The Den

The 13th Floor

It was a smooth start. They crossed town on Houston Street. The city was starting to wake up. A few people were out jogging. A few were holding cups of coffee and shuffling their way to work. A man held a leash that was attached to five dogs. He was trying to cross at Broadway. Not an easy feat. Alex and Skyla drove straight out to the West Side Highway and made a right. They drove alongside a cruise ship just making its way back to port. Skyla stared past Alex and watched the immense ship eclipse a tiny water taxi. What a great day to start a journey. She felt a sudden sadness for those who were returning home on the ship.

The next thought brought an overwhelming sense of happiness. Skyla felt exhilarated! She felt as if she had total freedom for the first time. She rolled down the window and breathed in the hot and sticky city air. She felt it fill her lungs and even let out a little whoop. Alex laughed as he looked over at her. His eyes were so green right now that they looked like the color of the Hudson River behind him.

They made it out of the city in no time at all. They left the Lincoln Tunnel in the rearview mirror and were waved at by the cranes and cargo that occupied Bayonne. Planes roared out of Newark and left a trail of sound behind them. Alex's smile was a bit crooked as he shook his head slightly and gave her a sly glance. Skyla wondered what was going through his head anyway. She wished she had not forgotten how to read minds. It had gradually stopped sometime after her eighteenth birthday. What could he really think of her? A strange girl in a cafe invites him to take an impromptu trip. A girl willing to quit her job, pack all her belongings, and leave her apartment without any significant planning. Come to think of it, what did she think of herself? She would ponder the question ... later.

They sat silently for a while listening to Credence Clearwater Revival, their greatest hits or something. Alex thought it was great traveling music. Skyla had to agree. Several times, Skyla spotted Alex sneaking looks at her. When she peered over to catch him, he would always give that cute little grin and shake his head. It was while Credence's "Bad Moon Rising" was playing that Skyla remembered she didn't know much about Alex and his childhood. She would be meeting his twin sister, Lucy, and had no idea what to expect. Alex said that Lucy didn't really have much of a memory of places before New Orleans either. No ties to his past were going to be revealed through her. "Melted in the heat," she recalled him saying. Skyla suddenly became gloomy. It swept over her quickly and completely. She looked over at Alex. He saw her out of the corner of his eye and smiled again. He grasped the steering wheel and gave it a playful shift back and forth to the beat.

"Alex, how does Lucy feel about me coming on this road trip with you? I mean, you haven't seen her in six months, right? So how did she feel when you told her that I would be coming along?"

"Oh, she doesn't know I am coming," he said.

"What? Why didn't you call her and tell her?"

"Well, because she doesn't have a cell-I don't think-and it didn't seem necessary. I guess I figured I would just show up and see how she is doing."

"She doesn't have a cell? How do you get in touch with her?"

"I can get in touch with her if I need to speak with her, but this isn't an emergency or anything. Plus, it was all last-minute."

Skyla pondered that for a minute. It hadn't occurred to her until right this second-was it possible that Alex was a complete psycho? Was it possible that he had kidnapped her and was going to sell her on the black market to a bunch of crazed, prostitute-starved businessmen? Okay. Not likely.

Is it getting hot in here? Great! If the car turns twenty degrees hotter, he will surely leave me on the side of the road. I would have to charge a train ticket on my credit card and my father would know that I went on this asinine trip with a complete stranger. He would attack my judgment once again and insist that I move home to live with my mother. Ugh! Could I be having a meltdown right here in the Jeep Cherokee?

Alex interrupted her internal struggle. "Listen, Skyla, calm down. I can call now if you want. I mean, it isn't a big deal or anything. I know where she works and stays. If she isn't there, I can track her down. The point wasn't for me to visit Lucy. It was to show you around. I, well, I am not sure that you want to meet the people she hangs out with anyway. They are ... not the friendliest crew. I am not sure that I want to introduce you to them or to Lucy, for that matter."

"Oh, I am calm. I am fine. I'm fine. I just realized that I didn't know you that well. That's all. I guess I got a bit scared for a second."

"Scared of me?" He pulled the car to the side of the turnpike and came to a stop. He put it in "park." Skyla was ultra-aware of the other cars whizzing by them. He took his seat belt off. He turned in the seat. He looked at Skyla. Her heart began to race. She took her seat belt off, too. Alex put his hands on her hips and slid her closer. He leaned in. "I am not scary, Skyla. I am really not."

Skyla could smell his after-shave. It was musky and sweet at the same time. He leaned closer to Skyla, and she leaned toward him. Skyla breathed in the heady scent. He was drawn to the pale skin right below her left ear. He felt it with his thumb and put the other fingers of his hand in her curly hair. He leaned even closer and brought his lips to that soft part of her neck. He kissed it gently, using his tongue. Skyla thought it was sweet, the way a first kiss should be if it were on the lips.

He stopped abruptly and gave a low-throated chuckle. Then he brought Skyla square in front of him so that the steering wheel was against her back. He put his hands at the nape of her neck. Then he moved them up to her hair. He grabbed it, not too gently, actually. He pulled her in and kissed her square on the lips. It was a hard kiss, and she felt his tongue too early. Then he stopped, looked at her, and started again. Skyla put her hand on his chest, a gentle urge to slow down. He got it. He became a bit softer. It was real nice. Then he stopped. Smiled. Leaned his forehead on hers. Their noses touched. Skyla breathed again. She looked up and smiled.

