Allegiant (34 page)

“
I had to cut all ties,” he
says. “Teagan should get the hint now that I’ve voluntarily
resigned. She has nothing left to hold over me.”

I tilt my head. “She still won’t let you
go?”

He grins. “Can you blame her?”

I roll my eyes and pull my hand away from
his. “So, where do you think I should start? I have to lie to my
instructors, lie to my parents. I should probably throw a couple of
lies to Shel and Matt…”

“
I say we start with
getting you dressed,” he says. “We can begin our normal lives with
a normal trip to the grocery store. I’m starving.”

I nod and stand. “About that, I’m going to
need to stop somewhere and get some clothes. Everything I brought
is way too warm.” I eye his khaki cargo shorts and shoot him an
annoyed look. “You, on the other hand, are completely
prepared.”

“
Hey, I can’t help it I
saved the day with a prepaid vacation,” he says and swings his feet
back up to lounge on the chair. “But I agree. You do need some
different clothes and pajamas.”

“
What?” I look over my
makeshift pj’s. “You don’t like me wearing your shirt?”

“
Just the opposite,” he
says and slides his sunglasses on. “I like it too much.”

In the bathroom, I stare at myself as I try
to contain my unruly hair. The humidity is making it curl, which is
unusual for me; I’ve never been in such a warm climate before to
know it would do this. I mean, occasionally I’d get a curl here or
there in the summer at home, but this is full on waves. I sigh as I
pull it back into a ponytail for the third time, trying to convince
myself that no one cares how I look but me.

When I leave the bedroom, I find Dane
leaning impatiently against the couch with his arms crossed. He
gives me a once over. “Where’d you get the shorts?”

I hold up my hand to reveal the scissors I
found in the kitchen. “Old pair of jeans,” I explain and walk
around the breakfast bar to put the scissors back. “I thought you
were relaxing outside.”

“
I was until I realized you
were taking forever and my stomach started to eat itself. Are you
ready?”

“
Yeah.” I pick my purse up
off the counter and grab a pear out of the
Congratulations!
fruit basket. “Let’s
go.”

Dane tells me he’s taking us to Charlotte
Amalie, where there are plenty of places to shop. I roll the window
down and nibble on my pear as he drives. The fruit is kind of mushy
and unappetizing, making me want something more substantial. “Can
we stop for lunch?” I ask.

“
That will be the first
thing we do,” he says and pats his stomach.

The farther we drive, I realize that he
knows exactly where he’s going without any help. “When were you
here last?”

“
About three years
ago.”

“
On vacation?”

He nods. “We took a cruise from Miami and
docked here for two days. We were supposed to see the whole
Caribbean, but we liked St. Thomas so much we ended up staying,” he
says. “We caught the next ship that came into port a week
later.”

“
We?” I raise my
eyebrows.

He glances at me out of the corner of his
eye. “Teagan and me.”

Of course he would be vacationing with his
ex-fiancée. My face automatically wants to express how I feel about
her, but I manage to remain impassive. “Sounds like you had a good
time.” I take another bite of my mushy pear.

He ignores me and concentrates on the
road.

When we pull into the city it’s busy with
tourists, but Dane has no problem finding a parking spot for the
roller skate. As we walk along the street, I can see that the town
backs up to the coast, where sailboats dot the water and two large
cruise ships sit in port. We pass several small shops and boutiques
housed in historic looking buildings until Dane turns down an
alleyway. I follow him until we end up at a restaurant called
Gladys’ Café, where he holds the door for me. Inside, I find a cozy
place with a mahogany bar and native stone walls. Appetizing smells
waft through the room, and Sinatra plays in the background.

“
The food here is amazing,”
he says as we’re led to a small table near the front window. “You
should try something local.”

I pick up the menu and eventually settle on
the crab and avocado salad; I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try
the curried goat. Dane chooses a Grouper sandwich then we sit and
wait. I sip my water as my stomach growls. I can’t remember the
last time I had an actual meal.

