UNTIL ANGELS CLOSE MY EYES
Chapter Three
Rose pulled into the driveway and
got out of the car, peering curiously through the thick branches of her new
neighbors’ olive tree. She hoped to catch a glimpse of Jack, but there was no
sign of him.
Sighing, she shrugged, lifting
her heavy backpack and dragging it out of the car. As she shut and locked the
door, she looked toward the neighbors’ yard again, still hoping for a glimpse
of Jack, but when she didn’t see him, she turned and headed for the front door,
the bag heavy on her back.
He’s probably at basketball
practice, she thought—Meg
had told her that Jack was on the basketball team. Besides, I have a
boyfriend—even if I do wish he’d disappear.
Rose unlocked the front door and
went inside, dropping the heavy bag gratefully. It left another scratch in the
already ugly linoleum floor, but she didn’t care—it wasn’t likely anyone would
notice one more scratch anyway.
She quickly turned on the swamp
cooler, then opened a window, listening to the sounds of kids coming down the
street—the elementary school bus had just arrived. She had already noticed that
there were a lot of kids in the neighborhood, and most of them spent plenty of
time playing outside—unlike in her old neighborhood in Menifee, where the
streets were mostly deserted even on weekends.
Rose wished that she could go out
and explore the neighborhood herself, but she had homework to do, and it was
too hot to sit outside and do it. Calculus in particular was going to be
tough—she had never liked math much, even if she was good at it.
Rose was still working on her
homework when Cal arrived to pick her up at five o’clock. She looked out the
window when she heard his car pull up—a shiny black Porsche, the second such
car he’d had since she’d known him. He’d totaled the first one night on the
freeway—he’d been driving too fast and had hit the center divider. He hadn’t
been hurt, but the car had been destroyed.
Rose hadn’t been surprised when
his father had immediately bought him another—Nathan Hockley rarely saw his
son, and compensated for his guilty feelings by buying Cal anything he wanted.
Despite the fact that it had been Cal’s own fault that the car had been
wrecked, his father hadn’t hesitated to buy him another just like it.
Personally, Rose thought that Cal
shouldn’t be driving at all, let alone driving a Porsche. He’d almost hit a
girl in the parking lot at Paloma in May, and then had laughed about it, saying
that she shouldn’t have been in his way. He’d been suspended for two days, but
it hadn’t taught him anything.
Cal stopped the car with a
screech in front of the mailbox, earning a loud honk from the mailman he’d cut
off. He gave the man a rude gesture as he got out and jogged up to Rose’s front
door.
Rose gritted her teeth when he
rang the doorbell twice and then called, “Sweetpea! Sweetpea, are you ready to
go?”
Rose hated being called
Sweetpea—at least by Cal. The sweetpea had been her father’s favorite flower,
and she hadn’t minded when he had called her that as a pet name, but something
about the way Cal said it set her teeth on edge.
She got up and went to the door,
unlocking it and pulling it open. Cal was slouching against the wall waiting
for her, not noticing the black widow spider just a few inches above his head.
Rose couldn’t suppress a smirk as she thought of what would happen if it
dropped down on him, but when he looked at her questioningly, she pointed to
the spider over his head.
Cal looked up and gasped, jumping
away from the poisonous arachnid. Rose giggled, glad to see his arrogant
demeanor disappear for a moment, but stopped when he glared at her angrily.
“Are you ready?” he repeated, his
old arrogance back.
“Yes, I’m coming.” Rose went
inside and picked up her purse, making sure her cell phone was inside, then
joined Cal on the front walk. A black smear marred the doormat—Cal had found a
stick and knocked the spider down, then crushed it with one of his expensive
sneakers.
“Where are we going?” she asked,
approaching the Porsche reluctantly. Cal’s driving had scared her more than
once.
“Temecula. There’s a new Thai
restaurant I want to try.”
Rose groaned inwardly. Temecula
was a long drive in the rush hour traffic—it hadn’t been labeled Trafficula for
nothing—and knowing Cal’s taste, the restaurant would be expensive. She was
just glad he was paying.
“Do we have to down there? It’s
such a long drive, and I still have homework to do…”
“Where else would we go,
Sweetpea? Somewhere in Perris?” He said the name of the town like it was
something nasty.
“Mom and I went to Amigos Tres
last night. The food is good, and everyone who’s anyone goes there…”
Cal gave her an amused look. Oh,
right, Rose reminded herself. He doesn’t care who’s who in this ‘seedy
little town’. Never mind that one of the owners of Amigos Tres is on the school
board and Cal might just need to be in his good graces if he gets one more
F—Mr. Phillips isn’t at Paloma anymore to change athletes’ grades.
“All right.” She sighed, heading
for the passenger side of the car.
“Come on, Sweetpea. You like
Temecula.”
“I’d like it better if there
wasn’t so much traffic.” And if you weren’t there, she added silently.
“This car can get through any of
that.”
