Destiny Binds (24 page)

“Yes, we should dance.”

“Charlie, I donʼt think--”

“Actually, the problem is that you think too much.” His hand brushed against my face, following the exact same path that Alex had touched earlier. “Please, Scout? Please dance with me?” His voice broke, along with my resolve.

I followed Charlie to the dance floor, my heart and stomach in the wrong places. Just as we settled on a spot of our own the thumping bass ended and was replaced with familiar piano chords. I smiled in wonder as the singerʼs voice warbled through the speakers. “I would have bet good money this clown never heard of Tom Waits.”

Charlie beamed. “He hadnʼt.”

“What did you do?” I was acutely aware of his arms as they held me around the waist.

“I explained that I had a promise to keep to a girl.” The heels on the strappy shoes I wore put me at eye level with Charlie. I was fascinated by the fact they were actually multiple shades of green, darker on the edges and getting lighter closer to his pupils. “Then I showed him how to hook up my iPod to his sound system. The guy is
old
. He has to be at least thirty. I donʼt think he had ever seen an iPod before.”

“What promise?”

“I didnʼt think you remembered.” Charlie looked extremely pleased with himself. “We were watching
Cinderella
, and you begged me to take you to a Ball so that you could dance with a handsome prince.”

A memory tugged in the back of my mind. “And you told me that I would have to settle for dancing with you at prom.”

“Youʼve been very stubborn about letting me fulfill that obligation. I thought I was going to have to slip you some roofies just to get you out here.”

“How on earth did you remember? That had to have been more than seven years ago.” He pulled me closer and I felt my heart jump from my stomach to my throat. “Iʼve been looking forward to this dance for a long time.” He leaned forward and rested his lips by my ear.

“It was worth the wait. You look beautiful tonight, Scout.” I felt the familiar warmth of embarrassment in my cheeks. “Iʼll pass your compliment on to Mrs. Matthews, Magical Seamstress.”

His breath was warm against my ear as he chuckled. “The dress is nothing without the girl inside it.”

I couldnʼt think of a witty retort, so I just silently relaxed into his arms and enjoyed the sensation. Afterwards, Charlie tried to get me to stay on the dance floor and attempt a faster paced song, but I declared his promise paid in full and returned to our table. We stayed another hour, watching as Tinsley helped Jase out the door and sighing in relief when she called to inform Charlie that his cousin was officially the worst prom date ever, having been drunk the entire dance and missing the after party on account of passing out in somebodyʼs hammock.

Charlie was staying at my house for the weekend, so the time honored act of walking a date to her door left him saying his goodnights just outside my bedroom.

“Did you have fun tonight?”

“Yeah, I did.” I was surprised to find I wasnʼt lying. Sure, there had been some angst and drama, but it had its moments, like discovering James Kiplinger knew the Electric Slide. “Thank you, Charlie.”

“Hey, the night is still young. Why donʼt you change into some pajamas and weʼll watch a few episodes of
Glee
? Iʼll even let you sing along.”

“Tempting, but I have an all-night cram session tomorrow for Mondayʼs test in Calculus, and itʼs going to take me an hour to figure out how to get out of this thing and find the three hundred bobby pins Talley put in my hair.”

“Here, let me help.” Charlie moved behind me and started undoing the series of hooks that ran along my spine. A slight tremble when through my body as his fingers brushed against my bare back. “Was she expecting you to wear this for the rest of your life or what?”

“I think itʼs Mrs. Matthewsʼs own version of a chastity belt. She figures that any guy would grow bored after the first ten hooks. I really feel bad for James. Talleyʼs dress had twice as many as mine.”

Charlie let out a puff of air that tickled the hairs on my neck. “Itʼs not having its desired effect,” he growled. I felt a warmth deep in my abdomen as he fumbled with the last few clasps. Was it my imagination or were his fingers trembling?

“Do you...” I felt him take a deep breath before clearing his throat. “Do you need help with the hair too?”

I nodded, unsure that I could verbalize. I let out a sigh as his hands moved through my hair, gently releasing individual strands, one at a time.

“Do you love him?” he asked so quietly I wasnʼt certain he had spoken at all.

“Who?”

