Lights on the Lake

It happened almost like a wave. Alana had been silently sitting in the kitchen while her aunt uncomfortably made her tea. The ticking of the old owl clock Ker had had since Alana was old enough to remember was the only thing that made noise as Alana fiddled with a Lake Vedleu – The Lake of Lights napkin that the chamber of commerce made every year. This town was way too obsessed with itself.

But then, almost like a commotion, Alana heard a car pull into the driveway and then heard the scamper of multiple footsteps bolting into the house. She looked over and saw three boys stomping there way inside with waterguns in their hands. Almost all of them had a missing tooth somewhere and the youngest of them was holding the hand of the most adorable little girl Alana had ever seen. They were all very blonde and very tan, and Alana looked up to see Ker’s husband, Paul, with even more waterguns in his hands.

“They went absolutely crazy – sprayed down old woman Beth while she was walking her dog along the lake. Basically made her cry,” He explained. “We’ll have to remember to send her a note apologizing.”

“We totally nailed her!” The eldest boy shouted triumphantly. Then, as if their whole family dynamic had stopped, they all looked over at Alana who was still fiddling with her napkin. There was silence.

“Oh come on, boys. I told you your cousin was coming,” Ker said while picking Kimberly up. “You haven’t seen her in a while, but she used to babysit you and she helped me drive Peter to the hospital when you had that ear infection, remember?”

“Sort of…” The middle child, Peter said. He looked up at Alana apprehensively and there was silence again.

“It’s really great to see you again, Lana. We all appreciate you coming down for your father.” Paul finally said. “I know Ker is going to try to convince you to stay for the whole summer.”

“Still trying,” Ker stated with a laugh and Alana smiled awkwardly. The boys took that as their cue to run through the house into their bedrooms and Ker shouted after them about manners but they didn’t listen at all. She sighed as Paul said he was going to put Kimberly down for a nap. And then once again, the commotion was over and it was just Ker and Alana. “You’ll have to excuse them, they’re really weird around strang-"

Ker stopped and Alana exhaled a solemn breath.

“Strangers, it’s okay you can say it,” Alana replied. “Kids grow up quick, always changing and moving, it’s completely understandable that they don’t remember me.”

Ker didn’t say anything for a while, and Alana took that as enough to know that she agreed. Alana felt bad that she missed out on seeing her cousins grow up, but it was a price she had to pay to get the hell out of here. She possibly didn’t handle her escape too gracefully, but she knew it was the right choice. There was always going to be consequences to her actions, and leaving the people in this town behind and knowing what they probably said about her was her consequence. Also knowing that they would all eventually move on, forget about her until she was merely just a small memory in their heads, was her consequence.



The air was thick outside as Alana walked behind her aunt’s family. They were all holding hands with one another as they crossed the busy street downtown like some Hallmark card and Alana walked behind them like some outsider. It was muggy, yet beautiful as the sun reflected itself against the old buildings, causing a ray of orange around the whole area. Alana’s almost red hair blew in the summer breeze and at that moment she almost felt content breathing in the same scents that she had she used to all of the time when she was younger. The air was so much purer than New York City’s air as she let the it fill up her lungs.

She looked in front of her at Ker as she grasped onto her husband’s hand. He was tall, brunette and good looking. He inherited one of the local breweries from his father but didn’t like to drink and, as Alana remembered, like to sing karaoke with his friends on Friday nights. He grew up here, met Ker in high school, they got married after he went to college, got her pregnant, and now they’re right where they always planned to be, smack dab in Lake Vedleu.

The group of them all walked into the large local restaurant that Alana used to frequent all of the time, named after one the town’s founders with the unfortunate name of Samuel Balls. Alana’s old friends, whenever they would go to the restaurant, would tell people that they were off to Samuel’s Ballsack. One time, Alana’s friend Mackenzie said it to her parents when they were fourteen and her parents were appalled and grounded her from hanging out with her bad influence friends. Alana thought it was hilarious.

The restaurant was insanely busy, probably because it was a Friday night and this was the only interesting thing to do within a thirty mile radius. The young hostess saw Ker and Paul and smiled and waved at them, but when she saw Alana’s face, her smile dropped into a frown. Alana recognized her as Kelly Paltron, a girl that went to her high school. She still looked exactly the same. Kelly’s eyes flickered to Alana’s and she was about to say something but Alana immediately looked the opposite direction and sat down at the table that Kelly had let them to.

“Your server will be with you in a moment,” Kelly spat toward Alana icily. She shot her a look before placing the menus down and walking away.

“What in the world? I’ve never seen Kelly act like that before.” Ker said as she picked up a menu.

