Shallow Pond (7 page)

“Why?”

“
Couldn't tell you.” Zach glanced out the window, and it was the first time I'd seen him look anything but supremely confident. For the briefest second he looked a little bit like the lost boy he must still have been inside.

He turned back to face me, and he was all cool and confident again. “I wasn't going to come here, but then I decided it was time to get on with my life, see the world, that sort of thing.”

“I'm going to assume that's nothing but a lame joke,” I said. “No one gets on with their life here, and no one comes to Shallow Pond to see the world.”

“I'm not disappointed I came,” he said. His icy blue eyes met mine, and I felt them burrowing into me, weakening my resolve. I looked away.

“We should get home,” I said. I felt hot, like I was blushing again. “The roads are going to get bad.”

There was a thin layer of ice on Zach's windshield. Some of the other cars had been sitting there longer and had a thicker coating. It was going to start sticking to the roads. I'd walked out of the diner ahead of Zach when he'd insisted on paying for my pie; I was annoyed or confused or a little bit of both.

“Friends let friends buy pie for each other,” he said as he came down the steps. He wobbled a bit on a slick spot on the last step. Well, look at that, Zach Faraday was human after all. He quickly recovered and, in that confident swagger of his, walked over to unlock the passenger-side door.

A car pulling into the parking lot did a little bit of a fishtail, and I looked up and saw a familiar-looking Honda. Jenelle must have decided the weather was too iffy to drive all the way to the mall. I hoped she was totally focused on controlling her car in the slick parking lot, but no such luck. She'd seen us, and she pulled into the handicapped space beside us.

“Babie?” she asked, like maybe I might be someone else.

“Don't call me that,” I corrected. It was pure reflex. “You can't park here,” I said, pointing at the handicapped sign.

“Hey guys,” Zach said. “How are the roads?”

“The highway was a mess,” Dave said. “We turned around and headed back.”

“What are you two doing here?” Jenelle asked.

“Zach was just giving me a ride home,” I said.

“We stopped to get some pie,” Zach said.

“Do they have cherry pie?” Shawna asked from the back seat.

“Yeah,” Zach said, “but the apple's the best.”

“I just didn't know you two were … “ Jenelle didn't finish her sentence. She probably considered herself some master of subtlety.

“We're not,” I said. “And we've really got to go. The ice.”

I opened the passenger door of Zach's Mustang and quickly slid in, pulling the door closed after me. Zach waved goodbye to everyone, then got in on the other side. He started the car and the big loud engine roared to life. He cranked up the defroster to melt the ice on the windshield. I could feel Jenelle staring at me from her car but I didn't look over, and after a few seconds she pulled out of the handicapped spot to find another parking space.

“So, what was that about?” he asked.

“What was what about?” I asked.

“I thought you two were friends. You're having some kind of fight again?”

“We're not having a fight,” I said. We weren't having a fight, at the moment anyway. It was just that I could already see how this was going to play out. Jenelle and her big mouth would turn me and Zach eating pie at the diner into some sort of whirlwind romance or something. Within a week, people would be convinced I was carrying his love child. A part of me was thrilled at the prospect of a Barbara-and-Zach rumor making the rounds at school, and that part of me scared the hell out of me.

Zach ran the wipers to clear the ice from the windshield, then backed out of the spot. He pulled out of the lot a little too quickly and we skidded slightly on the ice. My hand tightened on the door handle, but he quickly righted the car. He drove slowly and cautiously toward my house.

“How come people call you Babie?” he asked.

“It's just some stupid nickname,” I said. “If you use it, I'll probably have to kill you.”

He nodded, as if he took this pronouncement very seriously. I was impressed.

“I agree,” he said. “It's a stupid name. I mean, it's like people are calling you a little kid or something.”

“It's why I have to leave Shallow Pond,” I said. “Around here, I'll always be the littlest of the Buntings, the Babie of the family.”

When I stepped through the front door, Gracie nearly tackled me.

“Who was that?” she asked. She'd seen me get out of Zach's car. It was possible she'd been lying in wait by the window, but probably she had heard the Mustang a half mile away. Unless Cameron had tipped her off. I didn't know if they were at the I'm-calling-you-because-I-saw-your-sister-
eating-pie-with-some-teenage-hearthrob stage of the relationship yet.

“Just someone from school,” I said. I decided it would be best to be as vague as possible.

“A boy from school?”

“Yeah, a boy, and he only gave me a ride home because it was nasty out.” I left out the part about the diner, hoping she hadn't been in communication with Cameron.

“It's that new guy, isn't it? Chip in produce was saying he had some fancy car.”

“If you already know all this, why are you asking me so many questions?”

“He's sweet on you, isn't he?”

“I don't know and I don't care,” I said. “Where's Annie?”

“She wasn't feeling well, so she turned in early. Is he cute? I heard he's really cute.”

“What do you mean, turned in early? It's four in the afternoon.” I started up the stairs. I still had my coat on and my wet shoes, and I was sure I was leaving a trail behind me, but I didn't care.

