Beckoning Light (7 page)

I was tempted to ask if the lemonade was alcoholic, but I already felt stupid. I figured I could just trash it if it was. “Sure.” I accepted the cup. 

“Cheers, to new friends,” Brian said, as he picked up another cup from the counter and tapped it to mine.

“To new friends,” I echoed awkwardly, as I took a sip. It was sweet; I could drink it.

“So, how do you like being back?” he asked.

“It’s nice, warmer.” I couldn’t believe I was having so many conversations about weather.

“Yeah, Alaska must have been pretty cold in the winter, especially for someone from down here.”

For a second, there was an awkward silence, but then he filled it with, “So, is the scene here different than up in Alaska?”

“The scene? Um, well I’m probably not the one to ask about that. I wasn’t really part of any scene.” I felt pretty silly.

“Oh, yeah? So wait, is this your first party, then?” he asked excitedly.

“I guess so. I mean I spent a few minutes at some of the parties Kevin had at our house.” I figured honestly would work best here.  

“Wow. I’m honored you decided to come tonight, then, glad you’re coming out of your shell.” He smiled. “So, we should really hang out sometime. It’s nice to see you outside of gym.”

“Umm… maybe.” I blushed. Was he trying to ask me out or just being nice? I really didn’t understand the social graces.

“Cool. We’ll have to make some plans. I should make some rounds, but I’ll definitely find you later,” he said, before walking off.

I was grateful he had come over to say hello, but something about him made me nervous. I was lost in thought, wondering what Brian was all about, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped, almost spilling my drink.

“Not too many sophomores here, huh?” James seemed amused that he had startled me.

“Nope, I’m pretty much here because Anna said yes for the both us,” I said, recovering.

“I wasn’t quite as formally invited, but Brian didn’t seem to care.” James smiled.

“Wait. You’re crashing this party?” I asked, once again surprised.

“Can you really crash a house party?”

“Technically.”

“Are you always such a rules person, Charlotte?” he asked with his all too frequent habit of making complete eye contact.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” I admitted.

“Figures,” he mumbled.

“Excuse me?” I was slightly offended.

“It’s just that I wonder if you even know how to take chances.” He shrugged.

“I take chances,” I defended.

“Yeah, like when?”

“Well, I went to the library with you, right?” I hoped that counted for something in his book.

“That’s not taking a chance, Charlotte. That’s being normal,” he said lightly.

“Well, I don’t have too many opportunities to take chances.” Between my father, my brother, and my uncle, I was pretty well protected.

“Well, we’ll have to see about that, but have fun with your rules.” With that, he walked away, toward the living room. I had barely processed our conversation when Kevin came into the kitchen with two girls.

“Hey Sis! How are you doing?” Kevin looked excited to see me.

“Hi, Kev. I’m doing alright.” I tried to sound enthusiastic. 

“Charlotte, have you met Amanda and Karen?” He pointed to the girls.

“No. Nice to meet you.” I gave them a nod, figuring that this was not the time or place to shake hands. 

“Well, have fun!” Leave it to my brother to have two girls hanging on him; he could be such a player sometimes.

I walked out into the living room and caught a glimpse of Anna and Molly, but they seemed be having too much fun flirting with the older boys at the party to notice me. I walked around for a little bit, starting to feel restless again. I decided to sit down on an empty couch to plan my exit strategy.

“Having fun, huh?” Liam asked, looking down at me.

“Oh, hey, Liam. It’s that obvious, huh?” I felt silly once again.

“Well, a girl sitting alone on a couch is never a good sign at a party.” Liam hesitated for a moment before sitting next to me.

“Yeah, parties aren’t really my thing.”

“I could kind of tell you weren’t thrilled when Brian asked you about it at gym, but I’m glad you came, and your brother sure is, too.” 

“Yeah, well, he hates having a loser sister.” I played absently with the sleeve of my sweater.

“He cares about you, Charlotte; he just wants you to have fun.”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

Liam turned to look at me. “Well, I don’t think Kevin has to worry about you becoming a social hermit here if your first weekend is any evidence.”

“So did he put you up to all this?” I really wanted to know why he was being so nice.

