Choices People Make
Part 1 of the "The Future Is Ours" Series
by Staci Kaufmann
November 1988
Adia shut her locker and sighed, placing both hands on the small of her
back and leaning backwards, trying to ease the ache that had been lingering
there all day.
Some people got headaches when they were stressed. But no, not her.
She had to get these dratted things.
Which meant that she was probably going to strongly resemble the
Hunchback of Notre Dame by the time she got out of high school.
She sighed. One more year.
Well, after she finished this one.
So, one year and six months.
An older girl bumped into her, and instead of an apology, Adia simply
got a condescending smirk and a, "Watch where you're standing, hmm?"
This caused a riot of snickers from the girl's entourage, and Adia
sighed as the gaggle of fashionable geese went down the hallway and disappeared
from her sight.
"I'm never going to make it," she muttered.
'Now be optimistic,' she thought, holding back a sigh as she wandered
down the hallway. 'It's lunchtime. The day's half over. And it's Friday. You
can stay up late, sleep in. . . .'
Her thoughts were interrupted by someone saying, "Hey, Mouse," from
directly behind her. Before she could react, hands slipped around her waist and
picked her up, moving her effortlessly a few feet to the side, out of the
speaker's way.
"Thanks," Carl Maitland said, walking right past her. Adia stood there
for a moment, glaring after him, almost trembling from anger.
She hated this. Hated being snickered at, hated being lifted up and
moved aside as if both her weight and her presence meant nothing, hated that
damned nickname.
Adia was petite, and she had known that that would lend itself to some
teasing. But somehow she had fooled herself into thinking that it would be
friendly teasing.
She was also quiet, and that was the final nail in her coffin where her
nickname was concerned.
But she wasn't always so silent. Just around them.
Adia wished desperately that she could remember her voice when she truly
needed it, not just when she was alone in her room and ranting at no one in
particular.
'Keep dreaming,' she thought bitterly, as she continued to walk before
some other enterprising moron could decide to put his hands on her.
As was usual at lunchtime, she didn't eat. She refused to go near the
cafeteria, where Carl and others like him tended to congregate, and most of the
time she was lucky to get up in time to make it to school before the bell rang,
much less get up early enough to make herself a sack lunch.
Her father made 'that's not healthy' comments sometimes, when he felt
the urge to play the concerned, involved parent, but Adia didn't care. She just
had lunch when she got home at 3:10. And by making that little adjustment to
her personal schedule, she was able to gain half an hour of peace every day.
She walked out the glass doors into the walled-in courtyard, refusing to
look up at the walls of the high school, not wanting to see the windows and
think of the classrooms beyond, think of the teachers she would be listening to
again soon.
Instead, she just walked off the neatly paved sidewalk, past the benches
and a few smaller trees, until she reached her destination.
The silver maple towered above everything else in the courtyard,
including the enormous statue of a leaping panther. That was their mascot- the
Parkersville Panthers. How cute.
Adia lay down under the tree, determinedly changing her line of thought.
If it was one thing that was even more guaranteed to make her throw up than the
mention of Carl Maitland, it was extended thoughts about football season.
She stared at the leaves for a moment, watching how they shone in the
afternoon sunlight and shifted in the wind, and then she closed her eyes.
Less than a moment later, she heard footsteps coming toward her.
Wonderful. The only time she didn't enjoy her afternoons here was when
some idiot interrupted her, deciding that taunting her would make for a funny
party story later that night.
'This is your chance, then,' some part of her mind whispered. 'You
don't want to be completely weak? Start here. Tell this jerk to leave you
alone.'
"Greetings and salutations," he whispered.
"If you want me to move, you're going to have to wait," she snapped, and
then two realizations hit her.
One, she didn't recognize his voice. That might not be so surprising-
since she didn't know everyone at the high school- but that was where the second
realization came in. He hadn't called her Mouse. That was the burden of being
unpopular- even if you didn't know everyone, they certainly knew you.
J.D. smiled as the girl's eyes flew open. They were pale blue, almost
green, he noted.
He had been sitting on one of the benches, watching the other students
at this Kansas high school walk into the courtyard- holding hands with their
boyfriends or girlfriends, talking with their friends- and then she had come
out. Only a liar would call the small blonde girl gorgeous, but she was
undeniably . . . interesting. Tense, frazzled, and too preoccupied to notice
him or feel his eyes on her as she'd made a beeline for the silver maple.
