Raise the Curtain Read online

  Important? What did he know about what was important to her? She kept her gaze on her fingers as she continued to twist the sheet. She wanted to shout at him that the stupid test didn’t matter. Wanted to scream that the future she wanted was at stake, but she couldn’t. Defeated, she leaned her head back against the pillows, “Sure, Dad. Whatever you say.”

  Chapter 2

  His phone buzzed on his bedside table, signaling the alarm. He pulled his gaze away from the ceiling and rolled to his side. The house was quiet. Yanking a pair of boxers out of his drawer, he headed into the bathroom to shower. He needed to wash off the lingering smell of smoke from his skin and hair before his mom got home from her shift at the hospital. As the hot water pelted his body, he fought the queasiness that had been threatening him since the night before.

  He’d heard the crash before he’d seen it. The sound of tires squealing and metal bending. He’d stood frozen at the gate, unable to do more than stare, but then the flames had erupted lighting up the darkness and breaking his trance. The smoke had hindered his vision at first and brought back memories of a different wreck, but he’d kept working, forcing his mind to stay present.

  He hadn’t realized who it was inside the Explorer at first. And it didn’t matter. What mattered was getting her out. He wasn’t a little boy anymore. This time he could do something.

  West leaned his head forward and braced his hand on the shower wall, letting the water run down his back. He’d pulled her to safety. He’d won. And it hadn’t been just any stranger. It’d been Alexa. A girl who’d been in several of his classes over the last two years.

  Medium build, long brown hair and rich. It was obvious in the way she dressed and the car she drove, but she didn’t tend to hang out with the rest of the money crew. He had no idea why, nor did he care. He turned the water off and wrapped a towel around his waist. The face staring back at him in the mirror had dark circles and the whites of the eyes were a bit red. Aside from the blond hair and brown eyes, he barely recognized himself. He ran a hand over his wet hair and returned to his room.

  Across the house, keys jingled and the front door creaked shut. “West, you up?”

  “Yeah, be out in a minute,” he called through his closed bedroom door. He looked out the window and contemplated skipping school, but decided against it.

  He pulled on jeans and a gray shirt, and then grabbed his bag off the desk. He paused for a moment to stare at the guitar collecting dust in the corner. His fingers twitched, almost as if urging him to pick it up, but instead he flexed his fingers and left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

  “Morning,” his mom said when he entered the kitchen.

  “Hey.”

  “You want any breakfast?” She was flipping through the mail he’d left on the counter, still in her scrubs from work. She, too, had circles under her eyes, but he knew as soon as he left she’d be on her way to bed.

  “Nah, I’m good. I’m gonna head out.”

  She looked up at him and smiled, looking older than her forty-two years. He opened his mouth to tell her about the night before and then stopped himself. She didn’t need to hear about an accident that would remind her of all she’d lost.

  “K, well I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay, have a good day,” she said as he went out the back door.

  He started walking toward the bus stop, running his fingers through his almost-dry hair as he shuffled along. His throat was thick with guilt the way it always was after seeing his mom. She worked her ass off to support the two of them and there he was unable, or perhaps even unwilling, to talk to her. He wasn’t sure which anymore. It was easier to stay quiet.

  A few other kids stood on a corner up ahead. Most were younger than him so they left him alone, except one sophomore girl who tried to coax him into conversation on a daily basis. She was cute, but he wasn’t interested.

  “Hey, West. Are you going to the football game this Friday?”

  He squinted at her out of the corner of his eye. “Nah.”

  “Oh,” she said, sounding deflated. “If you change your mind you can sit with me and some of my friends.”

  He nodded, and she was smart enough to leave him alone when he didn’t say more. The bus arrived soon after and he climbed on, taking a seat near the back.

  He leaned his head against the cool window and then shot up when they passed the scarred trees a few minutes later. There were scorch marks where the bark used to be and tire marks through the grass, but no other sign of the wreck from the night before. The sight slammed into him and brought with it a wave of unwanted memories. He took a deep breath and tried to slow his heart rate as the bus rolled on and the noise of other people’s conversations droned on around him. His eyes darted from one seat to the next, but everyone else seemed oblivious to his abrupt change in behavior.

  His shirt clung to him under his green hoodie, and he bolted out of his seat when they finally reached the school. He needed to escape. He needed air.

  “Hey,” a guy said when West didn’t wait for his turn to get off.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled, but he kept moving, pushing his way down the aisle and off the bus. He kept his eyes down and drank in the cool air. He glanced around, but no one was paying him any attention. They didn’t realize he’d been one second away from losing it.

  “Alexa said she’s fine,” a girl with dyed blond hair said near him, “and she seemed okay, but her dad was there.”

  “That sucks, he’s scary,” Josh said from beside her. West knew Josh from last year’s physics class.

  “Yeah, he tried blaming the school and Mrs. Brale, not that he knew her name, but he was all ‘they shouldn’t keep you so late’. I was waiting for the typical lawyer I’ll sue, and lo and behold he didn’t disappoint.”

