Portal (21 page)

I texted Ariele on the way back. I felt we needed,
I
needed, her in my corner in order to figure out what was going on. Although I felt a sense of relief that I had shared what I knew with Kellan, I wasn’t sure that I had convinced him. I hoped that Ariele could take away any doubts he had. This situation had to be fixed although I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted fixed. I knew that I had to find a way back.

I strongly felt that my mother was involved and if she had managed to get me here she would be able to send me back. I wondered how my dad was coping. I had been gone for almost a week. I would have to figure out the best way to deal with my mother. She was not an easy person to confront, but I needed to get back to my real life, my school, my friends and Dad.

Ariele would be able to help, I was sure of it. Possibly her mother as well, they knew me from New Jersey. They would be able to help me deal with my mom. I felt Kellan put his hand in mine interrupting my thoughts and I looked up at him.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

“Ariele said we could stop by her place, do you have time?”

“Sure, where does she live?”

As I entered her address into the GPS, Kellan asked, “What were you thinking about though, you looked pensive.”

“I was thinking about heading back to New Jersey, to my dad, to my friends.”

He didn’t respond, but his grip around the steering wheel tightened as he kept his eyes unfalteringly on the road. I wondered what was going through his mind, but was too afraid to ask. I suddenly felt hollow. I would lose him. I couldn’t bear that. But I had to go back.

As we turned into Ariele’s driveway, she appeared on her porch looking excited and happy to see us.

“My parents are still out so we’ve got the place to ourselves. Come on in!” She led us into the kitchen and we sat down on the barstools. My throat suddenly ached again and I took off my scarf.

“Wow, your neck’s really bruised,” exclaimed Ariele. “Does it hurt?”

“It looks worse than it feels. I’m ok.”

Ariele got up and poured us some fresh water from the refrigerator and handed us a glass each. I filled her in with what I had told Kellan. She looked surprised.

“I thought you’d keep it to yourself.” She looked over to Kellan and asked him what he thought of all this.

“Well, it’s hard to absorb, but if you both claim to know each other from New Jersey… well?” He shrugged his shoulders, “Question is, what do you plan to do about it now?”

I looked at Ariele and shrugged my shoulders.

“What do
you
want, Arizona? Have you tried calling your dad again?” Ariele asked.

“Yes, both his cell and work numbers are inactive. I tried googling him, again nothing. No Dillard Stevens in New Jersey that I could find anyway. I don’t understand it.”

“Did you try contacting Monica? She may be able to help?”

“Yes, I came up with a blank again. I don’t know what’s going on. I looked at our school website. I’m not shown on the hockey team. It’s like I never existed.”

Ariele looked over to Kellan, “This must be weirding you out totally.”

He raised his eyebrows and grimaced but remained silent.

“Tell us about Arizona
Darley
, Kellan,” I asked.

Kellan looked over at me, “You don’t remember anything?”

“No, not really. Although, I can
feel
things. Like I know certain things that only she would know about herself. I also seem to know who my friends are, some of them anyway. Like I told you before, I knew Maria and Ali almost as soon as I saw them and I seem to know a lot about them. I feel totally comfortable with them. I have no such recall about you, Harry or Rupert though. It is so strange. When did you first meet Arizona Darley, Kellan?”

“I can’t remember exactly. I moved here with Dad when I was about eight or nine, so then? My dad and your mother have worked together for years so our families are close; I basically live at your house. We spend all our holidays together, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Your mom has been like a mother to me, Harry is my best pal and like a brother to me. And you and Ella, well….”

“…Are like sisters to you?” I completed.

Kellan shrugged, “Well, were until this week, then something changed between the two of us.”

“I did.”

Ariele looked at us and smirked, “So are you two a
thing
now?”

We looked at each other and nodded and Ariele chuckled.

“Well, I never… Arizona with a boyfriend!”

Kellan looked at Ariele, “Strange?”

“Well, yes, if you knew Arizona at Princeton. The boys were scared of her. She is a tough cookie and she stinks most of the time! We always thought she’d bat for our team. Half the girls on the lacrosse team had crushes on her. I sort of wanted to date her myself.”

Way too much information! I shot Ariele a hate look that stopped her short and she giggled, “See
that
Kellan, that’s Arizona
Stevens
!”

