Ransom (Holding Ransom # 1) Read online

  After a quick shower I blew dried my hair then pulled all the natural curls straight with the flat iron. Unlike Mom, whose hair was ruler straight and more times than not, perfect, I had been given Dad’s mousy brown hair that bordered on frizzy when the humidity was high. I had always hated the curls and more times than not, had fantasied about what it would be like to have straight hair, like all the pretty girls in school seemed to be gifted with. I could more than relate to Hermione from the Harry Potter books and her constant battle with her hair. When I had been younger I had wished that there actually was a potion to make your hair perfect.

  With my hair as straight as I could get it, I moved to my makeup. I decided to go a little heavier than normal, especially around my greenish-blue eyes. My eyes did this cool thing, appearing to change color according to what I wore. If I wore greens they looked more turquoise and browns brought out the flecks of amber, and blues made them closer to, you guessed it, blue. I fluttered my lashes and hooded my lids, practicing a sexy stare. I was surprised that I kind of managed to pull it off.

  With my makeup applied the last task was to get dressed. A thrill of enthusiasm, mixed with a touch of apprehension, sent tingles through me. The outfit that I was about to don was completely out of character for me. I lived in distressed jeans and colorful tees since, in my humble opinion, clothes were all about comfort. I tugged my new outfit from the closet and stared at it, quietly hoping that it might transform me from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. I shook my head disgusted with myself that I had even thought the cheesy line in my head.

  The black leather skirt was the smallest piece of material that I had ever chanced to wear, but oddly one of the most expensive. It had actually physically hurt when I had passed over the wad of cash that I had saved from a full year working at the Crispy Pickle. The Pickle as I liked to call it was a fast food restaurant that specialized in what else, deep fried pickles. It was a job that I was thankful to be finished with. Smelling like old oil and vinegar got under your skin after a while.

  When I slipped the skirt up over my hips, I was pleased at how it hugged my curves in a sexy way. I had to admit that I’d made the right choice getting it, even if it had drained my bank account. Next was a coral sleeveless blouse that was sheer enough that my flesh colored lacy bra was perfectly visible for viewing. I was pleased to see that my breasts filled the cups of my bra with a bit of cleavage to boot. I had been a late bloomer and had been one of the last of my friends to trade up from a training bra. For a while I had thought that I was destined to have the underdeveloped chest of a ten-year-old tween forever.

  I drew in a quick breath when I realized just how much skin the low-dipping ruffled neckline exposed. Uncertainty pumped me full of adrenalin, accompanied by a healthy dose of fear. Suddenly, I didn’t know if I could go through with the whole night after all.

  It wasn’t the first time I had disobeyed Mom, yet it was definitely the most monumental act of defiance I had chanced to date. Couple that with the fact that I was about to go out dressed in what quite a few people, Mom included, would consider ho attire, and I was feeling less than confident. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to put everything I had at my disposal out for public viewing, just to get Mitch to notice me. I drew in a giant gulp of air, suddenly hyper-aware of how nuts it all seemed.

  “You can do this Lexie,” I said.

  I smiled stiffly at my reflection in the mirror, wishing that I had an ounce of the self-assured attitude that Trinity wore with ease.

  I had met Trinity on the first day of kindergarten in what seemed a lifetime ago. She had been the only one wearing a colorful gem chakra balancing bracelet, a leather headband with a construction paper butterfly pasted to it and a one-piece flowing floral printed muumuu dress. There was no denying that she had been by far the oddest looking preschooler on the playground, and I had gravitated to her like a bee to sugar syrup. From that day on we had been inseparable. It didn’t matter that we were different in so many ways because we shared more common ground than either of us expected. Trinity was the sister I had always wanted, and no matter where our lives ended up, I knew that we would be friends forever.

