Tango

AN: this was posted on the original website but it\'s been lost for now so i\'m re-posting it here. on the plau side, it would help to re-read because i\'m adding more to it and i\'ve changed the names of some of the characters so if you don\'t it might get a bit confusing.
now, as you all know, this plot is mine as are all the characters held within. don\'t make me get out the lazer-sharks...
yours truly,
cope




Chapter One



As I lay on the cold, hard ground I realized that I truly loved him. I felt stupid for not realizing it before this had all happened. How had I been so blind? Now it was too late to say anything at all. I was drifting to and from consciousness but I could feel his strong arms surrounding me. He was whispering to me that it was all going to be all right, that I had to hang on for just a little while longer. I could feel his tears landing on my cheek. I knew that I had to tell him how I felt, so I gathered all of the courage and strength that I had and whispered, “I love you.” Then I slowly fell into the darkness.

- - - - - - -

That dream had been haunting me for the longest time. It was always the same too. Never once had it changed in the smallest detail. The person holding me always said the same thing, he always wore the same clothes, and he always smelled the same.

Ok… So, yeah, I’m not the average 17 year old. And I don’t have the perfect magazine type life. In fact I have the total opposite. Well, lets see…I have fat thighs, my mother is dead, my father is in Europe, my hair is a dull brown color that makes me want to shave it all off, I have a pimple the size of mount Everest on my chin, and, how could I forget…I am a member of an exclusive club: The witness protection program. It sounds like something out of a movie right? Well trust me it’s not at all. Don’t ask how I got involved because I don’t really want to talk about it. And I can’t really tell you now can I? In fact I don’t go by my real name anymore. For now it’s Renee McTavish. Common enough name I guess. McTavish, that is. I have never known someone named Renee, but I like it anyways. It means ‘to be reborn’, which I am in a way. Actually I think that I’m just happy they didn’t hand me over a name that has teasing values, like ‘plain Jane’, or ‘fat Pat’. If my life didn’t have enough problems already, this would definitely have added to it. Parents always have to aware of what they are naming their children so that the names don’t warrant negative nicknames.

It is really weird for me to have to move in with these people who I don’t know. I Have to call them Aunt and Uncle, they are distantly, and I mean distantly, related, and I have to change schools. Not to mention have a whole new start on a life that I liked in the first place.

The fact is that before the…incident…I had a perfectly normal life. I went to the same school as all of my friends in Vancouver and we all read the fantasy novels, which were popular at the time. I even had a boyfriend. The main word here is HAD. See, I haven’t been able to tell him where I am and I am not even allowed to tell him in the first place. So yeah, he must think that I am a super bitch that only cares about myself. And in most perspectives that could be true, but I really loved my boyfriend. And now I can’t even have a picture of him. Just in case ‘they’ find me again. It could put Derek’s life in danger. One thing that I really don’t want is for him to have to die because of me. Know what the dramatic irony is? I don’t even know who ‘they’ are.


- - - - - - -


I arrived at the airport in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada at exactly 12:30pm, local time, on Thursday September 4. I have no clear idea what I was to expect but the first thing that I saw when I stepped into the lobby of the airport was that there was some old guy holding up my ‘name’ written on a piece of cardboard. I guessed that he wasn’t my new ‘uncle’, but must have been some taxi driver because he was wearing a uniform of sorts. Well, a suit and tie with a little beaked hat, but coming from Vancouver, and from being on some criminals most wanted list, I don’t really trust people at first. So you can tell that I was cautious about approaching this guy. Who knew who he could have really been? Certainly not I, especially after that excruciating plane ride that I was just forced to endure for the past eight hours.

Layovers are a real bitch.

But this guy seemed to have read my mind, because he approached me. “You must be Renee, am I right? Mr. McTavish has sent me to fetch you.”

Fetch me? Was I some dog or what? And yes I had taken on the name of my new guardians so that it seemed more normal. My father was supposed to be Mr. Frederick McTavish’s brother, or something to that extent. I didn’t really care to be honest. It was partially my father’s fault that I was in this mess. He isn’t high up on a pedestal for me right now. If I wasn’t the loving daughter that I was in the deepest, darkest corner of my heart at that moment, I would have prayed that someone would out me out of my misery and inflict some atrocious disease on to my father that would leave him hideously ugly.

