Unbound (3 page)

“Yo, Mike! What’s happening bro?” An overweight boy of about oh, twenty-three I’d say, got up to give Mike a hug that was really like a hand shake and a pat on the back. Mike greeted him back and, if I’m not mistaken, called him Big Pauly. “Who’s the babe?” Big Pauly eyed me up and down. I was regretting wearing a tight tank top and a short, and also tight, denim skirt now. “Send her this way.” He opened his arms like he expected me to hug him. Gross. I stayed rooted at Mike’s side. A very tall and skinny boy sat next him, and the contrast of his gangly-ness to Big Pauly’s oversized frame was comical.

“What’s up?” he said and tipped his head back. He didn’t sound fully conscious. Seriously? These are the kind of people he hung out with? Mike led me through the door and up a flight of stairs and entered without knocking into a nice sized living room. The room was as clean as you can expect for it to be when a twenty-something year old boy lived there. The brown leather couch didn’t match the blue plaid upholstered armchairs, and the sheer black curtains clashed even more. A large flat screen and several video game systems were all that decorated this room. Obviously no females lived here. Next to the living room was a tiny kitchen with an attached dining room, if you could even call it that. Behind that I could see an open bathroom door that was at the end of a hall right before the hall sharply turned and lead to presumably the bedrooms. Mike walked in front of me, calling for Travis, who appeared from hall.

“Hey, Mikey! Glad you stopped by. You’d never believe who’s-” he cut off abruptly, seeing me. “Well, well well. You must be the famous Anora.” He too, eyed me up and down. Next time I come here I’m wearing a parka. He nodded his head, as if he was silently letting me know I got his stamp of approval.
 
“Give me one second.” He said as he disappeared down the hall. I saw him grab his cell from his back pocket as he walked away.

“Want something to drink?” Mike asked as he opened the fridge. I peered in and saw beer, beer, and more beer, along with some fruity looking wine coolers. A few bottles of Coke were pushed up against the back. There wasn’t much food in there either. Well, at least they had the essentials, right? I held back the urge to roll my eyes and politely declined. Mike pulled out two beers.

“So, how you been treatin’ my boy Mikey, here?” Travis asked when he rejoined us.

“Um, I’d like to say good, I hope.” I looked at Mike for his input. He slid his arm around my waist and pulled me close.

“I think I’ll keep her around a bit longer,” he joked. We made our way over to the living room. Mike and I sat close together on the couch. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. I turned to Mike.

“Hey, we’re going to
Anthony’s
for our birthday. We decided today and I just remembered to tell you.”

Travis looked confused. “
Our
birthday?”

That was a habit of mine. I forget how weird that sounds. “Yea, I have a twin.” Travis’ jaw dropped.

“Seriously? Damn Mikey. I’m jealous. Is she as hot as you?”

This isn’t the first time this has happened, so I decided to play along.

“Well, maybe, if blue-eyed blondes are your type.” I think I just made Travis’ night.

“You guys close?” It doesn’t take a genius to see where he was steering his train of thought.

“Oh yea, very,” I said in a voice that I hoped sounded sexy. I could see Mike trying not to laugh out of the corner of my eye. “We do everything together.” Travis leaned in closer. “Well, except that I don’t go to football practice or lift weights.” Confusion took over Travis’ face.

“Huh?”

 
Mike started laughing.
 
“Dude! Her twin’s her
brother
.”

Travis straightened up. “Not cool,” he said but then started laughing himself. We continued making small talk and the boys continued downing their beers for about a half hour. Someone knocked on the door. Travis yelled for them to come in, and three guys and two girls shuffled to join us in the now crowded living room. I especially
 
hate crowds when they are full of people I don’t know. I hate them even more when they are full of people I don’t know and who look at me like they are judging me, which is exactly what the two girls did.