“Yeah, well, I guess I just have that affect on people,” Alana replied and looked down at the menu, evaluating it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. She knew just as well why Kelly Paltron hated her.

Alana hesitantly looked across the restaurant at Kelly, who was whispering to another hostess. The other girl looked over at Alana and shot her a look before whispering back with Kelly again. Alana let out an exhausted sigh.

“Is it all right if I go out and get some air?” She asked Ker. “You can order anything for me, I’ll be back in ten minutes, tops.”

“Yeah, of course,” Ker replied and Alana thanked her while getting up and bolting out of the restaurant as if it was the last place she ever wanted to be, which was slightly true. She walked quickly out of the front door and put her hands in her jean short pockets as she walked through the crowds of people, most of the faces she recognized. She kept her head down, passing the bristling shops and smells of different types of food, until she was standing in the middle of downtown, in front of the Town Hall. On the front window was a large picture of her father’s face, almost as if he was smiling at her. She wasn’t there when this picture was taken, he looked older than he did when she left. He had his thinning reddish hair, his blue eyes staring straight at her. Under the picture was a simple line that read Ned Bennett’s Funeral Service. Saturday morning at 9 a.m.

Alana took a shakey breath and traced her fingers along the glass of the window that the picture was taped to and suddenly felt like the most terrible person in the world. Then she thought of Trey, and the fact that he probably thought the same thing about her as well.

“Oh. My. God. Alana Bennett is that freaking you?”

Alana turned to see none other than her old friend Mackenzie walking up towards her. Her eyes widened at her old best friend, and she suddenly felt an ache in her chest that she never realized was there. Mackenzie still had the same strawberry blonde hair, the same brown eyes and freckles and the same scar in between her eyebrows from the time they got into a car accident right when Alana got her license.

“It is you! What in the hell, I didn’t know you were coming into town!” Mackenzie exclaimed and pulled Alana into a bone-crushing hug. “I mean, of course I thought about it, with your dad and all, but I didn’t think I’d actually see the day that you’d walk down these streets!”

“Yeah, well you caught me!” Alana said, even she couldn’t hide her excitement as she saw Mackenzie’s friendly face. Mackenzie was always the one who Alana would sucker into coming along with her on their crazy escapades without thinking twice about it. They were the dream team, the ones that always got in trouble but got out of it almost immediately.

“Man, we have so much catching up to do it’s unbelievable. Girl, why are you just walking the streets by yourself?” Mackenzie asked. “Where’s your aunt and her hot husband, Paul?”

Alana laughed. “They’re at Samuel’s Ballsack,” She replied. Mackenzie cringed at the name with a smile on her face. “I said I needed air. Why are you walking the streets by yourself?” She asked while smiling.

“Oh man, Kelly Paltron works there, she probably killed you with her eyes, didn't she? And well, I’m actually not by myself…” Mackenzie replied, and then as if they knew the perfect time to turn the corner, there they were.

There was Alana’s old friend Abigail, a five-foot-nothing yet jaw dropping gorgeous black girl, walking next to Alana’s other old friend Weezer, a big boned boy named Wesley that no one actually called Wesley, and then… well, then there was Leo.

“No way!” Abigail almost screamed and ran into a full sprint to tackle Alana. Alana almost fell backwards as she hugged Abigail back. “I didn’t think you were actually coming back!”

“Alana Bennett, in the flesh, I can’t believe it,” Weezer said behind Abigail and walked forward to pull Alana into a hug as well. Alana smiled as Weezer ruffled her hair and then stepped back. The only person that didn’t acknowledge her was Leo. He stayed quiet, his face holding just as much surprise on it as the other’s that she was there, except his surprised expression wasn’t of happiness, it was more of a numb kind of anger. His light brown eyes stared right at Alana’s, his hair was messy, as if he looked like he came right out of the lake and put some clothes on. His nose was still slightly crooked, just the way Alana remembered it, he still had his tan skin and Alana could imagine his straight teeth from four years of braces. But he wasn’t showing his teeth at all, his lips were pressed together into a tight line.

Then, his mouth opened for a second, and Alana was preparing herself for a classic Leo-style blow to the gut statement. Something icy and cold, something that would make her want to cry. Leo Cronin was always good with this words, he used to call the ability his gift. The whole group was somewhat expecting him to say a harsh word or two, they were looking back and forth between the two, just waiting for someone to say the first word.

But Leo surprised them all, because he did not even speak. Instead, he broke eye contact with Alana, and as if it was in slow motion, walked straight past her without even looking at her, and continued down the street behind them.

“Leo, where are you going?” Weezer shouted but Leo didn’t respond as he turned the corner and was out of sight.

And that’s when Alana realized that him saying nothing at all to her, was the biggest blow to the gut he could have ever given her.