Timeless (5 page)

“No!” I screamed, finally finding my voice as
I contemplated going near any water again, even to take a harmless
shower.

“It’s okay,” Ben said, wrapping his arms
around me. I realized then that I’d begun to sob, terrified by what
had happened to me.

When the heavier heaving had subsided, Ben
wiped the last of my tears away.

“Why don’t you just change, then, right here.
I promise to turn around,” he said in a teasing voice meant to
distract me.

“You won’t go away?” I asked, desperately
needing not to be alone right then, especially after what I’d seen
in the pool. I knew where all the scratches and marks came from and
that I would have bruises the next day.

“No, I’ll be right here. I’ll always be
here,” Ben said, kissing my forehead and stroking my wet hair.

He retrieved some dry clothes from his locker
and looked away, giving me some privacy to change. I peeled off my
wet t-shirt and jeans, toweled myself, and put on his dry shorts
and shirt, which smelled delightfully of him—fresh and somehow
strong, like him. The feeling of panic subsided, and I could feel
myself growing calmer.

“Okay, you can turn around,” I said.

He turned around and smiled, putting his arms
around me.

“Looks good,” he said, and we both laughed.
Given our height and size differences, his clothes definitely hung
on me, and I had to hold the shorts together to keep them up.

“Are you ready to go back out?” he asked.

“Not just yet. Ben, I’m so sorry about last
night. Things just haven’t been normal lately,” I said, wanting to
make amends.

“And?” he prompted.

“And I didn’t mean to hurt your
feelings.”

“And?”

“Okay, and I love you.”

“Now, was that so hard?” he asked, squeezing
my arm.

I started to feel a little better. I began to
have a strong suspicion, though, that his responsiveness to Angela
was more to send me a message than to encourage her. I wondered if
she knew that.

He pulled one of my wet curls and smiled down
at me.

We left the locker room, where Annie and Zack
stood waiting for us. Everyone else had already disappeared except
for Angela, who still sat in the bleachers. She smirked at me as I
came out.

“Are you okay?” Annie asked, hugging me to
her.

“Yeah,” I said, starting to feel really
embarrassed. I could feel the blush creep into my cheeks.

“Zack and a couple of the guys wanted to go
fishing,” Ben said. “Will you be okay?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of her,”
Annie said.

“We won’t be too long,” Ben said, flashing me
one of his best smiles.

“I’m taking her to the mall,” Annie answered.
Shopping was her remedy for everything. I didn’t feel much like
going, but I didn’t want to go home, either.

“I think I need to dry my hair first,” I
said, laughing a little. I was glad I didn’t feel so anxious. My
eyes darted to the pool, and I couldn’t help but wonder what lurked
beneath the surface of the water, now serene. My feet must have led
me there because I was to the edge and almost over again before I
knew it, almost as though I was led beyond my control.

“Whoa, there,” Ben said, taking me by the
arms and pulling me back. Zack, Annie, and he cast worried glances
at each other. Ben took a firm grasp of waist to steer me away from
the side.

“Let’s meet up for dinner,” Ben suggested
casually, carefully avoiding what almost happened again.

“What time?” I said hesitantly.

“I’ll pick you up around six. I don’t think
the Saratoga would make it,” he said, laughing a little
nervously.

“Ha-ha. Very funny,” I answered, glad that he
was teasing me in a familiar way after the trauma I’d had.

Just before we left the pool, he pulled me
close and kissed me, almost directly in front of Angela’s line of
sight. I could feel her fume, her eyes burning into my back.

Take that, I thought smugly.

Later that afternoon, Annie and I drove to
the mall in Daytona. I knew she wanted to distract me, and after
seeing Angela, I decided I was long overdue for some decent
clothes. Since I wasn’t making them anymore, I needed to buy them.
And I didn’t want to go home and contemplate what had happened to
me, an eerily similar disaster to the one in my dream.

Shopping in general bored me, but Annie could
do it for hours. I was glad she was with me; it helped take my mind
off of the humiliating and frightening morning. She didn’t once
mention that I almost drowned.

