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Chapter 58

She looked up into his eyes, which were bright in the pale moonlight, the only part of his face that stood out. Normally, they were light blue, the same color as the dress she’d worn that night. The rumpled gown was lying in a heap in the sand now, just as she was, only she was no longer in it. And though his eyes shone down upon her, she could not make out their color through the sheath of darkness that had enveloped them.

He rolled off of her and collapsed next to her in the sand, his chest heaving. She lay panting beside him, just as breathless, just as gratified. For a few minutes, neither of them spoke, but instead listened to the harmony of their ragged breathing, which eventually evened out and slowed.

“This whole night has been amazing,” she said softly, her voice hoarse. “I can’t believe the year’s almost over. You realize we graduate in less than a month?”

“I know,” his low voice joined hers. “I can’t wait. This summer’s gonna be the bomb.”

“Yeah… but that means only three months until everybody leaves. You’ll be at FSU… I’ll be at UT… and our friends will be spread out all across the state. I can’t wait to move out and be on my own, but it’s gonna be so weird, not seeing you and Di and the whole gang everyday.”

“You’ll make new friends. That’s half the point of going away to college.”

“Oh, I know… but...” She sighed, biting her lip, and reached out to touch his arm. “I’m gonna miss you, Jamie.”

“Well, I’m gonna miss you too, Clairie.”

She smiled sadly. “It’s going to be hard, not seeing each other every day. Do you think… I mean, do you think it’ll work?”

He took a moment to answer. “I don’t know... Do you?”

“I think so,” she said slowly. “If we make it work. It’ll take some effort, sure, but we love each other, and that’s the most important thing. If we’re meant to be together, then we will be.” She looked over at him, hoping for a sign of confirmation that he agreed with her and was willing to work through a long-distance relationship. But his face was impossible to read in the dark. “Right?”

“Sure,” was his nonchalant reply. She hated how he did that. One minute he was talkative, and the next, totally silent, except for his one-word responses. There were times when she felt she was always on the same page as him, but sometimes she just didn’t understand the boy. She supposed she should just shut up. Guys didn’t like to talk after sex – wasn’t that the rule?

She settled for quiet cuddling instead, letting a tranquil silence fall over them. Lying there, her body cushioned by the soft sand beneath her and sheltered by his arms, she wished the moment would last forever. She wished this whole night would never end. It was magical and… just perfect, the way senior prom night was meant to be. No worries… no curfew (a rare exception that she was prepared to take full advantage of)… and by now, no people, no one but her and Jamie. There were other couples around, scattered along the beach, she was sure. But she couldn’t see or hear them, so as far as she was concerned, it was just the two of them. Together. Perfect.

After some time, they finally decided to leave their secluded spot and walk back up to the house, where there were sure to still be people partying. She shook the sand out of her dress and put it back on, hoping it didn’t look like a mess. Her mom would be pissed if she ruined that dress, even though it wasn’t like she’d be wearing it again. Jamie did the same with his tux, all except the jacket, and they walked back up to the house, hand in hand.

Hey, this is Nick’s house, she realized as they got closer. Funny, she didn’t recall Nick hosting the after-prom party. But it was his house alright. She was just hitching up her dress to climb the wooden steps that led to the sprawling deck in the back when she heard Jamie shout. She looked up just in time to see a dark figure dart out of the shadowy hideout beneath the stairs. She jumped and let out a shriek and was just about to go off on the person for lurking under the stairs and acting creepy when he turned around. And then – she couldn’t help it – she screamed.

It was the Grim Reaper. Or rather, someone dressed as the Grim Reaper, in one of those stupid Scream costumes. She’d seen them everywhere for the past couple of Halloweens, ever since that stupid movie came out, but they still freaked her out.

“Real mature!” she snapped sarcastically at the masked figure, putting her hands on her hips. “It’s prom, not Halloween. Get a life!”

Annoyed at whoever it was for scaring her and embarrassing her, she stalked over to the guy in the costume and reached up to pull his mask off when she heard Jamie cry out, “Claire, no!” Confused, she glanced over her shoulder at him, and when she turned back, the Scream guy had a knife raised.