  West kept his eyes down and continued to eavesdrop on their little chat. He knew he shouldn’t, and he told himself he didn’t care, but for some reason he couldn’t make his feet move.

  “Mrs. Brale didn’t keep us that late last night. Alexa wanted to stay.”

  “Ever the perfectionist.”

  “You’re not kidding,” Josh agreed.

  West looked up toward the building and Josh caught his eye and raised his chin a little. West nodded and then watched the pair head inside. He headed for a different door. He didn’t know what had possessed him to eavesdrop. He didn’t need to keep up with Alexa’s life story. He didn’t know her beyond a passing glance in class.

  The rest of the day passed easily and when the final bell rang, he started walking. Cars full of students passed him and buses blew by in a blur of yellow; before long he turned onto a cut-through trail in the woods and the noise fell away. He headed in the direction of the familiar county road, glad to be alone.

  The gate to the cemetery was closed, but not locked. West passed through and weaved his way to the far corner where a marble slab stood with a small angel perched on the top. He stripped off his hoodie and tossed it on the ground next to his bag.

  “Hey, sis.”

  Chapter 3

  Alexa paused at the base of the stairs and let the noise of many voices and laughter raise her spirits. It was a relief to be back in the land of the normal. A buzzing sound flew by her head and her eyes popped open in time to see a drone soar into the air and then crash into an embankment in front of the school. Okay, maybe not the land of the normal, but to her people at least.

  “Hey.” Bekah bumped into her with her hip. “Ready to return to the grind?”

  “It’s better than being stuck at home with my dad another day.” Alexa stopped herself as guilt nagged at her. “I mean, my dad’s great, but—”

  “Relax, you don’t have to explain it to me. I’ve been around your dad. I know how he gets.”

  She was right. Bekah had been enduring her famil
y for nearly a decade. She’d even known them when they were whole. If anyone knew her family, it was Bekah, her best friend who owned an insane number of T-shirts and every pattern of Converse. Today’s choice? A tee with flowers floating through the air and lime green shoes. A combo few could pull off.

  They climbed the stairs together looking about as different and mismatched as possible. Bekah with her hipster style and easy nature and Alexa dressed in a skirt and ballet flats, who moved with purpose at all times. In a different setting, people might take a second look, but here in Cedar Falls everyone had witnessed each other’s transformations into the teenagers they’d become. They’d seen the graduation from overalls and pigtails to braces.

  Bekah hopped onto the last step and they agreed to meet for lunch before heading in separate directions.

  The air inside her classroom was warm and smelled of dry-erase markers. Mr. Guin, a smart man despite wearing his pants up around his armpits, hunched over his computer and squinted at the screen.

  He stood when he saw her. “Miss Cross, nice to have you back.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  A few of the people sitting in the seats around her said hello and luckily didn’t start questioning her about the accident. She didn’t want to go there. The sea of faces was as familiar to her as her own extended family. She’d known most of them since grade school, except for the occasional newbie. Another reason to get out of town. Sure, most of them were nice people, but it was time to meet new ones and see what else was out there in the world beyond the city limits.

  A chair squeaked behind her and she turned. Two rows to her left, West Howell dropped into his chair at the back of the room. Alexa faced forward again before he caught her staring. He was one person who was kind of a mystery. Compared to most, West was a newbie and though he’d lived in Cedar Falls for two years and they’d shared more than a few classes, she didn’t know much about him. He was cute, would speak when spoken to, but always sat in the back of classes. He wasn’t rude, but he didn’t seem too eager to share either. More than a few girls had tried to coax him out of his shell upon his arrival as she recalled, but none had succeeded. After a while, his newness wore off and he was forgotten like a new toy that had lost its appeal and ended up in the bottom of the toy box.

  Mr. Guin took his place in the front of the class and began explaining . . . well, something. She rarely knew what he was talking about, which probably explained why she was sporting a C average. Not a C+, a solid C. She slid her eyes to the side to sneak a peek at West. He was concentrating on spinning his pencil between his long fingers. The sun was coming in through the windows behind him and highlighting the lightest streaks of his blond hair, making it seem more gold than blond. She had to admit he was nice to look at, even if he didn’t have much to say.

  He raised his eyes and met hers before she snapped her face forward again. Heat crept into her cheeks at being caught.

  “Miss Cross, are you following okay?”

  “What?” Alexa asked, the heat intensifying.

  “I said,” he emphasized, as though she was hard of hearing, “are you having trouble following the lesson?”

  “No,” she sat up straighter, “No, sir.”

  Mr. Guin droned on about math and Alexa kept her eyes forward for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, the race began to gather up personal belongings and get out the door as fast as possible.

  “Miss Cross,” Mr. Guin stopped by the door, almost blocking her path. “I’ll see you this afternoon to make up your test. Don’t be late.”

  She nodded and turned to go, her arm bumping into someone. “Oh, sorry.”

  “No, problem.” It was West.

  She mentally kicked herself. Of course, it would be the guy who’d already caught her checking him out during class. Perfect. The day was shaping up to be awesome. She trudged down the hall and maneuvered through the mass of bodies clogging the halls.

