Vera Bianchi

Chapter 5

On the drive, which was gorgeous, I was surprised by how smooth the car drove given its noise.

"I can tell Matt really enjoys you and your Papa- eh Dad. He's a lot happier when you two are around."

"Nah, it's just my Dad. They've known each other since the dark ages, maybe even sooner than that." Owen smiled at his own joke; he had perfectly white teeth that were perfectly straight. I laughed too.

"Hah, well Matt snores loud enough to be a dinosaur." We both laughed. I continued, "I like this car, it has quite a vintage feel."

"Well, it seems like you'll have to drive it gently like a vintage."

 "That's okay, I'm planning on getting a motorcycle too." I kept my eyes on the road most of the time.

Owen looked shocked, "You ride?!"

"Yes I take it you do as well?" I looked at him hopefully.

"Heck yeah!"

"Good, I could use a riding partner; I have no idea where the all good spots are around here."

"Haha, we'll make a great team then." Owen was pleasant and so easy to converse with. He was smoother than I anticipated he'd be. His poised behavior took me off guard because it was mixed perfectly with energy and vibrancy. Another thing I liked about Owen is that he was so unapologetically himself.

We pulled back into the dealership, and the owner asked if it was a good fit for me.

 "I'll take it. What do you want for your work of art?" I rubbed the dash like the car and I were meant to be.

"I was hoping for $2,500, but I'm sure you could talk me down a little."

"I think $2,500 is fair." I was surprised it was so cheap. While we walked into his little store, I pulled the cash from my wallet ahead of time.

The dealership owner was very delighted, "It runs great for its condition and price, I think you'll enjoy owning this vehicle." He smiled.

"Mr. Seedall, I think you're in the right line of work," I said thinking about what a happy passion he had for vehicles.

He was pleased by my compliment and put his hands on his suspenders while chortled, "yah, I reckon you're right."

‘Wow I really am in the Wild West' I thought to myself. I smiled as he put together the paperwork. I paid the gentleman, and Owen and I left to go home.

I was confused to see Matt still home when we got there. I went upstairs to put away the thousands of dollars I thought I'd need to buy a car. I ran back downstairs to see all three of them watching a game. I walked up to the back of the couch to behold Owen sprawled on the couch with his feet dangling off the arm.

"So what now, do I need to change the license plates on it?"

"I'll help you with all the logistics, don't worry about it now though because most everything's closed on weekends," Owen said as he moved his feet to sit up straight so I could have a place to sit.

"That reminds me, Vera," Matt started, "Do you have a Washington driver's license?"

"No, I do have one in New York though, does that not count?" I was confused, wasn't the U.S., the U.S.? Why should each state have to have different license requirements?

"Fraid not kiddo."

"Hmm. Well, I'd better get started on that right away then."

"It's Saturday," Owen reminded. "I'll take you where you need to go though." He was all too pleased with my current state of unlicensed driving.

 "Before you leave, you might want to put more clothes on too, Vera," Matt said boldly.

I was wearing bootie shorts and a sleeveless shirt perfectly cut to my hourglass torso. "Matt I don't have warmer clothes, you see in France and Italy, when it's summer, it's actually warm." All my clothes were classy and designer, I stood out like a sore thumb here.

"No worries I'm sure I have a jacket at my house we can pick up for you to use, Vera," Owen said pretending to eye my outfit, though really he was looking at me. "Besides we'll have to take Dad home before I drive you wherever you need to go," he said cheerfully.

"Are you sure you want to do that? I have a lot to do today." I was truly thankful for his help because I wasn't used to being alone, and partially because I didn't know where anything was.

"Of course, it's not a problem at all."

We took Kit home in the Multnomah's truck; it was a little cozy with the three of us in the three seat cab. I leaned closer to Owen than Kit, so Owen's and my arms and legs were touching. I didn't mind, and neither did Owen, but once we were at Owens house and Kit was out, I moved to the window seat. Owen ran out with a jacket as promised. He wasn't surprised to see me in the other chair, though he was hoping I'd have stayed.

I was surprised he lived so close to the Charters and me, it was only a 5-7 minute drive. We went back to town and ran all our errands, including going to a sports store for a reflector. There was a boy my age running the cash register, during the checkout he said:

"You must be the French girl coming for school right?" He wasn't very attractive to me. He had red hair in a pompadour, chubby cheeks, with a scrawny body, I was grateful he was kind though. "I'm Kevin."

"Yes, I am. How did you know?"

"You've been the talk of the town for months. I'm surprised you don't know this."

I was a little embarrassed. "Well I arrived just yesterday, so this is the first time I've heard of it."

Kevin looked at Owen, then back at me, "I thought you were staying at Sheriff Charter's?" He was clearly fishing for why I was with Owen, an attractive Native American older than us.