Kellan looked confused, “Arizona Darley is a sweet, sensitive girl….”

I wasn’t sure that I could do, “sweet and sensitive” and that worried me. Maybe that’s what Kellan was attracted to? Not a rough, tough and smelly (thank you, Ariele!) hockey girl. Oh well, he would have to deal with it. After all, he’d known “sweet and sensitive” for years and hadn’t made a move.

Ariele suddenly looked triumphant, “I know what will help! Photographs!” She got up and rushed up the stairs.

I looked to Kellan for more information. “Kellan, what about Rupert? Who’s he?”

Kellan sighed, “Don’t you feel a closeness with him? You and he – you are close.”

I did, surprisingly and nodded.

He continued, “I’ve never met a couple as connected as your mom and dad, I mean Rupert.”

“What does he do, Kellan? Does he work at Ames as well?”

Kellan looked exasperated, “Shrimp, no, of course not. Close your eyes and try to recall what he does. You must feel it, it’s what connects you two.”

I closed my eyes; all I could remember was the time on the porch when I’d seen Rupert playing the guitar. I remembered being drawn to the guitar.

“He plays the guitar. He’s a musician?”

“And record producer,” Kellan added. “He taught us both to play the guitar and he wanted to teach Ella, but she’s decided that the cello is more
her
.”

“Do you know how my mom and Rupert met?”

“It’s one of their favorite stories. They met at a bar in London years ago, got separated, but found each other again.

“And Harry is their biological child?” I questioned.

Kellan nodded, “Harry is great, he’s been a truly great friend to me. I feel like I am betraying him by not sharing this with him. We should call him and get him to come down here.”

Ariele returned with an armful of albums. Kellan got up and helped her put them down.

“Well, here are some for starters. Let’s begin with the latest ones first.” She turned the pages to our latest girls’ night out, at the Woogie club in Manhattan. Kellan looked at the photographs carefully.

“Is that you, Shrimp?” He asked pointing to the dark haired, sassy-looking girl making a face at the camera.

“Yes, that’s me!”

“Wow, you do look so different!”

Ariele laughed, “You can say that again! I barely recognized her at school with this Barbie do.”

Kellan took his time. He flicked through the pictures, occasionally looking up at me to compare my face to those in the photographs. There were pages of pictures of me playing hockey, receiving trophies, me with Mom and Ella and my dad. No Rupert or Harry in any of the pictures. He finally put the album aside and shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know what to say….”

“Don’t say anything, Kellan. There’s nothing to say,” said Ariele. “I just wanted you to see the photographs so you don’t think we’ve lost our minds. This is real.”

“I can see that, Ariele. How did you get here?”

“I guess, more conventionally than Arizona, on a flight.”

She summarized what she had told me – that her family was moving here after school ended as her mother had accepted a job offer at Ames. However, they had arrived here eight months earlier than expected.

“I got on a flight in Newark and ended up in the past,” pronounced Ariele dramatically.

“That’s what Arizona said too. That she had somehow gone back in time,” he sighed.

As Ariele was talking to Kellan I remembered what Simla had said to me in the restroom and interrupted them.

“Simla told me that she ‘knew all about our family’ before she got me by my throat. So I am guessing that she knows something about this situation too. It would be nice to be able to talk to her, but she seems to hate me. Does she hate you too, Kellan?”

“I guess she does so now, after what happened with Justin. I don’t really know her. You’re not friends with her. You, Ali and Maria seem to treat her as an annoyance. She and Justin have been friends for years. I don’t think they’re dating. Both Justin’s dad and Simla’s mom work at Ames. They are the nicest people and they seem very close,” said Kellan.

We definitely needed to look into our parent’s work. And I had to figure out what Simla meant.

“I’m guessing that Simla and Justin are going to give me a hard time at school on Monday.”

Kellan growled, “No they won’t, they wouldn’t dare!”

“They’ll try,” said Ariele levelly.

“Best to be prepared. Be Arizona
Stevens
. Take her out. I’ll support you, although I did just get a manicure, so I’d prefer it if you flatten her.” Ariele said firmly.

I could hear Kellan protesting exasperatedly. I put my hand on his arm, squeezed it and whispered, “Just kidding!”

