Beyond the Sea (48 page)

Hunter bumped against the door, causing it to rattle and whined. I’m a light sleeper, so that was enough to wake me up. I sat up and ran my hands over my sleepy face.

“You need to go out, Sweetie?”

I mentally kicked myself for not taking him out earlier. He whined again. I groaned but slowly got out of bed. I paused as I walked past Harrison’s room and peaked inside. He was still fully dressed and passed out on top of his bed. I snuck in and picked a blanket up off the floor and threw it over him. The house seemed oddly cold. No one else was in the room, leaving me to conclude that they were either in the guest room or gone. I cracked open the last door before the stairs. Empty.

Good, they’re gone. I hated seeing Harrison’s friends in the morning; I look like a mess. Whenever Luke stayed the night, I made sure to shower and put makeup on before heading down for breakfast.

I opened the backdoor and stepped onto the deck. Hunter trotted past me and onto the grass. He sniffed around, looking for a good spot. The wind picked up and I wrapped my arms tightly around me. The August air was still warm, but the breeze carried the promise of an early fall. I enjoyed fall; the cool weather was nice for riding and the multi-colored leaves were so pretty. My mind drifted to my favorite fall memories, all of them consisting of horses and friends. A low growl startled me out of my reverie.

“Hunter! What are you growling at?”

I scanned our small fenced in backyard but saw nothing of significance. Crap. That meant he was growling at something in the woods. The fence we had was one of those white cast iron ones that are made to look pretty rather than keep anything in-or out.

“Get in here!” I called.

 
He growled again. The porch light spilled out enough for me to see that the fur on his back was standing up. Wind rattled the trees, which were still heavy with green leaves. I heard branches breaking and undergrowth crunching. Something was in the woods. Hunter sprinted forward, fully in protection mode now. It was too dark to descry exactly what was out there. Please be a bunny.

“Hunter! Come here!”

He ignored me and started barking. Oh man, I didn’t want to go out and get him. But if something was really out there… I didn’t want him getting into a scuffle with a wild animal. It moved again, causing so much noise that I knew it had to be big.

“Definitely not a bunny.” I said to myself.

I moved to the edge of the deck. “Hunter, COME!”

 
Finally he turned to look at me. After another snarl at whatever was behind the fence, he ran over to me. I grabbed his collar and squinted, trying to focus my eyes to better try to see something. Hunter growled again. I looked down at my dog and was mighty glad he wasn’t growling at me.

He was huge for a German Shepherd. The breeder we got him from was baffled; both of his parents were award winning show dogs weighing not over eighty-five pounds. They actually apologized when Hunter topped one hundred pounds. He was mostly black, with the characteristic tan legs, chest, belly and chin. He had enough brown mixed in on his head, ears, and neck to give him a handsome, wild-dog look. His teeth were big. And sharp. Maybe it was just my opinion, but his fangs seemed longer than other dogs’. Hunter was a good, loyal, well behaved and friendly dog, but boy, could he look scary when he wanted to.

I woke up the next morning feeling very uncomfortable and completely drained. It was eight-thirty and Hunter was lying on top of me. I tried to sit up but realized I couldn’t move under his weight. “Hunter,” I called quietly. It was enough for him to hear, and he stood up and moved so he could lick my face. “Ok. Enough.” I gently pushed him off and sat up, wiping dog slobber off my face. I groaned; I really didn’t want to get out of bed but I had a riding lesson in an hour. I sleepily started down the hall.

“
Anora!
”

I swiveled around, looking for the source of the whisper. Harrison’s door was still closed. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, imagining invisible shields going up around my mind. It was the only way I knew to keep things like that out of my head. It was odd though, I could have sworn I’ve heard that voice before.

***

 
“How were the horses today?” Mom asked me during dinner that night.

“Really good. I had a lesson and then went out on the trails.”

“That‘s nice honey.”

“Yea, it was fun. Can you pass me the gravy?” I spooned some over my mashed potatoes and offered the bowl to Mike.

