by L. B. Carter
Exhale through the nose. Rena’s breath was a bit shaky: relief that he’d finally let go, or... She swallowed hard. Her heart continued to race in her chest, although she’d been released. Perhaps the little swarm of fish darting about her stomach hinted at a feeling more worrisome than anxiety: Rena had enjoyed Nor’s touch.
◆◆◆
The first to make it to lunch, Rena sat convincing herself that the rain this morning had given her pneumonia or some equally mind-altering illness. That would account for the nausea and the momentary insanity of letting Nor—a stalker!—basically hold her freaking hands.
She savagely wrenched a piece off her bagel to dunk in the tiny cream cheese pot. It was too big to fit in. Why did they ration cream cheese? Shouldn’t a school promote eating more dairy? Calcium and strong bones and all that? Rena ripped the piece in half, one part flinging out of her fingers to skid into the middle of the hallway.
“Rough day?” a high-pitched voice asked. Tilly’s many bangles jingled and her unruly red ringlets flopped every which way as she bent to pick up the rebellious piece of dough. Her likely-hand-sewn, floor-length peasant skirt ballooned out as she dropped to join Rena on the floor in the little nook by the library. Tables were also a rationed commodity and well defended by social hierarchy. Tilly pulled a bag of potato chips from her hemp bag and started munching loudly. “So? What went wrong in your classes?”
What didn’t go wrong? Well, her vase. Her vase had gone very right. In Nor’s capable hands anyway. Rena busied hers with her pastry, trying to rid them of the ghost feel of his warm palms.
The munching paused. Like Grandpa, Rena’s friends were comfortable with her silence. Instead, they’d become skilled at reading her facial clues. “Oooo. What has you all pink-cheeked?” Tilly’s green eyes, almost identical to her brother’s, widened gleefully. Sometimes too skilled.
Rena focused on scraping the last of the white goodness from the sides of the doll-sized pot. Like magic, an unopened pot fell into her lap. Rena smiled gratefully up at Kayna.
Behind her, Liam gave his sister’s head a ruffle, grinning when she reached up to slap his hand away. “What are you doing here, Tiny? Your friends finally wise up and dump you?” he teased.
The scowl didn’t sit well on Tilly’s usually-smiling face. “Club meetings.”
Kayna and Liam sat, completing their little friend circle, closing it off from the hallway. Stew was also usually at meetings for the wicked smart.
“Sure. We’ll pretend you’re not here to have your big brother spoon feed you.” A chip bounced off his chest and plinked to the floor. Liam just laughed and popped it in his mouth.
“Ewwww.” Kayna scrunched her nose delicately at her boyfriend. “No more kisses for you today. How’s junior year starting for you, Til?”
Tilly’s face brightened again. “What I was going to tell Liam—” She punctuated with an angry glare. “—was that I heard from Mandy who told Stephan who was in class with Josh—you know, Jenna’s boyfriend?—and she told me that there’s evidently a new senior!” Oh, for freak’s sake! This guy was inescapable. “And he’s from Canada!” That explained why he didn’t think twice about picking up a stranger off the side of the road.
Liam seemed confused, probably in part due to the telephone chain of contacts. “Why do I care?”
Tilly rolled her eyes. “Duh. Canada; he probably plays hockey. He can replace Justin as goalie.”
“Wait, what happened to Justin?” Kayna said with alarm. Ever since he got his scar, she tended to worry.
“Probation,” Liam comforted. “Not an injury.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. She let him, so the no-kisses rule must not apply to the cheek.
“Dumbarse. What did he expect?” Tilly tutted. Her verbiage was also a link to the home country she was too young to remember. “Spends more time in the boy’s second floor bathroom with a string of cheerleaders, screwing out what remaining brain cells he has, than in class.” Rena coughed on her bagel as Liam smacked his sister upside the head. Tilly probably didn’t have many brain cells left with how often Liam scolded her for her lack of filter. “What? Everyone knows that’s what he does. Pretty soon he’ll be JT.” Rena’s smile became strained. Kayna noticed and offered a sympathetic smile. “What?” Tilly repeated, noticing the exchange.
“The SUERS were jerks this morning as per usual.” Kayna tried to be light about it.