On impulse, he'd followed; studying her as he'd approached the tree,
watching how her features had darkened slightly and her body had tensed again as
she'd heard his footsteps.
He looked her over again quickly, knowing from her bearing and solitude
that she wasn't a member of the in-crowd. And judging from her first reaction
to him and from her appearance when she'd first come into the courtyard, someone
had just severely pissed her off.
She was also still staring at him. He met her eyes and grinned.
"Liking what you see, darling?" he asked.
Adia felt a tinge of awareness color her cheeks, mixing in with the
flush that embarrassment had already put there. Her face was now surely a
lovely shade of crimson . . . just wonderful.
And on top of that, she'd had to bite back an immediate 'yes'. This day
was turning out to be supremely deranged.
"I . . . well . . ." She shook her head and then laughed. "Sorry, guess
I've just been startled one too many times today. I'm Adia."
"J.D. Now, do you snap at everyone you meet, or am I the exception?"
He figured that she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to lay her problems on a
curious stranger.
"I am sorry about that. This guy was bothering me in the hall again and
I guess I took it out on you."
Being right all the time could get rather boring.
Adia. An unpopular girl, angry with the popular ones, but with no
viable way to show it . . . or at least, no viable way that she would ever dare
to carry out.
Yet.
He nodded, his expression purposefully understanding, and she smiled
shyly at him.
She would do.
Adia stretched out on her bed and sighed, lost in thought.
She'd given up on her homework an hour ago. Her mind kept darting back
to when she'd opened her eyes and seen J.D. crouched on the ground next to her.
She'd taken in the details of the black trenchcoat, the dark hair, the
rather devious grin . . . but it had been his eyes that had truly caught her
attention. The look she saw in them was just- knowing. As if he'd figured out
everything about her within a few seconds.
And that was purely ridiculous, she thought. A guy actually looks at
you instead of through you for once, and you start building up some weird 'soul
mate' type fantasies. . . .
"Insane much, Adia?" she muttered.
Besides, if there was anything to those fantasies, he wouldn't have
looked quite so amused concerning whatever he'd seen in her.
And pondering any of this was a waste of time. For God's sake, she was
going over a three-minute conversation with someone who would probably never
talk to her again. He'd just moved here; he'd told her that he moved around a
lot. Once he'd spent enough time here to learn exactly where she was in the
social circle, he wouldn't approach her again. Not if he gave a damn about his
own standing at Parkersville High.
Then there was a tap at her window and Adia leapt off of her bed as her
eyes darted to the darkened square. She saw nothing there.
Or wait. Was that a silhouette?
She knew that she should run, go get her father. Or at least go into
the front room for a while, read a book, try to calm down and convince herself
that what she'd heard was just a tree branch brushing against the glass. . .
But instead she reached behind her and flicked off the light switch.
Now that her room wasn't illuminated, she could see outside.
See the figure standing there, staring in at her.
She gasped and took a step backwards, and then paused when she
recognized him.
Ignoring every rational alarm bell that was going off in her head, she
smiled and walked over to the window, unlocking and opening it.
"Is this what you normally do with your evenings?"
"Only if I have a good reason."
"Well, you damn near gave me a heart attack," Adia said good-naturedly.
He arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Dreadful etiquette, I apologize. But
since you're still alive- want to go for a ride?"
Adia leaned out the window and saw what was next to the curb- a Harley.
This could not be a good idea.
There were about a million and ten reasons why she should tell him to
get lost, shut the window, grab a good book, and forget that any of this ever
happened.
But instead, she found herself climbing outside and taking his hand.
'All right, Adia,' she thought as she carefully got onto the motorcycle
behind J.D. 'Is there any reason for this, or are you just feeling suicidal
this evening?'
It wasn't being suicidal, she decided. She was just . . . curious, that
was all. 'And remember what that did to the cat?' Some little voice muttered.
She was about to mentally scoff at herself- after all, she was no cat;
for one thing, she was a lot smarter- when suddenly they were speeding down the
street. She gasped and instinctively leaned closer to him, trying to resist the
urge to close her eyes and pray until they'd stopped again.
"Meow," she whispered ruefully.
"You brought me to the high school?" Adia asked.
J.D. smiled. "Face it, you weren't expecting this."
She looked up at him, drinking in the way the moonlight played across
his features, creating sharp contrasts.
No, she hadn't been expecting this at all.
