Darlings (3 page)

Beautiful. That was the only thought going
through Gwendlyon Darlings head at that moment. She couldn’t take
her eyes off his emerald green ones. They shone with such innocence
compared to his adult body. The sting of the cold broke her trance.
She looked down at her naked foot as if to confirm yes, she was
missing a shoe. Quickly, she wiped her tears in embarrassment. “Um,
yah I guess that would be mine.”  Ugh, that was a dumb thing
to say, she thought.  Of course he knew it was hers. 

Gwen reached her hand out to take it from him
when to her surprise he knelt down in front of her. The smell of
sweet pine and laundry soap swept over her senses. 

Pulling her foot closer she asked, “What are
you doing?”  After all she didn’t know him. Though, she wished
she did.  

“Just give me your foot.”  He looked up
at her with those sparkling eyes. She couldn’t help but to oblige.
Hesitantly, she gave him her naked foot. He ever so softly took her
ankle in his large hand and slowly slipped on her flat. Their eyes
met and held one another’s gaze just long enough to make the
situation a bit uncomfortable. Gwen looked away and the mysterious
man hastily released her foot. 

“Thank you,” Gwen said, remembering her
manners.  

“You’re very welcome.” He stared at her. Odd
silence mixed with the sounds of the forest filled the space
between them. Gwen rubbed her bumpy arms; she was much colder than
she thought she’d be. 

“I am guessing your name isn’t Cinderella,”
the boy said with a half-smile that made Gwen’s stomach
flutter.

“No, it’s Gwendolyn. Gwen for short, and who
are you?” she asked. 

“Petren. Pete for short,” he answered.
Sitting down across from her, back against a tree, he placed his
elbows casually onto his knees and got comfortable. 

“What are you doing out here?” she asked.
Gwen didn’t see people out there often, let alone anyone her
age. 

“Funny, I was wondering the same thing about
you.” 

Slightly offended, she explained, “I always
come out here. My parents own the pond over there. It’s kind of my
spot,” she answered. 

“Oh, excuse me am I in your spot?” he looked
around smiling as if he was pretending to be sorry. 

Gwen rolled her eyes. “No. Besides what are
you doing out here. Better yet where are you from? I haven’t seen
you around school before.” 

“I’m staying with my cousins for the year,”
he stated. “The Lostrins.” 

Gwen knew who the Lostrins were. They had
started school only last Friday. They were a huge family of adopted
kids, some blood-related, some not. There was Tina, in Gwen’s
grade, a petite little blond haired girl with a spunky pony tail,
tough personality and an hourglass figure. She remembered greeting
Tina in the hallway, only to be met with a glare and a flip of her
hair. She felt sorry this guy had to live with her. Then there were
Tokala, Koli, and Arthur. They were brothers. Tokala was the oldest
and a senior. He was the talk of the female population at school
with his dark skin and jet black gelled hair and deep brown eyes.
The strong silent type. Then there was Koli who’s Tok’s younger
brother. A spitting image of his older brother, aside from his size
and freckles. Koli was smaller and more happy go lucky than Tok.
For some reason he reminded Gwen of a Jack Russell Terrier. Always
excited and ready to go. Arthur was the youngest of the brothers
and while muscular, he was the thickest of the three, towering over
the rest.  

“Oh, yah?  A couple of them are seniors
too. I heard they moved into the Henderson cabin out here, is that
where you’re staying?” Gwen prodded. She secretly hoped so.

“You got it,” Pete said, still flashing his
cocky smile. Silence.

“I live in West Glen,” Gwen offered a little
information up about herself more so to break the quiet. More
silence. Maybe he wasn’t interested. 

“I have you all figured out Gwendolyn
Darling,” he said while relaxing his head against the
tree. 

“Oh really, and how is that?” Gwen was a
little uneasy now although she couldn’t ignore the excited
butterflies in her stomach. He knew about her. 

“Well, not everyone’s father is the district
attorney,” he said. 

“Oh,” she muttered, a little disappointed.
Why would he be interested in her anyway? He was gorgeous. Gwen had
always been told how beautiful she was but she failed to ever see
it. He interrupted her thoughts. 

“But my cousin wasn’t exaggerating
how…beautiful you were.” His cocky smile widened. She
blushed. 

“Thanks. I’m sure I am just the picture of
perfection right now.” She wiped run mascara from under her tired
eyes. 

“Come on,” he said standing up. 

“Why?” she insisted. 

