Authors: Liz Botts
The DJ started to blast a dance track from the latest Carter Keller movie. People threw themselves around with the abandon of the blissfully drunk. I gritted my teeth as someone's bony shoulder connected with the space between my shoulder blades. The force knocked me into Josh, who caught me just before I flailed into someone else.
The more time we spent in this place without finding Christy the worse the knot in my stomach got. If she wasn't here, then what would we do? I hadn't even thought of calling her family. Now that we were searching for her, I wished I had. That should have been my first call. I couldn't screw this up.
“Do you see her?” Josh yelled. I could barely hear him over the din around us.
I craned my neck as I scanned the crowd. The mosh pit-like atmosphere was not conducive to finding anyone. With a shake of my head we continued to move through the crowd, both trying to be alert for the petite blonde head. We reached the opposite wall just as the DJ changed tracks. The smell of beer and vomit wafted over us, and I gagged.
“We have to find her and get out of here,” I said with a gasp.
Josh nodded his agreement as we set off again. A moment later, I caught a glimpse of a bouncing blonde bob a few feet in front of us. Maneuvering through the mob made it hard to know if it was Christy, but then we stumbled through several people and there she was in front of us. She spun around in a rather daring dance move. When she caught sight of me, her face ran through a complex of emotions from guilt to shock to horror all in slow motion.
I could feel my own face contort in anger. With a quick grab of her wrist, I started to pull her back through the crowd. She followed meekly, head hanging down like a scolded dog. I didn't stop until the cool night air poured over us.
“What were you thinking?” I asked. My voice sounded weird to me, loud and tinny. I supposed it was from the deafening music in the Rock Club.
Christy chewed on her cheek and wouldn't look at me as she said, “I wasn't.”
“That's right, you weren't,” I said. “Do you have any idea how worried I was when I couldn't find you at the restaurant?”
“I'm sorry,” Christy began. She was cut off by a group of arguing guys spilling out the front door.
“There you are,” one of the guys slurred. He reeked of alcohol. “I wondered where you goed.”
My mouth dropped open. This was the guy she had been so infatuated with? Not only was he drunk, but by the look of him he had to be in his late twenties. His scruffy goatee made him look even older. With a glance at Josh, I could tell he was thinking the same thing. Christy looked up then, glancing first at me, then back at the guy.
“I have to go home now,” she said.
“Oh, come on, baby doll. Don't be that way.” The drunk guy staggered toward Christy, running his hand along her arm when he got close.
“Baby doll? Do you realize she's fourteen, you perv?” I said, the anger in my voice barely controlled.
The guy took a step back and stared at Christy in horror. He said, “She said she was sixteen.”
“And you are, what, thirty-five?” I snapped.
“Dude, control your chick. I'm only twenty-eight,” the guy said.
Josh raised an eyebrow. “And what difference would that have made? Sixteen isn't right either,
dude.
”
The guy raised his hands. “She looked like she'd be a fun time. She's always hanging around trying to talk to Carter. His groupies are always easy.”
Two red spots appeared on Christy's cheeks, and her eyes got shiny. I knew she was trying hard not to cry. Even though she had terrible judgmentâwhat fourteen-year-old didn't?âshe deserved to save some dignity. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and she leaned her head into me.
“We can just keep this amongst ourselves, right friends?” The guy began to back away and look around for his friends. The other guys he had been hanging with had all fled, obviously not wanting to be associated with the situation.
“Not likely,” Josh said. “Hannah, you take Christy back to the car.”
I wanted to argue, to stay and help defend Christy, but I took the keys from Josh's outstretched hand. As I guided Christy across the parking lot, the tears started to fall. By the time we got to Josh's car, she was in full on waterworks mode. I tucked her into the back seat with a package of tissues from my purse. I shut the door to give her a few moments of privacy before we dealt with her stupidity.
Shouts across the parking lot drew my attention. I saw drunk guy lunge at Josh, and a scream escaped my throat. Luckily Josh dodged the punch. He threw one of his own and landed the guy squarely in the jaw. Drunk Guy staggered backward. From a distance, he looked shocked. Josh shook his hand but resumed his fighting stance.
Christy's little friend hovered for a moment, and then slunk away into the shadows. I expelled a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Josh walked slowly across the parking lot. I sprinted to him, and threw my arms around him. The feel of his solid frame against my cheek reassured me that he was okay. He pressed a quick kiss into my hair. A quick glance into the car told me Christy's crying jag was winding down. She mopped at her eyes with a soggy tissue.