Worried that he'd be able to look at her and sense all of the thoughts
that were suddenly vying for attention in her mind, she turned away and walked a
short distance across the wide field behind the high school, then sat down in
the grass.
He followed her, amusement lending a sparkle to his hazel eyes as he
thought about the schools he'd been to before this one, the other girls he'd
met.
And nothing ever changed. The ones who, for some inexplicable reasons,
were given power, made their underlings' lives hell. The underlings put up with
it. Some of them fumed silently, some not-so-silently . . . and as a result got
pushed even further down the ladder, and some of them didn't even question what
was happening to them at all.
But all of them, when the stakes were high enough, were perfectly
willing to kiss ass to make their lives temporarily more comfortable.
Weakness. It made him sick.
And this girl sat in the grass a few feet away from him, staring out
across the rest of the field, perfectly unaware that she had twins all across
the country. Baton Rouge, Las Vegas, Dallas, it didn't matter. There were
always girls on the edge, simply waiting for the right suggestion, almost the
permission to help him carry out what had been hidden down in their minds the
entire time.
And for every malleable one, there were several more assholes just
waiting to be . . . taught a lesson, to put it mildly.
Sometimes he was able to just scare them into not being assholes. But
most of the time, a simple fright didn't work. And for those cases, he'd
discovered that it was much more entertaining to have some help.
That was where the girls came in.
They always played out the same way. A lot of charm and a little hint
here or there at the right time, and they'd gladly be accomplices.
But then there was the end. His father would get a new construction job
and they would both move on again.
And the girls would start to 'regain their senses'- in other words,
ditch their true feelings again in favor of the cowardice that had served them
so well before.
So before he left, there would be one last loose end to deal with. . .
He shook his head slightly as he sat down. It was too early to think of
the end yet. In this town, with this girl, everything was just beginning.
"So . . . well. . ." Adia shut her eyes for a few seconds and firmly
told herself to quit stammering like a moron. "Why did you bring me out here?"
"Why did you come with me?" he countered.
"I have no idea."
He glanced over at her, temporarily startled. He'd asked that question
twice before- one answer had been, "Because I wanted to", and the other had
been, "Guess", followed by a kiss.
Adia's voice sounded different for some reason.
No, it just sounded different because it was the same. She didn't sound
the slightest bit bewildered, and she wasn't trying to pretend to be someone she
wasn't tonight.
Before he could think about it further, she was grinning at him.
"Besides, I asked first."
"Then I'll answer you."
Adia almost forgot everything- including her own name- when he kissed
her. But she had the fleeting thought that if she didn't say something now,
this was definitely going to go a lot further than a kiss.
That realization was enough to bring her memories and senses back, even though a
part of her badly wanted to do away with sanity tonight. . . .
She pulled away, opening her eyes and keeping them on his. She almost wanted to
shut her eyes or turn away, but she clamped down on that impulse. If she was
going to say this, she could say it while looking at him.
"I can't," she told him quietly. "This might be your reason for coming
out here but it isn't mine." Adia smiled, trying to lighten her voice. "Call
me crazy, but I don't sleep with guys I've known for less than a week."
He just grinned at her. "Why not?"
Adia scooted away, and this time her memories didn't just serve as a
lifeline keeping her connected to who she was; they also served as armor. "I
know; this isn't what I'm supposed to do, right?"
J.D. laughed, amused with himself and pleased with her. Either he'd
completely misread this seemingly shy girl earlier today, or she purposefully
kept her strength very well-hidden. . . . Now she was glaring at him as he
leaned back on his hands, her sea-colored eyes burning.
Not exactly the way he'd planned on spending the evening, but what was
life without a little chaos?
Adia felt her hands clench into fists at his reaction to her statement.
"Don't you laugh at me," she growled. "I know a lot of girls who subscribe to
the 'why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free' theory, who seem to
think that the only way to avoid the butcher is by providing the best bargain
around. That's them. They can play by those rules, but I've dropped out of the
damn game."
He studied her for a moment. Maybe he'd explain the real reason for his
laughter soon, but for right now he was curious. "So what are you waiting for?"
he asked, his tone sardonic. "A wedding ring?"
"I don't have to explain what I'm waiting for to you; I barely know
you!" she fumed. "Besides, you think I haven't heard all that before? 'Just
remember, Adia, girls like you can't afford to be too picky'," she mimicked in a
sarcastic falsetto. "Well, to hell with that, and to hell with them!" She got
to her feet. "And if you want to laugh at me for any of this, then to hell with
you too."
