Chapter 2
Dates In Detention
Friday sucked. That was the conclusion Maggie had come to. She hadn't been able to sleep the night before, which resulted in her waking up late. She had almost missed first bell, and then, on top of that she had been called on in algebra twice, and both times she hadn't known the answer, mostly because she hadn't been paying attention.
She had been trying to avoid Parker all day. Maggie had spotted him a few times in the hall encircled by friends. He would flash a wicked grin her way, whenever he caught her glances, making her turn bright pink. She knew he was up to something. She just knew it. Parker had a reputation. Rumors at the beginning of the year had linked him to tossing stink bombs into Mr. Colson's office, putting a whoopee cushion in his math teachers chair, and changing all the signs in school that had Principal Boons name on it to Principal Boobs. Her decision to step in yesterday was proving to be a very bad one indeed. There was no telling what he was going to do to her. She was envisioning her locker stuffed with tampons and buckets of pig's blood like in the movie Carrie.
Whispers had followed her through the hallways, her fellow classmates swapping versions of the fight amongst themselves, each rendition of the fight more outrageous than the one before. To make matters worse, Nathan had been swaggering through the hallways, acting like some sort of war hero, flaunting the ace bandage that wrapped his wrist like a trophy. He was also cat-calling at her, and throwing fuel on the already out of control fire of gossip. Right before lunch he had made the comment that she wouldn't be able to step in next time and save her little boyfriend. It was only after Nathan and his crowd of friends had moved on down the hall that she realized Parker had been in the hall and heard it to.
It was enough to make her physically ill. She almost wished she had broken his wrist. Then maybe she could feel a little bit better about the injustice of the whole situation. Instead, she had walked briskly down the hall, head down, hoping to get away from both boys, and all of the stares. She couldn't risk any more trouble at school or her parents would kill her.
"Hey, Maggie, did you hear anything I just said to you?" Lare's voice broke through her train of thought, interrupting her one sided argument with herself about what Parker was going to do to her and the utter unfairness of the universe. Maggie blinked as Lare's irritated expression swam into focus in front of her.
"Huh? What? Oh, sorry. I spaced." Maggie told her. Lare huffed.
"Well come on, we have detention to get to."
"Wait. We?" Maggie paused, confused. Lare blew air out of her mouth, causing her swoopy bangs to flutter, her aggravation with Maggie starting to show through with each passing second.
"That's what I was just telling you. I got myself put into detention for not dressing out for gym. A thank you would be nice." Lare retorted, before reapplying her lip gloss.
"Lare, you didn't have to do that." Maggie told her as she spun the dial on her locker, shouldering her bag and turning to face her friend.
"I know. And I didn't do it just for you." Maggie raised an eyebrow as Lare smacked her freshly coated lips together.
"James is cute. It will give me a chance to talk to him." Maggie stared at Lauren in disbelief.
"That's your plan? Get detention to meet boys? And I thought I told you, I think he is creepy." Lare stowed the lip gloss back in her bag before answering.
"Well I could always go with your approach and beat someone up. And you're only reason for not liking him is because he is normal and lied to a teacher." Lare retorted.
"I've already told you, besides you were freaking there! I just stopped a fight." Maggie snapped, heading in the direction of the coaches office.
"Same thing." Lare breezed past Maggie, who followed, feeling sulky as other students made their way in the opposite direction towards the weekend and their freedom.
Coach Taylor's office was clustered and cramped. Piles of graded and ungraded papers littered the room in haphazard piles. A small mounted TV in the corner buzzed lightly on ESPN. There were only four desks, all of them in a single horizontal row. James was already there sitting in the chair farthest from the door.
Lauren automatically took the desk next to James, flashing him a brilliant white smile that he returned with a look of surprise on his face. Reluctantly, Maggie pulled out the chair to her desk and sank into it next to where she knew Parker would have to sit and waited for her doom to arrive.
In typical Parker fashion, he arrived five minutes after detention was supposed to have started and dropped his bag haphazardly onto the desk before plopping down into the seat, jostling Maggie's desk and knocking her algebra homework to the floor.
"Really? Do you have to create chaos everywhere you go?" she groused, before ducking down to pick up the lost papers. Parker dipped down to follow her and helped gather the pages. Maggie snatched them out of his hands trying to get away from him, and banged her head loudly on her desk and dropping the papers again, scattering them even further.
