Viva Vermont! (6 page)

“Excuse me,” she said suddenly. “There's something I need to check on.” Then she hurried through the dining room and out the back door. It looked as if someone had started to carve a jack-o'-lantern, but given up. No wonder, since it was very cold outside. So cold that DJ could see her breath.

She rubbed her hands together then picked up the knife. She was determined to finish carving a face into the abandoned pumpkin. Before long, she forgot all about the cold. Instead, she concentrated on cutting out a pair of surprised eyes and a pear-shaped nose and finally a nice toothy grin.

“There,” she said to the finished jack-o'-lantern, “at least one of us is happy now.” Then she took one of the votive candles from the supplies basket that Rhiannon had so nicely arranged. She set this inside her pumpkin and then lit it. Just as she was holding her hands over the flame to warm them, she heard the back door open and looked up to see a knight closing it with his back to her, almost as if he were sneaking out. She knew it was Conner, but she also knew it was too late to make a graceful getaway. So, without thinking, she picked up her freshly carved jack-o-lantern and held it up to cover her face, hoping that she might somehow pass herself off as a stuffed scarecrow in the dimly lit yard.

6

“DJ?” CONNER WAS WALKING TOWARD HER,
but she was not moving from her scarecrow stance. And she wasn't going to answer.

“I like your smiley pumpkin head, Scarecrow Girl.”

She set down the jack-o'-lantern and made a sheepish smile.

“What are you doing out here all by yourself?” he said with way too much interest.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“It was getting stuffy in there.” He took in a deep breath. “I needed some air.”

“Well, it's cold out here,” she said, making her way toward the back door. She did not want to be alone with Conner.

“Don't go yet …” Conner came toward her now, actually removing his knight's cape as if trying to show some chivalry. And before she could stop him, he placed it around her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” she said, stepping away from him in shock.

“I just wanted to talk to you, okay?”

She shivered then pulled the cape more closely around her shoulders, absorbing the warmth as she waited for him to talk. But Conner didn't say anything.

“I thought you said you wanted to talk,” she said in a slightly aggravated tone. Why was he doing this?

He looked down at the ground. “I don't really know what to say.”

“Oh …” DJ sighed and looked back at her jack-o'-lantern. With the twinkling candlelight, he seemed to be winking at her. Perhaps he knew something that she didn't. Or perhaps he was warning her to make a fast break.

“I guess I just want to say I'm sorry.”

“You already said that, Conner. And like I said, it's okay. It's over and done and I don't even—”

“No, I don't mean I'm sorry about that—about breaking up with you. Although I am sorry.”

“What then?” She turned and looked directly into his face. Whatever this game was, she wished he'd get on with it.

“I mean I'm sorry … as in … I miss you, DJ.”

She forced what felt like an awkward smile. “Well, you can still talk to me. And we can still be friends, right?”

“Right …” He slowly nodded, but he seemed unconvinced. And he was frowning.

“Look, Conner, Haley is a really nice girl. And I know you guys go way back. And I really do understand why you decided to—”

“No, you don't understand. Haley is nice enough. But she's not you, DJ. I miss you.”

DJ blinked. “Really?”

“Yes. You and Haley … well, you're so different. And I thought I wanted to get back with her, but now I'm not so sure. She's not like I remembered her. And she talks all the time, but she doesn't really say anything. You know?”

DJ shrugged. “Not really …”

“I think I made a mistake.”

“Oh …”

“But I don't know what to do about it. And I really don't want to make a mess of things again … and I don't want to hurt Haley.”

Suddenly DJ felt angry.
He didn't want to hurt Haley?
What about the way he had hurt her? Why was he doing this to her now? And why was she even out here talking to him? Where was Princess Haley anyway?

“I'm cold,” she said quickly. Then she removed his cape, handed it back to him, then turned and ran into the house, slamming the door behind her.

As she hurried through the crowded house, it was obvious that the Halloween party was still going strong. It seemed that there were even more people now than there had been before. Not that DJ was counting heads exactly, but she suspected that some of the “invited guests” had invited others as well. And Grandmother and the general were nowhere in sight. Also, judging by the way some of these kids were acting, someone had sneaked in some booze. DJ was tempted to test the punch to see if it had been spiked, then realized she didn't even care. There was nothing she could do about it anyway. Hopefully this party would end soon.

