"That's probably why she is living in the motel at the end of town."
Sapphire heard most of the rumors the girls in school were spreading about her, and frankly, it wasn't anything new. Though she did take offense at the twenty remark. She couldn't help but take a longer look at herself in the bathroom mirror between classes. She was eighteen, dammit. Not whatever the current rumor that was floating around.
Thankfully, with Mr. Hodgson's help, she was able to adjust her classes to only a few times a week, and she was able to leave earlier than the rest due to a free period. No more enduring offered rides by the boys driving their daddies' trucks or the stares from passing students in their parents’ cars as she walked down the highway to the motel.
Shouldering her bag, Sapphire zipped up her fleece-lined coat and walked across the front of the school toward the road. Crossing two streets and cutting in between the small firehouse and municipal building, she came out onto the other side where most of the town's stores were located. Today she needed to buy herself some actual food. The small package of cold cuts and bread wasn't going to cut it anymore now that she was going to go to school less. Sapphire had to hand it to the little country school, the cafeteria served really good food.
Seeing her destination in sight, she cringed at the dated sign towering over the old one-story flat roof building.The Family Basket, the town's only grocery store, was as outdated as it came. Stopping at the streetlight, she waited for the group of cars and motorcycles to pass through before walking across the street. Grabbing one of the ancient metal carts, she pushed the jumbling contraption into the store. Sapphire felt the stares on her as she pushed her squeaking cart past the registers and down one of the aisles.
It felt that no matter where she went in this town, she was always being stared at. When would the fascination about her die down? What were they even thinking when they looked at her? A bitter thought rose up inside of her as she thought of the rumors at school. Were these people thinking the same things?
Boldly, she looked around her, daring to catch the eye of anyone staring at her. She wanted to tell them off and make a scene so big it would really give them something to talk about. But as she looked around, she didn't see anyone looking at her. An old lady was staring very intently at the box of oatmeal in her hand while another woman was wrestling a can of corn out of her toddler's hands. Sapphire let out a gusty sigh. She was being paranoid.
Trudging her cart forward, she took her mind from the rumors at school and headed to the freezers. Stopping in front of the glass doors, she stared at the dismal selection of microwave meals. God, how she missed her toaster oven. For the past week and a half, that was the only source of regret. Over the past two years, she had become surprisingly skilled in cooking. Between her mini toaster oven in her room or the use of the kitchen when her mother was away, Sapphire had uncovered a passion for the art of cooking she would never have guessed. She made a tsking noise of regret under her breath. She should have found some way to pack the little oven in her move.
Pulling her thoughts back to the present, she opened the door and grabbed two different meals. Turning them over, she began to read the contents when she felt a presence behind her.
Stiffening, she hesitated for a second before turning around.
There was no one there.
Looking down the aisle, Sapphire watched as a tall man with a broad back covered by a brown leather jacket walked casually down the aisle, holding a bag of chips in one hand. Relaxing, she watched him turn out of the aisle before looking back at the selections in her hand. She needed to relax. Between this town, the kids at school, the lack of a phone call from her mom, and just so much more, she was starting to get on edge. Chucking five of the on-sale vegetable lasagnas into her cart, she made her way back up to the front to pay.
The sharp corners of the microwave meal boxes bumped against her within the plastic bag around her wrist as she reached to pull up her muffler scarf around her face. Standing off to the side of the grocery store's entrance, Sapphire looked across the parking lot toward the direction of the motel. Overcast and drizzling freezing rain, the gloomy grey sky promised more rain. Stuffing her hands into her pockets, Sapphire stepped forward.
May as well get home before this day gets somehow worse, she thought to herself.
The thought nearly made her pause. Hell no, did she just refer to the motel ashome?
Closing her eyes, she mentally scoured her brain in correction. The sound of a motorcycle roaring to life made her open her eyes as she stepped between a row of parked cars. Two motorcycles were pulling out of the other end of the grocery store's parking lot and onto the main street that ran through the town.
That reminded her of what Herman, the old motel keeper, had told her yesterday. Well, warned her, actually. She had come in to get the key for the small laundry room when he warned her of this upcoming weekend's activity.
"I want you to make yourself scarce, girl. Do ya hear?" He had eyed her up and down as if to make sure she was paying attention. "This weekend, bikers will be coming in hordes for some sort of yearly tradition down to the Heathens bar. They ain't the sort at all you should be around. Gangs of men—rough men—will be staying in some of the rooms and some just passing through. I want you inside, do ya hear? Don't come out that night," he instructed her.
Normally, Sapphire never responded to direct commands very well. She always resented people trying to parent her or tell her what to do. She had been taking care of herself for far too long and found any attempt at it an insult. But this time, she couldn't bring herself to reply with something biting. Despite his surly disposition, she knew the old innkeeper was just trying to look out for her. And from what he described, it sounded for a good reason. Politely, she had nodded and promised she would stay out of sight.
Just how many bikers frequented this town? Watching as the pair of bikes faded out of sight down the highway, she thought of the two bikers she saw each morning and afternoon. Maybe they were the same ones.
After nearly fifteen minutes, she finally made it back to the motel. Just in time, too, judging by the ominous clouds creeping across the sky. Inside her room, she stuffed the microwave meals into the tiny refrigerator and even smaller freezer compartment before sitting down heavily on the bed.
As the sky lost what little light it had, giving way to the night, and the bedside clock glowed eight o’clock, Sapphire sat curled up on the faded and worn wingback chair near the window and round dining table. The pages of her Women's Studies book were lying open on the table in front of her, next to a partially open bottle of blue nail polish. The curtains to the window next to her were open just enough to allow her to look across the dark, rainy parking lot and up the slope to the narrow road. Occasionally a faint light would appear, growing stronger by the second, and she would watch as the headlights of a vehicle flashed by, water kicking up around its tires.
In her room, only the light of the muted TV illuminated the room, accompanied by the occasional glow of her phone's screen. Notification chimes periodically interrupted the moody notes of the song playing on her phone, pulling her attention back to the present.
Turning away from the window, Sapphire looked at the latest entry from the group text she was involved in. The handful of friends she had back in Houston were making plans for the weekend. She read each text bubble as they tried to figure out who was driving and what house to meet up at. Lunch at a bubble tea café and then off to a 5K run that supposedly pummeled the runners with brightly colored dye.
Yeah, no thanks,she snorted. The bubble tea part sounded nice, but running out in the cold and covered in colored cornstarch powder—count her out.
Well…she was already counted out, wasn't she? Bitterly Sapphire stared at the steadily incoming messages as they all talked and gushed over their plans. She felt a sudden urge to just remove herself from the group and put her phone on airplane mode.
No, she told herself while forcing herself to take a calming breath, she would not give in to that thought. Silencing the notifications, she slid her phone back onto the table in front of her and looked back out at the rain. She was just being melodramatic when in actuality, she needed to just acknowledge that she was still extremely angry. She should be there with her friends, back in Houston, making plans with them for the weekend instead of shut up in some musty old motel room counting every penny to her name and eating discount microwave meals.
Her throat tightened to the point of pain as she fought back the stinging tears welling in her eyes. Letting the curtain fall back close again, she leaned back in her seat, closed her eyes and breathed. She would not cry, she commanded herself.
Opening her eyes again, she gave her phone a grim look as she considered sending her mother another scathing text message.
A rumbling growl sounded from outside, and Sapphire paused.
