To Stand Beside Her (62 page)

             
The notes began with little questions Arianna had always hoped someone would answer. What color were my father’s eyes? What color was my mother’s hair? Was she pretty? Each week, she got answers to her unspoken questions: blue like
,
yours
;
dark brown
;
extremely. And again she would think of more questions. The last week she finally got the courage to ask the writer to meet her in person and left a note of her own. Arianna knew the dangers
of
meeting a complete stranger, but she had so many question
s left unanswered
and the note
-
writer had all the answers. There was nothing she had thought
yet
that he or she could not answer.

Arianna tapped on the full popcorn bowl as she waited for her friends. She scanned the room as always
,
studying each person. Could the middle
-
aged man in the corner with the blue
-
button down shirt be the writer? Or was it the flamboyant woman with bright red lipstick bending over the concession counter
,
trying to get free food? Arianna studied each person as she waited, but
she
had yet to see the same person twice at the theater. Not even the teenager behind the concession counter was the same.

             
“Hey, earth to Ari,” Mary Ellen said as she tapped Arianna’s head. “You were supposed to wait for us outside the theater.” She reminded her friend. “We were going to pay for you this week for your birthday.”

             
Arianna shrugged as she stopped searching the room. “But it isn’t my birthday yet.”

             
“Today is close enough,” Tish replied.

             
“Only forty-eight hours and you
’ll
be sixteen. Do you feel any older?” Mary Ellen teased.

             
“Terribly,” Arianna replied. “Soon I’ll be an old maid
,
just like you.” Mary Ellen pretended to frown.

             
“So you leave tonight then?” Tish asked
,
sitting next to her friend.

             
“Yeah. They still haven’t told me where we
’re
going. They said it
’s
a surprise,” Arianna complained. It wasn’t that she disliked being surprised, but from her aunt and uncle’s actions, they were purposely hiding something from her. Arianna hated secrets and this was a secret, not a surprise.

             
“Well, you are still just a child,” Mary Ellen replied
,
patting her shorter friend’s head. “Children don’t need the details.” Mary Ellen tried to make light of the situation.

             
“You should talk. You’
re only two weeks older than me. I may be shorter, but at least I look older than you
,
” Arianna responded
,
tugging her friend’s dark brown braid. “The worst of this whole trip is
the dress Aunt Lilly bought. It’
s pink and shiny and has lots of lace. She said I needed to have a formal dress. I thought she meant something you would wear to prom or homecoming, but instead this very ugly dress. I have no idea where she plans to make me wear it, but when I finally
get my hands on it, I’
ll at least fix it as much as I can. But it seems quite hopeless right now.”

             
“The lace should be easy to get rid of, but you can’t change the color or fabric so easily,” Tish replied
,
knowing her friend hated light pink. Arianna
had
spent years being referre
d to as a little kid by everyone,
including
strangers,
due to her petite frame. Even though Arianna looked young, she wanted to be treated just the same as everyone else her age.

             
“We should go find seats,” Mary Ellen suggested.

Arianna stood to follow her friends
,
but quickly decided otherwise.

             
“Here,” she said handing her drink and popcorn to Tish. “I’ll be right back.” Normally Arianna waited until after the movie to read the note, but she was too anxious today.

             
Heading to the bathroom, Arianna ran into the nearest empty stall. She pulled the delicate paper from her sleeve. Carefully she opened the note and quickly memorized it.

    
Meet me 9 o’clock behind the diner. Offer to take out

    
the trash and make sure to wait out of view of the back

    
door. Don’t wear anything electronic or jewelry or they

   
will track you
.

         
PS
:
W
hen you pack your bags
for your trip,

               
take anything of value with you.

Arianna threw the note into the toilet and flushed it away. Early on the writer had informed her that her movements were monitored by an unnamed person. Arianna had always wondered why her aunt would buy her such an expensive cell phone when they didn’t have a lot of
money until she found it had G
P
S
tracking in it. The person writing the notes was correct. Aunt Lilly
could be over
protective, but Arianna had never given her a reason to be. It had to do with the past that both her aunt and uncle refused to talk about. Hopefully her mysterious correspondent would answer the questions Aunt Lilly would not.

             
Arianna hurried back to her waiting friends. She hated to lie to them about the notes, but she kept re
assuring herself that she wasn’
t lying, just withholding information. From the initial note experience, her friends thought she should tell her aunt about it and if she told her aunt, she would never get the answers to her questions.