Ariele rolled her eyes, “Seriously, Arizona. You need to draw upon your Stevens’ strengths to better protect yourself. Darley is a wimp. Are you trying out Monday?”

Kellan shook his head and said, “No, she isn’t.”

I was furious. Ariele was right. Darley may be the darling
here
but Stevens was the one to protect her. “Yes, I am! Kellan, I’ll be ready. I’ve got one more whole day to recover. My neck will be fine and I
am
trying out. I already missed Friday, I can’t possibly miss another one.”

Ariele looked over to Kellan and said, “Kellan, this is
Stevens
! If you want to date her you’re going to have to learn to deal with
her
. She is amazing in so many ways and hockey is an integral part of her. You can’t squash that. You’ll lose her.”

“What’s the point, Arizona, if you are just planning to head back to New Jersey anyway?” Kellan asked ignoring Ariele.

“I plan to… but I don’t know how or how long it will take. If I even can. I have to play in the meantime.”

“And what about us? You’ll be mine in the
meantime
?”

Ariele looked frustrated, “This is very cute and all but you’re going to make me hurl. Stop with the gooey talk, Arizona. It’s not you.”

I absorbed her words,
it’s not you
. It wasn’t. It was Barbie Arizona. We were the same girl somehow morphed into one. I wondered if Barbie Arizona had always been in love with Kellan, but it had taken me to express it to him.

I laughed at Ariele, “I’ll stop, don’t hurl!”

Ariele looked at the clock, “It’s late, Mom and Dad will be back soon, let’s sleep on this and talk tomorrow? Let’s go to the Halloween house tomorrow for a laugh and hang out. Ask Harry as well?”

“Did you forget about Ella’s talent show tomorrow?” Kellan asked in surprise.

“Forget? No, I didn’t know anything about it,” I said exhausted.

“It’s the annual Mountain View talent contest tomorrow, hosted by her school this year. She’s been excited about it for ages and has been practicing her singing. You’re accompanying her on the guitar.”

I looked at him in horror, “You can’t be serious!”

He looked at me with a somber expression and I started to wonder if there was any possibility at all that he could teach me to play whatever I had to play by tomorrow.

“Kellan, you have to help me. Ariele, do you have a guitar?”

She nodded and went to fetch it. It was a wooden one, much like Rupert’s. I picked it up and started strumming the strings. They felt familiar; maybe I could do this after all.

“What tune, Kellan?”

“
Hannah Montana, Best of Both Worlds.
…”

I looked over at him in horror and noticed his lips quivering. He collapsed on the floor shaking. Ariele and I stared at him; he’d totally lost it. This was all way too much for him. I put the guitar down and knelt down on the floor next to him putting my arms around him to stop him from shaking. Ariele went to fetch some water.

He slowly turned around in my arms to face me. Tears were streaming down his face. He was LAUGHING! I let go of him and his head hit the floor with a loud bang. He sat up and brushed himself off and then pulled me toward him.

“I’m sorry, Shrimp! I had to, it’s just too funny, your face….”

“What’s so funny, Kellan?”

“Oh, Shrimp, you don’t have to play tomorrow. There’s no talent show. I was just making that up.”

I pushed him off me. I was furious.

“Kellan, that’s not funny, you really had me going. Promise me you won’t do that again. I have to be able to trust you, especially when I can’t trust myself.”

He stopped and looked at me earnestly.

“I promise. Seriously though, it’s my dad’s October barbeque tomorrow. You always come and I think you and your family are invited as well, Ariele?”

Ariele looked like she seriously was going to hurl right at us.

“I vaguely remember Mom mentioning something about a barbeque. ‘Larry?’ Is that your dad? I was going to blow it off, but I’ll go it if you guys are going to be there?”

“Yes, that’s my dad, Ariele, please come. We might be able to gather some information while we are enjoying my dad’s juicy burgers!”

“I’ll think about it, but you two have to promise to keep the PDA to the very minimum! It’s gross.”

“Kellan, is anything
expected
of me tomorrow,” I asked him tentatively. I could see the gleam in his eyes as he decided whether to try another one, but I am sure my sour expression prevented him and he just shook his head and laughed.