Last Train Home (4 page)

“Thanks, but to be honest, I read this last year,” I said
, closing the book and setting it on my desk.

“Maybe you could do both of our homework then,” he said and we both laughed. “I’m Alex.”

“Riley.”

“You’re from Boston, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Everyone knows.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“It’s kind of a small school,
in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Yeah…I definitely noticed.  I think this whole place would fit in the gym of my school back home.”

“It’s not as bad as you think.  It can be alright.”

“We’ll see,” I said, but knew
deep down this town sucked and was nothing but a hole.  I’d be back in Boston soon enough.

“The bell’s about to ring, so I
gotta get back to my seat, but wait for me after class?”

“Yeah…maybe,” I told him a
nd he moved back to his seat.  I faced the front of the room again and watched as everyone walked inside.  Blonde, blonde, another blonde and then I saw a familiar head of dark hair.

“Hey, Boston!
  We meet again,” Jesse said as he walked over and sat down in the seat diagonal from me. “Who knew you’d be fortunate enough to have two classes with me?”

“I know!  I get to start
and
end
my day with you.  How’d I ever get so lucky?” I exclaimed playfully.

Jesse just smiled and began digging through his backpack and pulled out his notebook. The bell rang and Mrs. Davenport stood up and I readied myself for my sixth and final introduction of the day.

Class went by quickly as we worked in groups to discuss the chapters that everyone, besides me, had read the night before.  I’d hoped I’d at least get to work with Jesse or Alex, but unfortunately I got stuck with Karen, who turned out to be an overly talkative know-it-all, who completely dominated the conversation, and two boys whose names I didn’t even catch because they were so quiet and could obviously care less about
The Scarlet Letter
. 

The bell finally rang and I packed up my stuff and looked back at A
lex.  He was gathering his things too and I decided I would wait for him like he asked.  I leaned up against the old maroon lockers, trying to avoid the crowds in the hallway as I waited.  I was looking down at my fingernails, staring at the flaking red paint and deciding I needed a manicure ASAP, when he walked out.  I looked up and he smiled. He seemed cool and maybe we could have fun together.  He was cute anyway, so that was a plus.

“I thought you’d taken off,” he said as he adjuste
d the backpack on his shoulder.

“I thought about it.”

“Ouch.  That hurts,” he said as we joined the crowd.  I shrugged my shoulders at him and smiled.  I knew he enjoyed my teasing.  I could tell by the way he looked at me, with a half-smile and raised eyebrows. 

“How long
have you been in Carver?”

“Three days.  T
hree…long…days,” I said slowly.

“You make it sound more like a prison than Kansas.  You moved to
Carver, not Leavenworth.”

“Prison…Kansas…yeah, they’re about the same,” I said
, positioning my hands like a scale, moving them up and down.

“You’r
e not even giving it a chance.”

“Have you ever been to Boston?” I said stopping, not caring that I was completely blocking the flow of traffic.  Alex stopped too and stared at me with his br
own eyes and that devilish smile.

“
No, I’ve never been to Boston.”

“Then you can’t understand why I would compare
Carver to a prison.  If you’d ever been to Boston, you’d get it.”

“Well, well.  Aren’t you pretentious,” he said, t
he grin never leaving his face.

“Pretentious?  That’s an awfully big word for a hick from Kansas,” I teased as I started walking again, Alex following. 

“I’m a hick now?  Please help me figure out why I’m even talking to you.”

“I have no idea.  But maybe it’s because you realized how awesome I am the second you met me.”

His smile transformed into all out laughter.

“You’re different
, Riley.”

“I take that as a compliment,” I said
, stopping in front of my locker and doing the combination.

“You should.  I meant it as a compliment.”  He was leaning against the lockers and staring at me.  He was still smiling and I compared him to the boys back in Boston.  There, the boys were trendy.  They wore desi
gner jeans they paid way too much money for and donned sweaters and scarves with wool pea coats in the winter.  I tried to imagine Alex, who stood in a pair of faded jeans and a gray t-shirt, in such a get up and just couldn’t do it.  He looked relaxed and comfortable and I liked it.  His dusty blonde hair hung in his face as his dark brown eyes peeked out at me.  I usually didn’t like longer hair on guys, but there was something about it on Alex that was sexy.  I grinned at him and waited for him to speak.  We were interrupted before he could say anything though when my cousin David sidled up beside us.