“Oh, very fun-“ she started to say, but when she saw the flash of metal in the moonlight, she realized it was no fake knife. Letting out a strangled scream, she turned and practically dove out of the way, just as the knife came down, missing her lower back by inches. “Jamie!” she screamed, running towards him, her dress slowing her down. But before she could get there, he’d leapt off the steps and taken off in the other direction, running away from the guy with the knife and away from her. “Wait!” she screamed frantically, struggling to pull up her skirt so that she could run properly. “Jamie!!!”

The knifeman was gaining on her; she could hear his footsteps and muffled panting behind her. Don’t trip and fall, she begged herself as she struggled through the uneven sand. The girls in the movies always trip and fall at this point, and then the killer gets them.

She let out another shriek of terror as she felt the spray of sand hitting the back of her dress – he was right behind her! She threw herself to the side, hoping to at least dodge him, and cried out when she bumped against something. Or rather, someone. She screamed again and scrambled to get away when the person she’d ran into grabbed her shoulder and whispered into her ear, “I’m here, babe. I got you.”

“Nick!” she cried breathlessly. “Nick, watch out, he’s got a knife!”

“I can handle it,” he said, and she saw that he was dressed in his Pirates of the Caribbean costume. She heard the graze of metal as he withdrew a sword from the long scabbard swinging at his hip and watched as he closed in on the guy in the Scream costume, his sword pointed and ready to strike. The killer raised his knife menacingly and took a step toward Nick.

“God, be careful, Nick,” Claire whimpered behind him, her heart racing in her chest. She felt powerless to do anything but watch nervously as the two advanced on each other, each of their blades aimed directly at the other’s heart. The Grim Reaper struck first, thrusting his knife towards Nick, who quickly blocked it with the blade of his sword and then jabbed back.

Claire watched in awe as the two dueled. The Grim Reaper was quick with his knife, but Nick was even quicker. He moved with the grace of an experienced swordfighter, spry and nimble, even on his fake leg. He had the larger weapon and the better footwork – surely he was going to take this guy down.

But to her horror, the Scream killer suddenly dodged Nick’s sword and, catching him off-guard, plunged his knife into the left side of Nick’s chest.

“NO!!!” she screamed, but Nick had not yet fallen. He stayed on his feet, and with lightning speed, slashed his sword across the masked knifeman’s neck, decapitating him in one clean swoop. The hooded white face fell from its black cloaked body and rolled across the sand. There was no blood, and before Claire could get over her shock enough to take the mask off the severed head, the masked head and the body vanished.

Claire gaped at the spot where the two halves of the Scream costume had lain not five seconds ago and closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them, this whole scene would make more sense.


When she did open them, however, all she saw was Jamie’s face. Gasping in surprise, she did a quick survey of her surroundings and realized that she was lying in bed. Jamie was standing next to the bed, leaning over her.

“Hey,” he said, smiling broadly. “Good morning.”

She let out a slow breath, still getting her bearings. “Morning,” she echoed. The memory of her dream quickly faded, as the events of last night came back to her. Now she remembered what she was doing sleeping in a hotel room with Jamie.

“What time do you work?” he asked.

“Seven… What time is it now?”

“Six-thirty.”

“Shit,” she said with a groan, wearily drawing a hand across her face. She felt like she hadn’t slept at all. But she had to get up now, or she was going to be very late. Grudgingly, she dragged herself out of bed. “Mind if I use the bathroom?” she asked, as she knelt beside her overnight bag.

“Go right ahead,” said Jamie.

In the privacy of the bathroom, she dressed quickly, putting on a pair of her brightly-colored hygienist scrubs, and got cleaned up, brushing her teeth, washing her face, and pulling her hair back into a low ponytail. When she came out of the bathroom, Jamie handed her a bowl of Corn Pops, complete with milk. “You should eat something before you go,” he said.

She laughed, taking the cereal from him. “Thanks, Jamie.”

“No problem. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know.”

“I know,” she said with a smirk, digging her spoon into the cereal. She downed the bowl quickly and then said, “I’m sorry to rush out on you, but I really need to go; I can’t afford to be late.”

“I understand,” he replied with a nod.

“What are you doing later?” she asked as she pulled on the white tennis shoes she always wore at work. “Maybe you and Di and I could go do something.”

“My plane leaves at eleven,” he answered.

“Oh.” She looked up at him apologetically. “I’m really sorry. We’ll hang out next time you’re here, okay? I promise.”