“Sorry, girl.” Tilly shot Rena a look of pity, riling Rena back up. “Don’t let him get to you. I personally think he’s just grumpy. I mean can you imagine how uncomfortable it must be with the STDs he probably has itching all up in his—”
“Tilly!” Liam cut the snarky comment off, pinching his face to avoid laughing with the other girls.
“Okay, enough.” Kayna waved a hand between the siblings. “Tilly you were telling us about the new kid.”
“Oh, right! I haven’t seen him myself yet”–and thankfully didn’t know that Rena had or she’d pounce—“but I’m sure I can get some more details. All I know so far is he has some pompous name. Hmmm, Martin? Melvin. No, wait, Nathaniel? Nolan.” Norton. “Whatever,” Tilly flapped a hand. “I’ll find that out too. Then you can ask him about joining the team!” She threw a last chip in her mouth and smiled confidently as she crumpled the bag, picking up Rena’s two empty cream cheese containers to throw out too.
She should be confident. People looked at her petite stature and pale coloring and falsely assumed her friendliness was harmless. Details, she could certainly get. Tilly could probably find out anyone’s underwear preference within a day. Great, now Rena was thinking about Nor’s underwear.
Rena slapped a hand to her forehead to remove the images attempting to surface. Her friends were all peering at her when she peeked through her fingers. Barnacles. Well, might as well tell them about her interactions with him before Tilly found out an embellished version from the gossip circles.
Rena went to reach for a notepad in her bag when the bell rang. Saved by the bell. Cliché, but appreciated nonetheless.
“Shoot, I need to print my English essay!” Kayna panicked. “See you all after school!” She all but dragged her boyfriend after her as she stepped over Rena and pulled open the library door.
Tilly waved and was already scurrying away on her hunt to get a description of Nor. A description Rena could’ve given her.
Well, not the underwear part.
Yep, Rena was totally coming down with a fever.
◆◆◆
Rena hesitated for a moment after swinging her locker open at the end of the day. Her bag was still damp. She sighed and pulled the army green canvas strap over her head where the cold immediately started to seep into her shoulder. It didn’t matter; it was still raining and she had the walk home to get nice and soggy again.
“Barb’s tonight?” Kayna chirped from behind.
Rena smiled. It was Friday. They’d started the weekly tradition last spring. They’d met on a Friday at Barb’s when Rena had first arrived in town and had learned the hard way about Grandpa’s inability to cook. They seemed to share a habit of dipping fries in milkshakes—salty and sweet—a quirk that bonded them regardless of the lack of conversation. Maybe something she’d picked up from her parents. Rena turned and nodded, grinning at her friend.
“Excellent. I’ll pick you up?” Rena nodded again. “Okay, gotta go wrangle The Rugrats,” Kayna waved and trotted down the hallway to catch up to Liam. He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to the front doors to fetch her brothers from the elementary school.
Rena trailed them toward the exit, her eyes on the door as it swung closed after the couple. There were a few of the sailing crew still hovering in the lobby, identifiable by their yacht shoes. They drifted out the second set of double doors. One remained behind, leaning between the two sets of doors, a foot casually propped on the wall, hands in pockets. A pair of ocean blue eyes pierced her, like a searchlight finding its quarry. Nor saw the spectre.
&nbs
p; Still stalking.
Nor broke their staring contest to nod and wave at someone in the dispersing crowd. While he was distracted, Rena walked more quickly, hoping to slip past before he turned back, focusing on the downpour she was about to head into.
“Hey, wait.” His hand snaked out, snagging her wrist yet again, just as her palm touched the door handle.
The hold wasn’t tight, but still she froze. Trapped again.
“Just thought you might want a ride home.” He tipped his head towards the window, which was streaked with water. “Since it’s raining.”
Rena didn’t answer. He ducked his head to look into her eyes, a carefree smile on his face, unaware of how much his constant touching was triggering her. She wrenched free and stalked through the next door down, tossing her hair over her shoulder and stubbornly acting completely unaffected by the rain pelting her upturned face.
Nor jogged up beside her, keeping pace. “You’re going to get wet,” he observed.