She stalked away, and J.D. realized that if he didn't try to explain
anything she would go right past his motorcycle, walk home, lock her window,
probably never speak to him again if she could avoid it- and she wouldn't regret
any of it, either.
And he knew that he should let all that happen. He'd obviously been
wrong about her; he should let it go at that.
Of course, doing what he 'should' had never been J.D.'s strong suit.
He went after her.
Adia whirled around when he put his hand on her shoulder, fully prepared
to do battle. And if he was grinning at her again, then God had better step in
and help him, because-
He wasn't grinning. "I wasn't laughing at you," he said solemnly.
She shook her head. "Of course not. Laughing with me, I suppose."
"No." And now he smiled. "What can I say? You startled me."
Adia allowed a smile onto her own face at that. "I tend to have that
effect on people."
"Guess that means we have something in common."
She watched him for a moment, looking for any signs of insincerity, but
she found none.
"Care to come enjoy the view some more?" he asked, gesturing out at the
night-soaked field and the forest beyond it.
"Long as we don't face that way, sure," Adia said, gesturing toward the
high school.
"So what do you think of the place?" he asked her.
"Depends. Do you want the 'talking to the new student' speech or the
truth?"
"Truth."
"I hate it," she said simply. "And the funny thing is, I thought that I
wouldn't. I was just happy to be getting out of middle school." She shook her
head. "Turns out that was just the training ground." She glanced over at him.
"But I'm sure you know all about this, I mean- you've gone through this all
before in more places than I'll probably ever see in my life."
He nodded, voicing what he'd been thinking moments ago. "Yeah. Six
schools in six states and nothing's ever different."
She grinned. "Well, maybe your locker combination."
The quick comment made him laugh, and the unplanned laughter immediately
brought the plan back. True, there were certainly benefits to chaos, but right
now he wasn't here to idly chitchat. "Yeah, I've heard the horror stories from
a lot of places. What about Parkersville High, what's this wonderful place
hiding?"
She could have told him any number of things. The usual shoving-
underclassmen-into-lockers; how more than one of the teachers in some class with
non-specific grading requirements, like Art, tended to grade students solely on
the basis of whether they were well-liked or not; or even how a schoolyard fight
had almost turned into something a lot more sinister when one of the students
had pulled a knife.
But she didn't say any of that.
"A suicide."
She paused for a moment, startled that she'd actually let those words
come out of her mouth. She'd never wanted to speak- or even think- about that
again. But she explained anyway.
"It happened a few months into my freshman year," she told him. "Her
name was Debra Fielding. As I said, I'm sure you know the story. Beautiful,
popular-"
"A complete bitch?" J.D. finished, interested. A suicide. The school
already had a history of such things. How convenient.
She nodded. "Exactly. I probably shouldn't speak ill of the dead and
all that, but she was. And one evening, she mixed some chemicals that she
definitely shouldn't have in with her alcohol and-" Adia drew her finger across
her throat. "She left a note, going on about how nobody actually understood
her, etc., etc. I thought it was ridiculous. If she wanted people to
understand or like her, she could start with treating them decently. But- I
know this is going to sound strange- the worst part of it wasn't her death. It
was after it. The way everyone behaved. This sounds horrible, but I wasn't
that depressed when she died. Or at least, I wasn't as depressed as everyone
else was acting. A lot of the kids who were putting on puppy-dog faces at her
funeral hated her completely, I knew it."
"Even more popular in death than she was in life, hmm?"
"Practically," Adia said. "One of the few who wasn't putting on an act
was her younger sister, Rae. She's in my class. And she adored her sister.
She was always quiet, always in Debra's shadow and perfectly happy there,
but. . ."
"After Debra died Rae was even happier to take her place."
Adia smiled slightly. "You do know the story." She looked around, not
quite comfortable with bringing this up again. "Anyway, that's about the worst
thing that's happened at the school. And I think it's time for me to go home."
Once they got back, Adia quickly climbed back into her room and then
turned around.
"Well, this was certainly an- interesting evening. Thank you."
"Anytime." He grinned at her, and Adia found herself wondering if maybe
her father wouldn't notice if she wasn't in her room come morning. . . Then she
shook her head slightly. 'Snap out of it,' she told herself. Immediately if
not sooner. She started to close the window, then paused when he said her name.