“So, you showed up
and
you survived,” David began.

“I did.”

“I looked for you at lunch.”

“What are you doing?  Can’t yo
u see we’re talking?” Alex interrupted and I thought I saw him glaring at my cousin, who rolled his eyes and started laughing.

“Whoa…you’ve got it so wrong
. Riley’s my cousin.”

A look of relief seemed to wash
over Alex and he relaxed again.

“Anyway, just wanted to say hi since I didn’t see you all day.
  Dad mentioned something about stopping by Grandma’s house tonight, so maybe I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

He turned and walked off and then I looked back to Alex.

“
David Smollett’s your cousin?”

“
You know him?”

“Of course.
  Everyone knows everyone here.  But yeah, we’re friends, I guess.  We play baseball together, so I guess that makes us friends.”

“Fascinating,” I said with slight sa
rcasm. “You know him better than me, that’s for sure.”  He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I hardly know the guy.  I haven’t seen him in like eight years.  We’ve only been thrust together again because of my mom and her decision,” I said, shaking my head, still angry at her.

“Sounds
like you’ve got a story to tell, Riley Regas.”

“Maybe,” I said,
shrugging my shoulders as I closed my locker.

“
Maybe you can tell it to me sometime…like tomorrow night.  Let me take you out.”

I wasn’t surprised that he asked me out.  I knew he was going to and I wanted him to, but I couldn’t.  I’d al
ready promised to go to Jesse’s.

“I’ve got plans tomorrow.”

“It’s your first day.  How do you already have plans?” he laughed.

“I’m a pseudo-celebrity around here.  Everyone wants to know me.  I thought you knew that,” I grinned.

“Well, I can see why,” he said as his eyes traveled the length of my body and I felt my cheeks blush. “But, I should’ve assumed you wouldn’t be free on a Friday night.  What about Saturday?”

“You
’re nothing if not persistent.”

“What do you say then
?” he continued.

I scratched my head and pretended I was contemplating, even though I already knew the answer.  He didn’t need to know that though.

“How ‘bout I call you on Saturday if I’m free.”

“Are you serious?” he laughed, run
ning his hand through his hair.

“Yes
, I’m serious,” I said, closing my locker and smiling flirtatiously at him.

“Alright then,” he grinned. “See you tomorrow
, Riley.”

He smiled and I watched as he walked away.

Chapter Three

When I walked in the house after school my mom was on the phone.  I didn’t know who she was talking to and I didn’t care.  I ignored her and walked up to the room I was staying in.  I refused to call it my room, because it wasn’t mine.  My room was back in our Boston townhouse.  It was painted dusty purple and I had a queen sized bed with an amazing bedspread I’d found at IKEA.  They probably didn’t even know what IKEA was here.  My old room was perfect.  This room was a tomb. 

I dropped my backpack on the ground and pulled out my cell phone as I flopped onto the bed.  I hated the old quilt and the room smelled like mothballs.  I desperately needed to get a candle or incents or something. 

Natasha hadn’t texted me back, but Courtney had.  As usual, she was whining.  This time it was about some supposed cellulite she’d found on her thighs.  I wondered how long it would take for her to develop an eating disorder, if she didn’t already have one. 

I was texting her back, telling her not to worry and that she was beautiful when I heard a knock on my door.  I knew who it was
, and I ignored it.  I heard the knock again, and again I ignored it. Finally, the door opened and my mom stood in the doorway.

“How was your first day?” she asked trying to engage me the way she had when I still liked her in Boston.

“Fine.”

“Ho
w were your classes?”

“Fine,” I said as my fingers continued to maneuver on the phone as I texted Courtney.

“Do you have any homework?”

“Yeah.”

“I was thinking we could all go out to dinner tomorrow,” she said, finally stepping inside the room and sitting down on the foot of the bed.

