The Way Back Home

Chapter 1

I raced up the crowded sidewalk trying desperately to make it to class, cursing myself the whole way for being late, today of all days. Standing at the door of the auditorium, I teetered on the tips of my toes as the professor took his place at the front of the crowd. Dr. Hayes was a small man with a rounded belly, most likely alcohol induced, and wire rimmed glasses that set on the tip of his nose. He surveyed the group and I felt my face start to burn the second he took notice of me from across the room.

Are you joining us today, Ms. Edwards? he questioned, his tone more annoyed than amused. Or are you planning to just loiter in the hallway for the hour?

No, no, I’m coming in, I replied, a bold heat flushing my cheeks. How was it possible for a college professor of an undergrad psychology class containing nearly three hundred students to know me by name? I shuffled in, sure that every eye in the room was fixed upon me, and took a seat in the very back row.

Today you will receive your assignment for the last project of the semester, Dr. Hayes informed us. Which you would’ve already known, had you bothered to read the syllabus. He was speaking to the lot of us, but his beady little eyes remain fixed on me.

Tucking the loose strands of my hair that always seemed to make their way into my eyes back behind my ears, I leaned back against the hard plastic backing of my seat. If I had to put up with a little humiliation in order to get the information for successfully completing this class, then I would welcome it. This specific class, The Study of Human Relationships and Behaviors, was awarded to me due to my late registration and the fact that it was the only available course left to fill my psychology requirement.

This is going to be a partner project, Dr. Hayes bellowed as papers began shuffling through the rows, one finally making its way to me. And before you ask; the answer is no. You may not select your own partner. I will email you by the end of the day with the name and email address of the person you are to contact.

Fantastic. I stifled a groan and read over the list of instructions on the paper I was given as my classmates began to chatter around me. I didn’t know one person in the class. Of course, after almost three months there were several familiar faces, but no one I was comfortable talking to, or would come close to trusting with half my grade.

The assignment is to observe dating practices and patterns of emotional behavior among people of different socioeconomic levels, I heard as I continued looking down at the paper in my lap.

Meaning what, exactly? a dark haired guy with a vaguely familiar face asked, raising his hand from the front row.

Meaning, you and your partner will select specific locations you think typical for romantic settings of both people of a higher and lower income bracket and compare them.

Is it absolutely necessary to work with a partner? pressed a blonde wearing a sorority pullover. She stood up to speak, commanding all attention to come her way. Dr. Hayes snorted in her general direction before rubbing his temples and continuing.

Yes. That particular requirement is not up for discussion. I have made this a partner project because dating and emotional relationships are usually done in pairs.

Or threesomes! a male voice boomed from somewhere in the middle of the crowd and the entire class burst into a fit of laughter.

That’s quite enough, Dr. Hayes said, taking control of the group. You have the guidelines and requirements. Are there any further questions before I release you for the day?

One more hand raised and a petite redhead stood up nervously fingering a thick coil of her hair. So can I assume all pairings will be male and female?

No, that assumption does not fairly represent all pairings present in today’s society and our class isn’t evenly split, anyhow. Now, if that’s all?

Everyone else had the good sense to stay quiet.

Then you may go for today. Look for my email by six pm this evening and you must contact your partner before Wednesday’s class.

I swung my bag over my shoulder, and started to slide into the flux of people coming my way when an ambiguously familiar face came into view. Staring at his sturdy and intense jaw line, sandy blond hair and blue eyes, I thought hard trying to place him; but it wasn’t until he smiled at something in the distance that I knew exactly who he was. His name was Andrew. Andrew Nalley. We had gone to the same high school in my hometown of Taylorsville, across the bridge in Indiana, but we weren’t exactly friends. Barely even acquaintances; although in a town that small there was no way he wouldn’t recognize me, if he saw me. Had he always been in this class?

