Categories > Original > Fantasy > The Legion of Light Story One: The House on Butler
Back to Beaufort
0 reviewsOne day you're a normal teenager moving to a new town and your biggest worry is wither or not your twin brother's delinquent behavior will make you an outcast in your new home. The next you discove...
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June 28, 2006
Not much had changed in Beaufort, North Carolina since that fateful day in 1974 when Rebecca Destler had vanished. The seasons still came and went; new lives began as old ones ended. And tourists still flocked to the sleepy little tourist town every summer to partake in the annual Pirates Festival and the beautiful beaches. In short, life had gone on as it always does after heartbreak and loss.
The three teenagers that were left behind on that Halloween night so many years ago were no longer teenagers. They were adults now with lives and families of their own. Charlie had gone off to law school in Scotland after high school and become a lawyer. He had returned home to Beaufort in the late eighties with his wife Kate and two small sons, Noah and Owen in tow. A few years after moving back to town, Kate gave birth to their youngest child, a daughter named Tamara.
Brenda meanwhile had never left her hometown but instead gone to Beaufort University after graduation from Shackleford High School and become a reporter for the Beaufort Post. She was widowed in 1997 and was raising her two children, Jensen and Faith alone.
As for Daniel, his family had left town a year after Rebecca disappeared. Daniel had spent the past thirty-one years in Chicago, Illinois where he was an English professor at the University of Illinois. He was married to a woman named Constance with whom he shared three children. Tom was the oldest and living in California where was attending UCLA. He was followed by twins, Patrick and Diana. It was because of Patrick that the family was currently pulling into town. The sixteen year old had run into some trouble in Chicago. After falling in with the wrong group of friends, Patrick was arrested for breaking and entering into his high school to paint graffiti on the walls of the gym. With his grades slowly dropping and friends that made Daniel and Constance cringe in fear the parents made the decision to leave the big city life behind and start anew in Beaufort.
Beaufort was a major contrast to Chicago for Constance, Patrick, and Diana. While Chicago was nothing but malls, suburbs, apartment buildings, and freeways Beaufort was the picture of small town America. Main Street looked much the same as it had in 1950 with its mom and pop stores, doctor’s office, coffee shop, one-screen theater, and small gas station at the end of the lane. A large banner hung below the welcoming sign that read:
Pirates Festival
Live music, games, and food.
On the Boardwalk 10 AM-12 AM
June 20th-31st
“Remind me again why we’re moving to Mayberry?” Patrick asked as Daniel parked the family’s SUV in front of the two-story cottage that was his childhood home. Patrick was a lanky teenager who had inherited his father’s light green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Not that Daniel had much hair left mind you. Daniel had the same lanky frame as his son but instead of a head full of hair he had a shiny bald spot that made him look every bit the college professor.
“Because you were two seconds away from ending up on America’s Most Wanted.” Diana snapped at her twin. Diana unlike her brother took after her mother. She was short, curvy, and had a head full of red curls that fell to her waist. The only feature that she had inherited from her father was her light green eyes. Her older brother Tom always told her that she looked like a fairy. Like the ones in the fantasy books that she loved to read as a child.
Patrick smacked the back of Diana’s seat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Diana shook her head. “Nothing Capone, just forget it.”
“Okay you two, we’re here.” Constance spoke up before the twins could start fighting. Constance looked like an older version of Diana gone slightly to seed. Her body was thicker than Diana’s and her face rounder. She had the same red hair as her daughter but her eyes were brown.
“Oh goody” Diana mumbled opening her door and stepping out of the SUV.
Patrick followed. “Well, would you look at that, you can see the whole damned town from here.”
Constance walked over and hit him round the head, “Watch your mouth.”
“Yeah, whatever” Patrick responded as he reached down and grabbed his duffel bag out of the SUV.
When he straightened back he was met with yet another slap to the side of his head.
“Mom! Would you stop that!” Patrick glared at his mother.
