Happily Never After (5 page)

Abby had just asked if anyone was there when
I heard movement from behind us. It wasn’t a couple random
footsteps. Something big was coming towards us in the grass and not
gracefully either. Abby must have heard it, too, because she swung
the camera towards the noise.

“Are you coming towards us?” I asked loudly,
hoping to catch the EVP, or voice, of whatever was out there.

No answer.

The movement was closing the distance between
us with each passing second. My body tensed and every single one of
my senses became heightened. I knew something was about to happen
so I took a small step back and glanced at Abby. She had the video
camera trained on the spot and returned my look with alarm.
Normally, I’d be able to get a feeling if there was anything
nearby. I had no idea why this was different. In response, my
breathing picked up.

“Hello?” Abby asked, this time I could hear a
slight tremor in her voice.

“What are you doing out here? You scared me
to death.” A cautious voice called from the darkness.

We looked at each other in confusion as a
figure stepped out from behind the tree. I wasn’t sure who was more
surprised to see Jason Preston—me or Abby.

He looked between the two of us before
finally recognizing me.

“You again?”

I couldn’t help it. I started laughing.
Slowly, Abby and Jason joined in, letting out their relief. Abby
was the first to talk.

“How do you two know each other? And why
didn’t you tell me about it, Quinn?”

“Quinn,” Jason smiled. “Finally I discover
the name of the girl who left me standing in the street like a
jackass.” He turned to look at Abby and said, “She ran me over
earlier while looking at trees, accused me of flirting, then walked
away leaving me standing there with my wounded pride.”

Abby chuckled, “Sounds like Quinn.”

“So what, did you follow me?” I asked
him.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise and laid a
hand on his chest. “Me? I’m more the being followed kind of
guy.”

“Oh, please.” I went to walk away. Something
about him irritated the crap out of me and set me on edge. All I
wanted was to be away from him so I could breathe and ignore the
signals my fluttering stomach was sending out, especially when he
looked so good in his skullcap and dark sweatshirt.

“See, she’s always walking away from me. It
hurts. Now, really, what are you girls doing out here? Séance?”

Thankfully, Abby was also the kind of girl
who wouldn’t go all gooey at the sight of a hot actor. “A séance,
are you for real? We’re conducting an investigation.” But I heard
the way she tried unsuccessfully to sound professional.

Great. Not only does he think I’m a crazy
girl who stares at trees, now he thinks I hang out in cemeteries at
night searching for monsters.

It didn’t matter that both of those things
were true but it did make me feel more freakish than I already was.
Then I remembered I didn’t want to impress him anyway and tried to
throw a bucket of cold water on my thoughts. Why did I have to run
into an actor, of all people?

Jason scrambled to keep up with us. “An
investigation? As in, searching for ghosts?”

I figured it couldn’t get any worse. Maybe if
I told him the truth he would think we were crazy and leave. I
stopped and faced him.

“Yes, as in ghosts. You’ve seen the ghost
hunting shows on TV, right?” He nodded. “Well, that's what we're
doing, kinda, only on a very amateur level.”

His eyes lit up with interest. His reaction
wasn’t what I expected.

“Have you found anything? Is there someone
you’re looking for? Can I help?”

I almost groaned. The expression on Abby’s
face wasn’t quite readable. It appeared she was as perplexed as I
was when she blurted, “I can’t understand why you’d want to help
us.”

“I came here for the same reason, only
without all the equipment. I can’t imagine anyone coming to a city
like this and not being curious about what’s out there. So, have
you ever seen anything?”

“Maybe,” I began simultaneously as Abby said,
“We’ve got some great stuff.”

Jason looked at me with newly found respect.
“So you guys are the real deal? Cool.”

“I don’t know if you can call us that. Again,
we’re amateurs. And we’re done for the night.”

Abby’s eyes widened in surprise but I knew
she wouldn’t argue with me as she packed up her camera. Jason's
enthusiasm was a little more than we'd bargained for.

“Well, can I tag along next time? I’m curious
about this sort of thing.” He watched as we gathered our
supplies.

