The Understorey, Book One of The Leaving Series (7 page)

“Be right back Chuck,” I say, and toss my
book onto the counter.

I chase after him but I’m too late. He’s
gone.
Probably a good thing
, I remind myself.
I need to
get over this obsession. He may be the sweetest boy I’ve ever met
but that doesn’t mean he’s not going to break my heart.
I
return to the store and make my purchases.

    Saturday proves to be harder to sit through than
I thought. The books are just not doing it for me, not distracting
me the way I wanted them to. I sit up, resign myself to doing
something outside. I promise myself that I am not getting out to
search for Elliott today but even I know that’s a lie. I push my
books from my lap and onto the bed and head to my dad's
study.
    “Pop? Want to walk into town with me?”
    “I would schnitzel but I’m swamped.” Schnitzel
is a nickname he gave me at two.
    “No prob Bob. I’m gonna’ go to Sadie’s shop
then. Take a look around. See if there’s anything good on the
shelves today.”
    “You know your mother hates it when you shop at
the thrift store.”
    “Yeah, but it’s the only place I can find
pre-loved jeans the way I like them loved.”
    “Alright, have fun.” I've been dismissed.
    I walk to Sadie’s and open her door.
    “Sadie?”
    Sadie is in her early thirties, never been
married, though I can't see why. I think I remember something about
her being in love with a boy from town and when he left town for
college he promised to return for her but never did. Tragic. I
can't see this in Sadie though. She's too independent and strong in
her self-worth. I bet it was more like she refused to wait and
ended up alone anyway. She never brought it up and I never asked.
Everyone has their secrets.

“Yes, darlin’. I’m back here.”

I head in the direction of her voice and stop
sharply in front of a wicked dark orange velveteen floor length
fitted jacket. I pick it up and toss it over my shoulders in front
of the mirror she has close to the front of the shop. I gasp. It is
the cutest thing ever and it fits me like it was tailored for
me.

“No doubt I’m buying this today.”

Sadie appears from behind a rack. I love
Sadie. She’s a kindred spirit.
    “I was wondering when you were going to pick
that up. Had a little bet going on with myself. You beat my
estimated date by three days.” She laughs. “Had to pry it out of
some young girl’s hands last week, probably one of those Bluefield
girls trying to be you.”

Sadie holds this delusional notion that since
I am quirky the way she was in high school and she was popular
therefore it is safe to assume that I am popular as well.

    “Sure Sadie. Apparently
you haven’t heard, so I’ll enlighten you. The name Julia Jacobs is
synonymous with ‘Bluefield Pariah’.”
    “Nonsense.”
    “Sadie, Sadie, Sadie. It’s true.”
    “Hmmm,” she says.
I change the subject.
    “Do you know the Gray family Sadie?”
Awesome subject change Julia. You numb skull.
   
“Mark and Shelby? Wasn’t their boy
Elliott your best friend growing up?”
That hit too close to home. My heart begins to ache.
    “Yeah.”
    “Well? What about them?”
    “Oh, nothing, just curious to know if you knew
them or not.”
    “Ohhh, I see. You’re smitten with Elliott
Gray.”
    “I am not! Why does everyone keep saying
that?”
    “I can just tell, always had a feeling about you
two kids. This is good Julia.”
    “No, it’s not,” I say.
Did I just admit to being smitten with Elliott Gray? To Sadie?
Out loud?
   
“Yes, it is. Now come over here. I have
some awesome new jeans that just came in.”
I follow Sadie.
    “I saw him yesterday,” I whisper.
    “Who?” She teases.
    “You know who Sadie! Sheesh.”
    “Where?”
    “The grocery store. He did something
extraordinary.”
    “What? Did he use paper instead of
plastic?”
    “Hardy, har, har.” I swallow. “He helped a woman
in need.”
    “I’m not surprised. He was always such a
generous boy.”
    “She was with her baby and he bought them food
and supplies to last them awhile.”
    “That’s incredibly sweet Julia.”
    “I know,” I admit quietly, “and he did it while
keeping her dignity intact. I’ve never seen anything like it.” A
lump forms in my throat.
There he goes, affecting me again.
    I stick around Sadie’s shop for about an hour. I
lounge on the dark purple settee she has in her window, people
watching and chatting with Sadie about nothing in particular.
That’s when I see
him
. I jump up and crouch behind the
settee, my head just above the tufted back. He walks over to the
newly renovated old fashioned train station and sits on the bench
just outside it.
What are you up to now Elliott gray?
    “What are you doing Julia?”
    “Shh, get down.” I grab her sleeve and pull.
“I’m spying on Elliott Gray.”
Sadie crouches down beside me.
    “What’s he doing?” She asks.
    “He’s just sitting there. Wait! Someone’s
coming!”
    “Isn’t that Robyn Larson?”

