Strange in Skin (5 page)

“Anna!” my mom hollered at me. I was lounging on the couch in the living room flipping through
stations on the TV with Matthew. I couldn’t find a thing I wanted to watch, and it was starting to
irritate me.

“Anna!” she called out again.

I grumbled a little as I made it seem like such a big struggle to get off the couch, and I handed the
remote to my little brother. I rounded the corner to the kitchen where my mom stood, her hand
stretched out toward me holding the cordless phone. Her facial expression was peculiar, one I was
not familiar with, but it looked suspicious. She eyed me for a moment and then her lips curled into a
smirk.

“There you are,” she said in a lower tone of voice. “Here.” She took a step closer, pushing the
phone toward me.
“Who is it?” My eyes narrowed at her and my heart began thumping. There was that anxiety again,
something that was beginning to feel all too familiar. I rarely received phone calls. And why was my
mother acting so strange?
She practically grabbed my hand, ripped open my fingers and forced the phone into the palm of my
hand. “It’s for you.”

I tried to slow my heart down by taking a deep breath. It didn’t help much. Had Emry Logan called
me at my house? What was I going to say to him in front of
her
? I turned and walked into the dining
room, an attempt to get what little privacy I could. “Hello?” I whispered into the receiver.

“Hey, Anna.”
I knew that voice. It was a male, but it wasn’t Emry.
“Do you know who this is?”
And then I heard him chuckle, and it confirmed my assumption. “Hi, Buck.”
He laughed again, a little louder this time. “Yeah, it’s me.”

And then a flutter began in the pit of my stomach, not out of nervousness but out of excitement. Buck
had called me. I hadn’t had to track him down. He had come to me. This was all too perfect. “What
can I do for you?” I turned around slowly, leaned against the back of one of the dining room chairs
and caught sight of the bottom of my mother’s dress scurrying around the corner.
No privacy
, I
thought.

“Well, you know Seneca’s Frost Fest started, and every year I try to go. I thought to myself, you
know what, I’m tired of going alone. It’s just no fun. I should think of someone to go with me this year,
and then I thought of you.”

“Me?” I probably sounded as surprised as I was. This was completely unexpected. Since when did
anyone, let alone a guy, think of me?

 

“Yeah, you. I mean, we’re friends right? We practically grew up together and all.”

I listened to the silence for a moment, not sure what to say back. I was just so excited that Buck had
called, that now there was an even greater chance I could get the information I needed from him.
“So,” Buck said. “Were you planning on going? I mean, did you maybe want to come along with
me?”
I smiled. I saw my mom peek her head around the corner this time. She caught me looking happy,
and I saw her eyes burst to life with delight. “Sure,” I said. “Sounds like fun.”
“All right then. How about I pick you up tomorrow around noon?”

Tomorrow was Saturday. “See you then.” I turned the phone off and made my way back to the
kitchen to face my mother.

“What did he want?” she asked, bouncing up on her toes and then back down again.
“He wants to take me to Frost Fest tomorrow.”
My mother clapped her hands together in excitement. “Is it a date?”

I watched her eyes grow wider as she waited impatiently for my answer. Her reaction almost made
me burst out laughing. “I think so.” I raised my eyebrows.
She hugged me tight and then stood back to take a look at me.

“I’m not a child, mother. No big deal.” But it was a big deal. This was my big break. Finally
something going my way for once.

 

“I know, I know. It’s just … Buck is such a nice young man. Your father just thinks the world of
him, you know.”

I nodded and then headed toward the stairs to go to my room. Did Buck have a crush on me?
Impossible. I stepped onto my soft purple carpet and shut the door quietly. It had sounded like he was
asking me out though. That’s not exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want to have to pretend to like him
more than a friend just to get information out of him, but I would if that’s what it took. Maybe I
wouldn’t have to cross that line. A little flirting wouldn’t hurt anyone. I wasn’t the least bit interested
in Buck in that way. He was too short, he had these big glasses and he seemed so awkward pretending
to be a big, bad police officer when he was truly so meek and scrawny. I could have come up with a
long list of reasons why I could never like Buck in that way. He was just a friend, a friend that I
needed to help me get back into Seneca County Prison.

