Hidden Monster
Page 47
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I groaned. What was that confounded sound? Not my cell… I bolted upright. I’m most definitely not at home. I was curled up in the corner of the couch, covered in blankets, with no Blake. When had he left?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Argh. I don’t even know where that is coming from. Then I noticed my bedroom door was shut. When was the hinge fixed? And is that a doorbell?
I snorted. Leave it to Blake. He must’ve told Tonbo to put it in because I hadn’t heard his knocking while underwater. I shuffled over to the door, my joints feeling stiff. I wasn’t sure if the soreness came from the day of flying or the night on the couch. Bright light streamed in from my windows, and I could only assume it was still early morning.
“Blake, where’d you go?” I asked, opening the door.
My ‘go’ turned into ‘go-o-o,’ because it was most definitely not Blake.
I wrapped myself up in my arms. “Kate?” I blurted, and then I added, “I mean, you’re Kate, right?”
I guess since I happened to be with the boy she was in love with, I didn’t expect her smile to light up her hazel eyes.
“Yes! I’m so happy we finally get to meet, Sammy.” Her voice was so pleasant. “I’ve heard such wonderful things about you for so long.”
I swallowed hard, totally taken aback. “You have? Oh, same! Blake has spoken highly of you too.”
I realized my mistake when she cringed, and she asked, “He has?” Then she tried to recover by adding quickly, “Oh, that’s great. Mack has told me all about you.”
Oh. Mack. Not Blake. I felt so stupid. Explains why she called me Sammy, I guess. I held the door open wider. “Want to come in?” I had no idea what she was doing here, but might as well bury myself in more shame. I knew I looked terrible. My knotted hair stuck up on one side, guess the side Blake hadn’t been smoothing down with his hand. While she, on the other hand, was immaculately dressed, her face fresh and radiant, and her hair cascaded in loose curls down her back.
Her bare back. No wings. Interesting.
To my surprise, she nodded and entered my bedroom. We stared at each other for a minute, and I pointed to the couch. “Want to sit down?”
“Oh, no, I really shouldn’t stay. Mack asked me to come and check on you after a bit.”
“Mack?” I asked, while wondering why not Blake. And why Kate, of all people? This morning was just getting weirder and weirder.
“We’re pretty good friends, Mack and I,” Kate explained. “I know he’s one of your best friends too. Seems we have a lot in common.” Her words held no malice behind them.
You mean we’re both in love with the same boy. I smiled, while feeling completely cruddy inside. From what I could see, Kate was nothing but beautiful and kind.
“Oh, that’s good. Mack’s the best kind of friend to have. He’s gotten me through some tough times,” I said, genuinely glad she had him in her life too.
“He is one of kind. I guess you could say we understand each other, know how it feels.”
I thought nothing of her statement until she flushed and began fussing with her hair. Oh. Maybe she means both of them know how it feels to have unrequited love. She loves Blake and Mack loves Jen. I felt even worse inside. Time to change the subject.
“Speaking of Mack, is he gorging himself on breakfast right now? That guy’s always hungry,” I said with a forced laugh. I really wanted to know why she was here, and not the guys. Something felt off.
Kate pressed her hands on her stomach and ran them down, like she was trying to straighten out her blouse. She’s avoiding eye contact. This can’t be good.
“No, Blake and Mack left hours ago,” she said slowly. “They want me to look after you while they’re gone.”
“Gone? Like fishing or something?” I asked, not liking how she kept tugging at the ends of her hair. Silly girl’s going to pull out all her hair if she doesn’t stop. I knew I wasn’t really worried about Kate’s locks. Everything about this conversation filled me with dread.
“No.” Her eyes finally met mine. “They left with Kory. They’ve gone to kill the bug.”