Change of Possession Read online

  “Hey, man.” Jonah replaced his arm around Caty’s waist and pulled her close, making her giggle. He turned to me. “Steve, I want you to meet Keeley. Keeley, this is Steve Yarnell. This is his house. Come on, let’s head in so we can let other people.”

  “Oh, um, hi.” I was suddenly swimming in an unknown feeling as I was they ushered me closer to the middle of Steve’s home. I was never really the bashful one. I usually was the life of the party, the one who everyone gathered around and wanted to hang with. The girl who could out drink the guys. My heart hammered in my chest. What was wrong with me? My thoughts returned to the last party I was at. I was with Celeste, my best friend. That last party was the one I chose to drink and drive. I wanted to run away; this wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be here. Panic rose inside me.

  “Keeley, you okay?” Caty touched my arm, bringing me back to the present.

  “What?”

  “You okay? Steve’s been talking to you, but you zoned out.”

  I waved her off. “Oh, yeah, I just had this thing… I’m sorry, Steve, what were you saying?” I desperately tried to forget my thoughts, paying close attention to Steve. His mouth moved but I swore no sound came out.

  He laughed and handed me a red Solo cup. I took it with a shaky hand. His pale blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at me. “I was just asking how you liked Orem.”

  I stared at the red liquid in my cup and scrunched my brows, wondering what it was. It didn’t smell like an alcoholic drink, but I didn’t want to take the chance. I held onto it, not wanting to be rude.

  Jonah laughed with Steve. “It’s not alcohol, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jonah piped up. “Steve’s dad would kill him; besides, if either of us got kicked off the football team, college would be over for both of us. Scholarships, ya know. It’s our third year, and this year is gonna be the best.”

  “Woo! Wolverines!” Steve did another fist bump with Jonah and Caty rolled her eyes.

  I relaxed, the tension in my shoulders dropping. I took a sip and smiled widely. Cranberry juice and 7up. I chuckled a little at how dramatic I was being. I was twenty years old and spooked by my teenage mistakes. Celeste’s death hovered over me, reminding me, but holding that cup I realized life still went on. I needed to relax. I couldn’t start over if I never gave life a second chance.

  A deep bass beat thumped through the house, and Caty grabbed Jonah by the hand, pulling him away. “Come on, let’s dance.”

  Steve stayed behind. He gestured to my cup. “Most of us don’t drink. The coach would have our asses. There are a couple of people around here I could find that brought their own if you’d like…”

  “No,” I cut him off. “No, I’m great without it. Promise.”

  He smiled, not taking his gaze off me. “I think you’ll fit in more than you know here.” The song changed and a new rhythm reverberated up through my shoes. “Wanna dance?”

  I gulped down the rest of my drink and nodded. “Yeah, that’d be nice.”

  He led me to a large living area where couches and furniture were lined up against the wall, leaving a cleared space for dancers. Someone’s iPod was connected to the surround sound system, with a great playlist of upbeat and hot new songs pumping through the speakers.

  I let loose for the remainder of the song and danced as if life was worth living again. My shyness wore off and I felt normal, like my old self. The next song came on but it was slower. I started to walk away, but Steve pulled me to him. “You can’t leave yet. We just started.”

  Steve placed his hand on the small of my back and pulled me in. I wasn’t comfortable being this close to him, but I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing either. I inched back as far as I could without being seemingly obvious. “So, how long have you been in Orem?”

  I looked up at him, keeping my distance. “For about a week or so. How about you?”

  He smirked. “I’ve been here my whole life. I wanted to leave, but it just didn’t happen. I went where the scholarship went.”

  I nodded. “So, football, huh?”

  He gave me a cheesy grin. “Yeah. I’m like the best quarterback Utah’s seen since Steve Young.”

  I gave him a puzzled look. Did he expect me to know who that was?

  “Aw, girl, don’t tell me you don’t know who Steve Young is.”

  I pressed my lips together in a tight line as I shook my head. “Sorry. I never really watched football. Only high school games.”

  He let his head fall back as he groaned. “This is horrible.” He nodded at Jonah, who came closer with Caty.

