“There’s a movie night this Friday at Sheffield Park. Would you like to go with me?” Havi said the words so casually I had to look around to make sure he was actually speaking with me. Had I just gotten asked out on a date? It wasn’t technically allowed, I wasn’t permitted to date until I was eighteen – Department rules. But all the rules seemed to be a little fuzzy now and I didn’t want to say no to him, not after I had been so rude to him initially.
“Sure,” I found myself replying.
“Great, I’ll pick you up at six.” He stood to leave, like the only reason he was there was to ask me out. It suddenly hit me, he probably was only there to ask me out. It wasn’t like he came there just to watch the Hooded Roses rehearse the same two songs over and over again. My face started to blush involuntarily. Someone liked me? Like that? I couldn’t comprehend it.
I was still stunned when Lola joined me in the rows. “Well? What did you think of the band?”
“You were great. You’re going to kill it at the battle of the bands.”
“What’s wrong? You seem weird.”
I could never hide much from Lola – not the small stuff anyway. “Havi Brook just asked me to Sheffield Park on Friday night,” I blurted out.
“Havi is gorgeous, well done.” She playfully hit my arm, like I’d just scored a touchdown or something. “Asher and I were going to go too, we could double date.”
That sounded safe. Having Lola there would stop me making a complete fool of myself. Plus, it would be nice to know Asher more. If he was hanging around my best friend, I needed to know his full story. I couldn’t have him hurting her.
“That’s a really good idea,” I replied, still having trouble forming complete sentences. “Why would Havi ask me out?”
Lola rolled her eyes. “Uh, because you’re gorgeous and funny and nice and popular. You’ve got that long chocolate brown hair and matching eyes, even I have a crush on you. The bigger question is why wouldn’t he ask you out?”
I didn’t believe it but I was saved by the bell. At least focusing on class would leave me in peace while I didn’t have to think about anything else.
I’d never been on a date before, it wasn’t allowed so I had artfully dodged any guy that had the nerve to ask me out. What would I wear? How would I act? Would he expect to kiss me? Hold my hand? The bazillion thoughts kept running through my head, leaving me with nothing but panic.
The rest of the afternoon passed by in a bit of a blur. I think my mind was shutting down on purpose, refusing to take in any new information until I could make sense of the existing stuff. It would probably take a while.
Still, I made it to the yearbook committee meeting on time, probably from a force of habit and duty. The yearbook committee was only one of the various committees and clubs I was in. Apparently to be liked, it was important to participate. I had been participating in things since I could talk. I normally didn’t mind them so much. I always met lots of new people and it kept me busy. When all my friends were occupied with their boyfriends, I was in a club meeting. I really hoped the people of Trucon were grateful for the sacrifices we made for them. I really hoped it was worth it. I guessed we’d find out in three months.
The yearbook was one of the more interesting committees I participated in. At least there was no Lochie there telling me how to do my job. He would hate to participate in something that wasn’t sports related, I bet he wouldn’t even last for one meeting. Ugh, I had to get him out of my head. If there was a boy I should be thinking about, it was Havi. He was the one that asked me out, he was the one that was actually nice to me.
“Amery? Do you want to do that?” The head of the committee, Sarah, asked me. I could honestly say I had no idea what she was talking about. Damn it.
“Sure,” I replied happily, crossing my fingers I wasn’t volunteering for mud wrestling or something. The rules were that I had to participate and I couldn’t pick and choose what I did. If something needed doing, then I had to say yes.
“Excellent, you can borrow the camera from the photography department. Mr. Naple will be expecting you, he’ll know all about it.” She smiled sweetly. So whatever I had to do involved a camera. I was going to need more clues.
I tried to figure it out for the rest of the meeting as the tasks and jobs were handed out to everyone. We had ages to go until the book would actually be finished but they always liked to get in early. Putting it together was never as difficult as Sarah made it seem, but it made her feel important. Spending my life hanging around the Department, I completely understood.
According to Taylor, the girl sitting beside me, my task was to take photographs of both the basketball and football teams. I was also required to ask them a series of set questions. Their profiles would then go into the sports section of the yearbook. I would probably need all year to get through them all. Now I realized why nobody else had volunteered.
I wrote the details in my schedule so I wouldn’t forget and headed for my locker. Perhaps Lola would help me, she was pretty handy with a camera. If I made it sound fun, just maybe I might be able to talk her into it. It would be worth a shot.
“Hey, Amery, wait up.” I cringed at the voice, wondering if I could run away and escape before he caught up with me. Could I pretend I never heard him? My parents would never believe me, but perhaps Lochie would. Nah, he would no doubt call me a liar too.
“Lochie, I’m busy. What do you want?”
He was puffing by the time he reached me. Okay, so maybe I had sped up a little. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Have you been hiding from me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, I was working on the yearbook. You know, actually doing something worthwhile for this school? You should try it sometime.”
“And winning the national championships two years in a row wasn’t good for the school?” Lochie challenged me, one eyebrow raised. Damn, I forgot he was on the basketball team. It wasn’t like I’d ever gone to a game or anything. Football, yes, but basketball? No thanks.
