Beyond the Sea (47 page)

“No, Travis is having a party. You should come.”

“No thanks,” I said, disappointed that I wouldn’t be spending time with him tonight. Travis was one of Mike’s friends that I’d never met. He was a sophomore at Syracuse University and supposedly threw awesome parties. I wouldn’t know; I wasn’t a fan of crowds and had never (until now, of course) gotten invited to any parties.
 
We finished our ice cream and walked back to the car to head to my house. I hoped Mike would at least stay over for a while before going to this party.

Mike pulled in my driveway just as the sun was beginning to set. He put the Mustang in park but left the engine running; I guess he really wasn’t planning on staying. I unbuckled and turned to open my door. He leaned over suddenly and pushed me back into my seat.

 
“Aren’t you gonna give me a kiss goodbye?” he asked. I smiled and did want he asked. “I’ll call you later, like around ten, ok? If you change your mind, I’d really be happy.”

 
He leaned in for another kiss before I got out of the car. I waited until he backed out on the street so I could wave and then I walked around the back of the house to go in through the garage. My mom was a bit of a neat-freak, and she hated when I wore my barn boots into the house. When I saw that her car wasn’t in there,
 
I snuck inside without taking off my boots.

“Hunter! Come here my sweet boy!” I called in that baby-talk voice you use when talking to animals. Though Hunter, my oversized German Shepherd was definitely no baby. He bounded over to me, accidentally knocking me over in his excitement. “Did you miss me, sweetie? I missed you, of course.”

He rolled over for me to rub his belly. I layed on the floor petting him for a while then I quickly headed upstairs and changed out of my breeches and into my favorite pajamas pants and traded my black tank top for a clean, white tee shirt. I tossed my boots into the closet, shut the door and let Romeo out. Romeo was a dark sable ferret with a white mask on his face. He was very cute, or at least I thought so. Romeo jumped out of his cage, happy to be out, and hopped over to sniff Hunter. Hunter lowered his head and sniffed back, then gave Romeo a little lick on the head.

After getting the animals taken care of, I went downstairs to get something to drink. There was a half eaten sandwich and an empty cup on the breakfast table, evidence Harrison had been here. I sighed and picked up the dishes. My mom was always nagging at Harrison to clean up after himself. It’s not that my brother was purposely ignoring her; he was just too absent minded and easily distracted. I surveyed the rest of the large kitchen; the expansive granite counter tops were sparkling clean, the stainless steel fridge was shining, as were all the other metal appliances.
 
As I mentioned, my mom likes things to be neat and orderly. I hated cleaning up after Harrison, but I did it to save his ass from the wrath of Mom.

Speaking of whom, where was he? Suddenly, I realized how quiet it was. Where was everybody? The door was unlocked when I came home. I sighed and locked the door.

 
“Harry must have forgotten to lock the door again,” I said aloud to Hunter.
 
A smile broke across my face as I remembered Mike telling me that he thought it was weird that I talked to my animals like they were human. “Well, I don’t care. Besides, it beats talking to myself, right?” I smiled down at him as I rubbed his head.
 

 
I glanced at the clock; I had about twenty minutes before I could expect Laney and Marie to be here. I considered ordering the pizzas now, so they would get here as soon as the girls did, but for some reason I had a feeling like I should wait. I wished they would hurry up and get here already. I hated downtime like this, when there really wasn’t enough time to do something productive, but there was too much time to just sit around waiting. Plus, it was creepy to be alone in this big house.
 

Up the stairs and down the hall I went, turning on every light I could. Hunter trotted along close to me. I opened my bedroom door slowly so I wouldn’t hit Romeo. He was still running around in that manic way ferrets do. I liked my room. It was large and the walls were painted a light purple with white doors and trim. My dresser, desk, night stand and book shelf were also white, creating a soft, girly feel to the room.

