Wired

by Francine Pascal

  But miraculously, Skyler didn’t seem disgusted with Gaia one bit. Just the opposite, in fact. He dropped the washcloth into the sink and approached Gaia, crouching down on his knees so they were at just about the same level. He brushed her hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ears, dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue, and, taking her face in his strong, wide, hands, kissed her on the forehead. Gaia froze, and Skyler tenderly folded her into his arms.

  All at once Gaia felt safe and protected in a way she’d never known. It was crazy—she hardly knew Skyler and probably should have been, at the least, weirded out about the hug, but his embrace felt familiar just the same. Skyler felt like the protective older brother she’d never had, someone who would have look ed out for her during her completely atypical childhood. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving in to the sensation of being cared for.

  “Now;’ Skyler said softly, “tell me what really happened.”

  Gaia gazed searchingly into his plaintive, open face and saw no reason not to be honest with Skyler. “I was in a fight,” she admitted quietly. “By accident, you know.”

  “My God” Skyler murmured, one hand running soothingly across her back.

  “It was these three guys—I mean, kids, really, and they were breaking into this house. I was going to just let it go, but I really couldn’t, and then we fought, and I chased them off”.

  “By yourself?” he asked, smiling. “Crazy girl.” It was said with affection.

  “But I… well… sometimes when I fight—”

  “Sometimes—?” Skyler cut in incredulously.

  “Well, I’m sort of strong,” she explained.

  Skyler took hold of one arm and curled it at the elbow, mocking Gaia’s bicep. “Amazon Gaia.”

  “So sometimes, you know, in the park or wherever, I get in fights.”

  “You’re like Spider-Man,” he teased.

  “But then afterward the energy, or whatever… I pass out. Wherever I am. It’s like I’m just spent, and I have to rest.”

  And there it was, in its most basic terms. The unique nature of Gaia Moore’s body chemistry just out there, on the table, for a random stranger to judge, respond to, or run screaming from. Gaia didn’t know why she had chosen to be so straight with Skyler. It certainly wasn’t her nature to trust people. But there was something almost magnetic about him. She had come here, after all, in her most vulnerable state. Even if she told herself she had come by to see Liz, even if she truly couldn’t have known that Skyler would even be at the apartment, there was a part of her that had come to the Rodkes’ seeking him out. She was drawn to him and stunned by the fact that he could make her feel safe. No one had that capacity or had ever had that capacity, not Sam, not Ed, and certainly not her father. Only her mother had been able to create for Gaia a sense of security.

  Her mother and, apparently, Skyler. He gazed at her, head tilted, as though considering what she had told him. “I’ve never heard anything like that,” he confessed. “You’re amazing.”

  “Amazingly weird, you mean”

  He took her hand, his eyes mirroring only sincerity. “Don’t say that. I think it’s amazing that you would even try to take on a group of boys—that it’s something you do, it would seem, fairly often, and that you do it even knowing that it puts you at physical risk. Even knowing what your body’s reaction is going to be.” He coaxed her to her feet and turned her body toward the mirror so that the two of them were looking at her bruised face. He pointed to a nasty scrape on her forehead, the one she had mistaken for a headache earlier. “That happened because you decided that you were strong enough to take on some punks who were doing something wrong. That’s amazing.” He corrected himself. “You’re amazing. Truly.”

  She allowed herself to be enfolded in his arms once again, taking in the solid core of him. He was hard and soft in just the right way all at once.

  Skyler pulled back from her again, still serious. “You must be exhausted.”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “You don’t really want to watch Entertainment Tonight, do you?”

  “Actually—” she began.

  He laughed. “Of course you don’t. That brother of mine has such a way of getting people to do the things he wants to do. Listen, I have to go back uptown. A friend of mine is dropping by campus to pick up some notes in an hour, and I promised I’d be there.”

  “It’s okay,” Gaia said, trying in vain to squelch the disappointment she felt that he was leaving. After all, she had originally come by to see Liz, hadn’t she?

