Corruption

I invited Aiden over for dinner, but he graciously denied. He said he had other dinner plans. I didn’t press him; I could see his eye were not their normal bright green. Mike and I walked to my house together, dripping water on the side walk.

Mike had his towel in his hands and was drying his shaggy hair as we walked. “That was really fun, I’m surprised.”

I rang my hair out over the road. “What was surprising?”

“You.”

“Me?” I asked, laughing a little. “Why was I so surprising?”

Mike shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. When you came here, she seemed to change. You were way more serious than you use to be. I guess I just saw a little of the old Candace today.”

As we walked the rest of the way up to the house, I thought about what he had said. Maybe the old Candace was really coming out. I thought the same thing, but didn’t really think much of it. Mike knew me more than I knew myself. Maybe he was right. I just didn’t know if it was a good thing, or a bad thing.

Gloria shimmied us up the stairs once we opened the door. She said she had just washed the floor and didn’t want us to ruin it by dripping chlorine everywhere. She warned us that dinner started in a half hour and my dad was expecting us to be on time.

I took a quick shower and put some nice clothes on for dinner. My hair was still damp when I entered the dining room. My mom and dad were already seated in their normal spots. I kissed my dad on the cheek before I sat down. “Evening, Daddy!”

He was surprised I had acknowledged him. He stared at me, wondering if I was kidding. I sat next to my mother, planting a big smile on my face. “Evening, Mom!” I said to her. I didn’t want to leave her out too. I was so happy I was willing to make the best of the time I had.

“Evening Sweetie.” My mother said. Both of my parents looking at me, trying to find out what was wrong.

Mike entered the dining room, and sat across from me. He smiled at me as he put his napkin on his lap. I did the same, returning the happiness.

“Have a good day you two?” My dad asked.

I looked over toward the end of the table at him. “It was very nice.” I said in my most pleasant voice.

Mike choked back laughter as he watched me. I was trying to be as proper as I could; I didn’t see how that was funny. My dad had always liked it when a family sat around the dinner table together, being one big happy family and showing it through their words. My mother joined in with him, trying not to laugh.

“What is so funny to you people?” I asked.

“Why so elegant?” Mike asked. He took a sip of the water that was in front of him to calm himself. My mother did the same.

“It just sounded—not you sweetie.” My mother cooed.

I rolled my eyes. Maybe they didn’t know the real me. They had no idea what I did every day, nor who I really hung out with. I guess Mike knew a little, but not much. Now would be as good a time as any to tell them, but Mike. Mike was in the room. I needed to tell him at a special time. I had tried numerous times to tell him what was going to become of me, but it never seemed right. Tomorrow was going to be his birthday, and then the day after that was mine. I needed to do it before he left.

I wouldn’t be able to see him after it was all said and done. I would be to weak to control myself. I didn’t want to hurt him, like I had been. I guess I have no choice. I promised myself I would tell him in the next three days before it was too late. Then I would just have to tell my parents. That wouldn’t be the hard part; Mike was the hard part.

The waiters came out like they always did; carrying platters of delicious smelling food. The main course was my favorite, spaghetti. They brought out baskets of garlic bread, which I ate greedily. I glanced at Mike every time I picked one out of the wire basket between the two of us on the table. I always caught him staring at me.

My parents talked their normal dinner time batter. My dad was talking about going to a premier for his movie tomorrow and he got tickets for us all, one for Mike as well. He also said he got a guitar souvenir from the movie. It was some weird name I couldn’t pronounce even if I tired.

“I have always wanted one of those!” Mike said after swallowing a mouthful of spaghetti.

My dad looked up from his plate. “The guitar?”

Mike wiped his mouth with his napkin, and then placed it back on his lap. “Yeah! I’m using my dad’s old one right now, but I am saving up for a new…”

“I didn’t know you could play the guitar.” I said, flabbergasted. He had never mentioned it before, and I never saw him with a guitar in his life. I had missed more than I knew.

Mike smiled at me. “I started about month before you left. I didn’t want to show until I could actually play something.”

“Can you play something?” I asked. I was about ready to jump out of my seat and hear him play. I had no musical talent what-so-ever, except I could sing. My mother always told me I had a beautiful voice, but I always got nervous in front of people, so no ever knew about that.

