Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (3 page)

“Anna! Jay! We’re going out! We won’t be
home until late!” Mom called up the stairs, making me jolt in my
seat. Jason gave me a ‘come on’ look.

“Okay!” I yelled back in what I hoped was a
normal voice. Normal enough for my mother, I guessed, because I
heard the door close and a car crank and drive off a moment
later.

“You want me to make you something to eat?”
Jason offered and I shook my head, “Want to go watch a movie on the
sofa? Video games? Sleep? Hang out in my room?” I quickly applied
what foundation and concealer I could, and all-in-all, covered the
bruise before I got up and looked at him.

“Anything that doesn’t involve being in my
room right now,” I conceded and he faintly laughed and nodded.

I locked my door behind us, he carried the
trash bag down to the trash cans outside and we curled up on the
sofa for a movie.

I knew somewhere in the back of my head that
all of this was wrong: acting like nothing had happened, ignoring
the twinges of pain that still surged from between my legs, not
reporting this straight to the police…. But… I thought if I could
just put it behind me, and get out of this house as soon as
possible… I’d never look back.

I guess I fell asleep, the door closing in
the kitchen had me awake with a start and Jason shushed me
soothingly as I realized I was stretched out across the sofa, my
head on the pillow in his lap.

“It’s just Austin getting home,” Jason
quietly explained, running his fingers through my hair when I’d
fallen back to rest on the pillow and focused on slowing my racing
heart.

“Where are Mom and Mark?” Austin called,
thankfully walking up from behind us because when he said
his
name, I involuntarily flinched.

“They went out a while ago,” Jason answered
as Austin leaned over the back of the sofa and looked slightly
startled to find me lying across it, “Mom said they wouldn’t be
home until late. So what are you going to make us for dinner, big
brother?”

“Anna, are you all right?” Austin queried;
it was rather odd of me to fall asleep on the sofa, I hadn’t done
it in quite some time.

“I’m not feeling so great,” I fibbed; it
wasn’t a lie at all, just not the whole truth. “Bri’s bringing me
some medicine later,” I added when I realized it was the perfect
chance to get out of further scrutiny later on.

“All right… I’m assuming girl stuff then?”
Austin pressed; another perfect opening because I nodded, and
again, wasn’t actually lying to him. “Dad called earlier; he’s
wondering if he should clean up and update our old rooms or not. He
said to make sure you knew he wasn’t pressing for an answer…”

“I’m going,” I interrupted with a shrug, “I
decided earlier. Things aren’t going to be any different at school
since Jason’s going to be moving up to the high school… tack him
onto your friends… it may even be worse… So I’m going.”

Austin stared down at me for a long moment
and I swear his eyes darted to my cheek, but he sighed and
shrugged; that meant I’d done a really good job with the makeup if
Austin didn’t ask about it.

“I’ll call and let him know then; unless
you’d like to call him,” Austin offered and I shook my head.

“You can. I just want to rest…” I mumbled
and resumed staring at the television.

“Jay… Can I talk to you?” Austin pressed and
Jason gently slipped out from under the pillow and followed our
brother back to the kitchen.

I reached over to the table and grabbed the
remote, muting the t.v. and straining to hear them.

“Jason, what are you doing inside on a
Saturday, sitting on the sofa with Anna? Why aren’t you out with
your friends?” Austin interrogated and my nerves set on edge, but
Jason had said he wouldn’t tell….

“She wasn’t feeling well, and I just felt
like hanging out at the house; is that not okay?” Jason countered
and I smiled faintly; he was growing up way too quickly.

“Is that really all? She seems… weird… so do
you,” Austin pressed. I panicked more, Jason could fib all he
wanted, but he was not the best liar.

“Why are you so worried about it? Shouldn’t
you be calling Dad? Making dinner?” Jason retorted simply and my
eyes widened.

“Because I know things that you two don’t,”
Austin stated, “Go on; I’ll make dinner.” He poked his head back
into the living room as Jason crossed it towards the sofa. “Is
there anything in particular you want, Anna?”

“I’m not really hungry,” I called back with
a grimace, I couldn’t even begin to imagine eating anything, my
stomach was still upside down.

“Some soup then…” Austin decided, ducking
back into the kitchen while Jason slipped onto the sofa, lifting
the pillow back into his lap.