  “No, you’re not getting me,” Skyler pressed. “Why don’t you come with me?”

  Gaia blinked. “Come with you back to your dorm room?”

  “Well, for starters, it’s actually an apartment. But it’s not like that, I promise,” he explained.

  “No, of course not, I didn’t mean to suggest…,” Gaia babbled, embarrassed yet again. Duh. Of course he wasn’t trying to get her back to his dorm room to molest her. What was wrong with her? Some guy—practically a stranger—actually decided to take pity on her and befriend her, tried to take care of her, and she had to go and accuse him of some kind of perverted hidden motives? No wonder you can’t keep a friend around, Gaia, she thought blackly. You have serious emotional problems.

  Skyler stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m not offended. Believe me, I’ve got thicker skin than that. But you’re tired, and you obviously need rest. You’re not going to get it around here, that’s for sure, or at that crowded boardinghouse.”

  “You think it will be quiet at your campus?” she asked incredulously.

  Skyler chuckled. “Okay, fair enough, but it’s not like Animal House or anything. My apartment, be it ever so humble, is in a real residential area. Just off campus—118th Street, but situated amidst the homes of real-people with real people lives. My roommate has lab tonight. You can relax on the couch. Or if you want, I’ll chill out on the couch, and you can rest in my bed. No funny business, I swear. I’m like your older and much wiser brother. Your brother who has a ton of reading to do, to be perfectly honest. But like I said, my friend’s coming by, and I have to meet him. And I hate to leave you like this.”

  I hate to leave you like this. Gaia tried to count in her mind the number of times in her life someone had actually uttered those words to her. Not Jake this morning, who had seemed perfectly content to saunter off and leave things unsettled between them, not Sam, who wanted nothing more to do with her—and who could blame him—not Ed, who was slowly but surely moving on from their romance toward a hazy new definition of friendship that neither of them seemed to understand just yet. Certainly not her father, who’d been quasi MIA in one form or another since she was twelve. And the one person who would have said something like that-her mother-hadn’t had the chance to.

  Gaia swallowed, wanting more than anything to hide away in Skyler’s apartment forever. The reassurance he’d given her in just the past few moments was like a drug. She wanted more.

  “But the woman who runs my boardinghouse, Suko…,” she started, not really meaning it anymore.

  “You can call her from my place and let her know where you are. It’s not a maximum-security facility, right? I mean, you are allowed out every now and then?”

  Gaia smiled. “Of course.”

  “Well, that’s it, then,” Skyler stated with finality. “Run a brush through your hair, splash some water on your face, and we’re out of here.”

  If someone had asked Gaia why she felt so connected to Skyler, why she instantly rose to respond to his request, she wouldn’t have been able to tell them. There was no good reason why she felt so completely mesmerized by this person whom she hardly knew. No good reason why she was following him uptown.

  But nonetheless, she was.

  JAKE

  After all the superspy dramatic crap that’s taken place over the last few weeks., on the subject of Oliver I’ve come to one conclusion:

&n
bsp; I have no idea what to make of him.

  Just when I think I’ve got the guy pegged, when I’m sure I know exactly what he’s all about, he goes and does or says something that gets me spinning. It’s like he’s a different person every time I see him. And that person—whichever person it is that he is, I mean—that person always seems to like me, to get along with me, to want me around, but there’s something going on, too. A subtle difference beneath the surface. And while I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I outright don’t trust him. I’m starting to get why Sam and Gaia are so suspicious of him.

  For example:

  1. In order to win back Gaia’s loyalty, he hiked off to Siberia to rescue his twin brother. I’d say that’s pretty impressive. A check in the pro column. But:

  2. His brother, when rescued, suffered a massive spaz-out and rejected the help of his twin. When your twin brother—who happens to be trapped in a Siberian prison-doesn’t want anything to do with you, even if it means his own rescue, that’s not a good sign.