My bed, which was fitted in the center of the wall opposite the door, had a pastel green comforter and matching pillows with little multicolored flowers all over them that coordinated well enough to motivate me to make my bed in the mornings. I had a big pink stuffed unicorn that I always slept with, and he sat in the middle of the pillows. Hunter had a big, fluffy, blue plaid bed on the floor next to my bed.
 
Pictures of Mystery, Neptune, Hunter and Romeo cluttered my dresser and desk, and several frames hung on the walls, which not only encased pictures of my animals, but pictures of my friends and family as well. The top perimeter of the wall behind my bed was lined with ribbons I had earned from years of showing horses. My book shelf was overflowing with a wide variety of books, the majority of which be

ing about horses, dogs and ferrets. My room wasn’t particularly mess, but I wouldn’t call it spotless either. Dog toys and treats were always scattered across the floor, which also housed the occasional pile of laundry, shoes or other normal stuff you would find in a bedroom.

Hunter heard the door open before I did. He jumped up from his nap and ran to the bedroom door. I saved my Sims game that I had been playing, turned off the computer and scooped up Romeo. I opened the door to let Hunter run downstairs to play guard dog before I put Romeo back in his cage and headed down myself.

“It’s about time!” I yelled as I ran downstairs.

 
No answer. Hunter was still barking, which was unusual since he usually quieted once he saw who was there, and he definitely knew Laney and Marie. My sock covered feet skidded to a stop on the slick tile in the kitchen. No one was in there. I knew I heard the door open, and even better, Hunter heard it too. “Ok, very funny. You can come out now.” I waited, expecting my friends or my brother to pop out from a corner somewhere. Hunter ran around the house, still barking. My cell phone went off, causing me to jump. It was Marie.

“Hello?”

“Hey. Sorry we’re running late. Laney got stuck watching Annabelle and had to wait for her mom to get home. We’ll be there in like twenty.”

“So, you guys aren’t here?” Stupid question, I know, but I had to ask.

“Um, no.
 
We just left. I know Laney drives fast, but not that fast. Have you been drinking?”

I mumbled a good bye and set the phone down. Unease crept over me. No one was in the house except for me. I closed my eyes. “Leave me alone! Please, not again,” I prayed. I took a deep breath to gain control. I felt the calm take over. My phone went off again, this time a text message from my brother.

Hey you Travis go?

Now,
he
had been drinking. Assuming he was asking if I was going to Travis’, I typed back:
No, staying in tonight. Laney and Marie ar coming over.
 
A moment passed before I got a reply.
Goo trav nogopd 4 yoi.
Good God, Harry was drunk. I sighed as I typed:
Where are you? Do you need a ride home?
If there was a party, my brother was there. How my parents didn’t catch on, I’ll never know. Sometimes I think they do but just choose to ignore it. It took a while for him to respond, and from what I could decipher was that he was over at his best buddy Luke‘s house. A light bulb went off in my head as I remembered Luke saying his parents were going on an end-of-summer getaway.
Ok, be safe. Love u bro.
 
I put my phone down and was alone again. I turned on the radio to a classic hard rock station to fill the emptiness and ordered the pizzas.

***

It was dark when I arrived at the barn. Shopping, lunch, more shopping, the movie and then dinner took longer than I had planned. I was glad to be busy all day though because Mike hadn’t called me yet. I figured he was hung over from partying last night, but it was late. I had that something-is-wrong feeling in the pit of my stomach. I purposely left my cell phone in the car so I wouldn’t be tempted to check it compulsively for missed calls. I had a lot to do horse-wise, anyway.

 
There weren’t too many people there this late except for Amanda Williams and know-it-all Ramona Carl, who I couldn’t stand. Amanda’s horse Allie was in a stall next to Mystery’s but I’d gotten to know Amanda only a little bit. She was probably the sweetest girl I’d ever met and was very quiet. Her medium length brown hair was almost always in her face as if she was trying to hide from everyone. She was putting the last of her grooming supplies away when I walked by.

“Hey, Anora,” she mumbled quietly.