“Just let her rest,” Gracie called.

I peeked in on Annie. She was sound asleep beneath her blankets, snoring lightly. She'd been feeling so good lately, it was hard to believe she was sick again. Maybe she was faking it to avoid having to spend time with Gracie. I listened carefully, but the snores sounded real.

My phone rang, shattering the silence, and I ran down the hall hoping it hadn't woken Annie.

I didn't pull the phone out until I was in my room with the door closed. I looked down at the screen. I already knew who it would be. Jenelle. She was going to want details. She was going to want an explanation. I debated answering. On the one hand, it would feel better to get this all over with, to get everything out in the open. On the other hand, I didn't know exactly what to say to Jenelle. I mean, there wasn't anything to say. All that happened was that Zach had given me a lift home and we had stopped along the way for pie. That was it. End of story.

So why did I feel like I was hiding something from Jenelle? Why did telling Jenelle that Zach and I were just friends feel like a half truth at best, and at worst a bald-faced lie? I didn't answer the phone. I wasn't sure what would come out of my mouth if I started talking to Jenelle.

Nine

I could ignore all the phone calls and text messages, but there was no way to ignore the Honda surrounded by a cloud of blue smoke parked outside our house the next morning. I guess I should have considered myself lucky. I would have been late for school if I hadn't gotten a ride, but I knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant ride.

“I can't believe you blew us off to have some sort of secret date with Zach Faraday,” Jenelle said when I got in the car.

“Good morning to you too,” I said.

“Good morning,” Shawna said. Jenelle just glared at me in the rearview mirror.

I fastened my seat belt. “Well, (a) I didn't blow you off. I was walking home in the middle of an ice storm, about to succumb to hypothermia, when Zach graciously offered
to drive me home. But then he wanted to stop off to grab something to eat at the diner on the way. And (b), it was neither a date nor was it secret. There are no secrets in Shallow Pond.”

“Speaking of secrets,” Shawna said, “did you guys hear that the sophomore chick with the nose ring is pregnant?”

“Don't change the subject,” Jenelle said to Shawna, then to me: “Why the hell wouldn't you answer your phone last night?”

“Annie's sick,” I said. It was the first thing that came to mind. It wasn't a lie, but it didn't have anything to do with why I hadn't answered my phone. It wasn't like I was providing round-the-clock care or anything. As far as I knew, Annie had done nothing but sleep all night. I hadn't seen her that morning, which might have meant she was still asleep. I hoped she was all right.

“Like, hospital sick?” Jenelle asked.

“No,” I said. I didn't add that, as this was Annie, getting her to go to a hospital or even a decent doctor was pretty much impossible. “I don't think it's that serious.”

“So, then, maybe you could have spared a minute or two to talk to someone who may or may not still be your friend.”

“I was tired,” I lied. “Annie does a lot around the house every day.”

“It's like you don't even care about us anymore,” Jenelle said. “I mean, you could have at least told us that you and Zach were hanging out.”

“
We aren't hanging out,” I said. “I already told you. He gave me a ride home, that's it.”

We drove the rest of the way to school in silence. Jenelle had a reason to be upset. I mean, I should have taken her calls. It wasn't like I had anything to hide from her. There was nothing to hide. Zach and I were friends. That was it, end of story.

“Hey,” I said as the three of us walked into school to-gether. “I'm sorry if it seems like I've been ignoring you.”

“Friends come before boys,” Jenelle said.

“No, that's not it,” I said. “It's just that things have been kind of weird at home.”

“Weird how?” Jenelle asked.

“My sisters,” I said with a wave of my hand that I hoped would clear everything up, but Jenelle planted herself in my way with her hand on her hip, waiting for me to elaborate. I sighed. “Gracie is dating Cameron Schaeffer.”

“Oh my God!” Shawna yelled. It was so loud that I think everybody on the school grounds turned to stare in our direction.

“Yeah, it's messed up,” I agreed.

“So when you said that Annie was sick, you meant more of an upset kind of thing?”

I thought about this. I'd just assumed Annie was physically sick again, but it did seem strange. She'd been doing so well. Now I wondered if maybe she wasn't actually sick, just upset about the Gracie-Cameron thing. I couldn't believe I'd been such an idiot; of course that was what was going on.

“Maybe,” I said. “I don't know.”

Just a few days prior, Annie had been feeling great. In fact, she'd been practically bouncing off the walls with energy. Baking biscuits, even humming to herself, but that was all before she found out that there was something going on between Gracie and Cameron. As I thought about it, I realized something else. Annie had started feeling better almost as soon as she'd learned that Cameron was back in town. And she hadn't just been feeling better—she'd been super happy, almost like someone who was in love or something.

I didn't want to believe it, but I didn't see any alternative. Annie was still in love with Cameron. Just seeing him again must have brought back all those old feelings, must have made her feel young and alive again. Well, until she found out the bastard was dating her younger sister.

“Are you okay?” Shawna asked.

