The Outsider-Chapter 8

"So where did you say you moved from?" Derek asked peering into his rearview mirror at Caleb.
"St. Louis, Missouri," Cale said, clearing his throat.
The ride to the movie theatres wasn't completely awkward. Ever since Derek had mentioned that he thought Cale and I really liked each other, he'd been doing to whole macho-brother number. It was actually quite amusing in my opinion. I wasn't sure how Cale was taking this, so I had to keep my laughter in. I also couldn't tell if Der was being serious or just trying to make a good first impression, if you kno what I mean. So, for the most part, I just kept quiet and only talked when I was spoken to, like usual.
"Here we are," Der said as we pulled into an empty parking spot. "Gosh, this place looks different. They've painted it and got a new sign, havent they?"
"Yeah the sign's kinda old, but the new paint job was just finished a week ago," I said.
"So what exactly are we seeing?" Cale asked. He sounded a little nervous, which made me feel slightly uneasy. My moods are easily influenced by those of the people around me.
"We could see 'A Christmas Carol', I love Jim Carrey," I smiled.
"Or maybe 'Old Dogs'," Cale suggested, "it doesn't really matter to me."
Der added in his girliest voice, "Or we could see 'New Moon', I've been waiting on it for 6 months!!"
We were all quiet for about a second, and then we all burst out laughing.
"I say A Christmas Carol, cuz Jim Carrey's freakin' hilarious!" Der said after catching his breath.
"Okay then, Jim Carrey wins," Cale added.
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"Pssst! Carmen....Carmen...CARMEN!!!" Sheriff Sanders whispered as loud as he could without actually being heard.
"Whaaaat???" Carmen responded. Gregory Carmen owned his own gun shop. He took over the business when his dad died a year ago during his senior year at Confederate High. Greg Carmen was the perfect example of our locals. and was the best shooter in town. He'd proven himself many times in the annual Leetown hunting trip.
Sheriff Sanders was growing impatient. "How long is this gonna take? I gotta pee!"
"Just wait a second..." Carmen's voice trailed off and his finger tightened around the trigger.
Pow! "Whew-wee, look! I got em Sanders, I got em!" Carmen ran over to see the buck he'd just shot.
"Oh, thank the Lord! Now I can go find a bathroom or somethin," Sanders said with a sigh of relief.
Carmen and Sheriff Sander's walked back to the house, the deer hung over Carmen's shoulder.
Once they were inside they started discussing more private matters.
"The rest of your guys onto our little plan?" Carmen asked, with a sense of evil in his tone.
"Nah, they're clueless," Sanders said and then added, "They're stumped with the Davison case...if it goes on too much longer, it's not even gonna be this town's case anymore. It may be moved up to higher authorities."
"That's good. How about a game of darts to choose who goes next?" Carmen had a sense of meanness instilled in him that could not be mistaken.
The sheriff looked skeptical. "Don't you think its a little early?"
"I didn't say we had to follow through with it tonight, just find out who's next."
"Okay," Sanders said, still hesitant, "take your best shot." He tossed a dart to Carmen.
He threw the dart with little force, but it went right through the Post-it note into the cork bored.
The note read, "Kevin Harolds".
"Kevin it is," Carmen said with a twisted smile on his face.

