“Well for not knowing how to be led you adapt pretty quickly.” He smiles and tilts his glass towards me.
“Thanks.” I tilted my glass back in an unofficial toast. “So who taught you how to dance like that?”
He breaths out a sigh, and I see sadness creep into his eyes. “My sister Lauren. She was two years older than me, and the summer before my freshman year of high school she decided she was going to teach me how to dance. She told me that there are few things in life that a woman finds sexier than a man who can make her laugh, and a man that can dance. I wasn’t given a choice: she was going to make me learn one way or another.” He smiles, but it makes him appear sadder somehow.
“Well, it does sound like your sister was a smart woman.” I pat his arm.
“She was. She helped me keep my sanity. I was always the smallest, the youngest, and the worst hockey player in the house. She took pity on me and helped me recognize and develop my other strengths. Like school work, and even dancing.” He sighs.
“You miss her, don’t you?” I say sympathetically.
“Yeah I do, but she made me swear before I left that I would never have any regrets.”
“How could she, unless—”
“I told her,” he admits.
“And she let you go?” I’m stunned.
“She was a little reluctant at first, but she trusts me. She never knew exactly what the project was, because I didn’t know at the time, but she knew I thought it was my best chance at happiness, and that was enough. She said she would rather never see me again but know that I was happy. It was hard to leave her, but I knew if I stayed she would return to Maine to help me. I couldn’t do that to her; she had a full college scholarship, and she was in love. I couldn’t let her give that up.” Ryan feigns a cough and takes a drink of water, but I notice him wipe his eyes on his sleeve.
“Wow, she sounds like she was something.” I reach to pat his arm again, but he moves it and I end up grabbing his hand. I give his hand a quick squeeze, but he takes a moment before he lets it go.
His attention suddenly shifts to someone on the dance floor. “Who’s that?”
“Who’s who?” I ask, looking in the same direction as Ryan. Initially I look over at the rest of the group dancing together. Jeremy and Jake are mock fighting over who gets to dance with Molly. Zachary is dancing with Sarah, and Wendy is dancing with Adam. They have both recently started dating. Troy is wrapped tightly in Hazel’s arms.
Andi
, for once, had been wrong. The newness didn’t wear off, only intensified. They are now engaged and will be married in a little over a month.
Finally I see the ‘who’ Ryan is referring to. Now that I see them, I realize just how impossible it is for anybody
not
to notice them.
Andi
is smack in the middle of the dance floor with a tall boy. He has a round baby face and black hair spiked in every direction. They’re both looking at each other with big doe eyes. It’s a bit nauseating to watch.
“I’ve never seen him before.” I continue to watch as they slowly turn in a circle, even though it is a fast song that’s playing.
“Do you think someone spiked her drink?” Ryan looks worried.
“No, she doesn’t look drugged; she looks
twitterpated
.” I stare at
Andi
in disbelief and wonder if that’s what me and Brody looked like when we first met.
“Twitter what?” he stammers.
“It’s a phrase from
Bambi
. Do you remember the scene where the skunk and the rabbit instantly fall head-over-heels in love?” I gesture towards
Andi
, currently the perfect example of what I mean.
“Oh yeah,
twitterpated
. That’s a good description. It’s a little sickening to watch, though.” He rolls his eyes.
“I know what you mean. But we probably should watch just to make sure your first theory isn’t right.”
We watch them dance through the next three songs, totally oblivious to everyone else. I’m getting ready to walk over and pry them apart when
Andi
finally separates from him and walks back over to the table.
“Well?” I ask as she stares at me like she’s shell-shocked. “Are you going to tell us who that was?” I smirk.
“That was Jackson. Isn’t he dreamy?”
It’s just too strange seeing
Andi
this way. “Okay, Ryan, I think your first guess was right. We might want to get her down to the hospital.” I shake my head and start to laugh. That’s when
Andi
finally snaps out of it.
“Hey! I didn’t laugh when it was you and Brody on the dance floor, did I?” She stamps her foot at me and I laugh even harder – until I notice the annoyed look on Ryan’s face, but by the time I glance back to see his expression again, the look is gone.
“I hope we didn’t look that bad,” I say through my hand. I still can’t control my giggling and may be well on my way to a laughing fit.
“Well if that’s how you’re going to be.”
Andi
crosses her arms and turns her back toward me.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” I grab my water and chug some, hoping to keep the giggles at bay. “I really am happy for you. I’m glad you’ve met someone. It was just a bit surprising to watch you lose yourself like that for a while.” I do my best to look serious and somber. “So when are you going to see each other next?”
“Tomorrow for dinner.”
Andi
uncrosses her arms and gives me a scrutinizing look, wanting to make sure I’m actually done laughing.
“Okay, let’s make a deal: I won’t tease you anymore about the dance floor, and tomorrow night after dinner you’ll tell me all the details about your first date. Deal?” I try my best to look as sincere as possible.
“Deal.”
Andi’s
smile returns to her face, and I’m forgiven.
“It’s getting late, and we have a busy day tomorrow. I’m heading back to the dorm. Are you coming,
Andi
?” I stand and wait for her answer.
“No. You’re not completely forgiven yet, and besides, I feel like some more dancing before bed. I’ll see you later.” She hops off the stool and skips over to join Jeremy, Jake and Molly on the dance floor. I can’t help but notice that Jeremy looks perturbed. For a while there, I thought the two of them would end up together.
“I’m heading back too. I’ll walk you to your dorm, if you want.” Ryan stands up and holds out his arm for me to hold. “My lady.” Somehow he manages to keep his face straight. I, on the other hand, burst out laughing.
“I don’t know what has gotten into you tonight, but I kind of like your silly side.” I hop up and grab his arm, adding, “Kind sir.”
