Take Me Away

I think I may be mentally insane or something because never have I ever been so stressed about finding what to wear. I swear nothing in my closet is appealing to me and the skinny jeans and hoodie I wore to school today is just not going to cut it because in just barely an hour I’m going to see Oliver and meet his brother Tom. I’ve been anxious all day and could barely sit still long enough to actually focus on anything during school. It’s been driving me insane. I want to impress Oliver, which is something I usually couldn’t give two shits about. I want him to think highly of me and none of the clothes in my closet seem to work.

I groan, slamming my closet door before walking to my bed and throwing myself down on it. I grab my phone off the nightstand and quickly search through my contacts before I find Leighton’s number and press send. It rings for a second before my brother finally picks up.

“Hello?” His deep voice says into the phone. I smile. I can’t help it; Leighton just makes me happy for no good reason at all.

“Hey, bro, it’s me,” I say, looking down at my nails. Should I paint them before I go out?

“Core! Hey, what’s up?” He exclaims, sounding excited and happy like he is all the time. The smile on my face widens and I let out a low laugh.

“Nothing really, I’m going fishing later with Collins and a few friends,” I tell him, not really wanting to talk about Oliver even though he’s been on my mind all day.

“Awesome, awesome,” He says and I can totally picture him nodding in my mind because he’s just one of those people that’s so enthusiastic that they use their whole bodies when they speak. “How’s dad? He sounded kind of stressed when we last spoke.”

“He’s been firing a lot of managers,” I tell him (hopefully Jerry will be next,) “I think he’s stressed about finding people to fit the job.”

“Ah, I see,” Leighton says, “So how is school and everything? Still have your mind set on Juilliard?”

I let out a short laugh; Leighton wants me to go to University of Michigan with him just so we’ll be closer to each other. He’s a goofball and very family orientated. I like that about him. “Yes, I do, and I don’t plan on going anywhere else. Actually, I didn’t apply anywhere else…” I mutter out the last part.

“What?!” Leighton exclaims because I know he was expecting me to apply to U of M, but I mean come on, the weather in Michigan is never consistent and almost always cold. Plus, I’m not smart enough to go to the University of Michigan.

“I didn’t want to write all the essays for the admissions process! Plus, I wasn’t really that interested in the school,” I say with a shrug, rolling onto my stomach and pulling out the latest issue of Alternative Press and flipping it open.

“Ass, you just didn’t want to go to college with your big brother,” Leighton says playfully and I laugh and roll my eyes.

“Totally, because I just hate you so much,” I reply sarcastically and I hear him laugh into the receiver.

“Besides school, how are friends? Has Taylor confessed his love for you yet?” Leighton asks. I snort and shake my head. Leighton has this completely absurd idea that Taylor loves me. He is the only one who has ever suggested this and I can’t even think about Taylor liking me. I mean, Taylor is attractive and all, but he’s one of my best friends! I’m not into him like that.

“Yes, he did actually,” I say jokingly, “He threw pebbles at my window and gave me red roses. It was quite romantic.”

“Smartass, I’m gonna give you a whooping when I get home,” He says, but I can hear the smile in his tone. I laugh and flip the page of the magazine, distantly reading the articles when I hear a sharp beep come from my phone. I pull it away from my ear and flip it open since I can’t read the outside screen. Speak of the devil, Taylor was calling me. I quickly close my phone and hold it to my ear again.

“Hey, Leigh, I gotta go. But I’ll call you later and we’re going to talk about your love life and your extremely good looking, single roommates,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows when I talk about his roommates. Leighton laughs because he knows his roommates are fucking hot.

“Talk to your later, have fun fishing sissy,” He says. I smile, he’s called me sissy since I was four and it just stuck.

“Bye,” I say before pressing the ‘send’ button so that the call is transferred onto the line with Taylor.

“Hello?” I say questioningly, making sure that I’m really talking to Taylor instead of Leighton because the whole call-transfer thing doesn’t always work.