A moving van had pulled up behind the family’s SUV and Daniel was in the process of unloading boxes when a small group of people approached. They looked like a family out for an afternoon stroll.
“Well, would you look what the cat dragged back to town.” The man that appeared to be the father called toward Daniel.
Daniel turned around to face the man. “Charlie! It’s been a long time.” He said with a grin, setting the box he was holding aside and quickly embracing the very round black man.
“No kidding! I have to tell you, I sure was surprised to hear that the big city college professor was moving home to teach at Beaufort U.” Charlie said with a smile. Charlie was much larger than he had been in 1974 but his face still held that boyish quality.
“Yeah, you and me both.” Patrick said to himself not caring one bit who heard him. Once again Constance hit him upside the head.
“Should I just buy a helmet?” Patrick snapped at his mother as he slowly inched out of her reach.
“If you want to keep running your mouth than a helmet might be a very good investment.” An extremely frustrated Constance shot back at her son.
“Oh God, just kill me now.” Diana moaned in embarrassment at her family’s antics. She tore her eyes away from their inspection of her new home. The house was a pale blue with white shutters and a beautiful wraparound porch. It sat on a hill overlooking the ocean, one of only five houses on the street named Rockwood Lane. If she hadn’t been so annoyed with her brother she might have agreed that the town and the house did indeed remind her of Mayberry. She wouldn’t have been at all surprised if Sheriff Andy came walking up the street with little Opie in tow.
While Diana was embarrassed Daniel just shook his head as though his family’s behavior was a normal, everyday occurrence that he had grown accustomed to.
“Charlie, let me introduce my family.” Daniel said choosing not to comment on his family’s antics.
He gently grabbed Constance’s hand and pulled her to his side. “This lovely lady right here is my wife Constance.”
Constance shook Charlie’s hand, “Call me Connie, pleasure to meet you.” She said politely as one always does during awkward first meetings.
“You too” Charlie smiled warmly. “This is my wife Kate.” He introduced the tall, slim woman with startling blue eyes that stood behind him. Kate was a good half a foot taller than her husband and when the two stood side by side they looked like the number ten. They made for a very odd looking couple.
Kate shook Constance’s hand and then Daniel’s. “Great to meet the both of you.” She spoke with a strong Scottish accent which seemed out of place. It was rough and a bit raw and just didn’t seem to match her supermodel good looks.
Daniel motioned for Patrick and Diana to come over. Diana went to her father’s side while Patrick stayed right where he was, leaning against the moving van ignoring everyone.
Daniel sighed in annoyance. “That frowning young man in black is my son Patrick. Please ignore the t-shirt.” He gestured to Patrick who was wearing a black t-shirt that suggested that the reader go and do something rather vulgar. “Say hi Patrick.”
“Hi Patrick” Patrick smirked at his father.
Shaking his head at his son Daniel turned to Diana. “This beautiful young woman is my daughter Diana.”
“Nice to meet you Diana.” Charlie smiled, holding out his hand.
“You too sir” Diana took the offered hand and smiled shyly. Quiet by nature Diana was always a bit nervous to meet new people.
“These are our boys, Noah and Owen.” Kate introduced the two tall boys beside her. Noah was the older of the two and looked tall enough to play in the NBA. Owen was tall himself but a little pudgy. Both boys had inherited their father’s boyish features and dark brown eyes.
“And this is our youngest, Tamara.” Kate made introductions for the girl who had been standing behind her. Tamara was the spitting image of her mother. While only fifteen she almost matched her beautiful mother in height and had the same stunning blue eyes. Her long black hair was streaked with red highlights.
“Greet to meet you Tamara” Patrick shocked everyone by smiling at the girl from his place at the moving van. Much to Diana’s amazement his smile was genuine. Not the sarcastic smirks she had grown so used to over the past few years.
Tamara blushed and nodded at Patrick in return. She shifted her gaze to Diana and smiled. “Nice shirt” She said eyeing the cleverly designed t-shirt that pictured a gothic princess sitting on a rocky cliff.