“Yeah, I’m Renee. But who are you?” Street smarts never die, and I wasn’t about to go anywhere with this guy until I found out who he claimed to be. If it came to it, I would ask for his license and registration.

“I,” He stated with dignity, “am Mr. McTavish’s company’s chauffer. My name is Jacob. So shall we go? You must be starving and Martha had prepared a very nice meal for your welcoming. Only you might now want to eat the rolls, they aren’t her specialty.” He added with a wink. I laughed out loud and decided that he may be an old guy, but he was good at breaking the ice.

We went to the luggage carousel then Jacob escorted me to the waiting car and loaded my suitcases into the trunk of the blue sedan that he was driving.

We chatted during the drive (I was cautious not to reveal too much about myself), and just as it was growing dark we pulled onto a narrow driveway. Traffic had been heavy in the city and we had sat in a traffic jam for what seemed the equivalent of an eternity. A couple of seconds later a house broke through the trees. It was a very large Renée style home that looked ancient and antique with shutters and a widow’s walk. There was also a barn slightly hidden by the house, and what looked like an old tree house in a maple tree.

Jacob honked the horn three times and suddenly the front door opened to reveal a middle-aged couple, three people around my age, and an abnormally large dog. They looked very excited and happy to see the car.
As I stepped out of the passenger side, the dog loped over to me and jumped up to lick me properly across the face. Slightly disgusted I pushed the dog away and wiped its slobber off my cheek. I had never gotten along with animals ever since my neighbours poodle Georgette bit me when I was little. Needless to say, I bit her back. I mean I was 4 for crying out loud!

What did you expect me to do? Cry?

My actions were met by laughter from a tall, blonde girl with her hair swooped up into something that resembled a ponytail. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt the both looked as though they were well worn and much loved.

“C’mere Sidney. You are more nuisance than anything.” She said, jumping off the steps and running to both Sidney and me. She had a wide and welcoming smile abut her and she seemed to be easy-going and energetic. Just like the dog in a way.

“Hi! I’m Scarlet. My mother was obsessed with Gone with the Wind when she was pregnant with me, hence my name. You must be Renee. Oh here, let me help you with your bags. Jacob is nothing but an old bag that’s only good for drives into town. Isn’t that right Jacob?” She asked jokingly. A devilish look gleamed in her sea green eyes.

I knew right from that moment that we would be best friends. But I also had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. I thought it over and concluded that it was just my nerves from the whole ordeal, and not the fact that I have been known to be slightly psychic, or going crazy. That, and I was still wanted dead or alive.


- - - - - - -


I was finding myself wishing that my friend Aaron was here with me when Scarlet was showing me around the house where I would now be living. How could you NOT miss a guy who was a total Goth and wore high-healed boots covered in sliver buckles and spikes? He was really the sweetest guy that I knew and it hard to know that I could never talk to him during this. He was my confidant, my psychiatrist, and one hell of a baseball player. But he was also like a big brother to me, and being in the WPP, or the Canadian equivalent anyways, I was ordered not to contact any of my old friends at all. That’s the worst of it. I have no way of knowing how things are with him, or with anyone else for that matter…especially Derek.

But now I would just have to try and put my old life behind me. The only people who knew about me, well who knew that I was in hiding, were Scarlet and her family. And they had to know since I was supposed to be living with them for a while. I mean what were they supposed to do really? Just be like, ‘Oh yes, this is some girl who we don’t really know but we are supposed to pretend to be her close family even though we’re only really related through a third cousin’s marriage’? I think not. Although, it’s true that the whole family had to be sworn to secrecy before I got here, but they were only told he absolute basics concerning my situation. They were told that I was from Vancouver, British Colombia, and that some really gross guys, who were wanted in just about every province and state in North America, wanted to be served my head on a platter. It’s a little graphic and disgusting but absolutely 100% true. And you want to know something? I could barely control my bladder when thinking about it. Just the thought of it scared me that much. Normal seventeen year olds didn’t have to face this kind of torture. But I guess that I’m just a lucky person. First braces, then this. Is my life great or what?

I was sort of, no, scratch that, totally lost in my thoughts when I saw that Scarlet had stopped in front of a wooden door that had been stained in a cherry red color. What surprised me most was that it had my name on it, by way of a plaque painted bright yellow. It was quite touching, and was even more so when I stepped inside.

