreams.
He texted her back
immediately
,
dreaming of u!
Smiling, she drifted into slumber on a cloud of pure, unadulterated bliss.

11

Philip was on the patio reading the Sunday paper the next morning when Lisa called. She sounded even worse than
she had
the night before. Apparently her sniffles had morphed into a full-fledged cold. He
only
hoped he hadn’t picked up any of her germs.
Showing up for his consultation
on Tuesday
with watery eyes and a stuffed-up nose was definitely not the impression he wanted to make.
He promised her he’d stop by later with some tissues and Nyquil, making a mental note not to get too close to her.

A door slammed next door and, looking up from the sports section, he saw
Charlotte
’s boys driving off in their truck. He wondered, not for the first time, exactly what he’d walked in on last night. It was pretty obvious those two had been making out. He wasn’t dense enough to think they were just sitting there in the dark, listening to music.

I wish I knew more about raising teenagers. How am I supposed to handle this? The last thing I want is to see Annie follow in her mother’s footsteps. Of course, Alex is a nice kid. Maybe I have nothing to worry about. Then again, I was
a nice kid too, once. But it didn’t stop
me
from trying to get into girls’ pants, did it? And face it,
she’s
not that little girl
I
used to
have tea parties with
anymore. She’s grown up in the past ten years. Even more than she should.

So what am I supposed to do, lock her away in a tower? As if
that
would work! Not my style, anyway. For God’s sake, she’s a girl and girls are interested in boys. That’s life. Right?

The way he saw it, t
here wasn’t much
that could be done other than
make
sure she was conscientious enough to be responsible. Beyond that, he’d have to trust her judgment.

There was, however, one thing he
could
do.

Folding the paper, Phil went back inside the house. He needed to make a trip to the drugstore. For tissues, Nyquil . . . and a little
peace of mind
.

****

No matter how hard she tried to concentrate, Anna couldn’t focus on biology. She found herself reading the same paragraph
s two and three times
because her mind
would wander
off in the middle of a sentence and she would forget what she’d been trying to memorize. She kept checking the time, too. Ten-thirty. Alex had said he would call her.
Clearly, she wasn’t
going to
retain
much
knowledge of vascular plants
until he did.

Phil had shouted up a little while ago that he was going to take Lisa some medicine for her cold and would be right back. Maybe she should fix some lunch while he was gone. By the time he got back, it would be ready. He’d probably appreciate that.

Saving her place in the textbook with a folded-up piece of notebook paper that had hearts doodled all over it, she was just about to head downstairs when her phone rang. She grabbed it, praying it wasn’t Karen.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Nope, that definitely wasn’t Karen!

“Hi.”

“What are you up to?”

“Not much. Studying for a biology test. You?”

“Creed just dropped me off at Josh’s. I promised him several days ago I’d help paint his room.”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“So . . . did your uncle say anything after I left? I was afraid he might be ticked off at you or something.”

“No. Why would he be mad? He said I could have friends over.” Anna knew she was being facetious. She couldn’t help
herself
.

He laughed. “Friends with benefits? Is that what we are?”

You tell me!
“He didn’t say anything. We had ice cream and then went to bed.”

“Mm. I love picturing you in bed.”

“I bet. You’re just a regular perv, aren’t you?”

“Only around you.” There was a short pause. “But . . . seriously though.
I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that
I don’t want you to think I’m
trying to use
you or something. Because it’s not like that.”

Anna thought she might melt into a puddle like last night’s
mocha fudge ripple.
“It’s not, huh?”

“I hope you know it’s not. I really want us to spend more time together. If that’s okay with you.”

“Well, I’ll have to check my calendar. But I think I’m free through
New Year’s
.”

“
C
onsider yourself booked now.
And do me a favor.”

“What?”

“Go ahead and buy next year’s calendar and pencil me in there as well.”

“Will do.” Alex was so funny!

“
Dam
m
it, Josh is flicking paint at me
!
I better go. I’ll see you at school tomorrow, okay?”

Laughing, Anna said, “Okay. Bye.”

****

“Cut it out, dumbass, you’re getting paint everywhere!” Alex shoved the cell phone back into his pocket and picked up a wooden stick. He dipped it carefully into the open can of Sierra Redwood and stirred.

“Who were you just talking to?” Josh wanted to know, grinning shrewdly.