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After the movie was over, Der surprised us by taking us to the one chain restaurant we had in this town: Johnny Rockets. That was my favorite place, and I'm so glad that Derek knew me so well.
"Well, that movie was interesting," Der said as we sat in the booth.
"Yeah it was cool though," Cale added.
They seemed to be getting along better now; well, Der had quit the over-protective brother act. It was funny, most of the times dad's are the over-protective ones. But my dad had never had a problem with Cale, even if he was an outsider. Sometimes I wondered if my brother were adopted.
"Yeah it was. So ya'll just wanna split a large cheese fry?"
"Sure sounds great," I said, my stomach rumbling,"right now food just sounds good."
Cale agreed, "Yeah same here."
"Hey, ya'll, what can I get for you today?" Our waitress was Amanda Carwell. Amanda was your typical southern beauty: blonde hair, baby blue eyes, a gorgeous figure, and a strong southern accent that was almost irresistable. I knew her from school. She was a junior at Confederate, and almost all the guys adored her, and almost all the girls wanted to be her.
Der answered for us all and said, "We're gonna split a large cheese fry, and to drink I'm gonna have root beer...what do you guys want?"
"Um, I'll take cherry coke," I said.
"Same for me," Cale added.
"Well, alright, I'll have your drinks and food out for you in just a few minutes." She turned on her heels and walked back to the kitchen.
There was a tv in the corner and it was on Leetown's local news station. The volume was too low to hear, but I could read the subtitles, which read:
"Police have no word on the Kelly Davison house, and we are told that if they don't have any leads by the end of the week, the case will be passed off to higher authorities who can do more extensive research into the case. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Davison's as they are still mourning the loss of their beloved daughter..."
I stopped reading there, because they had switched to a new report. So that's it? The cops in our town were just going to give up? Obviously, I was showing some kind of angry emotion because Der asked, "Hey, uh, Suz, are you okay?"
I snapped out of it and replied, "Yeah I'm fine, I was just watching the news. They were reporting on Kelly Davison's case. It made me mad, because the cops have just pretty much given up. I mean, they've barely been investigating for a week and they're passing it to 'higher authorities'!"
"Yeah that's terrible-" but he was cut off by Amanda.
"Okay here you go: one large fry, two cherry cokes, and a root beer," she said passing out the food.
"Anything else I can get ya'll?"
"Oh, how about a partridge and a pear tree?" Derek said as we all four started laughing.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Derek, we're fresh out of those," Amanda said making a sarcastic pouty-face, and once again turned on heels and headed toward the kitchen.
You know, sitting here having Derek and Cale share cheese fries with me, everything just seemed right. A couple days ago, I was freaking out about Kelly's death. Somehow I managed to tell myself that everything was okay in little Leetown, and that I had nothing to worry about...hopefully.