I accidentally growl through gritted teeth.
Oops
. Sadie laughs. Robyn Larson is an incredibly sweet girl
but she’s rather
popular
with the boys at school. I tried
once our sophomore year to get her to be my friend, thought it
would help her self-esteem a little, get her to realize she was
something worth waiting for but it wasn’t happening. She knew what
she wanted. I tried, at least.

“I don’t like him. I don’t want him,” I say
bluntly.

“Oh yeah, because everyone growls. It’s a
natural part of everyday conversation right?”

I have no witty retort for that.
    “What do you suppose they’re talking about?”
Sadie asks.
    “I don’t know. Why didn’t I bring my spy
equipment with me today?”
    “You left them at home again?” She snaps her
middle finger and thumb, playing along. “Must be setting next to
the four inch incisors that came with that growl.”
    “Funny.”
    “I thought it was.”
    Elliott and Robyn sit for at least half an hour
before going their separate ways. Sadie and I stay camped out on
the floor even after Elliott turns the corner at Thatcher’s.
Apparently, neither of us heard the bell ring earlier because I
look to my left and Sawyer is crouched beside me.
    “What are we looking at?” He asks, with the
largest smile on his face, when I finally take notice of him.
    “Are you destined to interrupt every
embarrassing moment I have?”
    “Looks like it.”
    “Awesome. What? Do you get memos or
something?”
    “Possibly.”
    “Mind forwarding those to me? I’d rather avoid
these little moments if I could.”
    “Where would be the fun in that?”
We all stand up and Sadie tucks herself behind her counter.
    “What are you doing Julia? You have to tell me
now.”
    “I can’t Sawyer. Don’t ask again, please? I just
can’t.”
Sawyer sighs. “Alright.”

Out of nowhere an uncomfortable silence
creeps in and I’m not sure which direction it flew in from because
I could have sworn I blocked all those exits when I was around
Sawyer Tuttle.

    “So? Sawyer?”
    “Julia?” He grins.
    “Do you know Robyn Larson?”
His eyes grow huge.
    “I don’t mean
know
Robyn Larson. I mean
just, like, do you know anything about her?”
    “Uh, well.” He scrubs the back of his neck. “I
don’t mean to gossip but I heard she might be pregnant.”
Sadie’s eyes beat Sawyer’s earlier expression.
    “Oh,” I say. “Do you know who the...who the
daddy is?”
    “Julia!” Sadie says, choking on the water she
was attempting to drink.
    “I’m sorry. That’s an inappropriate
question.”
    “It doesn’t matter. I don’t think you’d know the
father. I heard it’s....well, I heard it’s some boy from
Charleston’s baby.”
    “Oh dear.”
    “Yeah. Sad.”
    “Extremely,” I agree.

Sawyer peers out the colorful glass
windows.
    “Walk home with me?” Sawyer asks, throwing his
shoulder the direction of the door.
    Sunday, at church, my family sits two rows
behind Elliott Gray’s family and I find myself wondering what he
was doing yesterday with Robyn Larson. I really like her, despite
her unfortunate reputation. She’s kind to everyone. I think she
just forgets to show herself the same kindness.

He repeatedly shoots glances over his
shoulder at me. I train my eyes to focus on the light fixture
hanging from the rafter above his head. I wish so badly for him to
ignore me. The body shivers, the heart aches, the chest tingles.
They’re all proving to be too much with his longing looks stacked
on top.

    After the service, most
Sundays, the families meet at Babe’s restaurant in Roanoke. We all
pile into the overstuffed room and talk and laugh. I sit down and
surprisingly Robyn Larson sits directly beside me just as Elliott
Gray walks through the door. His tall form is highlighted from
behind by the sun, casting a glow around his body. His blue eyes
pierce through me and I almost topple over in my chair. Robyn
catches me with a giggle.
    “Hi,” she says.
    “Hi,” I say back.
    “Remember last year when you tried to be my
friend?” She jumps in.
    “Uh,” I laugh, “yeah.”
    “I’m sorry I didn’t give you the chance you
deserved.”

I clear my throat, “It’s cool.”

“It’s not. Yesterday I had a chat with a good
friend of mine and he sort of helped me sort through a lot of
things I’ve been going through lately. I mentioned that you tried
to help me once and he told me you were exactly the kind of girl I
should be friends with and I couldn’t agree more. So, friends?” She
asks, holding out her hand.

