Night of Terror: Pt 2

Kale couldn’t believe that every time he saw her, he still got that pit falling feeling in his stomach, those tingles that ran through him. He shouldn’t be like this, he told himself. Friends don’t act like this. He was lucky enough to be her friend, he told himself. He’d been brave to go sit by her in that seventh grade science class. Having been told she’d robbed a deli, gotten away, and then later caught was a little hard to believe. All day he’d wanted to ask her what really happened, and just his luck, she’d been sitting by herself in the back of the class.

Mae had seemed conceited and selfish when she spoke that first day but really, he knew she couldn’t be like that. That was probably what gave him the nerve to challenge her, like her knew her. Why, he wondered, did she never speak up, stand out, or even told the truth. He never had asked about what really happened, she would tell him, he had no doubt, but he just never did. Why, we wondered still, did no one ever actually see her. He saw her, he thought. Maybe he could ask her out. Maybe, he could get up the courage to finally—

"So, when are we going to do this?" The words were slurred and slow as Mark stumbled up with Karla clutched to him. His arm rapped loosely around her waist while he still held the near empty beer bottles in his other hand. He reeked of alcohol and walked closer up to him. Draping an arm on Kale’s shoulder he said, "So?" The sent burned his eyes and made them water. He never could figure out why people liked that stuff. Then he wasn’t really paying attention. Mae had walked to the doors –- probably to escape Mark -- and was pushing it open and closed by inches. The moonlight lit up her hair; making the brown hair seem black. She was beautiful. He’d tell her that tonight. He was going to, he told himself.

He looked behind him when he heard soft murmuring and footsteps and saw Nick practically drag Stacy up. Nick rolled his eyes at Kale. You have to have a lot of patience to deal with a girlfriend like Stacy. "So?" Mark prodded even more. Kale was still watching Mae.

"Quit it Mark," Nick said halfheartedly. Both of us knew it was no use to even try to stop Mark. Karla had to be smart enough to not actually like him. Then again, she probably wasn’t that smart. Kale was in her English class. Talk about dumb.

Kale was remembering the time he had been partnered up with her and she didn’t even know who Walt Whitman was, when he heard the faint rumbling of a car’s hum. It was inching closer, he could tell. He didn’t really think, just sort of dove towards the door, colliding with Mae in the process. He clutched her shoulders to prevent her from falling, but the unlocked, swing doors sent them both tumbling through the doors and they fell tangled to the floor. Kale stared down at her beneath him and her eyes widened in shock. The other four were just making it in when the car rolled around the corner. Mark staggered in and stepped on Mae’s hand. She felt the pain shoot through her arm. Instinctively, she built up a scream, but it was shushed as Kale slammed his hand over her mouth.

This is awkward, Kale though. He bet her hand stung and his weight was probably crushing her. She was breathing hard and fast, the air pulled out of her lungs. Kale was thinking about pushing off her but he didn’t dare move. If it was a patrol car, they were toast. Mae pushed his hand away from her mouth, grabbing at his wrist and holding on. The car had slowed down, almost to a stop and was right outside the doors.

Mae squirmed beneath him and it took all he had not to bolt from the room. He was straining to hear when the stupid car would leave so he wouldn’t have to feel every damn curve and shape of Mae beneath him. He slowly started to lift himself onto all fours, but it was a little difficult for him to do with Mae clutching his wrist like a life support. He gave up and to just lay there, trying to hold his weight off her with his other hand. She was breathing pretty hard, and he didn’t know if that was from his weight, or just because of the car outside the door. He turned his head and saw Nick staring at him. Nick smirked and winked at him. Nick would pay for that, Kale thought. He didn’t really need to be reminded that Mae was beneath him. Just when he thought he couldn’t take it any longer. The car slowly pulled away, and the lights faded along with the rolling noise.

Mae was still grasping his arm when the car left. She looked up and he was frowning, in concentration it looked like to her, staring at his wrist, the one she was still holding. Slowly, she unclasped her fingers and tried to slow her breathing.

It was about time, Kale thought. He rolled off her and was lying on his back beside her when Nick said, "Anyway, what’re we going to do again?" Very subtle way to break the uncomfortable silence, he thought.

Kale sat up and finally pushed himself to a standing position, pushing his hands into his pockets, clearly uncomfortable and embarrassed. Mae was still lying down and she saw Kale looking at her and she sat up too. She didn’t stand; she was too unsteady and was still trying to calm her breathing.

"So we ready for a wild night?" Mark hollered, grinning like a fool, still holding onto the beer bottles.

"SHHH!" Karla whispered. "What if the car is waiting over there?" She looked truly frightened and was clinging to Mark, her auburn hair swinging over her shoulders as she leaned dramatically over, trying to look out the door for the car.

"Yeah, right, Karla. That hunk-a-junk is long gone. It wasn’t even a patrol car. Huh, Kale? Oh wait, you couldn’t really see, huh? I thought you looked distracted." He was looking right at Mae when he said that and she blushed deep red, swinging her hair to hide her face, pretending to look for the car too. That brief glance at her flushed face made Kale go mad.

"Yeah, distracted, funny Nick," Kale said, "everybody’s laughing." He tried using sarcasm. He tended to do that when he was most uncomfortable and to avoid the topic that made him feel that way. It was dark in the room, lobby, whatever, but Mae could see Nick wink and waggle his eyebrows at her.

"Anyway," she said loudly, standing up, "are we going to race in the elevators or what?" Kale was staring at her intently, trying to figure out what made him tick when he was near her. Still, he noticed Mark and Karla swagger over to the foot of the steps and lean heavily against the side.

"Sure," Nick agreed. "I’ll go with Stacy and you can go with Kale. That alright?" He wasn’t very good pretending to look innocent. "I’m thinking those two are trashed by now." He pointedly looked at Mark and Karla, slouched together in the corner of the stairs. "But we can race. You still want to, right?" Again, that innocent look. If he does that one more time, both Kale and Mae thought, I’m going to shoot him.