DJ slipped into the darkened family room where an old horror flick was playing. She thought this might be a good place to lurk in the shadows. But the seats were already taken by an audience of couples who seemed to be more into making out than watching the movie. She backed out of there and headed for the stairs. Mostly she just wanted to keep a low profile.

She decided to check out the dance scene on the third floor. The bass of the music was thumping away along with the sounds of dancing feet—more noise than this house had experienced for as long as DJ could recall. She walked into Club Ghoul and looked around. There seemed to be at least fifty people, and the dance floor was crowded and active.

Not that she wanted to dance, but she'd hoped that she might “disappear” into the crowd for a while. But it was hot and noisy, and, after being outside, the air in the house felt more stale and stuffy than ever. She considered going back downstairs and just hanging in the library, but worried she might run into Conner again. Or, even worse, Conner with Haley. And then what would she say? How would she act? She wondered if she'd even understood Conner correctly. Perhaps she had imagined the whole thing. But, even so, she didn't want to take any chances of running into Knight Conner and Princess Haley again. She just couldn't take it.

Besides that, her leg was starting to ache, and she missed her cane. Going up and down these stairs was not helping either. Finally, she decided simply to call it a night and go to her own room and just crash. She needed a quiet place where she could sit undisturbed and think about what Conner had actually said to her. She wanted to sort it all out. She wanted to replay their conversation and attempt to figure out what he was really trying to say, as well as how she felt about it.

But she had barely opened the door to her room when she heard noises coming from Taylor's side. DJ flicked on the light to see Taylor, the seductive witch, and Seth, the warlock, minus his pants, going at it on Taylor's bed. Disgusting! Totally disgusting!

DJ groaned and turned off the light. She started to leave, then stopped herself in the doorway. No way! This was her room! This stupid pair was not going to drive her out!

“Excuse me!” she said loudly, turning on the light again. “But this is my room, and I am not going anywhere!” Then she marched into the bathroom and turned on the light in there as well. She left the door wide open and continued to talk, loudly. “Some people need to respect other people's space. There are rules in this house, and whether you like it or—” Then she heard the door slam and went out to see that Taylor and Seth had evacuated.

“Good riddance,” she said as she locked the door. But when she looked over at Taylor's rumpled bed, she noticed a clear vodka bottle on the bedside table. On closer inspection, she saw that it was nearly empty! Had Taylor and Seth consumed that much alcohol? If so, wouldn't they be feeling sick by now? She dumped what was left down the sink and just shook her head. Taylor was asking for trouble! Serious trouble. Not that there was much that DJ could do about it. Well, besides pray for her messed-up roommate. Not that it seemed to have done Taylor much good yet. Perhaps that was where faith came in … although DJ doubted she had that kind of faith.

Naturally, DJ did not feel the least bit sleepy now. For one thing, she was enraged at her foolish roommate. But besides that, she felt angry at Conner. What right did he have to say that to her? She knew she hadn't imagined it. It just made her mad to think of how he was jerking her heart around again. And why was he doing this? Why did he have to go and say that to her?

Despite herself, DJ felt a tiny bit sorry for Haley now. Did she have any idea how Conner felt? And if she did find out, would she blame DJ for this? Would she think that DJ had set out to win Conner back? Did DJ even want Conner back? Oh, what was wrong with people anyway?

DJ took her time turning off the alarm clock the following morning, but Taylor didn't even flinch. So DJ went over to make sure the girl was still breathing.

“Sounded like you were worshiping the porcelain throne last night,” she said loudly. Taylor groaned and rolled over.

“Time to get up, roomie!” Now DJ pulled back Taylor's comforter, grabbing her by the arm in an attempt to drag the wasted girl from her bed.

“Leave me alone!” Taylor growled.

“Rise and shine,” DJ sang at her. “It's a school day and you need—”

“I don't care!” Now Taylor spat some colorful words at her.

“Hey, watch the potty mouth,” DJ warned as she grabbed both of Taylor's hands, pulling her into a sitting position. “It's time to get ready for school.”

“I'm sick,” whined Taylor. “I can't go to school today.”

“Fine,” DJ snapped as she went to retrieve the empty vodka bottle. She held it up for Taylor to see. “If that's the case, I'll go get my grandmother and show her exactly why it is you're so sick. And then maybe we can send you someplace to get some special kind of treatment for your unfortunate illness.”

