In the Middle of Nowhere (Willow's Journey #1) by Julie Ann Knudsen

  I was so embarrassed, so completely and utterly embarrassed. After I foolishly fainted and finally came to, I had a lot of explaining to do. My mom stood next to me as I sat on a brand new folding chair borrowed from one of the store’s aisles.

  “This is just a big misunderstanding, sir,” my mother defended me to the officer. “My daughter has never stolen a thing in her life and why would she start now, when she’s on a shopping trip with me?”

  My mother held out her two arms, which were draped in bags. “It’s not as though we can’t afford a measly magazine!”

  The officer let us go with a warning. I couldn’t wait to get out of that store. Some shoppers stood around and gawked at us, while others went about their business. We were in such a hurry to leave that my mom forgot to buy some antacid for Brian and, of course, I had to hear about it the whole ferry ride home.

  “This is all your fault, Willow! Now I’m going to have to drive out of my way to stop at a pharmacy for Brian once we get back to the island.”

  I turned away and stared out the window and watched as a seagull swooped down and effortlessly snagged a shiny, flopping fish for dinner.

  “What were you thinking?! I don’t care that you saw a friend from school. Use your brain. Never walk out of a store with merchandise, no matter how inexpensive.”

  Even though the air was chillier now that the sun was down, I wished that, I, too, could have flown away, far away from my mother. I would skip eating the raw fish part, though.

  We finally got back to our house after making a detour to pick up some pink stomach medicine for Brian. My mother was so overwhelmed by my ordeal that she and Brian just had to go to dinner alone so she could relax and unwind. She told us not to wait up for her. Why would she and Brian be out so late? Were the two of them going to stop over at his place after dinner for a quick romp in the hay? Ewww, I was making myself nauseous just thinking about it. I had to stop.

  In the meantime, James and I were stuck with two choices; either leftovers or frozen pizza. Neither appealed to me, so I heated up pasta and sauce from the night before for James and, afterward, headed up to my room.

  I wasn’t in the mood to eat anything because my mother had gotten me so upset. Not once had I ever given her a reason to worry about me and she acted as if I committed grand theft auto, a video game that James was dying for, but my mom said was way too violent for him.

  I signed on to my MyWeb account and was checking out what other kids were up to on the weekend while I sat home, once again, and babysat. Just then I got an instant message from Tessa.

  “Wanna hang?” it read.

  I was just about to type “no,” but thought better of it. Instead I typed, “Where?”

  “Rocky is having a get-together over at his house tonight.”

  Rocky Johnson was a senior, the captain of the football team and the hottest guy in the whole school. He was about 6’3” and had the best body ever. He had thick, dark brown hair, a perfectly chiseled face and looked like a Greek God. Erica and Taylor thought he was gorgeous, too, and one day, during lunch, we nicknamed him “The God.” If I spotted him in the hallways, I would feel myself getting flush immediately, even if I stared at him for only a few seconds. I felt as though my innocent lust for him would be written all over my face and that everyone around me would be able to read it, including him.

  I couldn’t believe that Tessa was inviting me to a party at his house. What would Rocky think if Tessa showed up with me? Who else would be going? Other girls or just guys? What, in the name of “The God,” would Erica and Taylor think about this?

  Again, I was about to respond, “no,” but wrote something so uncharacteristic, even I couldn’t believe it. “When can you pick me up?”

  “I’ll head over in about ten,” Tessa answered.

  I slammed my laptop closed and pushed it far away from me as if it might infect me with some sort of incurable virus. What the hell did I just do? I told Tessa that I would go to a party with her to the home of one of the hottest guys on the planet. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. Who was this stranger staring back at me?

  I quickly realized there was no turning back. I jumped up and ran over to my closet to try and figure out which new outfit I would wear to the party. My initial doubt disappeared and was replaced with intense mixed feelings of both anticipation and dread; a combination I had never felt before in my sixteen years and one week of life.

  • • •

  I looked in the mirror and was quite pleased with what I saw. I had on a pretty, lacy navy blue top with a matching blue cami underneath and a pair of expensive London Edge jeans. All the girls in my school wanted LE jeans, especially after tons of celebrities were photographed wearing them. The only problem was that you could only buy them in specialty boutiques.

  Luckily, Portland had one such chic shop called Salsa. Two of the girls at my party had given me gift cards from there and I used the birthday money my grandma had sent me to cover the difference in the cost of the trendy denim. My mother had said that she was “dumbfounded” that I would waste so much money on one pair of jeans. I wanted to tell her that she was acting like half of that same word without the “founded” part, but I didn’t dare. She probably would’ve slapped me.

  I hadn’t had time to take a shower, so I re-straightened my hair and put on a minimal amount of makeup. I thought I always looked prettiest if I looked more natural than heavily made up. I cleaned up my room and fussed with my bed and comforter.

  I did a final check in the mirror, and once I was pleased with the product, grabbed my cell phone and keys and headed downstairs. I now had to deal with the biggest, yet scrawniest obstacle that was going to come between my night out and me.

  • • •

  I stood directly in front of the television and waited for it.

  “What the heck are you doing?” James wailed. He stood up and tried to push me out of the way. I had braced myself and didn’t budge.

  “Listen! I’ll make a deal with you.”

  “Get outta my way first!”

  “No. I need your undivided attention.”

  “Fine.” He put down his controller. “Hurry up!”

  “I’m going out tonight and was gonna leave you by yourself.”

  “So,” James shrugged. “You’ve done that before.”

  “Yeah, but last time I got caught.”

  My brother got defensive. “That wasn’t my fault!”

  “I know. Sorry. But tonight you’re gonna have to tear your butt away from your video game and into bed before mom gets back. Remember, she said that she’d be home late.”

  “What if she checks on us?”

  “That’s simple. You’ll be in your bed, hopefully asleep and I stuffed my bed with clothes to make it look like I’m in it. Then I’ll just quietly sneak in after Mom’s asleep.”

  James nodded his approval and became very thoughtful. I could hear the wheels churning in his head.

  “What’s in it for me?”

  I knew this moment would happen and, luckily, had already thought out a payment plan.

  “I’ll buy you the Grand Theft Auto video game, as long as you never let Mom see you playing it.”

  James squinted his eyes and sized me up.

  I added, “And if this works out tonight, there might be other new video games in your future if I ever decide to sneak out again.”

  He didn’t hesitate and stuck out his hand. “Deal.”

  I shook his hand and said, “Deal,” at the exact same moment Tessa blared her car horn. I grabbed my coat, ran outta there as fast as I could and, fearing regret, didn’t dare look back.

  CHAPTER

  EIGHTEEN