Otherworld

The Pier

There was nothing worse to me than having to get up early and go to school. I loved my sleep, but living out in the boonies put a damper on that. I had to get up at nearly five-thirty to get ready for the day. Derrik and I were some of the first kids picked up on our route, and the bus always arrived around six-fifteenish. That left little time to eat and get dressed. Though, I had to count myself lucky. Some of my classmates got up far earlier for choring and things like that. My father took care of what needed to be done for our animals on school days before he went to work so we could "focus on our education." I think he just felt bad for us.

With drowsy eyes, I shuffled around my bedroom and dug out some clothes. I settled for an old pair of blue jeans and a hand me down t-shirt with a picture of a cartoon seagull on the front. Though it was a bit raggedy and I got it from one of my cousins, it was comfortable and my favorite. Then, I braided my hair into long twin tails before I took the stairs two by two.

"There you are, Gwen. I was just about to call up for you. Get your brother. Breakfast is ready." My mom smiled at me, flipping a pancake over onto a small stack. "And call your father in too."

"Alright. Can I have the squishy ones?" I asked.

"Of course. I set some aside for you, sweetheart. I know how you like them."

"Thanks, mom," I said over my shoulder, going down to the mudroom to call my dad in first. It was closest anyways. "Daddy, breakfast is ready," I yelled through cupped hands.

When I saw him heading up the drive from the chicken coup, I turned and headed back upstairs and knocked on Derrik's bedroom door. "Hey, squirt. Mom says, come eat. You better be getting out of bed. She's gonna skin ya if you miss the bus again." I said, opening the door and flipping on the light. Sure enough, he lay nestled in the comfort of his bed. "Come on. If you don't get moving, I am going to give you an Eskimo blessing." I grinned mischievously.

"I'm going…" He muttered, slinking out of bed like he was made of goop. I rolled my eyes at him and headed back down to where fluffy goodness waited for me.

                                                                                      *

Derrik nearly missed the bus, but I was at the end of the road already, and I was able to keep it from leaving him behind. The long ride was always daunting, but I made good use of the time by napping as I waited for my best friend to board. She was at her father's this week and thus was at the end of my route today. It wasn't really restful.

Something lumpy and slightly heavy hit my side, and I groaned in protest. "Gwen. I know you are not going to sleep and leave me to talk to myself for the next fifteen minutes." Melody nudged me again with her pack.

I peeked up at her as if to confirm she was who she said she was. Her bright blue eyes hidden behind large circular glasses, and short black hair was enough for that. "Relax. I couldn't do that to you." A wide smile spread across my face, and I made room for her. "How was your weekend? Oh. Before that, I have to tell you something."

Melody rose a brow as she got comfortable. "What? Meet someone or something?" She teased, placing her fingers behind one of her ears to lift her glasses up and down.

"No," I replied with a chuckle, swatting her lightly. "But listen. I saw something out in the lake the other day." I began, telling her what I told my father.

 She looked at me skeptically for a moment. "Well, there are all sorts of weird things that happen every day, but are you sure you didn't hit your head or something?"

"My head is just fine, thank you."

"So, what do you want to do about it?" Melody hummed. I could already see the ideas swirling up in her brain.

"Dunno. I bet we can come up something, though." I humored her. "We can talk about it in History." The bus had already pulled up to the school, and kids were getting off.

                                                                                      *

History was in third period. Our school had a total of eight of them, with lunch between fourth and fifth. My first class was a study hall that we called Homeroom. I tended to do most of my homework during those forty-five minutes. I hated doing it, but it was just enough for me to pass with B's. It went by quickly, thanks to my neglect over the weekend.

The next was gym. I disliked having it so early, but I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't have it after lunch. Today, they had us doing laps around the basketball court—my arch-nemesis. I was slightly chunky, and I was often slow. I wasn't good with timed runs. Thankfully, this was not one of those times, and I could walk most of it.

By the time History came around, I was sleepy, and my stomach was starting to talk to me. That was one of the greatest downsides to eating breakfast so early. And since I was on reduced lunches, it was not like I had something to munch on in between classes. Melody was always my saving grace, though. She continually slipped me something from her own lunch to tide me over. This time, It was half of a candy bar. Good enough for me.

