Lights on the Lake

Alana stared at her surroundings and all she could see was emptiness. The walls - empty. The floor - empty. Her stomach - feeling like a bottomless pit. Her father's house was now completely bare of everything that she once called home. His old couch that she used to sit on and stare at the fire while the television played idly in the background was now sitting in a large moving truck. The kitchen where she dropped copious amounts of dishes, shattering them on the floor, was now completely empty. Everything was packed into neat little boxes, almost everything being donated to local homeless shelters and the rest being sold at a giant yard sale right in the front of her house.

She looked outside the window at people perusing through her and her father's old things. A young girl was holding up one of Alana's old dresses to her body and Alana closed her eyes for a brief second as a man passed by her pulling a few boxes stacked on top of one another with a dolly.

"Doesn't seem like you're doing a good job as saleswoman," Alana heard a voice behind her say. She opened her eyes and looked to see Leo leaning in the doorway, the sun beamed against his light brown hair, making it shine with a coppery blonde tint. A friendly smirk lay on his face.

"Eh, our stuff is so amazing it can sell itself," Alana replied and looked back out the window where a woman handed Mackenzie a twenty dollar bill and walked out carrying off Alana's father's old chess set. Mackenzie and Abigail were trailing around the people, making sure that none of them were taking anything without paying and Weezer was trying to sell golf clubs to an elderly man who looked like he could barely pick one up.

"Are you sure you want to sell all of this stuff?" Leo said while stepping forward and looking out of the window himself. "I mean, I just saw some woman taking that umbrella that you hit me in the face with in eighth grade."

Alana smiled and sat on a window bench, continuing to watch the people through the tall cabin-style windows that faced the front lawn. Leo stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall.

"So does this mean you're leaving?" Leo asked. Alana blew some of her auburn hair out of her face and looked up at Leo, who glanced down at her and then stared outside again.

"Well, the real estate agent said she could take it over from here, and hopefully it'll get sold within a few months so I'll be able to support myself enough while trying to find a new job and crashing on Julie's couch," Alana rambled. "So, yeah, it does mean I'm leaving."

"That doesn't really sound like something to come back to," Leo replied and Alana sighed.

"It sounds better than here, Leo," She replied.

There was a pause between the two until Leo exhaled breath that Alana didn't even realize he was holding in. She looked up at him and he kept looking like he was about to speak but then didn't.

"Is this you trying to ask me to stay?" Alana asked with a small smile resting on her face.

Leo 'ttched', "We all know that would be your dying wish," He responded. "But I'm actually here to-"

"Alana!"

Alana turned around to see her aunt entering the room in a panic, her hair pulled back into a sloppy bun and her eyes holding fear that immediately made Alana's stomach sink. Her aunt was still in sweatpants and she held her car keys firmly in her hand.

"What's wrong? What's going on?" Alana asked as Ker tried to compose herself. Leo stepped forward and rested a hand on Ker's shoulder as Ker continued to uncontrollably shake. She finally looked up at the two.

"There's been an accident."



Alana sat in an uncomfortable chair breathing the uncomfortable air of the local hospital. The only other times she had been in this place was when she got an ear infection in the third grade and after she got in a car accident that almost took Mackenzie's life right after Alana got her license. They had both been drinking and according to their 16-year-old moral compasses, they elected Alana as the 'most sober' and she was the one to drive them home. The next thing Alana could remember was waking up in the dense forest surrounding the lake seeing blood all over Mackenzie's unconscious face and part of a tree lodged into her leg. Alana came out of the accident without a scratch.

Alana winced at the memory of that and the consequences that came after it. She was under-aged, she had been drinking, she was stupid, and lost her license until she turned 18 and had to do mounds of community service and attend alcohol classes. The judge warned her that if she did anything even remotely stupid between the two years until she was 18, that she wouldn't see her face on a license until she was 22.

After being in the hospital for a few weeks, Mackenzie had to go through physical therapy for her leg, but was optimistic and even joked about it, telling Alana that the tree just wanted some love. The scar between her eyebrows that she got from the mirror shattering scrunched together as she smiled.

"Is dad going to be okay?" A young voice asked, which snapped Alana out of her daze. She looked down at her aunt Ker's youngest boy, Stephen, and tried to give him a reaffirming smile.

"I'm sure he's going to be just fine," Alana said and rested her hand on his shoulder. His large eyes looked up at her, almost as if she just said one of the best and hopeful things he could have ever heard. She immediately felt guilty. She had no idea what happened to Paul. All she knew was that Ker came over in a panic with the kids, telling Alana that she needed to come to the hospital with her to watch the kids while she saw Paul. There was no room in Ker's car so Alana took the truck her aunt was letting her drive, which had been recently fixed by Leo's dad, and they left.

