Unconventional Scars (8 page)

Anna kicked a stick with one of her white sneakers. “With a name like Slaughter Harvest,
trust me, I'm not expecting
much. I don’t care
,
though
. I love horror movies
, even the crappy ones
.”

“You’re kidding. Really?”

“My favorite genre. I love the classic stuff best. Like
the old
Hammer and Amicus films. The scenery is
always beautiful.
Nothing
in the world
makes a horror movie
better
than
a
dark
castle on a stormy night.”

He smiled
,
amused by
her
revelation. “
You’re the romantic type,
then
?
”

“I don’t know about
that
.
If I had a choice between a romantic comedy and a bloody, disgusting, chainsaw-to-the-face
flick
,
guess
which one
I'd pick. Does that
make me
a weirdo
?”

“Absolutely. It means you’re a closet psychopath.”

“Oh, I am. You should see my closet.
Now
that’s
terrifying.
”

Alex laughed.
T
he sound was gentle
and subdued
, like his voice
. “You’d probably like Mario Bava’s stuff.”

“Are you
kidding
? Black Sabbath is one of my favorite movies. Have you ever seen it?”

“Is that the one with Boris Karloff as a vampire?”

“That’s one of the stories,
yeah
. There’s three. They’re all
super
creepy. We should rent it sometime.” Anna
instantly
wanted to kick herself
for making the suggestion
.
Could you
be
more obvious? Think, then speak,
blabbermouth
!
Jeez!

Alex
focused
his gaze
straight ahead
, avoiding her eyes. “Yeah,
sure. We’ll have to do that one of these days.
”

And
how was she supposed to read
that
?
Was he serious or
was
it a polite attempt
to blow her off?
Hard
to tell.
Her experience deciphering the male code was pretty limited. She decided a subject change was
in order, and fast
. “How come Josh didn’t pick you up?”

“I didn’t ask him to.”

Okaaaay . . .

Alex glanced over at her, then explained, “Erica
was riding with him.
They
don’t
need
a chaperone
.
Three’s a crowd, you know?
”

“Oh. Yeah.”

Neither of them spoke for a while. They had almost reached the theater when out of nowhere he suddenly said, “You smell nice. Good enough to
nibble on
.
Makes me hungry.
”

Surprised, Anna turned to gape at him and promptly tripped
over
an uneven spot in the sidewalk. In a flash, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm to steady her.

“Better watch where you’re walking,” he said. She couldn’t tell if he was suppressing a smile or not.

“Guess I’m not the most coordinated person in the world.” Her arm felt warm
and tingly
where he’d touched it. Just ahead she could see Karen in front of the theater, waving them over.

“Get a move on, slowpokes!” she hollered.

Everyone else was already there, waiting
;
Erica and Josh, holding hands, and Karen with her date, someone named
Dalton
that Anna didn’t know very well because he was a senior. Chase had been given his walking papers last week, after Karen got wind that he’d been seen parked in his car making out with another girl. She hadn’t seemed too heartbroken. There was no shortage of potential boyfriends, in her case.

After purchasing their tickets and various snack items from the concession stand, they all filed into the theater. Of course
,
since the others were paired up, Anna wound up sitting with Alex beside her. Josh was on her right, holding a tub of popcorn that he and Erica were already
cr
unching on. Further down, Karen busied herself talking her date’s ear off. At one point someone in the theater belched loudly and they all cracked up
, unsuccessfully trying to stifle gi
ggles until the lights went down and the previews started.

Anna
soon
found it hard to concentrate on the movie. She was nervously aware of the figure sitting on her left in the darkened theater and wondering why simply being so near him made her palms sweat. He politely let her have the arm rest, keeping his hands lightly resting on his thighs, and
eventually
she found herself watching his hands instead of the bloody carnage on the screen. His fingers were long and slender -
an artist’s hands
, she mused. He
did
take an art class at school. She’d
seen him with his
sketch
book
at lunch
.

At first, in the dark, she didn’t realize that he had turned his head ever so slightly and was watching her staring at his hands. Suddenly feeling eyes on her, she looked up and was mortified to see him studying her. And then
,
he smiled
. . .
slowly, not like any smile he’d ever given her before, but a sensuous, knowing curve of the mouth that reached his eyes and implied that he knew
very well
what he did to her.

Oh God.
She
directed
her attention back
to
the screen and
resolutely refused to
let her gaze wander again. It was amazing how difficult it was.

Trudging out of the theater afterward, Anna was quiet, wondering what would be said during the walk home. Karen,
complaining
loudly that she had to pee, dashed for the ladies
’
room in such an exaggerated hurry that Erica and Anna exchanged looks and
laughed
. They waited by the restrooms, chatting with each other since the boys had grouped off and were making jokes about some gross part of the movie that Anna had
somehow
managed to
m
iss.

