Guess what? Oh, never mind! I never could play guessing games. Today is a great day. Dad and Dana have decided that I get to go on a honest-to-goodness X-File with them. I know what you're thinking: what about Christmas? Well, that doesn't count. Dad really thought it was a good spot to vacation; it just happened to have a possible case that needed looking into. Yeah, I don't buy it either, but, if it brought peace back between him and Dana, who am I to say a word.
I bet I can figure out the next big question. Why are they taking me on a case when most of their cases are bizarre and dangerous? Well, Dana did some checking with DA and the Lone Gun Guys as soon as this one was handed down. She gave it her official stamp of approval of having no liver-eating mutants, no sewer-dwelling flukemen, no coccoon-building millenia-old bugs, no spore-flying silicon-based organisms, no people -munching symbiotic-jumping twins or any disease-carrying citizen-(tastes like chicken)-boiling townspeople. And, absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, no twenty-pack-a-day ought-to-be-coughing-up-a-lung conspiracy-smelling old guys with god-like complexes.
Wait a minute. This isn't sounding as good as it did before. In fact, it's kind of sounding a little boring. I think Dana and I are going to have a little talk.
Anyway, we're going to check out some ghost sightings at this university in Denton, Texas. Dad's really excited about this one. He's been wanting to investigate this since before Thanksgiving. DA finally approved it after a group of orientation students were terrorized by a long-dead school official in one of the original buildings. It probably would have been ignored again if one of the girls hadn't been a prominent senator's daughter. Dad says stuff like this has been happening for years and Anne Rice even mentioned it in one of her books, but it just wasn't front-page news. When I asked if I could read the story to get some background, Dana did an emphatic no! I didn't understand why, but Suzannah Blake has promised to sneak out a couple from her mom's stash. That's why I love S.B.; she has a very sneaky soul.
Which brings me to the other reason today is important. In exactly one week, my best friend in the whole multiverse (just to be on the safe side) will turn eleven. She is so excited! Oh, not because she's getting older (Dana snorted at that phrase when I wrote it. Must be an adult thing), but because she's going to have her first boy-girl party. Her parents are so cool and they thought she was old enough to handle the new dynamic of inter-...personal... relationships? Or something to that effect. I have no idea, but it sounded good. Anyway, she and I have been working for days to make this the best party in Selwyn's history. We've planned it down to the last detail and everything is perfect from the food (Nothing un-pre-adolescent on this menu) to the music (Top 40 and Dance mixes) to the entertainment (The Lone Gunmen located movies on video that haven't been released yet and they're putting on a fireworks and laser show at the end. Good thing the Williams live in the country). But, the thing that tops everything and will forever keep this on the minds of all incoming and outgoing students from this point on : /I/ was able to convince Christian's brothers to come /and/ they even promised to dance with some of the girls /and/ sing a couple of their songs with their band. Oh, yes. We are going to rule our school until it's time to leave for high school.
S.B. was a little upset when I told her about this trip, but Dad and Dana promised her I'd be back in time to help her with the final preparations; most definitely by the time of the party. It calmed her and she was able to send me off with a smile and a mind-sent dirty joke I had no clue about; I'll ask Dante and Christian to explain it when I get back.
Well, here we go. I think this would be cool as a movie or something. How about, "Hunter and the X-File" or "Hunter Does Denton." I like the first better; the second one reminds me too much of the title to one of Daddy's videos.
June 9th
Denton, Texas
Texas Woman's University
Outside of the Office of the President
"Well, that was a waste of time."
"Mulder, did you honestly think she'd welcome you with open arms?" Dana hated stating the obvious and she definitely was not doing well in the heat. I slowed up behind them because she looked like she was on low boil and I didn't want to get caught in it. "You just walked into her office and told her you were planning on investigating her school for paranormal activities. It was a wonder she was that polite with her dismissal."
I knew I was setting myself up for trouble, but I couldn't resist. "I read her and the only reason she didn't have you thrown off the campus was because I was there and she didn't want to frighten me." As if seeing my father getting tossed bodily from places would upset me. By now, I almost expected it. I noticed the looks being sent in my direction and decided to set my line of defense in motion. "After this week, I'll never see her again, so, technically, it was a one-time thing. I just wanted to see what she thought and she was like /so/ easy."
