The West Wind (16 page)

The last few weeks of summer flew by on the wings of doves.
Xander, his father, Hero, and her mother continued their work preparing the
Brighton House for the public. In their spare time the two young lovers seized
every moment they could together. Thursday evenings found them dancing at
Hellespont, though any day of the week they might be found in the Brighton
House ballroom. Dark corners often found them kissing and taking advantage of
their newfound freedom to get to know each other as deeply as two young people
in love possibly could.

The west wind blew strong the last few days of summer and as Hero
began to prepare for her senior year of high school, autumn followed on its
tail. Xander, who had never been to, nor wanted to attend public school,
changed his mind, much to the consternation of his father.

“No, Xander,” Zach McConnell said adamantly as they argued in the
library one morning.  Xander had come down to discuss the idea a few
minutes earlier.

“Dad, it’s just one year, what does it matter?” he argued.

“It’s a waste of your time. If anything, you should have been in
college years ago.”

“So it will be easy, I’ll get a diploma and it will look better on
college applications.”

“Are you going to go to college now, too?”

“Am I not supposed to?”

“It’s not like you need to, you already know how to run our
business at any level. What’s the point?”

“To get an education, I hear,” Xander said sarcastically.

Zach ignored his son’s tone. “You already have one, and know more
than most college students ever will.”

“I want to go to school this year.”

“For Hero.”
“And my other friends, yes.”

“For Hero,” Zach repeated.

“Yes, fine, because I want to be close to Hero,” Xander admitted.
“What’s wrong with that?”

Zach sighed. “It’s not as though you won’t see her outside of
school, you know.”

“Sure, but I want the chance to be there waiting when she gets out
of class. I want to study together and hang out at lunch. It’d be a new
experience, you know, and you’re always telling me I should get out and
experience new things.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “High school was not one of the experiences
I was talking about.” He put heavy emphasis on the word ‘not’.  “You are
going to be bored out of your mind. You’re too mature for high school, the kids
are going to drive you crazy,” he said angrily.

“How do you know? You’re not me,” Xander shot back.

“I take that mature comment back. You’re definitely still a
teenager.”

“No shit, Sherlock. Which part of eight-
teen
did you miss?”

“Your mother and I did not raise you to talk to your parents like
that,” Zach reprimanded.

“Leave Mom out of this,” Xander demanded.

“She’d be disappointed in this stupid plan of yours, too,” Zach
pushed.

“I said leave her out of this!” Xander’s volume raised a couple
decibels.

“She wanted bigger things for you than to have you waste a year in
a public school,” Zach said, his voice matching his son’s.

“I don’t want to fucking talk about Mom!” Xander yelled.

Silence fell hard, almost immediately becoming oppressive weight
that filled the air almost palpably. Zach struggled to find a calm answer. The
two men glared at each other, both too stubborn and too much alike to back
down. Finally, after neither had spoken for minutes and Zach managed to bridle
his rage, he said, “My answer is no.”

“My answer is, ‘Fuck you,’” Xander said coldly, leaving the room
and slamming the door behind him before his father could answer. Zach didn’t
follow. There was no point, as angry as they were. It would only force a larger
wedge between them.

Hero blanched as she took another sip of her latte. Jaimie had met
her at Ambrosia at 10:00 am. They intended take most of the day to go school
shopping. Anna had given Hero her credit card, with the vague admonition not to
spend “too much”. Hero was certain that her mother spent more than she would
about once a week. Leana had been invited, but had already made plans with
Jeremy that she refused to cancel no matter how much Jaimie cajoled her. Jaimie
was still complaining about it.

“Can you believe it? Leana’s even more whipped than Jeremy is,”
Jamie whined.

Hero wasn’t really listening. Her stomach gurgled ominously and
the coffee tasted unusually acidic. The air conditioning felt abnormally cold
and she pulled her cardigan tighter around her and took another sip.

“Hero, are you listening to me?” Jaimie asked.

“What?” Hero replied. “Oh, yes. Sure.”

“Talk about whipped. Are you thinking about Xander again?” Jaimie
scolded.

Sitting out of sight behind a bookshelf in a chair that threatened
to bury her, Jessica rolled her eyes and tried to pay attention to the book she
was reading.

“What? No. I just. . .” Hero trailed off. Her stomach turned
again.

“Hero are you ok?”

“I’m fine. Just not feeling that great.” She swallowed back a
bitter taste in the back of her mouth.

“You look really pale, Hero,” Jaimie said. Her expression showed
her worry.

“I’m fine, really, it won’t last. It’s been happening every
morning for a couple of days. . .” she trailed off again as she realized what
she had said. Saying it aloud made her aware of what it might mean.

Jaimie was shocked. “Hero,” she began in a louder whisper, “are
you. . .”

Hero wretched and ran for the bathroom. Jaimie followed her
quickly, drinks forgotten. In her chair behind the bookshelf, a red haired,
unnoticed eavesdropper smirked, slid a bookmark between the pages of her book
and headed for the door.

Three hours after slamming the door on his father Xander was still
stalking up and down the streets of Vista Bay. The sky was grey and the wind
blowing strong, which didn’t help his mood at all. Right now it made him think
of his mother and not even the memory of dancing with Hero in the rain made
things any better. He had stopped by Ambrosia, but no one he knew was there and
when he texted Hero, he’d only gotten a short, “Sorry, busy.” for a reply. She
was supposed to be out shopping with Jaimie anyway, so he hadn’t really
expected to get a hold of her.

