Rising Tide: Dark Innocence (The Maura DeLuca Trilogy Book 1) (2 page)

The rest of the week at school went
much the same, surprising, but less of a shock.  Katie chatted with me
like I was her new best friend, and invited me to eat lunch with them every
day.  By Wednesday, Trent had his Mustang back and drove the three of us
to school.  It was a different kind of feeling fitting in with the most popular
kids at school, but I soon discovered I didn’t have much in common with any of
them. When I asked one day at lunch what any of them were reading, one of the
other girls asked, “You mean like for school?”

I couldn’t resist.  At the
risk of sounding like a nerd I answered back, “No for fun.” 

They all laughed and Wendy,
crinkling her bright emerald eyes, said, “Oh Maura, you’re too much!”  I
blushed profusely and kept quiet until lunch was over.

Katie bounded up to me after,
walking with me to English.

“Hey, Maura, I hope you won’t let
stupid Wendy keep you from going with us Saturday.”  Wow, she really
wanted me to go with them.

“No, I’ll still go,” she was making
me get an uneasy feeling in my stomach, though, if I were completely honest
with myself.  Wanting to continue to fit in, I struggled to ignore
it. 

“I’m so glad!” she practically
squealed.  It made me wonder again why she so desperately wanted to be my
friend. 

I couldn’t help but ask then,
“Why?”

She seemed a bit taken aback by
this.  Katie definitely hadn’t expected me to question the motives behind
her and her clique’s sudden interest in befriending me.

“I guess I’m just feeling
bad.”  She dropped her eyes a bit, as if to reiterate her point. 
“All this time we’ve lived so close and gone to school together for our whole
lives, and I’ve barely even said hi to you.  When I saw you at the bus
stop the other morning, I was thinking that soon you’ll be moving away, and I
never got the chance to know you at all.”

She had obviously forgotten the
pudding incident.  “You know we’re moving?”  I was incredulous, “How
do you know that?”  This was a new development, because I’d told no
one.  There was no one to tell. 

My brain made a suggestion. 
Did Katie want to secure a place to visit in Vancouver?  Could she really
be sorry she never got to know me?  How could she be intrigued by someone
who so obviously shared none of her interests?

“Wendy’s sister helps out in the
office,” she shrugged nonchalantly, “she told us you’re transferring to a
school near Vancouver.  It must be exciting to be moving to Canada. 
I’ve heard Vancouver is such a beautiful city, too.  I’m so jealous! 
There’s a ton of exciting stuff to do there, not like boring, old here.” 
She wrinkled her nose to emphasize her
point.       

So that had to be it.  She
must have wanted a friend to visit in Vancouver if she thought it was so
great.  I was a bit hurt, but with Katie, I supposed I shouldn’t be
surprised if all her friendships,
well
all her
relationships really, were of convenience.  I didn’t have time to comment
on this discovery, though, as she continued to gush.

“I looked up some pictures and
stuff on the internet.  You should see the mountains!  There’s skiing
there at this place called Whistler; tons of people go there.  And there
are the beaches in White Rock…and shopping on Robson Street!!”  She turned
back to me, “Hey, maybe I could visit you there sometime?”

“Sure,” was all I could manage.
Thank god we were sliding into our desks.  I was incapable of continuing
the conversation at the moment.  I noticed a couple of the other less
popular girls in the class shooting daggers at me with their eyes, looking from
me to Katie practically bouncing in the seat beside me.  She must have
been really excited about her Vancouver plan.  They whispered vehemently
back and forth to each other, before glaring at me one final time.  *If
you only knew…,* I thought at them.  They certainly had nothing to be
jealous of.

I became absorbed in the discussion
in class all too soon, forgetting my wounds for the moment.  We were
working on
Lord of the Flies
, and it was one of my favorite books. 
I tried not to be overeager when Ms. Larson asked questions about parts of the
book I liked the best.  I was very conscious of Katie beside me. 
Even with my little discovery about her motives, I still didn’t want to come
across as a total nerd.

My hand shot up, almost
subconsciously, when she asked about the symbolism of the conch shell.  I
offered my lengthy commentary, before remembering myself and hurriedly wrapping
it up.  I glanced nervously at Katie.  She must have thought I was
such a geek.