Melody and I sat at the back of the class, right next to each other. It was my personal opinion that they were the best seats in the entire room. I had a clear view out of a large window to the empty football field at the back of the school. The other ones were covered with shades since my teacher, Mr. Oskentoski, claimed the natural light coming in from them irritated his eyes. We all knew better, though. He was a known drunk. I'd personally seen him spike his morning coffee with a hefty dose of rum, causing him to have some nasty morning breath.

Either way, he had us watching a documentary on the French and Indian War. What a coincidence. I thought to myself as I listened to the movie explain the expansion of the fur trade to the Great Lakes region and how many of the natives were affected by it. Plus, the film mentioned the founding of Fort Michilimackinac and Fort Mackinac. Mr. Oskentoski lived for finding material that included details on the state's personal history.

It was not a long documentary, and I found it left more questions open than it answered. Naturally, my hand shot up as soon as he flipped the lights back on. He took one look and sighed loudly like it was going to kill him to teach. "Yes, Miss Massinger?" Mr. Oskentoski said, flopping down in his twirly chair to take a swig of his spiked coffee.

I shyly lowered my arm and cleared my throat softly. "I'm curious. What Indian tribes lived in the thumb?"

He nearly glared at me. "That is an incorrect term, Gwen. We say Native American. I know that the film is called The French and Indian War, but that was the name of the event."

"Eh… Sorry." I rubbed the back of my head. "I wasn't meaning to be insensitive or anything like that. What Native Americans lived in the thumb?" I reiterated, knowing fully well I would receive no answer without being politically correct.

"That's a bit off-topic, but it's a good question. Many tribes lived around the Great Lakes. And many of them did not stay confined to just one area. We believe the Sauk and Fox tribes lived here mainly. But also, there is a possibility that the Huron and Potawatomi tribes also called our area home too." Short, and to the point. "Anything else?"

"No, Sir."

"Good. Everyone, please take out a piece of paper and number it one to ten. We will be having a quiz on the movie." He said, seeming delighted at the symphony of groans that came after his announcement.

I welcomed this, actually. It usually meant that Mr. Oskentoski had book work planned after this and would let us partner up for it. The quiz was pretty much self-explanatory. Only someone who slept through the movie would have failed it. He asked things like "what was the name of the war in the film," and "who was involved in the battle." Easy peasy.

When we finished, he told us to set them face down on his desk. I think he thought this deterred cheating, but I found it silly. As the steady stream of students turned in their work, he wrote out the day's book chapters on the board. Chapters 56 -59 and the questions at the end of each of these, done by tomorrow at the beginning of class. We had the rest of the period to work on the assignment.

Melody pushed her desk up against mine, but it was not classwork we discussed for the most part. Sure we skimmed some of the chapters at first, but Melody could hardly hold in the plan she had been brewing for the last few hours.

"How about you spend the weekend with me? We can go ghost hunting down by the Pier. Maybe we can catch a good look at your so-called 'Lady of the Lake.'" She smiled, nearly whispering. "Shawn will be there." She added as a bonus.

I must have turned a thousand shades of red, too. "You mean your cousin? What's the occasion?" I asked, trying to calm the burning in my cheeks somehow by placing my hands on them.

"My aunt and uncle are going to visit Nanna down in Florida. They won't be back for a few days, so he is staying with us." She explained.

Her cousin was pretty dreamy with his creamy complexion and his wavy dark brown hair that refused to be tamed, but he was often a jerk and a half. Still, I sort of wished he lived close enough to go to my school. Since he lived way out in Parisville parish, he went to Ubly instead, missing our district by only two or three miles. Suffice to say; I had quite the crush on him. It's not like I hadn't known him for a long time. We went all the way back to the sandbox.

"What do you think?" She asked me, getting super close.

"I'm down for that. No Ouija boards, though, ok? I'm not about to mess with opening a door we shouldn't have."

"It's a ghost hunt. Not a summoning. Besides, Mom won't let me have one of those things anyways. She said it's a devil's game." My mother would wholeheartedly agree.

"I'll ask as soon as I get home and call you with what she says. Until then, try to keep what I told you a secret." I said, holding out my pinky for her to promise. After she hooked hers with mine, I relaxed. Best friends didn't break pinky swears.

