Crushed (22 page)

He reached out and pushed a bit of
my hair back, "You already admitted you aren't safe here either.
Why not go away with me so we can be happy? At least if you're in
trouble there or, god forbid you die, you'll have spent time with
me. Happy with me."

I blinked back the tears, listening
to him but not really believing I was truly conscious. He wanted me
to run away with him? Elope and get married? "I need to think about
it." I left him there in the bushes as I went back to my room. That
was the second meal today that had been spoiled by him.

Chapter 40

Neil

It had been two weeks. Two bloody
weeks since I told her I wanted to take her with me. I had tried to
be patient. I left her alone. If I saw her in passing on campus I'd
smile and offer a small wave. Every night I dreamt of her and every
day I seemed to cross paths with her.

Tomorrow night I was going away.
Tomorrow night I'd be in Tir-Na-Nog and I hoped like hell that she
was with me. I needed my answer tonight. I wasn't going to be able
to sleep tonight without knowing if I'd convinced her to come with
me. But I wasn't going to leave it to chance either.

The box had arrived this morning
and it was safely tucked into my pants. Tse had finally come back
from his vacation at the beach and had agreed to help me with my
plan. I also spoke with the director at the animal shelter and she
had been busily working all week to train a few of her
boarders.

I straightened my tie as I looked
over my gray suit in the mirror.

I texted Merit from Kurt's phone,
we'd actually become friends over the past couple of weeks, and
told her it was time. I left my dorm and walked to the middle
school campus. Tse was there, waiting for me, and nodded that he
was ready. I stood on the steps and exhaled slowly.

Ten minutes felt like hours but
finally I saw her approaching with Merit, a blindfold on her eyes,
her hands out, feeling for things that weren't there. I grinned.
Tse started the music, "Never Stop" by Safetysuit. I wish I'd
written the song but it summed up almost perfectly how I felt about
her. Halfway through the song I nodded to Merit and she took off
the blindfold, revealing me on the steps of the middle
school.

"This is where we first met. You were wearing that bloody ugly
school skirt uniform. But it didn't really matter what you were
wearing I thought you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.
You radiate kindness, Claire. You are a true friend. It will kill
me if you don't come with me. I don't ever want to be apart from
you again. You are my soulmate, my once-in-a-lifetime woman. My
Queen. What will it take for you to say yes?"

I came closer, walking slowly down
the stairs. She stood still, wide eyes staring at me. "Affection?"
A cat went running to her, and rubbed against her leg. Claire
picked her up and the cat rubbed her cheek, purring. Claire smiled,
the animals already tugging at her heart. She put the cat down and
it galloped away.

"Protection?" A bulldog mix pulled
a shield to her feet, leaving it there.

"Riches?" A miniature poodle
dropped an organza sack at her feet, inside was an emerald necklace
which she pulled out and stared at while I continued.

"Respect?" The black and white
mopey mutt came forward, a tiara on its head. She sat down and
looked at Claire. Claire leaned down and took the tiara and the dog
trotted away.

I closed the distance between us
and handed her a knife. "Trust?" I kneeled down in front of her,
pointing the knife at my throat.

"Commitment? This is my heart which I give to you crowned with my
love..." I pulled a small black box from my pants, opened it and
presented the Claddagh ring to her after speaking the traditional
expression. "Claire Hughes, will you marry me?" I stared up into
her eyes, which were overflowing with tears.

The knife at my throat shook and
then clattered to the pavement. She pounced on me, her arms around
my neck, as we fell to the ground. "Yes!"

I laughed as I wrapped my arms
around her and held her to my chest. "Thank God. I was going to
keep coming back until you said yes. I can't live without you.
Never again."

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---PREVIEW---

I ran downstairs when I heard
Kent's old car as it rolled up outside my house and the loud creak
that followed after the engine cut off. I exhaled slowly as I heard
his knock on our front door, trying to calm myself before I saw
him. I didn't want him to think I was stressing over tonight. My
big night. I was pretty sure he had something planned for my
birthday but I had no idea what it might be.

I opened the door and smiled as my
eyes took in his dark t-shirt and jeans, his typical attire. Kent
smiled too as he took in my clothes: a black square cut top, a knee
length black punk skirt, and black fishnet stockings that
disappeared into my well-worn Doc Martens.