"Dammit." She grumbled. Parker grinned at her as she groped across the gritty tiles. She shot him a filthy look, noticing his jaw had a faint bruise from where Nathan had clocked him. Parker saw that her eyes lingered, and the grin that had been plastered on his face seconds before, slipped slightly. She stared a second longer before feeling her own face heat up. She finally got back into her seat feeling sweaty, and embarrassed again, frowning at her now wrinkled homework.
Coach stuck his head through the door, doing a quick head count, then left again, telling them to not change the channel on his television. Detention with coach was easy. He didn't care what you did, so long as you didn't make a mess or fight. Or change his TV from ESPN. Beside her, Lare was already chattering like a squirrel in James ear.
Feeling awkward and left out, Maggie glanced back at Parker. His lanky frame was draped over the desk, half angled in her direction, one hand propping up his head, the other doodling on a scrap of paper. His eyes were half closed, and he had dark purple circles beneath them. She took a chance, searching his face a second longer, trying to find signs of where his adopted mom had slapped him the afternoon before, but saw none.
"Staring is rude, you know." His voice, now that he was addressing her, wasn't what she expected. It was light and honeyed, much more youthful than what his tired visage portrayed. Maggie felt heat crawl up her face at being caught staring.
"Yeah, well knocking someone's homework in the floor is even more rude. And I wasn't staring." She added, more for her own benefit than anything. His eyes flickered up to hers then. Maggie squirmed and dropped her gaze to her hands. Who was staring now?
"My deepest apologies." He said, sarcasm lighting his tone. Maggie started to bristle, her defenses going up.
"Listen, about yesterday-" She began, deciding to set him straight on why she had stood up for him.
"It's alright. I get it. You like me, I'm attractive. I know it. Nothing to be ashamed about." Parker smirked, his lips turning up in the corners ever so slightly. Maggie's blinked at him, dumbfounded at his arrogance.
"Don't even." Maggie laughed humorlessly, shuffling her homework and trying to press the wrinkled pages back to lying flat. Embarrassment pooled in her stomach, making it churn uncomfortably.
"Don't even what?" He asked innocently.
"I know what you are going to try to do. I know you." She snarled. The last thing she needed was for people to go around saying that she liked this idiot.
"Oh, do tell. This I have to hear."
"You're that guy. The one who has to constantly start something. To run your mouth and get in trouble. You have to be the center of attention. Everything is a big joke to you." Maggie retorted. Parker laughed again.
"You are such a child. I tried to help you. Twice. And all you do is act like a first class, ungrateful brat. So you know what? Screw you!" Maggie finally lost it, cutting him off. Damn, being the bigger person. It was overrated anyway. "I was only trying to help. So excuse me for not standing by while someone nearly had their ass handed to them." She told him.
Parker spluttered, and Maggie noticed with some satisfaction that his pale, gaunt cheeks were gathering a faint pink tinge to them. She turned away from him for what she hoped was the final time. She was perfectly content if he decided to ignore her for the rest of eternity. She didn't need his kind of negativity, anyway. Next to her Lare was filling James in on what they were doing for their project.
"We are doing our project on the abandoned reform school outside of town." Lare gushed.
"Isn't that place, I don't know, dangerous? Sort of out-of- bounds?" James asked, looking skeptical.
"Of course. That's why Lare picked it. She loves a good adventure." Maggie cut in.
"You not like adventure or something?" Parker asked. Maggie turned back to him frowning, surprised at his willingness to still talk to them.
"Oh, yes, I thrive on dangerous situations, and the prospect of jail time." Maggie answered sourly.
"I could drive and meet you guys." James offered, leaning around to meet Maggie's gaze. Lare beamed again.
"Oh, you know what? Why don't you come pick me up? That'd be perfect. I've been working it out, and I think I know how I want to do our presentation. What if we do it like a horror movie? Or set it up like an episode of ghost hunters? How freaking awesome would that be?" Lare's excitement was brimming over. James nodded, looking a little bewildered at what he had just agreed to.
"I guess that will work." Maggie agreed.
"Oh, good, well then that's settled. You work things out with Parker and your brother, and I guess just meet us there tomorrow around say three?" Lare gave her a pointed look before turning back to James, giving him all of the details of where she lived.
