11. Flower Among Weeds
Andrew's mother, Meredith, looked at him with skepticism and said, “You never told me you were in your schools Astronomy Club. I’m impressed, Andrew.”
“Technically I’m not in it yet. But I am interested and you don’t have to be in it to be able to attend the meetings. In fact students who aren’t in it are encouraged to go,” Andrew said.
“So can I go?”
“Of course, dear. Do you need me or your father to give you a ride and pick you up afterward?”
“That won’t be necessary, my friend Sam is going with me. He drives, so that pretty much covers transportation.” A cars horn honked outside. “That must be Sam. Bye mom, see you later,” Andrew said heading to the front door.
“Take care Andrew, and make sure you come straight home after the meetings over,” his mom said.
“I will mom,” Andrew said opening the door.
“I’ll leave your supper on the table for when you get back,” she said.
“OK,” Andrew said, shutting the door. Andrew's lips formed a mischievous grin. His mother had believed his story. And why would she doubt him even for a second? It was a cloudless night, perfect for star and planet observation.
He looked up at the sky and saw stars glowing like frozen fire flies. Things had sure changed since the day Sam had befriended him. No longer was he the weak tall kid who got picked on. He was the bully, and the muscular stranger the girls were all over. Except for the only one he truly liked.
The cute new girl,Veronica from New York, who looked at him in a different kind of way. Her striking blue eyes would study him like sonar. He could tell she was wondering rather he was trust worthy or trouble. Beneath her vibrant black hair was a mind that got her straight As in every class that he had her in. So she probably figured that he was not the one for her.
Andrew heard another honk and saw Sam waving to him from his blue truck. He jogged over the moon lit grass toward it.
“Ready to go to the Astronomy Club?” Sam joked as Andrew sat and buckled himself up in the passenger’s seat.
“Am I ever! But I won’t be able to get drunk out go my mind tonight.”
“Guess that means more beer for me then," Sam said, racing off. When they got to the party they each found a random girl who didn’t seem to have a boyfriend or maybe one who just hadn’t come along, and danced with them. The music playing was painfully loud. It was a good thing the party was at an out of town house. Once they were through dancing they drank, and Sam downed one hit after another. When Andrew and Sam had talked enough with the girls and it was clear nothing between them was going to happen tonight they told the girls they had to leave.
“So now what do we do, Andrew?” Sam said, who was walking kind of wobbly. He bumped into a big guy who had his back to him. The big guy dropped his green cup, beer soaking on his shoes.
Another typical Sam moment, Andrew thought. By the time the guy spun around, he had already tugged Sam into a tight group of dancing kids and were out of the way before the guy saw them.
“My quick thinking saved your life there, Sam,” Andrew said.
“Nah, I could have taken him,” Sam said, brushing away from Andrews hold. Sam clearly wasn’t at the peak of his mental performance, which hadn’t been much to begin with. Many songs played and ended. How long had they delayed going back home?
The air became noticeably chillier as the night went on. They had been at the party for quite a while and Andrew wondered what time it was.
He put a hand in each of his pockets, looking for his cell phone. They were empty, he hadn’t brought it along.
“Sam, do you have a cell phone?”
“Not on me. Or do I? Nah I don’t. Or maybe I do!” Sam blabbered. Andrew sighed his friend had had too much to drink tonight. He approached a group of three girls sitting atop a table beer bottles next to two of them. Two of them, he noticed, had very similar appearances.
“Excuse me ladies, but would any of you be so kind as to tell me what time it is?” Andrew said flashing a smile at them. They smiled back.
“Sure,” a girl said reaching into her pocket and pulling out a fancy pink cell phone. With a wink she flipped it open and said, “It’s 10:37.”
It's already past ten! “Thank you,” he said, turning and heading back to Sam.
“Excuse me,” another girl said.
“Yeah?” Andrew said turning halfway to face them. A red head approached him.
“Would you follow me, please?” she said, her voice hinting that something was bothering her.
Andrew hesitated, he had promised his mother he wouldn’t be late home, which he already was. He noted that the girl hadn’t been drinking like the other girls, and something in her tone told him that she needed him urgently. He looked over the girls shoulder, wondering on how to answer. The other girls winked at him.
“Sorry, but I prmised my mon I wouldn't be gone late.”
“Okay,” the girl said, flicking a stray clump of hair away from her face. She looked disappointed.
One of her friends pointed at her and giggled.
“Wait, I suppose I can spare a few moments.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Follow me.” The girl gestured for him to follow.