I turned my head to the side so that the long curtain of my mahogany hair fell between us, hopefully obstructing his view of my face. After traveling more than five hundred miles away from home to go to school, I thought I had surely given myself enough space from the small minds I was trying to get away from. I didn’t want to be known here. I didn’t want to be singled out due to the unfortunate legacy left to me by my parents. Honestly, I didn’t want to be remembered at all. I was completely content to mix into the collage of faces, no one ever knowing my name. Andrew gave me no indication that he recognized me or that I had even come in to his line of sight, so I continued out the door, turning my back to him and walking quickly away.

Outside, I took a deep breath and continued toward the line of dormitories situated in the hills on the east side of campus. On Mondays and Wednesdays I had a two hour gap between my first two classes. Most days, I used the time to go to the library or to go back to my room and catch up on homework, but today I wasn’t feeling up to being productive. I knew my cousin, Gabe, would most like be sleeping, but my room was so far away and his was right around corner. The freshman dorms were in the worst possible location; as with most everything else your first year in school, you had to pay the toll as low man or woman on the totem pole.

Gabe was my cousin on my mother’s side, but more like a brother, and a big reason why I had applied to Cumberland Hill University in the first place. When my mother died and my father went to jail, my younger sister Lilly and I went to live with my Aunt Rachel and Uncle Luke, Gabe’s parents. Gabe is a year older than me and we had been close when we were little, but when I moved into his house, he became the older sibling I never knew I needed and now couldn’t live without. Middle school had been hard, but high school was harder and he kept my head above water when news spread of my family’s scandal and whispers started to flow every time I entered a room. Last year, his first year away at school, was the longest year of my life.

No one had harassed me really; I think they were too afraid I would tell Gabe and he would come back into town and beat the shit out of them. Instead, no one paid me much attention at all. I was a pariah. I got up each morning, helped my aunt get Lilly ready for school; she’s twelve and handles the situation with our parents much better than I do. I would go to school, go to work, and go back home again. I wasn’t invited to any homecomings, proms or any of the other social events that make up the life of a typical teenager; not even the parties on Friday nights after the football games in the fall or the basketball games in the spring. I had told myself it didn’t matter; I had more time to study and ended up with well above average grades and a small, but helpful academic scholarship. Although sometimes, I still thought about all the things I that I had missed.

At the front door of Gabe’s dorm, a girl sitting behind a glass partition buzzed me into the building since my key card wouldn’t work at any other dorm but my own. I took the elevator the Gabe’s room on the sixth floor and knocked three times, loudly. After a lengthy pause the door creaked slowly open and my cousin stood in front of me wearing nothing but a faded pair blue boxers. His dark hair stuck up in unruly clumps and his face was covered in a thick blanket of stubble.

What the hell, Caroline? Don’t you know what time it is? Gabe said, rubbing his eyes and climbing back onto the futon where he had been sleeping, leaving me to let myself inside.

Yes, almost ten. You really weren’t up yet?

No, I don’t have class until eleven. That means I don’t need to be up until at least ten fifty.

I dumped my bag on the ground and took a seat next to him on his rickety sofa bed, shifting his covers to the side. You’ll never guess who I saw today.

Gabe reached around me and picked up a faded maroon Cumberland baseball cap off the cluttered end table and placed it on his head, covering his mass of disheveled hair. Um, Kim Kardashian?

Eww no, I replied, wrinkling my nose. Think less trashy and more blonde. And a guy.

I really don’t have a clue, and my mind isn’t fully functional yet…since I was woken up from a dead sleep. Can’t you just tell me?

Fine, I said, kicking off my shoes and tucking my feet up underneath me, Andrew Nalley. Apparently he’s in my psychology class.

Andrew Nalley from Taylorsville?

Yep. He’s the one whose parents own that French restaurant in the square. I can’t remember what it’s called, I added, standing up and taking a Coke out of the mini fridge across from the couch. Wasn’t he kind of a snob?

He wasn’t that bad, Gabe said standing, stretching his arms over his head, and giving me and unwanted view of his armpits. But his older brother was an ass. I didn’t know Andrew went to school here.

Well, he does.

Did you talk to him?

No.

