FlyAway *17*

-17-

    Chris stretched, rolled her neck, and brought her fingers back down onto the battered black keyboard of her beat up silver Toshiba. The laptop had been a graduation present from Kyle, almost four years ago. She was now working on her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She went to a large university not too far from where she’d been living in California with Kyle and his wife, Natalie, for the last five years.
    It had been a long time since she’d left her hometown. She was twenty-one now, and still rather small for her age. She had grown to about 5’6”, but that was basically all that had changed. She’d kept her strange sense of style--unless she was in class--and maintained the blonde-and-black coloring of her hair. She hadn’t been back to visit her parents or her brother and Vanna in a long time. As a matter of fact, she had missed Vanna’s baby shower and bachelorette party. It was May now; Ethan and Vanna had been married for six months.
    The teal-eyed girl yawned hugely and blinked her grainy eyes. It was midnight--she’d been up since this time yesterday--and she was putting the finishing touches on her term paper. Graduation was two weeks away; she would get her bachelor’s with honors. Then it was back in school for the summer quarter to start her master’s. Oh, joy.
    She’d put every last bit of herself into her schooling for the last five years. When she was a senior in high school, she’d jumped into Running Start and had managed, by way of summer and online classes, to complete the courses required for an associate of arts degree. This had kept her from having a real social life, but Chris didn’t care. She still didn’t have many friends in college, but that was no concern of hers. People didn’t matter much to her anymore. They were cruel.
    Chris kept glancing up above her desk to a small picture frame mounted on the wall. In it was a picture of Chris in the park back in her hometown, sitting on the merry-go-round, laughing like a fiend. It wasn’t the picture that drew her attention; it was the fact that she knew what was hidden behind it. A well-read note had been stuck in the back of the picture, and sometimes she would still take it out to smooth out the wrinkled page and look over the words. She almost couldn’t read it anymore.
    “Chris?” a cool, pleasant voice called out. It was Natalie. The black-haired, dark brown-eyed woman came downstairs in a deep purple bathrobe, cupping her elbows in her hands. “What are you still doing up? Don’t you have class tomorrow?”
    “Yeah,” Chris replied, quickly. “I just need to get this paper finish-”
    “Hon, you’ve had Kyle and I look that paper over a hundred times. It was perfect last I checked, and the first time I checked. There’s nothing else to do on it. Hon, you’re valedictorian. It’ll be that way all through college. I know it will. I think you’ll get your doctorate summa cum laude. Maybe you should stop worrying about it.”
    “But I’m not sure if-”
    “Chris. Sweetheart. Please. I am twenty-six years old. I’ve been in college for my bachelor’s already. I’ve seen many term papers, and not one compares to that one. Just save what you have, put your laptop away, and go to sleep.”
    “I don’t-”
    “If you won’t do it for me, do it for the sake of being alive during class tomorrow.”
    Chris opened her mouth to argue, but thought twice and shut it with a snap. She nodded, smiling tightly at Natalie, and turned to do as she’d been asked. Natalie smiled appreciatively, heading back toward the stairs to join her husband. Once she was gone, Chris slunk into her bedroom downstairs, plugged her laptop in, and opened it back up.
    The ghostly glow of the screen played over Chris’ face. She opened up a search engine and typed in a familiar name. Thousands of results sprang up, none of which were the one she was looking for. She tried looking at images, and found nothing there, either. She sighed, heavily, and shut the computer. She crawled into bed, pulling the light covers over her shoulders, and laid her head down to try and sleep. An arm snaked around her waist, and she yelped in surprise.
    “Woah! Calm down, Chris. It’s just me.” The rumble of a familiar voice calmed her, and she turned to smack her friend in the arm.
    “Damn you, Zach! You can’t do that to me!” She sat up and reached to flick on the light, but he stopped her.
    He was a twenty-three year old from some of her minor classes. He was a fine arts major, specializing in theater. He had blue-black hair and hazel eyes that shone with merriment. He kept himself in shape, and he was a rather handsome man; however, Chris did not find herself attracted to him.
    “C’mon, Chris. I was just messing with you. I wondered if you wanted to go get something to eat.”
    “It’s late, Zach. What is there to do at midnight? I’m tired, anyway! And how did you get in here?”
    “Well… remember when you said I could stop by any time?”
    “I didn’t mean literally!”
    “Anyway, I knocked earlier and you didn’t answer, but I knew you were in here. I’ve just been here for five minutes or so. Your window was open,” he pointed to a large pane of glass across the room, “-and I closed it for you. From in here, of course.”
    She rolled her eyes and stood. “Not funny, Z.”