One of the special agents must have sent a photo of my old bedroom from all angles because this one was very similar to my room in Vancouver. Even the paint color on the wall, which was a warm, mossy green was similar. It was really bizarre and it took me a while to say anything about it. The design of the room made me feel as if I had never really left home. It was calming too, like a warm blanket. It had that distinct feeling of security that I knew I would need to have in the months to come. It was that moment that I knew that someone who loved me wanted me, and that I would be happy. But gut feelings aren’t always spot on. Even for me.


- - - - - - -


I woke the next morning feeling like I needed to go back to sleep for another couple hundred years. The jet leg from the four hours difference had caught up to me, and I was thoroughly exhausted. I felt like an old granny who suffered from arthritis as I got up out of bed. I decided that what I really needed was a nice hot shower. One of the perks that this room had over my old one was that it had its own bathroom, which was shared by another joining door by Scarlet. So it wasn’t truly my own, but who wants to go into minute details?

As the hot water cascaded down on me I realized that this wouldn’t be so bad. I would make new friends here, and in due time I would be heading back to my home sweet home. And maybe when that time came I wouldn’t be ready to go back and I would stay here with the people that I was already growing to love.

Later when I was rummaging through the newly hung clothing in my new and improved closet, preparing to get dressed for the day, I remembered for the first time that morning that I had school. It was Monday, even though it didn’t feel like it at all, so that normally meant that it was a school day. I picked out my most statement-making outfit (who said yellow and black plaid went out of fashion?), put my brown hair into a messy ponytail and walked downstairs to see where everyone else was.
I walked into the kitchen to find Scarlet sitting at the table doing last minute homework and she was muttering to herself about verb tenses in French. All in all it was quite funny and I startled Scarlet by suddenly laughing.

“Oh! Hey Renee. Sleep well? Ready to face school?” She chirped, her voice full of pep and vigour.

“Yeah thanks, I slept just fine. But aren’t we late for school? Its nine o’clock already.” I asked, a little frazzled by the time.

“Yes and no. I’m late, but you aren’t. My dad is driving us to school today. James and Hannah already left though and so did my mother.”

I was wracking my brain trying to remember who James and Hannah were, then I realized that they were Scarlet’s siblings that I had met briefly the night before. They were both in university but had to leave for school soon after they welcomed me. They had to go back for classes. They were really nice too. They didn’t ask too many questions; especially the stupid ones that made you secretly want to smack the person in the head. That was always a top quality in my books.

“Want a muffin?” asked Scarlet, holding out a banana chocolate chip muffin just as Uncle Fred walked into the kitchen looking a little flustered with his tie undone.

“Time to go girls. We are already later than I hoped we would be and I have a big case to prepare for. We really must go.” He said while searching through the papers in his briefcase.

On the way out the door, Scarlet handed me the muffin and I shoved it in my bag to be eaten later. Probably during class if I could help it.


- - - - - - -


“No smoking on school grounds, you can not be late to class, you must be respectful of school property and staff, …”

I had been sitting in the principal’s office for the last forty-five minutes.

Although I had blocked out that annoying feminine voice after about ten of them, I was annoyed that I had had to sit in this really uncomfortable chair. I mean if the school board is forced to bore all of their new students into a coma, the least they could do is give us a comfy chair to sit on. At least they could have provided a painting to stare at, instead of the boring white wall that was provided. Let’s just say that I was really wishing that I were somewhere else. Anywhere else. Even in a medieval torture chamber. Oh well, at least I wasn’t in my math class, that was going on right as the principal was dictating at me. And it did give me some time to think about the situation that I was in.

The school had no idea who I was and why I was really here. I knew that I shouldn’t tell anyone, or even discuss it with Scarlet and her family, but I wondered how I would do with a secret this big. I knew that I had to keep it for my own safety, but what if I had to tell it for the same reason? What if I got involved with someone, like a guy, and had to tell him for his own safety? Maybe for that reason I shouldn’t get involved with anyone. But could I really trust anyone? What about my new family? It was totally possible that they could be approached my whoever was after me and be bribed with a lot of money in return for me. Life is just to confusing for a teenage girl who is also in the Witness Protection Program. At least I was safe talking to myself in my head. Unless there has been a new invention that could read peoples thoughts.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the principal saying, “Well Miss. McTavish I guess that you should be off to your class now. Just remember the rules that I told you and you will do just fine here at Our Mother of Mercy Catholic High School.”

