It was around two that afternoon, when the phone rang. Mom was at the grocery store, picking up hot
dogs, marshmallows, and a bunch of other stuff for our party that night, Dad
was still at work, and Jess was outside, lugging bales of hay and lawn chairs
out to the burn pile at the edge of the yard for people to sit on, so I was the
only one in the house.
“Hello?” I asked, answering the phone.
“Hey, Hallie, it’s me,” came Sonny’s voice. He never had to say his name when he called
me, and neither did I when I called him.
We had been best friends for so long that we just knew each other’s
voices.
“Hey, Sonny, what’s up?” I asked.
“Well, I was just calling to say I don’t think I’m gonna make it
to your bonfire tonight,” he said. “I’m
still a little under the weather, and my mom doesn’t think I should sit outside
all night.” I could hear the annoyance
in his voice.
“Oh, that’s okay, Sonny.
Are you just gonna hang around at home then, or do you feel like doing
something else, just the two of us?”
“Well, we could go see a movie or something, if you want,” he
offered.
“Okay, that would be good.
What do you wanna see?”
We talked for awhile longer and went through the Saturday paper
together to look up movie times. We made
plans for me to pick Sonny up at quarter till five to go to the five o’clock
show and then said goodbye.
“Who was that on the phone?” asked Jess, coming inside through the
back door.
“Sonny. He’s not coming
tonight; we’re going to a movie instead,” I told her.
“Oh. Abby’s still coming
though, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, I assume so,” I replied.
“Okay, good,” she said and headed upstairs to her room.
***
“Mom, I’m leaving now,” I announced, a little after four
thirty. The Hunters and Littrells had
arrived half an hour earlier for the bonfire, and they were all sitting around
outside, while Dad fed wood to the fire and Mom finished setting up the food
table.
“Okay, honey,” she said distractedly. “Have a good time.”
“I will,” I replied and walked around to the front of the house to
where my car was parked. I climbed in,
started the engine, and headed on my way to Sonny’s.
***
It was almost five when Erik and I finally walked into the
theater. At the last minute, we had
decided to go see a movie. I had asked
Abby to go, but she was going to a bonfire at the Benton’s house, which was why
Hallie had turned down Erik for a date that night too.
We sat down in the back.
The previews hadn’t started yet, so the lights had not yet been
dimmed. Sitting in the back, we could
see all the people in the theater. There
were not too many there.
“Hey, Derrick,” Erik whispered, elbowing me hard.
“What?” I whispered loudly, rubbing my upper arm in annoyance.
“You see that?” he asked, pointing.
Following his gaze, I saw what he was talking about. There was a couple sitting together towards
the front of the theater. Narrowing my
eyes, I studied the back of their heads.
Was that who I thought it was?
“That Hallie?” I asked, glancing at Erik. His jaw was clenched, and his blue eyes had a
stony look in them.
“Yes, that’s Hallie,” he growled.
“I thought she was gonna be at that bonfire Abby was talking
about.”
“That’s what she told me,” he said, glaring at the back of
Hallie’s head. “That lying little
slut. Notice who she’s with?”
It was hard to tell from the back of his head, but when I saw the
pair of crutches lying in the aisle next to him, I figured it out.
“Sonny.”
“Yes. Sonny,” Erik
hissed. “She lies to me to go out with Sonny.”
I snickered, seeing how pissed off my brother was. “Sorry, bro,” I said, with absolutely no
sympathy.
His head whipped around, and he glared at me with those icy blue
eyes. “Shut up,” he growled.
“That bitch. I’ll show
her. I’m gonna go call Jamie.” He stood up abruptly, handing his popcorn to
me.
“Aunt Jamie? What the hell
do you think you’re gonna do with her?” I asked, chuckling.
Erik grinned mischievously.
“You’ll see.”
***
When the movie was over, and the lights had come back on in the
theater, I slowly stood up and grabbed my crutches. While Hallie balanced our drinks and the
nearly-empty popcorn bag, I hobbled towards the doors at the back of the
theater.
In the lobby, Hallie threw away our trash, and we started on our
way out. Suddenly, someone called her
name.
I turned around to see Erik Randall approaching, his arm around a
tan, bleached-blonde woman. She was
obviously older than him. Much
older.
“Hey, Erik,” I said, smiling slightly. Erik and I didn’t know each other that well,
but I knew Hallie liked him, so I figured I should be friendly.