    “Aw, everything’s funny to me, C.”
    “Where would we go, anyway?” She walked to her bathroom and went into the walk-in closet to find something to throw on over her tank top.
    “The city has some great places that are open late. How about it? I’ll have you back before your first class.”
    “Having me back before ten a.m. isn’t a very comforting assurance,” she said, coming out of the bathroom with a black graphic tee, dark blue skinny jeans, and a studded belt on. Chris slipped on a pair of black flats and threw her hair up in a messy bun. “But whatever. I’m not one to complain.”
    “Sure you’re not, C. Just keep telling yourself that.” He opened her bedroom door and gestured for her to go out.
---
    “Okay,” Chris said, giggling insanely, “-give me another. I can… I can do one more. Bet me I can! B…” she giggled again and wiped her mouth with her hand.
    The music was loud and pounded around her, but she didn’t care. She and Zach had been dancing and drinking for a couple of hours now; it was two in the morning, and this party was still raging on. They’d gone from one of the clubs to one of Zach’s friends’ house, and Chris was trashed. Someone handed her another shot of tequila and a slice of lime. She poured a little salt on her left hand with her shaking right and then accepted the drink. She giggled again and almost spilled it, but managed to get the bitter drink to her lips and toss it back. She quickly licked the salt and sucked on the lime slice, squeezing her eyes shut. Zach laughed heartily and leaned on her. He was probably more drunk than she was, and he still had a shot of whiskey in his hand.
    “I can’t,” Chris mumbled when someone tried to hand her another, “-I’m gonna pass the hell out in a minute. My damn… term paper’s due tomorrow, man. You know?”
    “Oh, shit, Chris! That’s right! We gotta… we gotta get back to, uh… to your house. You gotta sleep, you know? Gotta be awake and ready… drink water and coffee and…” Zach drifted off into a fit of laughter. “Come on. Guys, we gotta go. We’ll see ya… see ya later.” He helped Chris up and she blinked, trying to steady her vision.
    Zach led her through the leaping, dancing crowd. The world seemed to go slower than usual, and the colors all blurred together. It was hard to walk straight, and the air was close and hot inside the house. It was oppressive, and she started to panic, almost. When they burst into the cool night outside, she felt like a great force had left her and she smiled broadly, her unfocused eyes trying to find Zach.
    “Which way is, um… my house?” she asked, turning every which-way. “We have to walk or something…”
    “It’s this way, Chris. Come on; I’ll help you.” Zach didn’t sound as drunk as he had before. He still stumbled when he walked, but Chris thought that maybe the clean air was clearing his head.
    Zach threw his arm around Chris’ waist and helped her stand straight so that they could walk toward her house. She leaned heavily on him, giggling at random moments. Zach sighed and shifted his weight after awhile. Chris felt like sleeping right where she was.
    “You have to stay awake, Chris.” She stumbled and started to fall; Zach caught her, but his hand was now on her breast. He swallowed hard and lifted her up, sliding his hand back down to her hip. “My house is closer, actually,” he muttered, “-but it’s back this way.”
    They hobbled onward through the dark until they reached a quiet street with apartment buildings, condos, and a lone pub. Just outside of the pub, Zach almost dropped Chris again, and so he simply lifted her off of her feet and started to carry her. He had to stop after a couple of steps and ask Chris to hold onto him, because he couldn’t have her hanging limply in his arms.
    She complied, slinging her arms about his neck, and Zach swallowed again. He noticed a figure standing outside of the pub, holding but not smoking a cigarette, watching the two drunken people on the street.
    “Need some help?” the man called, amiably.
    “Uh, no… I think I got her. She’s passed out.”
    “Looks like you can barely stand yourself, kiddo.”
    “I’m alright. Just sober enough, I guess.” He suddenly grinned lopsidedly. “Maybe she’s just sober enough, too, if you know what I mean.” He laughed hysterically and started off again.
---
    “Looks like you can barely stand yourself, kiddo,” Aaron said, raising one eyebrow at the obviously intoxicated young man. He wasn’t much older than this kid, but he’d been in the air force for five years now, and he could tell that he was much more mature.
    “I’m alright,” the kid replied, hefting the girl in his arms. “Just sober enough, I guess. Maybe she’s just sober enough, too, if you know what I mean.” The kid laughed like the Mad Hatter and set off down the street.
    Aaron played with the cigarette in his fingers. He hadn’t smoked in years, still; he just kept one with him sometimes, just in case. He looked up to watch the kid opening the door of his condo, standing the girl on the stoop beside him as he fumbled with the keys. She looked up, saw Aaron, and waved groggily. There was something familiar about her.