Anywhere But Here

“There should be flashlights somewhere in here.” Alyssa said quietly, feeling her way around for a drawer. The two teens had stumbled their way out of the laundry room and were now searching the kitchen for any source of light. With it already being seven o’clock at night, the storm clouds had made the sky an ominous black color.

“I found candles,” Joe murmured back, striking a match from the matchbox he had found on the counter and lighting a candle quickly, turning toward Alyssa. “I’ll come over by you to see if there’s any flashlights.”

Alyssa nodded and slammed an open drawer shut, moving down to a cabinet that was located right above the floor tiles of the kitchen. She opened the door softly and knelt down in front of the space, watching as the light from Joe’s candle bounced off of the wooden cupboard.

Joe also knelt down, his free hand brushing absentmindedly against Alyssa’s. He didn’t bother moving it.

Instead of searching for a candle, Alyssa ran her hand smoothly against the skin that Joe had kissed only moments before. Why was it still tingling? Why did she still feel lightheaded from such a simple act? She had never felt that way after kissing a boy - and she had had her fair share of experiences.

“I don’t see any.” Joe said, interrupting her thoughts. “I guess we’ll just have to settle with the candles.”

Placing his candle between him and Alyssa, Joe turned around and leaned against a closed cupboard drawer before glancing over at Alyssa. The shadow of the candle’s flame danced in front of her as she turned her eyes toward him.

“Maybe it’s for the better.” She whispered with a small smile. Joe smiled back and bit the inside of his cheek before leaning over and planting a simple kiss on Alyssa’s lips. She moved her lips with his willingly, and just as Joe was about to place his hand on the back of her neck, a loud pound on the sliding door startled them.

Alyssa pulled away frantically and looked past Joe to where the noise had come from.

“What was that?” She asked darkly, feeling her hands begin to shake slightly. Her accelerating heart throbbed in her throat as she scooted her way closer to Joe. He was also looking at the door, but could not see anything.

“Maybe it was a branch.” He attempted, but he knew better. It sounded almost as if someone had slammed their hands against the window, but he wasn’t about to tell Alyssa that.

“We need to call someone,” She whimpered desperately, grabbing onto Joe’s hand tightly. He squeezed it quickly before feeling his front pocket for his cell phone.

“I don’t have my phone,” He whispered, not letting his eyes leave that sliding door. Was it just him, or did something, or someone, just run past it?

Alyssa scrambled around, trying to find hers. Her stomach dropped. “I left mine on the couch.”

“We’ll go get it, I can call Nick or someone.” Joe suggested, gripping tighter onto Alyssa’s hand and attempting to stand up from the floor. Alyssa didn’t budge.

“Come on, Alyssa.” Joe sighed, “I know you don’t like him-”

“It’s not that,” Alyssa said shakily, glancing once again at the door. “It’s just…what if…” Alyssa trailed off. Although Joe knew exactly what she was going to say, he urged her to continue. “What if it’s Richard? What if he can see us?”

Joe moved in front of Alyssa and took her face in both of his hands. “Then we’ll have to call somebody to let them know. We could be in danger here, Alyssa, and sitting here hiding from him can only do us good for so long.”

Alyssa looked into Joe’s eyes to the best of her ability; the candle had been getting dimmer and dimmer by the minute, to where it was now only a low glow.

Standing up weakly, she let Joe drag her into the front room. Her vision blurred as she watched Joe search for her phone frantically. She was numb. She had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that someone was out there, and it was obviously someone who wasn’t welcomed.

Joe’s shaking hands gripped onto the phone after a few moments of searching, and as he dialed the number to Nick’s cell phone, he tried to play off that he was calm. But on the inside, his heart was beating rapidly.

Footsteps pounding on the front porch suddenly filled the two teens ears. Alyssa’s stomach dropped - she hadn’t remembered locking the door when her and Joe entered earlier, and no one had been there since. Joe quickly finished dialing the number and frantically waited for Nick to pick up.

Like a horror movie coming to life, they both listened to the sound of a twisting doorknob and a door creaking open.

“Oh, thank God,” Alyssa, who had squeezed her eyes shut, slowly opened her eyes at the sound of Lisa’s cheery voice filling the quiet room. A flashlight was gripped in one of Lisa’s hands and a gallon of milk was in the other. “I thought you might have been out in this weather.” Lisa paused and glanced over at Alyssa and Joe.

“What are you doing in the middle of the floor?” She laughed, “Are you two still scared of a little thunderstorm?”

