Corruption

Two Weeks Earlier

Lying in Candace’s bed for the past hour was starting to get a little irritated. I didn’t mean for Aiden to take her out and never bring her back! She was supposes to be here by now. I popped my head out for a few seconds so I could get some fresh air, and then went back under the covers so Candace wouldn’t see me when she came in. The bed was piled high with pillows and had so many blankets that I really didn’t know how they called this a bed. But it covered me up so I shouldn’t complain—even if it was just to myself.

The sound of the switch being flipped startled me but I stayed low on the bed, not moving. The sound of the computer powering up filled the room with it’s soft hum as Candace checked things on her computer. After a few minutes of sweating, the computer went silent, and a weight came down on the bed.

I almost laughed at how close she was to finding me, but held it in. I wanted to really surprise her. She still didn’t find though, it was beginning to be hard to breath. So, I decided I would say something to alert her of my presence. “It is getting a little hot in here.” I mumbled, my voice muffled from the blankets and pillows on top of me.

The weight on the bed was frozen now, but she still wasn’t answering me. “Can I come out yet?” I asked.

Finally, Candace’s hand appeared and slowly pulled the covers off of my head. I sat up, thankful for the air that was cool and fresh around me. My hair was sticking to my forehead from all of the sweat. “I’m so hot.” I admitted, staring into Candace’s scared eyes. In a split second, she went from completely shocked to over joyed. Her little arms wrapped around my waist, and her head was pressed tightly against my chest.

I laughed at her reaction, glad that I was missed this much. I had missed her to and I was so glad to be here with her now. Things hadn’t been that good at home, so I was glad to have a distraction.

I pulled her off of me so I could see her face, but was disappointed when I saw she was crying. “What’s wrong?” I asked concerned. I wiped the tears off of her cheeks with my thumbs. I knew that she was crying because she missed me so much and was happy that I was hear, but knowing it and hearing it were different things. Hearing was way better.

“I missed you.” She admitted to me.

I laughed. “Of course you missed me.” More seriously, I said, “I missed you too.” Getting up from the bed, I held out my hand to help Candace off the mass of pillows and blankets. Once Candace had her feet firmly planted on the ground, she threw herself at me once more, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.

Her joy rubbed off on me and I spun us around in circles, picking Candace up from the ground before setting her back down. The picture on the bed caught my eye, and I stared at it, wondering if it was what I thought it was. Picking it up, I saw that it was. Candace and I were standing next to each other, our clothes and hair filled with food from a food fight at a birthday party, smiling wildly.

“That was a really fun; one of the best memories I have of you.”

“One of the best memories I have of you too.” She said, grabbing the picture out of my hands.

Gloria, Candace’s parents, and my mom walked into the room, all grinning but my mom. She never really smiled anymore.

“Are you surprised?” Nathan asked a huge grin on his face.

Candace ran to him and gave him a hug. He seemed shocked at first, but recovered and hugged her back. “Thank you.” She said quietly.

“Thanks Mom.” She said after staring at her dad for a few moments.

My mom had come over to the bed and sat down, rubbing her shoulders herself. I patted her hand in reassurance, sure that her being here was really stressing her out.

“You’re welcome.” Julie said with a large smile.

“The weather is so nice. Why don't you both go out into the garden in the back, while we talk to Mike's mother?" Julie suggested after a moment of silence.

I helped my mom stand. “Sure, sounds fun.”

All of the adults left the room, and Candace smiled. “I didn’t forget you know.” She said, grabbing the picture out of my hands.

“Forget what?”

Candace walked over to the bedside table and put the picture next to her alarm clock.

“I didn’t forget yours either.” How could I? That was the reason I was here.

"We can have our parties on the same day like we use to. Yours is only one day ahead of mine."

I smiled. "Shall we go to the garden?" I put my arm out, letting Candace slip her own through mine.

"Sure. Lead the way." She said, the smile never fading.

