Hideaway: Chapter 4

Hideaway

Chapter 4

Lori Finnegan

2010

When Carly and Becca arrived back at their dorm room after supper, Carly sat down on her computer chair and took out her cell phone. She had been so pleased with how her day had gone, she couldn't wait to call Rita and tell her so. Of course, with Becca in the room, she couldn't say much, but she could at least give Rita an idea.

"Any messages from you know who?" Becca said, smiling while she set her backpack down by her own desk and then turned on her computer.

"Who do you mean...? Oh!" Carly set her phone down on her desk and spun her chair towards Becca. Rita would have to wait. She never passed a chance to brag about Brandon... even if she couldn't exactly tell Becca who he was. "I said I would tell you all about him, didn't I?"

"Do you have any pictures?" Becca asked.

Carly felt her face turn white. "Um... actually, no, I don't..." she stammered. "I left a lot of stuff back home with my mom in California."

Becca leaned on her arms over the back of her chair. "You don't even have any pictures on your cell phone?"

"No, I know it's weird, but I don't..." It was a lie. She had pictures of him on her phone. She made a self note to delete them the second Becca had her back turned. "I'll be sure to take some when I go visit him though. I'm sure it'll be soon," she said.

"Well, what's his name? Where did you meet him?" Becca smiled again, looking at her dreamily.

Carly didn't see the harm in giving her his real first name, but she couldn't possibly tell her the truth about how they met. She scolded herself for not coming up with a lie in advance. Well, she would have to make something up on the spot. "His name is Brandon, and we met at Cal State last year. He was a sophomore, I was a freshmen, and we had an art class together. We had to draw each other. Our eyes met... and that was that."

"How romantic!" Becca squealed. "I wish something like that would happen to me... but nothing romantic ever happens in Minnesota. I can guarantee it. Too cold."

Carly wondered what Becca would say if she knew how she and Brandon had really met in Hollywood, and about the kiss they had shared in the recording studio. She smiled, thinking about it.

"You're in love," Becca decided. "I can tell by the look on your face. It's just too bad you had to come here and be so far apart from each other."

"Oh no," Carly spoke up. "It's fine. He's very busy with school, and I wanted to go with my aunt. His family... well, his family is quite wealthy, so we can see each other often."

"I see," Becca said, but didn't look quite convinced. "I suppose some time apart might be good for couples."

"We'll still see each other often," Carly repeated.

Becca sighed, smiling. "I hope I get to meet him soon. Tell me, what does he look like?"

"Well," Carly started. "He has dark brown hair, the darkest blue eyes you've ever seen... he's really tall, too. He's the whole, tall, dark, and handsome package, completely."

Becca sighed again. "Oh, I wish you had a picture!" she said, practically squealing.

Carly did her best to smile back at Becca, but she did wonder how in the world she was going to come up with a picture of Brandon for Becca to see without Becca realizing that her boyfriend was the one and only Brandon Sloane. "Soon!" she promised anyway.

*****

Later that night, when Becca had gone to her volleyball practice, Carly finally had a chance to call Rita in private.

"Today went perfect," she gushed to Rita while she laid spread out on her back on her loft. "My classes were interesting, and even better... nobody recognized me."

"That's wonderful!" Rita's voice came through the other line. "I was a little worried, but your makeover turned out so well, I couldn't be too worried. Though, you can't blame me for worrying just a little, can you?"

"Not at all," Carly smiled.

"I do have news for you though... some not so great news, actually..."

"What's that?"

The line was silent for a moment. "The police have nothing on the stalker... but we received piles of mail from him yesterday and today. It's the same old stuff over and over again... except he must have been keeping an eye on you, because he seems to have noticed that you're out of the public eye as of yesterday. He mentioned it in some of the notes. Once your agent does the press conference tonight about you postponing the rest of your tour, I'm afraid of the letters that'll come tomorrow..."