“Well—I guess. I’m no rock star, though.”

“Why don’t you play for me?” At the moment I didn’t realize how that sounded. A second later, I blushed with embarrassment. I could tell Mike was blushing too. “Well—if you want. I would love to hear you play.”

“Um, sure. Maybe later—after dinner?”

I nodded, looking down at my plate. My parents hadn’t said a word through-out our conversation. They just stared at us, watching how we communicated. My mother seemed happy by this situation, but my father, not so much. He had really liked Aiden, and didn’t know Mike very well. Even though Mike had been my best friend for years, he was never there to get to know him. I didn’t hold it against him, but I wish I could.

Mike and I ate our dinner faster than normal, but were disappointed when there was dessert to be served in fifteen minutes. Mike and I sat there, staring at each other occasionally, waiting for the minutes to tick by.

My dad finally called in the waiters to bring in the dessert. All of the waiters came in singing and swaying back and fourth. They were holding a large cake that had letters written in frosting on it.

Happy Birthday Kids! The waiter’s words floated into the room and filled the space. “Happy birthday to you…happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Candace and Mike….Happy birthday to you!” They all sang.

They set down the cake on the table in front of Mike and I. There were eighteen candles on one side, eighteen on the other, making it an even 36 candles. Mike and I watched the waiters leave the room. We both burst out laughing as my parents began to clap for them.

Between my laughter, I choked out, “You know it isn’t either of our birthdays, right?”

My father nodded. “We know, but we won’t be here tomorrow night for Mike’s birthday. We will be at the premiere. And on your birthday you will be…”

My mother cleared her throat, telling my dad he already said too much. “We just thought it would be nice to have a family party.” My mother tried to clean up the mess my father had just made, but I knew what was up.

I glared at Mike, giving him a sly smile. “You.”

Mike put his hands up in the air, like he was surrendering to me. “Me nothing!”

“Yeah right.” I scoffed.

“Make a wish!” My mother clapped her hands together again, getting excited. I thought about it long and hard, Mike doing the same. I just hoped my wish would come true. It would make everything that was going to happen a heck of a lot easier for me. The only thing I could think of to wish for was that everything was going to turn out how it should between Mike and I. Together we blew out the candles. Mike had one left when he was finished.

“You have a girlfriend!” My mother screeched. She used to always do that to me on my birthday, telling me if I miss any candle, which is how many boyfriends I have. When I blew on the candles, with no problem I blew them all out. It was a little disappointing, but it didn’t really mean anything.

Mike was looking from me to my mother. I grabbed the serving knife and started to cut pieces in the cake. I was getting very antsy and needed to be doing something. The knife was rather large and it scared my mother to see me with it. I turned to her like I had to do with Aiden. “Mom, I’m fine. I won’t cut a finger off.”

She smiled at me, trying to show she wasn’t worried, but I knew her better than she thought. I served a piece to everyone and dug into a piece myself. As soon as I was done, I stood up, Mike had been done for a few minutes already.

“We should go to bed now.” I told my parents. The clock above my dad’s head already said it was soon to be ten. They both stood up to wish us goodnight.

“Your presents are on your beds.” My mother told us as we were leaving.

“Presents?” I asked, stopping in my tracks.

“Isn’t that what you get when it is your birthday?”

I looked at my mother. She had her hand on her stomach and was rubbing small circles into her blue shirt. “Go on.” She told us. I snapped out of my trance and headed up the stairs with Mike hot on my heals.

Mike said he would come by my room with his guitar and show me a little something he has been working on. I went into my room and kept the doors open for Mike.

A blue box was sitting on my bed, a blue ribbon on the top of it. The card on top of the box was rather small, only three words scrawled on the inside. Happy Birthday Candace!

The lid was barely on the top of the box, making a little slit around the edges. I pulled of the cover and stepped back from the box. A very small bundle of white fur was huddled in the corner. When I lifted the lid, it sprung to life, jumping up and down.