I started to walk out of the room with Candace attached to me, then stopped. "I don't know where the garden is."

She laughed. God did I miss that laugh. "Neither do I."

Shrugging, I started to walk again. "I guess we are going on a hunt."

It didn't take long for us to find the garden. It was larger than a football field. The forest surrounded the massive maze of flowers, statues, and waterfalls. I couldn't believe the garden's size. How Candace was now living like royalty was hard to believe. It seemed as though she was above me now, but she didn’t act like it. I was more than glad about that.

As we passed a patch of Alstroemeria, I picked one off and gave it to Candace. She smelt it, her eyes closing from the familiar smell. I use to give Candace Alstroemeria all the time. Alstroemeria meant friendship; and I was happy I was able to give them to her now.

“So...” I began. I pushed a branch of a tree out of our way as we walked down the stone path. "I see you made up with your dad."

“Not really. I am just trying to forgive him. I can tell he makes my mom really happy.” Candace smelt the flowers again. The familiar smell was warming to her; she had always told me that.

“You were so mad at him before.”

“Forgive and forget." She said simply. Candace stopped to smell a lilac bush. We were silent awhile as we walked down the path. We stopped every once and awhile to smell the flowers.

“What have you been doing while I was gone?” I asked her, wanting to know everything that I missed about her life the past few months.

“School just ended a few days ago. Finals were brutal.”

I nodded. "Ours were too.”

“What did you do when you got home?”

I stopped at the rose bush, thinking of picking one and giving it to Candace, but changing my mind. Not really thinking about what I was saying because I was so at ease, I just blurted out, “Same. My dad left my mom.”

Candace halted to a stop, tugging on my arm. “Your dad…left?”

Why had I said that? How stupid could I be? Now Candace was going to be in a bad mood after news like that. “Yeah, after I got home. They had an argument about me and how I left without any warning. My mom said she was giving me independence, but my dad said she was being irresponsible. So my dad left and hasn't come back since.”

As if to reassure myself I said, “They were having problems before though, so…”

“I'm so sorry, Mike. Why didn't you tell me?” We started to walk again, passing a dozen rose bushes on our way down the path.

“You had a lot going on—“ I mumbled.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t have time for you!” she interrupted. She sounded angry, or maybe hurt. I couldn’t quite tell. Maybe it was a mixture of both.

“I sighed. “I know, I just didn’t want to bother you.”

“You wouldn't be bothering me. I love it when you talk to me. It is one of my favorite times of the day. I look forward to it, no matter what you have to say.”

“I didn’t want to give you anymore bad news.” I mumbled so softly I was sure she couldn’t have heard me. We came to bench in front of a fountain and sat down and I finally looked Candace in the eyes. She seemed sad for me, and mad at herself. I knew she would have blamed herself.

“I’m sorry we left.” Candace said to me, her eyes showing shame. I knew she meant her and my dad had both left me behind, but I didn’t say anything. How could I without hurting her feelings? Of course my dad left me, there was no doubt about that, but Candace said she left me to. I knew she really hadn’t left me because it wasn’t her choice to go…but I felt that she had left me. I was ashamed of that feeling.

I left you too.” She clarified, “I didn't know I was hurting you so much.”

I shook my head. Unable to look at her any longer, I looked at the fountain. “You didn’t leave me.” I said, but not believing it entirely.

She touched my arm, making me look at her. “But you feel that way.” She whispered.

I moved my face closer to hers, our faces inches apart. “I know.” I whispered back. She knew me too well. I didn’t move my face closer to her like I wanted to. I had some self control after five years of wanted to kiss her so bad, and yet refraining from it. I didn’t need to kiss her, but gosh did I want to.

She was the one to look away first, her eyes now locked on the fountain. Her hand was now hot in mine, my skin on fire from her touch. “I’m sorry Mike,” she said again, obviously talking about coming to Maine and leaving me in Georgia.

I leaned away from her, the hot moment gone between us. Standing, I dropped her hand into her lap. “It’s fine. I should go unpack.”