“Hey, Amanda. How are you?”

“Oh, fine. Just finishing up.” She smiled and turned back to her grooming box. I grabbed my own box of brushes and went to Mystery’s stall.
Ramona walked past me (towards the door thank God) just as I was finishing brushing Mystery. Ramona was a chubby blonde who was a few inches shorter than me. She always had her thick hair in a perfect French braid. I wouldn’t call her definitely unattractive, but there was nothing pretty about her. She was plain; pale hair, pale skin, and pale blue-gray eyes.

Ramona stopped, spun around to face me with her hands on her hips.
Go away,
I shouted in my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her take in a breath and open her mouth, preparing to lecture me on something I already knew.
Just leave!
I mentally screamed, turning my back to her. Her boots scuffed against the concrete aisle and the door slammed.

“Dodged that bullet,” I whispered to Mystery, relieved.

It was ten-thirty by the time I got done. I wished I brought Hunter with; the barn was full of sounds and had a creepy feeling when you were alone, which only got amplified at night. That, and I’m pretty sure the old barn around back where the hay was stored was haunted. I’m not certain because I avoid that place like the plague. I got the feeling someone was watching me as I darted out to my Prius. After the doors were locked—I pushed the button twice, just to be sure— I tapped the screen on my cell. A wave of disappointment washed over me when I saw that I had no missed calls.

My parents were in bed already when I got home twenty minutes later. I heard multiple voices coming from Harrison’s room as I headed towards mine. I opened the door to see who was over and got immediately choked by smoke.

“Close the door!” Harrison ordered. I stepped in and closed it.

“Holy crap, Harry, Mom and Dad are so gonna smell this!”

“Nah. They never do. Come have a seat with us, sista.”

I sat next to my twin as I joined the small group of people. Luke was the only one I recognized. He was six feet of pure muscle. His tight white tee shirt contrasted beautifully with his dark skin. He had intensely dark brown eyes, but currently they were all red and a little puffy. A large brown haired boy and sandy red head were playing some sort of football game on the PS3. Luke put his hand on my thigh. “What’s happening?” he asked me sleepily.
          

“Um, nothing.”

 
“You’re pretty.” He smiled, showing a row of beautiful white teeth.

Luke never really paid much attention to me before. I knew the types of girls Luke dated, and I sure wasn’t one of them. “Thanks.” I could feel my cheeks redden a bit, but hey, I doubt any one in here would notice. Harrison put his arm around my shoulders.

“She’s off limits. She’s my sister.”

Luke waved his hand in the air to show it was ok. “I know man, but you didn’t tell me your sister got
hot
!” He looked at me intently, and I felt my cheeks redden even more. Harrison scowled at him. Just then my cell rang. I jumped up when I saw it was Mike.

“See you guys later!” I called as I dashed into my room.

“Hey!” I sounded cheerful, too cheerful.

“Hey.” Mike’s voice was dull.

“Why didn’t you call me all day?”

“I dunno, I was busy.”

I felt a little crushed that he was able to brush it off that lightly. “Oh.” There was a long silence. Obviously that was all the explanation I was going to get out of Mike. “I went shopping today. I got lots of new stuff.”

“Really, want to model it for me?”

I smiled. “Of course, but you should know, Marie made me go to Victoria’s Secret.” I paused for dramatic effect.

“Oh yea?” Mike sounded suddenly more interested.

“Mh-hm. And she convinced me to buy something.”

“Remind me to thank Marie.”

 
I heard voices in the background. It sounded like girls. “Where are you?” The bad feeling suddenly came back. I heard the distinct sound of a door shutting. The female voices disappeared.

“Travis’.”

“Oh.”

“Yea, I never left. He wants to meet you, by the way. Listen, I got to go. You’ll model for me tomorrow, ok?” That sounded more like a statement than a question.

“If you want me to.” I hoped I sounded coy.

“You know I do.” Click. Not much of a good bye. I sighed and got ready for bed.