Rose rolled her eyes when he
wasn’t looking. No matter how powerful the Porsche was, it wasn’t cutting
through rush hour traffic—but she knew he wouldn’t listen if she said so, so
she kept her mouth shut. It was better to maintain the peace.
*****
Rose and Cal left the restaurant
at 7:30 that evening. Rose had enjoyed the food, but she had been right about it
being expensive, and Cal hadn’t brought any money for the tip, so she had been
stuck taking care of it. Cal would happily have walked out without leaving a
tip, but considering how rude he’d been when they hadn’t been seated
immediately, Rose thought that the long-suffering waitress deserved a good tip.
Cal got into the car, then turned
to look at her. “It’s still early, Sweetpea,” he told her, arching one eyebrow
and looking her over. “Why don’t we go somewhere more private? I know a good
spot out in the Temecula wine country…”
Rose knew exactly what he
wanted—he’d been pressuring her for sex since their first date. She shook her
head.
“Cal…this isn’t a good time. I
still have homework to do.”
“You always have homework. Let it
go for once.”
“I can’t. I’m new to Perris High
School and I don’t want to mess up right now.”
“You gave the same excuse last
week at Paloma.”
“No, last week I said it was a
new school year and I was about to leave the school and wanted good grades to
go with me.”
“Rose…”
“No, Cal! Now, would you please
take me home?”
“You are such a bitch!”
Rose reached for the door handle.
“Fine. I’ll call Mom to come and pick me up.”
“Forget it. I’ll take you home.”
Cal put the car in gear, backing out so fast that he almost hit another car.
Rose winced, making sure her seatbelt was on properly. She especially didn’t
like riding with him when he was angry.
*****
Cal pulled up in front of Rose’s
house with a screech, then turned the car off, glaring at her. Rose unbuckled
her seatbelt, glad to be home.
Cal had driven much too fast on
the way back to her house, dodging traffic and cutting people off. Rose had
slouched down in her seat, fearing that he would incite someone to road rage.
She even hoped that a cop would pull him over and give him a ticket, but she
hadn’t seen a single police car the whole way.
She reached for the door handle,
but Cal stopped her, his eyes still narrowed angrily. “We need to talk.”
“Cal…”
“No, Rose. We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“I’ve spent a lot of money on
you.”
“Thank you. Dinner was
excellent.” I wish I could say the same for the company.
“That isn’t what I mean, and you
know it.”
Rose did, but she wasn’t about to
admit it. “What do you mean, then?”
“You owe me.”
“Fine. I’ll pay next time.”
“Goddammit, Rose! You know what I
mean! If you don’t start putting out, I’m going to find someone who will.”
Rose took a deep breath, coming
to a decision.
“You know something, Cal? That
suits me just fine. I don’t want to sleep with you, and since that’s all you ever
seem to want, I think it’s time we broke up. Go find some little slut who’ll
give you what you want. Mattie Rader should be about right.”
He slapped her. Rose jerked back
in shock. She knew that Cal could be mean, but he’d never hit her before.
“That’s it!” she spat. “I’ve had
it up to here with you! We’re finished! I won’t stay with a guy who hits me.”
He grabbed her, shaking her hard
and knocking her head against the seat. Rose kicked him, glad that she was
wearing sturdy shoes.
He didn’t let go, but he did stop
shaking her. “And what will your mom say, Rose? She’s the one who got us
together in the first place.”
“I don’t care what she says. I
don’t even want to see you again, let alone sleep with you.”
He slapped her again, harder this
time. “Get out of my car!”
“Gladly!” Rose pushed the door
open and got out, barely making it to the curb before he took off with a
screech of tires, nearly knocking her into the street.
Rose shouted after him.
“Asshole!” A mother who was watching her children play gave Rose a dirty look,
not wanting her kids to hear that kind of language.
Rose turned and stomped up the
driveway. Her mother’s car was parked there, meaning that Ruth was home and had
undoubtedly heard the commotion.
She was right. Ruth met her at
the door.
“Rose! What happened out there?”
“Cal and I broke up, Mom. I
didn’t want to sleep with him, and he didn’t want to take no for an answer.”
“Rose, I know he’s a little
immature, but—“
“He’s an asshole.”
“Do you want me to wash your
mouth out with soap?”
Rose threw her purse down,
stomping one foot angrily. “Fine. He’s a jerk. He started hitting me when I
said I wanted to break up.”
“I’m sure you could have reached
a compromise…”
“Mom! Do you want me sleeping
with him? I’m still in high school! I don’t want to get pregnant or something!”
Especially not by him, she thought.
“That’s not what I meant, Rose!”
“Nobody ever says what they
mean!”
“Rose…”
“I’m going for a walk, Mom. I
need to clear my head.”
“Not right now, you aren’t. It’s
dark out.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do. You’re staying home.”
Rose had had enough. Angry and
frustrated, she gave the wall a swift kick, then turned and stormed out of the
house and down the walk. Ruth didn’t try to stop her.