Abby stood up and got really close to him.
“And you think two girls like us are the kind to show you? Maybe
we’re here for something very personal and don’t need some actor
butting in.”

“Maybe I am too,” he said softly.

That caught my attention. I couldn’t imagine
what he thought could be found in a cemetery at night. The last
thing I wanted was have him see even a glimpse of anything personal
to me. But when I peeked at him, I saw a familiar shadow of pain in
his eyes, which made me feel a little selfish.

I slung the duffel bag on my shoulder and
pointed behind him. “If you walk in a straight line that way,
you’ll find the south gate.”

Abby and I left him standing in the darkness,
staring after us. It wasn’t until we reached the street that Abby
finally said something.

“I can’t believe that just happened! I mean,
that was who I think it was, right?” She walked into a nearby
late-night coffee shop and took a seat.

“Unfortunately.” I settled across from her
and ordered a hot lemon tea. I’d never developed a taste for
coffee. “He’s kind of a jerk.”

She snorted. “Yeah, but an incredibly hot
jerk. Was he serious about how you met him?”

I took my long hair out of its messy ponytail
and shook it out. “Yeah, I literally ran into him on the sidewalk
and he tried his ‘I’m so charming and hot and famous’ thing but I’m
immune.”

“I saw that with my own eyes,” she giggled.
“I bet he’s never had a teenage girl walk away from him
before.”

The giggling seemed to be contagious because
I started as well. “At least I won’t have to see him again.”

Abby raised an eyebrow. “You think? He did
seem pretty determined.”

“I don’t want to consider that.” I sat back
in my chair. “The last thing we need is some stuck-up, pretty boy
getting in the way.”

“I don’t know, Q. Maybe it would help. The
way he looks, I can’t imagine even a dead woman being immune, even
though you seem to be.”

“I’ve never been attracted to giant egos. It
really is a shame he showed up tonight. Our investigation was a
complete waste.”

“Not a complete waste,” Abby said as she
drained the last of her coffee. “At least you were able to get out
into the real world for a couple hours.”

Later at home, I sat down at my computer to
watch the footage we'd taken. In the brief time we were at the
cemetery, we'd accomplished nothing. This didn’t really surprise me
considering we'd been interrupted before even beginning.

Satisfied I was safe and no one would see, I
logged onto the internet and Googled Jason. I couldn’t help it.
Something about him and the sadness that appeared in his eyes as we
were leaving made me incredibly curious.

I found out the basics. He was twenty-one and
had already left a trail of heartbreak through young Hollywood. He
originally came from Colorado before hitting it big and avoided any
major scandals. Sure, he'd donated a lot of hours working for
Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers, Big Sisters but it didn’t
take away from the fact that it was everything I expected to find.
I got bored with it pretty quick.

Right before I signed off I saw what it was
that could explain his sadness. It was an article in the Denver
Post five years ago, about a year before his first acting gig on
Home. Jason had been driving up to go skiing with his younger
brother Dylan. They were in an accident and Dylan died.

A car swerved into their lane and Jason hit a
patch of ice trying to avoid it. Dylan died at the scene before
emergency vehicles could reach the remote area. A brutal picture
formed in my mind of Jason on the side of the road holding his
brother as the life slowly drained from him.

Unwanted tears filled my eyes. I had assumed
he knew nothing about pain and loss. How horribly wrong could I
have been? To be the one left behind, to be the one left living,
affected a person in more ways than one. This was why he was so
curious about Abby and me hunting for ghosts. He must want to try
to reach his brother.

It made me wonder how much of his cocky
attitude came from that day, how much of it was to hide his hurt.
Much to my chagrin, I found myself wanting to help him. I felt
horrible now about the way I'd treated him.

Maybe, I’d have a chance to make it up to
him. All I needed to do was keep my ears open and find out either
where he was staying or where the movie was in production.

From the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow
move at the far end of the attic and felt comforted. I watched as
it pulsed and moved almost peacefully towards the door.