“Your mother. I was confirming our date for tonight.”

“I’d date
your
mom. She’s hot.”

“I’ll let her know you said so. Actually, it was Anna.”

“I figured. Erica said you were with her at the Graveyard. So, what, are you two hooking up now?”

“Something like that.” He pulled the stick up and held it over the can, watching
the paint
drip
in a smooth line
. “I was over at her house last night.”

“Oh yeah?”

“
Uh-huh.
”

“So what happened?”

“Nothing much. We just talked.”

“If you say so.” Josh wasn’t one to pry. Alex liked that about him. For a time, nothing else was said and the only sound was the wet swishing of paint rollers on the wall. When they’d first opened the can, they had second thoughts about the
dark
color. It was starting to look pretty good, though. It lent a lot more character than the dull white they were covering.

“Hey, can I ask you a hypothetical question?” Alex said suddenly.

“Sure.”

“Would you ever deliberately keep anything from Erica?”

Josh glanced over at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean . . . do you tell her
everything?
Or is there stuff about yourself that you think maybe she’s better off not knowing?”

“I didn’t tell her about the raging case of the trots I had last week.”

“Thanks for the mental image. No, I mean serious stuff. Like . . . I don’t know. Something that would freak her out. Do you think you could have a relationship with her if you knew you hadn’t been completely honest about something important? Would your conscience bother you enough to come clean even if you thought she might hate you? Or would you just keep it to yourself and hope she never found out?”

Josh considered this. “Depends, I guess. If keeping her in the dark wasn’t hurting her, then I wouldn’t see any reason to stir trouble. You know what they say. Ignorance is bliss.”

Alex didn’t reply. He knew from past experience that ignorance was not bliss. Ignorance was . . .
dangerous
. Painfully so.

“Why do you ask?”

“No reason.”

****

By the time Phil returned home, Anna had a skillet of julienned green peppers, onions and chicken breast simmering on the stove. She was pouring a packet of seasoning into the pan when he strolled into the kitchen, sniffing. “
Yum.
Something smells good. What are you making?” He dropped a plastic bag on the counter.

“Chicken fajitas.” She stirred the mixture and added half a cup of water. “So how’s Lisa?”

“Snotty and crabby, but she’ll live. What are your plans for this afternoon?”

“I don’t know. I thought I might call Karen and see if she wants to come over and study with me. Biology test tomorrow.” She made a face.

“No . . . um . . . plans with Alex?”

Uh-oh. Where’s this going?
She scrutinized Phil’s expression. He looked as if there was something else he wanted to say.
Odd, because he normally didn’t press her for information. He was a pretty private person, and respected her privacy as well.

“Not today. He’s helping Josh paint his room.” Anna opened the fridge and took out a package of shredded cheese. “Why do you ask?”

Phil pulled out a kitchen chair and sat down. He looked decidedly uncomfortable. After clearing his throat twice, he finally asked, “So you and he . . . I take it you’re not just friends?”

That was a good question. Unfortunately she hadn’t quite figured out the answer. “I don’t know. I guess not. I mean, I’m not really sure yet.”

“Annie. Did your mom ever . . . uh, talk to you about sex? By any chance?”

Anna nearly dropped the spatula she was holding. “
Um.
Not directly. But the apartment walls were pretty thin, if you know what I mean.”

“That’s a little more than I needed to know.”

“You asked!”

“I can’t even begin to convey to you how sorry I am that I did.”

“Well, why
did
you?”
Oh my God, if he starts talking to me about
STD
’s and stuff I will die! Right here and now!

Phil rubbed his forehead. He appeared to be equally embarrassed. For a while, he just sat there, as if debating whether to continue this conversation or go hide out in the garage. Anna stirred the chicken in silence, wishing he
would
go hide in the garage. She
so
had not envisioned spending the day discussing the birds and bees with her uncle.

“That . . . uh, that’s for you,” he finally said, gesturing to the bag on the counter.

She peeked inside, and a startled laugh escaped her. “
Condoms?
Are you kidding me?
” She could feel her face burn. “
Uncle Phil, seriously,
I don’t . . . I’m not . . .”

