Anywhere But Here

Alyssa’s eyes hadn’t left the window entire night, and they continued to stare at the fastened lock across the wood as she listened absentmindedly to her friend on the other line of the telephone.

“Is the beach nice?” Scarlett, Alyssa’s closest friend from back home, asked. “At least you could get a solid tan out of this entire ordeal.”

“Ordeal as in my mother being brutally murdered and me being shipped to live with two people who don’t even give a fuck about me?” Alyssa asked, an obvious edge growing in her voice. Scarlett stayed silent on the other line, knowing that she obviously had crossed the line with her irritable friend.

“What about the boys?” She offered, “Have you met anyone interesting?”

Alyssa’s eyes left the window pane for the first time in hours at the thought of Joe entering into her head. His lopsided smile came into focus as Alyssa let herself fall back onto her bed, eyes shut. If Alyssa was speaking honestly, and she almost always did when talking to her best friend, Joe was much more than interesting. He was intriguing, entertaining, unconventional…let alone beautiful. Ever since the night prior, Alyssa felt something different when that boy was mentioned.

“There is this one guy…” Alyssa said, her mood and tone almost instantly changing.

Scarlett squealed at the mentioning of this stranger and smiled brightly as Alyssa laughed sheepishly.

“We’re just friends,” she continued, “for now, at least. He…” Alyssa trailed off and thought back to the story Joe had told her last night. “He kind of just got out of a serious relationship.”

“Ugh,” Scarlett grumbled, “that’s always the worst.”

Alyssa nodded her head in silence, finding her eyes becoming fixated once again on the window sill.

“So what about you and Tony?” Alyssa asked. “I never figured out what happened at that party…” Alyssa trailed off once again. The party had been the last social event, hell, any event, that she had attended back in her home town. It had been the night before her mom died and her step-dad went missing.

“It was more a one-night thing than a long term relationship.” Scarlett said in disinterest, “It was awkward at school, and I couldn‘t remember half of the things that happened anyways…”

Alyssa poked her index finger through a knitted blanket that was set across her bed. She missed talking to her friends, and going to parties, and having her mom always there for her. She missed being able to tell Scarlett about boys, and even imagined what it would have been like if Joe lived in her old town and she still lived with her real family. As soon as she got home from hanging out with him, Alyssa would have drove over to Scarlett’s house and they would have sat up for hours going over every single thing that happened and analyzing it until they had fallen asleep. The next day she would go back home and tell her mom about the new guy she met and how she felt about him. Her mom would most likely shake her head in disapproval and tell Alyssa to worry about guys after she graduated. Alyssa would obviously ignore her and go upstairs to text Joe asking him when they could do it again. In that life, it seemed almost perfect. It seemed like that is what was supposed to happen.

A tear rolled down Alyssa’s cheek as her friend continued to go on about her own social life.

“But seriously, I want to hear about this guy.” Scarlett said positively, “What’s his name? What does he look like? Have you kissed him yet?”

Alyssa laughed sadly and wiped the tears from her eyes before sitting back up on her bed with her legs crossed underneath her.

“His name is Joe.” She started, pulling a pillow up to her stomach. “He has dark brown hair. It’s kind of short, but longer at the top so it gets really wind-blown all the time. His eyes are literally golden…and his smile makes my heart jump up in my throat every time I see him. He looks a lot like his brothers, who he hangs out with almost all the time. He’s pretty built and tan, but everyone is here. And no, we haven’t kissed yet. You know, he just got out of a relationship and everything.”

“Oh yeah,” Scarlett laughed, “I forgot that you told me that.”

Alyssa smirked and felt another knot forming in her throat. “I miss you, Scar.”

“I miss you, too, Lyss. We all do.” She replied. The two friends sat in silence.

“It’s not fair, you know?” Alyssa asked, obviously not looking for an answer. “I had everything going for me. I had the good friends and me and my mom were just starting to actually like each other, and I was doing good in school. And now that’s all changed.”

Scarlett also had a few tears in her eyes; she missed her friend and her friend’s mom, who had sometimes acted like her second mother when things got difficult. She hated seeing Alyssa like this, and knew that she obviously didn’t deserve everything that she was being put through.

“I can only imagine what you’re going through right now, Alyssa.” Scarlett answered quietly, listening to her friend’s wavering breath. “But maybe this guy is supposed to mean something. I mean, make the best out of a situation, right? You’ll get used to living with your dad, too. I mean, you’ll have to. And as soon as our semester is over here, I’m getting everyone and packing them into my car and we’re going to come and see you. And then I can meet this Joe guy.” Scarlett paused, “…and his brothers.”