"You said you hated it there," he said. "Why do they hate you?"
She smiled. "I think that's more of a second-date topic. Goodnight,
Jason Dean." And she closed the window.
J.D. walked lazily back to his motorcycle. Once again, some part of his
mind was telling him to leave it at this and just stay away.
And once again, he was going to ignore it.
A moment later he arrived home and opened the door, calling inside.
"You always have to come in so goddamned late?"
"I got busy, dad. You know how it is," his father answered.
J.D. shook his head. Besides, no matter what kind of weird situations
he got into out there, they couldn't possibly be weirder than the usual day at
home.
On Monday, J.D. found Adia stretched out underneath the silver maple
tree again. She opened her eyes slightly and smiled.
"If you want me to move, you're going to have to wait," she said
cheerfully, as he sat down next to her.
She sat up and was about to say something else, when she caught sight of
Rae and her friends crossing the courtyard on their way to the cafeteria. The
girls looked at her and J.D. for a moment, and then burst out into more high-
pitched giggles before scurrying on.
J.D. just raised his eyebrows. "Sure you don't want to tell me what's
going on between you and them?"
Adia sighed. "My last name is Bobbsey," she told him. "You know- as in
the Bobbsey Twins? From those children's books? Anyway, I don't know how many
teachers said on the first day of school, 'Oh, I'll remember that last name!
Now if only your first name were Nan or Flossie it'd be really easy'. The other
students latched onto all that at the start- the whole 'teacher's pet' routine-
and it just snowballed from there."
He glared after them. "Fucking sheep," he muttered.
Adia laughed. "True. But hey, they're here," she said, shrugging. "I
mean, what are you going to do?"
He should have said something right then, he knew it. In a teasing tone
of voice or not, it didn't matter, just so long as the idea was definitely out
there- and in her mind.
But he didn't say a word.
Then the bell rang, jarring them rudely out of a comfortable silence.
Adia got to her feet with a good-natured sigh. "Well, back to The
Little Shop of Horrors."
When he laughed, she glanced back at him with an approving smile on her
face. "You knew what I was talking about. Ten points for you."
"Let me guess. Musicals junkie."
She nodded, falling into step with him. "You bet. My Fair Lady, Man of
La Mancha- and as I mentioned, Little Shop. . ."
"You actually seen any of them?"
"As in, the play instead of the movie? Are you kidding me?"
"Oh yeah," he said, making a show out of looking at his surroundings.
"Almost forgot."
"Lucky you. I swear, I'm going to put a sign on my locker- 'Oh no,
Toto- we're still in Kansas!'"
He grinned, then looked around them and paused. "Okay, got another
question for you."
"What?"
"Isn't your next class on the other side of the building?"
Adia flushed slightly, then laughed. "Whoops. Later."
He watched her hurry away, then walked into his own classroom, preparing
himself for yet another round of Kassi Marcus giggling about who'd had sex with
whom last night, and Carl Maitland bragging about his father's gun collection.
At the end of the day, Adia sighed as she heard laughter. More than one
teenager, heading her direction. How very.
She resisted the urge to hide in her locker or something when she heard
Carl's voice, and instead put her backpack inside, shut the door, and turned to
walk down the hallway.
Once again, hands around her waist stopped her. This time she hit at
his arms, and he responded with an overly loud laugh. She turned as best she
could and caught sight of Rae, standing next to him and grinning, her arm around
her boyfriend Todd's waist. Three or four other students were there as well,
but Adia turned away from them, hitting at Carl again instead.
"Hey, Mouse!" he said, drawing more laughter from the crowd. "What's
the matter?"
The quiet, self-preservational part of her mind told her to just say
'Nothing' and laugh it off. But another part of her entirely chose the words
that came out of her mouth.
"You, asshole," she snapped. "Put me down!"
He laughed again. "Okay."
Suddenly she was swung up in a dizzying half-circle, and then she
plummeted down- directly into a trashcan.
She felt things- candy wrappers, paper wads, unfinished sandwiches-
gravitate to her and cling, and she nearly cried out as she shifted and a broken
pencil cut into her arm.
"So, how's it feel to finally be where you belong?" Rae asked. Before
Adia could say anything, the other girl emptied the rest of her Diet Coke into
the trashcan, then dropped the empty container in there as well. Then she
leaned over the can and waved, stepped back quickly to rejoin the group, and
they all nearly howled with laughter as they walked away.