“Are you okay?” I asked when Josh got close.
He glanced down at the knuckles on his hand. The corner of his mouth lifted into a wry grin. “He's worse off than I am.”
“What happened?”
Josh shook his head. “Not important. He won't be bothering Christy again, but I really think we need to report him to the production people. The guy shouldn't be around young girls.”
We got into the car. I glanced back at Christy who gave me a mournful kicked puppy look. I felt bad for a moment before remembering how much trouble she could have been in from her bad choices. My whole vision of my future as a high school counselor wavered in front of my eyes. As it threatened to crumble, Josh started the car.
Finding my voice, I asked calmly, “What were you thinking, Christy?”
The silence from the backseat stretched wide and deep and tall through the car. Finally Christy sniffled. “I don't know,” she said in a quavering voice. “I wasn't. Jim, that guy, has been hanging around the restaurant a lot âcuz he's part of the crew, you know?”
“Did you know he was twenty-eight?” I asked.
“No, I swear I didn't know he was that old. He seemed like he was my brother's age,” Christy said.
I tried to remember how old her brother was. Maybe twenty? It took everything in me not to turn around and yell at her for this. Instead, I took a deep breath. “That's still too old for you,” I said. With a sidelong glance at Josh, I noticed that his mouth was drawn into a tight frown. I half-turned in my seat, so I could look at Christy. I said, “We can talk about this at our next session.”
Christy's eyes flitted toward Josh. She shook her head. “No, we can talk about this now. I need to. I want to,” she replied. “Josh stuck up for me. I saw him knock Jim back.”
I turned back in my seat. Now I wasn't sure what to ask her or how to proceed. At peer counseling my guidance came easily, our conversation flowed naturally, and we kept everything private. Here Josh was listening. What if I screwed this up? I felt like I already had, or else why would she have done something like this?
No, that was the wrong way of thinking. Obviously the most I could do was give her good advice, and hope that she would follow it. More than that, I had to hope that she would take my advice and then make her own good choices.
“Christy, I can't tell you what to do,” I said. This new tact might work, I thought. I needed to take things slowly though, choose my words carefully. “I can tell you though, that you being with that guy is illegal, and really? Just plain gross.”
With a sniffle, Christy said, “I know. I know. I know. I just, I don't know. He made me feel special.”
“You are special,” I said softly, turning back to face her. The seatbelt tightened as I moved, limiting my ability to look directly at her. “I promise you don't need to be with a guy to make you feel special. I know it's easy for me to say that, but when you find out what you love about yourself, things that you are good at, stuff like that, you'll feel even more special.”
The waterworks started again. Christy swiped at her eyes with the soggy tissue. “I feel so stupid,” she said between sniffles. “I wasâ¦I was going toâ¦tonight.”
Icy tingles of fear swept over me followed by the burning of disappointment, but I couldn't say anything to that effect. Instead I said, “You made a good decision calling me. We should call your family now. I'm sure they're worried about you.”
Christy sniffed. “I already let my grandpa know where I am. He was staying with us tonight while my dad is out of town. I tried calling Vanessa before I called you, but her phone went straight to voicemail. And my brother sounded drunk. Not the best choice of responsible adult.”
I took a deep breath. She
had
called her family first. That was good. It showed that her judgment wasn't as off as I had feared. Dealing with this thing with Jim would be best dealt with in the privacy of our sessions. Josh had already heard enough. My heart swelled with pride at how Josh had stuck up for Christy. He'd defended her honor, so to speak.
“You should wait,” Josh said. I glanced at him, startled that he had spoken. He had been quiet for so long, concentrating on the drive, that I had wondered what he was thinking. “I think that until you find a person who truly loves you, you should wait. And Christy? When you find that person it becomesâ¦the most special thing in the world.”
I looked back at Christy. She seemed mesmerized by what Josh had said. Either that or the night was finally catching up with her. With a shuddery breath, she leaned back in her seat and turned her attention out the window. Satisfied that she was okay, I turned my attention to Josh. He gave me a little sideways glance, and then focused back on the road. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
****
“That's a crazy story,” Angela said blowing on the cup of hot chocolate in front of her.
We were sitting in the student union rehashing the general events of the weekend. Christy had grounded herself, but she had come to our Monday session of peer counseling and we had talked through some of her issues, like why she felt the need to seek attention from a man way too old for her.
