Authors: Melissa Pearl
He ignores me, bunching his own fists, unafraid of the nostril snorting giant in front of him.
"Oi! You two! Get your butts out on my field. Now!!" Coach Yeller (it's actually Gellar, but everyone calls him Yeller... for obvious reasons) pulls the boys apart with a look of steel. Trent shoves Dale out of his way as he walks past. Dale stares after him, unfazed by the roughness.
"Finnigan! Move!"
"Coming sir, I just have to use the bathroom." He puts on a grimace and holds his stomach.
Coach Yeller takes a disgusted step backwards. "Make it quick!" Spinning on his heel he marches outside.
Dale clears his throat and waits for the slam of the door before grabbing his bag and walking the other way. "You coming?"
"Ahhh, no thank you. I don't really need to see you poop."
"I'm not going to the bathroom." He pulls the door open. "I want to check out Trent's car."
Dale looks over his shoulder as we amble out into the parking lot. Ducking low, we skirt around the vehicles until we reach Trent's Jeep. Dale runs his fingers along the edge of the window. Dropping his bag, he unzips it and pulls out a long, flat piece of metal with a little hook on the end. Is that a slim jim?
"Why do you have that in your bag?"
Without saying a word, he inserts it down the edge of the window, jiggles it like a pro and pops the lock. "In case I ever lock my keys in the car." He shoots me a grin then opens the door.
"But, how'd you..." My voice dies away as I watch Dale hunt around the passenger's seat. Opening the glove box, he rifles through it as I'm swamped by another memory.
"Trent, stop it." I pushed his fidgeting fingers away from the fly of my jeans, trying to keep my voice light.
"Come on," he murmured into my neck, his lips working over my collarbone and nuzzling beneath my shirt.
I was lying on the reclined passenger's seat, pinned beneath my muscular boyfriend. I ran my fingers through his hair as his hands moved beneath my shirt. I had to resist the urge to yank his locks. An odd fear coiled inside me as his hands roamed my breasts.
It didn't feel right. His lips weren't soft and succulent, his hands weren't tender and smooth. As I lay beneath him in the car I felt smothered. I don't know why, but I wanted out.
"Trent, seriously, stop it." I pushed his hands out from beneath my shirt as they brushed my dog tags. I felt the cool metal on my flesh and Dale's eyes swam through my brain.
Trent gave me a wicked grin and returned to his original starting point, running his hand up my thigh, he squeezed my butt then undid the button of my jeans.
I tried to catch his wrist, but he maneuvered out of my way.
"I mean it!" I squeezed my legs together and shoved at his chest. He lurched away from me and swore.
"What the hell is your problem tonight?"
I re-zipped my fly and wriggled away from him as he climbed back into the driver's seat.
"It's not like we haven't done this before. Just last weekend we were-"
"Yeah, I know, but can't you just take me home and kiss me goodnight? Why do we always have to finish our dates with sex?" I adjusted my shirt.
Trent let out a frustrated sigh.
"I so don't get you. One minute you're begging for it. Look at the way you're dressed. And now you're playing cold fish."
I glared at him. Begging for it? Hardly!
He touched my face and kept his voice sweet and gentle.
"What do you want, Nicole?"
I recognized the tactic, but still felt softened by it.
"I don't know," I gave my standard reply, which he took as permission.
I was soon engulfed with kisses and roaming hands. The urge to just give in and get it over with was strong, but then I felt the dog tags again and my insides sparked with anger.
"Stop it! I said I didn't want to tonight. Why do you always have to keep pushing?"
I turned away from him and looked out the window... at the so called view. All I saw were dark, creepy trees.
Trent's fingers skirted my hair away from my neck and his lips soon followed. I rolled my eyes and unlatched the door, jumping into the cool night air.
"I said stop. I don't want to, just deal with it."
The dim car light illuminated his features as he glared at me. "Get in the car."
"No." I crossed my arms and glared back at him.
"Nicole. Get. In. The car," he repeated between clenched teeth.
I raised my chin. "No."
"Fine." He slammed the steering wheel. "You stubborn bitch." Grabbing my bag he chucked it at my feet. "You don't want to be with me, that's your loss."
Slamming the door closed, he started the car and revved the engine.
"Wait! Trent!" I reached for the door handle, but before I could grab it the back wheels spun and he screeched away from me.
"Look what I found?" Dale pulls me back to the present by waving my iPhone in front of his face. "Looks like you were in here last night, unless Trent has a thing for hot pink, jewel encrusted phone cases."
I force my lips to smile. I don't know why, it's not like her can see me.
"Yeah that's mine," I mumble, reaching for it then dropping my invisible hand as Dale turns back to look in the car again. "I remember being in here."
"You do?" Dale spins to face me, his direction is a little off, but I can't be bothered correcting him. "What happened?"
"I um. We parked. I just remember we were parked."
Dale's eyebrows bunch together, his mouth pinching into a tight line as he looks to the ground.
"Nothing happened." I don't know why I want him to know so badly.
He gives a nod and I sigh.
"That's why I got out of the car."
"What do you mean?"
Why am I telling him this?
"He wanted to... you know... and I didn't feel like it so..."
Dale's expression changed to one of amusement as I stumbled through my words and it pissed me off.
"Look this is all your fault!"
