In the Middle of Nowhere (17 page)

“Willow, I only told you that for your own
good. I don’t want people talking about you and saying lies about
you because Taylor and I know the kind of person you really
are.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “I know you mean
well, Erica, but right now my reputation and what ‘senior girls’
are calling me are the least of my problems.”

I turned and walked off toward my last class
of the day and decided that, at the very least, I would definitely
have given Erica an “A+” for effort.

• • •

I finally got home after a long, tiring day.
All I could think about was getting back into bed so I could take a
much-needed power nap. I put on a clean pair of sweats and finally
brushed my teeth.

On the ferry ride back to Pike’s, I had
resolved to meet up with Michael. I had thought very long and very
hard about it and decided I had nothing to lose. Worst case was
that Michael wouldn’t show up and I’d end up wasting money on the
taxi ride over. It was still too cold to walk or ride my bike. I
was very curious and figured I would at least find out where his
family’s summerhouse was located.

As I lay in bed, I thought about how it would
be when I saw Michael the very next day. Would he look the same?
Would he be thinner or paler? Would I feel anything at all toward
him when I looked at him for the very first time in a long
time?

I drifted off, even as a million different
scenarios raced through my brain. I had finally fallen asleep when
my cell phone rang and woke me. I grabbed it and read the phone
number. I did not recognize it and answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Willow, it’s Brian Roberts. How are
you?”

I sat up, somewhat panicked. Brian had never
called me on my cell phone before. “Fine. Is everything
alright?”

“Everything is fine. Listen,” he said, “as
you know, your mother’s birthday is in a couple of weeks and I
wanted to surprise her and take her to a spa overnight, so she can
get a message and relax and—“

I was tired, impatient and interrupted him.
“So what do you want me to do?”

“Would you be willing to stay home and watch
James overnight?”

“Yeah, I guess.” I always babysat, I thought
to myself. Why was he asking my permission this time? Was it
because it was for more than just a few hours?

“Great! But you’re gonna have to stay home,
overnight
, Willow, all night long.”

I wasn’t deaf. “I know. You already said
that.”

“You can’t sneak out, stay out all night, and
then sneak back in, if you know what I mean. James cannot be left
alone and I don’t want your mother to have to worry one second
while we’re away. I want this to be a trip where she’s relaxed and
completely stress-free.”

What was Brian saying to me? “Why would I
sneak out and stay out all night?” I asked.

“Let’s just say,” Brian responded, “unlike
your mother,” he paused for effect, “I’m a very light sleeper.”

Oh, I thought to myself. I got it. Brian must
have heard me sneak back in the night of Rocky’s “sleepover”
because he had ended up bunking over at our house. And it was
obvious he didn’t tell my mom because I would have definitely been
grounded for it. I had to give Mr. Brian Roberts credit; he kept a
secret from my mother.

“Not a problem,” I said. “Just let me know
when.”

“Well, even though your mom’s birthday is in
two weeks, I wanted to catch her off guard and take her away
sooner.”

“Sure. When?”

“Tomorrow night.”

What!? I wanted to yell. Tomorrow night, of
all nights? Was he kidding me?

“When would you guys leave?”

“I booked the spa for noon, so we’ll have to
leave here relatively early, say nine or ten.”

I sighed, fell back onto my pillow and
couldn’t believe it. So much for meeting up with Michael.

“Does that work for you?” Brian wanted to
know.

“Yeah. I guess,” I mumbled.

“Fantastic, Willow, and thank you. Remember,
mums the word!” Brian bellowed before hanging up.

I stared at my ceiling and couldn’t believe
my luck. What would I tell Michael? Should I cancel the plans
altogether or have him come to my house instead? No. I could never
do that. My brother had such a big mouth and would tell my mother
that I had a boy over the minute she got back home.

As I lay there in disbelief, I decided there
was nothing I could really do except try to come up with a solution
of how I could do both: see Michael and stay with James. In the
meantime, I wanted to close my eyes and seek the sleep that somehow
evaded me.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR

I actually slept for more than fifteen hours
straight, only waking when my mom asked me if I wanted some
dinner.

“No thanks,” I managed, before I rolled over
and dozed until the next morning. I guess I really was tired after
all. I felt good when I finally woke, renewed and happy, too. Then
reality hit and I remembered that I still hadn’t thought of a
solution to my problem about how I was going to spend time with
Michael and stay home with my brother.

The only way I could accomplish both, I
concluded, was if I briefly met up with Michael and, once again,
bribed James with the latest and greatest video game. I was
starting to run out of money having to buy all those pricey CDs,
along with my brother’s silence.

I heard someone walking down the hallway
toward the bathroom. The door closed and the shower was turned on.
It must be my mother, ’cause James never would have gotten up this
early to clean up. I wondered what the age was when a boy put
cleanliness at the top of his priority list. I wasn’t going to hold
my breath when it came to my brother. My mother had to beg or
threaten him with banishment from gaming if he refused to use soap
and water.

I was thinking that seven o’clock was early,
even for my mom to be awake on a Saturday. Then I realized why. My
mother had to get ready for Brian. I wondered what he told her and
how he would convince her to stay away overnight.

My mom never would have agreed to it in the
past, but she was changing lately right before my eyes. James and I
seemed less and less of a priority to her. Once again, I missed my
dad, knowing he would never leave my brother or me alone for a day,
let alone the whole night. My dad genuinely enjoyed being with us
kids and it was so tragic that he couldn’t see us growing up, as he
would have loved to. Or could he?