"That's not an excuse and you know it. Do it again and I volunteer you to mentor the first-levels when we get back."
I stopped in my tracks. He had me and he knew it. Mentoring the first-levels was worse than babysitting two-year olds. There was no way I was going to read anyone else ever again. .... Or, at least on this trip, anyway. "Yes, sir."
I could feel Dana looking at me and I glanced over at her. She smiled and winked and made me feel tons better. "So, Great Annoying One, where are we headed now?"
"My sources say there's a grad student who's been telling incoming freshmen... -er, women - ghost stories for years about our pesky and intimidating friend and others that hang around here. Her name is Sammantha Moch and she supposedly hangs out at the Activities Office in the Student Center. She's supposed to be in tune with certain elements or something so that she picks up on these things."
"The only things she's probably in tune with are some barley products and some less-than medicinal-herbs."
"Be careful. The phrasing was so obvious that the c-h-i-l-d knew automatically you were referring to beer and marijuana." I wish I could describe the looks on their faces, but I was too busy trying to hurry into the air-conditioned building. I stopped in front of the double doors that opened up to what looked like a mini-store and turned to see them holding the doors and staring at me like I had green blood. Oopsie. Bad analogy. Never mind. "Oh, be for real. We live in one of the few areas in the country where the Mayor's office reports its earned income from it's drug labs on its yearly reports and you're still surprised I know this stuff." I rolled my eyes. "That was like /so/ easy Peri could have gotten it." They still weren't moving. Nice to know I could still surprise them. "Guys. We're in the middle of North Texas in June and you're letting all of these people's nice cool air out."
Dana was the first to recover and she guiltily pushed Dad inside. He still looked a little surprised, but he was trying his best to cover it. "You and I are going to have a little talk when we get back." He shook his head as he walked over to this big counter/window with "Student Activities and Student Development Offices" above it. "I have really got to check out what you've been watching lately." Puhleeze. As if television could tell me about a tenth of what I know. Try blaming the paper and the 'net. We stopped at the window and Dad managed to catch the attention of one of the people working there. "Excuse me. Can you tell me where I can find a Sammantha Moch?"
A very pretty, but extremely pregnant lady walked up to the counter and eyed us warily. "Who wants to know?"
Before she had a chance to take another breath, Dana whipped out her wallet and flashed her badge with a flick of the wrist. "I'm Special Agent Dana Scully and this is my partner, Agent Mulder. We really need to speak to Ms. Moch as soon as possible." I was really proud of how well Dana does that. She is such a cool customer when she's in professional mode. Dad's pretty good at it as well, but Dana does it like it's second nature.
I was amazed at how the lady didn't seem bothered by the presence of two FBI agents; she almost acted like it was an everyday occurence. "She's in back. If you care to have a seat, I'll go get her." I caught her New York accent. That explains it. Nothing phases a New Yorker. Without a second glance at us, she turned and headed through a doorway and small room and into a bigger room. For a minute, I was tempted to reach out and tune in to what was being said, then I remembered the threat. Needless to say, I clamped my temptation.
As we waited, I couldn't help noticing the stares we were getting from some of the people in the office. Granted, I'm sure we looked incredibly out of place (Do these people ever go anywhere without those trenchcoats!), but these weren't those kind of stares. These people were staring at us while barely controlling their laughter! I could tell their reactions were confusing my Fibbies, but short of a reading, I was just as clueless as they were.
The pregnant lady returned with two other ladies. They were both the same height but one was African American with medium-length blonde/brown hair and the other was fair with long brunette hair. It was almost like they were protecting each other until these huge smiles lit up their faces.
"Ms. Moch?"
The African American woman stepped forward and offered her hand to first Dana and then my dad. She winked at me and for a moment, I sensed something deeper. "Hello, Agents Scully. Mulder. I've been expecting you since the incident. I'm Sammantha Moch, but most people call me Sammi."
Unh uh. No way. This was impossible. "We had a neighbour who had that exact same name." Dad and Dana both glared at me for speaking when I shouldn't have. I just shrugged and turned back to Sammi.
"Now isn't that just too much of a coincidence," the brunette answered in between a chuckle. "That has got to be the most bizarre thing."
