Stranger Beneath the Covers

As I stepped off the plane, I couldn't help but notice the two items that had been resting in my carry-on: handcuffs and bear spray. Despite their intimidating presence, my stomach remained calm, my mind fixated on the liberation that awaited me. But as I made my way through the sea of claustrophobic passengers, I couldn't shake the feeling of someone's breath on the back of my neck. Desperate to break free, I pushed forward, clutching the cold metal of my restraints and the powerful canister of defense spray. I lugged my carry-on to the baggage pickup when we finally started walking. The people surrounding me looked either tired or excited. Only a few seemed like they were unsure of what to feel, like me. I dragged my white-blonde hair back into a ponytail. The mouth breather was watching me from across the baggage-claim area. I reached into my carry-on and rubbed my hands against the mace in my shorts pocket. I brought it with me everywhere. I would mace mouth breather’s ass in a heartbeat. Jett, my brother, had bought me a special blend of bear spray that was supposed to be lethal. I watched the mouth breather with hatred filling my eyes. I wanted him to think again about watching me. I stared him down until he slunk back into the shadows. I wasn’t becoming a skin suit. I saw Silence of the Lambs. I knew about the lotion on the back. Bags started to go round the conveyor belt, when I finally tore my eyes from his hiding place. I reached and heaved mine off, when I recognized the pink bow my mom had tied on it. My shoulder burned within seconds of carrying it to the exits, behind the herd of people leaving. “I can get that for you. Give you a ride to wherever you’re going?” I sighed and prepared myself to grab the mace as I turned, surprised to see a young guy with a red beard. I grinned, “Thanks, but I have a ride.” He nodded at the middle-aged mouth breather with the sweat stains and the greasy, fat face hiding behind a pillar. “Stay away from that guy over there; he was staring at you and muttLilyg some creepy s**t when we were on the plane.” I looked at the disturbing fat guy and weighed my options. If he was on the bus with me, he could follow me and find my house. If I caught a cab he could follow it with another cab. My guts said the redhead was the better option. I handed him my bag, “Okay. Let’s go.” I could take this guy, maybe. He was thinner and more coffeehouse mellow than mouth-breather, skin-suit-wearing stalker. Either way, there was panic and instability flying through my brain. I had to take deep breaths. My mind whispered traitorous lies, like I had made a mistake or I wasn’t as brave as I was pretending to be. I knew it wasn’t true. I was brave. I had proved that already once. Maybe more than once. I followed the redhead to the short-term parking lot. He turned back, “Name’s Nick.” I smiled, “Nice to meet you, Nick. I’m Lily.” I glanced at my watch, I wanted to be at the apartment by four in the afternoon. It was 3:54; that gave me six minutes. I scowled as he looked at me. “Student?” I nodded, starting to worry. What if he wasn’t the nice, red-bearded young man he seemed to be? He beamed, “Me too. I’m in the marine bio master’s. You?” Never mind, he was a student. I felt a bit better until I thought about the fact he had a beard. Divers rarely had beards—right? “Law.” “At Northeastern?” I nodded and he nodded back, “Cool, me too.” He walked to a black truck, “This is me.” I slung my bags in the back, “I really appreciate this, Nick.” He shook his head, “I got a sister, dude. If she ever got ogled by some fat f**k like that, I’d choke his ass.” I chuckled and climbed into the truck. “You know Boston?” He nodded, “Yeah, I did my undergrad here. I’m from Colorado originally.” He started the truck and laughed, “I can tell by the paranoid wild eyes on you, that this is your first trip, huh?” I did up my seat belt and shook my head, “I came with my family in the summer for orientation.” I didn’t want him to think I was completely at his mercy. I had come for orientation and for my father’s marathon years before. Of course, both times all I had done was read and wander the city looking at old buildings. I hadn’t actually paid attention to anything. He backed out and drove off, a bit too fast for my liking. I studied him for a second, “You allowed beards in marine bio, what with the diving?” He shook his head and stroked the long, scraggly bush, “Nope. Gotta shave in a couple weeks when school starts.” He scratched and ran his hands over it all, “Had a b***h of a time in Bali this summer ‘cause of it. My passport picture has no beard.” I started to relax. He seemed like a stoner. “What’s your sister’s name?” He gave me a sideways glance, “Lisa. She’s a total b***h. She’s sixteen and completely running the whole house. I went home for a week and I was ready to murder her.” He chuckled, “Sorry. I’m not… like a serial killer. Ha, wrong thing to say to a random chick.” I giggled nervously and looked at my watch; I was only going to be a couple minutes later than I expected. My Google map on my iPhone showed us nearly there. “What’s the address?” I started to panic, “Oh… it’s in my phone.” I zoomed in on the apartment and picked a close by restaurant, “You know where Cappy’s Pizzas and Subs is, by Hemenway?” He nodded, “Yeah, for sure.” “Right near there.” It wasn’t exactly near there, but it was better than ending up a skin suit. He chatted and I looked out at the river basin. It was amazing. So much more amazing than Grande Forks, South Carolina. The ride was over in exactly fourteen minutes. It was faster than the map gave us during regular afternoon traffic. He pulled up in front of Cappy’s. The red brick buildings everywhere were awesome. The street was old and cool, but with modern touches, somehow blending in. I felt tiny, and yet, somehow powerful amongst it. I would be, an official law student in a couple weeks. That was powerful. He dragged my bags out and passed them to me, “If you don’t recognize me at school, it’s the missing beard,” he chuckled and slapped me on the arm, “See ya, Lily.” I grinned, “Thanks again, Nick.” He shook his head, “Stay away from creepy dudes.” He waved and climbed into the truck and merged. It was late afternoon, but the traffic wasn’t too bad. I pulled the handle out on the bags and started the short trek to the apartment on Hemenway. The building was white brick and clean. I sighed, seeing it. It looked like the picture on the internet. If the inside was what I had seen in the pictures, I would be in heaven. I fished the key from the bag and hauled everything into the brown, old-fashioned, wooden doorway. The door had to be older than anything I had ever really touched. I fingered the carved wood and tried to settle the leaping excitement inside of me. I was sweating and ready to just leave the bags at the bottom of the stairs, when I saw the old staircase. No elevator. I grimaced and started the huge walk up the stairs. It was worth the climb. It was my first house, my first stand as an adult. Everything was fitting into the plan too perfectly. Minus the elevator. That made me nervous. Things never went perfectly.