Adia shoved her wet hair out of her face, wondering how in the hell she
was supposed to get out of here without tipping the entire trashcan over. She
was bent nearly in half, her knees almost touching her chin. But she could still
move her arm enough to. . .
J.D. walked down the hallway, shaking his head as he heard a group of
students laughing. He knew that kind of laughter- the superior, congratulatory
sound that meant someone they didn't like had just gotten screwed over.
He rounded the corner and saw Carl, Rae, and their Neanderthal friends
disappearing around another corner, giving each other high-fives.
Then he saw the reason for their amusement and stopped. Two sneaker-
clad feet were sticking out of a nearby trashcan. Shaking his head, he started
to walk over and see what had happened this time. Probably some freshman who
hadn't been able to run fast enough-
A hand suddenly shot up out of the trashcan, middle finger raised, and
that was when he realized who was in there.
Someone took her hand, and Adia nearly shrieked. If Carl was back, she
didn't care how much effort it took, she was going to make sure that the two of
them switched places. . .
"Adia, it's me."
This was almost worse. She gave him her other hand and, bizarrely, held
back the urge to laugh as he muttered words that she was glad she couldn't
understand just before he pulled her out of the trashcan.
But as she faced him, discarded milk and orange juice staining her
jeans, Diet Coke soaking her shirt, god-only-knew-what stuck in her hair, any
impulse to laugh disappeared.
"Well, this is fucking humiliating," she whispered bitterly. "Thanks; I
have to go home."
"I'll go with you."
Adia knew that she should at least try for a halfhearted argument;
instead, she just nodded.
"And so that was how I ended up imitating a used Junior Mints box," Adia
said mock-cheerfully, as she started her tape player and sat down in a chair.
Sighing, she leaned back as music filled the room. "I don't know who I want to
throttle more- Carl or Rae."
Again, J.D. knew that he should have made the idea more concrete in her
mind. And again, he didn't. But that didn't mean that the idea wasn't concrete
in his.
So why wasn't he bringing her in on it? He didn't need the risks
inherent with acting alone on this. Sure, it was fun to open someone's eyes to
the nice little world of murder, but this part of his actions was also heavily
based on self-interest. If he didn't involve her, and somehow she found out
what he'd done . . .
While it wouldn't prove to be a huge problem in the long run, it did
open the door to complications that he just didn't need.
But he remained silent, watching her as she closed her eyes.
"I used to listen to this song all the time when I was little," she told
him. "I remember once I decided to be 'cute' and ask my mother the same
question the girl asks her mother in here. . . 'Will I be pretty, will I be
rich'," she sang quietly. "And my mother looked right at me and said, 'Where
did you get ideas like that?'" She laughed bitterly and opened her eyes. "I
didn't listen to this song for years. Even after she left. Now I listen to it
all the time when I get mad. Usually at Rae," she muttered. "Guess it reminds
me that neither one of us can really control the future, so we're both in the
same boat." She frowned. "Only problem is, she seems to think that she can
waterproof the inside of her side and drill holes in my side, and still have
everything float perfectly. . . ."
Then she paused and looked over at him, grinning self-consciously.
"Great, I'm using weird metaphors and I haven't even had any sugar today."
He just smiled at her, and she glanced away again, self-conscious now
for a different reason. She had the wayward thought that her father would
probably kill her if he knew that she'd invited a boy into her room. . .
Then she wondered what his reaction would be if he knew that they were
discussing metaphors and idiotic classmates, and that she was wearing her
rattiest t-shirt and had a towel wrapped around her hair.
'Way to go, Adia. Mata Hari reincarnated, that's you.'
J.D. raised an eyebrow as she suddenly giggled. Seeing his expression
almost made her laugh again, but she held it back. "Sorry . . . random
absurdity attack." She took a deep breath and then got to her feet. "I feel
like going somewhere. Since this house is dangerously low on junk food, want to
make a run to the Snappy Snack Shack with me?"
"Sure."
Adia had just started to open the front door when his voice stopped her.
"Adia?"
She turned around as he gestured to the towel she still had on her head.
"Oh. Right."
Today apparently was not her day, Adia decided, as she saw Carl's car
parked in front of the Snappy Snack Shack. He, Rae, and Todd were visible
inside, standing in a close group and laughing.