Sammi glared at her and turned back to us. "Please excuse my friend; she doesn't know any better." Suddenly serious. "I bet you're here about Senator Christiansen's daughter getting the bejeebers scared out of her. I suppose you've heard about my ghost stories and want me to fill you in on whatever I can to help you with your investigation."
"That would ... really .... help us out." Whoa. Dana was actually loosing her cool. I knew it could happen one day, but I never thought /I/ would actually see it. She was freaked at how these people were acting. I didn't blame her. This was weird. "Is there some place we can talk?"
"I think the SOAPie office would be just the place. Oh, as long as you don't mind the orientation stuff. Stay right there and I'll come and show you the way." She turned and nodded to the brunette and she and several of the other ladies headed back to the other room. "Mary? We're going to be in the back office if you need us. Chandreia'll watch the phones." We watched her walk into another office beside the big one and then she turned a corner. In a blink, she was in front of us and smiling again. This kind of reminded me of those Stepford movies that Dante likes but I didn't say anything. As if she knew my next thought, Sammi grinned at me and laughed as she directed us down a hallway. "I just bet you have a wicked sense of humour and a totally out there mind." At my confused look. "You remind me of my cousin, S.S - Shelby Sarah; she has those attributes and a bit more. Boy, the stories I could tell you about Temple!"
"Your cousin's name is Shelby? That's my name, too. Well, one of my middle names anyway." I held out my hand. "I'm Hunter, by the way. Hunter /Shelby/ Ianha Mulder, to be exact."
"Cool." Taking my hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Ms. Mulder. I'll have to tell S.S. that I finally met someone else with her name. Her sisters and I tease her unmercifully about it. I came up with the nickname, S.S., which really hasn't endeared me to my aunt considering they're Jewish. But, the name's stuck, so I suppose I'm not in too much trouble." We stopped at another door. "Well, here we are. I hope you don't mind, but several others will be joining us. They have different takes on this situation that I thought you should hear."
Dad was starting to get excited. This was quickly making up for the earlier dismissal by the school's President. "The more corroberation, the better."
"Good. I knew you'd say that. That's why I arranged for all of us to have a break about the same time."
Before we could go in, Dana stopped her. "Ms. Moch, why is it that you seem to have anticipated our coming and wanting to speak with you? Do you have some type of contact in the President's office?"
"I wish. No, I just knew." Shrugging. "I guess it was a feeling that you'd be here." Aside and whispered so that I barely heard her. "Almost like I planned it, you might say."
Dana didn't really buy this explanation, but she went along with it anyway. We entered the room and found ourselves in front of the others. There were five of them waiting and each one hit us with a beaming smile as we sat in the chairs they had arranged for us. "Do any of you mind if I record this?" Dana asked in her best I-may-be-small-but-I'm-tougher-than-I-look voice. Not a soul said no.
Sammi stepped forward again. "Let me introduce you." She turned so that she could point at them and continue to make eye-contact with us. "The lady on the end is Pam Ferguson; the one next to her is Dena Hulin and next to her is Kate Smith. On Kate's other side is the very blonde but bright Kim Lahart and the one with the goofy grin is my friend Susannah Turney."
"If you spell your name with a 'z' and your middle name's 'Blake,' I'm gonna start humming the "Twilight Zone' theme."
"I spell it with an 's'." I breathed a sigh of relief. That would have been way beyond bizarre. "But, my middle name /is/ Blake." Dum-dum-dum-dum. Dum-dum-dum-dum. Uh oh. Something tells me we're not in Texas anymore, Fox. Before I could say anything else, a wicked smile crossed her face. "And, before you ask, my husband's name is William." At this point, I was ready to hit the door, but I was able to control it. Barely.
I think my fear was moving to the folks because when a medium-tall lady with dark hair and glasses stuck her head through the doorway, we all jumped. "Excuse me. Don't mean to interrupt but I was wondering if any of you had seen my arm? It seems to have gone missing."
The ones named Kim and Pam both started laughing and Sammi and Susannah just shook their heads. Sammi decided to take control of the situation and answered, "The four of us haven't seen it, but I wouldn't put anything past the Development Duo." She must have caught our looks because she quickly started introductions. "Agents Mulder and Scully and Hunter, I'd like you to meet our graphic artist, Stephanie Lokey."