“I'm fine, why?” Then I realized I was standing in front of my locker; I must have walked there on autopilot.

“Because you're just staring off into space.”

“I was just thinking about something,” I said.

“Bunting, you really need to get your head out of the clouds,” Jenelle said. “This is starting to get annoying.” But she was smiling as she said it, and I felt like things were back to good again between us.

“So are we cool?” I asked. “Can I hitch a ride with you this afternoon?”

“Yeah, we're cool, but I can't help you out in the rides department. I've got to go straight over to the hospital after school. Candy striper orientation.”

“Crap,” I said. I'd completely forgotten about the women's support hotline thing. It started that afternoon. It didn't really matter, but I'd been hoping to go straight home after school and check on Annie.

The call center was located inside the municipal building, and we had our training in a tiny cramped office. There were only four of us: me, Meg Kelly from my class, and two younger girls who were smart enough to get their volunteer time in before their senior year.

There were three training sessions before we could start volunteering, and the time spent in training didn't count toward our volunteer time. I think if I'd realized that, I might have signed up for a different volunteer job. Surely there wasn't that much training involved in cleaning out animal cages.

There was a crazy, spazzy sort of woman with artificially bright red hair who ran things: “Just-call-me-Danielle.”
She thanked us about a million and one times for choosing to volunteer. We had to go over a very boring training manual.

“Now,” said Just-call-me-Danielle, “it's time for our special guest speaker. Put your hands together for Officer Hantz.”

The four of us, reluctantly, began to applaud along with Danielle, and the police officer stood there looking a bit sheepish at the warm welcome.

“Well, I can't promise I'll be entertaining,” Officer Hantz said, “but what I do have to say is very important. I'm here today to talk about sex offenders. I work for the regional police and specialize in dealing with convicted sex offenders making a re-entry into society. Sex offenders sound like scary monsters you would find lurking in the alleyways of a big city, but the truth is they usually seem like ordinary folks, and they can be found just as easily in small towns. They can be a boy from school, a neighbor, even a relative.”

“There are perverts in Shallow Pond?” asked one of the younger girls.

“I don't like to use the word ‘perverts,'” said Officer Hantz.
“While some sex offenders are individuals with unhealthy sexual appetites, others are just individuals who got lost in the heat of the moment or let their feelings for another turn to obsession.”

I felt my mind wandering. I couldn't help but think about Annie. I should have called the house before I went to the training, just to see how she was doing. Was she obsessed with Cameron? It seemed pretty clear that she was. What was so special about Cameron? Was it just because she'd never dated anyone else? Maybe if she met someone else, she would realize that Cameron wasn't so great after all. The likelihood of Annie meeting anyone in Shallow Pond, especially since she seldom left the house, was pretty slim. Annie was not going to find anyone unless she got out of this town, and she was never going to get out of this town.

The police officer droned on and on about different types of sex offenders and the different ways they victimized people. It was interesting, and I should have been paying attention, but I couldn't focus. I was thinking about love and obsession, about what Annie said in the kitchen the other day. Love seemed like an ugly, dangerous thing. I wondered why more people didn't avoid it at all costs.

“Now, to get back to your question about Shallow Pond and sex offenders,” Officer Hantz said, “it's pretty simple to check. Pennsylvania has a Megan's Law registry website. All you need to do is enter your zip code and you can see if there are any registered sex offenders in your town. I urge all women to do it as a safety measure. It's good to know who these individuals are and where they live, to keep yourself safe.” He wrote the website address on the board at the front of the room, and I copied it down in my notebook: www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us.

It was dark out by the time we left the municipal building, and after all that talk about sex offenders, I didn't feel like walking home by myself. I called the house, and Gracie picked up on the second ring. She acted like driving over to pick me up was a big inconvenience, but she showed up.

“When I was in school,” Gracie said, “I just volunteered at the animal shelter. I got to cuddle cute kittens all day. It was super easy. I don't know why you didn't do that.”

“This sounded interesting,” I said.

“You're weird,” she said.

“Speaking of weird,” I said, “are you still dating Cameron?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked. “And, yes.”

I shrugged. With her job at the grocery store, Gracie almost always had the latest scoop on gossip, but maybe it didn't work that way if the gossip concerned you. I'm sure the rumor mill had already started buzzing about Gracie and Cameron. Could she really be that clueless?

“How's Annie?” I asked.

“The same.” I didn't know what she meant by that, but I couldn't believe I was related to such an insensitive bitch.

“You have to stop seeing Cameron,” I said. “She's really hurt by this.”

“Oh, give me a break. She needs to grow up.”

I didn't point out that Annie was like a thousand times more mature than Gracie. “She still loves him,” I said.

“Well, he doesn't love her. So she needs to get over him already.”

“Why do you have to date him, of all the guys out there?”

“First of all, there aren't a whole lot of guys out there, and second, because I like him.”

But why?
I wanted to ask.
Why Cameron Schaeffer? What makes this guy so special?
I kept my mouth shut. I could see I wasn't going to get anywhere with this line of reasoning.