“Thanks, I made it myself.” Diana beamed. She was not used to other girls being so friendly. When you were as shy as she was other people tended to ignore you. She was used to fading into the shadows.
“Do you want some help unpacking your room?” Tamara asked.
“Sure” Diana smiled, silently hoping that maybe just maybe she had made her first real friend in her new hometown.
Diana took the house keys from her father and unlocked the front door. Both girls grabbed a box labeled with Diana’s name and headed into the house.
“Hey prince of darkness, why don’t you get a move on.” Daniel looked over at Patrick.
“Yeah, Noah and Owen here will help you.” Charlie slapped his sons on the backs. Both boys looked as though they would rather face off with a gang of angry pitbulls then do anything with Patrick, but both obeyed their father and grabbed boxes from the moving van.
Noah and Owen had already made one trip into the house and were returning for a second load before Patrick made any attempt to help. He pushed past Owen and grabbed a box from the moving van and started for the house but not before tripping Noah and making him fall as he made his way back to the moving van for his second load of boxes.
“Why you stupid son of a…” Noah started to curse but caught himself. He glared at Patrick from the ground.
Both sets of parents were appalled.
“Patrick!” Constance yelled.
“Noah!” Kate scolded.
Noah had enough common sense to look embarrassed at his slip of the tongue. Patrick on the other hand just kept walking.
“Sorry about him Noah.” Daniel apologized giving to the boy a hand up.
“What did I do to tick him off?” Noah said rubbing his backside to rid it of dirt.
“The same thing we all do sweetie.” Constance smiled sadly. “Nothing” She patted the boy on the back.
“Come on big brother.” Owen smirked as he grabbed another box. “I’ll protect you from the big bad skinny kid.” He looked greatly amused by the whole situation.
Boxes in hand and Noah glaring at Owen, the boys headed into the house. Noah taking care to keep a lookout for Patrick.
Meanwhile in Diana’s new bedroom, which Diana was sure her mother had ordered painted pink just to annoy her, Diana and Tamara were busy unpacking boxes. The furniture had already arrived and been assembled and the floor was littered with balls of crumbled up newspaper that the girls had pulled from some of the moving boxes while unpacking.
“Oh, I love this book.” Tamara said pulling a copy of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera out of a box of books. She sat Indian style on the floor and leafed through the well worn paperback.
Diana looked up from where she was setting up her computer. “Really? That’s one of my favorites. I got to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom musical last year during a school trip to New York.”
“You got to see the Phantom of Broadway? That is so cool! I perform at the Morgan Theater here in town but I would love to sing on Broadway.” Tamara’s face took on a dreamy expression. “But as you can imagine Broadway scouts don’t really frequent Beaufort.” She heaved a disappointed sigh.
Diana laughed. “Hey performing anywhere is cool. That takes guts. The last time I had to stand up in front of people was at my third grade Christmas play and I threw up I was so nervous. I haven’t been allowed near a school stage since. When’s your next show? I’d love to come.”
“This Sunday. We’re doing Faust. I can get you tickets; I get three free for every show which is a good thing. It’s the tourist season; we’re sold out through mid-August.” Tamara replied taking a stack of books and arranging them on the empty bookshelf that was built into the wall.
Diana finished setting up her computer and booting it up and then moved on to a box of CD’s. She attempted to covertly hide a few that contained the music of the boy band she was in love with when she was twelve under her bed without Tamara seeing them.
“So, what’s there to do around here?” Diana asked as she started opening CD cases to make sure the discs were still in their rightful places.
Tamara looked up from where she was shelving books. “Beach parties, thrown by the preps of course.” She rolled her eyes and spat out the word preps like it was the worst kind of curse word. “We go to the movie theater sometimes, but if you want to see a movie made after 1974 you’re out of luck. The newest movie I’ve seen there is The Exorcist. The coffee shop on Main Street is a good place to go and read but beware of Mrs. Hannah, the owner, she talks a lot. I’m starting to think she’s ingesting a little too much of her own product.”