  With just fifteen minutes left before take off, I applied another sheen of lip gloss then took one last hard look at myself. What I saw left me nervous but also pumped. Gone was plain Lexie, left in her wake was someone who might just manage to fool the world into believing that I had finally become a woman. I wasn’t sure if I quite believed it myself, but for one night I would be that person, the one who had it all worked out. Or at least I would fake it. For one night I was going to believe the lie that said I was just as good as all the other popular girls in school.

  I tried unsuccessfully to convince myself that it was possible to have brains, and an amazing boyfriend like Mitch too. A wave of nausea washed over me. It was one thing to imagine being with Mitch, it was quite another to dress in clothes that weren’t me and act like I really belonged in Mitch’s world. I instinctively twisted my face into a grimace. As soon as I did, all my fake bravado was lost and I was just me again. Good old Lexie, nothing more. I slumped and was just about to dial Trinity to tell her I was bailing when I heard the honk of the car horn outside. I flushed, knowing that I was already too late. Trinity was here and there was no way I could get out of it now.

  Like it or not I was on my way to Dallas’s party.

  As I walked out the front door of my house, I was oblivious to the fact that everything I had ever known in my life was about to change forever.

  2. LEXIE

  Trinity’s 2003 beat up electric blue VW bug was sputtering and coughing, like an old man who had choked on a glass of water. Right then I wanted it to finally do what it always threatened to, kick out for good, that way I wouldn’t have had to go to the party. My new persona now seemed ridiculous. It wasn’t possible to change years of school and my reputation in one night. Changing my clothes and slathering on extra makeup wouldn’t fool anyone into believing I was anyone other than who I had always been.

  As I wobbled on my too-high heeled shoes toward the car I shook my head. The remaining dregs of elation had been siphoned away, and I felt like a complete poser. With no choice but to stay on track, I threw open the passenger side door of the bug. As it always did, it screeched like a banshee. I half expected the rust-pocked metal handle to come away in my hand.

  I slid into the passenger side of the car, going out of my way to avoid looking at Trinity. I didn’t have the stomach to see her expression of horror at my odd get-up. I focused on the Hawaiian hula dancer with its bobbling hips, at the center of the grey dashboard. Soon after Trinity had passed her license her father had gotten her the bug, trading it with a guy for a supply of medical marijuana. The retro-ornament had been there then. In my opinion the dancer carried a kind of cheesy charm that made it a keeper.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Trinity said, shoving me a little.

  I turned to face her. She stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes. I immediately broke into riotous laughter. I could never maintain a pissy mood when Trinity was around. In fact she had that kind of good mood effect with just about everyone she met.

  Our eyes locked and a small grin spread across her face.

  “You seriously look like a painted ho,” she said.

  My eyes widened with shock. Sure I had gone way out of my comfort zone, but I hadn’t thought that I had veered that far off the path.

  Before I could respond she added. “I like it.”

  “I…what?” I said.

  My gloss-caked lips opened and closed as I searched for something to say.

  “Just kidding,” she said, giving me yet another light elbow in the ribs. “You look stunning.”

  She leaned over and pinched my cheeks hard enough that I wondered if it would leave a mark.

  “My baby is all growed up,” she purred, winking at me.

  “And here I was nervous that I’d gone a little overboard, thanks for completely st
ripping away what little courage I had to go to this party Trin…”

  I shook my head.

  She giggled and it sounded like the tinkle of wind chimes. Much like most things about her, I had always loved her laugh; it never failed to put a smile on my face.

  “You worry too much,” she said, putting the car into gear. She accelerated and a spray of gravel tapped the windows.

  “Maybe you worry too little,” I countered.

  She shook her head. “You only live once Lexie my dear and I don’t plan on wasting one moment caring what anybody thinks about me. You shouldn’t either.”

  “That’s easy for you to say since everybody thinks you’re amazing,” I said.

  I heard the bitterness in my tone and was sorry for it. Trinity was who she was, she couldn’t help it if everybody loved her. Just like I couldn’t help it if nobody knew I existed.