I lay in bed, read a book and heard the
doorbell ring promptly at nine o’clock. I heard my mother walk down
the stairs, open the door and greet Brian.

There was some muffled conversation before my
mother exclaimed, “Oh, Brian! How could you?”

My mother raced up the stairs and breezed
into my room. She acted like a love-struck teenager walking on air.
“Willow, I have a big favor to ask of you.”

I lowered my book. “Yeah, it’s okay. Brian
already asked me.” I forced my phoniest smile. “Have fun.”

“I will. Thank you dear,” she said before she
floated out of my room and back downstairs to her date. I wanted to
gag, but quickly realized I hadn’t eaten a thing in forever. All of
a sudden I was starving and decided to head downstairs in search of
food once my mother’s knight in shining armor whisked her away from
the castle for good.

• • •

I hung around the house and didn’t do much
after my mother and Brian left. I finished a book I was reading and
surfed MyWeb for quite a while. Mainly, I was preoccupied thinking
about my meeting with Michael. I was both nervous and excited. I
tried not to think about five o’clock, but found that the more I
tried not to think about it, the more I did!

After lunch, I took a shower and used my
favorite shower gel. I conditioned my hair and was going to blow it
dry and straighten it. I wanted to take my time and look my best.
When I thought about it, I wondered why I cared so much about how I
looked and realized it said a lot about how I really felt about
Michael.

I cranked up the music in my room, as I
carefully applied my makeup; not too little, not too much. I wanted
to look pretty and natural. My cell phone vibrated on the dresser
next to me. I saw that it was Tessa and debated whether or not to
pick up. I decided to answer it since I had deliberately avoided
her all week long. It was the weekend and I was feeling good. I
lowered the music.

“Hello.”

“Hey, loser! Whaccha doin’?” I could tell she
was smoking.

“Nothing. What about you?” I felt like I
needed to ask, even though I didn’t really care.

“Just deciding what to wear over to Connor’s
tonight. He’s having a big bash. Wanna come?”

Oh my God! First a party at Rocky’s and now
at Connor’s? Two parties in one week! What would Erica and Taylor
think now? As tempted as I was, I already had plans, but I didn’t
want anyone to know about them, especially Tessa.

“Sorry, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause I gotta stay home with my brother. My
mom is out of town for the night and I cannot leave him. At
all.”

“C’mon. Just for a little bit. You’ve left
him before.”

I didn’t want to go into the whole
explanation of how Brian had slept over and heard me return from
the all-nighter at Rocky’s. “Sorry. Not happening. Maybe another
time.”

“It’s your loss.”

“Well, try to have fun without me.”

“Don’t you worry,” Tessa said as she took a
drag of her cigarette, “I’m sure I will.”

We hung up. I wished I had asked Tessa what
she saw in Connor Finch. Taylor had to have had vision problems,
too, because she also thought he was cute. Connor was tall and
gangly with a head-full of thick, bright orange hair. Tessa
probably liked him because he was on the football and the hockey
teams. Like his best friend, Rocky, he was a super jock.

I could tell that, even though Tessa and
Connor weren’t an official item, they still had the hots for each
other, ever since the notorious romp in his backseat. I’m sure
Tessa would have hooked up with Connor at Rocky’s if he had been
there, but he had been home sick.

I finished doing my makeup and hair and was
quite happy with the results. I glanced at the clock. It was four.
I slipped on my favorite LE jeans and a pretty pink sweater. I
doused myself in my favorite perfume and lastly put on a cute pair
of silver hoop earrings.

I grabbed my North Face and purse and felt
completely ready for my rendezvous. Even so, I crossed my fingers
as I headed down the stairs, knowing that I still had to barter
with my brother.

• • •

As I searched for the directions on the seat
next to me, I almost drove off the road. I found them and read
them; left onto Greenacre and right on Seaview. I wasn’t sure how
to turn on the headlights or if I even needed them yet. It was dusk
and getting darker by the minute. I decided that I should.

I had to concentrate on the road and look for
street signs. Driving a couple of miles was proving to be a
challenge, but convincing my brother to stay home without me, a
piece of cake.

I couldn’t believe that I was actually
driving my mother’s car, any car, for that matter, because I had
never driven before. Tessa had done it so many times, I figured how
difficult could it be. Plus, I didn’t want to spend the money on a
taxi as originally planned, especially because my mom wasn’t home
and would never find out anyway.

I had to carefully sneak the car keys off the
hook by the front door so James wouldn’t know what I was doing.
When I had looked back behind me before I left, there sat my
brother, oblivious and preoccupied as usual.

I had one last right turn to make, which put
me onto Shoreline Drive. I had to follow it for two miles before
reaching my destination, or was it my destiny? I was getting more
and more nervous by the second, nervous about seeing Michael almost
forgetting that, technically, I had stolen a car.

I drove slowly and carefully. The clock on
the dashboard read 4:55. I had less than a mile to go and five
minutes until the meeting. I was tempted to make a U-turn and head
back home. I started to shake, anxious about being with Michael
alone, at his house, with no one else around. What would we say to
each other? How would I feel being near him?

The mailbox to the left of me was clearly
marked “161.” I knew this was the driveway that would lead up to
the house where Michael was waiting for me. I put my left signal
on, but couldn’t bring myself to turn the wheel. I sat there in the
middle of the road until a car horn blared from behind me and
snapped me out of my daze.

I had no choice but to pull up the drive and
head toward the house. I slowly snaked up the driveway and could
make out the silhouette of a very large home at the top.