    “Friends,” I say and
squeeze her hand.
    “I’m glad because I’m going to need one.”
    “Well, a friend in need is a friend indeed.” I
shake my head. “Sorry, that was lame. I’m out of practice.”
    “No, it kind of wasn’t,” she says through fought
tears.
    “You okay?” I asked and pushed my shoulder into
hers.
    “Yeah. Well, I mean, I will be. I suppose,” she
cleared her throat, “I suppose you may have heard a rumor or two
about me?”
    “What? That you’re extraordinarily kind?” I
tease.
She laughed.
    “Maybe you caught wind of the one that said
something along the lines of ‘Robyn Larson is pregnant’?”
    “I may have heard that from a little
birdie.”
She grinned and brought a tissue to her nose.
    “Well, it was true.”
    “
Was
?”
    “Yeah, well, it’s a long story but the gist of
it is this; I fell in love with a boy who I later found out was
mature enough to have sex but not to have a baby.”
My half smile fell from my face.
    “What happened Robyn?”
    “I was ready to have the baby. It wasn’t the
snotty nosed kid’s fault, ya’ know?” She said through tears.
“Anyway,” she continued, “I planned on giving it up for adoption.
It just felt like what I needed to do, for me, anyway. My choice
was to fix the mess I had made and the only way I could really be
okay with that was by giving it up.”
I’m surprised by this.

“You’re kind of a bad ass you know that?”

“I felt like one.” She smiled. “The friend I
told you about earlier encouraged me to give it up when I was
struggling with what to do, even went with me to the adoption
agency and everything. He helped show me that making the hardest
decision of my life could also be about giving the greatest gift of
my life. I was really happy, truly happy Julia. No regrets.” She
wiped more tears away. “I was about three months along when I
miscarried.”

    “Oh Robyn, I’m so, so
sorry.”
    “I am too. Honestly, it felt so good to think I
could give my child what my mom never could. I’m the way I am
because that’s the way she is, ya’ know?”
I nodded before prodding her shoulder with mine.
    “You still can you know.”
    “What?” She asked.
    “Give your children what your mom couldn’t. Just
wait a little while,” I winked encouragingly.
She laughed and pushed her bangs from her forehead.
    “Trust me. I’ve never been as clearheaded in my
life as I am right now.”
    “Well, clearheaded Robyn, now you have a
somewhat
clearheaded friend to take the journey with
you.”

We both grin at our feet but when I look up,
I see Robyn’s
friend
smiling at the two of us. His blue eyes
freeze with mine and my breath catches in my throat.

    “So,” Robyn says, peering
in Elliott’s direction, “Elliott Gray tells me you like to
paint.”
    “He....He told you that?”
Elliott looks away like he knew we were talking about him. I glance
back at Robyn.
    “Yeah, says you’re really talented.”
    “He said that?”
    “Yeah, he’s the one who asked me to paint your
locker for you.”
    “What! Robyn, that was you?" I friend-hit her.
"You are amazing. Do you know that?”
    “Not as amazing as you from what he says,” she
jokes. “He rambled on and on while I did it. ‘Did you know Julia
has painted since she was seven?’ or ‘Did you know that Julia has
her own studio?’. I have to admit, by the end of it, I was ready to
pull out my hair as well as his.”
We both laughed.
    “Elliott got you to paint my locker
for
me
?”
    “Seriously,” she clears her throat. “And he’d
kill me for telling you this but do you want to know why?”
    “Why?” I ask hesitantly.
    “Because Taylor Williams is an obnoxious brat
and wrote some pretty nasty stuff on the front of your locker after
school on Monday. Elliott caught her doing it.”
    “No.” I gasped, covering my mouth with my
hand.
    “He dragged her snooty butt to the Principal's
office. The Principal wanted Taylor to clean it up but Elliott
asked for permission to cover it instead and since they pretty much
do whatever their star quarterback wants, she let him. He really
capitalized on that too.” She laughed. “That’s where I came in. We
were up there pretty early Tuesday morning just to get it done by
the time you came in. He wanted to make sure you didn’t know about
it.”
I swallow the sob building in my throat.
    “He did that? For me?”
    “He did. Listen, he’s told me that he’s
desperate to talk to you but that you won’t even look at him. I’m
not sure what’s going on but will you do me a favor, now that we’re
friends and all?”
    “What’s that?” I laughed.
    “Just hear what he has to say.”
My grin fell before turning my gaze to Elliott.
And with that, Robyn got up to leave. She waved and I smiled back,
unsure of what to think or even what to feel.
One thing was for sure, Elliott Gray was not who I thought he
was.
Which was all the more reason to fear him.