“Can’t.
  I’ve got plans,” I said, my eyes still staring at the phone.

“Yeah?
  What are you doing?”

“Just going over to someone’s house.”

“Whose house?”

“Jesse’s house.”

“Who’s Jesse?”

I’d
just about had it with all the questions.  She knew I didn’t want to talk her and she wouldn’t let up.

“C’mon,
Mom.  Are we really gonna do this?” I finally asked as I slammed the phone down on the bed and sat up.

“Do what?  What are we doing?’

“You know exactly what we’re doing.”

“No, I don’t,
Riley.  Would you fill me in, please?”

“
This,
Mom.  You and me…talking.  You asking me questions.”

“I
always ask you about your day.”

“It’s different now and you k
now it.  I don’t want to be here.  I want to go home.  I want to be with my friends, not stuck in this crappy town.  You can’t expect me to just be okay and go on like everything’s okay, that we’re okay, because we’re not.”

“I know this isn’t easy for you, but you don’t need to act this way.  You could at least try and be civil.”

“Why?  So you can feel better about ripping me away from everything in my life so you can be happy?”

“That’s not fair
, Riley.”

“No
, Mom.  What’s not fair is having to leave everything behind.  My house, my friends, my life. 
That’s
not fair.”

“Riley, please.”

“Do I have to spell it out for you?  I’m mad at you.  I need to be mad at you right now and I can’t pretend like it’s okay.  So please, just let me be mad.”

She stood up and walked to the door.  I could tell by the way she looked at me that I’d hurt her.  I didn’t want to hurt her, but I couldn’t forgive her either. 
She’d been selfish when she decided to move here.  She’d completely disregarded me and now I was ready to disregard her. 

Chapter Four

I knew what to expect my second day, so I wasn’t nearly as nervous.  That still didn’t stop my stomach from doing a flip-flop though when I left the safety of my Jetta.  The stares weren’t as heavy, but I could still feel them.  I had put on a pair of dark jeans and a gray tank top with a deep v-neck in an attempt to look more relaxed like my classmates, but without completely forsaking style.  My dark hair hung straight down my back and I pushed it behind my ear as I walked to my locker.  I grabbed my Constitution book and looked around for Holly or any other familiar faces.  When I didn’t see them, I decided to go straight to class. It would be better than hanging around like a loser in the hallway.

I walked into the classroom and Mr. Barry smiled at me.  I laughed to myself at how different the gr
eeting was compared to the day before; ever since he found out I was from Boston.  I smiled back at the old man and sat down at my desk.  I began looking through my text book, trying to find something interesting in it. 

“Good morning, Boston,” a voice said
from next to me.  I looked up and Jesse was smiling at me from the seat beside me.

“
Ya know, I do have a name.”

“You don’t like Boston?”

“No, I love Boston, but it’s not my name,
Carver
or better yet, perhaps I should call you Deliverance?”

“That’s very funny,” he said mockingly. “Someone woke
up on the wrong side of the bed,
Riley
,” he said, emphasizing my name.              

Jesse’s voice faded as my eyes focused on Adrienne walking in.  Her wavy hair was a little less frizzy than yesterday
, and I wondered if she had heeded my suggestion about the deep conditioning.  Her jeans were even tighter than the day before, and she wore a white tank top with a long, gray vest.  I hated to admit, but I actually liked the outfit. 

“Ah, the queen has arrived
,” Jesse whispered over to me.

“Does she ever look like she doesn’t hav
e a stick lodged in her butt?”

“No, never,” he said and we both laughed.

****

I hadn’t seen Holly all day and part of me was afraid she regretted befriending me on my first day.  I hoped she’d be in the cafeteria as I walked to lunch.

“Hey, Riley,” a voice called from behind and I saw David walking towards me. 

“Oh, hi,” I
said, stopping until he was beside me.

“Everything still going okay?”

“Yeah,” I told him a
s we walked into the cafeteria.

“Do you want to sit with me and my friends today?” he asked
, gesturing towards a group of guys across the lunch room, but as my eyes spanned the cafeteria, I noticed Holly waving to me.  Mandy and Laura were already there too.