He looked down at her. "Ahhh, there she is. Okay then?"

"Okay then," she answered without knowing what he meant. She smiled back.

He kissed her right cheek. She slid off him to return to her side of the car. He turned forward, pulled his seat belt on, and put the car back in "drive." He started back on the road and had to maneuver at a fast pace to merge with the passing traffic. It was a few minutes before Skyla pulled it together enough to face front and put her belt back on. They were off again, "Fortunate Son" blasting on the iPod. No doubt about it-this would be a journey to remember. Maybe even the trip of a lifetime.

The vegetation along the side of the road began to change into something wilder. The bushes became thicker. In some spots they were jade-colored and in others almost a fluorescent lime. The evergreens were less robust and threw unexpected shadows over the highway. Skyla imagined that Alex's eyes would be truly green now, and she wished that she could look deep into them one more time. They were well on their way to D.C. Skyla had to admit it: She was excited to visit the capital. She hadn't been there since the seventh grade. She remembered how a few students had thought it would be funny to dance with the Hare Krishnas. "Not funny!" her mother screamed when she saw the pictures. She was wrong, though, because Brooke and Skyla still laughed whenever they talked about it.

D.C. was going to be the first overnight stop. Skyla could feel her nerves on edge. It was as if a fuse were lighted inside her. It was quite unusual for her to be affected to this extent. Alex had some kind of magic touch.

Quite on cue, Alex said, "So ... D.C. is our first overnight stop."

"Yes. I think we should definitely do some sightseeing in the morning," Skyla responded.

"Right. I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about it before we got there. You know, I don't want you to get all freaked out again."

At first Skyla didn't understand what he was talking about. She looked over and he shot her a shy little glance. She got it then.

"Oh. We can talk about it. Separate beds, right?" Skyla asked.

"Right. Of course! We will have separate beds, unless you were scared or cold or something. I wouldn't insist that you stay in your bed if you really wanted to crawl into mine." Alex smiled but kept his eyes on the road.

"Yes, I know you are quite the gentleman. That is established, isn't it? However, I think I will be quite cozy in my bed." Skyla hoped she sounded surer than she felt.

"Okay then." He said it with finality, but his smile hinted at something else.

Alex followed the arrow on the GPS into downtown D.C. They turned the corner and saw all the people on the sidewalk. Some were lying down and others were seated. One man leaned lazily against a boarded-up liquor store. He seemed to be waiting without any expectations. Skyla imagined this man was not expecting much to ever happen. He stood impossibly still without any apparent intention of ever moving. I would die if I tried to stay in one spot for that long.

They drove a few more blocks and turned left. The neighborhood changed drastically. Pedestrians raced along the sidewalk, dressed in suits and carrying briefcases. The Jeep rolled into the parking lot of a hotel. They were across the street from some consulate. Skyla took a look around, hoping that she had made a good decision about sharing the hotel room. She chewed her thumbnail and then twirled her hair a bit. Alex parked and popped the trunk. He hauled the snowboarding bag to the front desk, his own bag flung lightly across his shoulder. Skyla stood behind him and finished off the rest of her nail. She shifted from foot to foot as he got their keys. They walked together to the elevator and she watched the illuminated floor indicators descend to "L," not wanting to meet his eyes. She could feel her stomach tremble. They stepped into the elevator and went up to the tenth floor. They stepped off together, and immediately Skyla realized it: This was a smoking floor.

Skyla grabbed his arm and said, "Wait! I can't do this. It stinks on this floor. I forgot to say I need nonsmoking. I did not realize that hotels still had smoking floors. I won't be able to stand it."

Alex looked slightly put off, but he forced a toothless smile and returned to the elevators. Back at the front desk there was a line. Skyla wanted to melt right into the floor. She thought maybe she should have been willing to put up with the smell for a night. She sat on her bag and allowed Alex to handle the tight-lipped woman behind the desk. She looked less than pleased to see him again.

"All set. Room 1304," he said, walking over to Skyla. Skyla laughed a little. "What?" Alex asked.

"Really? The thirteenth floor?"

"Really." He answered. Then he stepped onto the elevator. "Is that a problem?"

"No. I just thought you were kidding for a minute." Skyla tried to sound relaxed. She tried to convince herself that it was no big deal to be on the thirteenth floor. However, she did remember reading once that all hotels skipped that floor. They were supposed to go from 12 to 14, as if fooling the floor: Oh, we know you are actually 13, but we will call you 14 so as not to tempt fate. Skyla had to guess that modern hotels weren't superstitious. Maybe it was time Skyla faced facts: Numbers didn't bring bad luck. People did. She would make a mental note to tell Brooke that she was no longer following silly old rules, such as avoiding the number 13. Also, that one about black cats crossing a path was inconvenient. With that resolved, she moved on to the next issue on her mind: beds.

She sneaked a sideways glance at Alex as he opened the door to 1304. He walked in and she followed, shutting the door behind her. Alex walked to the far bright-white bed and dropped the bags. Alex turned and took two long strides back toward Skyla.