The skirt was different from my
normal attire as was the makeup, with a smokey eye and pink lip
gloss. My hair was up in a large bun, and carefully selected
strands of my hair hung in wisps around my face. He gave me a quick
hug and then leaned back.

"I heard your door open from a
mile away," I laughed as I closed the door behind me. "What is the
big plan this year? A secret pool party? All you can eat ice
cream?"

For a moment he looked dumb
struck. "Big plan? Am I forgetting something? I was just coming by
to pick you up for some all night video gaming." He slowly
scratched his head. "Oh. Oh, damn," he said softly, his face
falling, his eyes full of regret, "I forgot your
birthday..."

I rolled my eyes and hit him
playfully on his scrawny arm. "You did not. Quit messing around.
Where are you taking me?"

He was silent for a moment as his
eyes shifted to the ground. He actually had a look of shame on his
face. "I uh, well, let's get in the car and we'll go do
something."

Shit, did he really forget my
birthday? My face fell at the same moment my heart gave a huge
squeeze, but I tried to get myself back together before he noticed.
The thought that Kent had forgotten my birthday was devastating. He
was my best friend and we'd been celebrating this date for
years.

"No, we don't have to go anywhere.
A night of gaming is exactly what I wanted." I smiled, successfully
covering my fear that he'd forgotten my birthday.

"I... I," Kent chewed on his
bottom lip as he moved towards the car. When we got closer we both
climbed inside. Either he was extremely disappointed in himself or
he was a great actor. "I, uh...got a new game. It's two players and
it's an open world." The door creaked loudly as he shut it. The car
vibrated beneath us as he started down the road.

"So I actually get to play this
time? I don't have to just watch you crush the levels of Zelda?
Even better." I smiled at him and then leaned forward so I could
change the radio to my favorite Top 40 station.

"Yes, you get to play this time. I
promise. Even if I get a single player game next time, I'll share."
He looked at me and grinned but it didn't make me believe
him.

"I know you'll mean to share, but
you'll get carried away and I won't get to play. You can't fool me.
I'll just sit on your computer and internet chat with hot guys like
always."

I always hoped he'd say something
about me and hot guys, admit some sort of jealousy, but it never
worked. But it didn't stop me from trying.

I glanced around and casually
tried to motion over my shoulder as we passed the road that went to
his house. Inside my heart was pounding. Where was he taking me?
For some reason there was still a little hope in my heart. "You
missed your turn..."

Again there was a pause before he
shrugged his shoulders. "I know I missed it. I don't have any
Mountain Dew or candy at home. We need some Little Debbies for this
all nighter!"

I narrowed my gaze, wondering if
he was telling the truth, even as my heart was dancing in my chest.
Where ever we were going we'd be there soon and I needed to chill
out before then. I turned the music up a little when Harvey
Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" came on.

"Cool," I said before drumming my
hands on my lap.

I was singing along, concentrating
on the crazy lyrics when Kent pulled into the parking lot of the
swankiest Italian restaurant in town. I stopped singing mid-lyric
to look at him, my heart doing that thing again.

"Um, I don't think we're going to
find Dew or candy or Little Debbies here."

"No, but we're going to find a
reservation for two at 6:00pm." He pulled into a parking spot.
"Happy Birthday, Elly." That goofy smile that I loved finally
showed on his face as he inched his glasses up the bridge of his
nose.

I turned and stared at the
restaurant, hiding my face from him just in case he caught sight of
the tears that were gathering in my eyes. He hadn't forgotten after
all. And it wasn't a crappy gift. "Kent, this is too
much."

"I bagged groceries all summer so
I could bring you to this place. All I heard was how much you
wanted to go but how expensive it was. Dinner is on me
tonight."

This was too much. Why would he
take me some place like this unless... I wiped my sweating palms on
my skirt.

"It's not too late to change your
mind. This is awesome but--"

But this was like a real date.
This was like somewhere you'd take a girlfriend, not a girl friend.
Was tonight going to be the night? Was he going to tell me how he
felt about me on my birthday? That would be so romantic. Inside my
gut was wrenching with fear, anticipation, anxiety. Everything was
swirling around in my head.

"Nope. Don't wanna hear another
word, Elly. We're going. But this doesn't mean you get out of
gaming tonight. We're still going to play after we have our fill of
expensive food."