“What about concerts and new movies?” Diana looked a little crestfallen. A music and film buff she was incredibly disappointed. Not having any real friends in Chicago the movie theater had always been a safe haven for Diana. She would get lost in the plots. Movies gave her hope. She would imagine she was the protagonist and would dream that she too would one day get her own happily ever after.
“Well, you’re not going to catch them here in town.” Tamara giggled pointing to the corner of Diana’s bed where the cover of the boy band’s CD could be seen peeking out from under the bed.
Diana blushed, grabbed a pillow off of her still unmade bed and chucked it at the girl. “I’m serious.”
“So am I” Tamara laughed and Diana glared at her. “Okay, keep your hair on. When there’s a new movie out or a good band playing we drive just across the South Carolina border to Myrtle Beach. I don’t know if you’re into classic rock or not but in August there’s this huge festival.”
Diana’s eyes lit up. “I am so there.” Diana loved classic rock. A love that had been passed down to her from her older brother Tom.
Tamara beamed. “Sweet, usually it’s just Jensen and me driving to Myrtle Beach for that show.”
Diana raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Jensen?” She asked suggestively.
Tamara laughed. “He’s just a friend, but you might like him. You know if you’re into the whole bad boy looks with a heart of gold thing. He drives a muscle car, wears holey jeans with concert t-shirts but in his spare time writes poetry. Kind of like James Dean meets Robert Frost.”
Diana was getting the distinct feeling that Tamara was going to try and set her up with Jensen in the very near future. “I don’t…” Diana started but was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the direction of the kitchen.
“That’s it dude, you are so freaking dead!” They heard Noah yell followed by the sound of running feet and Patrick’s laughter. It sounded like someone was running for their life and judging by the heavy sound of the crash there was a good chance that was exactly what Patrick was doing.
“Oh great, what did Patrick do now?” Diana groaned. She looked at Tamara. “Go get my dad; I’ll go make sure they don’t kill each other.” She stood up, followed by Tamara. Both girls took off out the door to try and save Patrick from almost certain death at Noah’s hands.
Not much had changed in Beaufort, North Carolina since that fateful day in 1974 when Rebecca Destler had vanished. The seasons still came and went; new lives began as old ones ended. And tourists still flocked to the sleepy little tourist town every summer to partake in the annual Pirates Festival and the beautiful beaches. In short, life had gone on as it always does after heartbreak and loss.
The three teenagers that were left behind on that Halloween night so many years ago were no longer teenagers. They were adults now with lives and families of their own. Charlie had gone off to law school in Scotland after high school and become a lawyer. He had returned home to Beaufort in the late eighties with his wife Kate and two small sons, Noah and Owen in tow. A few years after moving back to town, Kate gave birth to their youngest child, a daughter named Tamara.
Brenda meanwhile had never left her hometown but instead gone to Beaufort University after graduation from Shackleford High School and become a reporter for the Beaufort Post. She was widowed in 1997 and was raising her two children, Jensen and Faith alone.
As for Daniel, his family had left town a year after Rebecca disappeared. Daniel had spent the past thirty-one years in Chicago, Illinois where he was an English professor at the University of Illinois. He was married to a woman named Constance with whom he shared three children. Tom was the oldest and living in California where was attending UCLA. He was followed by twins, Patrick and Diana. It was because of Patrick that the family was currently pulling into town. The sixteen year old had run into some trouble in Chicago. After falling in with the wrong group of friends, Patrick was arrested for breaking and entering into his high school to paint graffiti on the walls of the gym. With his grades slowly dropping and friends that made Daniel and Constance cringe in fear the parents made the decision to leave the big city life behind and start anew in Beaufort.
Beaufort was a major contrast to Chicago for Constance, Patrick, and Diana. While Chicago was nothing but malls, suburbs, apartment buildings, and freeways Beaufort was the picture of small town America. Main Street looked much the same as it had in 1950 with its mom and pop stores, doctor’s office, coffee shop, one-screen theater, and small gas station at the end of the lane. A large banner hung below the welcoming sign that read:
Pirates Festival
Live music, games, and food.