  A welcome figure emerged beside her. “Hey. Surviving your first day back?”

  “Hey, Josh.” She pulled her hair forward on one side to help hide her raw skin. The airbag had done its job, but it had also left her with remnants of a friction burn. “Barely.”

  Josh continued to walk beside her on their way to anatomy. At least the subject matter was easier to comprehend. Whoever said math and science went hand and hand, didn’t take anatomy. Bodies were all made up the same: bones, muscles, organs, vessels. Memorize, dissect and bam, A.

  “You coming to practice later?”

  “After I get finished putting my brain through the ringer.”

  Josh raised his eyebrows.

  “I have to make up my math test,” she said.

  He nodded and slid into the seat beside her. “Megan’s been standing in for you.”

  Alexa shifted in her chair. “And?”

  He shrugged. “She’s okay. Hitting the marks, singing the songs well enough.”

  “Great. I’m one step away from getting ousted.” Alexa fell back against the chair.

  “No way. She’s getting by and I’ll admit, she isn’t embarrassing herself, but she’s not you.”

  She smiled a little. “Thanks for saying that.”

  Leave it to Josh to make her feel better. They’d bonded in middle school when they’d both turned down joining band to pursue choir. Scandalous. And then they’d caught the performing arts bug after watching the high school drama class perform Pirates of Penzance. They’d each left the auditorium wide-eyed and full of promises to join as soon as they were old enough.

  “It’s true. You need to get back out there so we can win.” Josh opened his folder and sat poised ready to take notes. As if he needed to . . . the nerd. “I’m not sporting a tail and furry mane in front of the whole school so you can drop the ball.”

  Class passed without any excitement and then she was back in the familiar hallway being bounced around like a ball in a pinball machine. Lockers opened and slammed on either side of her, and she didn’t pay much attention until she saw West opening one to her right. She avoided looking directly at him, for fear she would look like an idiot again. Twice in three hours after speaking a total of ten words in two years would be a bit much.

  Sure, he was hot, but standoffish. On top of being one of the smartest kids in their class, he had an almost bad boy quality about him, hot, broody, but an aura that said, ‘Don’t talk to me’. She kept her eyes focused in front of her until she was behind him and then, as though pulled by an invisible magnet she glanced in his direction. Inside the locker was a green hoodie.

  ~ ~ ~

  The cafeteria was the typical cyclone of chaos and chatter. The far four tables were full of fellow juniors making plans for the weekend. She knew what she would be doing; lots of practicing. She had to make up for lost time before Megan decided it was her time to shine. “So,” Bekah said around a mouthful of carrot. “What’s got you so distracted?”

  Alexa continued to focus on her untouched pizza. “Math.”

  Bekah watched her, burrowing holes into her with her eyes. “You don’t think I’m buying that, do you?”

  Alexa sat up and leveled her gaze at her friend. “Okay, you’re right.”

  “Of course I am.” Bekah smiled and then bit into another carrot.

  “It’s just that, well . . . I mean, what if you believed something to be true, but there’s no way it could be true. You know? I mean, there’s no way.”

  Bekah studied her, eyes squinted. “What makes you so sure said thing is true?”

  “I saw evidence.”

  “Uh-huh.” Bekah said.

  “I think I’m right, which makes no sense.”

  “Speaking of making no sense, at some point in this conversation, not that I don’t enjoy these little games, but at some point, are you going to tell m
e what in the world you’re talking about? It would be helpful.”

  Alexa leaned in toward Bekah. “Remember in the hospital when I told you someone else was there, you know, the night of the wreck?”

  “Yeah, some mystery guy pulled you out of the car.” Bekah fanned herself. “I have dreams about it. Except, I see his face and he’s hot and we run off together and leave all this,” she gestured around the cafeteria, “behind.”

  “Very funny, but seriously, I think I know who it was.”

  Bekah’s eyes grew wide, the carrot in her hand forgotten. “Do tell.”

  She took a deep breath. “I think it was West.” Alexa watched as her best friend’s face went from blank to confused to smiling.

  “Yeah, okay. How hard did you hit your head? West? As in, two-word-vocabulary-guy who sits in the back row and doesn’t have any friends?”

  “Shh.” Alexa glanced over her shoulder. “Yes, that West.”

  “What makes you think it was him? You said there was evidence.” Bekah lowered her voice to a whisper.

  “A green hoodie.” Alexa put a lot of feeling in her words as though she could make Bekah understand by sheer force of will.

  “Sure, a hoodie. Makes sense.” Bekah leaned back in her chair again. “No, I lied. I don’t follow.”

  Alexa rolled her eyes and huffed. “The guy who pulled me out of the car was wearing one.”

  “And he owns what, like, the only green hoodie in the entire world?”

  She fell back against her chair and tore a bite off the rectangle piece of pizza. Bekah wasn’t wrong. Alexa was being insane to think West would come to her aide. And yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling she was right. She wished the memories of the night of the wreck weren’t so jumbled up in her head. Maybe then she would be able to remember more clearly.