Secrets of the Moon

by Kristy Centeno

  “We’re here. Welcome to Business Math,” I announced as we made it past the doorway.

  Math class was equipped with tables that could seat up to three people. Angela and I usually sat together, just the two of us, except for today. Today, we had a rather interesting companion to share a table with, and although he made me nervous, I was a little mystified by him. It was safe to say I was looking forward to learning more about him.

  Kyran followed me as I sat next to Angela and he sat on the chair to my right. As soon as Angela saw him, her eyes widened like she’d seen a piece of candy. Interesting. Angela never looked at any boy like that, at least not since the accident.

  “Oh, ah, Angela, this is Kyran.” I turned to look at him. “Kyran, this is my friend Angela.”

  He acknowledged Angela with a very brief “Hello” and a simple nod.

  Angela smiled and shifted nervously in her wheelchair. She mouthed out a wow! and I immediately shook my head at her. If he’d heard what Marissa said from across the room, imagine what he could hear this close-up.

  Our math teacher began by reprimanding those who were late, although why he bothered was beyond me. It was always the same group of people who came in late every day.

  Angela, who always took advantage of the constant banter between the math teacher and some of the students to catch me up on gossip, remained awfully quiet. Occasionally, she would chance a look at Kyran and sigh. Since I was uncomfortably caught in the middle, I couldn’t help but notice every time she turned to look at him. Apparently, Kyran’s handsomeness hadn’t gone unnoticed by her either.

  “Angie…you’re really quiet today,” I asked in a mere whisper.

  “I’m okay, Marjorie.” She glanced over my shoulder at Kyran. “I was just a little thoughtful, that’s all.”

  “Are you sure? ’Cause you’re never this quiet.”

  “Sometimes you just have to keep your mouth shut and admire the view.” She smiled and elbowed my ribcage.

  “Sure, if you say so,” I murmured, not really sure what the deal with her was.

  The Business Math teacher showered the class with problems to solve but allowed us to work in groups to give us a better chance of scoring the right answers. Most of the class struggled but Angela, Kyran, and I made one hell of a team. We were fully able to finish before the rest of the class and earn ten bonus points toward the next exam.

  Then he dismissed the class at the appointed time without any new assignments, claiming the reason was because of the math marathon he’d just pulled.

  “Do you need help getting to your next class, Angie?” I stood, pulled the strap of my messenger bag over my right shoulder, and waited for her to answer.

  “No, Ralph and Letty will take me, but thanks anyway.” Her gaze lingered on Kyran a bit before she actually turned her attention back to me. I pretended not to notice.

  “All right, I’ll see you at lunchtime then.”

  “Okay,” she said. “It was nice to meet you, Kyran.”

  “Same here.” He started toward the door and I followed.

  “You’re really good at math,” I said once we were out in the hallway. “How on earth were you able to calculate all those problems so fast? I mean, I thought I was fast, but you beat me by a punch.”

  He smiled slightly at me before focusing forward again. “I guess my mind just works a little faster than others’.” He kept pace with me, slowing down his strides so that he didn’t seem as if he was in a rush. “That and I have a lot of extra time on my hands.”

  “Well, you have no problem dealing with numbers.”

  “I like math, it requires us to put our brains to good use.” A mischievous sparkle lit his eyes. “In my case, distraction is almost a necessity.”

  “Most people don’t like math, though.”

  “Don’t you?” he asked as if expecting me to say yes.

  “I don’t hate it, but it’s not my favorite class either.”

  He nodded and moments later, we walked into our third period class. Pulling out the chair to my right, he sat on it and focused his attention toward the board without bothering to glance at anyone. Kyran was such an enigma to me. He made no attempt to speak to anyone but me. It was like we were the only two people on the planet. He barely acknowledged anybody at all. If anyone regarded him, he’d just turn his face away or ignore them altogether.

  Our third period teacher asked us to take out our accounting books, and I heard Kyran mutter an oath not proper for virgin ears.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, surprised by his sudden outburst.

  “I forgot my book.” Shrugging, he shoved his backpack to the floor and rested his hands on the table. First the pencil and now the book. I was surprised he didn’t forget his head.

  “Here,” I said, pushing my book to the side so he could read it. “We can share mine.”

  “Merci.”

  Oh my God in heaven, that sounded so hot.

  “You’re French?” I asked in astonishment.

  He looked at me. “Oui, yes.” He had a way of looking at someone that would cause anyone to forget their own name.

  “You speak English so well.” I smiled at him. “Sometimes I can barely discern your accent.”

  He bobbed his head up and down in accordance. “I’ve spent many years in the United States.”

  “Ah, that’s why the accent isn’t so pronounced.”

  “One of the first things we practiced the most when we arrived was our English. We wanted to learn, so adjusting to life here wouldn’t be so hard.”

  “Why did you move to the United States?” I pried, wanting to know more about the newcomer.

  He furrowed his brow. “Let’s just say we had family problems.”

  I observed him quietly for a moment before saying, “Ah, I have plenty of those at home.”

  He actually chuckled. The rich sound took me completely off guard. “I have those all the time,” he admitted.