On the Boardwalk 10 AM-12 AM
June 20th-31st
“Remind me again why we’re moving to Mayberry?” Patrick asked as Daniel parked the family’s SUV in front of the two-story cottage that was his childhood home. Patrick was a lanky teenager who had inherited his father’s light green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Not that Daniel had much hair left mind you. Daniel had the same lanky frame as his son but instead of a head full of hair he had a shiny bald spot that made him look every bit the college professor.
“Because you were two seconds away from ending up on America’s Most Wanted.” Diana snapped at her twin. Diana unlike her brother took after her mother. She was short, curvy, and had a head full of red curls that fell to her waist. The only feature that she had inherited from her father was her light green eyes. Her older brother Tom always told her that she looked like a fairy. Like the ones in the fantasy books that she loved to read as a child.
Patrick smacked the back of Diana’s seat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Diana shook her head. “Nothing Capone, just forget it.”
“Okay you two, we’re here.” Constance spoke up before the twins could start fighting. Constance looked like an older version of Diana gone slightly to seed. Her body was thicker than Diana’s and her face rounder. She had the same red hair as her daughter but her eyes were brown.
“Oh goody” Diana mumbled opening her door and stepping out of the SUV.
Patrick followed. “Well, would you look at that, you can see the whole damned town from here.”
Constance walked over and hit him round the head, “Watch your mouth.”
“Yeah, whatever” Patrick responded as he reached down and grabbed his duffel bag out of the SUV.
When he straightened back he was met with yet another slap to the side of his head.
“Mom! Would you stop that!” Patrick glared at his mother.
A moving van had pulled up behind the family’s SUV and Daniel was in the process of unloading boxes when a small group of people approached. They looked like a family out for an afternoon stroll.
“Well, would you look what the cat dragged back to town.” The man that appeared to be the father called toward Daniel.
Daniel turned around to face the man. “Charlie! It’s been a long time.” He said with a grin, setting the box he was holding aside and quickly embracing the very round black man.
“No kidding! I have to tell you, I sure was surprised to hear that the big city college professor was moving home to teach at Beaufort U.” Charlie said with a smile. Charlie was much larger than he had been in 1974 but his face still held that boyish quality.
“Yeah, you and me both.” Patrick said to himself not caring one bit who heard him. Once again Constance hit him upside the head.
“Should I just buy a helmet?” Patrick snapped at his mother as he slowly inched out of her reach.
“If you want to keep running your mouth than a helmet might be a very good investment.” An extremely frustrated Constance shot back at her son.
“Oh God, just kill me now.” Diana moaned in embarrassment at her family’s antics. She tore her eyes away from their inspection of her new home. The house was a pale blue with white shutters and a beautiful wraparound porch. It sat on a hill overlooking the ocean, one of only five houses on the street named Rockwood Lane. If she hadn’t been so annoyed with her brother she might have agreed that the town and the house did indeed remind her of Mayberry. She wouldn’t have been at all surprised if Sheriff Andy came walking up the street with little Opie in tow.
While Diana was embarrassed Daniel just shook his head as though his family’s behavior was a normal, everyday occurrence that he had grown accustomed to.
“Charlie, let me introduce my family.” Daniel said choosing not to comment on his family’s antics.
He gently grabbed Constance’s hand and pulled her to his side. “This lovely lady right here is my wife Constance.”
Constance shook Charlie’s hand, “Call me Connie, pleasure to meet you.” She said politely as one always does during awkward first meetings.
“You too” Charlie smiled warmly. “This is my wife Kate.” He introduced the tall, slim woman with startling blue eyes that stood behind him. Kate was a good half a foot taller than her husband and when the two stood side by side they looked like the number ten. They made for a very odd looking couple.
