* * *
Chapter Twenty-one
* * *
Wednesday dawned, and although I knew that I was still totally unprepared for it, as soon as the first bleary rays from the sun hit my window, I jumped up from the bed to begin my day in earnest. Picking out my clothes, along with my shower, passed by in a blur it seemed. And by the time breakfast was ready, I had worked myself into such a state of anxiousness that I had to force my meal down, where it rolled in a frenzy with the butterflies in my stomach. I was so nervous for the day to end and the night to simply begin, that I became restless afterwards, and prowled up and down the halls of the manor, snapping at Mrs. Trentley when she popped up every ten minutes to check that I hadn’t fainted.
“Honestly,” I said, as she followed me into the living room. “I’m alright. I knew I shouldn’t have told you what Ethan and I talked about yesterday.”
“But that’s just such an awful lot of news to take in – that your father may actually be alive…” Mrs. Trentley insisted, trying to force a bagel and bottled water into my hands. “You need your strength for that. Naomi, for god’s sake, you look like you’ll collapse any minute!”
“No, what I need is for you to stop worrying,” I replied, dodging the water and bread. “Everything is gonna be fine – including me.”
Promises – they seemed to be flying left and right from my lips these days. But only time would tell whether I could actually keep up with them or not.
* * *
“Damn, I so wish I could go too,” Addy said, with longing, hours later as we spoke on the telephone. I was sitting carefully on the edge of my bed, sifting through the pages of a fashion magazine, and trying to convince myself that tonight, all would go smoothly. “I heard that Johl Romaine throws the craziest parties in the Supernatural underground. They’re all supposed to be very ‘chic’ and ‘old world’. But anyway,” Addy said with a sigh, and I realized that my friend was having troubles of her own. “I have dinner this evening with Collin’s parents. But I’m, like, freaking-out-nervous. Suddenly it just seems like things with Collin are moving so fast – do you think this is too fast?”
“What I think, is that you are entirely in control, Ad. And I also think that you shouldn’t let your perception of an acceptable dating timeline jeopardize what you have with Collin. Aren’t you two happy?”
“Yes,” she said, purely, and without hesitation.
“Well then, if you’re happy, why in the world should that have to change? If you ask me, this is a classic example of the whole fight-or-flight routine. Somehow, when you weren’t paying attention, you let Collin get close. And now, you’re a little freaked out so you’re thinking of running instead of fighting for what you really want…”
In a sudden “ah-ha!” moment, I realized with clarity that there had been a little bit of my own truth in that piece of knowledge that I shared with Addy. But for some reason, I just wasn’t able to seek out my advice.
“But Addy, do you remember what was it that you told me at that party? You said, ‘if you don’t do it know’–”
“Then he might leave you always wondering.” she finished, pleased that I remembered. “You know what? You are so right. Whether Collin and I are moving too fast or not, right now, I’m happy and he is too. And besides, isn’t meeting the parents, like, the unofficial way of saying ‘we’re official’?”
“Guess you’ll find out tonight,” I said, with a light-hearted chuckle. “But you’re still going to Claudia’s after dinner, right? Because I really want her and Tidus to meet you. I don’t wanna feel the need to shelter you guys from each other anymore.”
“I’ll be there, cross my heart.” Addy replied dutifully. “That’s what best friends are for, right?”
“Right,” I said, feeling warm and grateful for the fact that I had at least one person in Harbor that I could be one hundred percent honest with. “But unfortunately, you’ll never know exactly how much I love you for that because you’d just end up letting it go to your head.”
“You know it, behtch.” Addy replied in her usual cheerful scorn. “See you tonight though, after dinner. And I’ll be sure to send Collin your disregards…”
“Ha-ha, very funny. Tell him I said hello.”
We hung up and just as I was setting the phone down, I heard the deep, distant tone of the doorbell’s ringing. I got up from the bed and made my way from the room, closing the door behind me before heading down the stairs. But Mrs. Trentley was quicker. She was already in the foyer and opening the front door before I was even half-way down the staircase.
“Can I help you?” I could hear her saying.
“Um, hi, I’m here to pick up Naomi?” A timid, sweet voice was saying. And even though I couldn’t see him yet from this angle, I knew exactly who he was.
“Thanks, Mrs. T,” I said, taking her position at the door as she walked away, and looking into the eyes of my date. “Hi.”
Ethan gave me a tentative smile, looking cute for all his shyness.
“Aww, you brought me another corsage,” I said, touched, as I held out my hand. This one was large, pink, and round, and smelling like fresh earth.
“It’s just a carnation,” Ethan said, but smiled as he slipped the flower onto my wrist. “It means something about expressing gratitude. Anyway, I know it doesn’t exactly match your dress very well, but I really don’t think anyone will notice…”
I could understand why Ethan was so dazzled by the dress. After all, that’s why I’d brought it home from the store in the first place. It was in my usual black (the exact color Johl Romaine had requested), and made of a shiny, soft material that sparkled dimly. Complimenting my curves with its tightness, it was also long sleeved, and cut off at the shoulders to reveal just enough skin to remain classy. And with the hem lying several inches above the knees, it also happened to show off just enough leg to give the impression that I was taller than I appeared. Well that, coupled with the four inch heels from Jimi Choo to lend a hand.
Meanwhile, Ethan was impeccably dashing in dark jeans and clean, black Vans. He had on a dark t-shirt beneath a black, buttoned cardigan that was grey at the sleeves. Fresh from the shower, and smelling like the mountains, he raked his hands through hair that was perfectly tousled.