  3. He made another attempt to reconcile with his brother, which he hoped would, again, win back Gaia, who he also rescued from being hit by a car (does that count as one point or two?). Saving Gaia from death as roadkill? Definite good thing. But consider:

  4. His continued concern for Gaia’s well-being has evolved into a twenty-four-hour surveillance of the girl. On the one hand, I’m all for it. Gaia is always getting into trouble-the dangerous, knife-fight-in-the-park kind of trouble, I mean. So a second pair of eyes couldn’t hurt. But there’s a nagging, small voice in my head that says maybe it’s a little creepy, too, this spying thing.

  Ultimately? I believe that Oliver is a good man who has Gaia’s welfare at heart. I mean, why else would he waste my time and hers with the chasing and the pleading and the begging for forgiveness?

  But ultimately is really just the bottom line. It’s at the bottom. At the bottom of this backpack of mine where I have a brand-new traceless cell phone with a digital camera built in and a micro-mini disc recorder that’s smaller than my watch, almost (he finally gave in on the toys)… all for spying on my girlfriend.

  Something about this doesn’t add up. If I asked my buddies, or my father, or anyone whose opinion I valued, if I said to them, “Say, you know what? I’m heading over to some classmates’ house to check it out and see what, if anything, they know about my girlfriend, because someone is out to hurt or even kill her and it just may be them. What do you think of that?” I have a pretty good idea what their response would be. After they got over the whole “are you crazy?” part of it, they’d remind me that, for starters, spying is illegal. And icky. And definitely not something nice guys do to their nieces—or their girlfriends.

  But I’m not going to ask them. Because there’s one other fact here, at the bottom of it all:

  Is Oliver crossing the line? Undoubtedly. And is he dragging me into his slightly shady world? Totally. I’m crossing over into some tabloid romance territory with this espionage thing, for sure.

  But the bottom line is that somehow, I just don’t mind.

  From: megan21@alloymail.com

  To: gaial3@alloymail.com

  Re: Prom

  Hey, girlfriend—

  Ran into your man downtown while we were shopping and he definitely seems excited about prom. I think you might want to reconsider doing some dress shopping!

  But seriously, we’ve been talking. Don’t freak, no drama, but you seemed kind of tense about all things Jake related today in class, and we’ve all totally been there. We thought it might be fun to do some shopping and female bonding. There could be large amounts of designer coffee drinks involved, possibly iced. What do you think? We’ll find your dream dress, and then how could you not be prom bound?

  I’ll bet Liz would come, too.

  lmk,

  meegs

  From: megan21@alloymail.com

  To: melanie@alloymail.com, laura@alloymail.com, tammiejammie@alloymail.com

  Re: Gaia

  Ladies—

  We’re going shopping. Game faces, please.

  —m.

  green fury

  There was no way his girlfriend, the one for whom he was doing all this, was interested in someone else.

  Memo

  From: K

  To: L

  Re: Genesis

  Have ascertained—whoever is after the subject is in search of her DNA. Looking for the secret to fearlessness? More research needed. Suspect they are seeking samples, i.e., hair.

  Operatives will keep watch, prevent anyone from getting too close.

  But who is JM? Why so heavily involved? Could be risky to bring an inexperienced operative into the mix.

  Memo

  From: L

  To: K

  Re: Re: Genesis

  Subject’s DNA is to be protected at all costs. DNA research must be prevented.

  Don’t concern yourself with JM. He is useful, but an afterthought.

  And he will be fully compliant.

  Omniously plausible

  JAKE COULD HEAR THE STRAINS OF some reality-based dreck echo from what must have been the Rodkes’ television into the hallway. American Idol. He winced, wondering if the neighbors minded being serenaded by this shameless display of unchecked human impulse. He himself found Clay’s voice to be endlessly grating. He dug into the front pocket of his jeans and flipped the tiny switch on the mini—disc recorder to on, repositioning it so that the minuscule mike was facing outward. He was as ready as he’d ever be. Besides, he reminded himself, he had faced down serious criminals in Siberia—not to mention Washington Square Park. There was no reason to feel like he couldn’t handle a little recon, at his classmates’ apartment, no less. No sweat. He rang the doorbell confidently.