“
So, where do you want to
start?” Dane asks.

I set my glass down. “With what?”

“
Shopping. We can hit some
of the stores here and then head outside of town to Kmart
–”

“
St. Thomas has a Kmart?”
That sounds so odd to me.

He nods. “We can get groceries there or this
other place like Costco. I forget the name.”

I think about all the cute shops that we
passed. Normally I’m not a fan of shopping, but I’d like to see
what they have. “Let’s start here,” I say, “and support the local
economy.”

He smiles.

Mentioning money reminds me. How much do I
have to spend? My checking account had around $200 in it when I
left yesterday. I need to transfer some cash. I pull out my
phone.

“
Who are you
calling?”

“
My bank,” I say and dial
the automated line. “I’m going to need some money.”

He frowns. “Don’t worry about it.”

I give him a condescending stare as I listen
to the robotic voice. “Thank you for calling State Bank. Enter your
account number.” I press the buttons. “Thank you. Press one for
balance information. Press two…” I press one. “Please wait.” I tap
my fingers on the table. I have $5,000 in my savings. I should
probably transfer at least a thousand to get me through today and
the next few weeks of groceries and gas… The bank voice interrupts
my thoughts. “Your current balance is $30,198.52. Thank you for
calling State Bank. If you would like to repeat this information,
press three. If you would like to transfer…” I slowly press three.
“Your current balance is $30,198.52. Thank you for calling State
Bank. If you…”

I stare at the phone like it’s foreign.
Garrett said Lucas wanted to give me some money. But thirty grand?
That’s insane! I can’t believe there is that much money in my
account.

“
What’s wrong?” Dane asks.
“I said not to worry about it. If you need –”

“
No.” I shake my head and
end the call. “I have enough money.”

“
You look
confused.”

“
I am,” I say and slide my
phone back into my purse. I grab my water glass again. “Lunch is on
me.”

Lunch turns out to be the best salad I think
I’ve ever eaten. Dane knows better than to harass me about paying
after the incident at Mario’s last summer, and when we finish our
food and leave Gladys’, we have happy stomachs and much more
energy. We head back out in the throng of tourists, and I find a
small boutique that looks interesting. “Let’s stop here.”

Inside we find racks of sundresses and
swimsuits, t-shirts, hats and bags, scarves, and sunglasses. I
immediately head to the swimsuits. I didn’t bring one and there is
no way I’m not getting in that pool.

I thumb through the rack as Dane heads to
the opposite side. Everything looks so tiny. I wander down the
aisle, looking for something with more material.

“
You should get this.” Dane
smiles as he holds up what I think is a bikini. All I know is that
it’s red and has three triangles.

“
Definitely not,” I say
sarcastically. I continue to look through the suits until I stumble
upon the men’s wear. I laugh as I pluck a fluorescent yellow Speedo
off the rack and hold it up. “I’ll buy that if you get
this.”

He makes a disgusted face. “No man looks
good in a Speedo.”

Actually, I agree, but this could be fun. He
wants me to wear skimpy clothes? “Oh, I don’t know,” I say and look
at the suit. “Some men might.” I pretend to think. “Channing Tatum,
for example. He would probably look good in this.”

“
Ugh! Not you too.” He
gives me a dry look. “What is it with that guy? Is every woman in
love with him?”

I shrug. “Possibly.”

“
Why?”

I shoot him a look like it should be obvious
and tick the reasons off on my free hand. “Let’s see. His face, his
abs, his laugh, his acting, he can dance – that’s a big one –”

“
Okay, okay, enough,” he
stops me. “You’re running out of fingers.”

I laugh and put the Speedo back. As I
continue to peruse the suits, Dane asks, “Women really like guys
who can dance?”

I stare at him over the rack, completely
serious. “Absolutely. Dancing is hot.”

