Reclaiming the Sand(13)

“Yeah, babe, let’s go,” Shane said, grabbing my hand. I wrenched out of his grip.

“Look Shane, I’m not your babe. And if I see your eyes on my tits one more time, I’m going to rip your balls off and shove them up your nose. Got it?” I threatened, baring my teeth in an angry smile.

Shane laughed again, though a little nervously. His wariness was warranted. I had earned it over the years.

Dania leaned on Stu who steadied her. He barely looked at her, seeming bored by her endless chatter and attempts to touch him. I couldn’t understand my best friend’s obsession with him. He wasn’t even that good looking and his personality bordered on Jeffery Dahmer levels of creepy.

I didn’t wait for the rest of my less than savory posse to follow me outside. I could hear Dania laughing and Shane’s snickers. This would take a while.

And then I saw him.

God he was everywhere.

I couldn’t escape him.

Flynn, with his hands characteristically shoved into the pockets of his khakis, was standing outside of the crummy art gallery down the street.

Florence’s Portraits was a bit of a joke. Flo had moved to Wellsburg after her husband had retired three years ago and opened the gallery in an effort to try to inject some culture into the shoddy little town. It didn’t help that aside from the name, there absolutely no portraits sold in the dingy shop. Flo’s idea of art was second-rate knock offs of wildflowers and streams.

I had never seen a single person step foot inside.

But there was Flynn Hendrick, staring at the crappy pictures as if they were the most interesting things in the world. He had always been so focused like that. And I felt an uncomfortable twinge as I remembered how he’d pore over his notebooks, sketching in the corners.

I had never let on that I watched him. But I had.

A lot.

Dania finally came out of Woolly’s with Stu and Shane. Her heavy form crashed into my back and I stumbled forward. She giggled and apologized and I cringed at the smell of alcohol on her breath.

“Let’s walk this way,” I said, trying to steer my friends down the road in the opposite direction of Flynn. I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want them to see him.

“I’m parked back there,” Stu mumbled, jerking his thumb toward the parking lot on the other side of Florence’s Portraits.

Well here we go.

I grit my teeth and kept my eyes trained forward as we moved closer to where Flynn was still standing by the storefront window.

Why did he have to be so weird? I thought angrily. Why did he have to stand there, staring at those stupid pictures and ruin my entire night?

Why couldn’t he, just for once, be normal?

Because Flynn Hendrick wasn’t normal.

“Oh my god, Ells, do you know who that is?” Dania asked in an excited whisper, pointing at Flynn who was completely oblivious to our approach.

I pulled her arm down and shushed her.

Shane squinted in Flynn’s direction. “He looks familiar. How do I know that guy?” he asked, his words slurring from the three shots of Jose Cuervo he had consumed earlier.

“That’s Freaky Flynn!” Dania hollered, her voice ringing in the air.

“You’re right! It’s that weird dude from high school. Isn’t he the reason you went to juvie? The one whose…” Shane began just as my fist made contact with his gut. Hard.

“Oomph,” Shane groaned.

“Shut the f*ck up,” I growled, not needing any reminders of that messed up night all those years ago.

Flynn finally realized we were there. Dania yelling his name down the street was probably a big giveaway. He looked up and then promptly looked back down. And I was struck again by how little he had changed. Yet there were small differences that appeared to be for the better. If you could look past his awkwardness and general weirdness he was a good-looking guy. He had dark, messy hair, a long straight nose, and a dimple in the center of his chin. And I could never forget the clear, green eyes that were always trained on his feet. Eyes that would never make contact no matter how much you might want them to.

Flynn’s shoulders came up as he tucked his chin into his chest. He looked as though he were trying to fold in on himself. A posture that was familiar and sad at the same time.

He turned his back to us and started walking swiftly down the street.

“Freaky Flynn!” Dania screamed, pulling away from my arm that was holding her up and tried to run after him.

Flynn ignored her.

“Dude, hang on a second!” Shane yelled.

Flynn kept walking.

“I think we need to teach this f*cker some manners,” Stu muttered and I recognized the predatory light in his eyes. It was the same one I glimpsed every time he messed with people in high school. Those people primarily being Flynn Hendrick.

We followed Flynn to the parking lot, Stu calling his name again.

“Hold on, we just want to talk to you!” Stu said. Flynn fumbled with his car keys, keeping his eyes on his hands.

Seeing him again, up close, was like being sucker punched in the jaw. It wasn’t pleasant.

He stirred up memories I didn’t have time to think about. I didn’t have the emotional capacity to allow myself the pain and grief a normal person would have felt.

Because you see, I wasn’t normal either.

We were a perfect, messed up pair, Flynn and I.