Alright then. I’m going to go take a shower, since I’m up all early and shit. Are you staying in here for a while?

If that’s okay.

Sure. Why don’t you clean up a little for me, Gabe said with a wink, swinging a more than gently used towel he picked up from the floor over his shoulder.

Jerk, I shot at him, but my lips spread into a wide grin.

You know you love me, he called on his way out the door.

After Gabe left for the showers down the hall, I actually did straighten up his room some. He may have a lot of redeeming qualities, but neatness wasn’t one of them. By the time he came back fully dressed and smelling substantially better, I had all the piles of his clothes from the floor sorted and stacked and all the dirty dishes I had found lying in various locations washed and drying on the rack he had sitting by the sink.

Hey, you actually did it. Gabe said, clearly impressed with my domestic skills.

I did, but now I need to get going. I was just waiting for you to get back.

Gabe nodded. Thanks. Really, he said, motioning to his now livable surroundings. I was only kidding about the cleaning.

No, you weren’t, I said with a laugh, picking up my bag and tossing my empty can into the trash.

Are you working tonight? he asked as I made my way over to the door, adjusting the straps of my backpack on my shoulders.

Always.

Awesome, I’ll come by for dinner.

I smacked his scruffy jaw in a teasing fashion. You can’t keep coming by The Dock expecting me to feed you for free, you know. I’m going to get in trouble.

No, you won’t. Just tell that cute little manager of yours that it’s for me. She won’t mind, Gabe informed me with a gleam in his eye, she thinks I’m hot.

Who, Maryn?

I guess that’s her name. She’s in my econ class.

And what makes you think she’s interested in you? I asked, incredulously.

First of all this, he said raising his bicep and kissing it jokingly, and the fact that every time our idiot professor makes me talk in class she watches me and taps her pen against her lips.

Ugh, I scoffed. Conceited much?

Not really. Facts are facts, baby.

Whatever. Just because she touches her mouth with her pen, you automatically assume she wants you?

I didn’t say she wanted me, I said she thought I was hot. Anyway, that’s one of those girl tricks, to get me to notice her mouth.

Girl tricks? I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Gabe grasped both my shoulders firmly, shaking me just a little, Come on Care, you should really know these things. You’re the girl, not me.

But you have such pretty hair, I mused, reaching up to muss the dark mess that was still slightly damp from the shower, I’ll see you tonight.

After finishing my last two classes of the day I headed back to my room to change and get ready for work. Opening the door, I tossed my bag toward the corner of my bed where it landed with a thud. Luckily, my roommate Paige was nowhere to be seen. She didn’t spend a lot of time out of the room, so I decided to revel in my aloneness and began digging through my side table drawer until I came up with my iPod. Scrolling through, I selected my favorite playlist and turned the music up as loud as I thought would be acceptable. Still a little stressed about my big psychology project, and the fact that I hadn’t gotten an email with the name of my partner frustrating me, I stomped across the room aimlessly.

He said before six, I reminded myself as I yanked out the elastic band holding the front half of my hair in place and shook the loose tendrils out around my face. After stripping off my jeans and shirt, I replaced them with the tight black shorts and cropped tee of my waitress uniform. The Dock, where I work, is a local Bar and Grill a few blocks away from campus. I got the job there a few months ago, and even though I hate the sexist persona that I’m forced to employ while serving wings and burgers to rowdy co-eds, the tips are good and I need the money.

After my mother died and my father was arrested, I was awarded half the money from a fairly sizable insurance policy I was surprised to find out that my mother had, the other half going to my sister Lilly; but I wanted to make sure I kept enough in savings to pay for all four years of room and board at school as well as have enough to buy books, food and everything else I needed on a daily bases. My aunt and uncle had offered to help, but I refused. They were already given the job of raising Lilly and providing for her at least until I graduated and she could move in with me. Having a safety net was nice, but I didn’t want to depend on it too heavily, and end up with nothing to fall back on. So, I worked hard, I worked often, and I learned to relay on myself.