“I talked to Molly when we got back. She's never had a situation like this, but she told me I handled it well,” I said. “I don't think I did, though. I mean, I didn't even think to call her family until after we got there.”
Angela took a sip of her drink, and glanced around at the hustle and bustle near the coffee shop. “You did the best you could. Especially given that it was twelve-thirty in the morning.”
I tore my straw wrapper into neat little pieces and started to stack them. “I guess. I mean, the whole thing with Christy has definitely changed my life. Did I tell you I got accepted to the counseling program?”
Angela let out a squeal and jumped out of her chair to hug me. “When did you hear?”
“Yesterday afternoon,” I said with a grin. “You're the first person I've told.”
She beamed at me as we sat back down. “I'm so glad you've found something so exciting to do.”
I sipped on my coffee, which had cooled off nicely. “It won't be easy, I know, but I really think I can make a difference. And I have you to thank.”
Angela's eyebrows inched upward. “Me? For what?”
“If you hadn't invited me along to peer counseling I never would have gotten the experience, and I never would have seen a different path for my life,” I said. The words choked in my throat, and I had to swallow hard to keep from tearing up.
“I'm so glad it made that much of a difference,” Angela replied.
We sat in silence for a few moments as we both took in the significance of the events of the past semester. I watched students getting on and off busses. The windowpane had a huge smudge across it. I didn't think I wanted to know what had made that stain. The absurdity of the thought made me smile.
“So what are you going to do after graduation?” I asked.
Angela grinned. “You won't even believe this,” she said. “I'm going to join the Peace Corps.”
“Wow,” I said. “That's amazing. I didn't know people still did that.”
With a laugh, Angela's face turned gleeful. “I'm going to Belize! I applied months ago, but I didn't want to tell anyone just in case things didn't work out.”
“What will you be doing?”
“I'll be doing a variety of things,” she said. “My first assignment will be working in a school. I'll team teach with another volunteer who is already there. We talked on the phone last week. He thinks it would be great to bring some theater stuff into the classroom.”
“I am really impressed,” I said. And I was excited for her, but I felt a little sad too. “I'll really miss you.”
“Me too,” she said. “But you can email me all the time, and you can follow my blog. We can visit at Christmas.”
Angela drained the last of her hot chocolate from the cup. As she set it back on the table she said, “I thought about doing a mission trip through my church, and I will one day. But this seemed like such a good experience. I'll be gone for two years. So much can happen in two years. I know my life will be totally different when I get back. Maybe I'll go to grad school, or who knows?”
I smiled at her. Who would have thought that we would be heading in such different directions? Two theater majors?
“This is going to come out all cheesy, I know, but you really have been an awesome friend,” I said, trying to keep the melancholy out of my voice.
Before I knew it, Angela had jumped out of her seat and threw her arms around me. “We can Skype and email all the time. And who knows, maybe you and Josh can visit me sometime. Take your honeymoon in Belize or something.”
I giggled. “Maybe,” I agreed. “Speaking of Josh, I need to get over to rehearsal. Our last run through is tonight. And then the final project is in three days. I'm really nervous.”
“I'll see you then,” she promised.
As I left the student union, I felt the distinct tug of sadness over the changes coming in just a few short weeks. The walk across campus felt bittersweet. I knew logically that I wouldn't be leaving this campus or this town since I would be going to grad school here. But grad school would not feel like undergrad. And what path would Josh and I end up taking? We had managed to stay together despite my mid-life crisis (twenty-five years early). Yet we had not talked about the future of our relationship.
Twilight had started to fall. The dreamy purple hue of the light made me feel romantic, like I wanted to break into song and dance with the man I loved. This was the way I wanted people to react to the show. Max and I had worked so hard to create a story about a sweet young girl orphaned by the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. She moved to Chicago in 1920 where she got mixed up with a seamy crowd. As the underbelly of Chicago was revealed, she became a dancer in a burlesque show. Her love interest, played by Josh, worked as a stagehand who wanted to save her.
Max and I had alluded to Al Capone, and we had written Grandma's character as a fun old school madam with a heart of gold. Of course. Some of the show oozed cliché, but the way we had merged the actual acts with said clichés made the whole thing feel unique.
When I climbed the steps to the theater building, I felt a surge of anticipation. By the time I reached the rehearsal space, I was exuding energy. Max looked up, startled, as I burst through the doors.