Alana heard a small little giggle to the right of her and looked over to see Leo sitting on the ground with Kimberly and the other two boys, Peter and James. He was playing peek-a-boo with Kimberly with one hand while flipping over a card in a card game he was playing with the boys with his other hand. Peter saw what card Leo got and groaned.

"He wins again," Peter mumbled and grumpily got up and sat down by himself on a bench close by.

"Aw come on buddy, this time I promise I won't cheat," Leo said and Peter snapped his head up.

"You were cheating!?" Peter exclaimed.

"Well, I heard of how great you were at this game and I didn't want to embarrass myself so I did what I had to do," Leo replied and Peter's mouth opened before a small smirk set on his face. He crawled back onto the ground and started setting up the game again.

"Okay, this time don't cheat!" He scolded.

Leo put three fingers up in the air. "Scouts honor." He said and then looked over at Alana who was watching the whole situation and winked, making Alana smile slightly before she turned back to Stephen, who was leaning against her and staring straight forward, his blonde hair getting into his eyes.

Suddenly, there were footsteps in their direction and they all looked up to see Ker walking towards them, each step she took seemed to hold uncaptured anxiety. The boys all stood up and Leo kept ahold of Kimberly. They all ran toward their mother as she kneeled down and pulled them to her.

"Is he okay?"

"Where's daddy?"

"Mom?"

There was a silence, before a small smile formed on Ker's face. "Would you guys like to see your dad?" She asked. The boys almost yelled their answers as she grabbed their hands and led them down the hall and out of sight.

Alana stared at where they had just been before standing up. She put her hands on her lower back and stretched, trying to get the kink out from sitting down in the same position for hours. She finally turned toward Leo who was now standing, with Kimberly now dosing off on his shoulder.

"You didn't have to come," Alana replied. "You could have just stayed at the yard sale or went home or something."

"Don't be stupid," Leo replied and adjusted his hold on Kimberly who was now completely passed out. "I've known Ker forever, and I came to visit this little one right after she was born."

"Really?" Alana asked.

"What? Are you surprised?" Leo asked and shot Alana a lopsided grin. "Just because you left didn't mean that I'd end all of my ties with your family, you know. That was kind of your job."

Alana frowned and quickly pulled her long hair around her shoulder and started to braid it absentmindedly. She grabbed a hair-tie from her wrist and tied the end of the braid and placed her hands on her face. She sighed through her fingers and looked back at Leo.

"I can always depend on you for giving me a hard time," Alana said and sat back down on the chair. Leo stepped forward and sat down next to her while adjusting Kimberly who didn't notice any movement and continued to sleep.

"I don't think I'm giving you a hard time," Leo replied with a shrug. Alana looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm just pointing out things you've done that other people are too afraid to bring to your attention because they're scared that if they do, you'll leave again."

"But you're obviously not afraid," Alana replied.

"Nope."

Alana rolled her eyes. "Why did I think this morning that you actually wanted me to stay?" She asked. "Maybe it was all of the coffee I drank or something, it gave me hallucinations."

Alana looked down at her hands that were clasped together in her lap and couldn't help but feel moderately sad. She had no idea what state her uncle was in, and she couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that she was so happy at the possibility that Leo Cronin actually wanted her around.

"Hey," Leo said a few seconds later and softy grabbed Alana's chin to bring her head up. They met eye to eye and stayed silent for a moment as his thumb traced itself along her jaw line. "You weren't hallucinating, all right?"

Their eyes locked for another second before they heard footsteps entering the hallway once again. Leo took his hand off of Alana's face and the two of them looked forward at Ker who was walking toward them, the boys most likely still in the room with their dad.

Alana stood up.

"Is he going to be all right?" Alana asked and Ker smiled reassuringly, yet her eyes still looked like they were still holding genuine fright.

"There was an accident at his work, someone from the night crew forgot to turn a boiler off, and it melted the edge of a pipe, and... I.. it hit him. It was.. I."

Ker couldn't even get her words out and Alana immediately stepped forward and hugged her. Ker grasped onto her niece's shirt and hugged her back.

"It was a freak accident," Ker tried to explain. "The doctor said he'll be fine in a few days." They broke the hug and Ker stroked Alana's hair for a second before taking a deep breath. "It's crazy how much the possibility of losing the love of your life makes you feel like you're about to break into a million pieces.... Anyways, Alana, can you please take Kimberly back to my house? Here's the key, and a spare key to my car so you can get the car seat. I'll be back in about an hour with the boys."

"Of course," Alana said and placed the keys in her pocket.

Ker attempted a smile again and then looked over at Leo. "Thank you for coming with her, Leo."

"Of course," Leo said, repeating Alana's sentiments. Ker turned on her heel to walk back down the hallway.