Looking into the small make-up mirror I kept sitting on my dresser, I applied a thick layer of crimson lipstick and swiped my lashes with mascara before flopping down on my bed and closing my eyes. Ten minutes. That’s all I need, I told myself as my breathing slowed. My body immediately relaxed as I sunk in to the cool sheets and tucked my arms up underneath of my pillow. A million thoughts ran through my mind as I sunk further into my mattress. How many more pages did I have left to type for my English paper? If I went to two extra sessions with the TA would I have enough points to pass my chem. lab? How many more shifts would I have to work before I had enough extra cash saved up for a modestly-priced used car? But I sat up straight, my eyes popping open when a familiar face forced its way into my consciousness. When I closed my eyes again he was still there. Andrew Nalley with his wavy blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes. Why in the hell was I thinking about him?

Chapter 2

The Dock was already packed when I slipped in through the employee entrance at the back of the building. It’s located in an old boathouse surrounded by Cumberland Lake and there’s a lovely little pier a few hundred yards past the parking lot. Small lake houses and wooded fields fill the perimeter on each side. If you took the time to stop and look out at the view before going inside, you would understand just how spectacular of a location it truly was. Another added bonus is that it’s just a short walk or an even shorter bus ride from campus. I tucked my purse into the cabinet we used for personal belongings and locked it behind me. With a final check of my hair and face I tied my neatly pressed black apron around my waist and walked out into the dining area.

Hey, I’m glad you’re early, Maryn Reynolds called from the register at the front. The new girl already called in sick so it’s just us on the floor tonight. We’re going to be busy as hell.

I gave her a tight lipped smile and picked up my tray. Maryn had always been nice to me, but something kept me from letting her get too close. Her father owned The Dock, and although she worked just as hard as I did, went to school with the rest of us and seemed nice enough, I was afraid she would treat me differently if she found out anything about my family.

What section should I take?

How about all of them, she suggested apologetically. Just check drinks and ring up tickets and I’ll be right behind you with the orders.

I worked constantly, moving from table to table without pause for the first two hours of my shift. Finally a little after five the lunch crowd started to file out and I knew I would have some down time before the dinner shift moved in. Gabe came in around that time with his friend Daniel and took a booth in the back. After ringing up my last two tickets for the moment and shoving the tips into my front pocket I walked back and slid into the booth with them.

So what am I having? Gabe asked, pretending to flip through a menu and nudging me in the ribs with his elbow.

I have two baskets of wings from a call in order that never showed, I offered.

Sold, Gabe grinned and then looked over to Daniel, what about you?

Daniel ordered his food, which he actually intended to pay for, and I left the booth to key it in on the computer near the bar. As I pressed the buttons on the screen, I felt the pressure of someone’s eyes burning a hole into the back of my head.

What’s up, Maryn? I asked, spinning around on my heels.

Maryn stood behind me twisting a long strand of golden hair between her fingers and for the first time since I’d met her, I thought she looked a little nervous. Um, that guy you were talking to, the one that’s always in here, is he your boyfriend?

Who, him? I asked, nodding my head in Gabe’s direction. He must have been looking our way because he waved then, and rubbed his stomach with his hand, signaling that he wanted me to hurry up with his meal. I shrugged my shoulders. Freeloaders had to wait.

He is most definitely not my boyfriend, I assured her, he’s my cousin.

Oh, she said, immediately perking up, do you know if he’s seeing anyone?

I leaned around her slightly, loading up my tray with food from the hatch. He sees a few girls occasionally, but nothing serious. Are you interested?

Well yeah, she told me, keeping her voice low, but sneaking a quick peek in the direction of his table.

I smiled at her with as much sincerity as I could muster, I’ll see what I can do.

I left Maryn standing at the bar trying to looking busy but with every glass she wiped and put away, she sent a longing glance in my cousin’s direction. Damn. I hate it when Gabe’s right. Carrying my loaded tray back over to the table, I set the plates down in front of the guys. So, Maryn was asking about you, I told my incredibly smug cousin as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

"What’d she