"Me, too," Carly admitted. "You don't think he has any idea that I'm here... the police have looked over the letters from today and yesterday, and there's no sign that he knows, right?"

"From what I've heard, he has no clue," Rita said. "We took every precaution to get you there safely, Carly. No one knows you're there except me, Linda, your mom, Brandon, and the police.

"And no one else can find out," Carly added.

"You're safe," Rita assured her. "And your roommate seems like a very nice girl. Her mom, too."

"Yeah, I really like Becca a lot," Carly agreed. "I think we'll become good friends if I end up being here for awhile."

"I'm glad things are going well up there. I'll keep things afloat for you down here, and I'll come and visit you soon."

"Thanks, Rita. You're the best!" Carly grinned, meaning every word. She really did have the best personal assistant ever.

*****

“What classes do you have today?” Becca yawned, climbing down from her loft.

Carly closed her laptop and put it into her backpack. “Creative writing before at ten, and then Government at twelve-thirty,” she answered. “Didn't you say you had Creative writing, too?”

“Yeah! That's right! I forgot we had a class together!” Becca sat down at her desk and looked at Carly's outfit. “How come you're ready so early?”

Carly smiled. “Bookstore, remember? I'll meet you in class, okay?”

Becca was suddenly smiling at her.

“What? Do I have toothpaste on my face?”

Becca grinned. “I heard you on the phone with Brandon last night,” she said.

“Oh!” Carly exclaimed, feeling her face turning red. “I'm sorry about that. I thought you were sleeping.”

“It's okay. I don't have a boyfriend so I have to live vicariously through you. I don't mind!”

Carly didn't know if she should feel flattered or a little weirded out, but she smiled back at Becca anyway. “You know,” she said. “I hear Paul is looking for a girlfriend...”

Becca's smile disappeared in less than a second. “Forget it,” she said. “That creep can look elsewhere!”

“He doesn't seem so bad,” Carly told her. “He seems like a pretty nice guy, actually. Maybe a little full of himself, but other than that... he's okay.”

“Just wait,” Becca said as she turned on her computer. “Paul is fine to be friends with, but if you keep hanging around him, you'll see how he is with girls real soon.”

*****

Carly's second day of classes went just as well as the first. She met Becca for Creative Writing for a short period where the professor introduced the class and gave them an assignment and then, after lunch, she and Arthur had Government together. After she finished up her homework for Friday, she and Becca headed out to The Courtyard Cafe, which Becca told her was the alternative to the cafeteria on campus, for dinner. Carly usually wasn't a picky eater, but she wasn't exactly used to cafeteria food, so she hoped that the Cafe was an improvement.

When they walked inside and saw Paul and Arthur waiting in line at the grill, Becca stopped walking and stared at them.

"Is something wrong?" Carly asked.

"No, nothing's wrong," Becca insisted, and went on ahead. "I just thought we could have a girl's night... but looks like we're going to be stuck with them again."

Carly didn't think that Paul and Arthur were such bad company, but apparently Becca had other ideas. She followed Becca into the Cafe, and after they had ordered their food, watched Becca try to skillfully avoid Paul's waving them down.

"Becca! Casey!" Paul called, waving his arm at them while Arthur watched in interest, sticking a fry into his mouth. "Over here!"

Becca gave in, making her way over to their table, and Carly once again followed.

"Hi, guys," Carly smiled, setting her tray down and scooting in next to Arthur in the booth.

Becca hesitated for a second before giving Carly an irritated look and then sitting down next to Paul. "Hi," she said.

"So, how was your second day of classes?" Paul asked Carly. "Are you still liking Gustavus?"

Carly pulled out the pickle from her burger. "Yeah, everyone's really nice," she said, and then popped the pickle into her mouth.

"Great!" Paul said. "Then I know the two of you girls would love to join Arthur and me at a party tonight!"

Arthur nearly choked on his soda. "Tonight? What party?" he said after he had finished coughing.