  “Are you expecting anyone?” he heard Liz call out from inside. The voice grew closer, and he knew she’d gotten up to answer the door. Before anyone in the apartment could answer, the door swung open.

  Jake had to admit, Liz was hot. She had changed out of her school clothes and was lounging in striped cotton capri pants and a thin-strapped tank top. Her features didn’t have the same exotic quality that Gaia’s did, but her all-American good looks were undeniably impressive, and even now, relaxing at the end of the day, she managed to seem pulled together, fresh, and flawless.

  “Hey.” She smiled, seeming confused but perfectly friendly. “If you’re looking for your girlfriend, she supposedly came and went already. At least that’s what I’m told. She didn’t bother to stick around to see me.”

  “Gaia was—Gaia left?” Swift, Montone. He hadn’t known that Gaia was headed over to the Rodkes’, not that she usually kept him apprised every time she left the house. But he’d almost blown a perfect cover. Liz didn’t know that he didn’t know that Gaia had come by. He readjusted quickly. “Oh, man. I was hoping to catch her. We’ve been missing each other all day.” Before Liz could respond, he maneuvered his way past her and into the front foyer of the apartment. If she thought it was odd that he was forcing his way into her apartment, she didn’t comment. She stepped aside and followed him into the living room, where Chris sat, zoned out in a pair of Columbia sweats that had seen better days. His eyes were glued to the television, and he was robotically dipping his hand into a bag of Cheetos. His fingers had turned a dusty orange.

  “Forgive my brother,” Liz explained, gesturing at the lump formerly known as Chris. “He’s a touch too involved with the beloved flat-screen TV.” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, adding, “Frankly, we’re all a bit concerned about it.”

  “Please forgive my sister,” Chris retorted, not missing a beat as his program faded to commercial. “She thinks I can’t hear her when she stage-whispers. Of course, that’s how I get all the good gossip, you know. When she’s whispering on the phone with her friends.”

  Jake forced a smile, though he was feeling impatient and tense. “Only child. I wouldn’t know.”

  Chris thrust the bag of C
heetos over the couch toward Jake. “Hungry?”

  “Uh, no, thanks, man.”

  “We’ve got lots of other stuff in the kitchen,” Liz offered. “Stuff that isn’t, you know, traffic-cone colored. Or soda. Whatever.”

  “I’m fine,” Jake said insistently. He heard an edge creep into his voice.

  “Man, Liz, he doesn’t want to hear about the perils of snack food. He wants to find his girlfriend. Don’t you get it?”

  Jake laughed. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. So Gaia’s already gone?” He tapped his foot against the floor, then stopped just as abruptly, realizing he was giving away his impatience. Very, very smooth.

  “Yeah, she came by a few hours after school, looking kind of banged up. Said she had tripped and cut herself. It looked pretty bad. Anyway, we watched a little TV,” Chris said. He turned back to the screen abruptly.

  “She told him she was looking for me” Liz clarified. “Not that my darling brother isn’t company enough on his own, of course. I think she was just stopping by to say hello. But I was out with my mom, and I guess she didn’t want to wait.” Now Liz, too, looked away, almost guiltily, though Jake couldn’t for his life imagine what she had to feel guilty about.

  Unless… Jake’s brain whirled as if battery powered as he pieced together a puzzle of his own conception. A feeling of dread began to creep into his system. Was it possible that Gaia had come by not to see Liz, but to see Skyler?

  Jake wasn’t an especially jealous person by nature—if anything, he was used to being the focus of female jealousy—and he trusted that Gaia was committed to him, but it was impossible to deny that they had been having problems lately. Still, he couldn’t believe that Gaia would be looking elsewhere—if anything, she was suddenly amazingly needy. She wouldn’t be the clingy girl she’d been lately if she had already set her sights on someone else. She wouldn’t be so insecure if she was ready to replace Jake.