Dad was all set to shake her hand when he realized what the other woman had said. "Lokey?" He swallowed hard. "You wouldn't by any chance be related to a vicious murderer who died along with his cohorts last Thanksgiving?"
"Ummm, not that I know of, but I can always ask my dad. He's the family historian and I'm sure he would have kept up with something like that." She shook her head and rolled her eyes like Dad was crazy and turned to the two who were still laughing. "Okay, what did you do with my arm? It wasn't bothering you where it was."
Kim stood and smiled. "You're the one who just left it hanging. If you had wanted to keep it around, you should have placed it somewhere safe. Besides, we owe you and we have to catch up before Pam leaves, [Special Note: We're gonna miss you, Pam! Lots of love and best wishes to you and your family!] so anything's fair game."
"You guys are so wrong." Stephanie saw a tall, Mexican lady bounding around the corner followed by Mary and quickly walked over to her. "Juanita, I think we need a memo banning all Student Development personnel from absconding with Student Activities' personnel's appendages." Pouting. "They stole my arm and won't tell me where it is! How am I supposed to be this brilliant, talented artist when I don't know where my arm is?"
The one named Juanita just stopped and stared at her graphic artist. Everyone else around us started cracking up and we stood and questioned what mental asylum we'd ended up in. Again, Sammi stepped in to help. "Sorry. We sometimes forget not everyone understands our office." She chuckled. "We've struck fear in many a newcomer's heart before." Beckoning to Juanita to join us. "Agents Mulder and Scully and Hunter, I'd like you to meet my boss and the bane of my existence, Juanita Duenez-Lazo. Juanita, these are the people I mentioned before."
"I'm very pleased to meet you. And, don't believe anything Sammi says - she loves me and she knows it." She ignored the snort the young woman sent her and continued. "So, why the sudden interest in our ghosts? These stories and sightings have been circulating for years. Should we be thankful a senator's daughter was frightened for this governmental intervention?"
"Though the young lady's account did place this on the front-burner, I've been interested in the goings on at your little school for quite some time. I can assure you, no preferential treatment was shown because of the victim, Ms. Laz...." Clearing his throat. "Ummm, your name is Lazo?"
Juanita glowered and Stephanie just shook her head and mumbled something that sounded surprisingly like, 'Murderers' and 'How rude'. "Yes, why? Don't tell me I'm one of the FBI's Most Wanted and I didn't know."
"You were. I mean, we took out a fugitive along with his buddies a few months ago by the name of Lazo. He was holed up in an old warehouse with his friends, Lokey and...." Dad paled big time. "P... Pagano." He shook his head and looked at us. Neither Dana nor I could tell him anything, so we shrugged. "This is way beyond bizarre."
Sammi grinned and Susannah chuckled. "Must be an X-File."
June 11th
T.W.U.
Old Main Building
"Why are we here? I mean, I realize Denton is not the hotspot of the DFW area, but spending a night in an old creepy building is not really my idea of a fun time in Texas." Our little group had been waiting in Old Main since the last of the classes had let out. I was bored out of my skull and every time I turned to look at Sammi and her crew, I'd catch them watching us and whispering. A couple of times I thought i heard them talking about me, but I shrugged it off. What did I have to worry about? It wasn't like they had anything to do with my life. I turned to Dana. "So, what happens if our corporeally-challenged friend doesn't show?"
"Then we go back to our hotel and tease him while we pack and all the way back to D.C." Sounds reasonable. Well, to us, anyway.
"Would you two mind? I'm trying to focus on the business at hand." Yeah, right. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was starting to worry.
I suppose he had good reason. We had to get special permission to camp out in the old building and the campus police looked at us strangely as our motley crew set up shop for the night. Different ones kept stopping by and shaking their heads like they couldn't believe what they were seeing. I guess in the face of all the interest, Dad didn't want to be shown up by a ghost.
We had separated our sleeping bags into two groups. I was with the folks under the rotunda and the others, consisting of Sammi, Susannah, Pam, Kate, Dena and Pam's son Heath, were closer to the stairwell. Somebody had ordered pizza and that was set up on a table halfway between us.