How was I going to act toward him? Did I even know how to flirt? I laughed and went over to my
mirror. I was grinning at myself, a devious sort of grin, and I knew the games were about to begin.

 

“What are you going to wear?”

 

I turned around to see my mother hovering over me as I picked through sweaters in my closet.
“Probably a sweater and jeans. It’s Frost Fest, remember? It’s outside.”

She ran her hand over the top row of shirts. She was on a mission. I had so many clothes, but I
hardly wore any of them. Some were still left over from high school, some as far back as ninth grade.
I just hadn’t taken the time to get rid of this stuff. I probably should, I decided. I was never going to
wear half of these clothes again.

“Here.” My mother took down a hanger from the top and held out a black turtleneck. “This always
looked nice on you, honey.”

 

I stared at it for a moment. “All right.” I grabbed the shirt and pulled the hanger out. Black
turtleneck and jeans it was.

 

“And wear those cute boots, too,” my mother added as she left the room so I could change. “Those
ones I bought you for Christmas a couple years back. You know the ones I mean.”

I watched her disappear and quickly changed. I ran a comb through my hair and then smoothed it
down with my hands so some of the static would go away. I sighed. I just prayed that I wasn’t going to
slip and say something stupid. All I had to do was be friendly. I needed Buck to trust me.

The clock on the wall said 11:45. He would be here any minute. I glanced out the window. Buck’s
shiny silver sports car pulled up beside the house. I grabbed my purse, tucked it under my arm and
headed downstairs.

“Morning, Mrs. James.”
“Why hello, Buck.” My mother opened the door wider so he could come in.
“How are you doing, Buck?” My father took a step toward him to shake his hand.
“Just fine, sir.” He shook my father’s hand and looked my way.

I walked in and shuffled past my parents. They were making this a big ordeal. Of course, I had
never gone out on a date before, so I guess this was all new and exciting to them, especially since they
liked the guy so much.

“Ready?” I asked, anxious to get away from my parents.
“You look nice.” He smiled at me.
I blushed and quickly put my head down so no one would see. “Thanks,” I mumbled.

“Have a good time!” I heard my mother shout behind us as we walked down the steps of the porch
toward the car.

Buck opened the car door for me, and I quickly got inside. The smell of a very strong strawberry air
freshener filled my nostrils. I tried to hold my breath for a moment, the smell hitting my sinuses full
force as I could feel the sudden twinge of a headache developing.

“So did you go to Frost Fest last year?” Buck asked as we drove down the wet back roads toward
the highway.

 

I tried to breathe normally as I slowly eased myself into getting used to the smell. “It’s been
awhile.”

 

“I try to come once a year. They have some great ice sculptures. This year’s theme is fairy tales.”

“Oh.” I tried to sound excited, but walking around in the blistering cold was not really my idea of
fun. I would rather stay in the warm car and ask a million questions about Emry Logan. It was on the
tip of my tongue, but I clenched my jaw together tight.
Get control of yourself
, I thought over and over
again. Gain his trust, be nice, that’s all.

I was surprised at how many people were actually out walking about on this chilly day. The streets
of downtown Seneca were covered in beatifically carved ice sculptures from Cinderella’s carriage to
Tarzan swinging from a tree made of ice. There were food stands all around too, the smell of piping
hot apple cider filling the air.

“Let’s go get some of that cider to warm us up a bit,” Buck suggested.
“It smells wonderful.”
Better than your car
, I thought.

I sipped on the delicious warm apple cider as we walked around. We saw a few people from our
church, each one giving us a surprised, but approving smile, as they saw us there together. We walked
around for a while, and then my fingers started to go numb from the cold. I scolded myself silently for
forgetting my gloves at home.

Buck and I made small talk as we walked, enjoying the day and the sights around us. He seemed
genuinely happy I was there by his side, and I was happy to be out of the house and building a friendly
relationship with a cop.

We headed back toward Buck’s car, and he shut the door behind me as I got in. I figured he was
about to take me home. Where do I go from here? I had to ask to see him again, but I didn’t want to
sound too interested in him either. I rubbed my hands together as he turned on the heater and tried to
sift through the thoughts going on in my head, trying to make sense of what exactly to say.

