Three Thousand Miles (13 page)

“How many do you need?”

“Just one, thanks.” I hand her the pill and she quickly swallows it. I put the pills back into her bag and step back from her.

“Thanks for that, I am
Summer
.” She says
as she
smiles towards me. I smile back at her and introduce myself.

“No problem, I’m Alanna.”

“I take it
you were the patient?” She says, a little too forward.

“Yes and you,” I say just as forward as she did.

“I had an op, but it’s all good now.”

“Oh,” I say shifting my eyes from her.

“Why were you in hospital?” S
he says and yet again, her tone is rather forward. I flinch and
I
look down at the ground; I look back to the girl, who is leaning against a wall as she speaks. Her hair is bright red, and her eyes are chestnut brown. She has a slender frame and she drowned in an oversized shirt and baggy jeans. Her tennis shoes are tired and
her
backpack looks as if it is worn out. I feel sorry for this girl, she has just told me that she had some kind of surgery and yet there is no one here with her. I wonder about her, does she have a family. If she does, then where are they? Why would they leave this girl alone in the cold?

“I was… shot.” I choke out, my mind flashes back to that, long thin faced stranger that shot me. A cool shiver climbs up my spine and I close my eyes firmly.

“Hey, are you okay?” The girl says as she moves away from the wall and walks over to my side. I open my eyes to haze; I wait until it clears, and then I focus on the girls freckle filled faced.

“Yes, I am okay, is there anyone here to collect you?” The girl fidgets and looks awkward.

“No, my Dad cannot get off work and I don’t have anyone else.” I glance at her and I feel uneasy.  I look at her again and I take in her face and the tiredness of her clothes. I feel deeply sorry for this girl, so I say,

“Why don’t I give you a ride?” She smiles and then it fades.

“I do not want to trouble you?”

“Don’t be silly, where do you live?”

“It is not far from here,”

“Come on then,” I say to her and she quickly agrees and follows me to the town car. I walk over with Summer and my
m
om looks uneasy
but
,
at
the same time, she is welcoming of the strange girl.

“Mom, this is
Summer
.  She needs a ride and I thought we could drop her off on our way back.” My
m
om pushes a slight smile from her pursed lips.

“Absolutely, nice to meet you
Summer
, my name is Belle.” We enter the car and I take the back seat next to my
m
om. Summer eases herself gently onto the side-facing seat and places her backpack on the floor. The car pulls away and the look on
Summers
face is glee. I cannot help but wonder about her. I would like to know more about this girl.

“Do you attend school?” I say smiling at her.

“Yes, I attend NYU.”

“What do you study?” She hesitates a little then finally says, “Creative writing, although, that wasn’t my original major.” She says tensely. “My dad wanted me to go to Law
S
chool.” Summer seems agitated when she talks about her father.  I wonder if there are issues between her and her father. Possibly, I feel this way because of Adrian and Emma’s story with their father Edward.

“Why
didn’t you want to be a lawyer, i
f you don’t mind me asking?” She smiles,

“N
o its fine, my whole life my father pushed me about
L
aw
S
chool. My dad always told me that is what I was going to do. I never had any choices of my own. At first, I wanted to be what he said, but as time went on, I realised that, it is my life and I do not want to spend it doing something that I would not love. When I did not apply
to Columbia, my dad would not speak to me for over a
month. It was horre
ndous, he hated my choice and
for a brief time I thin
k that he hated me.” Summer’s words are sad
. I can see that she is in pain from her surgery, but I feel that the pain she has over her schooling is much more severe.

“I am sure that’s not true. Your father most likely, just wanted the best for you.” I say sympathetically. I gaze over at her and she looks
distressed. I look to
my mom as she talks rapidly
on her new white iPhone. She seems oblivious to the fact that
S
ummer
and I are even here. I shake my head briefly at her and turn back around to
S
ummer
.

“Yeah, he still is not happy about my decision; however I feel that he has kind of accepted it now. There is no way we could afford a college like Columbia anyway, my dad was about to get into debt and I hated that. Which college
do
you attend?” I feel very uneasy about my answer. I cannot lie to the girl, but at the same time, I hate to tell her the truth. It seems as if there was a lot of tension between her father and her, over Columbia. I look around awkwardly searching for an answer. I gaze at her hoping that she will forget the question she just asked. However, she does not, I see her lips move and her words chime out.

“Do yo
u attend college in the city?” S
he says looking irritated that she had to ask again. I exhal
e and look over to my mom. S
he is obviously not list
en
ing to our conversation. If she were, she would have jumped in by now, shouting from the rooftops how proud she was of me for
to be
attending Columbia. I stare
at the flame haired girl
,

“I go to Columbia.” I say feeling guilty, I wonder if mon
ey was the main issue in
Summer’s
decision not to apply.

“Cool, I hear it is a great sc
hool, it was just not for me.” S
he says very upbeat. I smile at the girl but I do not say anything. I do not want to share my views with her on Columbia. Hearing her story makes it impossible for me to share.
We sit in silence until
Summer
breaks it.

“Hey, my stop is around here.”

