Southern Exposure

  * * *

  I spent all Sunday night and most of Monday night outside Jason's house. While I'd like to say I made progress, it didn't really feel that way. I could control myself around his mother, but Jason's masculine component sent me fleeing toward the creek every time. It was like Melanie said, you just can't rush it.

  I'd given up on the idea of school—at least for now—when I heard Jason tell his mother he wasn't going. I raced home to change and fortunately the rainy weather meant I didn't have to paint my skin. Even so, I was going to be late.

  Mrs. Hall was waiting in the office with a warm smile. "I'm so glad you're back." She read my note, glancing up discreetly to look me over. "Poison ivy, I'm surprised, you don't look like the outdoor type."

  It was all I could think of—we didn't get sick. "I was doing some wildlife drawings, for Art."

  "Make sure you show this to your teachers," she said, scribbling out a pass and handing it to me.

  "I will." I stuffed the note in my backpack and started for the door.

  "They're in advisory today since Monday was a holiday." She called after me.

  I waved and headed for class. The hallway was still thick with the muddled human aroma despite just a few students hurrying to class before the second bell. I flew down the hall reminding myself of the human idiosyncrasies necessary to look natural. The door was open, so I went straight in.

  "Look whose back from the dead." Lisa mocked.

  Behind her, Tammy whispered to her boyfriend Eric. "I thought you said she had poison ivy?"

  Erick shrugged. "That's what I heard, her and that other new kid Hollywood."

  Tammy leaned forward to Lisa. "Did you hear that? You don't think they were—"

  Mrs. Burns cleared her throat. Before she could ask, I handed her my note. "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better, but I must say you look a bit pale." She handed the note back and went directly to her desk to use one of those sanitizer gels to wipe her hands while I took my seat. When she was finished, her scowl silenced the remaining whispers from the class.

  I was really back in school even if it was only until Jason returned. Thinking his name sent a strange quiver through me—I had to concentrate, focus my attention on anything I could remember from my past.

  Lisa was lurking in the hallway after class. "Don't even think about it freak."

  "Excuse me?" I had no idea what she was talking about, but underneath the layers of makeup, I detected a faint rash—poison ivy?

  "Stay away from him." She flipped her hair at me and stomped off.

  That was random.

  Latin was a breeze, although I had some homework to catch up on. Cathy and I caught up in Art. While we were working, I tried to visualize the mountains I'd drawn and the fragments of the weird dream from the creek, but the familiarity I'd experienced was completely absent. Derrick and his friends ignored Cathy and me at lunch—they were in football mode—and so the rest of the school day passed without incident.

  When I returned home, I finished as much homework as I thought necessary and was sitting out front as the sun slowly set in the west. It was there—while I was waiting—that I realized I was looking forward to going to Jason's. It was clear that beyond the necessity, I wanted to be near him. I got up from the front porch swing as twilight ebbed.

  I knew the path along the creek well and arrived at Jason's in record time, but I was met with an unpleasant surprise, he had company. A bright blue Chevy Cobalt was parked in the driveway. I was sure I recognized it from the school parking lot, and as I slowly approached the back of the house, my suspicion was confirmed—Lisa.

  "Well, I really should be going," she said, "I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

  I grit my teeth with surprising anger. The back porch light suddenly flipped on, sending me fleeing to the concealment of the underbrush at the edge of the woods.

  "It's totally awesome that you'll be back tomorrow. You really don't look as bad as I thought."

  "Thanks," Jason replied hesitantly.

  The door opened and Lisa stepped out on the porch. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

  "Sure."

  "Why don't you walk her out?" Jason's mom prompted with a little nudge.

  "Mom," Jason mumbled under his breath. His tone was annoyed, but he walked down the steps next to Lisa.

  His mother's face hinted at a smile before she quietly closed the door. By the time Jason and Lisa reached her car, they were just a few yards from me.

  "It was nice of you to stop by, but I don't think Derrick would like it much," Jason said.

  "Don't worry about Derrick, I have him on a short leash. Besides, I'm considering trading up." She winked.

  "Yeah, about that," Jason started as he opened her car door.

  His sweet breath floated on the light breeze and I couldn't stop myself from slowly inhaling. That mistake caused the knot in my gut—the one I thought I had under control—to explode into my chest with such force I gasped.

  "What was that?" Lisa shrilled.

  Jason's lips edged upward at the corners in a devilish smile. "Probably a bear, or maybe a mountain lion."

  "Oh my God!" Lisa slammed the door and flopped down on the driver's seat.

  Jason, apparently unconcerned, was staring in my direction. I was reasonably sure he couldn't see me, but I remained motionless—it wasn't like I was going to risk the adverse effect of moving anyway.

  "What is it?" Lisa asked, rolling down her window a crack. "Do you see it?"

  Jason turned back to her. "Na, thought I saw a figure, but it was probably just a raccoon—they get in the trash at night around here."

  "A figure? Like human?" Lisa said, her voice suddenly territorial. "Where?" She continued, climbing out of the car with a determined scowl on her face.

  "Back in the underbrush," Jason said, pointing directly toward me.

  "I don't see anything?" She slapped him on the arm. "You're just trying to scare me."

  "No, really—" His response was cut short when she leaned forward, locked his face between her hands and kissed him on the lips. Her eyes were just slits, angry slits aimed in my direction.

  I was barely under control as it was and when the wave of anger struck, I had little choice but to run—of course Lisa screamed at the movement, even though it was impossible for her to see me. In two leaps I was under the cool water of the creek. My spastic undulations slowly diminished, and as I regained some semblance of control, I noticed a shadowy silhouette moving cautiously along the moon drenched shoreline—Jason. Even isolated from him, the fist in my gut—now wrapped tenaciously around my heart—tightened relentlessly. How could that be, my senses weren't involved, not under water? A flat piece of shale skipped across the surface and then began a slow, fluttering decent like a coin in a fountain. I watched it until it came to rest on my chest. When my gaze returned to the shoreline, Jason was gone.

  I waited ten minutes before I cautiously emerged from the water, hesitating at the surface to make sure I was alone. As I slowly crept up onto the shore, the crickets fell silent. Jason's scent seemed to be everywhere and while my initial instinct was to retreat back into the water's safety, I resisted, focusing on the difference between the burn in my throat and the tightness in my chest—I managed. The burn was obviously my thirst for his blood, but the tightness in my chest was something altogether different—something more—perhaps the undeniable, unthinkable desire I had to be with him. It was nearly midnight when I worked up the courage to move, and to my surprise, no acid shot through my veins. This was momentous—I did a back flip into the creek's deep pool. I pushed forcefully against the stone bottom and vaulted myself into the air, landing silently on the lawn just outside Jason's bedroom window. I took a deep breath and shivered—okay, that was a little too optimistic. Without a thought of concealment, I leapt to the roof next to his window. His room was dark, but I could see him clearly under the thin white sheet that caressed his sculpted body. The swelling in his face
was all but gone and the rash on his hands and arms dried up into tiny scabs. So there I sat, outside Jason's bedroom dormer fixated on him, until the silhouette of the mountains scratched out their presence in the lavender hues of the eastern sky.

  I snapped out of the fog that had enveloped me and jumped to the ground. I had school today and Jason was going to be there—there was a lot to do to get ready.