  “What’s up?” Jonah asked.

  “Keeley here really needs to be schooled in the art of football. She has no clue who Steve Young is!”

  Jonah laughed. “Did he try to tell you he was a better quarterback?”

  I nodded.

  Steve slugged Jonah in the arm, eliciting a grumble. “Hey, watch it, man, I’m the reason you get the ball down in the end zone. You should be nice to me.”

  Caty and I laughed as they squabbled over who was the better player. The song changed again but I was too thirsty to dance. “So, if you’re done schooling me in the art of football, could you tell me where to find another drink?”

  “Yeah, Jonah, you just go dance with your girl. I got this.” Steve took my hand and led me to the kitchen, where it looked like everyone else congregated.

  The crowd of about twenty or so people parted and I felt a few people staring, but other than that, no one seemed to notice us.

  He lifted the lid on a large blue cooler next to the stainless-steel fridge. “Want another cranberry 7up, or something else?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  He pulled out a couple of cans of soda and set them on the counter. He mixed the drinks, and then handed me one.

  “Mmmm. This is really good.”

  “Yeah, it’s not bad. I mean, sure I could throw an epic party with booze and smoke wafting through the air, but it’s not my thing.”

  I smiled. “Oh, trust me, I don’t mind. Actually, it’s refreshing. Back home everyone is afraid of saying no to any alcohol, and after a while, things just get out of hand.” I tried to keep my smile as I said the last part, but it was forced.

  “Hey, Steve, you gonna introduce us or you gonna keep her to yourself all night?” a shorter, not-so-slim guy asked from across the island. He wasn’t fat, but I couldn’t tell if he was thick from muscles or on the portly side. He ran his hands over his face and the short stubble covering his chin that closely matched his military style buzz cut

  “Brick, this is Keeley. Keeley meet Brick. He’s our middle linebacker.”

  I laughed. “Brick? Really? More football schooling might be needed.”

  Brick walked over and sat his cup down with a slosh of brown liquid dumping over the side. Whatever he was drinking was definitely not 7up. The smell of alcohol burned my nostrils. My mouth watered but my stomach twisted. I couldn’t tell if I desperately wanted a swallow, or if I wanted to quit breathing so I wouldn’t get sick.

  He smiled. “It’s Brick ‘cause I’m built like a brick shithouse.” He slurred the last two words together but smiled wider and lifted his cup in a cheer before downing the rest of the contents.

  Steve gestured with his cup. “Brick here is one of the best linebackers we’ve got. He’s the one who gets the ball to me and protects my ass while I throw it all the way down the field. He’s also the one who’s gonna have a major headache, and I’m gonna laugh through all of tomorrow morning’s early practice as he tries not to puke.”

  I wanted to feel sorry for Brick. I’d been there before. Not with football practice, but the whole hangover thing was really horrible.

  “Ah, I’m fine. I’m not drinking anymore anyway. Coach would have my ass if I got too drunk and puked all over his field.”

  “Yeah, you remember that,” Steve warned.

  “Nice to meet you, Brick.” I hoped I didn’t sound too anxious to leave. Being around him se
t my nerves on fire. I couldn’t let myself get tempted ever again and I think Brick would be all too willing to share.

  “Keeley, come over here with me. There are a few more people I think you should meet.” Steve put his hand on the small of my back, and led me away from the island.

  We walked over to four people. They were huddled pretty close, and if I were a betting kind of girl, I’d say they wanted nothing more than to be left alone, but Steve strode right up to them anyway. “Hey, guys, having fun?”

  One of the guys tucked something in his pocket with a sly smile. “Yeah, we’re cool.”

  My stomach twisted as I knew deep down what they were doing huddled together. All my high school years I drank, but never tried drugs. This scene was right out of the D.A.R.E. handbook from middle school. I almost waited to hear the infamous words; ‘Hey, Keeley, you gotta try this cause it’s the cool thing to do’. I wasn’t stupid but tried to ignore the fact that drugs were something Steve clearly allowed in his house. A party was one thing, alcohol even, but drugs, drugs were something on a completely different level—a level I was not okay with.

