Chapter 4
It was Wednesday and spring break was at its halfway point. Once again, Samantha found herself walking amongst the shelves and display cases of Norway's science fiction bookstore. Wandering through the back she felt the slight nudge of an unnoticed presence. She was someone who was easily startled and nearly leaping out of her skin, turned to find Henry hunting through the books behind her. Buried in his own search, he barely noticed her as well.
“Oh, excuse me,” she said.
She turned to find Henry with a well-worn book in his hands, skimming its table of contents.
“Henry, I didn't know you came here.”
Henry's nerves immediately ignited as his forehead beaded up with sweat.
“Um, yeah,” he replied. “I come down here once in a while.”
A tense moment passed as each struggled to find a way to resolve their brief conversation, but seeing Henry's choice of books prompted her curiosity.
“What's that?” Samantha asked.
Henry glanced at the cover.
“Oh, uh, it's a copy of Project Blue Book. It was published by the Air Force in 1976, but later, people started to say that it was just a diversion, using people's fascination with UFO's.”
Samantha was more than a bit surprised and began to feel a little guilty that she had never taken the time to discover Henry's interests.
“Wow,” she began. “You seem to know a lot about this stuff.”
Henry nervously glanced down at the book. Even if they never spoke again, Henry would always treasure this moment with the girl he felt so deeply for.
“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “I do a lot of reading about it.”
He glanced at the books behind her. The entire section was on the paranormal.
“So, you're into ghosts?” he asked. “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I don't know if you know this, but I get called 'Wolfman' at school. Some of the guys found out that I'm into UFO's, so I get teased about that too.”
Henry was the typical high school geek, something that Samantha understood too well.
“So, you ever seen a ghost?” he asked.
“Um, no,” Samantha replied. “Well, not yet. How about you? Ever seen a UFO?”
“No, just satellites and shooting stars,” Henry answered. “But I think it's just a matter of time. I mean, we can't be the only ones out here, right?”
Another nervous moment passed.
“So, have you been in any of the old houses in town?” he continued.
“One or two,” she replied. “Mostly at night.”
Henry was stunned at the idea that such a frail girl wandering through any abandoned house alone might either be crazy or incredibly brave.
“Alone?” he said. “Wow, you've got more balls than I do. Aren't you afraid that something's going to happen?”
She had never considered the issue of safety and had always thought of Norway as a quiet harbor of isolated protection, immune from the violent influences of the outside world. But every town has its secrets and Norway was no exception.
“I never thought about that,” Samantha replied. “I guess I go there hoping something 'will' happen.”
Henry grinned playfully.
“So, what would do if you did see a ghost?”
Samantha had never considered this before. She visited these places out of curiosity, yet gave no thought as to how she might react should some misty presence fade through a wall in front of her.
“I guess I'd piss my pants,” she replied.
For the first time, Samantha and Henry no longer felt the tense wall that had separated them. They were having a real conversation, innocent and without anticipation or anxiety.
Samantha glanced at her watch in a moment of self-consciousness.
“Oh, shit, I got to go,” she said. “I'll talk to you later, okay?”
Taking the first few steps toward the front of the store her pace was slowed by the sound of Henry's voice. Somehow, he managed to find a degree of confidence in himself he never knew he had, and catching up to her, asked her one last question.
“Hey...Sam,” he began. “It's still early, how about a slice of pizza? I'll buy.”
While it was far from being a date, Samantha was surprised that anyone would invite her out for any reason. She looked at her watch again.
“You know, I think I have some time. Sure.”
Henry was elated and secretly thought of it as a first date.
“Great,” he replied. “Just let me get some more money and we can go down to Aris.”
They walked to the counter and paid for their books and leaving the bookstore walked to the nearest ATM where Henry withdrew twenty dollars. From there, they walked the short distance down Main Street and into Ari's Pizza. Naturally, Henry did the gentlemanly thing and opened the door for Samantha. They ordered a slice of pepperoni pizza and two bottles of water. Samantha had sworn off soda since an experiment in school where they were able to dissolve a tooth in a jar of Coke, quickly reaching the conclusion that water was far healthier. Their conversation seemed to go on forever with no shortage of topics - UFO's, alien abduction, area 51, hauntings and the near death experience, to name a few. Eventually, the day grew late as the hard orange light of evening settled over the town. Henry looked out through the restaurant's glass facade, then at his watch.
“Shit!” he exclaimed. “It's getting late.”
Samantha glanced at her own watch.
“Oh, shit,” she began. “I’ve got to go. My mom's going to kill me.”
They got up from the table, threw their trash in the waste barrel and walked toward the door and stepping back out onto the sidewalk Henry stopped her, asking if he could walk her home. As small towns go, Norway was relatively safe, but it only takes one incident to sound the alarm of paranoia and Henry wanted to be sure that Samantha got home safe.
The expression on Henry's face told Samantha how important it was for him to be certain of her safety, especially at night. She also got the feeling that he was somewhat provincial in the way he expressed respect and manners. She could have walked home by herself, but given the look on Henry's face, she found herself unable to say no. Once they arrived, a nervous tension rose as they made their way closer to the front door. Both were overtaken by it. Samantha decided to speak first so as to get ahead of any emotional attachments that Henry may be developing.
“Just to let you know,” she began. “I'm not really...looking for anyone. I just didn't want you to get your hopes up or anything.”
Henry understood completely, but secretly, he was crushed. However, the one thing that didn't entirely tear him down was that it wasn't personal. Samantha simply wasn't ready to pursue a relationship. Not wanting to linger on what had become an uncomfortable topic, Henry quickly changed the subject.
“So,” he began. “Do you ever go to any of the cemeteries? You know, do a little ghost watching?”
“Yeah, once in a while,” she answered.
Henry realized there was little chance of even dating, but he wanted to be sure that Samantha knew there were no hard feelings.
“How about going ghost spotting some time? I mean, you probably shouldn't do that alone, right? And it wouldn't be, like, a date or anything.”
Samantha's response was a bit guarded. On one hand, she preferred to maintain a distance from people. On the other, perhaps it was time to let someone into her bubble. But of course, the real issue was trust and for reasons unknown to her, she had never completely trusted anyone beyond her mother. For this reason, she found friendships to be nearly impossible to establish but she was willing to try.
“Um, yeah,” she replied. “We can do that. But maybe in the summer when it's warmer. It's still kinda cold at night, and I'd rather do it after summer vacation starts. You know, finals and all that.”
Henry was not a very good student and was falling badly behind in math, so he
understood Samantha's request to wait.