The Outsider-Chapter 7

The first thing I heard as I walked in the door was, "So who's the dude in the car?"
I knew this voice very well, and just hearing him made me smile.
"Derek! Oh my goodness it's so good to see you!" I said as I ran to give him a big bear hug. He and I got along very well. Sometimes it felt like we were more friends rather than brother and sister.
"Hey, Suz, it's good to see you too!" he said.
"What are you doing home?" I asked.
He laughed and said, "Oh, and I thought you were happy to see me."
"You know I'm always happy to see you."
"Not always," he muttered underneath his breath.
"What?...You know what I mean." I stood there waiting for an explanation.
After a few seconds of him staring at me with a grin on his face he spoke. "Well I got a job working on the college campus and it gave me some extra cash, so I decided to come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year."
I stood there and he could see my eyes widening in disbelief. After some more awkward silences, he simply asked, "What?"
It was enough to wake me from my trance that I had seemed to have fallen into and replied, "Oh nothing I'm just surprised you got a job." I winked as I spoke.
"Hey, hey now, I've kind of matured since the last time you saw me," he said.
I kinda laughed to myself and said, "Yeah okay, whatever. You're still my big brother who wrestles and has burping contests with me." We both laughed together.
"Wait, where's mom and dad? Do they know you're here?" I said with sudden curiosity. They were usually home at this time.
"Yeah they know I'm here. They were going to do some grocery shopping and see a movie, but since I came home they said they weren't going out. I told them I'd be here all week and back at Christmas, so I told them to go ahead."
"Oh okay, that makes sense I guess."
"So what's with the funeral look?" he asked, unaware of where I had just been. He obviously could tell by my now serious look that what he said was a little inappropriate.
"Suz, what happened? Is everything okay?" he said with a tad bit of panic rising in his voice.
"It's okay, Der."
"Oh okay. That's why when I said 'funeral look' you nearly started crying, right?"
"Come on, it's not like that..." I stopped short, trying to hold my emotions in.
"Suz, whatever it is, it's bothering you. Talk to me. Come on, I haven't seen you in months. What's up?" I couldn't resist him when he was being so nice and like he said: mature.
"It's this girl from school. She was fairly new around here, just a freshman at Confederate High. Her name was Kelly Davison." I said with memories flooding my brain.
"And....?" he said with anticipation.
"And she was kidnapped and murdered...no, not just murdered, tortured is more like it. Der, they tied her to a truck and dragged her behind it!" I spoke with such bitterness that I no longer cared about holding back the tears.
Der reached for me and gave me another hug. "Suz, I'm so sorry. Were you two good friends?"
"I helped her get settled into school. She was a really nice girl. Her funeral was today, and I went. I don't know why I'm so upset about this, we weren't real close, but obviously close enough." I said trying to calm myself down.
"Hey it's okay," he said as he wiped the tears away from my cheeks,"it's alright. I wouldn't have made the funeral comment in the first place, had I known. I'll watch what I say from now on."
"No, it's okay, it's not your fault. You didn't know." I sniffled.
I went to the bathroom to change clothes and clean myself up a bit. When I came out Derek was sitting on the couch watching some sitcom.
"Say what are you doin tomorrow?" I asked casually.
"Er..um, nothing I guess, why?"
"I thought maybe you, me, and that 'dude in the car' could catch a movie."
"Oh okay. Yeah sure, whatever." It was a genuine answer, not one with sarcasm. Did college do this to all high school boys?
"His name's Cale, by the way."
"Who?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen to get a soda out of the refrigerator.
"That 'dude in the car'...his name's Cale...Caleb, actually." I said.
"Oh yeah, him. Where'd he come from anyways? I haven't seen him before." Brothers are so adorable when they act so protective, I thought to myself as he asked all these questions.
"He just moved a couple months ago with his mom, Bethany, after his dad died. His grandparents have lived here a long time though. You probably remember the Mason's." I said, hoping he'd approve of Cale, even though he was technically an "outsider". Derek didn't necessarily LIKE the outsiders, but he didn't hate them either.
"Oh, yeah...so he's Old Man Mason's grandson? Eh, he's probably a good kid then. Old Man Mason's pretty strict. Good solid morals. I'm sure he's perfect for you."
Wait a second,I'm sure he's perfect for you. Where did that come from?
"What do you mean he's perfect for me?" I asked, a little uneasy and embarrassed.
"Oh come on Suz, I'm not stupid! I can tell you're crazy about him. And quite honestly, I think he likes you too. I saw they way you too looked at each other."
Why hadn't I thought of this before?! I always thought of Cale as a great friend, why did I not think it could be something more than friendship? That explains why I get those crazy emotions around him! I'm so ignorant sometimes!
"He's just a friend," I blurted out trying to keep my cool.
"Yeah okay..." There was that sarcastic tone I'd missed for the past 6 months. I knew my real brother was still there somewhere.
After the show went on a commercial break he called from the family room, "Hey Suz, I'd love to go see a movie tomorrow."
"Okay...hey, Der?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad your home," I said as I settled down on the couch next to him.
"Me too, Suz, me too."