“You just haven’t spent enough time with me outside of work.” He holds the door open as we step outside. “So I guess
Andi
does everything with her usual flair, even falling for a guy.”
“I guess,” I say, not honestly sure if I agree. “It was certainly strange to watch,” I add, but I don’t really want to talk about it, so instead I reach up and tussle Ryan’s hair.
“
Hey
.” He reaches up and straightens it, as usual.
“You seem so carefree on the dance floor. Why does your hair getting messy bother you?”
“It’s not vanity; it just doesn’t feel right.” He shrugs his shoulders, unable to explain any better.
“Well I think it looks better a little messy, but if it bothers you that much I can stop,” I offer.
“Nah, it’s not like someone of your short stature can reach it most of the time anyway.” He stands as straight as possible and places his hands in front of him, so I can’t reach.
“That sounds like a challenge.”
I laugh as I try to dart around his arm. He turns too quickly for me and then starts to jog away from me.
“Only if you can catch me,” he taunts, picking up the pace. He keeps just far enough ahead of me so that I don’t stand a chance of reaching him. Before we know it, we’re at the door to my dorm. Both of us are lightly panting from our little jog. I just hope I didn’t give myself a blister trying to run in heels.
“It’s nice seeing your silly side, too.” Ryan holds the dorm door open for me. “Have a good night.” For a brief moment, we both just stand there, frozen by the energy snapping and crackling between us.
“Thanks. You too. See you tomorrow.”
I quickly duck into the dorm and disappear, feeling unnerved by whatever had just happened between us.
Chapter 12
I’m up early the next morning. I quickly eat my breakfast and stop by the supply store. They have all the cameras ready and waiting for me. When I arrive at the field lab, the rest of my team is already there. We pack our bags in silence, while we wait for the security detail to arrive. Any trace of last night’s festivities has been replaced by anxiety.
“Did the soldiers decide to sleep in?” Jake huffs impatiently.
“They’re not late; we’re all early. They should be here at seven.” I’m feeling just as impatient. Now that I have my bag packed, there isn’t anything to keep me distracted.
“I don’t like the look of those clouds. It could rain on us,” Ryan says as he looks out the window.
“I hope it does rain, but after we finish placing the cameras.”
I start rechecking my bag to have something to do.
“Why do you want it to rain?” Molly asks, confused.
“If we get a nice heavy rainstorm after placing the cameras it will wash away most of our scent. There’s a good chance the creature will avoid the area until our scent has dissipated. The rain will speed things up.”
I start to pace, feeling edgy.
“Well I hope the security detail is punctual; we’ll need to hurry it up to beat the rain.”
Now Ryan’s pacing too. We’re all feeling impatient. Fortunately, before any of us completely lose our temper, the security detail arrives, led by Dean.
We quickly show the soldiers the cleaned-up recording of the creature. Then I make sure everyone has a map of the area, and point out where we will be placing the cameras. Dean explains that there will be one soldier paired up with each scientist. It will be their job to look out for us while we place the cameras. Dean and another soldier, Thomas, will be the lookouts for the whole group. They will alert us the second they hear or see anything.
We grab our gear and head out into the field. I look up at the sky and pray that the rain holds off long enough. For the first time, this world truly feels alien to me. I have come to think of these fields as our home. We’ve walked them countless times and never once felt threatened. But all that has changed. The tall, sun-dried grass speckled with wildflowers is no longer a thing of beauty, but a place for monsters to hide and wait to pounce. Every sound we hear makes our eyes dart around searching for the source.
Our approach startles a bird that was hiding in the grass. As it takes flight, we all jump, and Molly lets out a cry of shock. Once we realize what happened, we all laugh nervously.
“Come on; let’s pick up the pace. The sooner we get these cameras placed the sooner we can all relax,” I encourage everyone. Mentally I note that we’re also running out of time. I notice the clouds in the sky are drifting faster – a telling sign that the storm is quickly approaching.
We reach the area where the creature had chased the
enux
. I point Molly and Ryan in the direction of the first camera to be placed. Jake and I head toward the second position. It’s a large pine tree that stands by itself in the field. I grab the gaffs out of my bag, strap them on my legs, wrap the climbing belt around the trunk and climb halfway up the tree. I drop one end of a rope down to Jake. He ties a bag with cameras onto it, and I hoist them towards me. I attach a camera to each side of the tree. The branches are sparse enough at this height that I have most of the field covered from this one vantage point. I program the cameras to activate as soon as any of the motion detectors in the area are triggered. Then I place a small solar panel beside them to keep the batteries charged. Satisfied with my work I climb back down. Ryan walks over, and motions for Jake to join Molly.
“What’s wrong?” I sigh. Looking at his face, I can see he’s angry for some reason.
“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone, you know,” he admonishes.
“What are you talking about?” I re-pack the gaffs and start heading towards the next camera placement.
“That little stunt you just pulled was reckless and dangerous. You could have killed yourself,” he hisses at me.
“I knew what I was doing.” I grab the next camera out of the bag and continue my work, determined not to let him rile me and goad me into a fight. I had thought our bickering was a thing of the past, and I’m not anxious to have it return.
“Knowledge isn’t the same as experience. If you wanted to place the cameras up in the tree, you should have let us know. I’ve climbed trees before, I have experience. I could have done it without anyone getting hurt.” His whispered argument has clearly caught the attention of the guards assigned to each of us. I notice they are both smirking at us.
“First of all, it was marked on the map; second, no one got hurt. And finally, I have the experience, and not just the knowledge on how to climb. You shouldn’t assume.” I continue to work with my back toward him, refusing to let his tantrum break my stride. “Can you hand me some strapping so I can secure the camera?” I hold out my hand for the strapping, and he slaps it into my grip.