“To all what?” Liam asked innocently.

“Inviting me to this party, talking to me now.” 

“Why would he do that?”

“So I wouldn’t feel like a loser. I distinctly remember him asking you to help.” I found myself wondering once again why Liam was playing stupid. Was he just trying to spare my feelings?

“The invitation was all Brian; he’s pretty friendly.” Liam tapped his fingers on his leg like he was playing a bass line. He always used to do that as a kid.

“Yeah, I get that,” I said, and he looked at me kind of funny.

  “So, I’m all for you coming out, but just let me know if anyone is… well, too friendly, you know?”

“Ha! Thanks, Liam.” I felt awkward again. I couldn’t imagine going to Liam because a guy was hitting on me too much; that would be too weird.

“So, how did that library thing with James go?” he asked casually.

“Oh.” I was surprised that Liam even remembered. “Fine, productive.” 

“I still can’t believe Monty let him drive you. How was the ride, anyhow?” He seemed genuinely curious.

“Yeah, I think Monty’s trying to be cool. This whole telling me what to do thing is new, and the car felt just like any other car.” I wasn’t sure what he wanted to hear.

A boy I didn’t recognize came up to Liam and said something so quietly I couldn’t hear it. Liam turned back to me. “Hey, I hate to run, but I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes.”

“Not a problem,” I said, as he walked away. I briefly wondered what that was all about.

I got up and walked around again. My desire to be at the party was progressively waning, so I looked around for Kevin. I saw that he was still engrossed with Amanda and Karen. Next, I saw Rachel, who I hadn’t even said hello to yet, but she looked pretty cozy with her boyfriend; I didn’t want to interrupt. Finally, I spotted Anna.

“Hi, Anna,” I said. “Could I ask you a favor?”

“Sure.” She seemed slightly hesitant.

“I’m really tired and want to head home. Could you tell my brother that I went ahead and left?”

Anna reacted just as I had hoped. Somehow I knew Anna wouldn’t mind having an excuse to talk to my brother. “Sure, I totally don’t mind giving Kevin the message. Not a problem!”

“Great, thanks!” I was both surprised and relieved that she didn’t ask how I was getting home.

As I headed toward the front door, I caught a quick glance of Liam talking intently to a girl I didn’t recognize. I guessed that she had something to do with what the other boy had whispered to him earlier. No need to bother him and ruin his fun.  It was nice that he talked to me, but he clearly had his own life.

I slipped out the front door and closed it quietly behind me, even though no one would have heard if I had slammed it, considering how loud the music was. I knew that walking home alone at night was a bad idea, but I had really needed to get out of there. No matter how hard I tried, social situations were always awkward. It took so much effort to figure out where to stand, who to talk to, and what to hold; it never seemed worth it. Just thinking about how strange I had felt at the party made me want to cry. I didn’t get why I couldn’t be more like my brother, comfortable no matter what the situation. 

I walked home as quickly as I could, wishing I had worn sneakers instead of boots. The further I got from the party, the more nervous I felt about walking alone. Suddenly, I felt the sensation that I was being followed. I started to get nervous; I wondered if those few sips of lemonade may have made me sick. I picked up my pace.

“You know, you should be more careful about where you walk alone at night; you never know who could be following you.” For the second time that night, I jumped as a result of James.

“What are you doing here?” I was startled but relieved that it was James and not a stranger. Still, the way he talked about someone following me gave me the creeps.

“I saw you leave the party alone and decided to see where you were going, you know, see you home safe. Why did you leave alone, anyhow?”

“No choice really.”

“What about Liam? He is your neighbor, after all.”

“He was busy. Plus, he’s Kevin’s friend, not mine.” I hoped James didn’t hear the disappointment in my voice.

“Busy? Oh, you mean talking to Claudia. Trust me, he would have rather walked you home.” James gave me a knowing smile.  “And, why not your brother?”

“Kevin? Are you crazy? He wasn’t ready to leave.”

“You know, you really don’t give the men in your life enough credit,” he said seriously.

“Whatever you say.” The words came out automatically.

“So, you want some company? It’s pretty late to be walking alone,” James offered.