Maggie turned back to Parker, who looked as disgruntled as she felt. She knew how much this meant to Lauren and she also knew Lauren wasn't exactly thrilled with dragging Parker into it. Never mind the fact that she totally regretted it now.
"So now I have you, your schyzo-psycho BFF and that total tool to deal with on Saturday. This just keeps getting better and better. Maybe we can take Colson with us and pack a picnic lunch." Parker's voice dripped venom, his disgust with the new plans evident.
She was dreading the weekend herself now, which was ironic, because thirty minutes ago, she had been looking forward to it. Now she was feeling slightly peeved that Lare was turning their homework project into a preemptive date. However, she was not going to let Parker destroy her best friends dream.
"Listen I'm not thrilled about this either, but it's the plan. So don't do anything stupid that will ruin it. Because I will make sure you regret it." Maggie told him fiercely.
"Last thing I want to do is hang out with that ass hat in an abandoned building while he stares at you, but don't worry I'll be on my best behavior." Parker grumbled.
"Who is staring at who?" Maggie asked, feeling lost at the change of direction of the conversation.
"God, you're oblivious. He does it when your back is turned and your friend does that stupid fake eye, laugh thing." Parker muttered softly so that Lare and James wouldn't hear him.
"What, Lare flirting?" Maggie tried to clarify.
"You say flirting, I say needless seizures. That gorilla hasn't noticed her at all. He keeps staring at you." Maggie fought a grin from crossing her face at Parker's apt description of Lare and her slightly spastic and quirky dating methods, before remembering that she wasn't supposed to be agreeing with anything Parker said or did.
"Yup, he's staring at you again." Maggie felt herself blush. Something else that Parker noticed.
"You don't like him do you?" he asked, looking slightly nauseated by the idea, mistaking her expression.
"Oh God no. I barely know him. And he's not my type anyway." Maggie told him before unscrewing the lid on her bottle of water, and taking a large swig and then promptly choking on it. Parker reached across her desk and grabbed the lid and began spinning it on his own desk like a top.
"So, is there anything I should bring for this project tomorrow?" he asked.
"No. Lare will be supplying the camera. Mostly we just follow her around while she takes random pictures." She told him.
"So why exactly do we all have to go?" Parker wanted to know.
"Because Lare is a big chicken and doesn't like going to these places alone." Beside her, Lare made a pft sound.
"I'm not stupid. I know better than going to these types of places alone. I've seen enough slasher flicks to know what happens. Besides, you guys are all going to be my models." Lare interjected.
"If you think it could be dangerous is it really a good idea to be going?" James interjected at this point, an uncomfortable look on his face.
"Scared, James?" Parker taunted. Before James could respond, Lare answered.
"We are going in a group. We will be fine. Besides, Maggie can karate kick any ghosts that come after us." She said, confidence in her voice.
"Ghost's aren't real, Lare." Maggie felt like she had explained this a thousand times to her friend.
"And if they were, I still can't do anything to them."
"Then why do I bother to keep you around?" Lare quipped. Maggie shot Lare a look.
"Oh, my God I'm kidding Mags, lighten up." She said after a moment.
"Anyway," Lare trailed off and turned back to James.
"So, uh. Yeah, tomorrow." Maggie cleared her throat. Parker looked back up at her.
"Are you going to drive yourself? Or do you want to car pool or something? I can pick you up if you want, or if you would rather drive separate and just meet there." Maggie suggested as Lauren let out a shrill giggle.
"That is gonna get real old, real quick." Parker hissed. Maggie felt her insides shrivel at his words, knowing it would only get worse from here. Lare was insufferable when she had a new boyfriend.
"It had to be him." He grumbled, putting his chin in his hand, looking more miserable by the minute.
"I don't think James is all that bad, but I definitely don't trust him after yesterday." Maggie said, hoping to alleviate some of the tension that she knew was building up again.
"Yeah, it's his ass hat brother, that's the real problem." Parker growled.
"I can't stand him. And the way he has been strutting around all day has been ridiculous. I wish I had broken his hand now." Maggie agreed. Parker grunted in a noncommittal sort of way before slumping back into his chair.
