Unnamed

TEN – a few unplanned plans i made

"Good night, Marcus," I called when he started disappearing into the darkness.

"Goo' nigh', kiddo." I could only hear him along with the rustle of leaves in the whisper of wind.

With a big grin, I closed the door and leaned my head against it so that I would not jump up and down while clapping and squealing. I was drunk on exhilaration. Trust me when I say that was the hardest damn thing to control myself. When I thought I was composed enough, I turned around and almost shrieked when I saw Dylan immobilized with a bowl of popcorn in his hand before me. He was examining me like I was a Pegasus with alien eyes.

"Hello." I breathed, smiling automatically. No, it was not because of him. I doubted that such things would come. As I stepped forward and he backed up cautiously. I stopped at once.

"What happened to you?" He asked incredulously. Eyes wide and jaw on the floor, he eyed me up and down before his gaze paused at my face.

"Nothing's wrong with me." I started walking again. I was sure he was just taken aback by my appearance but it was not that bad. I just had Charlie Chaplin attire on complete with hat, walking stick and a mustache. Before the costume fiasco, we painted our nails and mine were different shades of neon. Then came face painting because Basil said pretty please with a cherry on top. Of course, my mushy heart couldn't say no. That would have been cruel. With Xavier's bandana still around my neck and Basil's sticker on my cheek, I might look a little different. Dylan didn't have to act like I was a Martian.

"What happened at the mansion?"

Another old movie that I didn't know the name of was playing. There were a lot of hot cowboys there too. How cool! I took a spot on the couch and dumped the hat, stick, scarf, candies, mustache and whatever on the table. Now that fun was over, I feel greatly worn out. I stretched my arms and legs before pulling a Twix from the dump and curled up on the couch, leaving enough space for Dylan. He decided to sit close by me so it was easy for us to share to popcorn.

"Your friends are awesome. I don't know why are you the only one who is so grumpy. Are you adopted?"

"I am not grumpy." He muttered stuffing his face with popcorn. "And not adopted." He added sounding a little unsure. I chose to overlook that small point before I got curious and started demanding his birth certificate.

"Point noted," I said sarcastically that earned me a glare from him. "Okay. You're not grumpy. Happy now?" I only said that to get him off my neck. We all knew the truth here. When he hummed in affirmation, I continued, "You should have been there. You would have died out of laughter. I am sure I was close. I never had this much fun in forever. By the way, Jean sent you this." I put down my Twix that I had been munching on hungrily and fished my pockets for the piece of paper. I found it in my shorts pocket and handed it to him. It was a little crumpled... Eh, maybe a lot but it was still readable. "It is your formal invitation to a party." The invitation was designed and written by Basil, content was by Xavier and Chris and Marcus had insisted on coloring it. Thank god, I didn't get one. From his frowning face, I was sure he was thing something like I-can't-believe-I'm-friend-with-these-people or maybe this, I-should-pack-my-stuff-before-doctors-from-mental-asylum-come-and-take-me-with-them.

"I can't believe that you guys are this immature but I am glad that you have fun." He sighed setting aside the paper, more like crumbling it and tossing it away. He didn't even tell me what was in that invitation.

"That I had..." And I recounted the tale for him. I knew he was not the biggest fan of our kind of fun and he rather stayed alone than come with us. I was not sure he would even pretend to listen to me but he paid attention to everyone words that left my mouth. Even though he scoffed at moments and rolled his eyes at our childishness, he followed me until the end. I found this strangely sweet.

The way his eyes traced my every moment, lips hid a smile, the deep blue in his gaze lit up in amusement over something I said or did unknowingly would ease something inside me. I could breathe a little easier even if it was for a short moment and next we would start arguing. I preferred this side Dylan of hundred times over the other obnoxious and jerk one.

"I like them a lot," I confessed shyly.

"They like you too."

"I wish I had friends like them before."

"Maybe if you didn't be uptight and brat all the time, people would have tried to be your friend."

I pulled out a cushion from under my head and whacked him with, catching him off guard, "I am not uptight and a brat."

"Oh yeah?" His eyes gleamed with a challenge as he tossed the cushion aside and gripped my ankles to keep me in place. "It wasn't only me who thought this. The majority of the school population had the same view and who didn't were mainly boys trying to be nice for a hook up with a little princess- not my words, theirs."

"You're lying." I accused not wanting to believe a word he spoke. I never acted like that. I was never proud of the money and I never treated any of my classmates like they were lower than me. Sure, I was a daughter of an acclaimed fashion celebrity but I never considered it as a social advantage to be popular, get boys and make girls jealous. That'd be a pity.

"I am not." He stated meeting my eyes without any hesitation.

"You thought the same about me."

"Eh, yeah kind of...” he hesitated but continued when I refused to say anything. “You're always a little aloof... a little snobbish to be honest. Whenever I saw you, you seemed as if you were forcing yourself to be around people. I am not saying it to hurt you. I am just being honest."

"Oh, I am not hurt," I shook my head lying blatantly.

I was not sure if I should be happy that I was successful in creating an image my dad would want for me or be sad that I lost my identity along the way. How long would I go before I forget who I was? Was my plan of returning home at any cost was right? That's where the third option of escaping but never returning home sounded more appealing.

I could get lost on the face of earth being whoever I wanted to be. That didn't sound bad, neither was I afraid of being alone, only I didn't have anything to start with. I couldn't live on the streets. I'd not be so lucky every time to have a kidnapper like Dylan.