  The multitude of silver bangles and various bracelets that she wore on both arms, rattled and tinkled as we drove down the potholed road that led to my house. Her straight honey-colored hair hung loose and was a little shorter than normal, only reaching the middle of her back. Her skin was tan from days spent working in her parents garden and tonight she had decided on going makeup free.

  In contrast to my need to be accepted, Trinity didn’t care what people thought about her in the least. Where I usually tried to blend in, Trinity did just the opposite, always making her uniqueness known. Those facts alone made our friendship all the more odd. For her, it wasn’t about standing out, it was more about being true to her self. Tall and slender with an athletic figure, bordering on boyish, Trinity was the epitome of a chameleon who could be whoever and whatever she wanted to be, but only if she wanted to.

  She didn’t buy into all the latest and greatest and instead wore her individuality with a grace that few could pull off. I admired how she threw on whatever she wanted, and how what she wanted varied every day. Some days she dressed in white vinyl go-go boots, a mini skirt with peace symbols on every part of her anatomy, and looked like someone pulled from the cover of a sixties magazine. Other days she dressed in head to toe black, complete with black combat boots, lipstick and fingernail polish. I had seen her in flowing earth tone skirts with white puffy peasant shirts, Indian saris, sarongs and just about anything out of the ordinary. No matter what she put on, she owned the look, as if she had worn it every day of her life.

  Tonight she was dressed in a classic Boho sheik complete with oversized dangling silver-toned turquoise beaded earrings, and a full-length sleeveless paisley dress with shades of navy, cobalt blue with crimson and gold accents.

  “So what are you going to do if your mom finds out?” Trinity asked with an impish grin. Unlike me she had no parental chains. Her mother and father were card carrying flower children who believed in letting Trinity do just about anything she wanted. The Robinson’s laissez-faire parenting style had produced Trinity, one of the most well adjusted, confident people I knew. I, on the other hand, with a full book of Mom’s laws of personal conduct, was just the opposite.

  “I’m hoping I’m back home before she gets home but…” I shrugged a shoulder, “if she catches me…well I’ll just have to deal. Besides, Mitch is so worth the grief I’ll get from Mom.”

  I smiled, visualizing the cut of his pecs and how his jeans fit the hard lines of his sumptuous butt.

  “Mitch is an asshole,” Trinity said in a flat tone. “He’s so up in all his business that I think he’s secretly having an affair with his own reflection. He’s like…who’s that guy who stared at himself in the water until he actually ended up dying…” Trinity scratched her head. She chewed on her full lips as if deep in thought. Only I knew she wasn’t because she was quite aware that as I always did, I would fill in the blanks for her.

  “Narcissus,” I said. I shook my head. “You can’t blame him for wanting to take care of himself,” I muttered. I stared out the window at the thick evergreen forest that lined the highway.

  “Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Trinity said.

  She placed a warm hand on my upper arm and gave it a squeeze.

  “I just know his kind, and that his type aren’t very nice to girls. I just don’t want you to get hurt is all.”

  I brought my gaze back to her. Her lips curved into an apologetic smile. I grinned back, knowing that no matter what I decided to do with Mitch she would back me, despite her own reservations. Trinity loved me unconditionally; I loved her all the more for it.

  “Wow, this is way bigger than even I expected,” she said.

  I hadn’t noticed that we had already arrived at the dedicated road that led to Dallas’s family’s motel, a collection of forty or so cottage style stone cabins with terra cotta roofs. As we drew closer I noticed that the cabins were separated into four neat lines of ten, backed by a boreal forest. Multi-colored patio lanterns were strung between the cabins, illuminating the bunches of people well into the party spirit. Positioned at the front was a two-story sandy colored brick house that looked to be a common area. The place was already teeming with at least a couple hundred people, probably more.

  “I hope I can find Mitch in all of this. I mean there are so many places to be…” My voiced drifted off as my heart sank at the concept that after all I had risked to be there, there was a real possibility that I might not get to see him.

  “You’ll find him. I’m sure he’s got enough cologne and hair product for his scent to lead the way,” Trinity said with a chuckle.