The Outsider-Chapter 6

I had an uneasy feeling at the service on Saturday, but that was probably because the thought of being in the same room as a dead person creeped me out to no end. I hadn't been to many funerals in my lifetime, and the few that I had been to I never enjoyed. Being with Cale this time somehow made it easier though.
Her parents decided that they would have her cremated, due to the condition her body was in. They were devastated, just as I had thought they would be.
Between tears of my own I sad, "Mr. and Mrs. Davison, I'm soo sorry. I know I didnt know much about Kelly, but I cant even imagine how you must feel, especially since I know how bad i feel about this. I'll be praying for you."
The words didnt exactly come out like I was hoping, but I think her parents understood the sincerity in my voice.
"I had no idea how much you really cared about Kelly," Cale said as we were walking to his car after the service was over.
Neither did I, I thought to myself. "Well I mean, it's just heartbreaking. To think that she'll never grow up to see her grandkids, and for her parents to know that they'll never get to see their daughter grow up."
"Yeah I guess you're right. I couldn't imagine leaving my mom behind. I don't think she'd be able to make it, especially since my dad's gone too."
The ride home was kind of quiet. Cale kept fiddling with the radio when the silence became too much, but he soon just turned it off due to the lack of reception in this town.
"How'd it happen?" I asked.
"How'd what happen?" he said.
"You're dad," I paused, not really sure whether I had the right to talk about this, "I mean how'd he die...if you don't mind me asking." I added that to the end of the sentence so he'd know that we didnt have to talk about it if he didnt want to.
He must have seen my embarassment on my face for asking such a personal question, because he kinda looked at me with that smug smile that he always used. He was silent for a few moments before answering. "Cancer," he said. "He died a few years ago of bone cancer." I thought I could see a glimpse of pain in his face as he spoke.
"I'm so sorry...I mean, I know I can't really identify with you on the subject, but I don't know what else to say."
"It's okay, Zanne, thanks." Cale was so good. Even when things weren't the best, he always seemed to keep it together and make you feel better.
I stared at the sky for the rest of the ride home.
"Who's car's in the driveway?"
My attention was torn from the sky to my house. There it was, a little white pick-up in my driveway.
"That's my brother's truck," I said, sort of confused. "That's strange...he usually doesn't come home for Thanksgiving."
"I didnt know you had a brother."
"He's going to college in Florida."
"Oh...where does he go?"
"Florida State," I replied.
"Haha...guess he's not into football then," he said.
"Hey now, FSU may not be THAT great, but we support em either way."
"It's okay, I dont follow up much on football."
"As long as you're not a Gator, cuz that'll just give my parents one more reason for not liking you," I said, half joking, half serious. My parent's really didnt like Cale.
"No worries there," he laughed, "do you like your brother?"
"We get along pretty well. It's funny I think we're closer even though he doesnt live here any more."
"Ya never know whatcha got till its gone," Cale responded.
"So true, so true....well I probably oughtta get inside before my parents wonder why we're just sitting in the driveway." I couldn't help but smile while I spoke.
Cale laughed too. "Yeah, that would be a third reason for your parents to hate me."
"They don't HATE you Cale."
"Yeah okay." He laughed again.
"Say what are you doing tomorrow?" I asked as I got out of his car.
"I dunno, have anything in mind?"
"I thought maybe you, my brother and I could catch a movie," I said, "I think you'll get along with him....his name's Derek by the way."
"Hmmm, I could probably go...if he's anything like you, I'm sure we'll get along." as he spoke he winked at me.
I blushed and said, "6:30?"
"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow Zanne," he said.
"K. See you later," I said as I turned and walked to my front door.

The Outsider-Chapter 5

"A young teenager has gone missing today, and there is a county wide search taking place for the young Kelly Davison..."
I could hear the story from inside the kitchen. Kelly Davison, Kelly Davison, where have I heard that name before? I thought to myself. And then it hit me. "Oh. My. Gosh. That was the new girl who moved here last year!!! She was only a year younger than me!"
"Who was?" my mom said from the living room.
"Girl who went missing, Kelly Davison. I can't believe she's missing! Oh, I hope she's okay, she was really nice. Her parents must be devistated."
The only reply I got was a sigh from the other room. My parents didnt really approve of my courtesy to the outsiders. But they knew they couldnt stop me, so they learned to deal with it.

The next day at school Kelly Davison's disappearance was the buzzing topic. It was all anyone could talk about. I doubt very much school work was being done.
"I heard she was mauled by bear-"
"Yeah well I think her brother did it...didnt they say he's a messed up kid anyway?"
"My money's on her father...I heard she kept sneaking out of the house to meet up with some drug dealers or somethin..."
The rumors at school were relentless. See I knew that everything the kids at school came up with were lies. I am probably one of the few locals that actually talked to Kelly, and I knew her well enough to know that these accusations were false.
"So have you heard all the crazy rumors about Kelly?" Caleb asked me as he sat down at our usual spot under the tree.
"How could I NOT have heard about them?" I replied.
"Yeah true...do you believe any of them?"
"Not a single one. She didnt have many friends. I was one of the few people who talked to her. So unless a bear broke into her house and mauled only her, or the drug dealers came to her bedroom in the middle of the night, she didnt do anything. I'm not trying to sound mean, but she's sort of helpless. There's no way any of that could have happened. Plus, they havent even found her yet, so she might be alive."
"Yeah you're probably right. So what are you doing this afternoon?" he asked.
"I dont know. Why?" I replied.
"Eh, I've been having trouble with some English, so I was wondering if you could help me?"
"Oh sure I'd love to help! What are we talkin here-adjectives, pronouns, verbs?"
"Hahaha, um, that and some more...I'm not the brightest when it comes to grammar," he laughed.
"Yeah I'd love to help. Except I'd need a ride. Would you mind taking me home?" talking to him lately had become easier, although now I felt like that shy, giddy little girl all over again.
"Yeah, I could probably give you a ride home in exchange for your help." He winked at me as he spoke.
"Cool, I'll need to be home by 5 though," I said.
"No problem...and thanks!" he replied.
"You're welcome." I smiled.