If Jason was searching for answers, I doubted
I was the girl to give him any. I didn’t care how annoyingly good
looking he was, he still rubbed me the wrong way. I made the
decision to find him as soon as I could and offer to help him.
Hopefully that would ease my conscience. The sooner I tried to help
him, the sooner I would be rid of him.

Chapter Six

The thing about summer in the South,
especially in Savannah, is it catches you by surprise. Though I
have lived here my whole life, I was never fully prepared for when
the force of the heat, mixed with the thick, wet blanket of
humidity arrived. July came crashing into the city like a runaway
freight train.

For a month, I tried to find Jason. I
searched the places we'd previously met and where the movie was
being filmed, but I never got close enough to see him. In the end I
appeared to be only one of a hundred pitiful girls waiting for him
to strut past. I was close to giving up. Let him find his own
answers.

Today, Anna and Suzie, who were also hanging
around the movie set, caught me trying to get close to the fancy
trailers. Before I could slip through the crowd and out of sight,
they saw me.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Suzie taunted.
“Either you’re pathetic and hoping to catch a glimpse of Jason
Preston or you’re meeting some of your fellow vampire freaks.”

Shame flooded my face as she pointed to a
group of scary looking Goth kids I’d never seen before. Better they
thought that than the actual truth.

Anna stepped closer and bumped into me. “You
better leave before we tell Mom. I’m sure she won’t be happy about
you being here and not at home working.”

“I saw a crowd and came to check it out,” I
squeaked out.

The only thing I hated more than feeling
humiliated or that I didn’t fit in anywhere was the rush of
meekness that washed over me whenever the twins were near. They had
a way of making me feel small, like I was an intruder in the life
that, by rights, belonged to me as much as it did them. Their
constant reminders that I was the outsider had eventually become my
reality.

I learned to live with the teasing and the
flat out mean attitudes but their taking my place, in my life, beat
me down.

Suzie lifted up the full cup of iced coffee
she held and dumped it over my head. The cold, sticky liquid
dripped into my eyes and down the front of my shirt. I hung my head
and frantically tried to cover the thin shirt, which was now
see-through, making the peace sign bra perfectly visible. Tremors
raced down my body as the embarrassment flushed through me, making
me painfully aware that my cheeks and neck had probably turned a
deep red.

To make matters worse, I heard a commotion
closer to the set and looked up in time to lock eyes with Jason. I
turned and ran the moment I saw the recognition flash in his eyes.
I didn’t stop running until I was blocks away and despair crashed
down on me.

I wanted to run home and throw myself in the
arms of my loving mother. Closing my eyes, I let the fantasy wash
over me and tried to ignore the stabbing pain of loss. She would
wrap me in a hug and whisper that everything was going to be okay,
that I was better than those girls were. Then, she’d kiss my
forehead and we would go into the kitchen arm in arm to bake
cookies.

I knew, as I opened my eyes, it was a
childish fantasy but in that moment I would’ve given anything to
make it come true. My heart ached for it. My heart ached for
her.

Gathering myself up, I made my way to Baubles
and tried to steel myself for my reality.

Even though I cleaned myself up as best as I
could, Marietta still threw me glares all day. My hair was matted
to my head and eventually she ordered me to wash it in one of the
sinks. Afterwards, it was easier to pretend the nightmare of Jason
seeing me in that condition that never happened.

As I got back to work, I watched Marietta
closely.

There was no denying that her clients loved
her. She knew what they wanted and how to make the most common and
plain women feel beautiful. Even the inside of her salon reflected
the tastes of the woman I once knew. I’d call it understated
elegance. The walls were a deep red complimented by gold trimmed
draperies. Wood floors added to the warm feeling as did the muted
lighting and soft, antique furnishings. Marietta forced me to work
there but over the years I grew to love it. Under better
circumstances I would have enjoyed the experience.

When Marietta catered to her clients I saw
the woman Daddy fell in love with, the woman who at least acted
happy to be in the same room with me. After Daddy’s heart attack
five years ago, it all changed. Any sentiment she expressed towards
me as a daughter vanished with him.