“Thank you very much.” I said, glad as hell to finally be able to leave there. I winced as I stood up. The chair had really done a number on my rear and it hurt to move. I wished that I could sue the company who made those chairs so damn uncomfortable.

“Before you leave though,” Came that annoying voice I was wanting to be rid of, “You’ll have to get yourself a uniform for tomorrow. However, for today, I can write you a pass for your…attire…Just be sure to be in proper clothing tomorrow. Alright Miss. McTavish?”

“Yes Ma’am.” I said through a clenched, smiling jaw, and quickly left before anything else was said.

Walking down the hallway I checked over my schedule to see what class I was in. I vaguely remembered hearing the bell ring what I was in the office. I glanced at the clock on the wall to see what time it was, 11:20. It really made no sense to go to what would have been my World History class now. There were only 10 minutes left until lunch, so I decided to find where my locker was. The number read 285 on the piece of paper. That meant that my locker was on the second floor. I located a stairwell, and walked up to the next landing.

By wandering around and reading the numbers off the lockers, I saw that I had to go right to find mine. 246, 247, 248, I walked along at a relatively slow pace, making sure to read the numbers correctly. 267, 268, 269, I was drawing closer. I could see that a guy was already at his locker, rummaging through a mass of papers. 282, 283, 284, 285…wait a minute! The guy was rummaging through MY locker! He had his back to me and obviously didn’t hear me approach him. I noticed that he had headphones on over his dark brown hair and the volume of his music was so loud that I could hear it while standing a few feet away from him. I tapped him on the shoulder and startled him into reality.

“What are you doing in my locker?” I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.

He looked confused for a second then his face relaxed and a small smile crossed his lips. “You must be Renee. I’m Nicholas O’Shea, your locker partner.”

Locker partner? I had not agreed to that. Even in my high school in Vancouver I had my own locker. And it was a big school, over 2500 students in it. But suddenly in this small town, where probably aren’t even that many people who can go to high school, I have to share a locker. Perhaps it might just be me but did there not seem to be something wrong with this picture?

I sighed. It was my plan to keep a relatively low profile here, and raising a fuss over this little problem wouldn’t keep that plan. It would also just land me back in that boring office, sitting in that uncomfortable chair and listening to the monotonous voice of my new principle, so I decided to relent. “Yes I’m Renee. Renee McTavish. So maybe you can tell me why we have to share a locker?” Slightly snotty I know, but what else was I supposed to say? ‘Mind if you just don’t use this locker?’ Oh well, he would probably think that I was just another rude new girl in school who had a huge ego.

Although he seemed to notice my rudeness, he just gave a tight, forced smile. “Yeah sure I can fill you in. I should have told you first thing. This year we had a lot of grade nines and not enough lockers. So a lot of people had to double up. I was the only grade 12 who didn’t already have a partner.”

“Are you saying that you have no friends to share with?” I asked, but quickly regretted and wished that I hadn’t said it. My mouth sometimes over powers my mind for a second. It also tends to get me in trouble. But surprisingly enough, Nicholas just laughed. Wow. How weird is he?

“That hurt.” he said sarcastically. He came off as really arrogant, but that just made me regret not being snottier to him. He picked up a guitar case that I hadn’t noticed up off of the floor. “Why don’t you just-” Just then the lunch bell rang, drowning out what Nicholas was saying. The hall was suddenly swamped with people and noise.

I was just about to give Nicholas a piece of my mind when I heard the familiar sound of Scarlet’s loud voice. “Renee!” she shrieked when she saw me. She said good-bye to the people who were with her and walked over towards me. I waved and turned to talk to Nicholas again and saw that he was no longer there. I decided that he must have gone ahead to lunch.

“Hey,” I said to Scarlet when she was closer. “Ready for lunch?”

“I’m totally famished.” Was my dramatic response, complete with the appropriate hand gesture. It was also the first time that I took notice of Scarlet wearing a pleated kilt and pressed white blouse that had the schools monogram on it.

She giggled and linked her arm through mine. “Shall we go to the famous cafeteria?” She asked.

Laughter is always contagious, I laughed and said, “Duh!”