Carly looked across the table at Becca and noticed that she had a smile on her face.

"That actually sounds like fun..." Becca said as she picked up her burger. "What time does it start?"

"Wait a second." Arthur put up his hand to her and then turned to look at Paul. "You never said a word to me about a party. Believe it or not, I have a lot of homework to do, and I can't go off to some dumb party tonight!"

"Dumb party," Paul scoffed, turning to Becca. "Dumb party, he says!" He looked back at Arthur. "Artie, my friend, this is going to be the party to start out the new school year. Everyone will be there."

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest. "Everyone but me," he corrected.

Paul narrowed his eyes at him. "You're such a downer, Artie!"

"Like I said," Arthur picked up another fry. "I have a lot of homework. If it was on the weekend, I might reconsider."

"Might!" Paul exclaimed. "I forgot what a party pooper you were during last semester."

Carly glanced over at Becca, who was still smiling, obviously looking forward to the party, and then she looked back at Arthur. She couldn't help feeling as though Arthur should loosen up and just go... if even for a short while.

"I'll go," Carly said. "I finished most of my homework already."

Arthur suddenly had all of his attention focused on her. "Even your Government homework?"

She met his eyes. "Of course not," she said. "I meant everything that's due tomorrow."

"The voice of reason!" Paul chimed in. "Artie... listen to her! You don't have to do everything two days in advance!"

Arthur squirted some ketchup onto his burger wrapper and set the bottle down roughly on the table. “There's nothing wrong staying on top of things,” he said, refusing to meet Paul's eyes. “Maybe if you spent a little more time on your homework, you—”

Carly noticed a knowing smile crawl onto Paul's face. He swiped a fry from Arthur's tray and chewed on it.

“Never mind,” Arthur said, moving his food a few inches away from Paul and putting another fry into his mouth.

Paul cupped his hand next to his mouth and leaned towards Carly. “Don't pay attention to him,” he said in a hushed voice. “He's just pissed that I get A's without ever studying.”

A french fry hit Paul in the face.

“That isn't something to brag about,” Arthur told him. “What are you going to do after you graduate? Whoever you work for isn't going to care that you got an A. They want you to actually work for them, moron.”

Carly thought he had a point, but Paul shrugged his shoulders. “That's years away. By then I'll be ready to work. You only go to college once, Artie. Why not have a little fun?”

“There's plenty of time to have fun on the weekends,” Arthur said.

Paul stirred his soda a little bit with the straw and then gave Arthur a silly smile. “Then maybe every other weekend you should plan on having a bit of fun?” he suggested. “Or am I just doing some wishful thinking?”

“I told you I would go if it was the weekend,” Arthur insisted, smacking Paul's hand away from his french fries. “Would you just drop it?”

“So you say.” Paul leaned back, holding up his stolen fry and then popping it into his mouth. “So you say...”

Carly looked across the table at Becca who was watching the guys in thought with a smirk on her face. She wondered if this was a typically conversation between the two of them, and reminded herself to ask Becca later. “Well, the party will be fun,” she decided. “But I shouldn't stay out too late.”

“We'll head home early,” Becca promised before taking a bite of her burger.

*****

Immediately after dinner, Becca decided that Carly didn't have one item in her closet that was appropriate for a beginning of the year party, and the two girls jumped into Becca's old car drove the fifteen minutes to Mankato, Minneosta to look for a more acceptable outfit for her to wear. She told Carly that she only regretted that they were different sizes or it would have made things so much easier.

“It kinda stinks that St Peter doesn't have a mall,” Becca said, holding the door open for Carly when they walked into the first clothing store. “But good thing Mankato isn't that far. One weekend I'll take you into the Cities and show you the Mall of America. Now that's a mall!”

Carly had already spotted some nice tops on a rack towards the front of the store, and she went over to them, touching the hem at the bottom of a light pink one. “It's okay,” she said. “I'm sure we'll find something.”