Buck turned toward me. “Hey, are you hungry?”

 

I paused, thinking about it for a moment. I actually was kind of hungry. All that walking had made
me build up an appetite. “I am actually.”

 

He grinned. “Me, too. We could go grab a quick bite to eat, that is, if you didn’t need to get back
home or anything.”

“No, I don’t need to get back. Let’s go.” I smiled back at him, even though his sickening air
freshener was rushing to my brain. This was absolutely perfect. Dinner would give me an opportunity
for some serious talk with Buck.

The restaurant he took me to was a family favorite. It was Mae Mae’s, and it was kind of rundown
looking in the inside, but the food was all homemade and fantastic. We sat and ordered and waited for
our drinks. I folded my hands together in front of me and looked up at Buck who sat directly across
from me, his lips pressed together as he studied my face.

“You know, I’m still trying to figure you out,” he said.
I raised my eyebrows. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. “How so?”

He played with a small pink packet of sugar that had been sitting on the table and flipped it between
his fingers. “Why is it that a girl like you doesn’t have a boyfriend?”

 

A girl like me? I pretended to be thinking about what he had said for a moment before giving any
sort of answer. “I’m a pastor’s daughter.”

“That just means you were raised right, Anna, not that you have a warning label on your forehead.”
The waitress set Buck’s iced tea down on my side and my water in front of him.

“Thank you,” I mumbled to her and then politely waited until she was out of sight before switching
glasses. “Well, sometimes it feels that way. Certain things are expected of me, and I think it
intimidates guys.”

Buck took a noisy slurp of his iced tea. “Are you trying to say that men aren’t attracted to you,
Anna?” His eyes narrowed as if he were offended. “Or is it that you aren’t attracted to men around
here?”

Great. A trick question. “Well,” I began, trying to be cautious not to upset him. “From my point of
view, it’s like you grow up with everyone here. From the time you’re five you know everyone and
you know everyone they’ve dated in the past, and it’s just like, you almost wish a new group of
people would come in, people you know absolutely nothing about.”

“Oh, I see. We’re boring to you.”

I laughed at the way he said ‘we’. I could sense his irritation and we hadn’t even been served our
food yet. I was ruining my chances. “That doesn’t go for everyone, Buck, especially not you.” I
thought I’d sounded convincing enough. I waited for his reaction, and I saw his eyes soften a bit and
realized I was making progress. “How could someone like you be boring? You’re a policeman. You
have a dangerous job.”

Buck sat up a little straighter in the booth. That had done the trick. I had gone straight for the ego
boost, and he had taken the bait. He was too easy to figure out. Being a policeman to him meant
obtaining the title of,
watch out, I’m a big, bad cop now, so stay out of my way
, even though that title
didn’t apply to him. “It is dangerous.”

I had to refrain from rolling my eyes. That was exactly Buck’s problem. Buck actually thought he
played that part. At least I didn’t deny the dullness that made up my life. “So tell me a little bit about
your job, Buck.”

He grinned with pride. “Well, you know, it’s bad guys versus good, protecting the innocent and
locking up scumbags.”

“Do you ever think that some of those scumbags could be innocent?” I asked, twirling the straw
around in my water.
He looked up, a confused expression on his face. “No.”
“No? Never?” His response had been so cold-hearted.
He paused to think for a moment. I guessed he was going over the inmates in his mind.

“Here you go,” the waitress said, putting down our plates of food in front of us. “Anything else I
can get you right now?”

“No, thank you,” Buck replied.
I shook my head, and with a turn of her heels, she walked away.

Buck stuffed a fork full of pulled beef into his mouth and started talking with his mouth full. “You
know, there are a few men in there, they did minor things, robbery, assault, things like that, and
they’re pretty tolerable as people. I can actually have a conversation with them and call them by their
first name, that sort of thing.”

“So,” I said, picking through my salad and digging out a few brown pieces of lettuce and putting
them off to the side. “Not everyone in there has done something terrible?”