A plain, skinny blonde approached me first. She had on a tight, pink skirt so short it made mine look modest. She had on an equally tight, white t-shirt that showed a few inches of her overly tanned (to the point of looking orange) stomach. She definitely was lacking in the chest department, and I felt ashamed of myself for taking satisfaction in that. She had wide set eyes that were such a startling shade of blue that it was obvious she was wearing colored contacts. Her dark roots showed that her hair color wasn’t natural either. She had an I-think-I’m-better-than-everyone look frozen on her face. She was one of those girls who lacked natural beauty but dressed so flashy and had so much confidence, she almost had you fooled. I immediately didn’t like her. Not only did she look so stereotypically bitchy, but a bad vibe came from her. Her sidekick, a modest looking red head, trailed behind.

“You must be Anora.” She was very chipper. I liked her even less. “I’m Alix. I have a few classes with your Mike. I’m sure he’s mentioned me.”

Not wanting to be rude for no reason, I smiled. “No, actually he hasn’t. But it’s nice to meet you.” She sat down next to me, close enough that her leg was touching mine. “I’ve never met anyone with the name Anora before,” she said matter of factly. I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be a statement or a compliment.

“Yea, my parents wanted something different, I guess.” I didn’t really know what else to say. I looked over at the red head and smiled. She smiled back.

“Hi. I’m Kelsey.” She seemed more genuine, but still had that pathetic follower air to her.

“Nice to meet you too.”

The boys had all turned their attention to the Giants game, leaving us girls to talk. Gee, how fun.
 
I spent a while talking about my horses before Alix drilled me with more questions. I guess I could say she was just trying to be nice, but I got the feeling like she was trying to get some deep, dark secret out of me that she could use against me later. I couldn’t explain it, it was just one of those odd feelings I got. I tried looking like I was interested in the game. I really wanted to go home. Not only were materialistic and superficial two of my most hated personality traits, but being around such stereotypical people reminded me of just how atypical I really was.

It seemed like centuries later when the clock reached nine-thirty. I put my hand on Mike’s arm to get his attention.

“What’s up baby?” His breath reeked of alcohol.

“It’s time for me to go.”

 
Alix heard and chimed in. “Oh, you have a curfew? How cute!”

“No, I don’t have a curfew, but I do have a riding lesson tomorrow morning and I need to get some sleep.”

“What? It’s so freaking early! Sometimes I forget how young you high school kids are.”

What an idiot. She was a freshman in college, and was probably only a year older than me. Unless she got held back, which wouldn’t surprise me one bit. Mike ran his hand up and down my thigh.

“Just wait till the end of the game.”

“Fine,” I sighed; I really didn’t want to be here anymore.

It was nearing eleven o’clock when the game ended. Mike had several more beers in that short timeframe. Great, he was drunk. How was he supposed to drive me home? I made up an excuse to go outside and get some air. Luckily the porch had been deserted. I dug around in my purse for my phone and called Harrison.

“Hey sis.”

“Hey. What are you doing?”

“Playing Madden.”

“Can you, um, come get me? I’m stuck at Mike’s friend’s house and I really don’t want to be here. He was gonna take me home but he’s too drunk to drive and I don’t want to wait for him to sober up.”

“I don’t need an explanation to help you out, you know.”

“So you can come get me?”

“Yea, where are you?”

The directions I gave were less than certain, given I was in an unfamiliar part of town.

“Thanks so much Har. I love you.”

“Yea, yea. I’ll see you in a bit.”

I went back upstairs. Alix had snaked my spot next to Mike. I stood awkwardly in the doorway. Luckily he saw me and motioned for me to come over and sit on his lap. Alix had an unreadable expression on her face as I did so. Mike kissed my neck.

“I missed you.”

I smiled and blushed. “I was only gone for a minute.”

“What were you doing out there?”

“I called Harrison.” Mike looked...angry, hurt? I couldn’t tell. “That way he can get me and you can stay here with your friends.”

 
He smiled. “You’re so thoughtful.”

We sat there for a while, watching the highlights and recap of the game. Travis kept looking at Mike, trying to catch his gaze. When Mike finally did, Travis gave him a little nod. Mike shifted his weight, signally me to stand up. He got up too and led me down the hall into one of the bedrooms. He closed the door and gently pushed me down on the bed.