“Whatever,” I replied. It was the only thing I could think of to say.
“We need to finish our project. How about this Friday night? I don’t have anything else to do so we may as well get it done.”
“I can’t.”
“Why do you have to be so difficult?”
“I’m not being difficult,” I said, wanting to slap him. Why did I always feel like slapping him? I was a peaceful person, not a violent one. “I have plans on Friday night. Some people have a life, remember?”
“Well cancel them.”
“No.”
He was getting impatient, I could tell by the way he kept hiking his backpack up higher on his shoulder. He always did that when he was annoyed. I saw it a lot. “What are you doing that’s more important than your education?”
For some reason, I didn’t want to tell him about my date with Havi. I had tried to skirt around it but he was being impossible. If he wanted to know the truth, then that’s exactly what I was going to have to give him. “I have a date, I’m going to the movie night at Sheffield Park.”
He hesitated before replying. I couldn’t read his face but his brow was wrinkled with something. “With who?”
“Not like it’s any of your business or anything, but Havi Brook.”
“Cancel it, we have to finish this project.”
I rolled my eyes, perhaps Lochie didn’t understand English. Maybe that’s why I could never talk to him. I should try to speak in the language of my people, that would probably get the same level of response. “We’ve got the whole weekend. What about Sunday? I can do anytime on Sunday.”
Lochie thought about it, I could practically see the cogs working in his brain as he processed the information. “No, Friday.”
“Sunday.”
“Friday.”
“Sunday.” I could keep that up all afternoon.
He finally sighed. “Sunday morning. Ten o’clock, my place. I’ll text you the address.”
�
��I already know your address.” I didn’t mean to say that. I was pretty sure my face was starting to flush red.
Lochie grinned, his blue eyes teasing me even before his words did. “Good to know I have a stalker.” He started to type something into his phone.
“I told you I don’t need a text.”
“Oh this isn’t a text,” he said, waving his phone about. “This is a reminder to make sure all my windows and curtains are closed. Who knows what kind of binoculars you have.”
I punched him on the arm as words just wouldn’t suffice. He almost dropped his phone with the impact. I had to suppress a smile.
CHAPTER 9
I stood in front of my closet without a clue. Not one single clue. What did girls wear on dates? Everything I owned seemed to be so boring. I had jeans and shirts, summer dresses and skirts. But nothing that screamed I’m on a date. I should have done my research, I should have observed some other couples on dates. Why had I never paid any attention before?
The clothes I had already tried on and discarded as bad choices lay scattered on the floor around me. It was such a big decision that I seriously considered calling Havi and cancelling the whole thing. Or perhaps texting him, that would be easier.
The door to my room opened and Mom poked her head in. She took one look at the mess and then at me. “What are you doing?”
“Getting ready to go out.”
“A full report please,” she asked formally. You could take the girl out of the FBI but not the FBI out of the girl.
“I’m going to the movie night at Sheffield Park. I am going with Lola and two boys from school. One is named Asher and he’s in the band with Lola. The other guy is named Havi and he’s in my grade. He is not in the band,” I reeled off the facts like I was taught to. There was supposed to be nothing secret about my life, I wasn’t entitled to privacy. Not when my life was a matter of record in the offices of the Department.
Mom nodded as she listened, leaving her questions until the end. “What is the status of these two boys?”
I didn’t want to answer because I knew it would get me into trouble. But I couldn’t lie either. I crossed my fingers she would still let me go. “Asher and Lola are kind of dating but it’s only really early stages. Havi asked me to the movies as his date. It’s the first time we’ve ever been out together and I don’t really know him very well.”
“Amery, you know you’re not allowed to date anyone.”
“I know, but I figured things might have changed with the deadline being brought forward so quickly,” I stated, pleading my case. She didn’t look convinced, so I continued. “I don’t even know if I like Havi that way but I thought the movie night might be fun. Please let me go, I promise I won’t do anything you wouldn’t approve of.”
I gave her the best puppy dog eyes I could muster. I thought after seventeen years she might be immune to them. I was pretty sure Dad was.
Finally, Mom sighed. “Fine, but don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll let security know. You can go on a few dates with this boy, Havi, but then you have to call it off. You cannot get serious with anyone. Do you understand?”
I gave her a quick hug. “I do, I understand. Thank you.”
“Just make sure your father doesn’t know about this.”
“I won’t.”
“Good. Now, wear the navy dress, it looks really cute on you.” She smiled and stood, pulling the dress from the closet and handing it to me before leaving.
The navy dress would be perfect. I slipped it on and quickly did my dark hair in a high ponytail. Inspecting the result in the mirror, I guessed I looked presentable. I didn’t look like an alien, at least that was a good thing. The last items to add were my bracelets, making sure my triangle mark was completely covered.
I waited downstairs for Havi to pick me up. I would have sat on the porch but I figured that might look weird when he arrived so I settled for standing in the foyer. The moment I saw headlights stop outside, I hurried out.
Havi’s car was a black Nissan Skyline. It wasn’t exactly clean or tidy on the inside, but it looked like he had tried to make an effort. At least the passenger side seat was cleared and my feet didn’t stick to the floor.