She threw him a ‘duh’ look.
“It’s not a problem. I don’t mind giving you a ride.”
She kept walking.
“Please?” He tried a new tactic. “I could use the company.”
Rena snorted. She was far from good company.
“It’s fine if you don’t talk.”
Yeah, right. Humans were social by nature.
“Quiet is appreciated sometimes.”
But not all the time.
“Your grandpa’s place is on my way home anyway.”
Psh, his house was out of everyone’s—
Rena stopped walking.
Nor hadn’t expected her abrupt stop and overshot. He turned to look down at her from the curb, and then leaned into the small sapling next to him, attempting to look casual. The ropes wrapped around the frail trunk pulled on the stakes shoved haphazardly into the wood-chips beside the sidewalk.
“It’s a small town,” he interpreted her silence correctly. “It was easy to find out about you. Figured you’d need a ride home.” He shrugged.
She felt a short burst of annoyance that he could stalk her so successfully.
“Your friend gave me your address if that helps. The curly one?”
Kayna? Oh, Rena was so going to have words with her at Barb’s tonight. Angry words. Using all CAPS. And she was going to eat more than her half of the fries.
A car honked from her left.
“Hey! Spectre! Get outta the road,” a boisterous voice shouted through the inch the tinted window had been lowered on one of the cookie-cutter dark sedans leaving the parking lot. How on Earth did the purchase define you as ‘elite’ if the majority of town did it?
Rena kept her face composed as she moved a mere step—a measly foot—to the edge of the road.
“Maybe you should actually vanish into thin air!” There were several hearty chuckles before the window whirred shut and tires peeled.
She didn’t need to look round as the car sped past to see that the license plate would match that of her friendly neighborhood puddle-splasher from that morning. Instead, she watched Nor’s angry face as it tracked the car’s progress out of the lot. He turned back to her, sympathy softening his gaze and immediately hardening hers. Being pitied wasn’t much better than being mocked.
Rena took off into the rain, without a glance back, though Nor yelled her name. Her chin remained high, even as she schlepped through ankle-deep puddles, resolutely ignoring the throaty grumble of an old truck tailing her until she turned off into the peace of woods.
◆◆◆
“Vengeance is a terrible thing to stoop to,” Kayna harrumphed.
Rena grinned and shoved another chocolate shake-dipped fry into her mouth.
Kayna shook her head sadly, watching the little piece of deliciousness disappear. “You’re a cruel, cruel girl, Sirena. He said he brought you to school. By the way, way to not tell me about that! How was I to know you didn’t want a ride back if you let him pick you up in the first place?”
Rena glared across the table over the rim of her crystal shake glass.
Kayna’s eyes rolled as she sucked on her pink sugary goodness. “I know, I know. You can’t date. I meant ‘pick you up’ in the literal sense. With his car.” Rena had told Kayna that Their recovery plan meant focusing on herself, not getting involved with anyone for a while. That was a lie on all fronts. “He’s new; he was probably just trying to find friends! We should be nice. You don’t seem to mind Stew hanging around.”
That was true. But Stew was harmless. He never said much himself, never pushed for anything from Rena and, well, wasn’t a stalker!
He doesn’t know where I live, Rena scribbled in a blank margin of the little notebook she kept in her back pocket and shoved it across the table.
Kayna read it and gave a little head wobble in reluctant agreement. “Fine. But I doubt you’d react so catastrophically if I told him your address.” Kayna’s thick-lashed eyes tracked another fry’s progress into Rena’s shake and then her mouth. “Which just reaffirms that I was probably right. You like him.”
The fry caught in Rena’s throat.
”Aha!” Kayna crowed, looking overly pleased with herself.
Adamantly Rena shook her head, still coughing and spluttering, waving her hands in protest. She grabbed her shake to wash the fry down, taking a long pull. Pen back in hand to refute the idea, she paused to inhale and cough a few more times. All the while the oh-so-concerned-about-her-friend’s-choking Kayna giggled like a darn madwoman who’d just won the lottery.
“Everything okay over here?”
Kayna sobered and shifted a polite smile to Barb’s new waiter again. Rena looked up his tall form to find his brown eyes on her. She self-consciously focused on the chipped Formica table-top.