The small American Eskimo puppy was jumping up and down at me, trying to get my attention. “Hi.” I said to it and it yelped. I picked up the squirming bundle of white fur and placed it in my arms. It snuggled up against me, his wet noise sniffing my hands that must have smelt like cake. I petted it soft back, making it lick my face.

I screamed a little from surprise. My parents had gotten me a dog! We were never aloud to have a dog in Georgia because our house was too small. Now our house was almost too big. The little dog jumped out of my arms and landed on the soft bed.

As she jumped, A little clink came from her neck. I reached down and found a little pink collar around her neck. There was a small tag on it that read ‘Cassandra.’ The puppy raced away from me, running the length of the bed. She started to jump up and down on the bed, trying to look out the window.

I laughed and ran to her. She was so cute, I couldn’t control my excitement. I picked her up and as I bent over the bed to show her the window, I kicked something. Looking down, I saw a large box filled with a variety of things. There was a small leash, a water bowl, a small bag of puppy chow, and some toys. As I dug deeper, there was a little bag of dog treats.

I opened it, and immediately, Cassandra started to scramble in my arms. “Okay, Okay!” I said, laughing. It was funny how hyper she was. I set her down on the floor, not being able to hold her while she was trying to get away.

She sat on her butt and waited patiently for me to give her the treat. I stopped, looking into her eyes. She almost loved me already, depending on me for everything. I am responsible for this little bundle of white fur. Her eyes were a light blue, gleaming up at me. It was hard to not love her already.

It was amazing that I even got her. My parents always said that we were never going to have animals in their house as long as they lived. It was an amazing turn around. I gave Cassandra the treat, and she chewed it gratefully.

Mike walked into the room and didn’t notice Cassandra, being so small, on the floor by my feet. He closed the door behind him, his guitar on a sling over his shoulder.

“Hi, Mike.” I said. I had completely forgotten about him for a minute. Cassandra had made me even more excited than I was before. Cassandra watched as Mike went and sat on my bed. He didn’t acknowledge her so she got a little snippy. She yipped at Mike from the floor, no higher than a foot off the ground.

Mike jumped not knowing she was there. “What is that?” he asked.

I scooped her into my arms and placed her on Mike’s lap before sitting down next to him. “She is my birthday present. Her name is Cassandra.”

Mike scratched behind her ears, warming up to her in a split second after looking into her crystal blue eyes. “She’s rather cute.”

It was kind of funny hearing Mike say cute. “Really?”

Cassandra jumped off of Mike’s lap and settled on mine, laying her head on her paws. I looked up at Mike. He was watching me, not the dog. I cocked my head at his expression. He seemed to be different.

“You always wanted a dog.” He stated.

“And now I have one.”

Mike turned away from me. “Yeah.” He pulled the guitar off of his shoulder and settled in on his lap. He reached into his pocket, extracting his hand holding a very small plastic pick. “You ready?” he asked me.

I nodded. Mike looked like he knew what he was doing as he started to play. I was surprised by how good he was. The notes flowed into each other as he played, making a soft melody. Cassandra listened as well, occasionally wining from the noise. I listened intently, trying to find the meaning to the song he was playing, but I never found it.

As Mike played his guitar, he never once looked at me. It didn’t seem like he could. I didn’t want to interrupt his playing, so I waited until he was done to ask. On the last few notes, Cassandra barked along, now annoyed with the noise.

“That was beautiful, Mike.” I told him. He didn’t look at me. He didn’t answer either. He was starring at the puppy on my lap. “Mike…” I put my hand on his arm, the scars hard under my finger tips. He stood up, gliding away from me. He ran his fingers through his hair, and finally looked at me.

“Look Candace. I have a question.”

I took Cassandra off of my lap and placed her on the bed. Standing, I walked over to Mike. “What about?” I was a little worried. The last time he had asked me a question, it lead to an argument, an argument I was ignoring for the past few days. By the look on his face, he was thinking of the same thing.

“I just…” He was struggling to find the words. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to return to the subject, and clearly neither did Mike, but we had to get it over with. He would never sleep well with all the questions he had for me. I just hoped I could answer them all.

“When I called that night…when your phone broke…what happened to you?” He seemed like he was suffocating through the whole sentence. When he finally said it, he exhaled heavily.