  For the first time that day, I regretted not fussing over my appearance before heading for school. Had I known that Kyran Rousseau would show up, I would’ve taken great care in picking out an outfit and applying more makeup. Not that I didn’t look presentable, but I could’ve improved my appearance considerably.

  However, I didn’t think Kyran was the type of guy that cared much for that kind of thing. After all, he didn’t appear overly concerned with anyone in the building, so maybe looking good was something trivial to him.

  Kyran was such an interesting person, not boring, not overwhelming, but a mixture of both. I didn’t know what lured me to him exactly. Whether or not his mysterious personality or handsome features had anything to do with it was yet to be seen, but of one thing I was certain: Kyran was positively the most fascinating person I’d ever met.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Just as I was getting ready to ask Kyran more questions about his life in the United States, my phone jingled. Crap. I’d forgotten to put it on vibrate. The teacher frowned at me and though he didn’t say a word, I knew the look on his face was all the warning I was going to get before he either asked me to leave to room or took my cell away. I muttered an apology and proceeded to put it in silence mode. Flipping it open, I saw a message from Tracy.

  What’s all this talk I hear about this hunk you’re hanging out with? Who is he?

  Hanging out with? Geez, I just met the guy. News travels fast in a town where the main source of entertainment is gossip.

  God, he’s new in town. That’s all there is to it, I texted back.

  What’s his name?

  Kyran.

  Sexy sounding name, isn’t it?

  I guess.

  Is he cute?

  I hesitated to answer.

  Why don’t you wait until you see him, then you can see for yourself.

  I can’t wait!

  Of course she couldn’t.

  Flipping the phone shut, I placed it inside my jeans pocket and turned to glance at Kyran. As usual, he was oblivious to
anything around him except for the teacher, which caused me to believe that he was trying hard not to be noticed but wasn’t succeeding. Everyone observed him, girls especially, and by ignoring them he was making it clear that he didn’t want to make friends.

  Since we were sharing my book, we had to sit close to each other, but his nearness was distracting me a lot more than I wanted. That wonderful aroma of his was like an invisible magnet, drawing me to him until we were almost touching. I pulled back when I realized that I was acting a little love-stricken. So to not embarrass myself, I moved as far away from him as I could and focused on the teacher, or at least tried to pay attention.

  Fortunately for me, the class practically flew by and soon I found myself walking outside the building to meet up with Tracy, Claire, Rosa, and Angela for lunch. Kyran didn’t follow me this time. Somewhere along the way he disappeared into the crowd and I lost sight of him.

  “Spill it, girl,” Tracy said the second I approached.

  “There isn’t much to say.” When she scowled at me, I hurried to add, “He’s just a foreigner that moved out here from Iowa.”

  “Oh, look, there he is!” Angela exclaimed. All the girls turned just in time to see Kyran emerging from one of the back doors with a small group of people.

  “Oh my holy God!” Claire’s mouth dropped open as she stared at Kyran and his friends and, quite frankly, so did mine.

  He was accompanied by two tall guys and one girl. To my complete surprise, the guy walking next to Kyran was identical to him in every way but one. His hair was just as long as Kyran’s and had the same coloring with the exception of a single lock of silver on his left side. Kyran had a twin. Go figure.

  The other guy that accompanied Kyran was even taller. His jet black hair was cut short to just above his eyebrows. He had wide and broad shoulders much like those on a football player and the most incredible set of blue eyes I’d ever seen.

  The girl was beautiful too. With long black hair and deep blue eyes, she was a female version of the big guy in the bunch. They made quite an impressive group. So striking were they that everyone lurking around the parking lot stopped to stare at them as they sauntered by.

  Although the group was a good distance away, I could clearly see Kyran searching the crowd. It wasn’t until his gaze settled on me that I got the impression I was the one he was looking for. His passive expression revealed little, yet his regard seemed to speak to me somehow. It literally felt as if his essence was calling out to me. It took a lot for me to stand there and not follow him to wherever it was he was heading.

  As soon as his gaze rested on me, the rest of his group turned their attention toward me as well. They observed me as if they recognized me from somewhere. Something about them, something deep within their stares forced a reaction in me. My body became alert and tingled right down to my toes. The sensation only increased when my observation rested on the twins.

  It was Kyran’s twin who finally broke the awkwardness of the moment by smiling. His smile was almost identical to Kyran’s and just as dangerous. My heart started to race as the twins observed me for a while longer before disappearing into a red Lexus.

  “So, which one was Kyran?” Tracy asked, still staring after the Lexus.

  “The one wearing all black.” I was actually surprised I could talk.

  “Oh, you didn’t say anything about him having a twin,” Angela said from inside Tracy’s car.

  “I didn’t know.” We were all still staring after the Lexus as it drove past us and as it did, I clearly saw Kyran’s twin wave at me from inside the car right before Kyran grabbed his arm and jerked it down.

  “I think his twin likes you.” Claire laughed.

  “Can we leave now? I’m starving. We’ve already wasted enough time staring off after the new kids on the block,” Rosa pleaded, pulling on my arm in order to get me moving.

