by T. A. Brock
After a second she nodded. “We’ll see.”
He ignored that and took her hand to help her up. “As for me being moody…well, I guess you’ll just have to put up with it.”
“Yeah, and I guess you’ll just have to put up with me being short.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
A red Passport.
Cori was in it, buckled into the passenger seat as it whipped haphazardly around a corner and then barely made it through a yellow light just as it turned red. Rex turned out to be a truly crazy driver.
But Cori really wasn’t paying all that much attention. She was thinking about everything that had happened earlier while she’d been at the river with Grayson. Mostly she was thinking about the things he’d told her, trying to figure out the mysteries he refused to reveal.
No matter what happens, in the end you’ll be the one who gets hurt.
Of all the things Grayson had said, that statement left her feeling cold. Deathly cold. He’d sounded so certain that she would end up brokenhearted. His voice, the way he’d shivered as he spoke, had left no room for doubt. When she pieced it together with the fact that he avoided her question about the fatality of his illness, she could only come to one conclusion, one that made her eyes prickle with fresh tears: Grayson was dying. Whatever disease he was suffering from, it was killing him.
It wasn’t fair, how people had to die when they hadn’t had a chance to fully live. Her dad hadn’t been done living and he’d been thirty-eight. Grayson’s situation was even worse than that. Seventeen was too young to have to leave this world—even if the next one was better.
Rex took another corner so fast Cori thought the Passport might have gone up on two wheels. She grasped at her seatbelt with one hand and the dashboard with the other.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Cori. I forget you aren’t used to my driving.”
“Uh, that’s okay,” she uttered as he ramped a set of railroad tracks.
“I live out of town,” Rex explained, as if that was a good enough excuse. When she raised both eyebrows and pursed her lips he put some more effort into the justification. “In order to get to my house you must travel halfway up a mountain via a supremely winding and bumpy dirt road.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I guess you could say I attack the road when I drive.”
Cori watched his profile so she wouldn’t have to look out the windshield. He seemed relaxed, though he had been curiously quiet for the drive. She thought maybe it was because Grayson had been there when he’d come to pick her up for the EPO meeting.
She studied her friend. Rex was tall like Grayson and Aiken, but he didn’t have their muscle mass. Not to say he was muscle-less. His was just the lean sort, his height making him seem lanky. He dressed nicely too. She would label his style “Geek Chic”: casual black pants, tight-fitting plaid button-up (sleeves rolled up, of course), red Converse sneakers, and those dark wire-rimmed glasses.
“So, Cori, I hope you don’t mind my asking but…are you and Drac—uh, Grayson together?”
The question surprised her, even as she’d expected it. Too bad she hadn’t really thought about how to answer it.
“Yes. I mean, no. Uh, I think so. Yes.”
Rex jerked the wheel left as he pulled into the parking lot of Asher’s only park. As far as parks went, the setting was gorgeous. Hiking trails wound in and out of tall pines laden with green shrubbery. A play area took up the main part of the grounds, but there were so many trees surrounding it, it almost seemed as if the colorful structure actually belonged in the woodsy scene. Even the picnic tables that dotted the area felt natural.
Rex parked the vehicle and turned off the engine before giving her a wry smile.
“Glad you’re clear on that.” He pulled the keys out, sighed dramatically, and rested his forearms on the steering wheel. “As long as you’re happy, that’s really all that matters, I suppose. Are you, Cori?”
She thought about it before she answered. Some of the things Grayson had told her at the river thrilled her. To know he thought about her when they were apart—just like she thought about him—was a relief.
And then there was the kissing. That made her happy for sure. She supposed she was mostly happy.
She nodded at Rex. “But listen, please don’t say anything because I don’t know if he…” She realized how stupid she sounded and stopped.
But Rex gave her a friendly smile. “Don’t worry, doll. I’m not a gossiper. Well, unless you count Peg. I tell her just about everything. I have to, you know. It’s a rule or something.”
“Thanks, Rex.”
They both got out and started walking toward the giant gazebo that marked the center of the park. It wasn’t your average gazebo. Cori could plainly see its white and blue spindled roof from the parking lot even though they were quite a way away. As they got closer, she could see students gathered inside. Peg was easily spotted thanks to her red and white polka-dot head scarf. Aiken was there too, standing close to Peg, arms crossed, leaning against a whitewashed side rail. Other students—she knew some of their names—were huddled in groups, their chatter leaching out into the rest of the park.
Rex cleared his throat in an awkward way and then whispered, “Dracula’s here.”
Cori’s head whipped all around, but she couldn’t see Grayson anywhere. “Where?” she whispered. “And quit calling him that!”
“Over there by the trees.” Rex conspicuously nodded in the right direction.
Peering through the thick green foliage, she spotted Grayson leaning against a tall pine tree, all casual. His leather jacket made him seem dangerous, but when their eyes met, she couldn’t feel afraid. His expression was stony, but even from that far away, she could see his eyes soften. In response, her heart sped.
“Go on ahead,” she told Rex. “Tell Peg I’ll be there in a minute.” He nodded and continued toward the gazebo, loping forward with his hands jammed in his pockets.