Eventually, I do find a suit, a navy blue
two-piece with a top that ties around the neck and stops just below
my rib cage. I also buy some flip flops and sunglasses before
heading to the next store. It quickly becomes apparent that these
small shops hold primarily touristy-type items, and I’m not going
to find anything utilitarian, like pajamas. I manage to find two
sundresses that are cute, and then call it quits. We head to the
Kmart for groceries, and, I hope, shorts and pj’s.

Luckily, the Kmart on the
island is huge and has every department, including its own
restaurant. I send Dane for groceries while I head to the clothing
section. I quickly find shorts, collecting several pair, and
t-shirts that don’t say
St. Thomas Virgin
Islands
on them. I also grab two sets of
pajamas, tank tops with sleep shorts. As I pass the lingerie
department, my mind actually considers purchasing new underwear. My
conscience immediately chastises itself, and I continue walking.
There is no reason that I need new underwear. Absolutely
none.

I run into Dane as I head to the market
section of the store, and I’m pleased to find that he has a cart
full of actual food, not just Twinkies and Kraft Mac and Cheese. I
see eggs, bacon, vegetables, milk, orange juice, lunch meat, bread,
cereal, chicken, pork chops, and even steak. I silently hope he
knows how to cook that because I don’t.

By the time we arrive back at the rental
house and get everything unloaded, it’s nearly eight o’clock. I put
off the unavoidable task of lying to my friends and family by
meticulously cutting off the tags of my purchases and trying things
on. Everything fits, but really, I knew that. Eventually I shower,
change into my new pajamas, and pick up my laptop and phone. I grab
some grapes to snack on and head outside for two reasons: One is to
enjoy the last rays of the day’s sun, and the other is to complete
the inevitable task of contacting home, alone.

Dane looks away from the TV as I open the
sliding door. “What are you doing?”

“
Heading out to lie to my
instructors and my family,” I say and nod toward my laptop. “Wish
me luck.”

I make my way to one of the lounge chairs by
the pool and sit down. I turn on my computer, set it in front of
me, and cross my legs to wait while it loads. Once it’s ready, I
open my email and read through what’s there, saving what’s
important and deleting the rest. I sigh when I’m finished and
begrudgingly compose new messages, one to each of my instructors. I
blatantly lie, telling them an unexpected family emergency occurred
which has called me out of town for the rest of the semester. I ask
for their permission to submit my remaining assignments online and
attach those that I have already completed as proof of my good
intentions. I finish by asking them to send me any remaining exams
via email, with the full understanding that they do not have to go
out of their way for me. If I can’t take the tests, hopefully my
homework and existing grades will allow me to at least pass each
class.

Once the emails have been sent, I turn the
computer off and pick up the phone. The family emergency excuse
won’t work with Shel and my parents. I stare at my cell as my mind
spins. What can I tell them? What would suddenly pull me out of
town, especially through the holidays? My mom is going to flip out
when she learns I won’t be home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I lie back in the chaise and hold my phone
to my chest. Think, think, think. Where else could I be? What might
they believe?

A thought jumps into my brain. I dial Shel’s
number first.

The phone rings and rings. No answer. It’s
Saturday night; she’s probably out with Matt. When I get her voice
mail, I try out my excuse for the first time and attempt to sound
excited, not fake. “Shel, it’s Em. Guess what? Western chose me for
a study abroad trip! I’m leaving tomorrow for…” I hesitate. Where
in the heck am I going? I pick the first place that pops into my
head. “Ireland! I’ll be in Ireland for the rest of the semester,
maybe longer.” I decide to create more lies. “They told us cell
reception is spotty over there, but call me when you get this. My
email works, though, so you can email me too. Actually, email is
probably better.” I pause to think. “I’ll give you the details when
we talk. I have to get off the phone and start packing. This
happened so fast! Take care of Matt and let him know too, please.
I’ll miss you guys and I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.”

I hang up and breathe. I don’t know how good
of a job I just did. I hate lying. I’m awful at it. Lying to my
parents is going to be worse. I let my pounding heart calm a little
before I dial home. Maybe my parents are out too, and I’ll get the
answering machine.

No such luck.