She heard another slow creak on the stairs. Closer. She fumbled with her coat pocket trying to find her camera.
Where is it? Where is it?
Panic rose in her throat when she couldn’t feel it. Was it in the truck? She willed herself to slow down. She finally found the camera and yanked it out of her coat pocket. She hit the flash switch and heard the familiar whir as it charged. Another creak. This time at the top of the landing, right outside the bedroom door.
C’mon, c’mon,
she willed the flash to charge. Why was it taking so long? She squatted just inside the doorway hiding the camera from view. Her heart was pounding so hard she knew anyone could hear it. She prayed whoever was outside the doorway would think the second floor was empty and just go back down the stairs. No such luck. A shadow moved across the doorway. Don’t snap too soon. Wait. Wait. The shadowy figure took a step into the room, and Meredith reacted. Snap! The camera flashed.
The figure took one startled step backward, and Meredith darted out the door and into the hallway. She was just about to flee down the stairs when Dani spoke.
“Meredith, what are you doing?” Dani blinked repeatedly. “I can’t see a thing.”
“Oh, my God.” Meredith flew back in the room and threw her arms around Dani’s neck. “Oh, my God. I thought you were Jack the Ripper.” Her heart was still racing.
Dani returned Meredith’s hug, but continued to blink furiously. “What had you so spooked? It was just the front door. We didn’t close it all the way.” With a laugh she asked, “Are you okay?”
Meredith pulled away. Her heart slowed down, but nowhere near normal speed. “I got myself all worked up. Can we get out of here? This house is cursed.”
“What? You and Esther. You both think the house is cursed. C’mon, let’s go back down. We’ll check out the third floor another day.”
“Fine by me.”
Meredith wanted to bolt down the stairs and out of the house, but she didn’t want to be first so she clutched the sleeve of Dani’s lacrosse jacket. She didn’t care if Dani thought she was a coward.
At the bottom of the stairs, Dani pointed to a large discolored area on the floor. “This must be where the rug was, the one Esther tripped on.”
“Yeah, she said she slipped right before she tripped.”
They inspected the wood floor, but didn’t find anything odd.
“Hey, wait. Look over here.” Dani knelt on all fours and inspected a spot on the floor. “The wood looks different here.”
“Hmm, that’s about the size of my sketchpad.”
Dani looked up with one eyebrow raised.
Meredith shrugged. “What? You’d probably say it was the size of the top of your lacrosse bat or something. We all have our points of reference.”
“Stick.”
“What?”
“Lacrosse stick and, yeah, you’re right. The stain’s about as long as my lacrosse head.”
Meredith nodded knowingly.
“What?”
“See? Like I said, we all have our own points of reference.”
Dani sat back on her heels and laughed. “Okay, you got me there.” She leaned forward again and put her nose to the stain.
“What are you doing?”
“Smells like grease.”
“Grease? Like for french fries?”
“No. Axle.”
“Axle? Axle grease?”
“Yeah. I have a truck, remember? I know axle grease.”
Meredith exchanged a puzzled look with Dani. She got on her knees next to Dani and smelled the stained wood. The stain smelled like the garage when her father worked on his truck. “Why would someone put axle grease on the floor?”
Dani just shook her head. “I don’t know,” she said slowly.
“Ah, c’mon. The movers probably dropped something there.” She stood up and put her hand out to help Meredith up.
Meredith accepted Dani’s help. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Now, can we get out of here?”
Dani swept her arm toward the front door. “Why, yes, indeed, Miss Bedford. Your chariot awaits.”
Meredith turned the thermostat back down to fifty degrees and got out of the house as fast as she could.
Chapter Eight
John Casey
MRS. LEVINE PLACED a silver pair of scissors on the worktable between Meredith and Dani. She said, “It’s Monday which means a new project. Meredith, I want you to help Dani see the interplay of light and dark, shadow and reflection.”
Meredith nodded her understanding. “Okay. That shouldn’t be too hard.” She looked at Dani and chuckled because Dani had a look on her face that said, “Easy for you to say.”
“Meredith,” Mrs. Levine said, “the reason I’m promoting you to private tutor is so that you can get started on her portrait on Friday. You can use my workroom, okay?”
“Thanks, Mrs. Levine.” Meredith nodded. “I think we’ll start with her happy eyes portrait first.”