“We’re great, thanks, Reed.” Kayna chirped.
“Yeah? Just making sure you ladies are enjoying the food and not inhaling it. I don’t need Aunt Barb to can my ass on day one on the job. Although… I wouldn’t mind giving anyone at this table mouth-to-mouth.”
Typical. Anyone who worked out as much as Reed clearly did came with an ego. Rena looked up in time to catch his lopsided smirk. And he was still staring at her. What the heck? She made eyes at her friend.
Kayna noticed and rolled her eyes again, saying, “We’re sure. Thanks for checking on us though. Oh! And can I get another order of fries, please?”
Cheater.
Kayna just smiled at Rena’s narrowed gaze as Reed sauntered back behind the bar to give the kitchen her order. “You sure you’re not ready to date yet? He seems into you, too.”
Yeah it was freaking raining men. Rena looked out the window where it was raining not-men. The gravel parking lot was rapidly becoming a dirty slip-and-slide that customers with umbrellas were failing to fully navigate upright. What Rena needed was an umbrella for guys.
“–Sirena along the way.”
Rena tuned back in, seeing that during her daze, Liam had slid in beside his girlfriend.
“Right?” Kayna turned to Rena, repeating when she realized she hadn’t been heard, “We’ll head to the beach party around seven tomorrow and pick you up on the way?”
Barnacles. The beach party.
Rena had been coerced into agreeing to the school’s informal, annual Labor Day Beach Bash earlier in the summer when Kayna had pulled the whole you’re-only-here-one-more-semester-I-want-to-hang-out-with-my-girl guilt-trip, puppy-dog face included. That didn’t mean she was looking forward to all those people.
Or the beach.
“You can’t say no. You already got your revenge on me by eating all the fries, so I’ll just assume that’s a yes.”
Before Rena could think of any other protest, Tilly bounded up to their table. “Hiya girls! And brother,” she added much less enthusiastically. “So! Here’s the scoop: New guy is tragically not a hockey player, but he is single. He’s eighteen, living with Diner Barb and boat-fixer-guy Tom—his uncle and aunt, evidently, though I didn�
�t even know they had relatives—from some nowhere town in Canada. And he’s joining the sailing team, which just makes complete sense with a yuppy name like Norton Stanley.”
There was a pause as everyone internalized all the information that was just spewed at them in one breath.
Liam was first to recover, having years of practice. “What, you couldn’t find out his social security number? I suppose you’d need the middle name too.”
She ignored the sarcasm. “Actually his middle name is Willow,” she sniffed. “It was his mother’s name which I think is just beautiful and so meaningful. I heard a rumor his parents died and that’s why he’s here now. He’s only got his older brother, Reed, left.” She motioned behind her, and they all craned around her to stare at Rena and Kayna’s waiter who was ringing something up at the counter. He caught their stares and winked.
That was Nor’s brother? Wasn’t there some code that said you didn’t flirt with the girl your brother was already flirting with? Maybe Reed didn’t know Nor was stalking her already. Without siblings herself, Rena wasn’t sure how close they usually were; Tilly was only open with Liam because she was open with everyone and the Rugrats were too young to interact properly with Kayna. Abruptly Rena was sad for Nor. He lost his parents and wasn’t even close with his brother? Maybe he did just want a friend.
“And don’t forget to add that he gave Rena a ride to school this morning,” Kayna threw out, evilly, and then winced as Tilly gave a squeal. Karma.
“Oh my stars, he did not! That’s so sweet! Tell me everything! What does he drive? What music does he listen to? Or is he a talk radio kinda guy? Was he nice? What did he tell you?”
Oi. Before Rena could object to writing down her awkward carpool in her notebook, Liam had to make his witty comment. “What, you didn’t get that story from Jessica telling Jimmy who told Sasha or whoever?”
Tilly glared at him before her expression became speculative and her green gaze swung back to Rena. Rena was really not liking all the scrutiny lately. “Hmm, that’s a good point—don’t let it go to your head, though. Sirena obviously didn’t spill, but it is massively interesting that Norton didn’t say anything about it to anyone or I would’ve heard about this.”
