The Lake (The Lake Trilogy, Book 1) (7 page)

“So…you decided to leave the compound, eh?” he says.

“Yeah, Claire wanted to go shopping, so I let her drag me out. We just had lunch and were hitting this place before we went home.” I have to make myself look away a couple of times. I’ve been staring at him and do not want to be
that
girl. I’m sure he’s got plenty of girls after him and the adoring gaze probably gets old. Besides, I am not an option in Will Meyer’s world so why torture myself.

“Oh, cool. Well...I’m meeting some friends for a movie and then a late dinner. This would be a great chance for you to meet them. Do…you…want to come?” He hesitates over the last part. I wonder if he’s just being polite
, but he didn’t have to say anything to me in the first place, so maybe he really wants me to come. “What d’ya say?”

Claire approaches us before I have a chance to reply. “Hey Will! What d’ya say to what?”

“Will’s meeting some friends for a movie and dinner, and asked if I wanted to go with them. Is it ok if I go? I don’t have to. I mean…they weren’t planning on me being there, so I don’t want to impose.” I’m rambling, but I want to give him an out if he needs one.

“You’re not imposing, Layla. I invited you. I want you to come.” He says my name and I lose focus for a split second. “Mrs. Weston, I can drive her home, if it’s ok with you that she comes.” Charming…yet again.

“I think that’s a great idea. It’ll give you a chance to make some more friends before school starts, Layla.” With that, Claire takes out $50 in cash from her wallet and insists I take it. I tell her it’s too much, but there’s no arguing. I’ve never even seen a $50 bill in person.  “Find any books you’d like to get? I found three that I’m sure will be added to the ‘I’ll get around to it one day’ shelf. Luke will be so pleased!” she giggles.

“Thanks,” I say as I put the cash in my back pocket. “I didn’t find anything.”

Will says the movie is starting soon so I thank Claire for the money, shopping, and lunch, and promise not to be home too late. There’s a theater in this shopping center, too. Will and I walk the five minutes from the bookstore.

“How was your first adventure away from home?” he asks, holding the door for me as we exit the store.

“Um…it was fine. Shopping, lunch, girl stuff. What movie are we seeing?” I ask changing the subject from me.

“I think it’s some parody movie. It should be stupid enough. Is that ok?”

“Yeah, that’s perfect actually.” I could use something I don’t have to get emotionally involved in. My emotions are on enough of a roller coaster as it is being around Will right now. “How’s the project going with Luke? Making any headway? He won’t let me look down there, so don’t give me any details of the project.”

“It’s going pretty well. He has a lot he wants to do, so it’s going to take a while. Guess that means I’ll be in your way
for a while.” He smiles at me for what seems like eternity and I feel my heart in my throat. Why does he look at me that way? I’m sure he’d stop if he knew the effect he was having.

“Guess so,” I chuckle awkwardly. There is no way Will Meyer could ever be in my way.

“Can I ask you something?” he asks.

“Sure.”
I can feel his eyes on me but don’t turn my head to meet his gaze. Walking and talking with Will takes a heightened measure of concentration.

“Mr. and Mrs. Weston, they’re your uncle and aunt, right?”

“Yes…that’s right.”

“So…um…why do you call them Luke and Claire?” He’s certain to have picked up on this considering the amount of time he’s at the house. His question leads me to believe he thinks I’m being rude, which I can’t stand.

“Hmmm…well…” I’m not sure how to explain the rift that had been the only relationship I knew between the adults in my family, which led to the estrangement of my uncle and aunt.

“I know you didn’t really know them until you came here, but, they’re still your family,” he qualifies. There’s a conviction in his voice that confirms my suspicion that he thinks I’ve been rude to Luke and Claire. There’s no way to explain without opening myself up to him. I don’t think I can do that. I don’t think he really wants me to open up either. He’s probably just correcting me so my etiquette will be more appropriate for my new surroundings. I
have
heard that people in the South place a higher level of importance on proper etiquette.

“It’s complicated,” is my best first answer.

“I’m sorry,” he says, turning his head. I can’t tell if he thinks he’s been intrusive or is giving up.

“It’s ok…really.” I want to be able to tell him, to form the words
, but I don’t even know myself. The more time I spend with Luke and Claire the more I’m utterly confused as to why my parents didn’t have a relationship with them. It makes me wonder what they would think about me living with them now.

I don’t say anything else about it and Will doesn’t ask.

We arrive at the theater and get our tickets. We’re the first ones there, which makes me glad. Standing there with Will makes me feel like his friends are joining
us
somehow and I don’t feel like a complete outsider.

We’re settled into our waiting for just a few minutes when I see Will’s friends from the Village Green concert approaching. They meet us and the introductions begin.

I am immediately and uncomfortably aware that we are equally paired off, three boys and three girls. Will smiles at me, but then I think he
must notice my discomfort and his smile fades. He turns his attention back to his friends awkwardly.

Oh,
god. What if Will thinks I think this is a date?

I have a fleeting thought of trying to telepathically tell Will I have not made that presumption; to tell him that logically
I know that if he hadn’t run into me in the bookstore it would have been the five of them, and there’s no way that was any kind of date. Even more logically that I know there’s no way on God’s green Earth that Will Meyer would ever be interested in me like that.

It
doesn’t appear that the other two couples are really couples either – no hand holding, no closer than necessary proximity – so I’m feeling a bit more at ease. Yes. As the banter and introductions begin it’s clear that no one here is anyone’s boy- or girlfriend.
You’re being ridiculous
, I tell myself.
Since when do you even pay attention to things like that?
The tension in my body releases and Will’s smile is back. Maybe I
am
telepathic.