"So yeah I can pick you up if you want." Parker said after a minute. Maggie chewed her lip, still trying to figure out how tomorrow was going to work. Her dad had already said he wanted her to stay away from Parker after getting involved in yesterday's incident. Now she was faced with the prospect of trespassing with him, with her younger brother in tow.
"Yeah I mean that can work, it's just," Maggie paused here, and glanced sideways at Parker, who shrugged.
"My dad sort of said last night, that I can't be around you." Maggie trailed off.
"So? Sounds like your problem to me." Maggie's anger flared again. She was starting to wonder if doing the right thing was worth it after all. It only seemed to complicate her life. And Maggie didn't like complicated.
"So, I was wondering could you sort of just, not say anything to my brother about who you are?" Maggie felt incredibly stupid as the words left her mouth, and instantly regretted them. She was usually straight forward and never lied. It made her feel dirty. Somehow in the span of twenty four hours, she had managed to get tangled up in a situation with this guy who didn't know her, she didn't know him and she was now basically asking him to lie to her brother. All for a homework project. How much more ridiculous could the situation get?
"Let me get this straight. You have inserted yourself into my life, got me stuck going with you and those two idiots to the middle of nowhere, working on a project that I don't even want to do with you people, and now you want me to lie for you so you aren't in trouble with Mommy and Daddy?" Parker's voice had dropped dangerously low.
"You know, if you had a super power, it would be getting yourself into stupid situations from not thinking, and opening your big mouth and involving yourself in situations that no one asked your input for." His voice was scathing, cold and hard, the jokester from moments before was gone. Maggie, who usually had a perfect comeback for everything, could only sit and gape in silence like an idiot. So much for the truce she had thought she had formed.
"Listen, I was just trying to do the right thing. I didn't mean for it to get so out of control." Maggie shot back, feeling slightly desperate and helpless.
"You know, you keep saying that, but somehow I end up getting crapped on. Maybe you should stop and think first if the person you are just 'trying to do the right thing for' even wants your help. But whatever. Fine. I'll do it. But after this project is done, just stay away from me." He spat, his blue eyes turning into chips of ice.
Coach stuck his head in at that moment, dismissing them from detention. Parker stood abruptly, shouldering his ratty back pack. Maggie scratched out her address for him.
"Parker, wait. I'm sorry." Maggie tried to stand to follow him and succeeded in knocking her backpack over, loose papers and pens spilling out across the floor in all directions. Parker shot her a final look of loathing, snatching the scrap of paper out of her hands before disappearing out of room, stuffing it in his back pocket as he went.
Behind her Lare and James had fallen silent, and Maggie knew they had seen and heard everything. One of the desks scraped and Maggie turned to see James crouching in the floor, picking up the mess that had fallen out of her toppled backpack. Lauren stood as well, a slight frown on her face. James handed Maggie her back pack, a kind smile of his face.
"Don't worry about it, Maggie. He just has a chip on his shoulder. It's not your fault."
"I know it's not my fault he's being an ass. I just feel bad for getting him stuck in this mess. Because now I have to deal with him." Maggie grumbled miserably.
"Hut! Hut! Hut!"
Maggie was sweating profusely, her Gi soaked with sweat as her instructor screamed out count after count of combination moves. Outside block, reverse punch, knee strike, elbow strike, side kick. Maggie's partner Blake, matched each strike with a block of his on. The section of her forearm that she had used to block Nathan on Thursday was throbbing with every contact.
"Get those kicks higher Dailey! You are aiming for his head!" Mr. Carl corrected as he passed by her and on to one of the younger students. He called the count one last time and Maggie moved through the motions, letting out a loud shout on the last strike, trying to work out all of the frustration from the last week. Blake shook his wrist, and looked at her ruefully. She mouthed sorry to him and smiled.
"Excellent! How are those legs feeling?" Mr. Carl asked the class, a grin spreading across his face. Some of the younger students groaned. Maggie was too tired to groan. She huffed, trying to catch her breath, the balls of her feet stinging, and her strike points throbbing with each pound of her racing heart.
"Everyone face the front. Bow. Dismissed!"