He was standing in front of jewelry store looking at the diamonds
in the window, randomly wondering what cut Hero preferred when he heard the
sound of heels on pavement. He turned to look, hoping to see Hero, and found
Jessica headed straight for him. He sighed. They had managed to maintain a
loose friendship since their fight, but he still felt a little strained every
time they talked.

“Hey, Jess, what’s up?” he said as she came to stand beside him.
The directness of her approach made him suspicious.

She looked at the display in front of them. She smiled and if
Xander had to, he would have described the look as vindictive.

“Shopping, are you?” she asked without greeting him.

“Uh, no. Just looking,” he answered, looking at her askance.

She stretched languidly, bumping into him as she did. He was
certain it wasn’t an accident. “Maybe you should be,” she suggested with
innocent eyes. “It’s not like you two aren’t perfect together.”

“Umm. Thanks, I think. What’s going on?” Xander asked. He
definitely didn’t trust her sudden friendliness.

“Nothing,” she almost cooed. Xander wondered if she could do
anything without making it overtly sexual. “You know, if you want, I could try
them on for you. Of course, the salesperson would probably think we’re
together.” From the look on her face, she wouldn’t mind. She corrected
hurriedly, “You would tell them we weren’t, of course. I’m just your friend.”

Xander was now really off balance. “Jess, I don’t think. . .” he
began.

“I mean, if you don’t want to, no big deal. I was just offering.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“You might want to think about it, though,” she purred, leaning so
close that his nostrils filled with her perfume. “Beat the race to the shotgun,
and all.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Xander said, confused.

“I’m sure Hero wants to be the first to tell you. I won’t ruin
that for her,” Jess said wickedly.

“Jessica, what are you talking about?” Xander demanded. He was
starting to get frustrated again.

“Oh, nothing,” she said as she started to slip away.
“Congratulations, by the way.”

She drifted off into the crowd traveling along the street, leaving
a very uncertain young man behind. He pulled out his phone and texted Hero.

Xander:
Hey babe, what’s up? I just had a really weird
conversation with Jess.

Her reply came quickly.

Hero:
Talk to you later. Love you.

He sighed. It was not the answer he wanted. The girls were
probably in the changing room or something.    

Hero put her phone down on the counter in Jaimie’s bathroom. The
two girls had rushed from Ambrosia to a drugstore on the other side of town and
back to the house. The last thing she needed right now was to worry about what
kind of trouble Jess was causing. She had more important things to worry about.
Jaimie stood in the doorway, staring at a small plastic stick in her hand.
Hero’s eyes were glued to the window, watching rain spill against the glass.

“It could just be the flu, right?” Hero asked miserably.

“They aren’t flu tests, Hero,” Jaimie pointed out.

“They could be wrong, right? They’re not completely reliable,
everyone knows that.” Hero’s voice was panicked.

“All five of them?” Jaimie asked, waving the fifth at her friend.

“My mother is going to kill me,” Hero cried into her hands.

“Well, at least she’d get put away for double homicide,” Jaimie
joked. Hero cried harder and Jaimie stepped across the room and hugged her close.

“It’ll be okay, Hero. These things happen,” she consoled her
friend.

“It hasn’t happened to you,” Hero argued in spite of the fact that
it didn’t really make any sense.

“I make Evan wear condoms. I don’t want an STD.”

Hero looked up at Jaimie through her tears, confused. “Evan has an
STD?”

“Pregnancy, Hero,” Jaimie said a little coldly. Hero sobbed into
her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” Jaimie apologized.

Hero changed the subject. “Do you think Xander will want it?”

“What? That’s a stupid question. Of course he will,” Jaimie said,
as reassuring as she was capable of being.

“How do you know?” Hero whimpered.

“Well, first, he loves you. I’m pretty sure he’s planning on
marrying you, which usually involves having kids. You’re just. . .” Jaimie
paused. “Starting early.”

“Should I tell him?”

“Umm. . .”

“I’m going to tell him,” Hero said, grabbing her phone.

“What? Now?”

“Yes, why not?”

“Don’t you think you should tell him in person?”

“Good point. Do you mind if he comes here?”

Jaimie thought about it. “Sure, I guess.”

Hero hugged her tight. “You’re the best friend a girl could have,”
she said.

“Thanks?” Jaimie said with a question in her voice. She hadn’t
really done anything special that she could think of.

Hero texted Xander.

Hero:
Hey, are you busy?

Xander:
Not really, what’s up?

Hero:
We need to talk. Can you come over?

Xander:
Right now?

Hero:
If you can. It’s really important.

Xander:
Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can. I love you.

Hero:
I love you too. Oh! I’m at Jaimie’s. Come here.

She waited, but he didn’t respond. She sent him another text.

Hero:
Xander, did you get that last text?

No response. Was he ignoring her? She tried again.

Hero:
Xander, are you coming to Jaimie’s?

Her brow furrowed with worry. Jaimie raised an eyebrow. “Hero, is
everything ok?”

“No, he stopped answering.”

“Call him. It is a phone.”

“Oh my god, I’m an idiot,” Hero exclaimed, dialing.

“That’s why you keep me around,” Jaimie grinned.

The call went straight to voicemail.
“Hey, you’ve reached Xander’s
phone, he’s probably out dancing and left me alone. Leave a message, be brief,
and he’ll call back, to your relief.”