“Um, sure.” I was once again relieved that it was James out there with me in the dark.

“But Charlotte, you should really text your brother or something, let him know that a friend is walking you home.”

“Sure.” I took out my phone and sent Kevin a fast text. “But I don’t think he would really care; besides, I told my friend to tell him I was leaving.”

“Yeah, but he would still want to make sure you got home all right,” James insisted.

“I guess so.”

“Trust me, he would. Did I tell you I actually had a talk with your brother earlier today?” James asked, as we walked briskly toward my house.

“Yeah? About what?” I was surprised they even knew each other.

“He wanted to make sure I knew that he was watching me and that I needed to be careful with you.” James smiled.

“He
what
?” I asked incredulously.

“Oh, come on. He’s your older brother, and he found out about our study date. He did what any normal brother would do,” James said, as we neared my house.

“Our study date?” I was taken aback.

“Would you prefer I call it a study session? I didn’t know you were so concerned about semantics.” He caught my eye as I opened the side gate. I thought it was odd that James would use a word like
semantics
, but maybe he just liked to sound smart.

I prepared to say goodbye to James, but he was still following me. I didn’t actually mind the company, so I kept walking until I reached the bench by the fountain. James sat down next to me, right where Monty had sat earlier that evening.

“So, what are we doing out here? Thinking about what wild animals wait ahead?” He gestured at the gate.

I smiled, surprised that his sarcasm was actually funny. “I don’t know why
you’re
sitting out here, just why
I
am.”

“Okay, so why are
you
sitting here?”

“You’ll laugh.” I really didn’t want to give James another reason to give me a hard time.

“Try me.”

“You know how I said the gate was locked?”

“Yeah,” he said, clearly eager for me to continue.

“Well, I always assumed it was welded shut or something, but I found some pictures of the gate in those library books and realized that under all that moss and ivy there’s a keyhole, so maybe that’s all it is.”

“Have you looked for the key?” he asked.

“I don’t know where to start,” I admitted.

“Sometimes the thing you want is something you already have.” James stood to leave. Of course, he was going to end the night on a cryptic note.

“What are you talking about?”

“Good night, Charlotte. Take care,” he said quietly.

“Good night,” I said, as James’s figure disappeared into the darkness. It came as no surprise that he didn’t bother to answer me.

Something I already had? What was James getting at? Though I tried to brush off his last comment, it had struck a chord with me. Even though the house had always belonged to my dad’s family, the garden had always been my mom’s place. I started to think about the few things of my mother’s that were still around and immediately remembered the jewelry box. I ran inside quickly, trying to be quiet because I didn’t know if Monty was asleep. I ran up both flights of stairs and closed the door to my room.

James’s comment had made me think of a necklace my mom used to wear. I opened the box and rummaged through the jewelry until I found it. The solid chain had two pendants, both made of an almost iridescent crystal, one in the shape of an orb, and the other a key. I knew that there was a good chance that I would break the crystal key by trying it in the lock, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. Suddenly, I felt angry. Who cared if I broke it? It wasn’t like Mom was around to yell at me, and Monty and Kevin wouldn’t even notice. After clasping the necklace around my neck and throwing on a jacket, I ran downstairs and jogged down the garden path. I yanked back the vines and carefully slipped the key into the lock. Hoping it wouldn’t completely break, I tried to turn the key, but it wouldn’t budge. A wave of disappointment engulfed me. I jiggled the key gently and was finally able to turn it slightly. I put more pressure into it and was able to push the key all the way around. I hesitated a moment before trying the gate. I knew that what I was doing was clearly against the rules and, if I got caught, I would probably be in more trouble than ever, but really, if my family wanted me to stay out of it, they could at least tell me why. Besides, the key hadn’t been very hard to find. I pushed against the gate and felt it give. As I stepped through, I had a strong feeling that nothing would ever be the same again.

Chapter Seven

Charlotte

It took time for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. The faint moonlight had been replaced by what looked like direct sunlight. As the gate clanged shut behind me, I panicked for a second. Once my eyes adjusted, I tried my key and, unlike the other side, I had no trouble turning the key in this lock. I breathed a sigh of relief; I could get home.