“Coralee? Hey, have you left t-to go fishing yet?” Taylor asks, his sentences jumbled and mixed together. I frown, why does he sound so flustered?

“No, not yet. Why? Is everything okay?” I ask, beginning to feel concerned.

“What? I mean, y-yeah! Yeah, I’m fine,” He says and I hear something rustling around in the background. I’m so confused; he usually doesn’t act like this. Usually Taylor only stutters when he’s nervous. Like when we had to do a class demonstration project freshman year. He was so nervous he kept stuttering left and right.

“You’re stuttering. No, you are not ‘fine.’ What’s up?” I question, pushing away my magazine so I can roll over on my back.

“You know this Oliver guy?” He asks, sounding slightly hesitant. Taylor is so weird…

“Yeah, what about him? Is he a mass murderer or something?’” I joke, trying to get him to chill out and break the tension. Taylor laughs shakily and I frown again. I know him to well to tell when something isn’t right and he sure is acting funny.

“No, well at least not that I know of,” He mumbles and I roll my eyes.

“Okay, so what about him?” I ask, trying to get Taylor to speak his mind. I can hear him take a long breath then let it all out slowly. Taylor does that when he needs to clear his mind. (I’m way too observant.)

“I want you to be happy, y’know?” He says after a minute of silence, “But don’t jump all over this British kid just because he’s new and exciting or whatever shit. I just want you to be happy, but don’t just go and fall for him because he’s attractive or British or whatever…”

My eyebrows raise and I sit up in my bed. Wait, what? “What are you talking about?” I ask in complete confusion.

“I mean- just- I don’t know… Make sure you actually like Oliver before you jump all over him because he’s really good looking,” Taylor mutters.

“Weren’t you the one who told me I should ‘totally tap that’?” I question, “And who said that I’m going to even want to be in a more than friendly relationship with this kid?”

“Collins,” Taylor spits out immediately. I groan. I should have anticipated that. “I want you to be happy and if this Oliver guy makes you happy then who am I to stop it, but… just don’t make any stupid decisions before you get to know him, alright? He could be a tool.”

I giggle and shake my head, “I’ll keep that in mind. So is that what you were calling about? To tell me to be careful so I don’t get hurt by some ‘tool’?”

Taylor chuckles lowly, “Yeah, I guess. I just didn’t want you to dive head first into a relationship.”

“Thanks,” I say because I know he meant everything with the best intentions. He really is a sweetheart. “I’m not looking for a boyfriend in Oliver anyways. At least not yet, I mean we don’t really know each other.”

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” He said, “And you are going to New York in the fall and I’m sure you probably don’t want a long distance thing.”

Oh yeah, long distance. Ick, why can’t Juilliard be somewhere in, I don’t know, Minnesota? Yeah, that’d be nice. I mean as glad as I am to get away from this small town, I’m sure going to miss my friends and my dad.

“I’m going to miss you and Collins, are you sure you are up for the task of having a long distance friendship?” I ask playfully in a deeper, more professional sounding voice. Taylor just chuckles at me.

“Yeah most definitely,” He responds almost immediately, “Even though New York is going to steal you from me, I don’t plan on going down without a fight.”

See? What’d I tell you? He’s a sweetheart. “I love you,” I tell him, smiling to myself as I get off my bed and head to my closet to begin my search (again) for something to wear. Taylor goes silent, not responding to what I said. Uh-oh. What now?

“T?” I question. “Taylor?”

“Uh, r-right, sorry,” He says quickly. Again with the stuttering! “I love you too, I have to go though. My mom needs me. Talk to you tomorrow, bye.”

He hangs up. Dammit! What’s wrong with him? One second he’s been nice the next he’s avoiding me like the plague. I’ll ask him about it tomorrow, but for right now I need to fucking find something to wear.