“Have you ventured to the stable to see Anora‘s horses, Mike?” Mom always sounded so formal when she talked. It’s like she never took a break from being Mrs. Serious Doctor.

“Yes.” He shoved a large forkful of potatoes into his mouth. Conversation closed, is how I took it. I wished he talked to my parents more; after all, they made an effort to be polite and talkative to him.

After dinner, Mike and I went upstairs to watch TV. I plopped down on my bed.

“Want to watch
Buffy
?” I asked enthusiastically.

“That show’s lame.” Mike sounded bored, as usual.

“I thought you said you’ve never even seen it.”

“Yea, exactly, because it’s lame.”

“Then how would you know I’ts lame if you haven’t seen it?”

“I said I don’t want to watch it, dammit.”

I leaned back on my pillows feeling a little hurt for some reason. I didn’t want to start a fight. Better change the subject then. “That’s ok, it was just an idea. What do you want to do then?”

“Travis is having people over again. We could go.”

“Mike, you know I have another riding lesson tomorrow morning. I can’t stay out late.” Though he wasn’t looking at me, I’m pretty sure I saw him roll his eyes. I didn’t want him to think I was the dork that I really was. “Well, I guess I could go, but just for a little bit. I know you don’t really get it, but riding is really important to me.” Mike smiled, and I loved it when he did. He had dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and he looked absolutely charming when he smiled. “Let me tell my dad where I’m going and change and we can take off. Promise we can be back here by like, nine-thirty?” He pulled me close and gave me a kiss.

“Promise.”

We didn’t talk much on the way to Travis’ apartment. I’d never been there before, but I knew it was near the University. The apartments over there ranged from really, really nice to very run down. Common among student housing, I was sure. Tired of the awkward silence, I decided to try my hand at starting a conversation.

“You know what I was thinking?”

“Hmm?”

“That I would love to run a rescue barn for off the track racehorses, like Penny and Dave.”

“Who?”

“Penny and Dave. The people who own the barn my horses are at. You’ve met them before.”

Mike was silent for a minute before saying, “That’s stupid. You would never make any money and plus, where would you get the land and the barn to do something like that? You aren’t thinking realistically.”

Ok, true, I hadn’t thought out every little financial aspect yet, but it wasn’t like I was trying to put the plan in motion. “It was just an idea,” I said quietly. I folded my hands in my lap and stared at them until we arrived at Travis’.

The apartment wasn’t really an apartment complex, like I’d imagined. It was a big old house split into several smaller houses, and it wasn’t one of the nicer ones, but it wasn’t a rundown crap-hole either, thank God. It was obvious that college students occupied the houses on the street. Music, laughter and loud conversations filled the warm night air, and beer bottles, red plastic cups and other kinds of food wrappers littered the tiny lawns and walkways. Mike took my hand led me onto the large covered porch. Several guys were sitting on aluminum lawn chairs drinking beer.

“Yo, Mike! What’s happening bro?” An overweight boy of about oh, twenty-three I’d say, got up to give Mike a hug that was really like a hand shake and a pat on the back. Mike greeted him back and, if I’m not mistaken, called him Big Pauly. “Who’s the babe?” Big Pauly eyed me up and down. I was regretting wearing a tight tank top and a short, and also tight, denim skirt now. “Send her this way.” He opened his arms like he expected me to hug him. Gross. I stayed rooted at Mike’s side. A very tall and skinny boy sat next him, and the contrast of his gangly-ness to Big Pauly’s oversized frame was comical.

“What’s up?” he said and tipped his head back. He didn’t sound fully conscious. Seriously? These are the kind of people he hung out with? Mike led me through the door and up a flight of stairs and entered without knocking into a nice sized living room. The room was as clean as you can expect for it to be when a twenty-something year old boy lived there. The brown leather couch didn’t match the blue plaid upholstered armchairs, and the sheer black curtains clashed even more. A large flat screen and several video game systems were all that decorated this room. Obviously no females lived here. Next to the living room was a tiny kitchen with an attached dining room, if you could even call it that. Behind that I could see an open bathroom door that was at the end of a hall right before the hall sharply turned and lead to presumably the bedrooms. Mike walked in front of me, calling for Travis, who appeared from hall.