As Cori walked over to meet Grayson, she hugged her thin sweater tighter to her body and shivered. It was still too cold here in Asher. The term “spring” meant absolutely nothing in this part of the country. It was less of an intro into summer and more of a continuation of winter. She wished she’d remembered her jacket.
When she finally made it to Grayson, she suddenly felt unsure. What if he’d changed his mind about her? When she’d left, he told her he was going home and he would see her tomorrow. What if he was here to tell her never mind about all that stuff at the river?
Nervously, she stepped forward.
It only took a second for her to realize there was no need to worry. As soon as she was close enough, Grayson reached out and yanked her close, burying his face in her hair. He let out a long sigh, and she was bombarded by his fresh woodsy scent. Cori shivered, this time not because of the cold.
“Hey,” she murmured against his chest close to where her hand rested. She could easily feel his muscles through his thin gray T-shirt. “I thought you were going home.”
“Do you want me to?” he whispered.
Her fingers curled around his shirt of their own accord. “No. I was just curious as to why you were here.”
“You know why,” he said, his hand moving around to her back to hold her better. “I wanted to see you again. Stupid, huh? I started for home but ended up here instead.”
“Not stupid,” she insisted.
He pulled away to shrug off his jacket. “Here, put this on.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re cold.”
She shook her head. “But what about you?”
“I won’t need it,” he said dismissively. He held the leather out to her and she gladly took it, anticipating the residual warmth from his body. Except, the jacket was cold. Now that she thought of it, the few times they’d been close Grayson hadn’t exactly been warm. Not cold, really. Just not quite average as far as body temp should go. She knew it was because of his illness.
Cori started to take the jacket back of
f.
“What are you doing?”
“You’ve got to be freezing,” she said, touching his bare arm and confirming that he wasn’t very warm. “You need this more than I do.” She at least had a sweater, after all.
Grayson raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. “Trust me, that is not the case.” He went about slipping the jacket back into place and zipping it up. When he was done he cradled her cheek with one hand and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m not cold at all,” he said. “Now, you’re going to be late.”
Cori glanced at the gazebo full of students and nodded. “Come with me.”
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea.”
Frowning, she said, “Why not?”
Grayson touched the tip of her nose with his forefinger in a playful gesture. Playful Grayson. That was new. “Well, if I remember correctly, lunch didn’t go so well, did it?” Ah, so he’d noticed that. Huh.
“So what?”
“I wouldn’t want to make your friends mad.” He said it sarcastically, but the edge in his voice made Cori think he meant it.
“Come on.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the gazebo. Surprisingly, he didn’t put up much of a resistance as she wound her way back through the trees to the walkway.
“We don’t have to do this, you know,” he said as she dragged him along.
“Do what?”
“This. I can just wait for you over there.” He jerked one thumb over his shoulder, indicating the group of trees they’d just come from.
Cori shook her head and kept walking. Things were a bit tricky now, but she knew her friends would get used to him. Eventually.
As they climbed the white steps of the gazebo, Cori noticed most of the other students had quieted down and were waiting for Peg to start. Peg was over in a corner with Rex. From the looks of things, they were arguing. Or at least something was wrong because they were whispering harshly back and forth. Aiken was still leaned up against the railing, but now his head was tilted up to the domed ceiling and his eyes were closed.
Still holding on to Grayson’s hand, Cori ignored the strange looks coming from the other students and headed toward her friends. When they neared, Aiken’s head snapped up and he gaped at them. His eyes went to their linked hands before landing spitefully on Grayson. Cori snuck a peek at Grayson. His face was once more a stone, but his eyes were leveled on Aiken and it seemed like there was a challenge in them. But then maybe she was imagining it.
At that moment Peg stepped up to the front holding a clipboard. “Okay, everybody, let’s get this party started.” Immediately she had their attention. That was the kind of person she was, though; she commanded attention and people gave it willingly, gladly. Cori admired that about her—especially since her own personality demanded as much attention as a flea on the sidewalk. It was highly likely that Peg was the yin to Cori’s yang. They were opposites that complemented each other. She’d always thought of Asia that way, but now she wasn’t sure if that description fit. Cori realized Peg filled that role now, maybe even better than Asia had. The thought made her happy even as it made her sad. She should call Asia soon. It wasn’t right to just ignore all her voice mails and Facebook messages. Soon. Soon she’d get in touch with her.
“As you all know,” Peg continued with a grin, but the smile was tight, “next month is April and that means that I need all of you beautiful EPO members to help me out. There’s so much for us to do, but first I’d like to focus on the city-wide cleanup.” She consulted her clipboard. “I’ve cordoned off Asher into sections. I’d like you all to commit to overseeing the cleanup of one of these areas for the duration of the month. Groups of two or three for each section would be ideal. So who would like to volunteer to take care of section one—this would include the park and its bordering neighborhoods?” Peg held up a giant map with a big area highlighted red. At the top it was labeled “Section 1.”
A few hands shot up, and she smiled more easily. “Great!” she exclaimed, rolling up the map and tossing it to one of them. Then she proceeded to jot something down on her clipboard. “All right, now for section two…”
Cori listened patiently as sections two through eleven were claimed. She had to admit, she hardly knew where any of the sections were. Until Peg reached the last one.