“You haven’t eaten all day,” Jason whispered
and I stared up at him.

“I… kind of threw up… and I’m feeling
nauseous…” I murmured and he smiled faintly, running his fingers
through my hair.

“You going to be able to eat anything then?”
he softly asked and my cheeks shaded the faintest pink.

“When did you grow up so much…?” I breathed
and he laughed, “But no… I don’t think I can eat anything… Not
today….”

“Then just relax, and maybe you’ll fall back
asleep,” he suggested, “Austin can’t make you eat if you’re
asleep.”

“But… Brianna really is coming by,” I
realized, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check the time.

“Why, Anna?”

“Medicine… I wasn’t lying… she’s bringing me
medicine,” I evaded, looking over at the t.v. when he was staring
hard into my eyes. His fingers ever so lightly ran across where my
bruise was.

“You did a good job with that… if I didn’t
know…” He trailed off with a sigh, “
Why
can’t I tell
him?”

“I just want to forget it ever happened… he
wouldn’t let it go… you know if he knew…” I whispered just as my
phone beeped with a text message and I pulled it over to read.

Leaving the pharmacy now, be there soon.

“What kind of medicine, Anna?” Jason pressed
as I sent an “
okay
” response.

“Just being careful…” I uttered, staring
blankly at the t.v., “You’re really not supposed to be this grown
up about stuff yet, Jay….”

“What kind of medicine?” he repeated even
quieter.

“I’ll tell you later,” I promised without
looking at him, “That’s twice now… that Austin’s said that….”

“Said what?”

“That he knows stuff that we don’t… it’s
bugging me.”

“I guess he has said that twice…” Jason
realized with a laugh, “He’ll tell us if he thinks he should… or
you could ask him about it.”

“Dad wants to know when we’re going to move
over there,” Austin called from the kitchen.

“As soon as possible,” I told Jason who
sighed.

“How soon will he let us?” Jason yelled
back.

“Next weekend,” Austin answered, leaning
into the room, “Friday; he says. That will give him enough time to
get the house ready.”

Jason was staring down at me and I shrugged
and nodded.

“Sure, but if it gets ready sooner, he
should let us know,” Jason finalized insightfully; too
insightfully, I thought, because Austin was quiet for a long moment
before he ducked back into the kitchen.

“Jay… you’re making him suspicious…” I
mumbled.

“Sorry… I’ll try harder… I just want to get
you out of this house… You know I love you, Anna…” he sighed and I
nodded.

“I know… Trust me, I know you do, Jay,” I
faintly laughed. I pushed myself to sit up on the sofa when the
front doorbell chimed, but Austin was through the living room
headed for the door before I could get up, and my eyes widened with
worry.

“Oh, hi, Brianna,” Austin greeted and
Brianna nearly melted, clinging tightly to the prescription bag in
her hand, “Is that for Anna? I’ll take it to her.”

“That’s okay, I’ve got it,” Brianna replied
with a sweet smile and Austin sighed slightly but let her inside. I
got over to the front hallway and Brianna’s soft smile shifted to
me as I motioned her towards the stairs.

“Be back in a minute,” I added, glancing at
Austin who barely nodded.

“Will you be staying for dinner,
Brianna?”

“Oh, no. But thanks! I’m going out with Nick
tonight,” Brianna reasoned, following me upstairs and into my
bedroom where I closed and locked the door again. “Anna, what
ha….”

“No questions,” I interrupted and she sighed
but nodded and handed me the bag, “How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it… I just wish you’d
tell me why…” she sighed again and shrugged, “But since you won’t,
there are two pills. Take one now, one in twelve hours. Read the
side effects… I’m guessing you don’t want them knowing… so hide it…
twelve hours.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, hugging her
tightly as she smiled slightly and hugged me back.

“I’m not asking… but if you ever,
ever
, want to talk…” she trailed off as I backed away,
barely managing to keep myself from crying again, “Oh, Arianna…
please….”

“No questions,” I repeated again, shaking my
head and downing one of the pills with a gulp of water from the
bottle on my nightstand. “Thanks again for this,” I added, putting
the other pill into the drawer of my nightstand, “I won’t keep you
from Nick.”