Pam walked over to us. "I bet FBI work is really interesting. I've always admired what you people do. Though, I don't see what our little ghosties have to do with federal matters."
"It's a little complicated, but Scully and I investigate strange phenomena. We go all over the states checking out the validity of reports and solving crimes." He shrugged. "The sightings caught my attention some time ago, but we couldn't actually come down until now." Nodding in the direction of the others. "So, what's your interest in all of this?"
She smiled. "I had been hearing about Sammi's stories for a couple of years and I just thought it might be interesting to see what she's experienced."
"Wait," Dana interrupted. "Are you trying to say, she's seen these things?"
Dena joined us munching on a slice of pizza. "From what I've understood, she's actually had run-ins with a couple of them. She really doesn't like to call attention to herself, so she doesn't advertise the fact. But, when she does talk about it, it's enough to send chills down people's spines."
A minor disturbance over by the stairwell drew our attention to where Susannah, Kate, Heath and Sammi were eating. Kate seemed to be motioning for us to come over as she kept her eyes on one of the upper landings. "Uhhh, Guys. I think we have ourselves a little problem."
"What's up, Kate?" I asked as I walked up beside her. She didn't respond and she had such a look on her face that I had to look up as well. What I saw left me speechless, so that ought to tell you something.
Dad and Dana could only stare at the figure above us. I mean, it just wasn't every day you looked up and saw a guy glaring down at you dressed in fifties clothing. Well, maybe that description wasn't as accurate as it could be. You have to excuse me. This kind of had me rattled.
You see, it's not ever day you look up to see a man glaring at you in fifties clothing from the waist up and I'm not describing it this way because we couldn't see his legs. We had a clear view. It was just that he had no legs. I mean, nothing was there. Nada. Nothing. Zippo. And, yet, he was ... standing .... and watching us .... and he was mad. Extremely mad. Out-of-this-world mad ... and it was all focused on us.
June 14th
DFW Airport
Lounge area
I am in trouble. Big trouble. Undoubtedly the worst trouble I've ever been in my entire short life.
Today's /the/ day and I'm stuck in a monstrosity of an airport in the middle of Texas waiting for a flight that's already been delayed three times because of rain. S.B. is going to kill me.
How could I have been so stupid to believe this would have been a simple case? When do these guys ever have a simple case? Instead of being excited about joining them, I should have been /running/ to Gram's and DA's. At least that way I wouldn't have to deal with the possibility of Suzannah Blake's wrath.
I really should have seen this coming.
Daddy's been avoiding me. I think he thinks I blame him. I don't, actually, not for most of it anyway. It wasn't /his/ fault that we just happened upon a very busy time for paranormal activity on that campus. It wasn't /his/ fault that the ghost in Old Main chased us out of the building and then somehow managed to turn on the sprinklers ruining Dad's notes. It wasn't /his/ fault that the rest of the little ghosties decided they were going to terrify everybody on campus for our whole entire stay. I mean, how could he possibly have known?
But, I do blame him for one thing. In his ever present quest for "the truth" and proof, he had requested all sorts of equipment and paratechs to monitor what was going on. Once they were there, nothing could stop him ... not even thoughts of my murder at the hands of a rampaging eleven year old. S.B. and the greatest birthday party of all times was a distant memory, not to be thought of again until right before we left for the airport. I could probably handle my best friend being mad at me - I'd done it before. But, the rest .... He'd never put me on the back-burner before. It's not a place I like.
I suppose I wasn't making him feel any better, either. I just had to keep looking at my watch. The party had started fifteen minutes ago. There was no way we were going to make it before it ended. No way.