                                                                                      *

With a "yes" from my mother, the week flew by as I waited excitedly for Friday to come. It was a glorious thing not to have to get on the bus to go home. Instead, we only needed to walk a few blocks. Melody's mom lived in town, only a few streets away from the lake and the Trescott Street Pier.

I always enjoyed it when I got to stay with her. There was a lot of freedom living in town had rather than so far out in the country. Dad even gave me a whole twenty bucks to enjoy myself with for the weekend.

For our first order of business, we detoured and hit the local Speedy Q for slushies and some snacks for that night. I picked out my favorite Faygo, cream soda, for the walk. That still left me with plenty of money for other shenanigans.

Adjusting the clothing stuffed backpack on my shoulders, I walked side by side with Melody. We chatted about the night that awaited us. It was pretty warm out that day, and it would have been perfect had it not been for the acrid smell the western part of the city had that day, coming from the Agrosciences plant on the shore north. I scrunched up my nose in distaste. I would rather smell cow poo.

"My mom said we could go to Bad Axe for dinner tonight, her treat." Melody was saying. "Where do you wanna eat? China King? Big Boys?" She prompted.

 Since that city was a little over a half an hour's drive away, it was a relatively rare treat for both of us to do much of anything there, save for grocery shop. Even then, my mother insisted on going all the way to Sandusky for groceries, so heading to Bad Axe was even more special. We used to shop at the IGA in town, but it closed its doors a few years back. There was still Sandman's Grocery to consider, and sometimes we came if we didn't need much, but it was pretty small and just couldn't keep the variety of stock that my mom preferred. Perhaps Melody and I would stop by later and visit one of my older cousins that worked there as a cashier.

"Why not Pizza Hut?" I countered. They made a mean taco pizza. If I could get away with it, I would have eaten it every day.

"I knew you were going to say that." Melody said dramatically. "You and that pizza. I already told mom that is where we should go." She grinned ear to ear. I slung my arm around her as we walked and gave her a side squeeze.

"So, that's all worked out. And we have a plan for tonight. What about tomorrow? Got anything up your sleeve?"

"I don't, but Mom said if you wanted to, we could go up to Pointe Aux Barques. The lighthouse might be open. Plus, it's a neat park. Have you been up there before?"

"I've seen the lighthouse, but the museum was closed that last time I went with my Dad. You know, he claims that place is one of the most haunted places in all of Huron county. He's got dozens of stories about it." I tapped my lip, waiting for the light bulb in Melody's head to flip on as her eyes widened.

"Yeah. I heard that too. We should go camping this summer there. See how true the stories are. What did your dad say?"

"He said that the old caretaker still tends the lights. Also, that one of the families that used to live there had a daughter that drowned off the point, and you can still hear her giggling in the night. What did you hear?"

"Supposedly, one of the ships that sunk in the bay had a crew that tried to row ashore. But the Lake was unforgiving, and the dingy flipped. All eight of the men drowned. They say late at night, you can still see them rowing towards the shore. Ooooohhhh." Melody used the fakest creepy voice she could muster, making me giggle. Those stories were just about as believable as The Lady of the Lake was.

                                                                                      *

After we got back from Bad Axe and picked up Shawn, the three of us walked down Trescott to the little beach there and sat in the sand. Melody filled him in on what we had planned for later. She pointed to the very end of the pier. "I figure that is the best place to set up with some candles or something. Unless you guys want to sit in the dark." She mused.

I buried my feet in the sand before kicking them out. "The moon is out already. We won't need candles. It should be bright enough. Besides, the park is supposed to be closed by ten. Wouldn't the candles draw too much attention to us?"

"Melody just wants to get us arrested." Shawn grinned.

"Can it, you guys." She insisted. "No lights, little noise. Who is going to come down here at three in the morning anyway? We'll be fine. Don't flake on me now."

"I'm not. I'm just saying. I would rather not get grounded until hell freezes over." I chuckled.

Shawn shook his head. "And how did I get roped into this?" He stood up and looked for some stones to skip, moving closer to the water.

"Can't trust you not to give us away." Melody stated flatly. "You always seemed to like squealing. So, lets just cut out the middle man. Besides, YOU were the one who wanted to tag along as soon as I mentioned Gwen was going." She slid her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, savoring the sour look on Shawn's face.

