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 Future's Path By Aimless Ramblings   Copyright 2007 by Aimless Ramblings

   Chapter 8   Staring at Laura, Elena feels Gavin's body tense beneath
her.   "What?"  Laura asks, "Did you two forget I was here?"   "It was a
private conversation," Gavin says.  His voice is irritable, and she
understands.   If what Elena believes is true, her attack in the dreamscape
and the cause of it is something she and Gavin need to discuss in private.
  "With the door open?"  Laura makes a rude gesture.  "It's a good thing
I'm around, cuz you two obviously need a keeper when you're together."  
"Guys," Elena interjects, trying to keep the situation under control. 
She's certain that Laura is teasing her more than anything else, but Gavin
is clearly upset.  Sliding off of his lap, she settles on to the bed beside
him.  "Fighting isn't going to ..."   "Oh yeah," Gavin sneers, ignoring
her, "I forgot you're the neighborhood nanny."  He leans forward.  "Since
you know so much, maybe you can answer a question for me."   Laura glares
back at him.  "What's your question?"   "How long did it take you to decide
that I was the cause of all Elena's problems?"   "What?  I never said you
were ..."   Gavin laughs, but there's no humor in it.  "No, it's okay; just
give us a rough estimate.  Five minutes?  One?"   'Stop this!'   "Look,
both of you," Elena tries, but this time it's Laura who interrupts her.   
"I don't even know what you're talking about."  She walks to Elena's desk
chair, spins it around so it's facing the bed, and sits.  "That's okay
though, you probably don't either."   Gavin smiles, but it's not friendly. 
"So if I'm so stupid, explain to me how long it takes you to see me
climbing out of that window," he points to the window overlooking the
backyard, "run downstairs, lay a story on your parents about forgetting
something at Elena's, jump on your bike, and ride over here?"   'Oh shit.' 
Laura's eyes meet hers for a second, and then flick guiltily away.  'This
isn't good.'   Gavin turns to her.  "You were helping your parents carry
stuff in from the garage, and, maybe a minute after you guys finished,
there she was."  He points accusingly at Laura.    Laura hesitates, and
then says, "I was looking out for my friend, okay?"  Her eyes are steady on
Gavin's.  "She may think you're the best thing since peanut butter and
jelly on toast, but I don't know who the hell you are."   No one says
anything for a second, and Elena wonders whether Gavin will be convinced. 
Events are spinning out of her control, and she feels adrift, without any
clue of how to continue.  This scene has never appeared to her in any
viewing, and the dreamscape is such a terror to her now that she cannot be
certain of ever seeing the future there again.  What she wants to do is
crawl back into Gavin's arms, bury her face against his chest, and believe
that somehow he can keep her safe.    "No," Gavin's eyes move to Elena,
"but you knew a lot.  You knew when I was leaving, where to find me, and,"
his eyes jerk away, "exactly what to say."   She lifts a hand, reaching
towards him, but he's no longer there.  Standing, he looks down at both
Laura and her for a second, and then walks to the window.    Laura's gaze
is sympathetic, but there's a hint of 'I told you so' there too.  'My
fault!  I shouldn't have made her do it.'   "So, Einstein," Laura asks
Gavin's back, "got everything figured out yet?"   'No, Laura!  Don't bait
him.  I need him!'   Gavin whirls to face them, the pain in his eyes like a
slap to her face.  Hands clenched at his sides, he takes a step forward. 
"What is this, some kind of sick joke?"   Heart pounding, she stumbles to
her feet, and turns to face him.  "No, Gavin, it isn't like that."   "It
isn't?"  His eyes are disbelieving.  "So, you and her," his glance at Laura
is venomous, "didn't double team me yesterday?  You had no idea she was
going to meet up with me, tell me about your father, and whatever?"   "I
..."  She desperately tries to hold his eyes with her own, but she's crying
again, and everything is beginning to blur.  "I wanted you to know what you
were getting into."   "Yeah, right," Gavin scoffs.    Through her tears, he
fragments and distorts, making it seem as though some unseen force is
pulling him apart.    "How many people have you done this to?"   "How many
..."  She tries to wipe the tears from her eyes, and finally looks back at
him, uncomprehending.    "Forget it, Elena," Laura says, getting up, and
moving to stand protectively by her side.  "He isn't worth it."   "No!" 
Elena steps away from her friend.  "I don't understand."  She looks at
Gavin, "What are you talking about?"   Laura sighs.  "He's decided that
because he discovered one dirty secret, there must be more.  Right?"  She
looks from Elena to Gavin, and makes a disgusted noise in her throat. 
"This is whacked."   "You think," Elena finally manages to catch and hold
Gavin's eyes with hers.  "You think that, what I did with you yesterday, I
could do with anyone?"   He is ashamed; she can see it in his eyes, but
there's hurt pride there as well.  Besides, what she's asking him to
believe in is crazy, and yesterday's spell of intimacy and secrets shared
is broken.  What seemed possible and even credible then must now sound like
just another lie.    "I think I should go."  His voice and eyes aren't
angry anymore; he looks confused, and wary of inadvertently stumbling on to
more unexpected pain.  He moves cautiously from the window towards the
door, as though expecting one of them to strike out at him as he passes.   