*

It takes me nearly a half hour to find the right outfit and another fifteen minutes to fuss with my friggen chaotic hair. I’m mean seriously, can it ever lay flat?! I guess I look okay though. I decided to wear my navy blue and orange striped sweater, a pair of skinny jeans, and my brown deerskin Sperry’s. I just leave my wavy hair to itself because it can’t be tamed (please don’t even think about that Miley Cyrus song) and put on a little bit of eyeliner. I walk to the bathroom, flipping on the light to check myself out again. I look good. I’m content with good. Turning off the light I walk out of the bathroom and down the hallway and into the living room. My dad is sitting on a couch in the family room, his reading glasses on and a Chuck Palahniuk book in hand. He looks up as I walk in the room and takes his glasses off of his freckled face.

My dad and I look a lot alike. He has the same sandy brown hair and it’s wavy also. We have the same eye color and the same smile. I understand why people tell me why I look so much like my dad because I honestly do.

“Hey, where are you going?” He asks curiously, putting his glasses down on his book. I walk over to the coat rack and grab my bag and my North Face.

“Fishing with Collins and friends,” I tell him honestly as I shrug my North Face on.

“Collins? Fishing?” My dad asks. I laugh because that’s my thoughts exactly.

“Yeah, I guess she’s starting something different,” I say with a roll of my eyes. I look back at him and his eyebrows are raised, wrinkling his forehead.

“Make sure she doesn’t hook on of you when she’s casting,” He says with a shake of his head as he puts his glasses back on and cracks open his book. I laugh ‘cause Collins would do something exactly like that.

“Bye dad,” I say as I take my keys out of my pocket and open the front door.

“Come back before ten,” He shouts after me as I close the door and walk out towards Simon.

I don’t really know how to feel. In three seconds I’ll be picking up Collins and then in five minutes I’ll be at Duck Lake with Oliver and his younger brother Tom. My stomach is in a nervous frenzy as I grab my fishing rod and somehow manage to fit it into my car before climbing in and reversing out of the short driveway. I’m nervous and I’m not going to lie about it, but what bothers me the most is that I haven’t really gotten to know Oliver and I’m already getting those fucking annoying nerves that just drive me crazy. I know I shouldn’t feel this way and that in the end if this whole Oliver deal just ends up to be a huge disappointment, how am I going to bounce back? I mean, I’m finally letting myself just go with the flow and what if everything goes wrong? I’m never going to want to just let go ever again and I know it! I’m scared that Oliver is going to ruin this new thing I’ve got going because I know absolutely nothing about him. What if he is a serial killer and that’s why he moved from the United fucking Kingdom to live in the middle of bumblefuck nowhere? I think way too much to be healthy.

I sigh as I drive to Collins house, turning into her neighborhood because literally she lives five seconds away from me. Collins lives in the nicer part of Ely, but granted Ely is pretty small so the nicer part isn’t like full of fucking mansions. Instead Collins lives in a simple two story house. It’s way more modern than mine and the inside looks way nicer than the outside. I mean her house isn’t ugly it’s just… green. A really ugly color green that her mom thought was super ‘in’ or something. I don’t know. All I know is Collins’ house is the color of vomit.

I pull into her driveway and honk my horn, not bothering to get my phone and call her because I’m just that lazy. Half a second later her front door flings open and Collins smiling face comes into view and she waves way too happily for anyone. I swear she’s just so energetic all the time. Collins bounds out of her house and runs towards my car sticking her tongue out at me goofily as she runs past the front of Simon then over to the passenger side.

“Hey!” She exclaims as she gets inside. I smile at her because her happiness is contagious. “You look cute!”

I look down at my outfit then compare it to hers and of course she looks a million times cuter. “Thanks,” I say with a shrug as she buckles her seat belt and I put Simon into reverse and pull out of her driveway.

“You dressed to impress, didn’t you?” Collins asks as we get onto the main road and begin the short drive to Duck Lake. I can feel the blush rise in my cheeks and I vainly wish it away. I hate it when she catches me trying to look cute! She always mocks me… bitch.

“Fuck you,” I mutter, avoiding her shocking blue eyes as we turn right onto Washtenaw Avenue and head south out of town.