“I know, I know,” he interrupted. “But I would feel a lot better about leaving you here alone if I knew you were
covered
. Just in case. And one more thing.” He pulled a tiny canister from his pocket. “It’s mace. I want you to keep it with you
always. Wi
ll you promise me you’ll do that?”

Who on earth would he think I’d need protection from?
“All right. I promise.”

****

Alex was waiting by her locker the next morning. He looked different to her somehow, so familiar and yet even more handsome than before, and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered madly. She wondered if she’d ever be able to look at him without
feeling them
. Probably not.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said, leaning casually against the lockers. “Did you miss me?”

“What do you think?” Anna opened her locker and dropped her biology book inside. How could he be so calm and self-assured? It was all she could
do to keep from tossing
her cookies in front of him.

He kissed her then
, r
ight there in the hallway.
Her heart soared.

“I think you missed me.”

“So maybe I did, a little.” Anna
admitted
. “Did you and Josh finish painting his room?”

“Yeah. It looks really good. His parents were even impressed.”

Erica appeared at that moment. “Hey, you two. Did you enjoy the party?”

“Which one?” Alex inquired. Anna tried to hide a smile, and failed.

“Okay . . . don’t
even
wanna know.” Tossing a strange look their way, Erica headed into Mrs. Brenner’s room.

“I better go
or I’ll
be late.” Alex picked
up
his backpack from the floor. “See you at lunch.”

Anna
merely
waved. She was too happy
for
mere
words
.

****

In third period she was approached by Sebastian, who wore a contrite expression on his
usually
smug face. She crossed her arms, waiting to see what he had to say for himself.

“I’m sorry about what happened Friday night. Forgive me?”

“What exactly are you sorry about, Sebastian? Calling me a tease? Making homophobic comments? Or just acting like a jerk in general?”

“Um . . . all of the above?”

“Okay, fine. Whatever. You’re forgiven.” Anna turned back to her desk, opened her notebook and flipped to an empty page. She had nothing else to say to him.

Sebastian touched her arm. “Look, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean any of that stuff I said. I had too much to drink that night. I know that’s no excuse, but . . . just don’t be mad at me. Please? I’m sorry. Really, really sorry. Okay?” He actually seemed sincere.

Anna sighed. “Forget about it. Just don’t let it happen again, okay?”

“Cross my heart. So. Are you and I friends again?”

“I suppose.” It was hard to stay mad at him when he gave her that kicked-puppy pout.

“Good. I’d really miss flirting with you.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“It
also
appear
s
I was wrong about your boyfriend, huh?”

“Looks that way.”

Retreating back
to his desk, he
threw one more comment ov
er his shoulder
.
“He’s a lucky guy
!
”

****

At the picnic table, Karen monopolized the conversation, as usual. She knew only the basic details of Saturday night, filled in by Anna as they’d studied together on Sunday after the bizarre
conversation
with Phil, but to her credit she had the good grace not to bring it up.
Instead s
he rambled on about Friday night’s party and who had hooked up with whom, which girl had on the skankiest outfit (the award went to Bailey Blake)
,
and how rumor had it Randall Harrison had been so drunk he’d barfed all over his date. Everyone agreed they were glad to have missed
that
particular spectacle.

Anna was sitting beside Alex, rather than across the table from him as she usually did. He caught her eye sometimes and smiled, which thrilled her to no end and caused her to nearly choke on her carrot
stick
s. At one point she caught Erica and Karen exchanging knowing grins, as if to say
w
e knew all along they belonged together. Glad
they
figured it out.

****

Alex walked home with Anna after school. He even came inside with her when asked. Frankly, she’d been afraid that he’d want to avoid Phil, who to her relief was friendly and didn’t say anything embarrassing regarding
Saturday night
’s events. Alex seemed at ease, too. She wondered if he’d be as collected if he knew about the
things
in her dresser drawer
.

The three of them watched a wrestling match on TV
,
and even though Anna hated wrestling she had fun because Alex and Phil were enjoying themselves and it was
interesting
to watch them get excited over the fights. She did have to wonder what they found entertaining about men
beating the crap out of one another
. At one point she
gave them a disgusted look a
nd proclaimed
t
estosterone overload!
,
which
they thought was hilarious
. Marie had taken the day off to spend with her granddaughter, so Phil ordered a
large
pizza with everything and when he asked Alex to stay for dinner, she wanted to hug him right then and there.