“Whew! That’s better,” Karen announced
upon emerging from
the
restroom.
“I’ve had to go for
,
like, an hour.”

“Well, why didn’t you go?” Erica wanted to know.

“I didn’t want to miss anything. Although I kind
a
wish I had now. I’m going to have nightmares tonight. That was
totally
twisted!”

Anna raised her eyebrows. “Are you seriously telling me you’re freaked out by a killer scarecrow? Really, Karen?”

Hearing their exchange,
Dalton
joined in
with enthusiasm
. “Better close your curtains tonight
, Karen
. You might look out the window and see the scarecrow’s face looking in at you.
Oh, and don’t forget to check under your bed . . .
muahaha
!
”

Karen shoved him. “You are
so
not funny. Are
you
ready to go yet? I told my
parents
I’d be home by nine-thirty.
They’re
still pissed about my grades. Wait ‘til
they
find out I
blew
that
last b
iology test. I don’t want to
make things
worse by being late.”

“Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Dalton
pushed open the theater doors and
they all
piled out into the clear night that had grown chilly. The moon was bright in the sky. For some reason it made the night seem even colder.

Karen and
Dalton
headed off in the direction of his car, Karen
cheerfully shouting
, “I’ll call you guys tomorrow! Nighty-night, sleep tight!”

Erica snuggled against Josh and shoved her hands into his jacket pockets, lifting her
chin
to grant him a kiss. “You guys want a lift home?” he asked Alex
,
while
wrapping his arms around Erica and hugging her close.

Alex glanced at Anna before answering, “No, that’s okay. We’ll see you later.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Thanks though.”

Erica pulled one hand out of Josh’s pocket and fluttered it. “Bye. Keep an eye out for the boogeyman.”

“Bye,” Anna said, grinning back at her.

For a moment she and Alex stood watching Erica and Josh strolling slowly away, arm in arm. Then he gave a little sigh and asked, “You ready?”

Anna nodded. She just wanted to get home. Hanging out as friends with other couples was proving to be awkward.
She
wasn’t uncomfortable around Josh and Erica at school, but for some reason being out with them at night was different. It made her feel
out of place
, like she should be embarrassed for being in their presence without a date of her own. She got the impression Alex felt the same way.

“You don’t mind walking, do you?
I should have asked you first.
Sorry.
”

“No, I don’t mind.”

“I don’t think Karen’s going to get much sleep tonight.”

For a split second Anna thought he was being lewd, then
grinned when she
realized what he meant. “Oh, please. What are the chances that a homicidal scarecrow will turn up in her closet? She’ll be fine.”

Alex chuckled. “She’d never be able to handle
staying
home alone all night
.
Too much of a
wuss
.”

“Good thing she’s not coming home with me. Uncle Phil’s at his girlfriend’s house and I wouldn’t be able to resist trying to scare her.”

“You’re not afraid to be in the house alone after watching that movie?”

“Why would I be? Imaginary stuff can’t hurt you. It’s
real
life you gotta watch out for.”
Anna put her arms around her chest, shivering slightly. The temperature had dropped since the sun went down and her cotton shirt, though long-sleeved, was thin.

Noticing, Alex pulled off his jacket and handed it to her. “Here. Put this on.”

She took it gratefully. Slipping into it, she could feel the warmth from his body heat right away. It smelled of him, sort of a clean, woodsy scent that she found delicious. Without the jacket on, his arms were now bare and she couldn’t resist stealing a look. Slender like the rest of him, they were nicely toned, the muscles small but well-defined.
At school he almost always wore long sleeves, but tonight he hadn’t. Under the bright glare of a streetlight, she noticed a long horizontal scar just above the crook of his left arm.

“What happened there?” she asked curiously, indicating his arm.

Alex didn’t look at her.
He didn’t respond right away.
She was beginning to think he hadn’t heard her, when finally he replied
indifferently
, “I fell through a window when I was a kid. Cut my arm on the glass. Guess I was as clumsy as you are.”

“Shee. You trip over your feet once and you’re branded a klutz for life.” As if on cue, Anna promptly stepped on one of her own untied laces and stumbled. For the second time that night Alex reached for her arm
, fearful
she’d wind up sprawled on the concrete. Looking at each other, they both burst out laughing.

“Okay, so graceful, I’m not.” She bent to tie her shoelaces.

“Do we need to get you a guide dog?” Alex teased.

“I don’t know. I’d probably trip over him.”

“A guide
buffalo
, then.
I think even
you
could manage not to run over a buffalo.
”

“Novel idea
!
You, sir, are a genius.”

“By the way, I don’t recommend attempting to chew gum while walking. You might wind up down
a
well.”