"So now that we've gotten the subjects and verbs, you've gotta find the-" I lost my train of thought as I heard voices coming from the other room.
I walked out of Caleb's room to listen to the TV in the family room.
"Missing Kelly Davison's body was found today near the Lake Daniels River, and what police found was shocking. The girl's neck had been broken, which is believed to be the cause of death, along with both legs and one arm. She was scratched up from head to toe. Law enforcements are not really sure what happened to Davison, but they haven ensured that a full investigation will take place."
"Oh my gosh!!!" tears began streaming down my face.
"What? Whats wro-" Caleb stopped and stared at the TV.
He turned to me and said, "Zanne, Im so sorry."
"Cale, how could this happen? She was so innocent, only a freshman in high school! It's not fair!!"
By this time I was sobbing and nearly shouting.
"I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." his voice trailed off and he pulled me into his arms and gave me hug.
I settled down enough to hear the rest of the news.
"The memorial service for Kelly Davison will be held this Saturday at the Southern Baptist Family Church. Friends are allowed to attend; services will begin at 11:00 PM."
Cale promised me we'd attend the service together. The next couple days Kelly was the topic at school again, and now more rumors than ever were popping up. We've had disappearances before, but for some reason, this one gave me a strange feeling.

It's all about the fleas ;)

I recently found out something interesting about a friend of mine. It makes me sad because this friend (I'm not naming anyone or thing) kinda lied to me over the past couple months. I wasn't told this news until tonight, and whereas it did shock me a little, I wasn't really mad. I was more bummed out by the choices this person has made and the fact that I'm one of their best friends and most of our other friends already know, and I'm just now finding out. I'm not saying who it is or what they did, but if for some reason that person finds this, they know how I feel. I will not judge you or stop being your friend, but I in no way, shape, or form approve of what's happening. And I'm praying that God will use something to show you that your actions-both what you're doing and the lying-are not right. But something tells me that because you haven't told me until now, afraid of how I would react, that you know its not right, because I would and do disapprove.
However, I do have a few positive things to say overall, because that's just the kinda person I'm am (lol David, you know what I mean). One, thank you for finally being honest. I am sad that you felt you couldn't tell me right away, but thank you for finally telling me the WHOLE truth. Two, God's finally shown me why I've felt the need to pray for you. A while back I just felt the need to pray for my friends and family. Now I know why, at least that's the reason I'm thinking of, because God's timing is perfect. And whether you like it or know it, I will continue in praying more than ever for you. Lastly, I don't mean this in a boasting manner, but you've shown me how far I've come since I committed my life to Christ nearly a year and a half ago. I believe that you wouldn't have hesitated to tell me this if it had taken place 2 years ago, because I wouldn't have thought much of it. But because I'm the last person to find out because you were afraid of what I would say, you didn't tell me. This shows me that you can see a difference in the way I act. And you know what? I'm okay with that, because I struggle with how I act sometimes. I have doubts sometimes whether people can see the love of Christ in me. So I thank you for those things.
To anyone else who reads this, if you wanna know why I'm optimistic about something like this and other things, here's my reasoning.
When I was in 8th grade we read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, a holocaust survivor. Even though I didn't read the book much because I was too busy trying to act "cool" and fit in with the popular kids, I do remember one part of her story. Corrie and her sister Betsy were inside a cell at a concentration camp. Corrie was complaining about the fleas in the cell. Her sister, who was older and weaker than she, told her that God's commanded us to find the good in everything. Corrie and Betsy decided to start holding Bible studies in their cell. Someone asked the guards why they didn't stop the group of women from doing that (at least I think that's what happened) they told them that there were too many fleas for them to go in there. So if those women who had it worse than any of us could ever have, how much more thankful should we be for the little things-even the annoying ones-in our life? Every time I'm tempted to be negative-and I do have my times, just before I wrote this I was crying over the whole situation- I think back to this story. I encourage every person to do the same. Be thankful for the "fleas" in your life. Count them as blessings.