  Steve smiled then nodded. “It looks like you’re having fun.” He gestured for me to come closer to him. “This is Keeley. Keeley, this is John, Adam, Tina, and Stacey. John and Adam are on the team too.”

  I recognized Stacey from one of my classes earlier. She sat on the opposite side of the room from me, but her face was one that I remembered. A burn scar covered the right side of her face. She quickly drew her long, caramel-colored hair down across her cheek to hide it and turned so I couldn’t see that side of her. Poor girl. I wondered if she knew how incredibly beautiful she really was. Her green eyes were the perfect almond shape, the kind that eye shadow loved to accentuate, not like my boring hazel eyes.

  Adam and John were twins. They both shared the same dirty-blonde hair and dark brown eyes. The only way I might ever be able to tell them apart was that John had a mole on his chin and Adam didn’t. John kept his arm wrapped around Tina, who seemed a bit more approachable than the others did.

  Tina was a little too thin in my opinion, but who was I to judge? I was considered too thick by some. Her hair was short, shaped in a long wedge, with a mixture of black, blonde, and brown streaking through it. Her blue eyes lit up as she spoke. “Hi, so you’re new to Orem?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, just got in town about a week ago.”

  “Sweet. We’re all roommates. Well, not all four of us together, that would be weird, but these two goofballs in one room, and me and Stacey in another, our other roommate isn’t here for you to meet tonight.”

  “That’s great. I didn’t know anyone to room with, so I just have a small apartment close to the school.”

  “Oh, are you at UVU too?” Adam asked.

  “Yeah, I’m doing the whole geology thing.”

  “Nice. Stacey’s doing something like that too. I bet you guys have at least one class together.”

  I nodded and smiled at Stacey. “Yeah, I think we have Professor Thornburg together right?”

  She gave me a shy smile. “Yeah.”

  Tina bumped Stacey gently with her elbow. “You have to excuse her. She’s a little shy.”

  “Oh, I totally get it. I’m pretty far away from home right now, and everything is so different that I wasn’t sure if I should even come tonight.”

  “But we’re glad you did,” Steve spoke up.

  Stacey chewed on her bottom lip. Maybe she was uncomfortable around new people. I wasn’t one to judge, with enough demons of my own clamoring all over my back, and my heart poured out sympathy for her. “It was great meeting you guys. Maybe we can sit together sometime, Stacey, or share notes, or whatever.”

  “That’d be nice,” she said.

  I smiled once more, and then walked away. Steve caught up to me. “Don’t mind Stacey, she’s just nervous around others who don’t know what happened.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Well, we were college freshman so it was about two years ago. Her house caught on fire after her dad fell asleep with a smoke and, well, she couldn’t get out. A fireman rescued her, but not before the flames licked her face. The smoke had her unconscious, so she didn’t feel anything till she woke up two days later.” Steve shook his head. “She’s lucky she didn’t die. I don’t know how she survived.”

  I cringed and my heart leapt up into my throat. I couldn’t imagine that kind of terror. “Oh my gosh. That’s horrible.”

  “Yeah, we all went to high school with her, so we were worried about her.” He shuddered. “Jonah and I were there. We were just walking by when we saw the smoke, but we couldn’t do anything. We didn’t even know she was inside until we saw a fireman carry her out. It was a bad day.”

  I thought back to my own bad day and bit back the emotional tears. “I bet.”

  “Hey, let’s go dance again. It’s supposed to be a party, right?”

  I smiled. “That sounds great.”

  We made it back to the makeshift dance floor where Caty and Jonah were still tied at the hip, dancing in rhythmic sways.

  The next song was slow and I danced with Steve in small circles. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and a shiver coursed down my spine. It was as if someone was staring at me—again. I watched the partygoers as we swayed around in another circle. Once we made it so I could see who was behind me, I spotted my suspect. I swallowed hard as I took him in. My heart raced; it was the same guy from earlier at school. The shadows absorbed his black leather jacket and jeans. Even as far away as we were, I could see his silver-gray eyes staring into mine. My breath hitched as his stare burned down to my soul. He took a swig of his drink and continued to watch me. I smiled at him, wanting to run from Steve and over to him. He smiled back as he leaned against the wall, one foot up on the arm of a couch.