A pseudo-annoyed sigh escape his lips. “Just
come on. You were on your way to your “spot” before that root
jumped out and grabbed you right?” 

“Well, yah but-” 

“But what?” he asked. Extending his hand out
to help her up. “You look like you could use someone to accompany
you.” 

She peered at him through skeptical eyes.
“How do I know you’re not going to kill me and bury me out
here?” 

“You don’t,” he stated bluntly. Gwen sat
still eyeing him. “Suit yourself,” he said, turning to walk away,
though having no intentions of actually doing so. 

“Okay.” Gwen stood up and straightened her
shirt. She would surely end up the dead girl if it really did turn
out to be a scene from a horror movie. She could just hear the
audience scold her for being so foolish while drooling over their
buttery popcorn.  

“What was that, Cinderella?” he asked,
holding his hand up to his ear in gentle mockery.

“Okay, ok, I’m coming.” She rolled her eyes
again, smiling. “Only because there’s a better chance someone will
come across my body by the pond.” 

“Unless I throw you in of course.” He winked.
She began to follow him, arms crossed over her chest, but just then
someone yelled up ahead. In an instant the girl appeared behind
them. Pete’s eyes narrowed in a scolding manner. Tina huffed, her
hands placed firmly upon her luscious hips. 

“Pete. We’ve been looking for you. Come on
your needed elsewhere,” Tina demanded tapping her small foot.

“Oh hi, Tina, right?” Gwen extended her
hand. 

Tina examined it like it was covered in snot.
“Yah, Tina.” She turned to Pete. “Like now,” the small girl stated
stomping off, her hips swinging. 

Gwen eyed the sassy blond. “I don’t think she
likes me much.”  

“Tina’s harmless. She’s always been pretty
feisty.” His cocky smile had disappeared. “Really, I’m sorry but I
do have to go.” Just then Tok and Koli showed up. 

“There he is!” shouted Koli as he ran up to
Pete. Tok followed behind in his usual, purposeful
demeanor. 

“Hey Pete, did Tina find you?” Not waiting
for an answer the excitable boy continued talking a mile a minute.
“We’ve really got to go, you know go?” he said putting a little too
much emphasis on the second go. 

Tok shot Koli a glare. “Yah it’s time for
supper,” Tok said. Something weird was going on. 

Pete addressed the middle brother. “Koli,
walk Gwen to her car ok?” She could tell Koli wanted to object but
the look in Pete’s eyes said all there was to say. 

“Ok,” the boy said in a discouraged
voice. 

“Gwen this is Tok and Koli, two more of my
cousins. Guys this is Gwen.” Pete quickly introduced in
afterthought. 

“Hey Gwen.” Tok said hurriedly shaking Gwen’s
hand as he motioned with his eyes in the direction of the
cabin. 

Pete stepped closer to Gwen, almost
uncomfortably close. He looked down at her, his hands in his
pockets. “See you around, I promise.” Pete said to Gwen and he and
Tok jogged off. Jogging backwards he yelled through cupped hands,
“Make sure she walks ok Koli!” Gwen grinned.  

“Uh, ok sure Pete.” Koli looked confused.
“Ready?” he asked Gwen, who was too busy watching Pete run to hear
the short tan boy. “Gwen?” he asked breaking her trance. 

“Oh yah, sorry,” she answered. “Where are
they going?”  

Koli looked a little uneasy. “Just to make
supper I guess,” laughing nervously, he walked quickly in the
opposite direction. “Is your car this way? 

“Yah,” she slowly responded, watching Pete
finally go out of sight. Gwen still felt like something wasn’t
right, but not much in her life was.  Koli lead the way. “So,
you’re a junior here huh?” she asked making small talk while
attempting to keep up.

“Yup” he said. 

“What brought you to Parks Point?” she
inquired, secretly wanting to know more about Pete. 

“Oh, ya know, our parents got a new job,” he
quickly said. They were walking through the tall grass and her
breathing became labored. 

“I see, where did you live before?” she
asked. 

“Baltimore.”

“Huh. That’s a long way from Iowa. Did Pete
live there too?” she asked hoping she wasn’t being too obvious but
she’d hoped wrong. 

“If you want to know more about him, you can
just ask you know,” he said with his cheesy juvenile smile.

She contemplated denying it, but her
curiosity got the best of her. “That obvious?” 

“Oh yah,” he affirmed.  Just when she
was finally going to get the chance to score more information on
Pete they arrived at her jeep. Turning to thank him, Gwen was
surprised to see he had already taken off, running back toward the
forest.   