“Um, thanks, but…I think I’ll sit with Ho
lly again,” I told him, hoping he wasn’t offended.

“Alright, just wanted to check.
  Catch ya later,” David said and headed towards his friends while I walked towards mine.

“Hey,” I
said, sitting down beside Holly.

“How’s it going?” Holly asked as Laura and Mandy smiled to me and then I saw Jesse and Brandon approaching.

“
You
,” Laura said, pointing to Brandon once they were at the table. “
You
are not welcome here anymore.”

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said sarcas
tically looking over each girl.

“You’re so full of crap
, Brandon.  Why don’t you go sit with Adrienne since she’s so much cooler than us?  Go ahead.  Let’s see how well that goes.”

“Give it a rest
, Laura,” he said, taking a seat. She just rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Jesse.

“What time are we coming over?” she asked as s
he took a bite of her sandwich.

“Around seven or so.
  Whenever,” he said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.  “I was gonna throw some burgers on the grill so don’t eat before you come,” and then he stopped and looked at me. “You’re still coming, aren’t you, Boston…I mean, Riley?” He widened his eyes and grinned at me when he said my actual name and I just smirked back.

“Yeah, I was planning on
it.  I need directions though.”

“Why don’t we ride together?  Jesse lives out in the sticks.  You’d probably get lost,” Holly suggested.

“Sure,” I agreed. “Do you want to take your car or mine?”

“I share my car with my little brother, but I do
n’t think he needs it tonight.”

“How about I drive then?”

“You sure?” she asked.

“Yeah.
  It’s not a problem at all.  Just give me your address.”

Holly nodded and then pulled out a pen and a notebook from her backpack and began scribbling on it. 

“What’s going on?” Mandy whispered to us.

“What are you talking about?” Laura said, asking the question
we were all thinking.

“Alex Bettencourt.  Why is he coming over here?” she said and all of our eyes drifted to where hers were focused.  Sure enough, he was walking towards us.  His dusty hair hung in his eyes and he reached up and brushed it out of his face. 

“Hey, Riley Regas,” he said, stopping at the end of the table where I was sitting and looking down at me, but seeming to ignore everyone else.

“Hi Alex.”

“You got a minute?”

“Um, yeah,” I said
, looking around the table.  The girls were looking at me with wide eyes and Jesse and Brandon seemed uneasy.

“I w
as wondering if we could talk.”

“Sure,” I said
, gathering my things and standing up next to him.  I looked at my friends who were still silent. “I’ll be right back,” I told them.

I followed Alex across the cafeteria and we stood facing each other, away from the crowds. 

“You look cute today,” he said.

“Thanks.” I nervously brushed my hair
behind my ear while waiting for him to speak.

“Well,” he began
a moment later and a slow smile spread across his face. “I wanted to talk about Saturday.”

“Saturday?
  I didn’t think we had any set plans for Saturday.”

“
Which is exactly what I want to talk about.  I think we need to set our plans for Saturday.”

“Oh yeah?”
I asked, raising my eyebrows at him flirtatiously. 

“Yeah, I do.”

“And why would that be?” I teased.

“Because
I would like to take you out.”

“I said we could go if I was free.  I
told you I’d give you a call.”

“I know you did,” he said as a playful grin spread across his face. “B
ut, I would like to know ahead of time, if you would be so kind, Miss Regas.” 

I’d been playing a game with Alex, a game I’d obviously won since he clearly couldn’t stop thinking about me.  And since I’d won, I figured I’d let him off the hook.
             

“Fine,” I relented
.

“Fine what?”

“Fine, we can go out Saturday night.”

The grin on his face grew wider and had turned confident.  Perhaps I hadn’t completely won the game.  He seemed like he might be a worthy opponent.

“I knew you couldn’t resist,” he said slyly and I blushed.  I felt myself reach up and tuck my hair behind my ear again, a nervous habit I needed to break.

“You’re pushing your luck, you know that don’t you?” I
said once I’d composed myself.