"I am," I looked smug because I wasn't planning on giving anything up in regards to Owen. "Hold on a second; I'm going to grab one of those umbrellas." As I walked away, I could feel both sets of eyes on my backside.

They were so obvious I couldn't believe it. That threw me off guard; I thoughtlessly asked: "So do you two know each other?"

Kevin answered before Owen, "No, I don't believe so. How do you two know each other?" This question was more obvious than subtle.

"Matt and Owen's Dad are great friends. Owen here was kind enough to show me around." I nudged Owen's arm and smiled at him. Owen was thrilled I showed this kind of affection in front of Kevin. Though to me, it was just a friendly nudge and smile because I really was thankful. Owen seemed almost too happy with the situation.

"Oh well, maybe I can show you around the school tomorrow?" Kevin asked.

"Oh, well, I guess if Owen can't? I hinted to Owen for help.

"I'm a freshman in college." Owen looked disappointed but shrugged it off with a joke, "I'm afraid I'm too cool now to be going to high school."

I laughed raising my eyebrows, "Right, cool enough. Is that what you tell yourself to help you sleep at night?" I loved that he was so spunky. "I can't wait to go to college!"

Kevin laughed at that assuming I was making fun of Owen or something. Owen loved my poke fun but couldn't think anything to counter.

"A tour would be nice, thank you, Kevin." I finally said.

"Huh, well awesome then. I'll see you Monday, Vera." He was so excited about showing me around that we didn't decide on a place to meet. Nor did he notice that he gave up the fact that he knew my name without me telling it to him.

Owen was suddenly not so happy and rushed the transaction. On the way back home Owen showed me where the school was for the ‘uncool' people.

As a last minute addition to our fantastic day, we saw a motorcycle for sale on the side of the road. We bought that too and put it in Owen's truck.

When we got to Matt's, he helped me bring in all the food, we got home around 3:00. That left a reasonable amount of time for me to make dinner and start on the meal prep. Owen went to pick up Kit again for the ‘party'.

I made fish and salad for dinner and made some dessert for the game. It was five before I knew it, and Matt was home and hungry. Owen and Kit joined us for dinner and the game which started at 6.

I was getting pretty tired, my body was still on France time, and we had had a full day. I opted out of dessert as the game started. Kit was in his own designated lay-Z-boy, and Matt was in the seat I was now discovering was his favorite chair, which left Owen and me on the love seat. I was very comfortable with people, so it wasn't a big deal at all.

 Owen was patiently explaining to rules to me, it didn't entirely make sense, but I got the gist of basketball. I soon learned that game night wasn't just one game. I was so tired that I folded my arms into Owen's Jacket and leaned on Owen's shoulder to fall asleep. Owen didn't move an inch; he was almost uncomfortably stiff. That made it take longer for me to fall asleep than normal; I was almost out when I heard Kit's voice.

"She's sure a pretty one, Matt."

"Yeah, I was not expecting that at all. When Vera came to my door, I think I was tongue tied for a minute. Of course, she came with a man the size of a gorilla to ‘help her with her luggage,' and that didn't help my shock." Matt bunny eared the ‘help her with her luggage' part of his sentence.

Owen moved a little when Matt said that, I could tell he wanted to say something, but he was nervous I'd wake if he started talking.

"Well, it was probably her French boyfriend," Kit teased Owen.

Owen smirked beneath his breath like he couldn't care less. He couldn't help himself and whispered loudly: "But he's all the way in France." I was ready for the conversation to be over, but it would be weird if I just suddenly woke up; so I stayed still and endured it.

"He was quite a looker," Matt teased.

"And yet she's on my shoulder tonight," Owen gloated gesturing to me with his free hand.

‘Aw crap' I thought to myself, ‘why can't you boys just watch the stupid game?'

"Undeniably true," Kit said happily as though he could hear the wedding bells and grandchildren's laughter already. They were finally quiet and watched the game after that remark. I gave it plenty of time before I pretend stirred and eventually got up. I sat up and rubbed my eyes; it was an outstanding performance if I do say so myself. I took off Owen's jacket and handed it to him.

"Well, I'm going to bed."

Matt interrupted me while I was standing from the couch, "Vera who was with you when you came yesterday?" He asked nonchalantly, I was impressed.

"I can't believe that was just yesterday," I started. "His name is Stefan." I wasn't going to give anything more than that.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Matt asked while trying- but failing- to hide a huge smile.

"Nope." ‘Oh please stop asking me questions.'

"Well then who is he to you? I mean France is a really long way for someone to help someone else move."

I thought about lying that he was my brother or something because I didn't want people knowing I had bodyguards. That would only provoke more questions. I sighed, "He's my bodyguard." I looked at Matt when I said this.

"Ha okay Vera, whatever." He smiled really big. "Boyfriend it is, you're such a tease."