“Okay, “I say. I reach over to my mom who is now talking excessively on her phone. I gently touch her on the knee and she puts her call on hold.

“Yes dear?”

“We are near
S
ummer
’
s
house, tell the driver.” I say to her. She glances to the driver and tells him to pull over. The car comes to a stop and I reach for the door. I step out and summer follows. I look around t
o see where she lives
.

“Which building is it?” I say.

“That one,”

“S
he points to a tall dark grey building, that’s looks old. The front stoop is rundown and there are a few broken windows in the hallway. Summer glances around, she looks embarrassed and I feel again guilty. I lift her backpack from the ground and hand it to her. She smiles and looks happy.

“Is your father home?”

“No, he works until eight tonight.”

“Are you okay alone?” I ask.

“Oh yeah, fine,” She says quickly. Something in her voice leads me to believe that she is not fine. I run my finger along my lower lip and
I
gaze at the red haired girl. I cannot assume that she is lying and I have to believe what she is saying.

“Okay, if you are sure?”

“Yes, I am sure. Thanks again Alanna.”

“That’s okay, it was nice meeting you.”

“And you.” I enter the car once again, and I feel that I have helped this girl in some way.

“Alanna, have you decided
where you are going to stay?” M
y mom asks me as she finally ends her long telephone call.

“Yes, I am going to Columbia.” She looks confused.

“I don’t think that is wise, you must rest, and I don’t feel you would get much of that in college.” I frown at her,

“I am going back to college, I have already missed so much already, and I cannot afford to miss anymore.”

“But Alanna, that is too much too soon, really darling come back home with me.
,” I shake my head.

“N
o, my mind is made up. I need to focus all my energy on college.”

“Alanna, I know what this is all about, Adrian. You miss him and you feel that you need to focus on other things to occupy you.”

“Mom, please stop telling me what I feel. You don’t understand, and not everything is about him.” I say harshly.

“Don’t lie to yourself, sweetie I just want you to be happy.”

“Then let me go back to college. Adrian is not here anymore, Columbia is all that I have right now.” I feel a soft tear in my eye. I try my hardest to hold in, without much success. My mom pulls me close to her, she whispers in my ear,

“D
arling, he will be back, I know it.” I sigh and
I
glance at her.

“I hope
that
you are right.”

The car comes to a stop at
the
doors of Columbia. The driver quickly gets out and opens the door. I step out into the snow and
I
look around at my familiar surroundings. The driver takes my bags from the trunk of the car and holds them tightly in his grasp. My mom gets out the car and looks irritated by the view.

“Are you sure about this?” S
he says in an accepting voice.

“Yes, I am positive.” I say trying to convince to her. She watches as I walk away with
the
driver who still carries my bags. I enter the massive college and I reminded of a time when I entered with Adrian. Everyone stared and I was privileged to be with him. I quickly get him out of my mind; I do not want to cry again. I walk as fast as I can down the hallways of Columbia. I see familiar faces as I pass by. Everyone is staring, and I do not know why.  I walk further along and I
am
almost at my room. I hear someone call my name, I turn around and I see Marco.

“Alanna, hey, how are you?” He says in a sl
ow tone. He looks different;
his hair is longer and much curlier than before. He also looks as if he has lost some weight. His usual bulging muscles are nowhere in sight and his clothes are
different too. He has on a simple black t-shirt and
pair of grey sweats. I glance at
him, wondering what is wrong.

“I am fine, how are you?” I say.

“Okay…” He says in a soothing tone.

“What is wrong?”

“I don’t know what mean, I am fine,” he says trying to persuade me.

“That doesn’t wash with me, what’s up?”  I insist. He runs his long tanned fingers through his hair; he looks at the driver who is standing ever so close to us. He takes me by the arm and leads me over next to the lockers.
He takes a deep breath
,

“You are right, I am not okay.” I do not say anything
in response
I just glance at him.

“My family is ruined.”

“How, what happened?” H
e
,
again
,
runs his finger through his hair; he places his finger gently on
to
the bridge of his
large
nose. I can tell this is going to take a while and that he fe
els distressed.

“Marco, maybe it is better if we discuss this in my room.” He smiles,

“Y
es, thanks Alanna.” I lead the way
to
my room, with Marco and the driver following behind me. When we arrive at the door, Marco takes my bags from the driver and I thank him and send him on his way, as I do not want to keep my mom waiting all day. I push open the door and in I walk. My room looks the same, the same pink bed sheets, and the same smell of Chanel no5 that always fills the room. I walk over to my bed and instruct Marco to put my bags down next to the dressing table. He does, and then he sits on Sophie’s bed. He looks highly stressed and I feel that he desperate to talk.

“Okay, tell me what is wrong.” He takes a ve
ry deep breath as he begins to explain why he is so emotional
.

“My parents are getting a divorce.” He finally says.

“What
-
they
seemed like the perfect couple, what happened?”

“My mother happened.” I wonder what she did, so I ask him.

“What did she do?”

“When we were in Italy over the New Year,” he says and I am immediately reminded of the night
when
he
had
asked me to go away with him. I shake those thoughts from my mind and
I
focus back to Marco.