"Good class, Maggie. You should be ready for the belt test in January." Mr. Carl said encouragingly as he passed, headed to speak with one of the waiting parents. Maggie nodded and smiled, before grimacing trying to peel her Gi top off. The T-shirt she wore underneath was soaked and clinging to her. Her right wrist was already purpling from the multiple strikes. She knew she would have to ice it when she got home if she wanted to be able to write with that hand later.
She guzzled her third bottle of water before throwing on a ratty sweatshirt and heading out of the gym to her bug. Outside, the October sky was a clear beautiful blue, the trees a mirage of greens, yellows, reds and oranges, popped against it in vibrant splendor. At least if she was going to be tromping through the woods this afternoon, she would have a beautiful day to do it, she thought wistfully.
She turned down South Street, which ran parallel to Main, taking the short cut back to her house. That was when she noticed him walking behind the buildings in the alley. He had a hood pulled up over his head, but she still recognized Parker's profile, even from a distance. He ducked between a broken board in a fence that lead to a small and dirty yard in one of the cracker box houses that lined the opposite side of the street.
A junky, rusted mini-van was parked in the muddy drive. Two little boys played on a broken swing set, while a third teen boy sat on the steps of the derelict porch, a ratty book in his hand. Parker strolled up and sat on the steps next to him. Bags of trash were piled up beside the door, and weeds were growing in the yard with abandon, sprouting up in knee high tufts in places.
He looked up as she passed by, his eyes following her car. Embarrassed, Maggie gunned the little bug and yanked the wheel, swerving onto Fifth Ave, nearly plowing into oncoming traffic. The sedan she had almost clipped, honked in irritation. Maggie waved, mouthing an apology that she knew the other driver could neither see nor hear, before heading to the other side of town where her own family lived. Maggie wondered what Parker had been doing in that neighborhood to begin with.
When she got home, Maggie poked her head into Josh's room to make sure he was going to be ready to go in the next hour and half. He completely ignored her, shouting into his mike at his friends online. She huffed in exasperation before heading down to her bathroom. A hot shower was going to feel amazing after her grueling class. She took a couple of extra minutes to stretch out her legs, not wanting the muscles to seize and cramp up later, then peeled her sweat shirt and damp t-shirt off, along with the uniform pants, before dumping it all in the hamper and hopping in the shower.
Her biceps and shoulders burned as she combed the tangles out of her hair with her fingers, the strands clinging to her skin. So much for straightening her hair this afternoon, she thought. That was just going to be more hassle than it was worth. Lauren would probably be pissed, because she preferred to photograph her when her hair was straight, but Maggie's arms were just too tired and sore.
Shutting off the water, Maggie toweled herself off, then wrapped her hair up in a turban to soak up any excess moisture before getting dressed. She shimmied into some straight leg skinny jeans, and a navy and white plaid shirt, before struggling to pull on and zip up a sturdy pair of brown boots over her calves. Martial arts gave her killer calves, the only problem was, the bulging muscles made it nearly impossible to find boots and jeans that fit her without some sort of act from God.
Once dressed, she finished scrunching her hair, leaving the brown and gold ringlets to air dry while slapping on a minimal amount of makeup, preferring to coat on extra mascara than foundation, making her grey eyes pop. Grabbing her backpack and fleece jacket, she pounded up the stairs, checking her phone for the time.
"Josh, let's go! We are out of time!" she shouted, knocking on his bedroom door on her way to the kitchen. She downed a granola before slipping on her jacket.
"Josh! NOW!" She yelled, checking her phone again. Outside, a car horn blared. Parker had arrived.
"Oh, my God fine, I'm coming! Keep your panties from getting bunched." Josh called. Down the hall, the sounds of death and catastrophic destruction were cut short as Josh turned off the speakers to his computer. He stumbled out of his room, pulling a hoodie over his head, knocking his glasses askew.
"Come on, Twerp. You are going to make me late." She told him, digging her keys out of her backpack.
"I don't want to go." He whined.
"That's too bad. Now let's go." She snapped, opening the front door and gestured for him to go first so she could lock up. Josh grumbled all the way up the sidewalk, complaining about not wanting to be dragged along with his big sister like he was some sort of baby. Maggie rolled her eyes, not bothering to answer him.
"Listen, don't be a pain today, okay? We are working on a class project and I want to get it done sooner rather than later. I don't have time to baby you, alright? Now get in the back seat." Maggie told Josh, motioning to the back seat of Parker's Tahoe.