"Believe what you want," was all I said, I was so tired that I didn't want to delve into the details. I started leaving the room when Owen said:

 "Vera, seriously, you don't expect us to believe he was your bodyguard," he huffed.

I shrugged my shoulders; I couldn't tell what was worse, them knowing I had a bodyguard or thinking I was a liar. "I'm not lying," I said.

Suddenly three faces were looking at me with curiosity. "Good night," I left as quickly as possible. I got ready for bed and was out pretty quickly; I was good at being efficient with my routine.

In the middle of the night I heard the front door close, it must've been Sarah getting home. I looked at the clock on my nightstand which read midnight. I couldn't believe how long she worked.

In the morning Sarah was already gone by the time I finished my workout. It seemed I wasn't going to be able to get to know her very much. I giggled to myself at her balance comment when I arrived. No wonder all she did when she got home was relax.

Sunday blew by fast, I cleaned the house and did the laundry, finished my meal prepping and even got to have some time with a book. I was reading ‘Mid Summer's Night Dream' by Shakespeare. I was grateful I caught Sarah leaving late one day because she had taught me how to do the laundry. Monday morning was the normal routine, except on weekdays I only ran 5 miles and alternated yoga, ballet, hip-hop, and weights in place of Pilates.

For school, I was wearing a valentine neckline, sleeveless shirt that was form fitting, white bootie shorts that were lacey on the outside, and designer shoes. My hair was curly with a waterfall braid on both sides which came together in a tucked bun. I grabbed my umbrella on the way out; Matt had to take me to school, so we got there quite early. I waved at Matt when I got outside of his police car.

"Have a good day at school," he waved back.

The school looked old and beautiful. It was all brick with an old facade that looked like parts of the masonry was hand carved.

I saw the first and smallest building which had a light on; I could see through the glass doors a large desk and an adult. I decided I'd get directions there since Kevin and I failed to create a meeting spot. I walked down a little stone path lined with dark hedges.

 Inside, it was brightly lit, and very warm. It smelled like an old building, with short carpet and a big desk. The lady inside looked like a librarian; she was skinny and short with large glasses and a tight bun.

She looked at me in awe after I entered, "Hello Dear, are you lost?"

"I'm Vera Bianchi, I'm a new student here, and I was hoping I could get a map of some sort," I said with my French accent.

"Oh, the French student, yes we have been expecting you." She spoke excitedly as she sifted through some papers. "Here we are. I have your schedule in English and French and a route to your classes."

"Thank you, madam; you are most kind," I said as I looked at the English version of my schedule and map.

When I left the office, I saw a lot of students outside, some were visiting, and others were rushing to get inside. I was the only one with an umbrella, and I was the only tan one there, to top it off I also wore to these people what was practically nothing.

I was stared at like I was a celebrity, I was surprised everyone seemed to notice me, maybe it was also because I was taller than most of the girls there besides some of the athletes.

I tried to look friendly and inviting, but it was hard when I caught everyone's attention. By the time I found my first class, American History, I was only a minute or two early. This was just perfect because now I truly was the center of attention. The old lady teacher was bigger and had white hair; she had a lot of wrinkles that mostly looked mean.

I found an empty seat in the dead center of the classroom- oh the irony- the center of attention indeed. The girl next to me leaned over looking at me like she was my number one fan.

"Hi, you must be Vera." She paused to swallow, "I'm Savanna, how do you do?" She was extremely friendly, and I liked her already because on top of her extreme kindness she was also quirky.

I smiled and popped my hand out, "Very nice to meet you, Savanna." At this point the teacher started, all day, in all my classes most people were either really friendly, shy or hated me already.

Savanna was miraculously in most of my classes and introduced me to everyone she knew. When we got to the cafeteria for lunch, I already developed a fan club of boys and girls alike. I packed all my meals; I usually ate 5-6 small meals a day. Savanna, Kevin, and a boy named Oscar who was in robotics always bought lunch together.

I looked around at my table to see one other girl and three boys, all attractive, but not enough to tempt me. I glanced around at the student body in general. I could pick out the Jock groups and the nerd groups, the loners, emo's and druggies, and the popular table.

There was a boy who spotted me from across the cafeteria, I was pretty sure he was from the jock group.

He walked over confidently; his face looked bedazzled looking at me.

"Well hello, beautiful, I'm Kirby Stout."

"Hi, I'm Vera Bianchi." Something about him was arrogant and annoying. I shouldn't have let it get under my skin, but I could tell this guy was going to give me grief. He was probably the most handsome guy in the school; however, his attitude ranked him as one of the ugliest.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?" He put one hand on the table and leaned on it.

"I'm a transfer student from France." I was pleasant to him, but I kept looking over my shoulder to Savanna, I wished the food line would hurry up.