Neither Laura nor Elena move, but Laura's attack is vicious.  "Why don't
you tell him about his father?"   The words are so unexpected that it takes
Elena a moment to process them.  Gavin reaches the closed door, and she
prays that he will ignore what has been said, and will leave.    'Go!  I'm
sorry.  Please ...'   He turns.    Covering her face with her hands, she
staggers backward, and collapses on to her bed.  "Laura," she whispers,
"you can't.  That's disgusting."   Her friend is unrepentant.  "And what he
said to you isn't?"   'How could I have been so stupid?'   Lowering her
hands, she stares at the friend she's shared everything with since the time
she was seven.  "Get out."   Laura's face reddens.  "You're picking him? 
What, he has a dick, so suddenly he rates more than your best friend?"  
"Get out!"  She screams it.    Laura's face contorts with rage.  "Bitch!" 
Shoving roughly past Gavin, she pulls open the door, stumbles through, and
slams it behind her.    There is a moment of shared silence between them. 
His eyes are so expressive, and she knows them so well, that for a second
she fantasizes that no words are necessary.  All she does is look into his
eyes, and the hours of conversation, the painful explanations of mistakes
made, the pronouncements of love, everything is understood.  But, this is
no dreamscape.    "Gavin ..."  Her voice catches, and she has to start
over.  "Gavin, I'm sorry."  He starts to say something, and she raises a
hand to stop him.  "No, we haven't got much time before my mother'll be up
here to find out why Laura hauled ass, and I need to say this.  I never
lied to you."   His eyes drop away from hers, and she jumps up, reaching
for him.  Her hands find his face, and she tilts his head back until their
eyes meet again.    "Never!"   His eyes stare into hers for an instant, and
then he nods.  "Okay."   "What I did do," she says, all in a rush, "was
call her when I woke up in the playroom yesterday and you were gone.  I
knew how you were going to leave, and that she would see you.  All I had to
do was convince her to go talk with you."   He looks doubtful.  "And, out
of the blue, she just agreed to go talk to this guy she'd never met
before?"   Elena is shaking her head.  "Gavin, it wasn't out of the blue." 
She takes a breath.  "I tell ..."  She swallows, and starts over.  "I told
her everything.  All about my viewings"   "Oh great.  What we did yesterday
too?"   She blushes, but doesn't look away.  "Not that."   He slides his
arms around her so that they're holding each other, but his eyes are still
troubled.  "And, that crack she made about my Dad?  What was that all
about?"   "I'm so sorry."  She leans her head against his chest.  "Gavin, I
fucked up, I shouldn't have ever told her about that."   "You weren't going
to tell me?"  His voice is quiet, but very cold.  "And, you told her?"  
Holding him tight, refusing to let go, she nods.    "So, what is it?  What
did Laura think I needed to know?"   Taking a deep breath, she says, "Your
father is gay."   There's no reaction for a moment, and then Gavin laughs. 
"Elena, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  He and Mom were
married for sixteen years."   "I saw him in a restaurant," she whispers,
"talking to a friend, Bill something, about not being able to tell you."  
He pushes violently away from her, and she stumbles backward, falling
against and desperately grabbing the nightstand by her bed.  A stack of
books tilts to one side, and then cascades over the edge with a series of
muted thumps.  The reading lamp tips, rolls for a second across the
nightstand's top, and then slides to the floor with an audible crunch. 
Elena's fingers slip, and she falls to her knees, barely missing the shards
of glass from the broken lamp.    Panting, Elena looks up, and Gavin is
walking towards her.  She flinches involuntarily from his extended hand,
and he quickly pulls it back.    "Shit, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean ...  I'm
sorry."   He turns, opens the door Laura had so recently slammed shut, and
leaves her alone.    'Great, just fucking great, Elena.  Your best friend
and your boyfriend both hate your guts.  Oh, and by the way, something's
trying to kill you.'   She feels like screaming as loud as she possibly
can, but is certain her mother will call an ambulance if she finds out. 
Looking down at the ruined lamp, she wonders morbidly whether the broken
glass is jagged enough to slice her wrists on.    "Elena!"  She looks up,
and sees Kate standing in the doorway.  "Are you hurt?"  The little girl
seems poised to turn and run for help.    "No, no sweetie, I'm fine." 
Elena struggles to her feet, and offers her baby sister a tentative smile. 
"I'm just really clumsy today."   "Yeah," the little girl agrees, "you have
been falling down a lot.   Hey, you broke your lamp."   "I know," Elena
sighs, sitting down on the edge of her bed.  "Don't get clumsy, okay?  It
sucks."   Kate smiles at her, and then frowns as though she's just
remembered something important.  "That's not a nice word."   "No," Elena
agrees, "you're right.  I'm sorry."   "That's okay," Kate says, and hands
her an envelope.    "What's this?"  She glances at it, and notices that
someone has written her name on the back.    Kate grins, "Your boyfriend
left it in the backyard, and Mom said I should give it to you."  As Elena
opens the envelope, she adds, "I like him, but he's kinda weird sometimes."
  "Why?"   "Well, he just walked by me on the stairs, I said hi, and it was
like he didn't even see me."   "Maybe cuz you're so short?"  Elena pulls
the paper from inside the envelope and looks at it.    Kate sticks out her
tongue, and wiggles it back and forth a few times.  "I'm not that short,
and I bet I'm taller than you are when I'm fourteen."   "Probably," she
says, trying to hold back the tears.    There's a drawing of a boy on the
page Elena is holding.  He's lying face-up on a paved street, and there's a
red-haired girl bending over him.  Her eyes are closed, and the boy seems
to be holding her up with one hand.  Underneath the picture are the words:
  Thank you for rescuing me.  Like I said, you're amazing!