“Iʼm not as stupid as you think I am, Scout. I see the way you look at each other, the way you are around him.”

“I...I donʼt think youʼre stupid. And I have no idea what youʼre talking about.” My heart tripped out a rhythm that betrayed me.

He turned me so that we were standing face to face. I clutched the top of my dress in both hands, holding it in place.

“I could love you better. Iʼll give you anything you want, whatever it takes to make you happy. Can he say the same?”#

I looked into Charlieʼs eyes and realized Talley was right. It was possible to love two people at the same time, but it wasnʼt possible to keep them both. Standing there in the dark hallway with my prom dress half-on, feeing the heat of Charlieʼs body warming mine, I made the hardest decision of my life.

Charlieʼs truck was gone when I left for church the next morning. I wasnʼt surprised, but I was disappointed. I wanted him to be there, acting as if nothing had happened, as if I hadnʼt broken his heart along with everything we had together.

“Please, Scout,” he begged me. I had seen that pained expression on his face countless times over the years, but never before had I been the cause of it. I hated myself more in that moment than I had ever hated anyone or anything. “Please, just think about it. You donʼt have to decide anything right now.”

But he was wrong. And I didnʼt regret my decision. What Alex and I shared was preternaturally right. I couldnʼt give him up no more than I could give up breathing. Did that mean that I loved Charlie any less? No. It just meant I couldnʼt be with him.

And that sucked.

I donʼt know what I said, or even if I said anything at all. I do know that I ran away like the coward I am and locked myself in the bathroom, seeking solace in the sanctuary of the shower for as long as the hot water held out.

Our Sunday morning sermon focused on the sins of the flesh, Reverend Jessup assuring us that those who gave into the temptations of alcohol, drugs, and sex would burn eternally in the fiery pits of hell. I donʼt think I was just imagining that the preacherʼs eyes kept returning to the empty space on the pew next to me where Jase should have been sitting.

I spent the rest of the day hiding in my bedroom, though not so well Angel couldnʼt find me.

She danced around my room with Guido, demanding a blow by blow account of prom night.

She didnʼt leave me alone until we heard Jase stumble in just after noon. Angry voices floated up through the air vents almost immediately. While Dadʼs lecture hit the relevant points of underage drinking, breaking curfew, and irresponsible behavior, Mom seemed fixated on the fact that she wouldnʼt be able to return Jaseʼs tux to the rental place. That was just too much for Angel to handle. She bounded out the door to witness the action first hand. I was half tempted to follow, but knew all I had to do was wait. Sure enough, it wasnʼt long before there was a light tapping at my door.

“Scout?” Jase came shuffling in, shutting the door behind him. His hair was fairly comical -

half of it matted against his head and the other half sticking straight out - but it paled in comparison to his tux. Someone must have scrounged up one of those on-the-go bleach pens and used it on the pants and jacket.

“Fun night?”

“So I hear,” he said dropping onto my bed. “I donʼt really remember anything after dinner.

Strike that. I remember a sadistic clown torturing teenagers with the Spice Girls before chopping them all to bits.”

“The auditory torture I remember, but the mutilation isnʼt ringing any bells.”

“It was coming. Promise.”

Jase curled up into the fetal position and threw a pillow over his eyes. When I thought he had fallen asleep, or possibly slipped into a coma, I turned my attention back to my calculus book. I was still staring blankly at the page, attempting to remember the last step that made sense, when Jase asked, “Whereʼs Charlie?”

“I donʼt know.” My best guess had him burning a picture of me in effigy.

Jase threw off the pillow, sat up, and winced at the light in the room. “What do you mean you donʼt know? What happened?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

I wondered if Charlie would tell him. Last year, when Charlie found out Crystal Hobbs had been cheating on him with an enlisted guy, Jase pulled him through that first tough weekend with nonstop gaming and multiple assurances that he was better off without that skanky bitch.

What would he do now that I was the skanky bitch?

I felt as wretched as Jase looked. My guilt and broken heart almost convinced me to cancel my plans for the evening. I wasnʼt a hundred percent certain I would go through with it until Talley pulled into the driveway.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” she asked, turning down the painfully cheerful song she had been jamming to. I had my head pressed to the passenger side window, watching the new buds on the trees become a green blur against the blue sky. “He will understand if you back out. No one expects you to do this just to prove how brave you are or how okay you are with all this or whatever it is that youʼre trying to do.”