She turned to J.D. and saw that he'd spotted them as well. She almost
said something then, almost mentioned that maybe they could scrounge up
something back at her house. . .
Then she just shook her head and walked determinedly toward the door.
The other three teenagers immediately noticed when they entered the
store.
"Well, well. All cleaned up and positively glamorous, I see," Rae said.
Adia just smirked. She knew that her hair was still damp and her shirt
and jeans were far from trendy. She knew that however ridiculous it was, at the
moment she felt slightly inadequate next to this perfectly made-up, well-dressed
girl.
And she also knew that she'd let Carl drop her into a thousand trash
cans before she ever let that show.
"Mouse," Carl called, when she and J.D. walked by them. "Aren't you
even going to say hello?"
"Mouse?" J.D. whispered. Adia started to try and come up with an
explanation that didn't make her sound like a complete weirdo, but he was
talking again before she could think of one. "He really has no idea, does he?"
She grinned and got herself a Coke slushie.
The other three talked quietly amongst themselves as J.D. and Adia got
their other snacks, and didn't bother them again until they were ready to leave.
"You know, not enough new students come to this town," Rae said, looking
pointedly at J.D. "It's a pity that the ones who do have such awful taste."
She laughed at her own joke, and Todd quickly backed her up with, "But
hey, like goes with like, right?"
Carl just laughed with them as their two targets left the store.
J.D. cast a dark look back towards the small building. Rae was going to
take some more planning. But he already knew exactly what to do about Carl.
***
It was almost too easy. All the bragging that asshole did about the
guns in the home, and his constant talk about the parties he held while his
parents were away on the weekends. . .
A little bit of waiting was all it took. Then there was a weekend when
his parents were away, and there wasn't a party.
That was where I came in.
It was more than easy to get into the house- idiot didn't even keep his
door locked; where the hell did people get the idea that you could trust your
neighbors?- and it didn't take a very quick search to find one of their many
weapons, a .44.
Wasn't hard to find Carl either; I knew where he was as soon as I
stepped into the house. MTV was blaring, and if there was a chance some chicks
in bikinis might show up on the screen, I knew he wouldn't be leaving that room.
He was more pissed off than worried when I came into the room. He
actually told me to 'put the fucking gun down and get the hell out of my house'.
Apparently he didn't realize that I don't take too kindly to rude
people.
Anyway, he's gone now. And Parkersville High has to deal with another
suicide.
What a pity.
***
Adia looked over at J.D. as he sat down next to her. "I won't even ask
if you've heard what happened, because by now I know you have."
"Oh, you mean did I hear about dear old Carl shooting himself because he
decided that the pressures in his life were too much? Yeah, I think someone
might have mentioned it in passing."
"Everyone's sad again," Adia said, her tone free of emotion. Then she
smiled slightly. "Except for about three or four freshman; I heard them
muttering something about wanting to throw a party."
"Gotta love honesty," J.D. laughed. "And you?"
Her smile grew broader. "You know how I felt about Carl. The fact that
he's dead doesn't change the fact that he was a mean person; I don't care what
those bozos want to try and pretend."
"That's the spirit."
And now that he knew that was how she felt, he should tell her. Tell
her and ask her to give him any information about Rae that might prove useful.
Because while his father was still running into some trouble due to that
incident with the Save the Memorial Oak Tree Society, that delay wouldn't keep
them here forever.
While he had been wrong about Adia before, he was sure that he wasn't
wrong now. She would help him.
He sighed, reluctantly amused with himself. So why wasn't he saying
anything to her? What was he trying to be all of a sudden, some kind of
goddamned white knight?
Yeah. And Rae Fielding and Kassi Marcus would run off to join a
nunnery.
***
Arraigned but acquitted. Adia had heard the news and been both happy
and sad- happy that the entire thing was over, but knowing that now that the job
was done and the entire ruckus was over, there was nothing tying the
construction company to this town.
J.D. would have added another school to his list, and she'd go back to
her normal life.
She crumpled up the paper she'd been absently doodling on and threw it
into the wastebasket.
To hell with that.
When he knocked on her window again, she put her book aside and opened
the window, climbing without a word.
Silently, they rode off, neither one of them speaking until they were
once again sitting in the field behind the high school.
"So, how much longer do you have?" Adia asked quietly.
"Five days."
She closed her eyes for a moment. "So is this the part where we start
feeding each other bullshit about always remembering each other and promising to
keep in touch?"