“No, no,” Becca said, pulling her away and dragging her to the back. “Not those. Let show you something else. Haven't you dressed yourself since you were twelve?”

Carly smiled at her. “Well...”

“It's okay, we all have our challenges!” Becca interrupted. She grabbed a gray and black tank top off the shelf that had sequins arranged in a sunburst pattern. “We want you to look hot, but not so hot that all the guys are hitting you.” She smiled at Carly. “After all, you do have a boyfriend.”

Carly thought that the tank top looked like something she already had in her closet in California, but she smiled anyway when Becca placed the hanger into her hands and then started digging through racks of jeans. Fifteen minutes later, she went into the dressing room with four more tops and three pairs of what Becca described as “really hot jeans,” and was pulling on the new clothes.

Usually, Carly had all of her prospective clothing brought to her LA home where she would try it on, and she and her fashion consultant would decide upon it, so this was something new for her. Carly had to admit that she preferred this normal way a little more... even though the first time she came out of the dressing room, Becca made a face and gave her a thumbs down.

*****

Around eight o'clock that night, Paul had come to pick the girls up, and he sat waiting on Becca's computer chair while they finished putting their makeup on in front of the big mirror over the sink. He gave them a wink when they said they were ready, and the three of them hopped into his red pickup and headed off to the party, which was being held at someone's house just outside of town.

Carly thought to herself that just about now there was a press conference being held in LA, and the whole world would know about her situation. She wondered if people would be talking about it tomorrow. God... she hoped not. It was probably best not to think about it and concentrate on the party for tonight.

She had never spent any time in a small town, much less gone to any sort of college party before, so she was a little nervous. Sure, she had been around plenty of alcohol before, and even had a few drinks on occasion, but had no idea what to expect at this party. She had seen movies where college parties had been busted by the cops, and wondered about that, but she figured she would just follow Becca's lead and err on the side of caution just in case.

She clutched her purse, thankful that the FBI had given her a very real looking fake ID that would be sure to fool any cop on inspection... and if she were brought in, of course, everything would have to be explained, and the FBI would have to be called...

Carly gulped. Maybe it would be best if she didn't touch any alcohol while she was here. Doing something stupid like being arrested for underage drinking was not something that Carly... or Casey could afford.

“Don't be nervous, Casey,” Becca said, poking Carly in the arm. “It'll be fun!”

“I'm fine,” Carly said. “Just thinking about all the people that I won't know. You don't mind if I stick by your side, do you?”

Becca smiled. “Not at all,” she assured her.

Paul pulled into a long driveway and parked onto the lawn of a large house that was heavily shaded by large oak trees. There were already several dozen other vehicles parked on the large farm yard, and Carly could see several people gathered on the porch. They walked up to the house, and Paul waved hello to several guys on the porch as they walked by.

Inside, a bubbly girl with curly brown hair approached them. She wrapped her arm around Paul's waist and squeezed him tightly. “Paul!” she shouted over the music. “I'm so glad you made it!”

“Hey, Gwen,” Paul said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “This is Becca and Casey. Casey's new to Gustavus this year.”

Carly smiled and gave her a little wave, but Becca didn't say a word. “Nice to meet you,” Carly told Gwen.

A cute guy with black hair came up to them and shoved red plastic cups in their hands with a grin. Carly looked down at the cup she was holding in shock. Before she could tell him that she didn't particularly want a drink, he was gone and grabbing more drinks to hand out. Upon closer inspection, the golden liquid appeared to be a cheap beer, which Carly didn't care for anyway, so she resolved to pretend to drink it for the rest of the night.

Becca grabbed her arm and pulled her through the entryway and into the large living room, leaving Paul and Gwen behind them. Carly's drink sloshed around and narrowly missed getting her new outfit wet. “Becca!” she exclaimed, when Becca finally slowed down. “What's the deal? I almost got beer on my new shirt.”