“You did! Ah!” She squeals happily, her lose blonde hair swishing as she dances around in the front seat. “I knew you were at least slightly into him!”

I groan knowing she will never let this go now. “So what? Why do you always make such a big deal if I’m just a little bit interested in someone who just so happens to be a cute guy?” I ask, grabbing my sunglasses and putting them on because the sunlight is starting to hurt my eyes. It’s warmer in Ely now and the snow is melting. Yeah it’s still chilly and that’s why we have coats on, but the sun is warming everything up. Thank god, because I love spring.

“You need a boyfriend,” She tells me firmly, “So you won’t leave me here alone with Taylor when you go to New York!”

I snort and shake my head, a small smile tugging at my lips. It’s not my fault, but I love it when Collins doesn’t intentionally tell me that she is going to miss me. Collins and I have a weird relationship. Yes, we’re best friends and we tell each other everything, but we’re not all affectionate I guess. I’ve never told Collins that I love her seriously. Like sure we love each other, but we’ve never really expressed it in a serious manor. But the little moments when she doesn’t directly say that she loves me or that she misses me and I know she’s implying it makes me happy to know that she really does care about me.

“You could come to New York with me,” I suggest to her even though I know she’s already got her eyes set on University of Minnesota Crookston, “You could live with your grandpa!”

She snorts and leans back in her seat, the sunlight that makes it through the leaves of the tree’s hanging above the road illuminates her face, “As if! He’d shoot me within the first 24 hours of me living there!”

Knowing that she’s totally right makes me crack up. “True true,” I say and Collins giggles.

“He’d probably hit me with his cane to make the moment perfect,” She says with a smile. I grin and nod, lifting a hand to turn on the radio. The rest of the drive we’re quiet, which is pretty rare because Collins loves to talk. I just focus on the curving road and the patches of sun leaking through the treetops. It’s nice to just zone out when the weather is fair. Usually most people stay inside the town so the road that takes us to Duck Lake is pretty empty.

“Are you excited to see Oliver again?” Collins asks, breaking the silence between us as we take the last corner. My stomach is already eating itself because I’m so nervous. I can see a small black car parked in the designated gravel place and it makes me anxious.

“Yeah, I guess,” I tell her with a shrug, even though I’m not really focusing on her anymore. I’m more attentive to two boys that got out of the black car. Collins giggles and I swallow thickly as we come to the V in the road and turn right into the viewing area parking lot for Duck Lake. My foot starts to tap as I park my car two spots away from Oliver’s and don’t look out of the window.

“Come on!” Collins says excitedly before shaking my shoulder with one hand then hopping out of the car. I nod to myself as the passenger door slams. I hesitantly look up and see Oliver and (I’m assuming) his brother leaning against his car. Oliver smiles as Collins bounds over and hugs him tightly. I sigh, knowing I should probably get out of my fucking car so I don’t look like a loser. I open unbuckle my seatbelt before opening my car door and getting out.

“’Aye Coralee,” Oliver says with a wave from nearly three yards away. I smile and wave awkwardly before opening my trunk and getting out my fishing pole. I’m so fucking awkward. Collins didn’t even bring a damn fishing pole! God, he probably thinks I’m a major weirdo. Fuck! I sigh, pulling out my fishing pole before walking over to them. All of their eyes were on me as I walked over and smiled awkwardly.

“Hey,” I say to them as I come to a stop in front of them and shuffled my feet on the gravel. Oliver was smirking at me and Collins was way too jittery for her own good. I look over to the kid next to Oliver and he looks just as uncomfortable as I feel.

“Oh, Coralee this is meh brotha Tom,” Oliver introduces us. I smile at the slightly chubby, brown haired boy and he nods to me. They don’t look much alike, but you can tell that they are related. He’s awkward like Oliver was when we first met and it makes me smile because I find it adorable.

“Ready to go fishing then?” Collins speaks up, bouncing on her feet. I look over at her and she’s smiling like a lunatic. Oliver nods and chuckles because Collins is just so hyper.