I don't know, maybe I was hoping things would change and I'd find myself transported to 2323 Langston Road. S.B. would be there and rush to greet me and tease me about being fashionably late and I'd laugh and dance and ..... *Oh, man.*
*Sorry about all this, Baby Girl. I never thought this would run over into your party time. I honestly thought you'd....*
I didn't really want to hear it. *You didn't think of me at all. You were just so focused on getting your proof. I was there, but you didn't see me. Even when I tried telling you about that Smith-Carroll building and what I was feeling and seeing, you didn't notice me - just where I felt the most uncomfortable so that you could have the techs hook up the equipment in that spot.* I had to stop there. I didn't want Dana to know we were having it. She was already feeling pretty rotten about the whole thing and I didn't want her seeing me more upset. *You knew how important this party was to me and S.B. You promised I'd be back in time. We were unimportant as long as you got your wonderful proof. Even when the stuff showed nothing was there, you kept on. We would have been gone yesterday but you wouldn't give up. Only reason we're leaving now is the president insisted.* I know. I was hitting below the belt, but I was upset. Just to see if I was getting through to him, I looked over and noticed his shoulders were slumping and he looked totally defeated. Great! Just what I needed. Guilt on top of fear. Would this day never end? Oh well, since I probably wouldn't have a friend when I got back, I'd better not burn any more bridges. *Never mind. It's all water under the bridge now, so I /suppose/ I can forgive you. Just don't let happen again.*
He sat up straighter and a smile came through his mind-voice. *You mean it?*
I shook my head, grinned and moved to sit beside him. I'm worse than Dana when it comes to him. I always cave. It's the eyes I tell ya. *I mean it, but you have to promise that you're gonna run interference for me with Suzannah Blake. At least if she attacks, you'll bear the brunt of the impact.*
*I promise.* Dad pulled me onto his lap and kissed my forehead. Then, for Dana's benefit he spoke, "So, what did you guys think of the madhouse we just left? Those people were stranger than the case."
"They were that. I just couldn't shake the feeling that we a part of one big joke."
I had to laugh at that. "No, Dana, you just can't accept the fact they weren't afraid of you." She glared at me. "You were growling all over the place and it wasn't phasing them one bit and /that/ bugged you."
"Well you weren't the picture of comfortableness either. They had you rattled enough that a couple of times I /know/ you thought about reading them."
Dad was just about to comment when they announced our flight over the intercom. Instead, he set me on my feet and grabbed our carry-ons. "Looks like this is us." He looked around. "Say goodbye to Texas."
I could have sworn I heard Dana mutter, "Good riddance is better."
June 14th
2323 Langston Rd.
11:30 pm
The plane ride was basically uneventful. With the exception of Dad entertaining a group of sick kids coming back from Orlando by doing an impromptu ballet up and down the aisles (Dana just shook her head and chuckled at his pirouettes [sp?]), we didn't have even a touch of turbulence. Amazing considering the storms we had just left.
I almost wish it had been bumpy; it would have taken my mind off of what was waiting for me back in home territory. The folks (I love when I call them that) promised me we would stop off at S.B.'s house so that I could get an idea of the damage and drop off my gift. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, but, hopefully the adults would be enough to ensure she didn't kill me on the spot.
I would have preferred if Dad walked up to the door ahead of me, but no such luck. My hand trembled as I rang the doorbell and I could feel him sending me strength through our link. As the door opened, Suzannah Blake's mom looked out at me and smiled. I guess it couldn't be all bad if she could still smile at me. "Hello, Hunter." She gestured for us to come in. "Dana. Mulder. Thanks for calling and letting us know you made it back." Dr. Micki turned back to me. "We missed you tonight. The party just wasn't the same without you."
"But it was okay, right? Everybody did what they were supposed to?"
"Don't worry, Hunter. It was great. Perfect except that you weren't here." She directed us into the living room and we sat. "All your plans were wonderful and went off without a hitch." To my Fibbies. "You've got yourself a fantastic little planner. I couldn't have done better if I had paid someone to do the party."
Dana smiled and I could feel the pride coming from her. "She does go that extra mile when it's something she cares about. This party was all she talked about for weeks and then to ..."
"Where's S.B.?" I didn't mean to interrupt, but I was anxious. "Does she know we're here?"
A sympathetic look. "She knows, Hunter." I had never seen Dr. Micki uncomfortable before, but I would have had to have been blind to miss it now. "Her Dad's trying to talk her into coming downstairs. She's still pretty upset."
At that moment and time, I wished I could fall down a big black hole. I just bet she was upset. I had probably singlehandedly messed up all happy thoughts associated with this day for her. I felt like a murderer.