"Are you a senior?"

"Yes, I am."

"Are you 18?"

"No, I'm 17."

"Haha well, who cares what the legal age is right? A lot of my co-students are going to the Arcata pool on Friday. You should come; I think you'll find yourself having a great time."

"Okay, yeah, maybe. I'll probably bring one of my friends if that's okay with you?"

Kirby grinned, "Well if she looks anything like you, I hope you have three or more new friends."

I rolled my eyes and put my fork down.

 Savanna, Kevin, and Oscar came back from the food line happily discussing Oscar's upcoming robotics competition. I smiled at my new friends sitting down thankful for their impeccable timing.

Kirby looked at them briefly and continued, "So, Friday then." He stated this excitedly, and almost forcefully, as though no was somehow unacceptable.

"We'll see, thanks for the invite, Kirby."

I tried to play it casual so that the glares coming from Kevin and Oscar would dissipate. "So Savanna, would you go around and point out who's who in the cafeteria?"

"Course," Savanna started moving her torso side to side in a quirky manner. "Over there we have the wrestling team." I couldn't pay any attention to specific names, and I was impatient for some reason, her words ran together until she reached the football team's table.

"…. And Kirby, and Ethan. What did Kirby want by the way?"

I swallowed my previous bite. "He invited me to a pool party on Friday. Do you want to come with me, Savanna?"

"YES! Kirby and the football team, all in swim trunks? Count me in. I just hope Kirby is in a speedo or something."

A piece of lettuce from my salad almost went up my nose I snickered so quickly. "He's all yours, my friend!"

 "Yesssssssssss!" Oscar and Kevin relaxed after I backed down from the ‘hot football star'.

I was a little disappointed she was as elated as she was. "My next class is in building 2 room 201. Anyone headed my direction?" I said picking up my Tupperware and finishing my apple.

"I am," Kevin said thrilled. "I'll drop you off, I'm going to room 215."

My class was philosophy, and I was excited about the prospect of debating. During the class I realized how basic the material was, I was really disappointed. At the end of my day, I realized my only romantic prospect was Kirby. That was also a depressing thought, but I wasn't going to let it get me down. After all, I didn't come here for love.

Matt came on time to pick me up in his police car. I looked around one last time to behold the new wonderful place I was going to go to for the next year. I inhaled a deep breath of satisfaction and climbed in.

Matt took me to the DMV so I could take the multiple choice test and get my temporary license. We took care of the other necessary legalities for my car. I even had time to drop it off to a mechanic in town so he could tone down the cars noise- which worked like magic.

When we got home I started dinner in the kitchen and Matt helped me dice the chicken.

"Are we having more rabbit food for dinner?"

"Haha, you know it. That and grilled chicken."

"I think I'm going to order a pizza too," he said happily still chopping the meat.

Matt never called a pizza place, he was lingering in the Kitchen for a while trying to help where he could, but it was pretty apparent that wasn't going anywhere. Instead, he turned the T.V. on and waited for dinner to be finished.

I called him in when it was ready.

"So, how did you like school? Have you made any friends?" He asked as he was taking seconds- Matt must not mind the rabbit food as much as he complained.

"Yes, a girl named Savanna, and two boys named Kevin and Oscar. I might go to a pool party on Friday if it's okay with you?"

"Oh sure, you go do your teenage thing. Just be careful, okay?"

"Course. How was work?"

"Nice and slow, as usual. I like it that way."

"Why does Sarah work so much?"

"It's something she started to do after our daughter died, it was kinda what she did to distract herself. You know, I can't tell you how happy she was to hear a teenage girl wanted to live with us…"

I smiled overwhelmed with joy that I was truly wanted here. "Well I'm very grateful you guys were up for the task!"

This was one of those moments where you didn't say anything more, we sat in contented silence for the remainder of dinner.

We finished dinner and Matt went back to his game, I went upstairs to do some homework and to do my nightly bedtime routine.

The next morning was the same as the others, cold, wet, and foggy. I did some advanced yoga in the front yard on a mat and ran 5 miles. I decided I should make a trail in the forest by the house; the visibility on the road was close to nil.

I stretched and got ready for the day, putting on some extra perfume, ‘Roja Parfums  Amber Aoud Absolue Precieux'. I always put some on in the morning after my shower, and in the evening after my shower.

Matt had to take me to school still because my temporary license was yet to arrive in the mail. It was a beautiful day even though it was overcast. It smelled clean here, and I loved that-- no smog.

When I got to my class, I was glad I was early instead of right on time. I shuffled through my book and notepad to get ready for the lecture. I heard students come in and I tried to ignore all the stares and looks. Savannah finally came, thank goodness. I thought about Friday and whether or not I was going to go. Savanna begged me to go, I figured it wouldn't hurt anything if I did.