Kate shook Constance’s hand and then Daniel’s. “Great to meet the both of you.” She spoke with a strong Scottish accent which seemed out of place. It was rough and a bit raw and just didn’t seem to match her supermodel good looks.
Daniel motioned for Patrick and Diana to come over. Diana went to her father’s side while Patrick stayed right where he was, leaning against the moving van ignoring everyone.
Daniel sighed in annoyance. “That frowning young man in black is my son Patrick. Please ignore the t-shirt.” He gestured to Patrick who was wearing a black t-shirt that suggested that the reader go and do something rather vulgar. “Say hi Patrick.”
“Hi Patrick” Patrick smirked at his father.
Shaking his head at his son Daniel turned to Diana. “This beautiful young woman is my daughter Diana.”
“Nice to meet you Diana.” Charlie smiled, holding out his hand.
“You too sir” Diana took the offered hand and smiled shyly. Quiet by nature Diana was always a bit nervous to meet new people.
“These are our boys, Noah and Owen.” Kate introduced the two tall boys beside her. Noah was the older of the two and looked tall enough to play in the NBA. Owen was tall himself but a little pudgy. Both boys had inherited their father’s boyish features and dark brown eyes.
“And this is our youngest, Tamara.” Kate made introductions for the girl who had been standing behind her. Tamara was the spitting image of her mother. While only fifteen she almost matched her beautiful mother in height and had the same stunning blue eyes. Her long black hair was streaked with red highlights.
“Greet to meet you Tamara” Patrick shocked everyone by smiling at the girl from his place at the moving van. Much to Diana’s amazement his smile was genuine. Not the sarcastic smirks she had grown so used to over the past few years.
Tamara blushed and nodded at Patrick in return. She shifted her gaze to Diana and smiled. “Nice shirt” She said eyeing the cleverly designed t-shirt that pictured a gothic princess sitting on a rocky cliff.
“Thanks, I made it myself.” Diana beamed. She was not used to other girls being so friendly. When you were as shy as she was other people tended to ignore you. She was used to fading into the shadows.
“Do you want some help unpacking your room?” Tamara asked.
“Sure” Diana smiled, silently hoping that maybe just maybe she had made her first real friend in her new hometown.
Diana took the house keys from her father and unlocked the front door. Both girls grabbed a box labeled with Diana’s name and headed into the house.
“Hey prince of darkness, why don’t you get a move on.” Daniel looked over at Patrick.
“Yeah, Noah and Owen here will help you.” Charlie slapped his sons on the backs. Both boys looked as though they would rather face off with a gang of angry pitbulls then do anything with Patrick, but both obeyed their father and grabbed boxes from the moving van.
Noah and Owen had already made one trip into the house and were returning for a second load before Patrick made any attempt to help. He pushed past Owen and grabbed a box from the moving van and started for the house but not before tripping Noah and making him fall as he made his way back to the moving van for his second load of boxes.
“Why you stupid son of a…” Noah started to curse but caught himself. He glared at Patrick from the ground.
Both sets of parents were appalled.
“Patrick!” Constance yelled.
“Noah!” Kate scolded.
Noah had enough common sense to look embarrassed at his slip of the tongue. Patrick on the other hand just kept walking.
“Sorry about him Noah.” Daniel apologized giving to the boy a hand up.
“What did I do to tick him off?” Noah said rubbing his backside to rid it of dirt.
“The same thing we all do sweetie.” Constance smiled sadly. “Nothing” She patted the boy on the back.
“Come on big brother.” Owen smirked as he grabbed another box. “I’ll protect you from the big bad skinny kid.” He looked greatly amused by the whole situation.
Boxes in hand and Noah glaring at Owen, the boys headed into the house. Noah taking care to keep a lookout for Patrick.
Meanwhile in Diana’s new bedroom, which Diana was sure her mother had ordered painted pink just to annoy her, Diana and Tamara were busy unpacking boxes. The furniture had already arrived and been assembled and the floor was littered with balls of crumbled up newspaper that the girls had pulled from some of the moving boxes while unpacking.