Apparently DJ's threat worked, because Taylor eventually joined them at the breakfast table. Although she wasn't touching her food, not even her coffee. And, judging by her greenish-looking skin tone, she was probably on the verge of hurling. But DJ didn't care. She had no sympathy for Taylor. Or for Eliza for that matter. It was obvious that both of them had been drinking last night, and that was after everyone had agreed to “no booze.”

The dining room had been somewhat restored to its former self, but the rest of the house looked pretty bad. And both Inez and Clara did not seem the least bit pleased.

“That was quite a party last night,” said Grandmother with a stern expression.

“We had party crashers,” said Eliza in an apologetic tone. “We didn't know what to do about it, Mrs. Carter. Somehow the word got out that there was a party here, and people we never would've invited showed up.”

“That is why it's best to send invitations,” said Mrs. Carter, “and to have them presented at the door.”

“That's exactly what I tried to tell the girls,” explained Eliza. “But they felt that word of mouth was acceptable.”

Grandmother shook her head. “Well, I hope you have all learned a lesson from this.”

“And we can clean things up,” offered Rhiannon. “After school.”

The other girls nodded, everyone acted very contrite, and Grandmother seemed appeased. “Fortunately, there was no serious damage to the house,” she continued. “But I do think I will call in a cleaning service.”

Now all the girls looked relieved, but DJ was irked. It seemed unfair that Grandmother was letting them off this easily. Not that DJ relished the idea of cleaning up after a bunch of uninvited guests—guests that were probably more connected to Taylor and perhaps even Eliza than they were to the other girls. But just the same, there would be some satisfaction in seeing Taylor and Eliza down on their knees scrubbing toilets or mopping the floor. It seemed only right that they should take some responsibility for putting the house back together. But that was not to be the case.

The Carter House Halloween party was the talk of the school. DJ couldn't help but notice how Eliza and Taylor and even Kriti seemed to be basking in this new form of limelight. Well, whatever. Mostly DJ was trying to avoid seeing Conner. Her plan was to remain aloof … to wait and see how he would handle this. Or if he even would. More than anything, she didn't want to be cast as the girl who had come between him and Haley. She didn't want to be blamed if—and it was a big if—they were to break up.

But the day passed without a word or even a glance from Conner. As she got into her car to drive to the pool, she started to wonder if perhaps she had imagined the whole thing. But when she got to the pool and saw Haley with red puffy eyes—and that was before she'd even gotten into the overly chlorinated water—DJ suspected that something was wrong. Still, as she tugged on her swimsuit, she was determined not to become a part of it. Really, it had nothing to do with her.

As she walked through the locker room, she could feel eyes on her. And she glanced over her shoulder in time to see Haley talking quietly amongst her swim team friends—and all of them were watching her with what seemed to be open hostility.

“Hey, Sunshine,” said Caleb as DJ adjusted her swimming goggles over her cap.

“Hey, Caleb.” She forced a smile.

“What's wrong?”

She shrugged. “You know … stupid high school stuff … the games people play …”

He nodded in a compassionate way. “Someday it'll all be just a memory, DJ.”

“Here's to hoping.” Then she jumped into the pool, waved at him, and started to swim. As if taking out her frustration on the water, she swam hard and fast. Soon her complete focus was on each stroke and each kick. DJ had decided that swimming was not only good for her leg, but kind of fun as well. Like any other athletic endeavor, it was a great way for her to forget about her troubles. Maybe that's why she liked sports so much. Finally, her hour was up, and she climbed out of the pool.

“You're turning into a really good swimmer,” Caleb told her as she reached for her towel. “You should go out for swim team.”

She laughed. “I don't think they'd be too interested in me.”

“Don't kid yourself,” he said. “I was watching you today. You're faster than some of the girls on the team.” He chuckled. “Some of the boys too.”

“Well, thanks for the compliment.” She smiled up at him as she toweled off her face and hair. “But I still think I'll pass.”

Fortunately, the team was still doing drills as she showered and dressed. She knew that she didn't want to see them talking about her again. But she was curious what Haley had told them about her. And she felt slightly indignant too. Even if Conner had broken up with Haley, which was DJ's guess, it wasn't like it was her fault. She certainly hadn't encouraged him. Maybe he hadn't broken up. Maybe DJ had imagined that they were talking about her. Maybe she was just getting paranoid.