“Yeah, I know,” he said
, looking up at me. “But, now that you’ve agreed to go out with me, I was thinking we could go to the batting cages.  There’s mini-golf there and stuff too.  Whaddya think?”

“Yeah, sure.
  Sounds good.” I smiled at the simplicity of it and thought it might be refreshing.

“Are you sure?  You don’t think
it’s lame?” he said as his confidence seemed to waver.

“No.  It sounds fun.”

“Cool,” he said and I saw his confidence return full force. “I’ll pick you up at six o’clock if, that’s okay.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Can I get your info?” he said as he pulled out his phone.  I gave him the number and my address and he punched it into his contacts. “Excellent,” he said, looking up at me with that half-smile and we began walking back to our respective lunch tables.  “I’ll see you in English,” Alex said as we parted ways. 

I sat back down next to Holly and I watched
Alex as he returned to his group.  Adrienne was glaring at me and she tossed her hair again and then turned back to her disciples.

“What. 
Was.  That?” Mandy asked slowly.

“What was what?” I asked as I pulle
d out my apple and took a bite.

“What did Alex want?” Laura ask
ed, joining in the inquisition.

“What’s the big deal?
He just wanted to talk to me.”

“You don’t understand.  Alex Bettencourt doesn’t ever leave that table to come talk to the commoners,” Holly said sarcastically. 

“He’s nice,” I said.

“No, he’s not.  He’s one of
them
,” Holly said, motioning towards his lunch table. “How do you even know him?”

“They met in our Eng
lish class,” Jesse answered.

“Yes, we met in English, but I think I can answer for myself
, Jesse.”

“Sorry, Boston,” he said with a grin
.

“What did he want though?  What were you talking
about?” Mandy asked excitedly.

“We’re going out Saturday
night.  We were making plans.”

“
What
?” Mandy gasped. “You’re going out with Alex?”

“Yeah.
  What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal?
  The big deal is he’s incredibly hot,” Mandy continued.

“I’m just going out with
him.  No big deal.”

“I disagree with that.  It’s a
very
big deal,” Holly said. “You just moved here.  You don’t know them.”

“Which is exactly why I shouldn’t have preconceived notions about Alex, or any of
them
,” I said, gesturing over to the table. “Well, maybe about Adrienne, but that’s only because she’s shown me what a witch she is, but everyone else has been fine, so why shouldn’t I go out with Alex?”

“It’s not that Alex isn’t okay, I guess he’s not that bad.  I mean, he’s never really been a jerk to me personally, but,” Laura began and then she hesitated for a second.

“But what?” I asked.

“Well,” Laura
continued, but then stopped again.

“Well what?” I
demanded, and a moment later she finally spoke again.

“If you think Adrienne’s a bitch now, just wait till she sees you with Alex.”

“Why?”

“Adrienne and Alex used to go out.”

“So?  Are they together now?”

“Well…no, but I’m just saying she might get upset or something,” Laura added.

“C’mon, you’re kidding, right?” I said as I laughed. “I don’t care about her.  I’m
certainly not
not
going to go out with Alex because they used to go out.  That’s absurd.”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t go out with him, I’m just telling you that Adrienne might have something to say about it,” Laura said and as I looked around at everyone, they all seemed to agree with her.

“So? Let her say something.  I don’t care,” I said and I discreetly looked over to Adrienne who was staring around the cafeteria as if she were too good to even be in our presence.  She made me laugh.  Her arrogance was comical.

****

Alex wasn’t in English class when I got there, but Jesse was.  I walked past Karen, whose nose was buried so deep in
The Scarlet Letter
, I could hardly see her face. I prayed I didn’t get stuck doing group work today, at least not with her or the mime twins anyway.  Karen looked up as I walked by and I smiled at her, but was grateful she didn’t talk to me.  I feared if I engaged in a conversation with her, she’d never shut up.  I sat down at my desk, resting my backpack against the leg of the chair and pulled out my book.

“I thought you already read
The Scarlet Letter
,” Jesse said, leaning closer to my desk.

“I have,” I said as I
continued skimming through it.

“Then
why are you still reading it?”