I sat down on the bed, remembering the horrifying face of Maryana advancing on me. My eyes filled with tears as I remembered her. She was so sweet and kind when I first met her. She didn’t deserve what she got; not even one bit of it.

“Candace?”

I looked up at Mike to see he was staring at the floor. He wouldn’t look at me and it was getting me angry. “I got attacked.” I replied. The tears were coming slowly out of my eyes, but they were still coming. “By a vampire, actually.”

“By Aiden?” he asked. He still wouldn’t look at me!

“No!” How could he think such a thing? “By Maryana. I wasn’t supposed to go near her, but I did anyway. It was my fault.”

“Did you get bit?”

“No.”

He sat down next to me on the bed. “You were okay?”

“Yes. Just a little bump on the head.” I wiped away the rest of my tears on my cheeks.

“Oh.”

We sat there on my bed, both flustered. I didn’t know if he wanted to ask something else because he wasn’t leaving. I didn’t want to say anything that would set me off like last time, so I kept quiet.

Mike hadn’t looked up from the floor. He was picking at the string of the guitar, making an occasional note fill the air. He was suddenly inches from my face, practically yelling. “Then why didn’t you call me? Do you know what I went through after that—not knowing what happened to you? How could you not think to call me back? Do you know what you did to me in those few short hours?”

Mike had tears running down his cheeks which surprised me. I couldn’t get what he was trying to tell me. Was he blaming me? “I’m sorry, I…”

“It was the worst day of my life!” he screamed so loud I now had a ringing in my ears.

“Mike…please.”

I was almost flattened to the bed. He had come closer and closer to me in his rage. He was actually scaring me. He backed away, realizing what he was doing.

“I wasn’t thinking straight.” I told him, trying to calm him down. “I thought about calling you. There was just too much going on at the time. I’m sorry.”

Mike wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “I know.” He got up from the bed again. Cassandra had been barking at us but we didn’t notice. We were too into our conversation to even try and shush her.

He put his guitar on the bed, flexing his fingers. I guessed he was holding it too tightly. The guitar on the silk sheets looked old and almost useless. It was his dad’s when he had played in a band. That was eighteen years ago.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled.” He grabbed his guitar and stormed out of the room. I didn’t chase after him. He was angrier than I had ever seen him; I didn’t know what he would do to me if I got him even madder.

I dressed for bed and sat on the couch with Cassandra in my lap. She was so clingy it was almost sickening, but I didn’t mind. It was one person that would never leave my side.

We didn’t go to Aiden’s the next morning for breakfast; my parents wanted to celebrate with us today, but in my mind, I knew that wasn't the reason I wasn't going to Aiden's. I knew for a fact that once Aiden had heard Mike yell, he had started to listen in, or actually had come up to the balcony and stayed there just in case. I felt almost embarrassed and didn't want to see anyone really, but I was called down to breakfast and knew I should go.

Even though I was little upset, I pretended like it didn't happen, knowing Mike would be doing the same. I got up really early that morning but I was a little late to breakfast because I had to go for Mike’s birthday present. I had the best idea yesterday, and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I had my driver, Charles, drive me over to the nearest mall. It took me awhile to find the perfect one, but after a long search, and a credit card I got at the end of the school year, I found what I was looking for.

Breakfast was a little awkward for Mike and me. I tried to make eye contact with him through out the meal, but he never once looked up from his plate. When we were dismissed, he went straight to his room and didn’t come out till my father said it was time to get ready to go to the premiere. I had been given a very small black dress to wear.

It was a halter dress and came down just above my knees. Small sequins were on the skirt, making it sparkle. It was beautiful, I just didn’t feel beautiful in it. The conversation between Mike and I was warring down on me. I felt exhausted and it was only five-thirty in the afternoon.

Mike came down in a suit and tie, black to match me. My mother and father were in a very dull blue, almost gray.

“Shall we?” my mother asked as Mike came down the stairs. I swung my purse from side to side in anticipation. I just wanted this night to be over so I could give Mike his birthday present. Mike nodded and followed me out of the house, closing the door behind him.