He nodded. “Sounds good.”

She stood up and gave him a quick hug goodbye. “Thanks again for letting me sleep here.”

“Not a problem,” he replied casually. “It was good to see you – for a few minutes, anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” she said again as she walked to the door. “Next time, I promise. Have a safe flight home.”

“Thanks. Have a good day at work.” Following her to his door, he asked, “Do you have a place to stay tonight?”

“I dunno… if I don’t feel like sleeping at Nick’s, I’ll call Dianna or my friend Laureen or someone. Don’t worry, I’ll find somewhere to stay if I need to.” She smiled and reached for the doorknob. “Bye, Jamie.”

“See ya, Claire.”

***

Claire made it to work with only a couple of minutes to spare, and it wasn’t until lunch that she had a chance to fill Laureen in on the previous night’s excitement.

“Oh jeez… I would have been so freaked out!” Laureen gasped, gazing across the table at Claire through wide eyes as Claire narrated the story.

Claire laughed and dug her fork into her fruit salad, spearing a piece of wedge of pineapple. “I was, believe me.”

“I’m really sorry I didn’t answer my phone. I guess I slept right through it,” Laureen went on guiltily.

“No, no problem. It was really late; I figured you were asleep. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper myself.”

“Well, I’m just glad you got a hold of somebody,” Laureen emphasized, and Claire nodded vigorously in agreement. No way would she have gotten back to sleep last night, had she stayed in the house. “So do you think Nick’s gonna be mad when he finds out you stayed with your ex-boyfriend?” Laureen asked nervously.

Claire bit her lip, feeling her stomach flip-flop. “He’s not gonna be too happy, I’m sure,” she said dryly. She hesitated a moment, then added, “I was thinking of maybe just not telling him. I could say I spent the night with you or my friend Dianna instead. He’d believe that, and then he wouldn’t start freaking out, thinking Jamie and I are up to something while he’s gone.” She rolled her eyes. “It’d be such a stupid thing to lie about, but I know that’s what he would think, so maybe it’s better that he just doesn’t know.”

Laureen nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I can see why he’d think that though… not that you were doing anything – I know you wouldn’t – but Jamie is your ex, you know what I mean?”

“I know,” Claire sighed. “See, that’s why I’m thinking maybe I should just not tell him… I dunno, what do you think?”

Laureen hesitated before answering, absently stirring the contents of her salad around with her fork. Finally, she shrugged and replied, “Well, you know what they say – what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. If you think it’ll just make him worry, I guess it might be better to tell a white lie. Just make sure he doesn’t find out the truth, or then he’ll really be suspicious.”

Claire chuckled nervously. “Oh, I know… I know he would. But I don’t see how he’d find out. I’ll tell him I called Dianna first, and she didn’t answer her phone, so I stayed at your place – that’s a half-truth anyway.”

Laureen smiled and nodded. “Yep. So, anyway, where are you staying tonight? Are you going back there, or… you’re not staying with that Jamie again, are you?”

“Oh, no, no,” Claire said rather forcefully, then added, “He’s gone anyway – on a plane back up to Iowa as we speak. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet though. I’m sure the house is fine… but-“

“I don’t know if I’d be ready to sleep there yet,” Laureen confessed empathetically. “You know, if you want to stay someplace else, you’re welcome to stay at my apartment. It’s a two-bedroom, so I have an extra room.”

“Really?” Claire asked, grateful for the offer. She was sure Dianna would let her sleep over too, but she hadn’t talked to Dianna yet. “I just might take you up on that, Laureen, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all,” Laureen replied, waving her off casually. “You can stay all week if you want, until you feel comfortable sleeping at Nick’s house again.”

Claire smiled. “That’s really sweet of you. Thanks a lot!”

“Hey, no problem,” Laureen smiled back, then glanced at her watch. “Wow, that went fast. We better eat and get back to work.”

Claire glanced at her own watch and saw that their lunch break was indeed almost over. She nodded and took a large bite of her sandwich, hoping it would give her some much-needed energy. She couldn’t wait for this day to be over so that she could go home – or back to Laureen’s – and sleep, for few hours she’d spent in Jamie’s hotel room had hardly been restful.

But for now, it was back to work.

***