Crossover Crossroads (The Kell and Maille Story)

Voicemail

043: Voice mail

Tracy and Richard left for Montana on Saturday night. 

Maille waited for Kell to call again, but he did not. She practiced walking. She wrote in her journal on the computer in her room. She slept. Sunday, she waited for Kell to call. He didn't. By Monday morning she was feeling good enough to call him. His phone voice mail picked up.

Maille knew her inexperience would play against her in this situation. She knew he was avoiding her. She didn't understand. She knew her lack of understanding would be a detriment. She determined to let it play out. Her mother called to check on her.

She went on a tour of several condo's for rent. None were to her liking. She asked the real estate agent to drop her at a car lot. She walked through the lot and chose a small car. She didn't care what kind. Small, and reliable. She was feeling sick by that time. She paid for the car and drove it off the lot.

She got back to her room and slept. At six pm she showered and drove over to Myndee's. Kell had been there. She and Myndee played a board game. She ate dinner with Myndee.

Kell had told Myndee that Maille was hurt and wouldn't be coming in. Maille told Myndee what had happened. She explained to a nine-year-old that she'd been foolish and angry and hurt and did a terrible thing.

Myndee listened carefully to the story. She asked to see Maille's injuries. Maille showed her. The stitches looked awful. But the puckered skin and reddened gash looked worse.

"Do they hurt?" she asked.

Maille shrugged. She was sitting on the bed, aching unbearably. "Some."

"You should rest." Myndee said.

"I want to get well faster."

Myndee smiled. "I have to rest and I'm not ever going to get well."

Maille looked at her, having never treated a child with any childlike blather. "You aren't the reason you have a disease." She told her pragmatically. "I did this to myself."

"You were upset." Myndee excused. "Sometimes when I'm upset I want to run away too."

Maille pulled Myndee's hair back to the side and smiled. "How did you get to be so wise?"

Myndee grinned lopsidedly, her brown eyes flashing. "I think a lot."

After a silence, Myndee curled on her side. It was getting late. But Maille was too tired to go get in her car and drive home. "Myn, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"A princess." she said softly, "With a pink veil and twirling dress that shimmers with jewels."

"Hmmm." Maille could picture the dress. She moved to sit in the easy chair next to Myndee's bed. "And who is your prince?" she asked her.

"Kell." Myndee laughed.

"Yeah." Maille smiled sleepily.

"Is Kell your prince too?"

"I think so." Maille said and felt a stab of pain. "I don't know why he's not talking to me right now though. I think I may have scared him off."

"What did you do?"

"I kissed him."

"Wow!" Myndee breathed. "You kissed him?"

"Yes." Maille said, laying her head back on the seat. "But it was the wrong thing to do. I see that now. We weren't ready. I pushed it too fast."

''How come Maille?" Myndee had turned to face her.

Maille sleepily rested her head on the chair rest. The pain was subsiding as she kept still and didn't stretch it. Her arm lay palm up on the bed and Myndee tickled it softly with her finger.

"Well, he had only just met me a week ago. He met me in the costume warehouse on the set where my sister is playing in a movie with him. I was waiting for my sister, but she didn't want to take me home. Kell was in there. He was so funny."

Myndee smiled. "Kell is very funny." she agreed.

Maille went on to tell her all about the next few days, and how she'd kept feeling that she wanted to kiss Kell, but because he'd said he was gay, she felt that he wouldn't like her, couldn't like her. Maille told Myndee about being confused.

"Because you've never been kissed before?" Myndee smiled. "I've never been kissed before either."

"Good. You shouldn't be thinking about boys at your age." Maille said.

"Should you be thinking about boys at your age?"

"I think so." Maille said while Myndee ran her feathery fingers over the skin of Maille's arm as she fell asleep.

*****