“Hey, Sonny,” he replied, nodding to me. Then his gaze shifted to Hallie. “Well, Hallie, it’s a surprise to see you
here. I thought you were going to a
bonfire.”
Hallie looked embarrassed.
“Well, yeah, I was,” she started to explain, “but Sonny didn’t feel like
going, so we decided to go hang out with each other instead. I’m heading back to the bonfire now though.”
“Oh, I see,” Erik said, nodding, although he didn’t look too
satisfied by her explanation.
“So, aren’t you going to introduce us to your… date?” Hallie
asked, eyeing the woman.
Erik smiled slowly. “Of
course. Hallie, Sonny, meet Jamie. Jamie, these are just some people I go to
school with.”
Jamie nodded and smiled, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. “Let’s go now, babe,” she said to Erik,
tugging on his arm.
“Well, you heard the woman,” Erik said, flashing Hallie a
smile. “Have a safe trip home.”
I shook my head as he led Jamie away. That guy was pretty weird.
“Let’s go,” Hallie huffed, stalking out of the theater.
“Whoa, wait up, girl, I can’t go that fast!” I called after her,
rather amused. I didn’t know the whole
story, but it seemed to me that Hallie had been replaced. And she was none too happy about that.
Hallie stopped and held the door open for me, the angry look on
her face fading. As we walked slowly
through the parking lot, an expensive-looking silver convertible drove past
us. I saw Erik in the driver’s
seat. As he saw us, he honked the horn.
Hallie looked away, but I gave him a slight wave. A strange smile spread over his face, and he
waved back, then sped off.
Hallie stared after him, a look of anger and jealousy flashing
through her blue eyes.
“Hal, I’m sure it wasn’t exactly what it looked like,” I said, hoping
to calm her down a little. I didn’t
really want to ride with her if she was about to explode. I mean, Hallie was my best friend and all,
but the girl had a temper.
“Oh yeah? She called him
‘babe’. What does that look like to
you?” she demanded.
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to become the target of her
anger. “Well, Hallie, if that’s what
he’s gonna do, he doesn’t deserve you.
You’re too good for him. He
should stick with the older chick.”
“Older is right,” Hallie scoffed.
“She had to be at least thirty five, wouldn’t you say?”
“Oh, definitely,” I agreed.
“Maybe even forty. Heck, she’s
probably so old, her social security number is one.”
Hallie looked at me in disgust.
“Sonny, that was seriously lame.”
I grinned. “It took your
mind off your hate for Erik though, didn’t it?”
She rolled her eyes, but I could see the corners of her mouth
turning up in a smile.
“Come on, Hal. Why don’t we
go get some ice cream or something? You
drive, and I’ll buy,” I offered.
She gave me a grateful smile.
“Thanks, Sonny,” she said. “Come
on, let’s go.”
We spotted her light blue Honda and walked slowly towards it. Well, she walked slowly anyway. I was hobbling along as fast as I could
go. Stupid crutches, I thought,
angry at myself for being such an idiot and fracturing my ankle the previous
Sunday.
But as it turned out, my crutches could have been the one thing
that saved us. For seconds later, I
heard a huge boom and looked up in total shock and horror to see Hallie’s car explode
before my very eyes.
“Get down!” I heard Hallie shout, and before I knew it, she had
knocked me to the ground, sheltering my body with hers. I could feel pieces of hot debris and
shattered glass hitting us, and I heard Hallie’s pained cries.
When the noise had died down, I tentatively tried to sit up, but
Hallie was still on top of me.
“Hallie?” I asked her hoarsely.
“You okay, Sonny?” she whispered, slowly climbing off of me.
Actually, I ached all over, part from the impact of hitting the
ground, part cause of the flying bits of car that had hit me, and part because
of my stupid ankle being twisted around.
But I knew I was going to be okay.
“Yeah, I think so,” I said slowly, sitting up. “How about you.”
“I think I’m okay too,” she replied, dusting her clothes off. It was a good thing it was November, for we
had both been wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, which had protected us
from a hell of a lot of cuts.
Glancing down at the pavement, I saw it was littered with glass
shards and all kinds of other particles.
“Oh my God,” Hallie cried in a choked whisper, when she caught
sight of her car.
What was left of the car had erupted in flames. It looked like a huge fireball.
“Looks like you’re getting a new car,” I murmured, my gaze never
leaving the blazing inferno that we had almost driven away in.
***