“The corsage is beautiful, Ethan, thank you. But I have to ask: what in the world could you possibly have to thank me for? Because I admit, in the back of my mind, I wasn’t even sure if you would still show up tonight. You were so mad at me the last time we saw each other that I just assumed…”
“That I would make you show up at Ripley Hall, alone, tonight?” he said quietly. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Besides, I dropped by the bar a few hours ago to try and drown a few sorrows, and Lucas ends up starting a conversation about me possibly joining the Leadership. He said that he talked to Addy’s father, and they were agreed on approaching the Elder about having me voted in.” By now, Ethan had a grin that stretched from ear to ear. “And who could I possibly have to thank for that, Naomi?”
“It was nothing,” I insisted. “Really…”
“Are you kidding?” he said, taking my hand in his. “My dad got fired from his day job because he can’t leave our house, so he’s been too depressed to leave his room. Eric won’t talk to anyone, and Kimber’s already throwing around the ‘d’ word. But if I can get a real position on the Leadership, I can support my family. And that’s all because of you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said, giving a modest smile. “But it was the least I could do to help out you and your family.”
“Yeah, you say that, Naomi but I still don’t get it. Why would you help me? After every stupid, selfish thing I’ve done to you since you’ve gotten to this town, why would you do that for me?”
“Because…” And there was no easy way to say this, other than just coming out with it. “No matter what happens, we’ve already proven to each other that we make pretty good friends.” I said quietly, looking him directly in the eye. “And I don’t ever wanna lose that… or you. Ethan, you and Addy mean so much to me. You two are my family, and I don’t wanna do anything that could jeopardize that.”
“Ouch,” he said, with a wince and a bitter smile. “And that would be the friend-zone conversation. I gotta admit, I didn’t think I’d ever be on the receiving end of one of those.”
The pause was unbearable, but I let myself suffer through it because I knew that I deserved it. I had broken his heart and his family all in one day. So I knew that this pain I felt, was more than justified.
“Hey, you know what?” I said eagerly. “If you really want something to thank me for, then maybe you should start with this…” I said, reaching inside my clutch.
“My phone!” Ethan said in amazement, accepting the gift with relief. “Dude, I’ve been looking everywhere for it. I thought for sure I was gonna have to order a new one. Where’d you find it?”
“Oh, it was somewhere in my car,” I said vaguely, with a guilty smile that Ethan mistook for pride.
“See,” he said, grinning. “Now I really do have to find a way to thank you…”
“Well, if you insist.” I said, stepping around him and through the front door to bask in the night air. “I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
“Seriously? In that dress? I can think of several…”
I turned to flash Ethan a look, but his wolfish lip-biting broke down my resolve too quickly. Instead I just accepted the compliment, shaking my head as he closed the front door behind us.
“You’re not gonna make this decision easy for me, are you?” I said, no needing to clarify because we both knew full well that he understood what I meant.
“Nope,” he said. “Not a chance.”
His limo was waiting for us at the curb, just past the gate. He caught up with me, and took my hand, leading me across the lawn like a gentleman, and even interceding the driver in opening my door for me. And I had just enough time to catch the roguish look of approval that the driver shot Ethan before I slid, lady-like, into the backseat.
“Hey brother, I know you wish that was your future wife, huh?” I heard Ethan whisper as the driver gave him a good-natured slap on the back shoulder.
* * *
Pulling up to a castle while in the backseat of a limo is the stuff of fairytales. It’s actually make-believe that only little girls dream up, and not something most people expect to occur in real life. Well, certainly not me, anyway. Not the girl who’d grown up in trailer parks and crowded duplexes. But even so: there was the castle, and there I was, feeling tiny in its shadow.
Ripley Hall was an impressive, but lonely-looking place to observe – a castle that sat on the edge of a fairly plain property, save several, barren, fruit trees. It was a massive structure of cold, grey stone and dark, imposing turrets and pointed towers. And its windows were all dark, and empty, fittingly showing no signs of life within.
As Ethan and I approached the heavy door, I laid a hand on a single flagstone of the castle’s wall, running my hands across the soft green moss that webbed its way along most of the castle.
“Are you ready?” Ethan asked, with a hand hovering above the buzzer, as if half hoping I would change my mind and run away.
“Yeah, I’m ready,” was my reply, but before Ethan could make another move, the large door had swung open, and a tall, thin man in butler’s clothes was there to greet us.
“Welcome to Ripley Hall,” he said, in a formal, lifeless tone as he bowed to us in greeting.
Ethan stepped inside the castle, following the man from the darkly lit foyer we had entered and into a long, shadowy hallway. I didn’t have enough time to admire the expensive, stiff furnishings, or the lack of photographs along the walls, because I was too busy thinking of how drafty it was within the castle. The only things missing were the baying hounds and howling wind.
“Would you kindly follow me, please?”
And without waiting for our reply, he turned on his heel.
The next room we entered caught me off guard, startling me enough to reach out and grip Ethan’s arm very tightly.
“Oh. My. God.” I breathed. “Ethan, I’ve never seen anything like this…”
It was a wide, open space the three of us were standing in, covered in flowers, vines and trees. The floor was dirt, and littered with small plants, bushes and flowers, but you couldn’t see the walls because they were so covered in foliage. It was like a jungle that was compacted to fit perfectly in one room. And in center of it all was occupied a splendid stone fountain of at least a story high. I gazed up at the massive stone construction, shaped like a thin whistle, with water that spewed down in a wide radius from the top. And surrounding the entire fountain was a thick, concrete slab that stood to about chest height. It was filled with water, and floating on its surface was an array of lily pads and other, exotic-looking flowers in many shades of neon colors.
“Wow, it looks so deep down there,” I said with awe, pausing to lean against the concrete to peer into the depths of the water below. It was impossible to tell just how deep the bottom went, since the water was so still and dark.
I continued to stare for a few more seconds, but immediately jumped back when something erupted from the water’s surface in a loud splash. A face – a green face – was suddenly looking back at me from the water. And the owner of