The Trials of November

Chapter Seven

Victoria woke up the next morning, and was late. Crap.
She jumped out of her bed and into her clothes in record timing. She flew down her stairs and out her door faster than it usually took her to get out of bed. She ran to school, in the middle of a snowstorm. It was on days like that one that she really wished she did not live in Michigan. She hurried through the cold as fast as she could go.
She got to school just as the bell rang. Perfect timing.
Victoria hurried to her locker, breathing heavily, where Rebecca was waiting for her. Her short red hair was bobby pinned back, and she was wearing a blue sweater. She looked beautiful, as always She rolled her beautiful brown eyes at Victoria. Rebecca always seemed to be disappointed in her.
"Cutting it a little close, aren't you, dude?" She said. Rebecca was never late for anything, and she heavily prided herself on that. Rebecca just had a terrible habit not showing up at all, which Victoria was sure was worse. She turned away and sipped her coffee with a smile. Victoria was very thankful to have a friend to be there for her, but she was disappointed that it wasn't Callie. Victoria then decided that she would not tell Rebecca about Ben. She didn't believe in true love and certainly would not support Victoria in her romance.
School went slower than usual. She felt that every hour she was there was a struggle, and she wished that she could be anywhere but at school. The also thought of Ben a lot. Actually, she never stopped thinking of Ben the entire day.
Victoria decided to go to Callie's house to be with her mother during her lunch period that day. She walked the few blocks to Callie's house, and once she got there, she hesitated at the door before knocking.
What was she doing there? She did not want to be there at all, and she wished that she would not have said yes the night earlier. But then, it was too late. She had to do it.
She reached her hand up and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, Elaine opened it.
Elaine looked awful. Her hair was messy and her eyes were puffier than she had ever seen her have before, almost like she had been crying. Victoria's heart sank.
"Victoria." Elaine said quietly. "Please, come in." She said, gesturing inside of her house. Victoria walked in cautiously. She felt as though she was not welcome there because there was no Callie.
Victoria walked inside.
"You can sit. I want to talk to you." Elaine said, almost tearing up again. Victoria felt very uncomfortable, but she sat down, trying not to upset Elaine further.
"I have brought you here today because I wanted you to know that... they found Callie's body." Elaine said, bursting into tears again. Victoria's heart sank. She had finally heard the words that she had been dreading for weeks. "They found it when they were filtering the dam. She has been dead for a few weeks they think." Elaine said, but Victoria could not hear a word she was saying.
She could not believe that she was gone. She wished that she wasn't, but Victoria was happy to have some kind of closure. She had been worrying about it for so long and she was happy to finally be done worrying about it. Victoria was upset that she was gone, but she was glad that she knew.
Victoria did not stay there for very long, as Elaine did not actually have anything for her to move.
In each of her classes for the rest of her day she bounced her leg, she tapped her finger on the desk, she kept looking out the windows and then at the clock and then out the windows and then at the clock. Victoria could not stop fidgeting. She knew that she should sit still but she could not manage to do it.
After school was over, Victoria waited outside in the brisk air for Ben. She wasn't even waiting for more than five minutes before she saw him strolling down the frozen sidewalk. Her heart seemed to be jumping rope inside of her chest. As he approached, she took in his appearance.
Ben was looking as handsome as ever. Victoria suddenly got very nervous. Her hands got sweaty as she was looking at him.
He wore jeans with a blue hoodie, a long coat, a scarf and a hat. His cute dimples accentuated his handsome face, and Victoria couldn't take her eyes off of him. She completely forgot about her situation at the diner the night earlier. Ben was able to make her forget about the bad things in her life, and she was very thankful for that. Victoria smiled as he approached.
"Hello, Beautiful." Ben said, grabbing Victoria's hands in his own. Victoria's heart danced and sang.
"Hi." She said, blushing. Ben gestured towards the sidewalk with his hand. They started walking. They decided to walk to the beach. The beach was a popular place to walk, especially on dates. Was it a date? Victoria kept wondering.
Once they got to the beach, everyone who saw them instantly made the assumption that they were a couple. They both looked and acted the part, and they made everyone think that they had been together for years, even though they had only actually been together for a fraction of a day. It was an incredible thing. The way that he looked at her moved all of the people who were lucky enough to witness it. They made everyone who saw them wish that they were lucky enough to have that same kind of love for themselves.
The couple talked and talked, but Victoria never mentioned the encounter at the diner the night earlier. She had totally forgotten. She was so caught up in the moment, being there with Ben, that it seemed as though nothing else in the entire world could possibly matter. They watched the sunset together in the sand, and she rested her head on his shoulder, him wrapping his arm around her back.
They got sand in their shoes, and their hair was blown from the wind, but they did not care. Nothing else mattered. They kept talking for the whole night. By the end of it, it was as though they had known each other for years and years, and not just for a day. They both felt the same way about each other, and it made them both feel so lucky to be able to be in the presence of the other person.
It began to get dark. They started walking back to the city, holding hands. It was dark by the time they arrived back, and rapidly growing colder. They were walking down the street together, when suddenly, Victoria saw a figure out of the corner of her eye. She did not know what drew her attention over to him, as they had passed several people earlier and she did not notice any of them. However, that man drew her attention, and Victoria did not know why at first. But then she took in his appearance.
She saw the black coat and the green backpack and she knew who it was immediately.
It was him. The man from the diner. Victoria suddenly felt very cold. Her heart stopped, and so did her feet. She could not breathe. Victoria grabbed on to Ben's arm, frozen in fear. Ben held Victoria's arm where she grabbed him, but he was confused. He did not understand what Victoria was so afraid of. Things had been going so well before that. What scared her to badly?
"What is it?" Ben asked, knowing instantly that there was something terribly wrong. He looked in the direction of the man, but did not recognize him, so he did not think anything of it. Ben's concern for Victoria was growing rapidly. She was as white as a ghost, and her hands went cold.
Ben's concern for Victoria was growing exponentially.
"Vic." Ben said, grabbing Victoria's shoulder. "Vic, what is going on?" He asked, trying to catch Victoria's gaze. She seemed to be staring into nothing, and Ben didn't understand it.
"We have to go. Fast... Now." Victoria said, panicked. She started to run, and Ben was only a few steps behind her, even though he did not know what was wrong. Once she was three streets away, she slowed to a fast walk. Her parents were gone that weekend so she decided to go there. She would be safe there. She was thinking so hard, but she couldn't stop running. Ben trailed behind her a few steps, completely out of breath, and completely confused as to why Victoria was running through the streets of Grand Haven for no apparent reason.