Before I knew what was happening, he was on me, kissing me feverishly. I was slightly taken by surprise, but I didn’t object. His hands slipped up the back of my tank top and started working on undoing the clasp of my bra. Keeping one hand occupied with my front, he started running the other up my leg. He slowly passed my knee, then my thigh and was under my skirt. My mind was muddled with what to do; I didn’t
want
to anything further. That should have been enough to stop me right there.

 
Luckily there was a sharp knock on the door. It was Alix, who waited all of three seconds to barge into the room. Mike was too drunk to act upset by our intruder. It was enough for me to get embarrassed about.

“Oh sorry!” She didn’t sound sorry at all. “Mike, your phone rang. I thought you would want to know.”

I stormed out, grabbed my purse and went to wait for Harrison on the porch. Mike followed, tripping as he tried to keep up with me.

“Babe!” he called. I didn’t turn around. “Come on, that was funny!”

“I didn’t think so.” Instead of admit to the embarrassment, I’d rather act mad. It was childish, I know.

“Come on.” He stood behind me and wrapped his arms around me. “Let’s go back inside.” I saw Harrison’s car coming down the road. I turned to face Mike. I gave him a kiss-a really good kiss I might add- and hopped down the steps just as the sleek, black BMW slowed to a stop. I got in. Mike stood on the porch with a dumb expression on his face. Just as we were driving away, I saw Alix opening the door, looking smug. That bad feeling came back in my stomach.

“This isn’t a good place for you to be.” Harrison sounded concerned.

I laughed. “Oh, yea, Harry. Like you should talk.”

“Seriously, Annie. I know these people, and they definitely aren’t your kind of people.”

I was in a bad mood, and didn’t feel like being lectured. Still, it was always nice to have your brother watch out for you. And I had to admit Harrison was right; I surely didn’t fit in with Mike and his friends. Maybe on the outside, but if they really knew me…they’d all run away screaming or get the tomatoes and start throwing. We were silent for a few minutes.

“Thanks again for getting me. I really didn’t want to be there any longer.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Harrison shifted nervously. I could tell he wanted to say something.

“Spit it out.” He knew what I was talking about. Though we of course weren’t identical twins, there were many times when we finished each other’s sentences or somehow knew what the other was thinking. He cast a nervous glance my way.

“Ok, don’t take this the wrong way, but I just...” he trailed off, not sure on how to phrase what he wanted to say. “Why are you with a guy like Mike?”

I sighed. Honestly, I’ve wondered the same thing. “I don’t know.” I usually didn’t keep things from Harrison. Annoying brother or not, he was still one of my best friends. “I guess I feel special, for some reason, because he’s so popular and I’m so not, and well…I like his attention.” There, I admitted it. I was surprised at how relieved I felt saying out loud. I didn’t want to believe I was shallow enough to date someone for those reasons. I tried to think of a redeeming quality about Mike but came up empty handed. We rode the rest of the way home in silence.

Before we got out of the car, Harrison turned to me and said, “Being popular isn’t everything, you know. And you don’t need a douche like Mike to make you so. If people don’t like you, then the hell with them. You have your friends, and you have me.” He smiled. “Aren’t I popular enough for the both of us?”

I laughed. “Oh, you don’t have a big head at all.” We both headed upstairs.

“Listen, Annie. You’re my sister and I love you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt, ok?” I wanted to hug him, but I knew that would be pushing it. Hearing him say ‘I love you’ was enough of a prize for the night.

Chapter 2 If You Only Knew

The remaining three days of summer flew by. Tuesday, the day before the first day of my last year of high school, I got my present from Great-Aunt Estelle. The box was larger than usual. I was the only one home when it arrived, and I didn’t know until I opened it how lucky I was to be alone. I put Harrison’s present on his bed and carried mine into my room to open. I carefully sliced open the packaging tape and pulled back the cardboard. There were several smaller presents inside, all wrapped in pale blue wrapping paper. The first one I opened was a pretty leather journal. The cover had a very intricate design of loops and swirls going around the boarder. A galloping horse with wings- a Pegasus I think they are called- was in the middle. I flipped through the pages; they were unlined and blank. This was probably the most useful thing Aunt Estelle had ever sent me.