I peeled myself off the window. “Of course I want to do this. Iʼm excited.” Talleyʼs eyebrows rose skeptically. “Once more, with feeling.”

“Iʼm not scared.” I punched the power button on the radio, unable to endure another second of pop music. “I...” I took in a lung full of air. “Charlie let me know that I had options last night.” The car swerved over the double yellow line, then jerked back into our lane with enough force to slam me against the seatbelt.

“He did
what
?!?” Talley was trying to divide her attention equally between me and the serpentine road. I was too depressed to fear for my life.

“I think I really hurt him, Tal. He just looked so...
broken
.”

“You told him no?”

I nodded as a single tear slipped free.

Talley let the information soak in before replying. “Well, now everyone knows where they stand. Thatʼs good.” She noted my expression and amended that. “Well, itʼs not
good
good.

Right now itʼs kind of sucky, but its for the best in the end.”

“Do you think I made the right choice?” My voice was pathetically weak and whiny.

I was grateful that Talley took the time to think about it instead of just blurting out a confirmation to placate me. “Charlieʼs great, and heʼll always be a big part of your life, but heʼs not Alex. I donʼt think Charlie is the wrong choice, but that Alex is more right. Does that make sense?”

“Perfect sense.” It was pretty much my thoughts, word for word. I would have thought she had pulled it out of my head if she had been touching me.

“And donʼt worry about Charlie. You guys will get through this. You care way too much about each other to let something like this screw up a lifetime of friendship.” I whisked away any spare moisture hanging out on my face. “Youʼre the bestest best friend a girl could ever have. What would I ever do without you?”

“Well, you wouldnʼt be doing this,” she said, turning off the highway onto a one lane back road, “which might not be a bad thing.”

After less than half a mile the road turned to gravel, tossing Talleyʼs little car around and planting a seed of doubt in my stomach that had to be rooted out before we reached our destination.

“I have to do this.”

“No, you donʼt. You shouldnʼt. It is the text book definition of a bad idea. There is probably an entire Wikipedia entry on it under the heading of ʻBad Ideasʼ.”

“Why? Why is it a bad idea? I mean, really, what do you think is going to happen?” Talley shot me a look that screamed,
Have you gone insane?
“You do understand that he is going to turn into a wolf, right?”

“Really? A wolf? I thought Alex was a were-fluffy-little-bunny.” Talleyʼs expression indicated that she did not share my appreciation for verbal irony.

“Yes, heʼs going to turn into a wolf,” I sighed, “but heʼs still going to be Alex.”

“Part of him will be Alex. The other part will be a wolf. A wild, predatory animal that acts on instinct instead of logic.”

“One, wolves rarely attack humans. And two, as long as there is a tiny part of Alex in there, he isnʼt going to hurt me and you know it.”

Talleyʼs car slowed to a snailʼs pace as she negotiated a spot of the road that had washed away ages ago. “What about my vision?”

“You donʼt have visions. You canʼt See the future.”

“I know, but--”

“And even if you could, itʼs Liam we would have to worry about, and he can Shift anytime the mood strikes. Going out on the night of a full moon does not up my danger level, but seeing Alex in wolf form might help me figure out how to defend myself in the event that your non-vision vision tries to come true.”

“I just have a really bad feeling about this, Scout. Please, let me take you home.” We were nearing the place where the road dead-ended into the forest. Knowing that I was going to see Alex in a matter of moments steeled my nerves.

“No, I want to do this,” I said confidently. “Plus, you donʼt have time. Youʼre barely going to make it to Tobyʼs house before sundown as it is.”

She conceded defeat by throwing the car into park and pulling me into a rib-crushing hug. I sent an
Itʼs going to be okay
message her way mentally, something I was still getting used to.

“Promise me youʼll be safe.”

“Cross my heart, hope to die.”

“Scout! Donʼt hope that!”

I laughed as I opened the door and gathered up my things, my mood suddenly elevated by the boy walking towards the car. “Have a good night, Tal. Go howl at the moon.” I winked as I slammed the door shut on her wary expression.