“Wow,” Katie looked at me with
admiration in her cornflower eyes, “you are
so
smart, Maura!”  She
gave me a smile that I have to admit was hard to resist.

“Thanks,” I answered
blushing.  Well, at least she wanted to visit me along with
Vancouver.  That couldn’t be all bad could it? So tired of feeling like an
isolated freak, I felt any apprehension I’d had waning quickly, as I returned
her smile with one of my own.

At dinner that night, I knew I only
had a few days to prepare Caelyn for a Saturday alone.  I hoped she
wouldn’t feel too deserted.  I couldn’t remember the last time we’d spent
a weekend away from each other.  As a consolation, I’d made her favorite,
pepper steak—Chinese style.  I watched for a moment as she chewed
appreciatively. “This is great, Maura,” she enthused.

That was about as excited as Caelyn
ever got.  I thought again how it was funny that even after all this time,
she’d never gotten over my dad.  She must have loved him more than I could
imagine was possible. As of yet, I didn’t have one boyfriend to speak of, a
fact Caelyn was overjoyed about.  

I broke out of my reverie to steel
myself for her reaction to my request.  It was only one Saturday, after
all, and then she’d have me all to herself in a whole new city—make that
country—and I’d never see my new found friends again.  Well, unless Katie
really did intend to make good on her wish to visit us in British
Columbia. 

“Hey, Mom,” I noticed my voice was
a little shaky.  I must be even more nervous about this then I
realized. 

She looked slightly alarmed
then.  I might have been the consolation prize, but I was still the only
piece of my father she had in her life, “Maura?  Is something wrong?”

Great.  Freaking her out was
definitely not the best way to get what I wanted.  “No, Mom.  Calm
down.  I just wanted to ask you if you mind if I go out with some friends
from school on Saturday.”  Best to just get it out in the open. 
Quick and painless, like ripping off a Band-Aid.

Well, not completely
painless.  “Friends?”

I guess if I’d been in her shoes I
would have had the same reaction.  In all the years I’d been in school I
hadn’t had anyone over.  Ever. 

“Yea, I know,” I couldn’t help
rolling my eyes, “I’m not the most social person alive.”

“That’s an understatement, Maura,”
she looked too serious.  I didn’t know if I would be going with Katie and
the others now, whether I’d promised her or not.  “This is so
out-of-the-blue,” she added.

“I know, Mom,” I was starting to
get that pleading edge to my voice that she hardly ever heard, “it’s just Katie
Parker and me have sort of been hanging out together at school.  You know
eating lunch together and…”

She interrupted at the mention of
our neighbor, “Katie Parker?  Cheerleading snot, Katie Parker? Smash
pudding into your hair, Katie Parker?” she asked in disbelief.  Maybe
Caelyn was more concerned about my life than I gave her credit for.

“Mom!  She’s not like that
anymore,” my mind went back to the conversation I’d had with Katie today. 
There was a really good chance she was
exactly
like that.  

Caelyn raised a perfect eyebrow
speculatively.  “Oh she isn’t?”  She definitely wasn’t convinced.

“Mom,” I was getting exasperated,
“What do you care anyway?”

She looked a little like I’d
slapped her.  “I care very much, Maura.  I don’t want to see you get
hurt.” She looked a little guilty then.  “I know I may not show it all the
time, and for that I’m very sorry, but I care about you more than anything else
in my life.”

I was too stunned to speak. 
Caelyn and I simply didn’t have these kinds of conversations.  She usually
strayed from any kind of deep emotion, for which I forgave her.  Despite
my age, I was intensely concerned over anything that might hurt her
further.  I sought to protect my fragile mother constantly.

“Honey, girls like Katie Parker
will chew you up and spit you out.  Don’t forget, I
was
a teenager
once.”  Some memory flickered across her eyes and they lost the brief
spark of fury she’d had a moment before.  Her mouth twisted into a frown
and her eyes suddenly glistened, overfull.  I wouldn’t have asked her what
she was remembering for anything.  I knew from counting backward from my
birth year, that Caelyn had been very young when she’d met my dad.  Her
age was my own doubled.  It was hard to believe that she’d had a baby when
she was as old as I was now. 