  She gave me a sidelong glance. When she saw I wasn’t amused, she winged up and eyebrow and gave me a sheepish look.

  “Sorry. I promise that’s the last Mitch comment for the evening.”

  I nodded without saying anything, though I kind of wanted to laugh at her joke.

  We continued down the newly paved road that had been just a dirt track the summer before. When Dallas’s parents had bought the motel a few years back, they had spent a lot of time and effort reviving its broken down facade. As far as I could see they had done a superior job since everything looked crisp and new.

  I was quite sure that all the efforts Dallas’s parents had put into the motel, would definitely take a beating before the night was over. The wrath that I might face for breaking the rules seemed like small potatoes compared to what Dallas would have to deal with, if things went as I predicted they would.

  The sun was just beginning to set as we moved down the smooth road, streaks of navy and pink stretched across the sky. I couldn’t help but think about the old mariners belief that my Grampa on my father’s side, had told me about when I was five or so. Grampa had been dead for more years than I could count, but his words still rang true. Red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in the morning sailors take warning. According to those words, that were true more times than not, we would be graced with good weather for the evening, the final ingredient in a perfect party.

  Trinity parked with the other vehicles in the huge parking lot that abutted the property. I counted at least fifty cars, I was sure there would be more to come since it was still pretty early in the evening. You couldn’t get a better place for underage drinking, illicit drug use and back seat sex then the motel, since it was so far off the main highway that it was virtually secluded.

  The need to find Mitch before an onslaught of more people converged felt more urgent than ever.

  Trinity turned the key to the off position.

  “If we get separated text Aiden and we’ll meet up,” she said.

  She put her hand up for a fist pump and after our knuckles had connected she extricated her lithe frame from the car. The soft, early summer breeze ruffled her hair and made her dress flutter like the wings of a dragonfly. As was the norm, Trinity was right at home in the midst of strangers and friends alike; I wished I was as relaxed as she was. I shoved out of the car, as I did one more wave of unease swept through me.

  When I was outside, I leaned against the exterior of the car, still warm from the hot sun. Eve
ry part of me wanted to get back inside and go home because I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I had made a huge mistake. Reality converged on me like an arctic wind. I wasn’t kidding anyone, not even myself, into believing that I actually had any kind if chance hooking up with Mitch. New clothes and extra eyeliner couldn’t make me someone I wasn’t, not to mention that I wasn’t even remotely Mitch’s type. He was a jock, I was a shrinking wall flower, one who was much more comfortable in the public library buried in books than cheering at a football game. I wasn’t this. Even Trinity knew it, why else would she have tried to dissuade me from going for Mitch.

  “This was a huge mistake,” I said, suddenly feeling light-headed. Everything seemed to be spinning out of control. I wanted to get off the twirling vortex that the moment had become.

  “Hey you.”

  Trinity was beside me, her slender arm curled around my shoulders. She was more than a head taller than me and weighed probably twenty pounds less, another depressing fact. Though I knew she was trying to comfort me I felt fat and squat next to her; a small grey stone next to her bright jewel.

  “I’m not sure I should be here,” I whispered.

  Tears gathered at the back of my eyes. Not only did I regret that I had come to the party, but I also felt guilty for how awful I had treated Mom. She had always been there for me, the one constant in all the ups and downs that had been our life. I had taken her for granted too many times. The truth was she loved me more than I deserved, and no matter what I had said to her I knew that she would forgive me in a heartbeat. That I had been more than a little selfish, weighed even heavier then before.

  “Of course you belong here. You’ve just got the jitters about Mitch. And I sure as hell didn’t help with all my lame-ass comments,” Trinity said.

  She kissed the top of my head then patted my hair as though I was a puppy. Even so, the act served to unwind my strung out nerves. Like it or not, I had to accept that even though I didn’t exactly want it, I was at the party. That meant that I couldn’t be all mopey and ruin Trinity’s night. Suck it up and have fun was the motto of the next few hours.