Mrs. Levine smiled. “Perfect.” She moved on to another student.
Meredith was surprised to see Dani’s flaming red cheeks. “Now, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you.” She flashed what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
“I know. It’s just embarrassing.”
“What is?”
Dani looked down obviously flustered. She stammered, “I don’t know. I’ve just never had anybody talk about my ‘happy eyes.’ It’s weird.”
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but you do have a very expressive face sometimes.”
Meredith reached under her sketchpad and pulled out a brand new vinyl pencil case she’d hidden at the beginning of class. She pushed the case over to Dani.
“What’s this?”
“I, uh, got you some pencils.”
“For me?” Dani picked up the case and ran a finger along the tiny green bow Meredith had attached with scotch tape.
“Yeah. You’re a real artist now and you need professional equipment. And...”
“And, what?”
“I want to say thanks for being my friend.”
Dani beamed and looked down at the pencil case as if embarrassed. “Thanks. This is so nice.” She opened the case and pulled out a sealed pack of graphite pencils along with a professional set of colored pencils. She grinned when she pulled out the green and yellow pencil sharpener that had ‘WHS’ printed on the side. “Oh, sweet. Did you get this at the school store?”
“Yeah. I thought you might need a Whickett High souvenir.”
“I do. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Meredith smiled and opened her sketchbook. Having a friend felt amazing.
Dani unwrapped her brand new pencils. “That’s awesome Mrs. Levine is going to let us work on the portrait during class. I mean, we’re still doing art, right? But it’s you doing the art.”
“I appreciate you giving up your own art time for my project.” Meredith smiled at her friend. She held out her wrist so Dani could take off the rubber band. When Dani didn’t reach over for it, Meredith looked up bewildered.
Dani whipped up her sleeve to reveal six colored hair bands, each about a half-inch wide. She held them out and said with a grin, “You’re not the only one with something up her sleeve. My sister helped me pick them out yesterday. I had no clue what kind to get for you.”
“You got these for me?” Meredith was stunned.
“Yeah.” Dani dropped her gaze, but then looked back up.
“That’s so nice. Thank you.” She looked over the selections and chose the second one in line—the red one. “Look, this one will match my sweater.”
“Yeah, it will. You’re pretty in red. But I still think you should keep your hair back all the time.”
Meredith felt a slight blush creep across her face. She looked at Dani. “Maybe I will.” She cleared her throat. “But, um, I think we should get to work on these scissors.”
Meredith pulled her sketchpad toward her, picked up her own pencil, and began teaching Dani how to see the scissors in terms of light and shadow. Meredith showed her how to subtly shade the sketch so the scissors took on a three-dimensional look. Dani caught on quickly, so Meredith went back to her own sketch.
They worked silently for a bit, but then Dani stopped sketching and sat back.
Meredith stopped her own work and looked up.
“Meredith?”
“Yeah?”
“That kid’s name is John Casey.”
“What kid?”
“You know, the basketball player.” When Meredith still didn’t understand who she meant, Dani continued, “You know, that jerk that tackled you in the hallway the other day.”
“Oh, him.” Meredith looked down at her sketch. She didn’t want to think about him.
“I asked my friend Lisa who plays on the girls’ team who he was. And here’s what I think you should do.”
Meredith remained silent, still sketching.
“Next time he starts to bother you, call him by his name. Knowing someone’s name gives you an advantage. He won’t expect it, and you’ll surprise him. Maybe he’ll leave you alone.”
“Just by using his name?”
“Yeah. You should say something like, ‘John Casey, I’ve had it up to here with you.’”
Meredith laughed. She couldn’t say something like that to him.
Dani laughed with her. “Okay. Maybe not. That sounds like something my mom would say, but…I don’t know. Say something to him.”
“Okay,” Meredith said pensively.
Easier said than done, Dani. Easier said than done.
They went back to their drawings. She was touched that Dani was trying to find a way to help her cope with the abuse she got from the other students. That and the hair bands were small gestures on Dani’s part, she knew, but they were huge in Meredith’s heart.
At the end of the class period, Meredith looked at Dani’s drawing and nodded her approval at the very lifelike sketch of scissors on the paper. Dani proudly handed the work to their art teacher.