"Stop it, Mel. You're gonna give her ideas she doesn't need to have. Sorry, but I don't like girls that look like that." My heart felt like it just took a plunge to the bottom of Lake Huron.

"Shawn…" Melody gasped. "She is sitting right here…"

"And? Gwen understands. How could she think that someone like me would ever-" I cut him off, launching myself from where I was, darting as fast as I could manage towards the dock. "Gwen, wait. I didn't mean it like that. I just… Hey…" Shawn tried to snatch my wrist, but I was much quicker. He ran a hand through his hair and cursed under his breath as he started to follow me.

Melody stuck her leg out and made sure he tripped. "You are even more of an i***t than I thought. How could you say that to her face? You know how sensitive she is. If you ever speak to my Gwenny like that again, I am going to dump you off the end of the break wall in the middle of February." She yelled, making sure half of Harbor Beach heard her, including me.

I slowed myself halfway down the dock, thankful that I had some time to collect my thoughts. 'What's wrong with the way I look?' I asked myself as I walked.

Catching a glimpse of my reflection off the lake's surface as I neared the end of the pier, I stopped and started to pick apart my features. I was average looking, with long fluffy hair that was often unmanageable without a little help. Thus the braids. My cheeks always seemed to be a bit flush and held the majority of my freckles. Fair skin with few blemishes… I had dimples and deep-set eyes that showed my emotion well. That led me to my size: reasonably short, with a little meat on my bones and gentle curves.

All in all, I didn't think I looked that bad. What else could he have meant? Those words wounded me. So much so that I didn't hear the sound of footsteps behind me. "Gwendolyn? What are you doing out here?"

It wasn't Shawn. And even if it was, I wasn't prepared to give him the time of day. It was a classmate of mine named Croix. He was tall and thin, towering over everyone in our grade. He had a full foot on me, at least. Croix peered over the edge of the railing and at me in the fleeting sunlight. Deep muddy brown eyes under long raven-colored hair took the liberty of stealing away my thoughts for the moment. He wore concern like a badge upon his copper skin.

"I was just taking a walk."

"Uh-hu, I can see that. You look pretty upset." He rested his arms on the rails and hovered his face over my shoulder.

"I'm just peachy," I mumbled as I wiped my eyes on my sleeve. "What does it matter to you?" I was not trying to be ungrateful for his concern, but he'd never said one word to me before. Croix had always been quiet, and he often came across as unfriendly whenever I saw him in the halls or class.

He smiled faintly and leaned farther out over the water. "It doesn't really. But I don't think that look suits you. Besides, I am here to look after you now." He said, eyeing me as though I was supposed to know what he was talking about.

Clearly, I hadn't the foggiest. I looked him up and down with furrowed brows. "What are you, a creeper? I don't need you to watch me. Did Melody put you up to this?" I questioned him, narrowing my eyes.

He burst into laughter. "The dramatic girl you follow around? Why would I have anything to do with her? Nah. I am here for you. You're the one that saw the Lake Mother."

I shot him a look. How could he have possibly known what I saw? I didn't want to admit anything to him. He was probably just trying to get a rise out of me or something. "I didn't see anything," I told him, trying to sound convincing.

"You can keep telling yourself that, but you can't fool me. I know more about it than I want to." He shrugged his shoulders before he glanced past me to another person heading this way.

"Gwen. Can we talk?" I turned my head to see Shawn coming up the boardwalk. "Look. I didn't mean anything by what I said. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." He didn't sound all that regretful.

"Not now, Shawn. I don't want to hear any more; I got it. You said enough already."

"What? Too busy talking to yourself? Seriously?"

I was going to introduce Croix to Shawn and give him an earful about interrupting a private conversation, but… Well, Croix was gone. My face darkened as I turned myself around. There was no way that I'd been talking to myself. And there was even less of a chance that Croix left. Otherwise, I would have been able to see him heading back to the beach.

"This is what I am talking about, Gwen. You are just so weird. I would rather just stay friends." He said like the very thought would sully his reputation.

"Get lost." I snapped back at him, pushing past him. All he cared about was himself. I had other things on my mind now anyway. I marched back towards Melody. "Forget tonight. Let's rent some movies or something. If I spend any more time with your cousin right now, I am going to go crazy."