We all filed into the limousine, Mike and I in the far front, my mother and father in the far back. It was very uncomfortable sitting there and not talking. Every time I looked up at my mom, she was looking at Mike. Sometimes she would raise her eyebrows and give a little jerk of her head in my direction. When she saw me looking, she would smile at me, then pat my father’s knee.

She was still rubbing her stomach in small circles every time I saw her. My father smiled at her and patted her hand that was on her stomach. If I would have actually paid attention, I would have been able to put two and two together; but I didn’t. Not yet.

Mike drummed his fingers on his knee, clearly as nervous as I was. I picked at nothing under my fingernails, trying to do something.

When we got there, I could already hear the screams of the fans and the clicks of cameras. My father and mother put fake smiles on their faces and stepped into the crowd of people, arm-in-arm. I got out and was immediately swarmed by reporters and TV crews. They were all shouting at once, all of their words jumbling together.

“Miss Hart aren’t you…what can you tell us…were you in…what part did you play…how has your father been holding up?” The flashes of the cameras and the crowd of people was making me confused. An arm wrapped around mine, securely. I looked up and Mike was smiling at me.

He led me through the crowd of people, pushing reporters and TV crews out of the way. Once we got inside, the world seemed to become quieter. A large dining room was in front of us. A few dozen tables set up for guests to be seated at.

My parents were waving at us from the other side of the room. They were seated at the longest and widest table in the room; it was obviously for the crew and their guests. Mike escorted me over to the table and brought my chair out for me. My mother was just simply beaming at this.

Mike sat next to me. Our name plates were on our dining set in front of our chairs, ready for us. My mother was still looking at us both from the other side of my father. I glared at her, trying to get her to stop, but she didn’t seem to notice.

As the rest of the people entered the room and went to their seats, our table filled up as well. People my father had been working with were coming up and shaking all of our hands, introducing themselves.

The night seemed to go much slower than I thought it would. The server came and brought us our food, my father and a few others made a speech about how exciting it was to make the movie which I learned was now called "The Other Side of Me."

Mike had excused himself to go the restroom, and my mother happily followed. It was really making me curious about the way she was acting. She seemed to try and get Mike alone as much as possible. I knew there was nothing really going on between the two of them, but it still made me curious.

After dinner, we were escorted into a very large theater. The seats were very large and wide, giving each person a lot of room to get comfortable. We were seated in the front row, not far from the screen.

The announcer said it was a commercial free movie, so when everyone got into their seats, the movie would start immediately.

The night was going by in a blur. I didn’t really realize what was going on around me. It was very odd to me. I was too into my thoughts. My mind kept wandering back to the fights I had with Mike, and that dreadful night. Then the worst moments were when I thought about the dream Aiden had told me about.

I movie started quickly, starting out with a girl that looked almost exactly like me. This brought me attention away from my thoughts and to the movie. I watched intently as the girl started to fight with her dad on screen. The fights were about some other women the daughter had kept seeing the dad with, but wasn't sure what she should do about it.

The father got enraged when the daughter had finally told him that she knew he was cheating and was going to tell her mother, so he got up and left the house. The girl never told her mom why he had left and her mother fell into deep depression when he never came back. The girl became the care taker of her mother and everyone envied her for how good of a job she does. But when it got too much for her, she snapped and started to get into the drugs. Later during the movie, the father comes back, now an alcoholic, and starts to beat the girl, telling her she didn’t do what she was supposed to do for her mother.

Mike grabbed my hand as I flinched away from the screen. It was almost like I was that girl in the movie. The girl who had to take care of her mother because her father had left their family, I don’t think my father knew how close to home it was for us. Maybe that was why he had taken up the job. It was like our family biography was on screen, except for the abuse, but my mother never knew; just like the movie.

The movie continued to show how the father's and daughter's relationship grew, keeping his secret from her mother. The girl eventually told her dad she forgave him, and understood why he had slept with someone else. The family grew and eventually the mother had another child.

My mother was crying two seats down from me, but when she saw Mike and I were holding hands, she seemed to be a little happier. As the movie ended, we all clapped, the crew and cast standing up to bow.

I sat there, not clapping, nor smiling, as Mike held my hand tightly, knowing what I was going through my mind.