“I’m serious, Anna… But, yeah, he’s waiting
outside,” she admitted and I led her back downstairs, being sure to
lock my door behind me, and seeing her out the front door only to
have Jason appear behind me when I turned around.

“Now will you tell me?” he quietly insisted
and I dragged him around to the front office.

“Morning after pills, Jay… I had to be…” I
faltered, shaking my head, “I was just being careful… being as sure
as I can… there’s nothing else… I can do….”

“He,” Jason couldn’t even put it into words,
and his eyes were pure fury. “I’m staying in your room while you
sleep… I don’t trust that he won’t steal Mom’s skeleton key….”

I froze, the idea hadn’t even occurred to me
and a chill ran down my spine at the thought of it.

“I’ll… I’ll stay in your room… if… if you
don’t mind…” I stammered and Jason’s furious eyes softened
slightly.

“I don’t mind at all,” he conceded, “What
are we going to do about your dinner?”

“Let me worry about that,” I insisted and we
headed back into the living room just as Austin was heading towards
the front hall.

“Dinner’s ready,” he announced, his eyes
filled with suspicion, but he didn’t say anything yet, even though
I knew he eventually would.

Dinner was Austin’s specialty: Japanese
food; hibachi-style chicken and beef with stir-fry veggies, fried
rice, soba noodles, and miso soup. I sipped on the miso soup, one
of my favorite soups, but it made me even queasier, so it was all I
finished.

“Arianna,” Austin started, and I felt myself
flinch, “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“I really don’t know what you’re talking
about, Austin,” I flat-out lied; unlike Jason, I’d perfected the
art of lying when I was young, I just didn’t
like
to lie,
especially not to my brothers. I loved my brothers more than life
itself, but telling Austin what had happened was just not an
option.

“I’ll find out eventually, especially since
I suspect Jason knows,” Austin pressed and I just looked at him
with confusion and shrugged.

“I’m having
girl trouble
as you like
to call it. I don’t feel well… my stomach’s upset right now… I
don’t see what the big deal is,” I reasoned, but Austin’s eyes were
furrowed in thought.

“I will find out,” he reiterated and I
really couldn’t figure out why he was questioning me, it was the
perfect cover because it wasn’t entirely a lie.

“I’ll do dishes,” I offered quietly.

“I’ll help,” Jason contributed, but that
only made Austin’s eyes narrow further.

“That’s all right, Jay; I’ll help her. She
is sick after all,” Austin bargained as I started collecting the
dishes over to the sink, pausing long enough to catch the brief
flash of panic on Jason’s face.

“Why don’t you pick out a movie we can
watch, Jason? Or maybe a video game?” I suggested and Jason nodded
and slipped off to the living room.

“Tell me,” Austin quietly demanded, stepping
up behind me and placing his hands on the edge of the sink,
trapping me against it.

And I felt panicked and trapped,
his
face flashing across my mind,
his
grip on my hands that had
made it impossible for me to move. I froze completely, the plate in
my hand clattering into the sink. I didn’t realize I’d stopped
breathing until the room was spinning and I forced myself to lean
over the sink and breathe, but they were gasping breaths and Austin
lifted me into his arms and carried me to the sofa.

“Tell me what happened, right now, Jason,”
Austin ordered, and Jason, standing over at the DVD shelves slowly
turned around.

“Nothing happened,” Jason lied and Austin
screamed in aggravation, storming back into the kitchen to finish
the dishes while Jason rushed to kneel beside the sofa next to my
head.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” I assured, taking deep
breaths then and forcing a faint smile, “I’m fine, Jay… Is it late
enough to go to bed yet?”

“Not really… he’ll ask more questions if you
go to bed now… I was going to put in a movie, you can fall asleep
down here, I’ll take you upstairs later,” Jason offered and I
lifted a single eyebrow at him.

“My little brother is not strong enough to
be carrying me upstairs,” I countered, which only made him laugh
and roll his eyes.

“I bench press 200, Anna. I’m pretty sure I
can carry your little 110 pounds upstairs,” Jason chuckled,
brushing my hair behind my ears, “So, movie and rest?” I nodded and
he pulled a DVD from the shelf and put it in. I barely saw the
credits before I was asleep again, feeling safe with the pillow
back in Jason’s lap and his arm draped over my shoulders.