Alyssa and Joe both glanced at each other and witness the horrified expressions on their faces before quickly unlacing their fingers and standing up from the floor.

* * *

With the storm passed and the power back on, Alyssa, Joe, and Lisa sat at the kitchen table. Lisa was reading a magazine article contently while both Alyssa and Joe stared at the sliding door, which Lisa had thrown a curtain in front of almost as soon as she had walked inside.

“I think I’ll go change into those clothes you got for me now,” Joe mumbled quietly, breaking the silence. Alyssa looked away from the window and nodded her head mechanically. Lisa turned her attention away from the magazine and as soon as Joe had walked back into the laundry room, she glanced at Alyssa.

“Why is he wet?” She questioned. Although Alyssa didn’t feel like explaining, she did.

“He didn’t put the cover on his Jeep so he had to run out while it was raining to put it on.” She explained, watching as Joe exited the laundry room with the new clothes on. Alyssa couldn’t help but look him over, and Joe couldn’t help but notice. A vacant smile played across his lips as he sat back down in his chair.

Awkward silence filled the room. The flipping of Lisa’s magazine pages and the creaking of the floorboard as Greg moved his way around his office was the only noise heard.

“Are you sure you two are alright?” Lisa asked questionably, closing her magazine and looking at the two teenagers. They both seemed fairly quiet, and although she expected it from Alyssa, she had met Joe a few times before and he was usually always outgoing.

“We’re fine,” Alyssa answered shortly. She turned around at the sound of her father’s footsteps from upstairs as he walked from his office into his bedroom. A door closed quietly behind him.

“Alright,” Lisa answered, still not convinced. She stood up from her chair and tucked the magazine underneath her arm. “Don’t stay up too late. Joe, it was good seeing you again.”

Alyssa ignored the look Lisa was giving her, which was probably trying to hint that Joe was not welcome to stay much longer. Not that it mattered - Due to the night’s activities, Alyssa was surprised that Joe was still here. He probably would want nothing to do with her after tonight.

As soon as Lisa had walked upstairs, Joe stood up from the table. “I should get going.” He murmured, grabbing his folded clothes from off of the counter behind him. “It was…” Joe paused, glancing over at Alyssa with a questionable look on his face. “…an interesting night.”

“More good than bad?” Alyssa encouraged, flashing a quick smile before standing up from her chair.

“It definitely had it’s highlights,” Joe admitted, scanning Alyssa’s face slowly. The smile on her face grew as she felt her cheeks turn hot.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She questioned, crossing her arms across her chest uncomfortably. Joe closed the gap between them before smiling down at her.

“You’re cute, Alyssa.” He admitted, “I like spending time with you.”

“Even when we’re sitting on the kitchen floor in the dark with-”

“Especially that part.” Joe interrupted, smiling that crooked smile that made Alyssa’s heart do flips.

She nodded her head before dropping her arms down at her sides. “I like spending time with you, too.”

Joe tilted his head down in order to kiss Alyssa once more before making his way toward the front door. Alyssa followed behind him and watched as he twisted the doorknob slowly.

“I’ll see you around?” She asked, leaning against the doorframe as Joe stepped down onto the porch.

He turned around. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Alyssa smiled, biting her bottom lip and nodding in agreement. “Sounds good.”

“Night,” Joe said, smiling once more before walking down the steps and climbing into the driver’s seat of his Jeep.

She was just about to close the front door when the story Joe had told her reappeared in her mind, so instead, she waited until Joe had backed out of the driveway, turned into his, and walked into his house before closing the door shut securely and locking it behind her.

Walking up the stairs to her bedroom, there was still a part of Alyssa that was still terrified. There had always been a part of her that was terrified ever since she had moved here. And as she walked past Greg and Lisa’s bedroom door, there was a part of her that wanted to open the door and climb into their bed like she had with her mom when she was a little girl. But the low murmuring of the two of them talking stopped her from even poking her head in to say goodnight, and instead, she walked into her bedroom alone, quickly flicking on the light.

She did her nightly check-up; looked in her closet, glanced around the entire room, and even quickly poked her head underneath her bed to look for anything out of the ordinary. In addition, she now checked to make sure that her window was securely locked and flipped her desk lamp on before padding her way across the room and switching her light off.

Maybe it was the stress of the night that made Alyssa exhausted, or maybe it was just the idea of someone actually being there for her now in this town that made her fall asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.