Dani was still beaming when they walked out the door. “So, did you hear what Mrs. Levine said about my scissors?”
Meredith laughed softly. “Yeah. The best scissors ever. I think you’ve made a little progress since those middle school art days.”
Dani laughed loudly. “Yeah, I think so. Hey, I need to get my history book. Hang out and wait for me, okay?”
As Dani worked the combination to her locker, Meredith took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn’t have to implement Dani’s plan for the overly-aggressive boys on the basketball team. She rehearsed the boy’s name, John Casey, as she waited for Dani. Her hopes were dashed when she first heard and then saw the tall basketball player and his equally tall entourage saunter toward them down the hallway. She automatically steeled herself for the inevitable, but then something shifted inside of her. She was bone-tired of getting picked on every day, so she decided to try and stand up for herself. She pulled her book bag higher on her shoulders and instead of cringing and waiting for him to push her, she stood up tall and lifted her chin high. She didn’t have time to wonder if Dani was watching, because she had to look junior basketball player John Casey right in the eye.
She watched him take his now familiar path away from his friends toward her. When he was within about two yards, he must have noticed something different about her because he hesitated.
Meredith stood strong, pointed her finger right at his face and said calmly, but forcefully, “John Casey, I’ve had enough of your shit. So keep going and leave me alone.” She pointed down the hallway.
The tall basketball player, obviously surprised, stopped dead in his tracks, put both hands up in defense, and said, “Okay. Okay.” He took a step backward and made a wide berth around Meredith to catch up to his friends. They gave him no end of grief and said things like, “Ooh, you got schooled” and “Way to go, stud.”
Meredith’s heart was pounding as she slowly turned to face Dani. Dani stared at her wide-eyed.
Meredith grinned. “Did I just do that?”
Dani nodded slowly. “Uh, huh. I’m pretty sure that was you.”
Meredith blew out a sigh. “Oh, my God.”
“Guess we won’t need Mikey’s taekwondo after all. Will we?” Dani grinned and shook her head to match Meredith’s own “Oh, my God” reaction.
They headed toward the stairwell that would take them to their history class. Meredith smiled inside and out.
THAT SAME EVENING, Meredith sat at the desk in her room typing notes about Esther and Millie’s house. She still wasn’t comfortable referring to the two older women as Esther and Millie, but they had insisted, so she’d given in. She thought of Dani and smiled. On Saturday in the parking lot of the senior center, she told Dani that she had forgotten what having a friend was like, but that wasn’t right. She had never known what having a friend like Dani Lassiter was like.
Meredith reached behind her head and felt for the red hair band Dani had given her earlier in the day. She had never had a friend buy her a gift for no particular reason. And Meredith had rarely experienced anyone who took the time to wait for her to speak like Dani did. Most people just kept talking because they didn’t have the patience to wait for her to respond. Dani wasn’t like that. Dani waited and didn’t railroad her into opinions.
The phone jolted Meredith out of her thoughts. She looked at the caller ID. Lassiter. Dani must have sensed Meredith thinking about her. She picked up the phone, but before she could say hello she heard her father’s voice.
“Well, what do you know? It’s the captain of the lacrosse team,” he said. “How are your practices going?”
Dani answered, “Well, sir, we’re still in pre-season workouts, but our first game will be on March twenty-first. I’m pretty sure that’s a Friday. Will I see you in the stands?”
Meredith was amazed that Dani talked to her father so easily. She, herself, would simply have asked for Dani if Dani’s father answered. She probably would not have tried to talk to him the way Dani talked to her own father now.
Her father said, “I’ll circle the date on the calendar. I’m sure the whole Bedford clan would love to go.”
Meredith smiled. She hadn’t thought that far ahead in their friendship, but yes, she’d like to go to Dani’s first game. Mikey would absolutely love to see his “dude” play lacrosse.
“Glad to hear it, Mr. Bedford. So who’d you have in the Superbowl yesterday?”
Oh, no. More sports.
Meredith tuned out at this point and waited for her father to call up the stairs. Eventually, after what seemed like an hour, he yelled up that she had a phone call. She didn’t want them to know she’d been on the line all along, so she hit the on/off button to hang up her extension. She hoped she didn’t disconnect Dani in the process. She tapped the button again to reconnect.