“So I saw Ben make out with you right in
front of Angela,” she said as we started out of DeLand. Annie loved
gossip almost as much as clothes.

“Yeah,” I replied. I usually didn’t like
public displays of affection, but I was grateful today that he’d
shown how he felt about me in front of her.

“You’re so lucky,” Annie mused. I was a
little irritated at this. I knew he was gorgeous and, well, I
wasn’t, but still.

“Maybe Ben sees something deeper than just
looks,” I retorted, a little too sharply.

Annie looked hurt. “No, I didn’t mean that,
Em, honestly. It’s just that everybody knows what kind of girl
Angela is and what boys are into and all.”

“Huh?” I wasn’t following.

“You know,” she said, giving me a knowing
eyebrow raise.

“Well, obviously I don’t,” I answered.

“Come on. Think about it. Isn’t Ben always
trying to make out with you? And let’s face it, Angela puts it out
there.”

“I don’t think Ben is tempted by that.”

“All boys are tempted by that,” she said
matter-of-factly.

That gave me pause. Ben and I had always
taken things slowly. Annie had pestered me, wanting the details of
our first kiss when it had happened several months ago. She
couldn’t believe we’d waited so long, but I was old-fashioned. I
thought Ben was too. Her words made me think; did he feel tempted
by Angela? Had I put the brakes on our relationship a little too
hard?

We pulled into the parking lot of the mall
and entered by the food court.Annie immediately found two stores
where she wanted to shop. We wandered around for several hours, and
I still hadn’t found anything I really liked. Seven stores, one ice
cream cone, and five outfit try-ons later and I was sure I wasn’t
going to find anything.

“One last shop, Em, come on,” Annie said,
pulling my arm in the direction of a vintage store we’d overlooked
on our way in.

“Okay, but that’s it,” I replied. “We’ve got
to go soon so I have time to get ready for tonight.”

“Is Ben taking you somewhere nice?” she
asked.

“I don’t know. He said ‘dinner at six,’ but I
don’t know where.”

A strange feeling came over me as we entered
the store. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed this place before. A
mannequin in the window wore the most unusual dress I’d ever seen.
I loved it on sight.

I pulled Annie in, asking the sales girl if
they had my size.

“You’re in luck; the only one in stock is in
the window, and it’s a six,” she answered, checking the tag and
taking the dress down for me to try on.

Annie just looked at me with disbelieving
eyes. It had a very old-fashioned cut, even for my tastes. I didn’t
care. I felt curiously drawn to the ivory dress, which featured
wide sleeves that opened from the elbow down. The waist parted to
reveal a golden lace underskirt. Normally, I didn’t go for
something quite this old-fashioned, but something compelled me to
try it on. I knew it looked almost like a costume, but it seemed so
familiar to me.

I quickly undressed in the fitting rooms and
put on the dress, which fit like it was made for me. I stared at
myself for a moment and then knew. I looked like I had in the
dream. The dress looked familiar because it was.

I came out of the room and modeled for Annie,
who looked at me, surprised.

“Wow, you look amazing,” she said, looking me
over. “But won’t it be a little dressy for tonight?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said a little
sadly.

She was right; I didn’t really have an
occasion for the dress. Still, it felt so right. I didn’t want to
take it off.

I decided to make the purchase anyway and
worry about where to wear it later.

We left, Annie chatting about the fall fling
our school had every year as we entered the parking lot.

“That’s where I’ll wear it,” I said,
interrupting her.

“Wear what?” Annie asked, already forgetting
my dress.

“The dress,” I reminded her.

“Oh yeah, I guess so…” she replied a little
doubtfully, thinking, I was sure, of the older cut of the gown. I’d
never been too trendy anyway, so it didn’t bother me. And Ben
probably wouldn’t even notice. He always told me I looked great. It
was a definite plus having him around.

“It should be okay…” she started slowly,
“except that you aren’t supposed to wear white after Labor
Day.”

“Oh, come on. You really are the fashion
police,” I said, rolling my eyes at her.

“I’m just saying…”

“Well, it’s ivory, anyway,” I compromised.
“That’s off-white, right?”