             
Arianna sat patiently
though the movie,
daydreaming in her own world.
Who
was
this person that kn
o
w
s
so much about
her
mother and father? Was he or she a friend or an enemy? How could they know so much, and yet,
her
aunt and uncle always replied that they d
idn’
t know the answers?
As a child Arianna could tell from
early
on that the subject
of
her mother and father was painful for her aunt to even listen to, so she turned to her uncle. He
,
on the other hand
,
just outright refused to answer the questions. When Arianna searched the home for photos or memorabilia of her parents, she found nothing.
She
always found it strange that the photo albums started when she was five. Later, through her correspondence with her mystery friend, she found the photos were all a year after her father died. Arianna could not understand how there could be nothing of her parents or her life before those albums.

             
“So you leave tonight?” Mary Ellen asked as they walked outside into the wet air and
fading sun
light.

             
“Yep. It’s a bit strange, but we leave at midnight,” Arianna replied as she
halted near the bus
stop.

             
“We can give you a ride home,” Tish offered as her mother pulled a car to the curb and waved to the girls.

             
“Don’t worry about it,” Arianna replied. “I live in the opposite direction. Fred sh
ould be back by now soon, anyway
.” Arianna
had
found after her first few trips, the bus she rode to the theater could make its loop in three hours and return to bring her home. Her friends climbed into the waiting green car.

             
“We’ll see you in a week,” Mary Ellen called. Arianna nodded as she waved to her friends.

             
She had told her friends she would be home in a week, but her aunt had only said it was possible they would return in a week. The whole trip was strange. They refused to explain why they were leaving so late, where they were going, where they were staying, how long they would be gone, or even why they were leaving
. Arianna was beginning to feel
even her secret correspondent knew more about her trip th
a
n she did. For weeks they refused to even give her a time they would return. It was not until Arianna bugged her aunt every ten minutes for a day that she finally gave a tentative return date.

             
“So
,
was it good?” the bus driver asked
,
opening the door.

             
“If you like that lovey-dovey stuff,” she replied.

             
“Your choice next week?” he asked as she sat down near the front door.

             
“I’ll be gone
next week, but the week after I’
ll choose something much more interesting.” Arianna sat and stared out the front window. She had ridden the bus so many times she could picture each stop without looking out the window. The rain began again
,
lightly. Arianna sat in silence for the remainder of the ride home. Who was this writer? Was it safe to just go meet someone who obviously did not have her guardian’s approval?

             
The rattling of the empty bus did not help calm her nerves. Arianna
always
knew she was an orphan. Every time she was asked what her parent did for jobs, she would have to explain that they were dead. Her lack of parents affected her attitude and made her want to please her aunt and uncle. Without them, Arianna felt she would be homeless. It was the first time she was deceiving
them
.

             
“I’ll see you in two weeks
,
Fred,” Arianna said as she cheerfully bounced off the bus. The driver nodded.

             
“Then have fun in those two weeks, Ethel,” he replied. “By the way, happy birthday
,
kiddo. Soon enough you won’t
need
me to drive you around.” Arianna smiled and waved to the older man as the door shut.

             
Arianna ran around the diner to the back door. It was past
eight o’clock
, so the front door would be locked by now. Briefly Arianna peered into the kitchen before heading upstairs. As expected
,
it was almost empty. Aunt Lily was done for the night
and
was in the living room folding laundry as Arianna opened the door to their apartment.

             
“How was the movie?” she asked.

             
“Okay if you like love stories,” Arianna replied.

             
“You just wai
t,” Aunt Lilly responded. “Someday you’
ll fall in love and you
r
opinion on love stories will change.” Arianna rolled her eyes. Aunt Lilly always preached about the benefits of falling in love and how love can change a person. “Have you finished packing yet? All the laundry is done, so if you need something here, just take it.”

             
“I’m almost done,” Arianna replied
,
walking through the small
living room to her bedroom
. “I can help downstairs after I pack the rest of my stuff.” Aunt Lilly nodded. Lilly and Dean had never asked Arianna to help with the diner, but she always offered. Small tears trickled down Aunt Lilly’s cheeks as her eyes glazed over. Arianna moved across the room quietly and put her arms around her aunt. It was not often, but when she began to cry, it was a sign Aunt Lilly needed a hug. “I love you
,
Aunt Lilly,” Arianna said quietly as her aunt tried to quickly wipe the tears away.

             
“I can’t believe
it’s
been ten years already,” Lilly said as she hugged Arianna back. “Time goes by so quickly. I wish I could sprinkle some magic dust on you and keep you a child forever.”

             
“Now do you really want that
?
” Arianna teased. “I thought the last time we had this talk you told me how proud you were that I was growing up.”

             
“I wish I could have both,” Aunt Lilly complained.

             
“I better finish my packing and get the diner cleaned with Uncle Dean,” Arianna said
,
letting go of her
a
unt. Aunt Lilly smiled at Arianna. Arianna was not her biological child, but Lilly had never doubted for a moment Arianna loved her like a mother.