“Oh, I love this book.” Tamara said pulling a copy of Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera out of a box of books. She sat Indian style on the floor and leafed through the well worn paperback.
Diana looked up from where she was setting up her computer. “Really? That’s one of my favorites. I got to see Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom musical last year during a school trip to New York.”
“You got to see the Phantom of Broadway? That is so cool! I perform at the Morgan Theater here in town but I would love to sing on Broadway.” Tamara’s face took on a dreamy expression. “But as you can imagine Broadway scouts don’t really frequent Beaufort.” She heaved a disappointed sigh.
Diana laughed. “Hey performing anywhere is cool. That takes guts. The last time I had to stand up in front of people was at my third grade Christmas play and I threw up I was so nervous. I haven’t been allowed near a school stage since. When’s your next show? I’d love to come.”
“This Sunday. We’re doing Faust. I can get you tickets; I get three free for every show which is a good thing. It’s the tourist season; we’re sold out through mid-August.” Tamara replied taking a stack of books and arranging them on the empty bookshelf that was built into the wall.
Diana finished setting up her computer and booting it up and then moved on to a box of CD’s. She attempted to covertly hide a few that contained the music of the boy band she was in love with when she was twelve under her bed without Tamara seeing them.
“So, what’s there to do around here?” Diana asked as she started opening CD cases to make sure the discs were still in their rightful places.
Tamara looked up from where she was shelving books. “Beach parties, thrown by the preps of course.” She rolled her eyes and spat out the word preps like it was the worst kind of curse word. “We go to the movie theater sometimes, but if you want to see a movie made after 1974 you’re out of luck. The newest movie I’ve seen there is The Exorcist. The coffee shop on Main Street is a good place to go and read but beware of Mrs. Hannah, the owner, she talks a lot. I’m starting to think she’s ingesting a little too much of her own product.”
“What about concerts and new movies?” Diana looked a little crestfallen. A music and film buff she was incredibly disappointed. Not having any real friends in Chicago the movie theater had always been a safe haven for Diana. She would get lost in the plots. Movies gave her hope. She would imagine she was the protagonist and would dream that she too would one day get her own happily ever after.
“Well, you’re not going to catch them here in town.” Tamara giggled pointing to the corner of Diana’s bed where the cover of the boy band’s CD could be seen peeking out from under the bed.
Diana blushed, grabbed a pillow off of her still unmade bed and chucked it at the girl. “I’m serious.”
“So am I” Tamara laughed and Diana glared at her. “Okay, keep your hair on. When there’s a new movie out or a good band playing we drive just across the South Carolina border to Myrtle Beach. I don’t know if you’re into classic rock or not but in August there’s this huge festival.”
Diana’s eyes lit up. “I am so there.” Diana loved classic rock. A love that had been passed down to her from her older brother Tom.
Tamara beamed. “Sweet, usually it’s just Jensen and me driving to Myrtle Beach for that show.”
Diana raised an eyebrow. “Who’s Jensen?” She asked suggestively.
Tamara laughed. “He’s just a friend, but you might like him. You know if you’re into the whole bad boy looks with a heart of gold thing. He drives a muscle car, wears holey jeans with concert t-shirts but in his spare time writes poetry. Kind of like James Dean meets Robert Frost.”
Diana was getting the distinct feeling that Tamara was going to try and set her up with Jensen in the very near future. “I don’t…” Diana started but was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the direction of the kitchen.
“That’s it dude, you are so freaking dead!” They heard Noah yell followed by the sound of running feet and Patrick’s laughter. It sounded like someone was running for their life and judging by the heavy sound of the crash there was a good chance that was exactly what Patrick was doing.
“Oh great, what did Patrick do now?” Diana groaned. She looked at Tamara. “Go get my dad; I’ll go make sure they don’t kill each other.” She stood up, followed by Tamara. Both girls took off out the door to try and save Patrick from almost certain death at Noah’s hands.
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