What I am not at ease about is the fact that I am wearing a plain white t-shirt,
denim shorts, and sandals, and have my hair in its usual ponytail. The four who are now standing in front of me are perfectly put together from head to toe. All I can think is that I’m totally and completely out of place. I am, once again, utterly plain.

Caroline introduces herself first. Her hair is cut short like a pixie, but slicked to the side with a decorative bobby pin. She is absolutely and undeniably adorable.

“I’m Caroline, and this is Gwen. It’s so great to meet you!” she says giving me a hug. The embrace catches me off guard, but I reciprocate out of not wanting to be rude. It’s quick, but…nice. As she releases me her eyes catch mine. They are stunningly bright green.

“So, you’re Layla. It’s great to meet you. Will has told us all about you!” Gwen is so…perky, but not in a dumb kind of way, which is good because she is a knock
out: blonde hair, blue eyes and all.

Wait. Did she just say that Will told them about me? What could he possibly tell them?

I’m lost in the thought for a moment and stumble my way back into the conversation. “Um…it’s really nice to meet you, too. Thanks for letting me intrude on your movie night.”

Caroline cheers, “Oh my gosh! You’re not intruding! We’re just glad we’re getting to meet you before school starts. Will went on about how great you are, so we’ve been dying to meet you!”

“Well, I don’t know how great I am. Will doesn’t know me very well yet, so, we’ll see.” I say trying to downplay whatever he’s told them. My head is going through the catalog of conversations I’ve had with Will, the various, and generic, chats we’ve had around the kitchen table with Claire, discarding anything that I know is not interesting enough to pass along to anyone. By the time I’m finished I still have no idea.
              Chris and Tyler take a breather from their conversation with Will and introduce themselves to me. They are both very good-looking. Chris’ short, blonde hair reminds me of Justin Timberlake back in the day. Both he and Tyler are built like Will: strong and fit.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Chris says.
Finally?
So Will has talked about me to Chris and Tyler, too.
Why?
Then it occurs to me and the tension that was making an encore performance begins to release. Luke probably asked him to introduce me to some people and make sure I didn’t have to sit alone at lunch when school starts. Will and I are becoming friends, and he’s a genuinely nice guy, so of course he wouldn’t refuse. It makes perfect sense. I can stop wracking my brain now and enjoy the rest of the evening.

“Well…it’s really nice to meet all of you. I’ll have to find out what Will’s been telling you so I can dispel any myths,” I say with a small laugh.

“Ok, ok, you guys! Let’s get inside and find a good seat before we have to sit in the front row.” Will says ushering us all in.

I sit next to Will in the middle of our group, with the girls next to me and the guys next to him. As promised, the movie is completely stupid, but exactly what I needed. I laugh and am happy to not get emotionally involved with any of the characters. I’ve needed the break. Maybe that’s why I haven’t picked a new book yet. The stories have been an escape for me
, but my life here is so opposite of the one I left. I don’t need to escape now.  I don’t want to either.

We leave the theater and walk to the restaurant, which isn’t far. I really like this place. We didn’t have anything like it in Orlando. People went to the mall to get out of the heat. They weren’t going to walk around outside like this, that’s for sure.
Now that I think about it, I really don’t know if Orlando had anything like this. We were regulars at three places: Wal Mart, Publix, and Denny’s. Orlando could be booming with places like this, but I never got the chance to see them.

I walk with Gwen and Caroline who are not at a loss for conversation.

“Will told us your grandfather just passed. I’m so sorry. Were you very close with him?” Gwen asks.

“Thanks. Yeah, we were…close. My grandmother passed away three years ago…it was just us since then and I took care of him.” I’m trying to answer honestly. I’ll let them attach their own definition of
close
. I can tell by their silence and averting eyes that they aren’t sure how to respond to my answer to so I bail them out and change the subject. “So…what do you do for fun?” It’s a lame question, but it takes the focus off me, which I prefer, and gets them talking again.

Gwen responds quickly, grateful for the save. “Well,
sometimes we walk the trail at the nature preserve, and there’s this really great park not far from here. Caroline and I go watch these guys play whatever sport they’re in the mood to play. We get some sun and the boys play soccer, football, Frisbee…whatever.  Will’s parents won’t let him play organized sports so-”

“Hey! Let’s not bore Layla with the details of my complicated family. Who’s hungry?” Will says, cutting her off.

I can’t imagine Will’s family being
complicated
. He’s got to have everything he could ever want. They probably just don’t want him to mess up his beautiful face. I don’t blame them.

Dinner’s good at another local place. The only local restaurants I knew of back home were Chinese holes-in-the-wall and mom and pop diners that are dives. The places here are classy and have style and charm. I sit at dinner with my new friends for over two hours and can’t believe I’m actually enjoying myself. I can count on one hand the number of times I just hung out with friends over the last five years.

My nerves are dissipating and I find myself engaged in normal conversation. It’s been so long since I’ve related to people my age that I don’t think I was sure I would know what to do. It makes me nervous and I find myself fidgeting. A few deep breaths and I’m settled. Not that much better, but settled. Will is never short of conversation topics, and the others never mind adding their two cents. They make it easy to feel normal that I almost forget how out of place I am.

We prepare to leave and the girls insist on hugs before Will escorts me to his car. If I’m going to be friends with these girls for any length of time, I’m going to have to get used to that.  I’m not really a hugger, but I have to admit it was nice feeling connected to them.

As we approach Will’s car I’m surprised to see that he doesn’t drive something flashy or extravagant, like a BMW or Mercedes. Instead, he unlocks and opens the passenger side door of a simple red Prius.  I really don’t care what kind of car he drives. I’m just surprised.

We drive the fifteen minutes back to Luke and Claire’s and talk about the movie and Will’s friends. He asks what I think about them but I’m cautious to give any details beyond that I like them. I’m afraid what I say won’t come out the right way.