“What's gotten into you?” Max asked. His characteristic smirk radiated affection. My heart nearly burst when I thought of what a good friend I had made in him this semester.
Man, I was on the road to total cheeseball-hood.
“I'm just excited,” I said, tossing my bag on a chair. “The show is in three days.”
“I know,” Max said. “And we still have two sets to fix.”
The reminder about the sets doused my enthusiasm instantly. I felt my whole body sag under the weight. “Do you think they'll figure out what happened?” I asked.
Max shrugged. “I'm sure they're working on it. Right now we just need to focus on the next few days.”
I sighed. “I agree.”
My phone buzzed as I was unpacking my project binder. I didn't recognize the number, but I answered anyway.
“Hannah Lawrence?”
“Umâ¦yes?” I replied. The voice on the other end was deep and vaguely familiar.
“This is Officer Rainey. I wanted to let you and your partner know that we're confident we've solved your case.”
“You did?” My voice raised an octave, catching Max's attention. Josh noticed to as he hopped off the stage to join us.
“Indeed,” Officer Rainey continued. “It appears a janitor caught a young woman up on the catwalk the other night. She was knocking off cans of paint. She claimed to be part of the cast, so he didn't think to contact us until we went looking for him.”
“What did you say the girl's name was?” I clutched the phone tighter in my hand.
I could hear paper shuffling, then Officer Rainey said, “Allison.”
My breath hitched in the back of my throat. “Are you sure?”
Josh raised an eyebrow, but I put a finger up signaling him to wait.
“Absolutely,” Officer Rainey said.
When we hung up, I felt like I had been let down somehow. I turned to Max. “That girl I fired, Allison? Apparently she sabotaged our sets,” I said, and launched into Officer Rainey's explanation. “I feel horrible.”
Max frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I don't know,” I said, sitting down next to him at his little director's table. “We went through all that stress and drama, and it turns out to be a big mistake. She never would have done this if I hadn't let her go.”
Josh walked up next to me, and began to rub my shoulders. “This isn't your fault, Han. That girl was prettyâ¦intense. She was all flirty with me, but when I told her it wasn't going to happen she lost it. I mean, screaming, hysterical. She couldn't understand that I was still in love with you.”
“See? You did us a favor. We can't work with a psycho diva.” Max chuckled. “We'll fix everything.”
We didn't have a chance to talk any more about it because cast members started to arrive, and we had to get down to business. And business proved to be mind-numbingly difficult. We had so many problems, from people forgetting their lines to Grandma not showing up to rehearse, that Max looked stressed to his breaking point. Finally he just called a halt to the rehearsal.
“Anyone who can stay to help repaint these sets, we'd appreciate the help,” he announced.
Several cast members immediately agreed to stay, including Josh. We divided ourselves into little units of two or three to make the painting go faster. Josh and I teamed up. We painted in silence for a while.
“So have you heard about that grad program yet?”
I looked at Josh feeling oddly startled and unsettled. “That was sort of out of the blue.”
Josh stopped painting and looked at me. “I just remembered that we had been talking about it, and thought I'd ask. You know, it does have an impact on our future.”
“It has an impact on my future,” I agreed. “I was just telling Angela how excited I am to start the program in the fall.”
“You got in?”
I blinked at him. “Well, yeah.” I frowned. “Did you not hear me?”
Josh frowned back at me. “You didn't tell me you got in. You told me you told Angela. Don't you think you should have told me?”
“I did.”
“You didn't, but the semantics aren't important here, Han. I've been completely upfront with you about my plans because it involves our future. And you just feel like beating around the bush?”
Before I could say anything else, I realized that I was putting myself before Josh again. Of course, he had a right to feel put out that I hadn't told him first.
I swallowed, and reached for his hand. “I'm sorry,” I said. “I didn't mean to tell Angela before you. I just was so excited, and she was the one who introduced me to counseling in the first place⦔
Josh wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close to him. “I don't mind that you told Angela first, so much as the fact that you really didn't tell me at all. I want to hear about this stuff first hand, not off hand.”
“I get that,” I said. “I really am sorry.”
With a quick kiss, Josh hugged me close. “No problem, Han, really. We're still working out this new normal for us.”
New normal. I turned the words over in my mind as Josh went back to help with a torn set piece. I liked the way that sounded, so full of hope. We could move forward, still learning from our past mistakes, without repeating history.