  We continued to dance in a full circle, but it wasn’t fast enough for me. I lost sight of the one guy I wanted to see more than Steve. Once we made it all the way around I looked, but he was gone. I couldn’t stop the disappointment from showing as I let out a huff.

  “You okay?”

  I glanced back up at Steve. “Yeah. I’m fine.” Liar. Ugh. I wasn’t fine. I wanted to run from Steve’s arms to find a stranger.

  Steve pulled me a little closer. The smell of his cologne was overpowering, making me dizzy. I tried to push away but he held me tight. I pushed again, getting his attention. “Oh, sorry,” he whispered as he let his arms relax, allowing me to breathe again.

  “I think I’m done dancing.” In all honesty, I wanted to go home. I scoured the room, and found Caty and Jonah talking with another couple. They looked like they were having fun so I didn’t want ask them to leave because I wasn’t feeling like myself.

  “Okay, let’s go get another drink.” He placed his hand on my back and guided me through the crowd. New partygoers were arriving and Steve hollered at them over the music, letting them know he was happy they came.

  It wasn’t until about eleven-thirty and after I met about a dozen or more people that Caty was ready to leave. Steve became my forever shadow, never letting me from his sight. I wasn’t sure whether I should be happy to meet a guy who appeared to like me, or be creeped out that he liked me so much. Each time I had the chance, I looked for my stranger. I really wanted to know who he was, or where he was, but neither answer surfaced through the night.

  We piled into Jonah’s car and headed back into town. Maybe Jonah or Caty knew who my guy was? “Hey, I was wondering if you guys might know a guy that was at the party tonight? He was about the same height as you, Jonah, and he wore a leather jacket, and hung out in the shadows by the wall.” I almost laughed at myself. That description didn’t sound too sane. Maybe I was chasing after some psycho and I didn’t even realize it?

  “Well, there were about fifty other guys at the party tonight,” Jonah said. I caught his reflection in the rearview mirror as he wiggled his eyebrows.

  I laughed. “I just want to k
now who he was. I saw him at school too, but never got a chance to say hi. I just thought someone might know who he is.”

  Jonah frowned. “So we’re not talking about Steve huh?” He let out a deep breath as he stopped at the stop sign. “Look, Steve is my best friend, but he gets a little close to people he likes. If you don’t like him, make sure he knows before he gets hurt, okay?” Jonah looked up into the mirror to stare at me before turning down my road. His glare sent chills down my arms.

  “Okay,” I drawled out the word. That was weird. All I wanted to know was a guy’s name. It wasn’t as if I was cheating on Steve or asking my stranger to marry me.

  I leaned back in the seat, letting my head fall back. My stomach flipped and butterflies sailed through me as I thought about seeing my stranger again, but it was so frustrating that he kept disappearing. I smiled as I remembered him staring at me. I wondered if he thought about me too. I wanted to laugh at myself and how fast I claimed the unknown man as my own by calling him ‘my stranger’.

  We pulled up to my apartment and I got out. “Thanks for the ride and the invite to the party. It was fun.”

  Caty got out and gave me a hug. “It was! I’m glad you came. It looked like you kinda hit it off with Steve, too. That’s awesome. I bet whoever that other guy is, isn’t worth it.”

  “Yeah, probably.” I wasn’t sure what to say. Steve didn’t leave me alone all night. I guess that could be considered hitting it off, but on the other hand, I completely disagreed with her; my stranger was worth it, I just knew it.

  Caty darted back to the car. I was on the first floor so I didn’t have far to go to get home, feeling relieved to finally be alone. Movement to my right made me pause and look. I squinted off into the shadows. The streetlight flickered and dimmed. Jonah and Caty were already gone. A rustle came from the barberry bush by the corner of the apartments. I froze as I strained even harder to see in the dark. A rabbit jumped out from the base of the bush and I jumped. I grabbed my chest as my heart thumped wildly. “Oh my gosh.” I tried to calm my breathing as I finished unlocking my door and quickly closed it behind me.