“Thanks, Koli!” she hollered after
him. 

He waved without looking back. Strange she
thought.  Gwen drove home with no music. Her head was swimming
with thoughts of Pete. Tomorrow was Tuesday. Good he’d be at
school. The boy in the forest was so mysterious and not to mention
incredibly hot. 

Her excited thoughts were replaced with a
recount of the day’s activities as she pulled into the drive way.
The lights were out. Good. She looked at the clock. Eight
forty-five. Gwen hoped Jonah had put Mikey to bed already. Her
father’s car was still gone. Also good. She could sneak in without
a confrontation. Sleep tugged at her eyes. As she emerged from her
jeep, Nannies faint whine echoed in the night air. That jerk she
thought to herself. No one had set Nan free yet. She walked around
the garage and unhooked her furry friend. As soon as Nannie felt
the familiar click of the leash unhooking, she bolted around the
house for the garden.

“Nannie, no!” Gwen yelled. “Come here, big
girl.” Awaiting the return of her friend, Gwen shivered. It wasn’t
like Nannie to run away, disobeying a command. Well it wasn’t like
Nannie to run much at all. Gwen decided she’d better follow.
Rounding the garage, she found the big dog whimpering at the garden
gate. 

“No big girl, it’s too late to play we’re
going inside.” She told the dog while grabbing Nannies collar but
she wouldn’t budge. Planting her feet she pulled harder. No use.
Soon she gave into the idea that it was useless to try and pull the
160-pound dog anywhere especially when she was a measly
120. 

“Ok, ok Just for a little bit.” Gwen gave in
reluctantly as she unlocked the garden gate. Quickly, Nannie ran
around sniffing everything. What had gotten into the dog? Nan acted
like she hadn’t ever been in the garden before. Gwen opened the
sliding door to the house, grabbed a sweatshirt and slid it over
her head as she made her way to a stone bench in the middle. Fine.
She would appease the dog and let her explore a few minutes. Gwen
figured she wouldn’t be able to sleep anyways with the odd
happenings in the forest lingering in her thoughts. 

The sky was so beautiful. She’d always loved
the garden. It was a huge square outside the back of her home
encased by a black rod iron fence and a second fortress of bushes
and flowers. The yard was completely isolated from the outside
world. Stars sparkled like glitter blown from the sweet lips of an
angel. The night air mixed with the smell of smoldering leaf piles
reminded her it was fall.  Her admiration was interrupted by
Nannie’s loud bark. 

“Nannie! Hush girl. You’re going to wake-”
Nannie was barking at something. Gwen moved closer. It seemed the
dog had spotted something in the fountain. Probably a squirrel Gwen
assumed. As she walked closer, she saw something positioned on one
edge of the cement side. The water feature was a large circle about
ten feet in diameter. Walking around the opposite side, she saw
what looked to be a small pumpkin. Odd. It was October in Iowa.
There were a ton of pumpkins around, but something was different
about this. 

Holding it closer to examine the smooth
orange flesh, she noticed a shoe carved into the side. A shoe she
pondered. Her heart skipped a beat.  Pumpkin plus a shoe…a
familiar fairytale came to mind. Huh. He had been calling her
Cinderella all night. She stopped herself. There was no way he
could have made it to her house before her. He was busy with his
other obligation. Shaking

her head, she set the fruit down. She was
delusional from lack of sleep. Yes this had to be something Mike
made at school or Jonah left outside. 

“Come on Nan. We’re going in now or no
treat.” Gwen walked deliberately to the house challenging the dog
not to follow and lose her nibble of reward. “Now, Nan!” she added
firmly. Sweet old Nannie unenthusiastically began to slowly follow
Gwen. Just before the dog reached the door, Nannie turned around
and glanced at the fountain. What had gotten into this dog Gwen
demanded to herself? Startling the furry animal, she cleared her
throat and Nannie scurried into the house the rest of the
way. 

Chapter 2

     “Gwennyyy, I’m
hungry!” Mike whined, his head propped up with his little fist at
the dinner table. He was fidgeting while swinging two bootless feet
back and forth in his oversized chair. 

“I’m coming Mike, be patient.” Gwen retorted.
“Damn,” she cursed after dropping the two eggs she had whipped out
of the fridge to quickly scramble up for Mike before school. As she
reached for a towel, she felt the slimy snot like egg beneath her
foot. Great.