"No," he said. "Honesty, remember? I don't 'keep in touch' with anyone
I knew from my old schools." With good reason; it was kind of hard to address
letters to cemeteries.
She nodded. "Yeah." Then she glanced over at him, a grin playing
quickly across her face. "Somehow, you don't strike me as the sentimental
type."
He laughed, realizing that sentimental or not, he'd actually found
somebody that he was going to miss. Amazing.
"So, question," he said, breaking the silence. "What were you reading
when I came to take you away from your usually boring, humdrum life for a time?"
She laughed. "You've got quite the ego on you, don't you?" Not giving
him the chance to come up with some smart-aleck comeback to that, she continued.
"'The Whimper of Whipped Dogs'. It's a short story by Harlan Ellison."
"Sounds nice and cheerful."
"Oh yeah. I've read it several times," she said, her voice growing
softer. "Character identification, I suppose. Because sometimes I feel like
the woman in that. You know, that I have to make a choice- either tolerate the
Dark God or . . . or be sacrificed to him."
"And what would you choose?"
Adia laughed then, a short, harsh sound. "I had that all figured out, once upon
a time."
"There's another choice, you know."
"What?"
"You could join him."
She raised her eyebrows, but he didn't elaborate on the comment and she
didn't ask him to. It was the closest he came to talking to her about anything
he'd done.
***
Again, it was so easy it was almost amusing. Rae was alone- I'd watched
everyone else leave- and after a bit of convincing, she let me in.
Of course, I'm not sure if that says something for my fine acting skills
or for her desire to come up with some kind of prank to pull on me that she
could laugh about with her friends later.
Either way, it didn't matter. Her house was four stories high, and
after a couple of well-placed praising words about the balconies, it wasn't hard
to get out onto one of them.
I just wish I could have seen the look on her face. Because she sure as
hell wasn't expecting that shove.
And another note written.
What the hell; the last day has to be memorable, right?
***
"Hey!"
J.D. looked to the side and saw Adia running across the lawn. He raised
a hand slightly, signaling to his father to keep the truck in the driveway.
"Just a minute, son," he said quietly.
Bud Dean grinned. "No problem, dad."
Adia stopped in front of J.D.'s window, a smile on her face. "Take me
seriously here; I actually got up early for this. Whether we keep in touch or
not, you think I was going to let you leave without saying goodbye?"
Before he could answer, she leaned over slightly and kissed him.
When she leaned back again, she kept her voice low. "A bit of parting
news- did you hear that Rae killed herself yesterday morning? Jumped from one
of her many balconies."
He smiled back at her. "Fitting, isn't it?"
"Yeah. The choices people make, hmm?"
Then his father started the car. J.D. took the small earring out of his
left ear and replaced it with a golden hoop earring he'd taken from Adia's
dresser while she'd been in the shower. If she noticed the action, she didn't
say anything.
But still, he'd made it. And she hadn't thought he was sentimental.
As they pulled out into the street, J.D. looked back at her, saw the smile on
her face, and froze.
Normally he wouldn't have given the short conversation, or the smile, a
second thought.
But since he hadn't killed Rae. . .
One genuine suicide in the family he could buy. But two?
Or was the first one even genuine?
And this was ridiculous. What the hell was he basing it on, anyway? He
really should have gotten more sleep last night.
Adia watched the car back out of the driveway and met J.D.'s eyes,
trying to tell him everything with a smile. That he had been right, that the
others were sheep- and the both of them were the wolves.
She'd been so foolish her freshman year. The way she'd dealt with Debra
had been the correct way. She could have saved herself and others a hell of a
lot of pain if she hadn't convinced herself otherwise for a time.
"Awwww, he's leaving, how sad. You gonna cry now?"
Adia didn't even bother to glance at Todd Saunders as he walked by.
He tried to put on a front, she thought. So brave. But secretly, he was grief-
stricken over the death of his girlfriend. His suicide would be terribly
tragic. . .
He'd been an idiot, J.D. decided. All of his thinking about how most people
were the same anywhere he went, and he'd never considered this? Granted, people
like him were sure to be a hell of a lot rarer, but still. . . .
Unable to dismiss his sudden conviction with excuses of insomnia, J.D.
leaned out the window and called out to her. He had to be sure. "Hey, maybe we
will keep in touch after all. I like to write notes."
Her smile grew. "So do I, J.D. So do I."