Alyssa laughed and buried her face into her free hand. “That sounds like an amazing plan.” She agreed, hopping off of her bed and heading towards her closet to pick something to wear for the day. “I can’t wait.”

“Me either,” Scarlett answered, “I’ll call you sometime this week, alright?”

Alyssa nodded her head and mumbled a faint agreement before saying goodbye to Scarlett and tossing the phone over to her window bench.

She set a purple t-shirt on her bed and was just about to retrieve a pair of jean shorts out of the laundry bin that was set in the corner of her room when someone knocked on her bedroom door.

“Who is it?” She asked darkly, turning toward her vanity and slipping on a bracelet that Scarlett had given her for her birthday.

“It’s Lisa.” Came from the other side of the door. Alyssa looked at herself in the mirror and rolled her eyes silently. The conversation with Scarlett had made her in a slightly better mood, so she walked across the bedroom and opened her door anyways.

Leaning across the doorframe was her soon-to-be step-mom , wearing a cheesy smile across her face.

“I just thought I’d drop by and tell you that I made breakfast and that it’s in the oven if you wanted any. Your dad and I are leaving for work, but help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I left some money on the counter if you wanted to order out, just incase.” Lisa told Alyssa.

“How considerate,” Alyssa said emotionlessly, crossing her arms over her chest before staring blankly at Lisa. “Is that all?”

Lisa seemed bewildered by Alyssa’s attitude toward her, but didn’t say anything as soon as Greg called her name from the first floor.

“I guess it is,” She answered quietly, turning around without another word being exchanged.

Alyssa waited until she heard Greg and Lisa walk out the front door and into their cars before closing her door shut and getting ready for the day.

* * *

Every time she did it, walking across the lawn of the Jonas household seemed to get less awkward. Alyssa had successfully made her way out of Greg and Lisa’s house, walked across the road, and knocked twice on the front door of Joe’s house without even feeling slightly embarrassed.

As soon as the door opened, though, that all seemed to change.

Joe answered the door, wearing nothing more than a pair of swimming trunks and hundreds of beads of water that trickled down his body slowly and onto the tile floor underneath him.

As his eyes fell upon Alyssa, his charming crooked smile openly played across his face.

“Hey stranger,” he smirked, “I didn’t know you were coming over today.”
Alyssa felt her cheeks grow warm underneath her sunglasses as she shrugged her shoulders, trying to play off cool. On the inside, though, she was freaking out. Did he honestly think she was being too eager to spend time with him? Or did he feel the same way and like having her around? Could he tell that she was staring at his bare chest through her sunglasses? Is that why he is smiling so much?

“I was bored at Greg’s house and didn’t feel like going into town by myself, so I came over to see what you were doing. If it’s a bad time though, I could-”

“No!” Joe opened the door wider, welcoming Alyssa inside. She continued to stand on the porch for a few seconds before taking his offer and walking inside. “I was just swimming in our pool out back. Everyone else is gone, or I would be on the boat. You know, you should come out on the boat sometime.”

Alyssa smirked at how talkative Joe was being and nodded, sliding her sunglasses onto the top of her head. “I would like that,” she answered.

“So what do you need in town?” Joe asked, walking down the wide hallway and into the kitchen. Alyssa followed a few steps behind him and watched as he pulled a t-shirt on over his head. He continued into the kitchen and pulled two waters out, sliding one across the counter toward Alyssa.

“I was thinking about renting some movies,” She answered, taking a seat at one of the chairs behind the counter. Joe unscrewed his water bottle and took a quick sip while he leaned on the counter across from her.

“We could do movies,” Joe answered. He furrowed his eyebrows teasingly before smirking across the counter at Alyssa. “That is if you’re inviting me.”

Alyssa rolled her eyes playfully. “Of course,” She smiled back before taking a drink of her water. “So, you’re up for it then.”

“Yeah, just let me go find some shoes.” He answered, walking from behind the counter and into the hallway. Alyssa watched as he paused before a mirror and quickly adjusted his semi-wet hair. She thought the entire action was extremely cute and had to bite her lip from smiling too big.

The next thing she heard was the jingling of keys as Joe reappeared with a pair of sandals on and a set of keys dangling from his index finger.

“Let’s take the Jeep.” He replied, tapping her hand gently as he walked past her towards the garage.

With a smile, Alyssa willingly followed.