“Hey, Mikey! Glad you stopped by. You’d never believe who’s-” he cut off abruptly, seeing me. “Well, well well. You must be the famous Anora.” He too, eyed me up and down. Next time I come here I’m wearing a parka. He nodded his head, as if he was silently letting me know I got his stamp of approval.
 
“Give me one second.” He said as he disappeared down the hall. I saw him grab his cell from his back pocket as he walked away.

“Want something to drink?” Mike asked as he opened the fridge. I peered in and saw beer, beer, and more beer, along with some fruity looking wine coolers. A few bottles of Coke were pushed up against the back. There wasn’t much food in there either. Well, at least they had the essentials, right? I held back the urge to roll my eyes and politely declined. Mike pulled out two beers.

“So, how you been treatin’ my boy Mikey, here?” Travis asked when he rejoined us.

“Um, I’d like to say good, I hope.” I looked at Mike for his input. He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close.

“I think I’ll keep her around a bit longer,” he joked. We made our way over to the living room. Mike and I sat close together on the couch. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. I turned to Mike.

“Hey, we’re going to
Anthony’s
for our birthday. We decided today and I just remembered to tell you.”

Travis looked confused. “
Our
birthday?”

That was a habit of mine. I forget how weird that sounds. “Yea, I have a twin.” Travis’ jaw dropped.

“Seriously? Damn Mikey. I’m jealous. Is she as hot as you?”

This isn’t the first time this has happened, so I decided to play along.

“Well, maybe, if blue-eyed blondes are your type.” I think I just made Travis’ night.

“You guys close?” It doesn’t take a genius to see where he was steering his train of thought.

“Oh yea, very,” I said in a voice that I hoped sounded sexy. I could see Mike trying not to laugh out of the corner of my eye. “We do everything together.” Travis leaned in closer. “Well, except that I don’t go to football practice or lift weights.” Confusion took over Travis’ face.

“Huh?”

 
Mike started laughing.
 
“Dude! Her twin’s her
brother
.”

Travis straightened up. “Not cool,” he said but then started laughing himself. We continued making small talk and the boys continued downing their beers for about a half hour. Someone knocked on the door. Travis yelled for them to come in, and three guys and two girls shuffled to join us in the now crowded living room. I especially
 
hate crowds when they are full of people I don’t know. I hate them even more when they are full of people I don’t know and who look at me like they are judging me, which is exactly what the two girls did.

A plain, skinny blonde approached me first. She had on a tight, pink skirt so short it made mine look modest. She had on an equally tight, white t-shirt that showed a few inches of her overly tanned (to the point of looking orange) stomach. She definitely was lacking in the chest department, and I felt ashamed of myself for taking satisfaction in that. She had wide set eyes that were such a startling shade of blue that it was obvious she was wearing colored contacts. Her dark roots showed that her hair color wasn’t natural either. She had an I-think-I’m-better-than-everyone look frozen on her face. She was one of those girls who lacked natural beauty but dressed so flashy and had so much confidence, she almost had you fooled. I immediately didn’t like her. Not only did she look so stereotypically bitchy, but a bad vibe came from her. Her sidekick, a modest looking red head, trailed behind.

“You must be Anora.” She was very chipper. I liked her even less. “I’m Alix. I have a few classes with your Mike. I’m sure he’s mentioned me.”

Not wanting to be rude for no reason, I smiled. “No, actually he hasn’t. But it’s nice to meet you.” She sat down next to me, close enough that her leg was touching mine. “I’ve never met anyone with the name Anora before,” she said matter of factly. I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a statement or a compliment.