I was just getting ready to ask my folks if we could leave when a movement caught my eye from the stairwell. I looked up and there she was. For a second, our eyes locked and I could see all the hurt she was trying to hide behind the tears. I stood and moved to comfort her, but she shook her head and ran towards the first-floor kitchen. I turned back to Dad and Dana and they both nodded and I took off after her. By the time I made it to the kitchen, the back screen door was swinging shut and I could just make out Suzannah Blake's shirt streaking across the back yard. I guessed where she was headed and took off after her. Man could she run.
By the time I reached her in the gazebo, she was sitting and staring out across the lake. Blake's Lake, as her dad affectionately dubbed it after she spent hours out there, seemed calm - much calmer than its watchers. I sat beside her. "I hope you realize all of this running isn't good for my asthma."
"I didn't ask you to chase after me."
"Yeah right. You practically begged me to follow after that dramatic exit. There would have been no hope for our friendship if I hadn't followed you. You would have guaranteed that."
"Is that what we have? A friendship?"
That hurt. "We did, but if you don't want it any more, .... we .... we can end it here."
She finally turned to face me. "I don't want it to end. I just want you to be there for most of the important parts of it. This party wasn't just about my birthday - it was about us working together to do something so incredible that everyone would be envious for years."
"Your mom said the party was perfect and everything was just the way we planned. I'm pretty sure the envy was there."
She sighed. "Oh, the envy was there, but the person I wanted to bask in it with wasn't."
"I told you when I called what happened. There was nothing I could do. You have to believe that I wanted to be here more than anything." The tears started down my face and I could see them mirrored on hers as well. "If it had been in my hands, I would have been here. Nothing could have stopped me." I reached in my pocket and pulled out a little box and held it out to her. "I had even planned how I was going to give this to you." I had to get my point across. "All of this was just as important to me as it was to you."
Suzannah Blake stared at me for several minutes. I decided I might as well show her everything, so I completely dropped my shields and let her go at it. By the time she finished, we were both trembling. "I understand but it's gonna take a while for me to get back to where we were." She took the box out of my hand and held it. "I know you didn't intentionally skip my party, but you still should have ...." She shook her head when she couldn't finish. I could tell she was trying to go easy on me. Thank goodness. I watched her untie the little bow that surrounded the box and open it. Suddenly, the smile that I had been hoping to see again broke free as she met my eyes. "It's beautiful, Hunter. I suppose you're wearing the other half."
I smiled back at her and raised my right arm. On the tiniest of gold-link bracelets, a golden half-heart twinkled in the lamplight. "Of course. It'd be stupid to give you that one and not have mine on." And I'm not stupid. This was my chance to make things up to her and I wasn't about to blow it. "Can you see the inscription? I asked them to do it special."
She took the necklace with the other half of the heart out of the box and held it up to the light. On the side facing me, I could just make out the 'st nds' as she began to read, "Hunter. Forever." She turned a confused look on me. "I think I have yours."
"Nope. You have the right one." I held up my arm and let her read what was on the back of mine. "See, I wanted us to always remember the other - no matter what. So, I had my name put on yours and your name on mine and then beneath it, 'Together Forever' just to make sure there'd be no doubt. We'd always be as close as our charms even if something came up and we couldn't be side-by-side." Now was the big moment. I worried my lip to brace myself and then charged straight ahead with the big question. "Well, do you like it?"
For a moment, nothing was said. I started to panic until I felt her arms wrap around me in big, wonderful hug. I hugged her back with the goofiest grin on my face, but she didn't seem to mind. S.B. pulled back just enough for me to see the happy tears glistening in her eyes. "It's perfect, Hunter. Just like our party was."
I giggled at that. "/Our/ party? Since when was it /our/ party?"
"Since I forgot your birthday, like everyone else, and you felt alone." My giggles stopped when I realized she was serious. "I decided a while ago that this party was going to celebrate both our birthdays to make up for..... well, you know. I think that's why I was so upset you weren't here - because, this was as much for me as it was for you." We were crying again. "I wanted it to be the best day for both of us."
I looked at my best friend in the whole world. For the tiniest of moments I could see our future. Not hers. Not mine. But ours. And, I knew it was going to be that much greater because we'd be there ... together, forever. I gave her my best grin and a wink. "It is the best day."
And, it was.
End