I knew she was right about Katie
too…potentially, though.  Not absolutely.  I wanted to try. 
After all what was the worst that could happen?  For once it was nice to
think I had friends like normal teenagers.  

“Mom!”  I snapped her out of
her day-mare, “Please, come on just let me go ok?  I really want to and
it’s only for a few hours.  Don’t you think I’m old enough to decide where
I should and shouldn’t go?”

I could tell from the look she gave
me that she didn’t think that at all.  But she merely said, “What time,
where are you going and for how long?” she sighed deeply.

I didn’t really want to tell my
mother we were going swimming.  This was sure to lead to questions of
whether boys would be present.  I’m sure she would disapprove of the time
of year and the water temperature, as well as the isolated location.  The
bridge Trent had mentioned was part of a deserted dirt and gravel road,
practically in the middle of the woods.  I thought fast.  Too fast.

“We’re just going out for pizza and
to see a movie,” I blurted out without the benefit of adequate planning. 
The lying to your mom about where you were really going with your friends thing
was a new experience for me.  I knew I’d set myself up for questions I
wasn’t prepared to answer.  What was even playing at the theater?  I
tried to think about movie trailers I’d seen on TV.

I got lucky.  “Are you going
to the theater at the mall, then?”  She seemed to relax at this.  The
mall was full of people.  Safe.

“Yes,” I answered, knowing I was
too overeager.

Caelyn mistook the animation in my
voice, “You really are excited about going aren’t you?”

I played it safe and nodded my
head, instead of risking speaking another word.

“Well…ok,” her eyes were a bit
tight, so I knew she wasn’t completely thrilled, “but I really would prefer you
were home before it gets too late ok?”

I hadn’t been told by Katie or any
of the others how long we would be at the bridge, but surely we wouldn’t even
be in the water after dark, given the time of year.

“Don’t worry, Mom, I won’t leave
you alone too long!”  I blurted out, suddenly worried about her home all
by herself the whole day, brooding.  I’d jumped up and come to stand by
her side.

She looked injured by that, and
glanced up at me through her thick, feathery lashes, “You don’t have to worry
about me, Maura,” her voice was heavy with guilt, “I just want you to go have a
good time.”

I woke up Thursday morning, still amazed
by how relatively easy it had been to gain my freedom on Saturday from Caelyn.
 I still couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for leaving her alone. 
But I had a surprise in mind for her.  Something she’d been wanting to do,
probably holding back because I never left the house…without her anyway…on
weekends.  Something to pass the time while I continued my valiant attempt
at finally fitting in.  I just had to convince someone to drive me across
town.

I was singing as I brushed my
incredibly glossy hair this morning.  Its new gleam even made a regular,
old ponytail look ornate somehow.  I usually didn’t wear my hair up. 
Its ability to hide me both from the sun and the eyes of others, was something
I took a large amount of comfort in.  But the gloss and texture it seemed
to have lately, inspired me to experiment…not that an ordinary ponytail was
anything too extreme to anyone but me. 

Caelyn was in the kitchen, pouring
coffee into a travel mug to take to the office.  Her eyes popped wide when
she saw me bound around the corner.  “Maura? Your hair is
up
?” 

I rolled my eyes, but to be honest,
her surprise was justified.  This really was a first.  I tried to
smile nonchalantly, and shrugged.  “I wanted to try it out.”

“Weird…but ok…”  She shrugged
as well and turned back to the counter.  I was on my way to the cabinet to
dig out my favorite honey-flavored cereal, when my mom’s arm came across my
path to block me.  In her hand was a plateful of scrambled eggs.

“Here, Maura, why don’t you eat
this?” my look of disappointment caused her to use an infallible
tactic—guilt.  “I got up early to make them for you.”

“And…what’s wrong with
cereal?”  I took the plate obligingly. 

She tried to sound indifferent, but
I noticed the nervous tremble, underlying, in her  voice.  “It’s time
you put more protein into your diet.”

“Mom, I’m almost seventeen, and you
pick
now
to become more concerned with my diet.”

“You’re right, I should have done
that a long time ago.”  She patted my head affectionately, and of course
with that, the battle was over for me.  I was now resigned to the eggs, my
sugary, morning fix lost to me.