“I’ll get our stuff,” He says, unlocking his car and opening the trunk. Collins and I watch as he pulls out two fishing poles, handing one to his brother and keeping one in his hand before grabbing a tackle box and closing his trunk. He grins awkwardly, because honestly the whole situation is kind of awkward.

“Should we go down to the lake?” I ask, lifting a hand to motion towards the set of stairs that leads down the small hill to the beach. The two boys nod identically and I want to giggle, but I don’t because I’m sure I’d look like a lameass.

“Well let’s go then!” Collins says way too loudly. Oliver chuckles at her again before we all walk towards the rickety wooden stairs. It’s quiet and I don’t like it. This is why I hate meeting new people; because it’s awkward and quiet and you don’t know what they’re thinking of you because you can’t fucking read minds. I want Collins to say something, anything to get the conversation flowing because it’s what she’s best at. But unfortunately, she doesn’t and we walk down the old stairs in complete silence.

“So how was school today?” Collins says, finally opening her mouth as we make it to the beach, walking across the hard sand and over to the long dock that stretches onto Duck Lake.

“S’fine,” Oliver responded and I look over to him because Tom is separating us, “Pretteh boring, righ’? School ‘ere isn’t very interesting.”

“Was it interesting in the UK?” I question, cursing my vocal chords for sounding so weak and stupid. Almost instantly Tom shakes his head.

“Twas boring as fuck,” He says, finally speaking, “S’jus’ worse ‘ere.”

Collin and I giggle at the same time, making Tom’s cheeks go a little pink and he looks away. Oliver laughs at his brother and throws his arm around his shoulders as we walk down the rickety dock. It’s pretty chilly outside and I shiver as we walk get to the end of the dock and set our stuff down.

“I’m not very good at fishing,” Collins admits with a flirty smile as I begin to take the small plastic protector off of the fishing hook.

“Neither am I,” Tom speaks again in a quiet voice, making me smile. He’s adorable too; I should have expected that seeing as Oliver is his brother.

“It’s not that hard,” I say, looking over to Oliver to see him getting out his neon bait and attaching it to his hook. It looks like he knows what he’s doing, which is rather surprising to be honest. Oliver hands Tom the fishing pole and gets out the other one, beginning to bait it as well.

“I don’t even have a pole,” Collins says, biting her bottom lip as she looks at ours. Oliver chuckles and rolls his eyes at her as he plops down on the edge of the dock and casts out his line with ease.

“Yeh invited us ta go fishing and yeh don’t even have a pole? Yeh crazy,” He says with a shake of his head, but laughs jokingly.

Collins pouts and pops her hip out, looking totally like a diva. “I am not crazy!” She protests and I can’t help, but think about how she really is totally insane.

“Collins, don’t worry about it, you can borrow mine,” I say as I gently sit down next to Oliver, but far enough away so that when I cast out our strings don’t get tangled. He smiles over at me and I can feel the blood rising in my cheeks as I smile back, avoiding his brown eyes. Collins elbows me and I jump shooting her a quick glare before paying attention to our lines.

Tom sits down beside his brother and Oliver helps him cast. He’s really nice and all; you know bringing his little brother with him. Even though Leighton and I have a pretty good relationship he’d never let me hang out with his friends. I was always his ‘twerp sister’ and embarrassed him; I hated that Leighton would never bring me anywhere so I’m sure Tom really appreciates the fact that Oliver actually is willing to hang out with him.

“How often do you go fishing, Oli?” Collins questions after a peaceful silence fell over. Oliver merely shrugs and reels his line in a little bit.

“Whenever I’m bored,” He says, “There really isn’t much ta do ‘round ‘ere.”

I snort and nod, “I totally understand, I’m so ready to get out of here,” I say with a shake of my head. Literally, I’m ready to get out of boring Ely and go somewhere. I’m ready for New York and Juilliard and actually having a life out of bait shops and tackle stores.

“Yeh leaving?” Oliver questions, turning to look at me. His eyes bore into mine and I want to look away, but I can’t. I don’t know why, but I just can’t pull myself to look away. He seems confused and slightly… angry? Does he look a little pissed off that I’m not going to be in Ely after graduation?