“You look great,” Havi said as he started to pull the car back onto the road.
“Thanks, you too,” I replied before I had actually assessed him. He had his mousy brown hair slicked back and he wore black from head to foot – black jeans and a black shirt. He did look good, I had to admit it.
We drove in silence the entire way. I didn’t know what to say and clearly he didn’t either. I realized how little I knew about Havi when I couldn’t even ask him anything about school. He was a complete stranger, even though we had been going to the same place every day for years on end.
“The movie should be good tonight,” he commented as we pulled into Sheffield Park. It had to be one of the most awkward and long car rides I had ever been in. I was so glad to be finding Lola and Asher, at least then the pressure to say something might lessen.
“Yeah, the movies look good,” I said, searching the sea of faces for my best friend and her date. I desperately needed to see them and be rescued. Why did I even agree to go on the date? I had no business dating someone, I was just making a fool out of myself.
I felt a warm hand on my arm and spun around to face Lola. I wanted to hug her I was so happy to see the girl. “Lola! You found us, I’m so glad.”
Confusion crossed her face but she would get the full story later on. “Yeah, we found you.”
We made the introductions between Asher and Havi, just in case they weren’t familiar with each other. They didn’t exactly move in the same circles. We were probably breaking some unspoken inter-clique dating rule by all being together that night. Not to mention one of the rules set down by the Department. Somehow, it was the clique rule I feared more.
“Maybe we should grab some seats before they all go,” Lola suggested. I nodded eagerly. We moved to the viewing area and grabbed a beanbag each, taking them into the middle of the field. The place was packed with people already, it was going to be a full house.
I sat between Lola and Havi. At least no funny business could happen in the beanbags, it wasn’t like I was in groping distance or anything. Even just the thought of it made my face burn.
The lights started to dim and the movie commenced. It wasn’t a film I had seen so at least I could get lost in the story for a while. I had always enjoyed movies, even the ones where aliens came down and destroyed Earth. They didn’t exactly prepare the human race for another species, but at least the special effects were awesome.
Another couple sat on the other side of Havi. I didn’t pay them much attention at first but when one of them leaned out, they were in my peripheral vision and annoyed me. First they turned up late and then they make a fuss, what was with some people?
The couple were Lochie and his date – a stunning blonde with legs so long she barely fit in the beanbag. I should have known if there was something annoying, Lochie would be right there in the thick of it.
I continued my campaign of trying to ignore them. I didn’t care that Lochie was there on a date, I was on one too and I would much rather have been there with Havi. I should have felt sorry for the girl, having to put up with Lochie for an entire evening. I wondered if she realized what a pain he was before she agreed to it. Perhaps he paid her to accompany him. I wouldn’t put it past him.
When the lights turned back on at the end of the movie, I tried desperately not to look their way. We had twenty minutes before the next movie started and I had no intention of giving Lochie even one of those moments.
“Do you want some more popcorn?” Havi asked. I nodded and he left me there. I turned around to talk to Lola but she too was gone. I was alone.
“It must have been something you said,” Lochie stated, a little loudly so everyone could hear.
“My date is getting my popcorn, like a gentleman,” I replied. I refused to take
the bait. “Who’s your date?”
He leaned back so I could get a good glimpse of the girl. She was even more stunning with the lights up. She could have been pulled from the pages of a fashion magazine. “This is Natasha. Baby, meet Amy.”
“Amery. My name is Amery.”
She leaned forward and held out her hand for me to shake. I had to reach across Lochie to do it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said with a slight accent. I was sure Lochie created this woman in the science lab from every fantasy he had ever had.
When I let go of her hand, Lochie took it just as quickly. He gently caressed her arm, making a show of kissing her hand. I rolled my eyes.
Havi returned carrying the tub of popcorn, I was relieved to be saved. Two could play at that game. “Thanks, Havi, you’re such a good date.”
“You’re welcome.” He looked at me like I’d just grown a tentacle out of my forehead. I continued on anyway, placing my hand on his leg when he sat down.
“I am so happy to be here with you.”
“I am too.” Boosted by my suddenly outpouring of affection, Havi shuffled his beanbag closer and put his arm around my shoulders. I snuggled in, making sure Lochie saw. He wasn’t the only one who could have a hot date.
Without warning, Havi leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips. He took me completely by surprise and I almost pulled away. If I hadn’t been so entrenched in his arms, I might have done. Fortunately, he had me in the perfect position to keep me there.
I eventually did manage to pull away from the kiss. Havi looked down at me and we locked eyes for a moment. I hoped he didn’t see the panic in mine. The whole thing felt wrong and horrible. I couldn’t stay there any longer.
“I’m going to the bathroom before the next movie starts,” I said, struggling to get out of the damn beanbag. Every move I made seemed to make it harder to get up.
Eventually I made it and hurried through the crowd of people toward the bathroom. I was fighting back tears and not completely sure why. I had just been kissed by my date, my date that was good looking and probably charming if I had given him a chance. I should be happy with butterflies in my stomach, not rushing toward the toilet block.
Project Integrate Series Boxed Set Page 7