“Okay, that leaves section twelve,” Peg said with a weary sounding sigh. “Any takers?”
No one volunteered.
“Come on, guys. It’s not that bad. I did it last year. Anybody?” Peg sounded nearly desperate.
Cori hadn’t volunteered yet—mostly because she was clueless about the layout of the town she now called home. Aiken and Rex had already taken section five—the school and its surrounding neighborhoods—so they couldn’t speak up.
“W-Where is it?” Cori asked and then cleared her throat because she hadn’t meant to sound so timid.
Peg glanced at her. “Oh, sorry, Cori. I forget you weren’t here for this last year.” She gave her a bright smile, so Cori grinned back. “Section twelve includes the river and its surrounding neighborhoods.” She hesitated. “And also, Stonehenge.”
“Stonehenge?”
“Oh, um, that’s what we call the cemetery.”
The cemetery. Now she could understand why no one wanted to claim section twelve. Cori knew that part of town. Plus the graveyard didn’t bother her, really. And the river…well, she really was starting to like the river.
“We’ll take it,” she blurted.
Rex raised an eyebrow. Aiken’s gaze narrowed even further.
Peg looked at her, perplexed. “We?”
“Me. And Grayson.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Peg was nodding way too much. “Sure, sure. Great idea. Okay. Thanks, you two.” She jotted some more on her clipboard. “All right, next order of business. As most of you know, our VP, Maria, who also runs our Facebook page, recently moved to California and we need someone to take over for the rest of the year.”
While Peg started fielding questions, Cori couldn’t help feeling like a bug under a microscope. It was Aiken. His gaze wasn’t necessarily angry but it was intense. His eyes would trek from Grayson to Cori to the joining of their hands, like it was a lock he was trying to pick it apart, before landing back on Peg. It took several rounds of this before Cori realized the way Aiken’s expression changed when his attention landed back on Peg. It was laser beam focus, furrowed eyebrows, working out a puzzle and then…solution found.
Rinse, repeat.
Except, the puzzle of Cori and Grayson holding hands didn’t seem to correlate to Peg, so his expression didn’t make sense. With every pass of his eyes, Aiken inched closer to Peg, seeming to get taller and even more dangerous. Grayson stiffened, back going straight as a plank, his hand squeezing Cori’s tighter. Unlike Aiken, he did look angry. His glare could melt the polar ice caps and send them all into the next ice age.
Cori squirmed when Aiken’s gaze shot back over to them. Jaw tight, hands clenching…and then another shuffle toward Peg. She must feel his breath on her neck by now. But this time his eyes stayed focused on Grayson. If it was a staring contest—or more appropriately, a glaring contest—it would be hard to determine a winner.
As Peg was wrapping up the meeting, Cori realized she’d probably contributed to Grayson’s mood. What was she thinking, volunteering him for the cleanup? She hadn’t asked. What if he didn’t want to do it? She supposed she could handle it on her own if it came to that—or beg Peg or Rex to help her.
As students began filing out of the meeting, she peeked at him, embarrassed.
Grayson stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched in that way she thought of as normal for him. His eyes were dark, even browner than normal.
“Let’s go,” he said, ushering her away.
She should say something, give him an out. “Listen,” she started, trying to sound casual, “sorry about volunteering you like that. I’m just gonna go tell Peg that I’m doing section twelve by myself—”
&nbs
p; He jerked his stare down to her, his brows forming black slashes above his eyes. “What?”
Cori tried for an easygoing laugh, but it came out a nervous giggle. “I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry. I’ll go fix it. Nothing to get angry about.” She turned quickly away.
Only to find herself being swung back around to face him.
“I’m not angry about that.” He glanced at something over her shoulder—or maybe glared was a more accurate term. “It’s that damn Reaper.”
“What? Who?” Reaper?
Grayson focused on her again. “Don’t worry about it.” He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
She let him pull her down the steps before she asked again. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said, walking quickly toward the parking lot.
But he’d said…
“Wait, Grayson, hang on.” He wasn’t listening so she dug her heels in. “Wait!”
“What?”
She stared at him. Once again, he was stone-faced. “Is everything all right?”
He forced a small and an obviously fake laugh. “Yeah. Or it will be once we’re out of here.” Before she could ask what he meant, he brushed his fingers gently across her cheek sending a warmth flooding through her veins…question forgotten.
“Come on, shrimp. Let’s go.”
But wait, she had to make sure. “You don’t mind that you’re stuck helping me clean the cemetery?”
Grayson rolled his eyes. “Of course not. It’s my hangout, remember? This is just a really great excuse for us to be there together.”
“Oh. Well, then. Okay.”
Less urgently now, they went toward the parking lot where Grayson’s Corvette was parked.
Chapter 17
Looming, in a Good Way
THE REST OF MARCH PASSED by in a blur.
Cori spent a lot of her time at the cemetery or the river with Grayson. They picked up trash sometimes. Other times they just sat and talked. Often they didn’t talk at all—either because they didn’t need to or because their mouths were busy doing other things.
