Panic

3. not another love story

“Are we there yet,” I whined as I placed a hand across my turning stomach. For the past half an hour it had felt as if we were driving cross-country rather than on an asphalt road. “And has anyone ever considered fixing up this road,” I complained as we drove over yet another bump.

“Scanter, I swear if you complain one more time,” Kyle threatened as he continued to bang his head against the headrest of the passenger’s seat.

“What are you going to do big boy,” I taunted with a devilish smirk. In all honesty, a six-hour car ride never really brought out the nice side of my personality. “Get your mum to-,” I began but was cut off.

“Scanter Marie Hallow, one more word from you and I’ll leave you on the side of the road. Got it?” Jayden threatened, his voice laced with annoyance.

“Aye Captain,” I muttered whilst shooting a smirking Kyle a heart-stopping death glare.

Jayden Wilson was a respectable working class man with the most charming smile anyone has ever seen. Starting out as a taxi driver it wasn’t long before his resume began to include chauffeuring around the A-class and everyone above it. According to his file he was born in the late seventies making him at least thirty-three years old.  Not that he would ever actually admit it. “A man’s age should be kept as down low as a woman’s,” he would always tell us.

“So you guys were brought up in the middle of nowhere?” I asked suspiciously as I once again looked out the car window.

According to Wikipedia the dense forest that I could see now supposedly covered half of Georgia. The large pine trees that flashed past me stood tall, their tips reaching heaven and I couldn’t help but stare at them in wonder. The soil had been drenched heavily from the rain allowing a thick layer of moss to cover most of the available surfaces.

“Home sweet home,” Johnston muttered from his position in the passenger seat.

I watched from the corner of my eye as a small smirk found its way onto Trey’s face. His emerald eyes shone with an eager anticipation as he began to run his hand through his hair; a nervous habit of his.

“It’s been what...four years since we were last here and it still hasn’t changed,” he laughed anxiously.

“Our own personal Hell,” Kyle added.

“It’s going to be fine Kyle,” I said with a reassuring smile.

“You have no idea Scant,” he said as he turned his big doe eyes on me. “Like Trey said, we haven’t been back in over four years. That translates to a millennium according to my Mother,” he said nervously.

I thought over his words as I twirled a lock of pink hair around my finger. I had dyed my hair such an outrageous colour to support the Breast Cancer foundation, a cause that was close to my heart. Though over time the colour had begun to fade and I was considering changing the colour to that of sapphire blue.

“We’re here,” Jayden called stopping my train of thought all together.

The house that stood before us was one that you would never set eyes on from where I came from. With cherry red shutters and pot plants lining every window frame, to me, the simple structure was far more beautiful than any mansion. Built high above the ground, the one story house looked large enough to hold a dozen or more people.

“You like what you see Scanter,” Trey teased as he jumped out of the car. “Wait till you see the inside,” he said, reaching a hand back to help me out. Such the gentleman was he, when it suited him of course.

“You’ll never see anything like this in New York,” I thought aloud as I trailed my fingers across the white picket fence.

“Or anywhere else,” Kyle abruptly added. “My mother likes things to be, in a sense perfect,” he said with a frown. “She used to make us clean our room’s everyday so that we wouldn’t become infected with bed bugs.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd thought. “Very funny Kyle,” I laughed as I nudged past him and made my way down the footpath to the front door. Bringing my fist up I knocked on the large wooden door twice.

“Why does she think I’m joking,” I heard a voice question behind me, as the door was suddenly swung open revealing a rather short woman waving around a mixing spoon.

*

 “Scanter dear,” Mrs Jackson screeched whilst pulling me into a hug. “I have missed you so much.”

A lock of her ruby hair managed to find its way it to my mouth, the sheer feeling making me gag silently. For such a small and dainty individual the woman sure had a killer grip.

“M-Mrs Jack-son,” I coughed out as her hands tightened around my waist. “Can’t b-b-brea-th.”

“Mum,” Kyle whined as he plucked me from the Devils grip. “You haven’t even met Scanter before.”

“Not quite,” she said with a knowing smirk. “Thanks to all those teenage gossip magazines I practically know everything about this young lady. Her favourite food, colour, music, inspirational actor, how she holds her breath when passing a cemetery...”

“Mum,” Kyle yelled as he waved his hands in the air with disbelief. “You sound like a stalker for Pete’s sake.”

“Well maybe she shouldn’t go blabbing about her whole life story to some arrogant and deceitful journalist,” she huffed, folding her arms determinedly across her chest. 

“Actually Mrs Jackson,” Trey spoke up from his position on the bottom step. “We don’t tell people those things. They hang around us enough to just figure it out for themselves,” he said with a careless shrug of his shoulder.

A thick silence enveloped our group as the woman stared at me in shock. Her jaw fell open leaving an opening for any fly, mosquito or bug that was determined to commit suicide.

“That’s horrible,” she gasped with disbelief. “You should feel free to walk around without the need to hide from the world,” she cried, a determined shine lighting up her eyes. “I’m going to phone that manager of yours and demand better security,” she snapped, turning on her heel and storming back into the house.

“But Mrs Jack-,” I began before a hand was tightly clamped down over my mouth.

“Better Thom than us Scant,” Trey muttered into my ear, his warm breath sending shivers down my spine.

He had a point.