“Uh y-yeah,” I stutter, making a complete fool out of myself. I finally look away and pretend to pay attention to my line as it floats in the water, “I’m going to college in New York.”

“Wow, mum said she’d take us ta see New York during the summa,” Tom says as he watches his line intently, “It seems realleh cool and all.”

“Why are yeh going ta college there?” Oliver asks me instantly, still making eye contact with the side of my face. I avoid it as I feel the blush on my cheeks.

“I got into a really nice college and they are offering me scholarship money,” I say with a shrug and Collins elbows me again, silently telling me that I should actually look at him when I speak. I can’t though, I’m a chicken.

“Are you going to college around here?” Collins asks Oliver as I shrug down and try not to attract attention. I really hate how shy I am. Really, it’s annoying. Oliver clears his throat and I look in my peripherals and see him looking down at his fishing pole as well.

“Yeah I fink so,” He says, clearing his throat again, “Mum made me apply to some colleges, but I don’t know wha’ one I’m gonna commit ta.”

“Why did you move here?” I blurt out, cursing myself for sounding so incredibly dumb. I wanted to know the answer and that question was floating around in my head so I just said it. Of course I sounded so weird and abrupt, that was just typical me around people I don’t really know.

I peer over and Oliver and he look up, a grim smile that’s barely even there tugging at his lips. “I don’t want ta talk ‘bout it,” He says quietly, looking back down to his hands. I look over at Tom and he’s doing the same. Damn, touchy subject? I’ll have to ask later if he actually wants to keep being my friend. Psh, I wish.

“So did you guys watch the Super Bowl? How cool was that?” Collins breaks in, saving me from humiliating myself. She does that a lot and sometimes I wish she didn’t have to save me from myself all the time. I wish I didn’t need saving.

We end up fishing for a near three hours and we didn’t catch a single thing. We all joked that it was Oliver’s neon bait, and even though we were joking, it literally was the reason why we didn’t catch shit. Fish hate fake bait, especially neon colored bait. I wonder how much he catches when he goes fishing by himself… probably not much. It was fun though, just fishing and talking. Oliver is really easy to talk to and even though Tom’s shy, he was pretty fun as well. The sun began to set as we packed up all our stuff and began to walk back up the hill towards our cars. Oliver playfully nudged Tom and they fought, making me and Collins laugh, the whole way up the hill until we reached the cars. I forced my pole back into Simon just as Oliver put their stuff into his car (which he told us was named Robin after Batman’s sidekick.)

“Yeh should come ova ta our ‘ouse sometime,” Tom suggests as we all stand between the two cars, getting ready to say good-bye. Oliver nods in agreement and steps closer.

“Me mum would like yeh bof, always telling meh ta bring ‘ome some pretteh girls,” He says with a light chuckle. I blush again. (And hate it.) Collins just laughs brightly and I know she’s trying to be cute, and it’s working.

“We’d love too,” She says, putting her hand on my shoulder, “We all need to hangout again soon.”

I nod as well and look at Oliver square in the eye and smiling. I’m trying to flirt, shoot me! He gives me the most adorable grin and nods for like the eightieth time.

“A’right well we ‘ave ta be off, text meh or somefing,” He says, stepping forwards and opening his arms. It takes me a second before I realize he wants a hug. Nervously I step into his chest and wrap my arms around his torso. He hugs me to his chest and gives me a light squeeze, before letting go. Damn, he smells so good. Oliver hugs Collins as I turn to Tom and give him an awkward, quick hug before we head our separate ways. A smile is set firm on my face as I climb into Simon and wave to Oliver as he looks our way through the windows of his car. He waves back before turning on his car and pulling off the gravel side space and onto the road.

I’m in a daze as I turn my keys in the ignition and look over at Collins. She’s smiling widely and I return it without a care in the world. All that I can think about is how wonderful it was to hug Oliver and how much I want to do it again.