We both looked at each other and started
laughing. I felt normal for the first time since having the
dream.

****

I decided against telling Aunt Jo that I’d
almost drowned. It would only worry her, and I really just wanted
to forget it. I’d just wear jeans for a few days while my bruises
healed.

It was almost time for Ben to arrive, and I
wondered where we were going. It wasn’t like him to be late. I had
to get a move on.

I wished I could have worn my new dress or
even one of the old dresses I’d made over a year ago, but they
didn’t fit anymore. I’d definitely grown taller over the last year,
something I was thankful for. I was only about five-foot-four—not
exactly short, but not exactly tall either, especially when I stood
beside Ben.

Though I loved my new dress, I knew that,
unless we were going to a costume ball, it wasn’t exactly right for
whatever Ben had planned. I decided instead to wear the only other
dress that fit, fortunately a long black one that I knew he liked.
They hid my legs fairly well, though there were still visible marks
around my ankles, as though someone really had grabbed at them in
the pool.

I had dismissed the whole notion of someone
pulling me down. Someone would have seen something, right? It was
totally ridiculous, a mind trick just before unconsciousness hits.
I’d been thinking about my dream all that morning, so it was only
natural that I’d conjure the scary woman from the deep, right? And
I couldn’t remember whether or not I’d hit anything on my way in or
out of the pool. I thought it most likely that Ben and Zack had
accidently done it when they pulled me out. I told myself that it
all made good rational sense. So why didn’t I believe it?

As I dressed, I heard the doorbell. I asked
Aunt Jo to finish zipping me, careful not to let her see my legs,
and quickly went to answer the door, my black heels—a legacy from
Mom—still in my hand.

His smile told me everything I needed to
know.

“Hello, Gorgeous,” he said, presenting me
with pink roses, my favorite flowers because of my mother, who’d
also loved roses.

I could feel the blush starting on my face,
but Aunt Jo saved me.

“You kids have fun. Not too late, Em,” she
reminded me, taking the flowers to put them in the only vase we
had. Aunt Jo pulled it out for special occasions. I wondered if she
and Ben were cohorts. She had that vase a little too handy when the
doorbell rang.

“Don’t worry, Miss Jo. I’ll have Emily home
before eleven,” Ben assured her.

He opened the front door for me and winked at
my Aunt, who shook her head. Like me, Aunt Jo had liked his
cheerfulness from first sight.

When I saw that he’d dressed up, I wondered
what he had in mind.

He grinned at me.

“It’s a surprise,” he answered as if reading
my mind.

I looked sideways at him as we drove along. I
loved the light at dusk, the way it bathed his features in the soft
early evening glow. He turned to smile at me, reaching for my hand.
The feeling of security our relationship gave me had been a
mainstay in my life, especially since I’d lost Mom, and I knew
Annie was right in more ways than one when she said I was the
luckiest girl in school.

We turned into his parents’ drive, which was
empty.

“So where are your Mom and Dad tonight?” I
asked.

“They’re visiting Jake for parents’ weekend,”
he replied, parking the pick-up in front of the garage. We’d often
laughed about that. The garage was mainly filled with overflow junk
from the attic, mostly fishing and camping gear. They had to park
their cars out in front. The Harmons were definitely not neat
freaks.

Jake played football at the University of
Florida, and though Ben and his family were very proud of him, I
knew Ben missed his brother.

“I’ve got the house all to myself this
weekend,” he said.

Some parents couldn’t trust their kids to
stay at home alone for a few hours, let alone an entire weekend,
but Ben’s parents felt the way my Aunt Jo did about me. They
trusted Ben.

He jumped out of the pick-up, came around,
and opened the door for me.

“After you,” he said, gallantly helping me
down.

The outside of his parents’ house had the
definite look of a house built in the 1970’s, but the inside had an
art deco feel, with bold colors and stark lines. Tonight, however,
I wasn’t paying much attention to the décor.

Ben had spread the front entry way with more
rose petals, which made a little path from the front door to the
sliding glass leading to the back deck.

“Did you buy out the florist?” I teased.

He smiled, gesturing that I should follow the
path he’d made with the petals.