Candace caught my arm as I started to walk away. “How long are you staying?”

I shrugged. “A week and a half, maybe two. Depends…” Candace walked with back to the house silently. I almost felt as though I wanted to be alone, but I didn’t want to leave Candace’s side. I pulled open one of the back doors, letting Candace go I first. She hesitated for a moment. I smiled at her, trying to tell her to go first without speaking.

She went inside and headed up the stairs that were right in front of us. “This is my house?” she asked, looking back at me as she ascended. The hallway at the top of the stairs was blue, two doors on the wall, and nothing more. The pair of double doors lead to my bedroom, and the single door down the hall was the bathroom.

“Yeah, Gloria said this was the guest wing.”

Candace nodded as she thought about it. Suddenly she went through the double doors and started to look through all of other doors inside. I grabbed my clothes from the bed and brought them to the closet, letting Candace do what she wanted to do.

She was at my side quickly, helping me unpack all of my clothes and put them into dressers. We unpacked in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other.

We were called to dinner by Gloria at seven thirty. My mom was still here, but was leaving in the morning. She needed to get back to work; well, that was what she told everyone. What she really wanted to do was go home and call my dad every two minutes, hoping he would pick up.

The dining room was just as fancy as all of the other rooms in the house. I felt out f place sitting here, but Candace made me feel at home as her smile reached me on the other side of the table.

There were actual waiters that came and brought us our food in different portions. It was like eating like a king would have eaten. My mom had stopped cooking so it was nice to have a full stomach again.

As soon everyone finished their dessert, it was already ten. Candace and I got up at the same time, kissing our parents good night. I left before Candace, but she caught up with me on the stairs. "Wasn't that dinner fantastic?" she asked, rubbing small circles on her stomach.

"Actually, that was the best meal I have had in about a month. Mom doesn't cook much any more." I smiled reassuringly at her, trying to tell her I was fine. "See you in the morning?" I asked, turning down the guest wing.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.

Going into my room, I got into my favorite pajama pants, leaving my chest bare. It had been a hot day, and it was a cool night so I was going to embrace the chilly air and sit outside.

Opening the balcony doors, the breeze whirled inside, the moonlight making my pale skin glow. I stepped out onto the stone with my eyes closed. The silence was calming, and the glow of the moon was slightly unearthy.

Aiden’s house was light by all of the lights inside, and all of the curtains closed, except one. Aiden was standing there, glaring at me from the window. His hostile stare shocked me, but I glared back, agitated by him staring at me.

Aiden appeared next to me on the balcony, leaving his curtains to shiver from the breeze he had caused. I did not flinch as he leaned against the balcony next to me. “How’s it going?” he asked his friendly face back on. It wasn’t that easy for me to just turn it on and off, but I tried.

“I’m good. How about you?”

“I’m doing good.” He was silent for a minute, then said, “I see you surprised Candace more than you thought you would have.”

I nodded, somewhat smug. “She was really excited. I’m glad I could make her that happy.”

Aiden nodded too. “You comfort her. She really needs you right now.”

I glanced at Aiden. He seemed upset by what he had said, but knew it was the truth. No matter how much he tried to comfort her, he couldn’t replace her best friend. I felt a little guilty about being so smug about it, but it didn’t last long.

“You really don’t get her.” Aiden said, now glaring at me again.

“Excuse me?” I asked, rage taking over my voice.

“You weren’t in on all of the stuff Candace went through. She has changed. And you just don’t get the new her.” Aiden tapped his icy cold finger on the large straight scares on my forearm. “You may have been there, but you weren’t actually in her mind.”

“And you were?” I asked, yanking my arm away from him.

He didn’t answer, but disappeared. I looked back at his house and saw him in the window of his house.

“Mike?” Candace said from the doorway. I didn’t move from my spot on the balcony, but stared at Aiden until he left the view of the window.

I officially hated him now.