  “Okay, okay, let’s go.” Tracy slid inside the driver’s side and started the car. Claire, Rosa, and I climbed into the car moments after she did.

  Our college routine consisted of attending classes and meeting up for lunch. We always went out to eat instead of eating at the campus cafeteria. It gave us the opportunity to catch up and joke around since we didn’t see much of each other while in school or after. We selected one of our usual places and drove to its location. Once we were all seated, we ordered drinks, which the waiter brought about ten minutes later. After our beverages were placed on the table, we ordered the usual and chatted while we waited for the food to arrive.

  “Hey, Rosa, where is Miguel?” Tracy asked mischievously.

  “We aren’t speaking at the moment.” Rosa lifted her chin and pouted.

  “What happened? You didn’t get any last night?” Claire teased.

  “For your information, I always get some.” Rosa smiled mischievously and Tracy laughed. “A girl has needs you know.”

  “You mean you still give it to him even when you guys are mad?” Claire asked as she reached for her glass of Coke. She brought it to her lips and took a sip before setting it back down again.

  “No, I don’t give it to him.” Rosa stirred the ice in her orange juice with the straw. “He gives it to me, which is different.”

  Claire’s eyebrows came together as she frowned. “It’s the same thing.”

  “No, it’s not.” Rosa let go of the straw and straightened up in her seat. “Right, Trace?”

  “Right.” Tracy grinned as I rolled my eyes. Leave it to me to pair up with these gals.

  “I would never do that.” Claire’s frown deepened.

  “You mean you don’t have sex with Bobby when you’re mad at him?” Rosa asked, smiling.

  “Of course not. He pisses me off, and I reward him on top of it? I don’t think so.” Claire waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.

  “What do you think, Marjorie?” Rosa turned her attention to me as she leaned forward again to sip her orange juice.

  “I wouldn’t know.” My embarrassment had nothing do with the fact that at nineteen I was still a virgin. It was more of the whole having-to-listen-to-your-friends-talk-about-sex-while-you’re-still-a-virgin that felt awkward.

  Rosa tossed an apologetic smile in my direction. “Sorry, Marjie, I forgot.”

  “It’s okay, I guess.” Smiling, I turned my head toward the waiter as he brought our food.

  “Hey, did any of you guys watch the news this morning?” Tracy asked once the waiter stepped away.

  “No. Why?” I unrolled the napkin sitting next to my plate and took out the fork and knife.

  “Well, I did…” We all gave Tracy a surprised look and she rolled her eyes. “I was bored. Anyway, four campers have gone missing up by Deadman’s Curve.”

  “You must have really been bored if you were watching the news,” I speared a couple of French fries and brought them to my mouth.

  “I was.” She smiled at me. “Watching the news actually distracted me from kicking my brother’s ass.”

  I chewed and swallowed before asking, “What did he do to piss you off this time?”

  “Wait, who disappeared?” Claire interrupted.

  “Two brothers and their girlfriends went camping for the weekend and never came back home,” Tracy filled her in.

  “It’s Monday, they’re probably having too much fun and don’t want to go home yet.” That was Rosa, always trying to find a logical explanation for everything.

  “Their camping trip was a week and a half ago. They’ve been missing for ten days, not three!” Tracy replied in irritation.

  “How do the police know they’re missing? I mean, there are acres and acres of uninhabited woods up there. They could just be lost.” I tried to be the voice of reason.

  “Because they didn’t come back when they were supposed to, and being that they were responsible people and didn’t pack enough supplies to last them more than three days, their parents called the police after the fourth day passed and they didn’t show up. The location of their campsite was
found but there was no one there. It’s so weird. I mean, the tents were unoccupied and undisturbed, and so was the surrounding area. No physical evidence of any kind was found to indicate foul play. No bodies have been found. No evidence of a struggle. Even stranger is the fact that their car was still parked near the path they apparently used when they headed down the trail toward their campsite. It’s almost as if they vanished into thin air.” Tracy made some weird hand gesture as if to prove a point.

  “The police have organized a search?” I stopped eating altogether. My full attention was now centered on Tracy.

  “From what I heard, they’re organizing a search but quite frankly, that territory consists of nothing but Mother Nature. I doubt they’ll find much. It’s so strange, though, how they just disappeared like that. I mean, all their gear was found in the campsite, but the campers weren’t there. And by the looks of things, the area had been empty for days prior to the police stumbling upon the site,” she said. “Talk about some weird mojo going on up there.”

  “It is strange. Especially since this town hasn’t had a missing person in…I don’t know how long,” Rosa added.

  “Maybe they were abducted by aliens,” Claire said, which I didn’t find funny at all.

  “How old are you, ten?” Tracy snapped. “Grow up, will you?”

  “Gosh, what has your panties in a twist?”

  “Certainly not you!”

  “All right, girls,” I interrupted before a catfight broke out. “I think we should leave this missing person discussion alone and just dig in, because we only have a short amount of time left for lunch before we have to rush back to class and pretend we’re paying attention. And if I’m late for my next class my teacher will have a fit.”

  “If we hadn’t wasted time staring after Marjie’s boyfriend, we would’ve had more time to eat.” Rosa looked at me and grinned.