She stopped at an empty table at one end of the yard, away from the drunken partiers. The girl plopped down on a seat and stared out at the darkness. Andrew took a seat next to her.
“What's the matter?” he asked.
“I really don't want to be here,” she said, covering the lower half of her face with her hands.
“What do you mean?” he said, noticing a bracelet made from a vine and polished stones.
“I mean that I don't want to have anything to do with these... kids. It's so veil, what they're doing. I'm only here because my sister made me, and because it's no different than being at home with my crazy father.”
“I'm so sorry. It must be awful, feeling so trapped on both sides.”
The girl pulled her hands away and looked at him. Her light brown eyes meeting his blue ones. It was like land meeting the ocean. A connection had been made.
“It's sad,” the girl said.
“What is?”
“That these kids don't know what the world really is. Sure they know that it's round and orbits around the sun. But they don't know that if they look up at the sky there are far off worlds without war. That beneath them life blooms, while on the surface lives are ended. When they drive on the roads they don't know that skid marks are phantoms of the past. The screams of the tires after the accidents never truly fading away.”
“I'm sorry,” Andrew said. “I never paid attention either. But I'll start now.” He looked up at the sky, smiling at the stars and far off planets.
“No wars. Eternal peace.”
“Yes. It's all a parallel to all this.”
“If only the mirror could be inverted. Then the violence and suffering would be the fiction.”
“You have such a way with words. Trust me, in your future you'll be the cure to all this.”
She smiled, looking away. “I knew I could trust you,” she said. “You aren't like the others. The disgusting drinks haven't polluted your mind.”
Andrew nearly winced. She thought that he hadn't been drinking, but he had. Only a little, but still. He had.
“Do you need a ride home?” he asked. “I mean, I'm sure your dad is asleep by now.”
She shook her head. “No, he doesn't sleep.”
“He's an insomniac?”
“Yes,” she said, before sobbing. “Isn't it awful? Having a tormentor that never sleeps?”
“I'm so sorry,” Andrew said. He felt so powerless, unable to find any words of comfort.
“No, don't be,” she said, wiping at her tears with the back of a hand. “You've done so much for me by just listening.”
“Please, if there is something else that I can do to help just tell me.”
“No, you've done so much already. More than anybody has.”
“But- I really want to help, in any way possible.”
“Go,” she said. “By leaving this place and never attending any more of these you'll help me stick with my belief that gentlemen aren't just urban myths.” the girl got up and vanished back into the crowd before Andrew could protest.
“Strange,” Andrew whispered as he went to go search fro Sam. He spotted him standing next to a barbecue grill.
“Come on Sam, it’s time for us to leave,” Andrew said patting his friend on the back.
“Dude I saw the whole thing, you and that red head went off somewhere. Must have been a quickie though” Sam said.
Andrew ignored him.
Sam shrugged and walked beside him back to the truck. At the parking place they saw a girl slide off an open cab onto the ground.
One of her friends frowned. Already hammered out of her mind the girl moved her hand over the ground like a blind woman trying to find something she dropped. Then she blabbered something while one of her friends took a picture of her.
Guess that's how all those internet pictures come from. As they walked past the girl said "Hey cuties, wanna make out?" When they ignored her she pouted.
When they both got to the truck it was obvious that Sam was in no condition to be driving.
Andrew wasn’t feeling too coordinated himself, but he only had two drinks. Plus he was a pretty tall guy, so he didn't see any harm in driving. “Don’t worry I’ll drive,” he said. Sam handed over his keys to him. Andrew unlocked the doors. He had never been to driving school, but driving couldn't be that hard. I Know how to fix cars, so how hard can it be to drive one?
Andrew drove Sam home passing most stop signs without stopping. He didn’t see the need to yield at them this late into the night. He thought little of the cops, which were stationed at open twenty-four hours a day stores at this time of night.
Sam only lived four houses down from where Andrew lived, so he could just leave the car at Sam's place and walk home from there later. When they reached an adjoining street to the one they both lived in, Andrew floored the accelerator. The trucks engine roared.
"Woo-hoo," Sam mumbled, sounding bored as they sped down the road.
This is so awesome, Andrew thought watching his surroundings go by in a blur. He eased his foot on the gas half way to Sam’s place, but he was still going at faster pace than he was supposed to. Especially being drunker than he had been during the party. He didn't know how fast he was going when he accidentally swerved onto the wrong side of the road.
A pair of headlights fused with those of the truck.