"My fault?" He points to himself.
"Yeah! If you hadn't been swimming around in the back of my brain with your
you should know better
look, I would have just done it and then he wouldn't have driven off without me."
Anger courses over Dale's face. I can sense his struggle to stay calm.
"Okay, so you're saying, that if you'd had sex with that jackass, everything would have been better?"
"At least I'd be alive."
"You're not dead yet." Dale slams the door, pockets my phone and starts marching back towards the change rooms. I run to catch up with him. Anger is still pulsing out of him, but his voice is calm when he asks me, "Do you remember where you were?"
"No." I shake my head. "It was really dark and there were a ton of trees. I'm not sure if I fell there or if I was walking home and maybe I slipped?
Breaths snort out of Dale's nose.
"I can't believe you date that jerk. He left you in the middle of nowhere!"
I have nothing to say. Dale's right. Trent is a jerk and I had been dating him for nearly five months. Shame washes over me as Dale continues his little rant.
"When I think about his hands all over you it makes me want to puke."
"Thank you, Mr. Pious, but I didn't ask for your opinion."
"It's not about being pious." Dale suddenly spins around. He's looking straight at me, not that he knows it. "The only person who should be touching you like that is someone who loves you and that dickhead doesn't."
His words hurt like hell and I can't help muttering, "If that's the criteria, no one would ever touch me."
I watch his gaze fill with sadness as he steps towards me.
"You know it's scum like Trent," he points back to the parking lot, "that make you believe that crap."
I'm left speechless as he turns and walks away.
It takes a few moments for my legs to get moving. I feel like someone is squeezing my heart to putty. What does he know anyway?
I decide to wait outside the change room this time. When Dale reappears he's scrolling through my phone and looking a little worried.
"What did you find?" I peer over his shoulder.
He flinches then let's out his breath.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just didn't feel like watching a bunch of sweaty guys get showered and dressed."
His face brightens with his little half smile.
I walk beside him as he weaves his way through the corridors.
"Looks like your mom's tried calling a few times this morning."
I want to say, "That'd be a first," but swallow the words back down. I had to give Mom some credit. She did look worried this morning... until she turned her car around and headed for a meeting. My insides simmer.
"Do you think I should call her back?"
"And say what? Yeah, hi, I'm the guy that lives just round the corner, you wave to me occasionally, but we never really talk. I happen to have your daughter's phone... which I stole from Trent's car. Oh! And did I mention I can hear her voice in my head. She's a ghost by the way."
"Okay, okay, I get it." He slips the phone into his back pocket. "And for your information, reclaiming property is not stealing."
"It is when the property's not yours."
"Fine." Dale pulls out my phone and holds it in the air. "You hold it then."
I throw him a dark look and mutter, "Touche."
His smirk jumps into place as we bypass the cafeteria and head towards the opposite end of the school.
"Where are you going? Do you not eat?"
He stops outside one of the ICT suites and turns the latch.
"I have more important things to do today." He pushes the door with his shoulder and holds it open for me.
"I'm through."
He lets the door go and walks to a computer at the back of the room.
"Are you allowed in here?"
Pulling out a chair, he plops onto it.
"Mr. Attley doesn't mind seniors in here at lunchtime. We're fine, Nicky. Don't worry about it."
I shuffle up beside him.
"It's Nicole."
"What?"
"My name's Nicole," I repeat with a sigh.
"I know." He brings the screen to life with a flick of the mouse. "I just like Nicky better."
"Well, I like Nicole and it's my name, so..."
A soft chuckle escapes his lips as he opens up Google.
"Whatever you say, Nicole."
I roll my eyes and perch on the seat beside him.
"What are you looking for?"
"Well, we know Trent's lying. He didn't drop you home and I'm guessing if you guys were... you know... in his car then he probably drove to a scenic overlook or someplace private."
Dale searches for maps of the area.
"So Matt lives... here?" He points to the screen. I lean over him and nod.
"Is that right?"
"Yes. I keep forgetting you can't see me."
He grins.
"Okay, so I imagine Trent wouldn't drive for miles before stopping, so let's assume you're within a 15 mile radius of Matt's house." He leans closer to the screen and inspects the different routes leading away from Matt's house. "There are vista points scattered all the way through the National Park. We could start there this afternoon, see if any of the settings stir some memories."
I clear my throat and dredge up the memory again. "It wasn't a vista anything. It was dark and kinda creepy. I think it was off the road. Hidden."
His grin disappears and that hard look returns. Before I thought he was pissed at me, but now I'm wondering if this quiet rage is solely for Trent. For some weird reason I find it touching that he's annoyed about someone treating me like that.
I frown and clear my throat. "I must have started walking, right? I mean I wouldn't have just stood there in the dark. Logic says I would've tried to find a main road or something."
"If you were in a quiet spot, the chances of you slipping and falling are high. You could have tumbled down the bank pretty easily." His features are etched with worry. "You don't remember anything else?"
"No." I swallow down the lump in my throat and look back at the screen. San Bernardino National Park is huge. The road from Matt's house cuts through a portion of it. With little to go by this hunt could take months... and I don't have that long. "What if he drove south?"
Dale runs his fingers through his curls and flicks them out of his face.
"A human can survive for around four days without water and from what you've said, you're not pouring blood, so we have a little time."