As Ker disappeared around the corner, Alana and Leo stood awkwardly next to one another before they silently agreed to walk toward the exit. They walked into the elevator and Alana reached forward and pressed the lobby button. The elevator beeped and started descending as the two continued to not speak to one another. Alana glanced up at Leo who was adjusting Kimberly again.

"I'll take her," Alana said. Leo shook his head.

"I don't want to wake her," He replied. Alana nodded and the elevator beeped again. The doors opened and they walked to the front of the hospital and outside towards the parking lot. The silence continued as Alana unlocked the truck and then unlocked her aunt's car to grab the car seat to place in the truck. She grabbed Kimberly from Leo and placed her into the car seat where she remained asleep and then shut the door. She turned around to face Leo, who was standing there with his hands in his pockets.

"I guess I'll give you a ride home?" Alana suggested and Leo nodded. They stood in front of one another awkwardly for a few seconds and Alana was about to turn to walk toward the driver's side of the truck when Leo spoke.

"Look, Alana, there's something I've been meaning to tell you, that I tried telling you this morning," Leo began.

"What?" Alana asked. But suddenly, almost out of nowhere Alana saw platinum blonde hair that she could never mistake out of the corner of her eye. She snapped her head in the direction of where she saw it and stared even harder, just to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing, but her questions were put to rest as she saw that the blonde hair was flowing behind Kelly Paltron, a girl Alana never thought would ever be walking in her direction - but she was.

"You look like you're about to throw up, what are you looking at?" Leo asked and then turned around. His body immediately became tense as Kelly glided toward them, a worried expression on her almost perfect face. Her large light brown eyes which were freakishly almost the same color as Leo's were widened with what appeared to be worry.

"Leo," Kelly breathed when she finally got to them.

"What are you doing here?" Leo asked. Kelly looked a little taken back by the hostility in his voice but immediately recovered.

"I heard about Paul Gallagher's accident. The whole town has heard about it," Kelly replied and looked over at Alana. "Is he all right?" She asked.

Alana didn't say anything to her, instead she just stared.

"Are you all right?" Kelly asked Alana with a small little laugh, but her humor didn't pass on as Leo and Alana still remained dead quiet. Kelly awkwardly cleared her throat and looked back up at Leo. "Look, I just came by because I heard of the accident, and then came looking for you and Weezer told me you went to the hospital. I just wanted to make sure everything's okay."

"Why would you come looking for him?" Alana asked, finally finding her lungs to speak.

"I... well," Kelly said awkwardly. "I'm just going to go. This was a mistake."

Kelly then stopped and looked up at Leo, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world, and then what Alana saw take place after that happened like it was in slow motion, happening in short sequences.

Kelly takes a step forward. Kelly puts her hand on Leo's face. Kelly stands on her toes. Kelly leans in. Kelly placed her lips dangerously close to Leo's. Kelly places her lips on Leo's.

And then the slow motion pattern stopped and the kiss ended as a quick peck on the lips. Kelly awkwardly waved at Alana and turned to walk away, her perfect white blonde hair trailing after her.

Neither Alana or Leo even moved as Kelly made her way out of sight. Anyone could hear pencil drop, or a cricket chirp from a mile away as the silence intensified between the two. Finally, Alana swallowed a deep lump in her throat and turned toward Leo.

"So... what, are you guys... are you guys dating again?" She asked, so softly that it was basically a whisper. Her throat felt like it was about to close up completely.

"I... I, well, Lan, it's been a while since - "

"I need to go," Alana said, almost saying that to herself as reassurance to walk away.

"No you don't. Alana, stop," Leo responded as Alana felt her heart thump loudly in her chest as she grabbed onto the door handle of her truck. Leo almost lunged toward her and grabbed her arm which she immediately yanked back from his grip. "Alana, look, I've been trying to tell you."

"Tell me that you've gotten back together with the biggest bitch from our high school?" Alana replied, finding her voice again. "Back together with the girl who was the only one that succeeded in completely breaking your heart? Making me pick up the pieces and looking like the bad guy for letting you know what she did to you?"

"Alana-" Leo insisted as Alana reached again for the door handle.

"That girl ruined my life for the last three months of high school because I tried protecting you," Alana said and opened the door. "Poor little Leo, you know? Always the cool one, the first time he's the one getting screwed over by his girlfriend, he gets even cooler."

"Alana, will you just stop and listen to me for a second?" Leo insisted.

"I don't want to listen to anything you have to say. Consider all my respect for you completely gone. Don't ever talk to me again."

And with that, Alana sat in her aunt's truck, slammed the door loudly and peeled out of the parking lot. She swerved around a corner and onto the main road before looking in the rear view mirror to see Kimberly sitting in her car seat, still fast asleep.