Searching For Moore by Julie A. Richman
Chapter Five
THE FOLLOWING SATURDAYmorning, The Quad was lined with buses for the entire freshman class to take them up into the mountains for Freshman Retreat.
Freshman Retreat was mandatory. Schooner, Beau and assorted tennis, basketball and football players from their dorm headed to the buses together. He knew CJ would be looking for him and secretly hoped that she wouldn’t find him (6’2” blonde god was hard to miss). Today he wanted to establish relationships with the other guys in his dorm, without being part of a couple and without the ribbing—which was already beginning.
The ride up to the retreat center in the San Bernardino National Forest seemed to take forever as the convoy of buses slowly meandered up the highway’s steep incline and hairpin turns. One of the dorm RA’s announced on the bus loudspeaker that a BBQ lunch was being served in the main lodge, class elections would take place immediately following lunch and the rest of the afternoon was free for hiking, swimming or the leisure activity of their choice.
Beau grabbed Schooner’s arm as they got off the bus and motioned to a trailhead. “I brought a dube,” he whispered.
“You are the man!” Schooner acknowledged, heading down the trail.
About a quarter of a mile down the path, away from anyone with curious eyes, they looked for some boulders to park their butts on when Schooner saw Mia’s telltale long dark curls in front of them. Without even thinking, he called out to her and she turned, meeting him with a big grin.
As she walked up to the guys, Schooner realized his smile matched hers. “How have you been doing?”
She just shrugged her shoulders, “I am so not into the group thing. I hate all this kumbayah shit.”
Schooner laughed out loud, “You into smoking some shit?”
Mia’s eyes lit up and that little devil, partner-in-crime look he had seen on the day they first met, reemerged.
The three found a path off the main trail and hiked to an area where they wouldn’t easily be found. It was hard for Mia to keep up with the two long-legged tennis players. Lounging on some large rocks, Beau reached into the pocket of his shorts, pulled out a joint and lit it up. Schooner could tell that Beau was not comfortable with Mia. He doubted that he’d ever met anyone quite like her and didn’t know how to take her.
Schooner, on the other hand, thought she was a blast. He’d never had many girls who were just friends, not flirting their asses off to try and get his attention, and Mia was so comfortable to just hang out with—kind of like hanging out with the boys, but there was something so cute about her and damn, she had great tits. He had to remind himself that she was only sixteen.
Beau held up the joint to her, “I hope you’re not a virgin.”
Schooner saw the blush flare in her face and knew that while his little sixteen-year old friend might not be a virgin to getting high, sexually she was really innocent. Her urbane New York exterior masked just how innocent she really was and Schooner felt this strong need bursting to protect her. Protect her like a little sister, he told himself.
They smoked the rest of the joint while Beau pointedly ignored Mia, just talking directly to Schooner, as if she were not even present. It was uncomfortable and Schooner wondered what the hell was Beau’s problem. He thought maybe Beau was just used to pining over the California Barbies who shot him down, but whatever it was, Mia took off immediately upon finishing the joint.
“See you guys up at the lodge. Thanks for the smoke.” And she quickly retreated up the trail.
Schooner wondered where her entourage was and why she seemed to be in loner mode today. But being stoned, that thought quickly evaporated and was replaced by something else, as was the fleeting thought that maybe he should not let her be wandering in the woods alone.
By the time Schooner and Beau made it up to the lodge, freshman class elections were well underway. They leaned against the wall near the door and Schooner surveyed the crowd. In the second row, paying rapt attention, were CJ and her soon-to-be group of sorority sisters. Continuing to scan the room, he finally saw Mia sitting on a chair in the back.
The look on her face was one of pure fright. Crouched down and clutching the back of her chair was Tim Vandergrift, freshman class President-elect and the class equivalent of douche bag Greg Marmalard from the movie Animal House (he looked like him, too!). From his bent over position, he appeared to be sniffing Mia.
Schooner and Mia made eye contact and he could see she was paranoid as all hell that Mr. Brownie Points was going to turn her in to some school authority for reeking of pot, and that she was going to get sent home for getting high at the Freshman Retreat (which, of course, was held at a Christian retreat center).
Schooner could see Mia’s eyes pleading with him for help as she mouthed the word, “Fuck!”
The noise of the room seemed to evaporate and all Schooner could hear were his father’s words, telling him to look out for Mia.
From her omniscient perch in row two, CJ noticed Schooner leaning against the wall and followed his line of sight back to Mia. It was evident that Mia’s gaze was locked in on her boyfriend.
The loud crash, as a pitcher of ice water smashed onto the Mexican tile floor, turned all heads to see the source of the crash.
Schooner had inadvertently knocked a pitcher off the table. The crash had brought Tim out of his crouched position to his full standing height of 6’4” and his attention to the left wall of the room. Using the diversion as an escape mechanism, Mia popped out of her chair, quickly heading out of the lodge’s main room through a door on the right.
Watching her seize the moment, Schooner silently gave himself a pat on the back.
Mia was standing out at the driveway in front of the lodge waiting for one of the earlier buses back to campus, when CJ noticed her there. CJ had been in search of Schooner, but quickly changed her mind, deciding, let him have his boys’ time. I’ve got something more important to take care of. Grabbing her roommate and some girls from her dorm, she convinced them it was time to leave.
Positioned directly behind Mia on the bus, CJ became very animated as she reveled her followers with tales of her prom court and of what a wonderful kisser her new boyfriend, Schooner, was (still playing the virgin act, she was not going to let any of her virginal friends/soon-to-be sorority sisters know that Schooner liked to pull her hair when she blew him or that he liked it rough… and that she was learning to like it that way, too). She even went so far as to make the prediction that he was the one. Her followers giggled with delight.
Mia sunk deeper into the green faux-leather seat, wishing she’d had her Walkman and some headphones with her, so she didn’t have to listen to a show she somehow instinctively knew was being put on for her benefit. She couldn’t understand why though. CJ was gorgeous and had clearly already captured Schooner’s attention, and from the sounds of it, his heart. So why the big show? Why did she have to make sure Mia knew he was hers?
Discreetly, Mia wiped a tear that began to roll down her right cheek and buried her face against the cold metal inside of the bus so that no one could see the wet trail that had begun to stream down her face.
She couldn’t help but think of the lyrics of one of her favorite Blondie songs, where the singer is warned to stay away from a certain guy by his girlfriend. Today’s warning had been loud and clear.
Mia Silver had never felt so alone or so very far away from home.