Ignoring his eyes on me, I placed my head in my hands. My hair tumbled around me from its loose bun. I had no idea what I was doing anymore. Maybe that's why I decided to tell him, "I was not allowed to make friends," It was a good thing that I could not see his expression. I didn't even want to imagine it. "When my mom left my dad, he had this irrational fear that I would leave too and he made me cut ties with everyone I knew. Paz, Sophie, Amanda or anyone else I knew lost contact with me forever. At school, I was not supposed to sit with them during lunch but I still did. Maybe that standoffish vibe was out of fear of my dad finding out. Sometimes I hope that dad doesn't find me. I don't know what he would do." I raised my head to search his face for emotion but I wasn't surprised when I didn't find any. If it wasn't for his fist curling and uncurling, I would have thought I was talking to a marble statue. "I don't know what is going to happen. I don't even know if I want to return or I want to stay here. I am just afraid... a lot."

Confessing it had just everything a little more real. I was kidnapped and I was struggling between staying and returning. What my small world had twisted into? Never in my wildest dream had I thought of something like this to happen to me. Every victim thinks that same.

Without saying anything, he pulled me toward him so that I fell on him with my head on his chest. His hands tucked me close to him like a baby before wrapping them around me.

"You don't have to be," he spoke softly as if he was singing a lullaby. "I am here."

His words made tears brim in my eyes and fall without any barrier. I wished I could trust him and stay forever safe like this. I wished that he was not lying. I wished that I could tell him that whatever happened I would try to escape tomorrow at the party. One secret was out of the door and I didn't need that same happened to others.

But right now, I held him tightly and cried until the tears dried out and he let me. The last thing I remembered was the soft whispers of his lips on my head before I fell asleep on him.

---

Next day, I was alone in the house again. Any other day, I would be doing anything from cooking to reading to pass the time but today was different. Today was the day when I would be free from here. I was too antsy to even sit and think clearly. I really needed to consider what I was going to do before I step out in the battlefield without any idea of what was going around me. Not the best comparison but it was as big as that for me. I was not sure if I remembered the way we had come. I'd been too busy freaking out to remember the road but I was sure it was quite straight without any twists and turns. I was sure that once I was out of those big iron gates, I would find a way to reach my dad. I didn't know if dad would believe me but I'd tell him that I was kidnapped keeping Dylan and his friends out of this. He could believe and if he didn't, there was not much I could do about that. Unless I consider my plan B of living off alone.

The more I thought about that, I felt that it was too easy to work out without any hindrance. But how do I know what to be prepared for when- you know, I wasn't much experienced in the field of getting kidnapped. Should I make a more complicated plan? It was not as easy as books and movies make it sound. There was only so much I could do being a lone girl in unfamiliar territory.

Rubbing the irritation off my face, I jumped back on the bed.

"Oh shoot!" I cursed loudly when my head collided with the iron headboard instead. I sat up straight holding my head in both hands. Tears out of pain stung in my eyes. That hurt a lot and for a moment I was dizzy with the pain. I was still putting pressure on the sore spot while trying to make the minimal sound when the door opened and barged in Dylan in panic.

"Fay, what happened?" The heavy concern in his voice hit me harder than the headboard.

"Nothing," I mumbled, not actually wanting to speak anything at all because of more than one reason. I still hadn't forgotten my last night's awkward breakdown. I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to act around him anymore if it was not for him to pretend he had forgotten everything for my sake. I knew he still was curious about last night by the way he questioning eyes kept following me throughout the dinner. He had made a special effort of being nice to me by letting me win most of our arguments. How considerate! I would have won them without his help anyway.

I closed my eyes as I leaned my head on my knees.

I felt the bed dip beside me, then Dylan's hand were covering mine. "Let me see," he demanded gently and I let him without any fight. "What were you even doing to get hurt like this?"

"I was just sitting on the bed."

"And ended up getting a bump this big. Goddess, how did you even survive alone being this careless and childish?"

"Not now, Dylan," I warned him not to continue with his lecture. That was the last thing I needed right now.

"C'mon, let's put some alcohol on that." He said before standing up.

"I don't want to get up," I said peeking at him from the gaps between my fingers.

So, he just picked me up and walked slowly toward the bathroom. I was used to him picking me up now and then so I just secured my arms around his neck before I fell and also break my neck. Upon reaching, he set me on the counter before he went to retrieve alcohol and cotton balls. With ease, he assessed the damage and fixed it. The strong smell of alcohol made me scrunch up my face. I had no idea for how long that thing was going to be in my hair.

"Leave it and you can wash it before the party," Dylan told when I voiced my concern.

"‘Kay." I looked up at him so that he would help me down on the floor but he kept reading me like he was trying to understand a foreign language. I nervously fiddled with my fingers while trying not to squirm under his unyielding gaze as he thought... whatever he was thinking.

"I am sure you're not going to try to escape tonight," he said in tone with a hidden warning if-you're-planning-better-cancel-it-before-I- and I had to guess the worst.

I sucked my lower lips between my teeth as I tried to come up with something to say. I was afraid that he would see through my lie and that was worse than confessing that indeed I was planning something. But I kept silent and shook my head.

"I'm surprised but good," he said last time before helping me down and walking out.

I knew he was not convinced but I just hoped that he wouldn't hire someone to babysit me through that party or my easy plan wouldn't be that easy.