Parker sat in the driver's seat, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. He looked different outside of school, not wearing the standard uniform. He wore a dark green hoodie and jeans, the hood of his jack was pulled up over his head. The kid she had seen him sitting with earlier in the yard was sitting in the back seat next to Josh.
"Hi." She tried smiling at Parker.
"This is Alex. He was one of my foster brother's before I got adopted." Parker said motioning to the kid in the back seat, not returning her greeting.
"Hi Alex. I'm Maggie and this is my parent's way of ruining my dreams of being an only child. His name is Josh. It's nice to meet you." Maggie said, smiling at Alex. The younger boy stared at her shyly for a second before saying hello.
"Hey, I know you. You're in my class at school." Josh said to Alex.
"Yeah, I know. Aren't you the Gameboy kid?" Alex asked Josh as Parker cranked the car, and Maggie clicked her seatbelt into place.
"Yeah, that's me. Do you play?" Josh inquired. Parker shifted the car into reverse and then turned towards Maggie, angling his body to check behind them before pulling out of the space. He edged the car back out on the road, heading back towards the way they had come. Parker stared out of the window, not talking, his brow furrowed in a now familiar scowl, his jaw one hard, straight line.
"Hopefully we won't be out here long," Maggie told him, hoping to get him to talk. Parker just shrugged, not answering. Maggie bit back her frustration. He could at least be civil. The small town whizzed by, the fall foliage a blur of color. In the distance, thin clouds were scudding across the sky, like gray fingers, reaching towards them.
"Hey, Maggie, can we go back by the house so I can get my Gameboy for me and Alex to play?" Josh piped from the back seat. Maggie sighed, rubbing her temple in frustration.
"Josh, what did I say about being a pain in the butt?"
"Hey, this will keep me out of your hair, that way you can have your privacy." He countered, making air quotes when he said the word privacy. Maggie felt her face heat up. She glared at Josh from the rearview mirror.
"No." she told him firmly, while she fiddled and twirled the dials on the air conditioner, setting it so that cold air blasted directly in her face, praying that it would combat the ever present embarrassing red patches that she could feel forming, and spreading up her neck and to her cheeks.
"I'll cut a deal with you Thunder Thighs. If you take me by the house, I won't tell mom and dad about your secret boyfriend, here." Parker nearly crashed into the car in front of them. He slammed on the brakes, tire's screeching. All around, seatbelts locked up and the sounds of air being knocked out of four sets of lungs filled the car.
"JOSH!" She screeched. Beside her, Parker actually chuckled. She was going to kill Josh for this.
"What's it going to be? Gamboys? Or me telling on you and your secret romance?" Josh quipped, a satisfied smirk on his lips. Maggie took a deep breath, glaring in the rearview mirror. Just as she suspected, her chest, neck and cheeks were an alarming shade of red, and the patches were spreading.
"First off. I hate you. Second, this is not a date, and Parker is NOT my boyfriend. We have to do a project together for school." Maggie snarled.
"Tick, tock, Thunder Thighs. Times wasting. What's it gonna be?" Josh taunted. Maggie jerked around in her seat, and using her balled up fist, she punched Josh three times on the fleshy part of his upper thigh in the same spot.
"Owee!" he howled. Maggie turned back around in her seat, as Parker stepped on the gas, catching up with the flow of traffic. She glanced over and caught him staring at her.
"What?" she snapped.
"You are so violent." he said, making a sharp U-turn and turning back down her street.
"And your driving is going to get someone killed." She yelped, as Parker slammed on the brakes again.
"Josh, you have exactly one minute to get in the house and get your Gameboy, or I am leaving your butt here, and telling mom and dad you refused to come with me." Maggie ordered, ignoring Parker's laughter.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Josh shouted, before squeezing out of the back seat and shooting up the front steps to their house.
"Nice neighborhood." Parker muttered, staring out of the window, a rueful look on his face. Alex sat quietly in the back seat, still not uttering a peep.
"Thanks." Maggie muttered, feeling ashamed of her house for the first time in her life, especially after figuring out what Parker was used to.
Josh came rocketing out of the front door and down the stairs, nearly tripping. Maggie leaned her head against the cool glass of the window, a groan escaping her. This was going to be a very long afternoon.