Point of Retreat(34)

“Last night…I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude.”



“Oh, stop it. I was just being nosey,” she says. “You want something to drink?”



“No, I’m good. I just need to talk to Kiersten.”



Kiersten looks over at me from the couch and gives me a dirty look. “You’re a jerk, Will.” she says.

I guess Lake’s not over it. I sit down beside her on the couch and put my hands between my knees. “Will you at least tell me what she said?” This is so pathetic. I’m entrusting my relationship to an eleven-year-old.

“Are you sure you want to know? I should probably warn you, I have an excellent memory. Mom says I’ve been able to quote entire conversations verbatim since I was three years old.”



“Positive. I want to know everything she said.”



Kiersten sighs and pulls her legs up on the couch and turns toward me. “She thinks you’re a jerk. She said you were an *, a dickhead, a bas-”



“A bastard. I know, I get it. What else did she say?”



“She didn’t tell me why she was mad at you…but she’s really mad at you. I don’t know what you did, but she’s at her house right now cleaning like a psycho! When she opened the door, she had hundreds of index cards all over the living room floor. It looked like recipes or something.”



“Oh god, she’s alphabetizing,” I say. This is worse than I thought. “Kiersten, she won’t answer the door if I go over there. Will you knock so she’ll open the door? I really need to talk to her.”



Kiersten presses her lips together as she thinks about my question. “You’re asking me to trick her? To basically lie to her?”



I shrug my shoulders and nod.

“Let me get my coat.”



I stand up and Sherry comes from the kitchen and holds out her hand. I hold open my palm and she puts something in it and folds my fingers over it. “If it doesn’t go the way you’re hoping, take these with some water. You look like shit.”



She can see the hesitation in my face and she smiles. “Don’t worry, I made them. They’re completely legal.”

***

I don’t really have a plan of attack. I’m hiding against the wall in front of Lake's house when Kiersten knocks. My heart is beating so fast, I feel like I’m about to commit a robbery or something. I take a deep breath when I hear the door open. Kiersten steps aside and I brush past her and slip inside Lake’s house faster than she can realize what happened.

“Get out, Will,” she says as she holds the door open and points outside.

“I’m not leaving until you talk to me,” I say. I back further into the living room.

“Get out! Get out, get out, get out!”



I do what any sane male would do in this situation; I run down the hallway and lock myself in her bedroom. I realize I still don’t have a plan. I don’t know how I can talk to her if I’m locked up in her bedroom. But at least she can’t kick me out of her house now. I’ll stay here all day if I have to.

I hear the front door slam and within seconds she’s standing outside the bedroom door. I wait for her to say something or to yell at me, but she doesn’t. I watch the shadow of her feet disappear as she walks away.

What now? If I open the door, she’ll just try to kick me out again. Why didn’t I formulate a better plan? I’m an idiot. I’m a freaking idiot! Think, Will. Think.

I see the shadow of her feet reappear and she pauses in front of her bedroom door again.

“Will? Open the door. I’ll talk to you.”



She doesn’t sound angry. My idiotic plan actually worked? I unlock the door to her bedroom and as soon as I open it all the way, I’m completely drenched in water. She just threw water on me! She threw an entire pitcher of water in my face!

“Oh,” she says. “You look a little wet, Will. You better go home and change before you get sick.” She calmly turns and walks away.

I’m an idiot, and she’s not ready to give in. I make the walk of shame down her hallway, out the front door and across the street to my house. It’s freezing. She didn’t even bother warming the water before she threw it at me. I take off my clothes and get in the shower. A hot shower this time.