“I'm sorry, Casey,” Becca said, looking at Carly's shirt briefly and then meeting her eyes again. “But Paul is pissing me off! I couldn't wait to get away from him! Besides,” she smiled, suddenly. “I have a proposition for you. What do you say... do you want to help me scope out a new boyfriend?”

Carly gave her a strained smile. She didn't know if a kegger was a suitable place to find a good boyfriend, but she supposed she could help find Becca someone attractive. “Sure, I guess I could do that,” she agreed. “But don't you think we should have been a little nicer to Paul? He did drive us here, after all.”

Becca waved an arm in the air in dismissal. “Please. Paul was so busy with what's her face, he won't even notice we're gone,” she said, taking Carly's arm and then began looking around the room. “Ooh, look at that dark haired cutie over there. What do you think?”

Carly didn't want to point out to Becca that it would be kinda hard for her to hang around Becca if Becca was busy hitting on a guy, so she smiled and nodded. She found herself wondering if perhaps Arthur would have been a better party companion for her tonight... he at least didn't seem the type that would ditch her for a date. Though she hadn't thought Becca would have either.

It was strange because Carly usually didn't feel so shy at parties... but being Casey felt very different. She was used to everyone knowing who she was and having people approach her constantly. Being Casey made meeting people much more difficult.

Just before they reached their target, Paul and Gwen appeared in front of them with big smiles on their faces. “There you are, Becca!” Paul said, putting his hand on her shoulder . “I thought you two had disappeared!”

Becca smiled at him a little too sweetly and then shrugged his hand off of her shoulder. “We're just enjoying the party,” she explained.

“Gwen and I are heading into the back room to dance. Do you guys want to come with?” Paul asked, his arm going back around Gwen's waist.

“No, thanks. You guys go ahead,” Becca said, the smile not leaving her face for a moment.

“Okay. See you later.”

Carly and Becca watched the two of them disappear through the crowd and into the hallway. “Is that his girlfriend?” Carly asked once they were gone.

“Who knows?” Becca said, but she didn't look at Carly. “He's got a different one every other week. I told you you would see how he was with girls. I just didn't think it would be this soon.”

Carly looked after Paul and wondered if what Becca said was true. Every other week? That seemed a little extreme.

“Oh... he's gone,” Becca whined, and Carly looked to where the dark haired guy had been earlier. He was indeed, gone. Carly couldn't help but be a little happy at Becca's loss... after all, it meant that she had her companion for awhile longer.

It was midnight by the time Becca and Carly could convince Paul to leave the party. Becca was crabby because when she had located her guy, he had already found a pretty blonde girl and spent the rest of the night by her side. She was so upset over it, that she gave up her plight to find anyone else. Carly found herself wishing that she had spent the night with Arthur doing homework. It would have been more entertaining.

“I'm sorry, Paul,” Carly said after he started up the engine to his pickup truck. “I guess we should have driven ourselves. I wasn't thinking.”

“No, no, it's okay,” he said, giving her a tired smile. “I don't mind. I'm getting a little sleepy anyhow.”

Becca leaned over Carly and glared at him. “You didn't drink, did you?” she demanded. “Because if you did, you better get out right now and let Casey drive! I was watching, and she never took a sip!”

Carly turned bright red. Had it been that obvious?

Paul took his hands off the wheel and looked at Becca with wide eyes. “I only had one glass of beer right when we got there. I think I'm okay to drive.”

Becca's angry face melted when she looked at Carly. “Casey, do you mind driving us back? It would make me feel much better.”

“No, I guess I don't,” Carly answered.

“Oh, for Christ's sake!” Paul exclaimed, and both girls looked at him. “Fine!” he said. “Casey, climb over me.”

After hesitating for a moment, Carly climbed over Paul, and he scooted over on the seat. She couldn't quite reach the pedals, so after she buckled up, she had to sit forward in the seat. “I really hope this is safer,” she muttered, putting the car into reverse and pulling out of the yard.