I calmed down when the next class started and I wouldn’t have to see the light move around in his eyes when he looked my way. It creeped me out with shivers and goose bumps to know he was like me, or that I was fighting against everything inside me to avoid him. It wasn’t until right then that I wondered why he was here.
It couldn’t be good. And it couldn’t be random.
Logically guessing I would gain a solitary safe zone lunch eased the tension in my shoulders. Guess again.
Waltzing into the cafeteria I took an apple, a plum, and a fully leaded soda to my spot. I needed the sugar to make it through another night of dreaming about him. I searched every direction for his piercing eyes though I knew he wouldn’t be there. I took a bite into my shiny Red Delicious and did a quick check at the floor to be sure I didn’t lose my balance from eating while walking. Pulled out of my reverie, I came up flush with two black Doc Martins I was sorely familiar with.
Pish!
“You looking for me?” His sexy voice was turned on high giving the hint he'd done this before. Girls were not something he was uneducated on.
Dislodged by the sound, I knew instantly he had a system. Maybe I was just another girl who blipped on his radar to check into. If I acted unafraid and kept an “I don’t care” attitude, maybe he’d just go away.
Following the laces up all the way to the eyes and as abruptly as if I’d been hit with a brick, I was hooked all over again. If I were a voting girl, I’d surely pick him for most on my mind for the day. And night. And all the dang seconds in between. I rolled my shoulders back and looked to my table for the distraction.
Okay. So his face was too distracting. Coming up with a slapstick comment or even casual reply just doesn’t happen with him. I needed to talk to him with my eyes closed so I wouldn’t be preoccupied with his smirks and watchful gaze. Yeah, that would go over well. I blinked them closed and opened them after a deep breath I didn’t know I held too long.
His upper lip spoke the second I did. It told me I was such a lush. I hate hormones.
And...I’d had it. I felt my smile waver, but I bit my bottom lip to hide it from showing. He knew I’d been looking for him.
“I’d appreciate it if you could turn down the charm on me. It doesn’t work, remember?” There! He knew I knew his little secret. My apple was still in midair from my one bite.
God, he smelled good.
“So I don’t charm you?” His smug attitude unfurled my indignant anger with a half smile/half laugh.
“You wish. The thief lord himself wants to feel all fuzzy inside and make a friend. Malarkey. Not happening here, buddy.” He couldn’t have many friends with that snap of a personality...or lack thereof.
His face told me I’d hit home. A lip snarled up and leaned over for only me to hear, “And do you know what your friends say about you?”
He left me standing there alone to face the said friends he’d just mentioned. What did they say?
“What?” That hurt. Did they talk about me behind my back? I fixed my stare on the ground.
He flipped back at last second and his face blanked out. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I shrugged him off. “It didn’t. And your words mean nothing to me anyway. I don’t even know you.”
Or at least I wouldn’t tell him it hurt or that I really wanted to know why his name was so bad in his world I'd been left out of.
My loss of appetite returning again with him in my wake, I dropped the food in the trash bin and headed to my oak tree. I needed alone time. I needed energy and I didn’t know why.
And there was only one way for me to get it.
DANE Drowning
I needed to get away. I was drained after a few minutes with her and needed energy. A girl was at the picnic bench alone, reading a book. She looked cute and nice enough. I sat my books in front of her and bit into an apple. It reminded me of her mouth on the apple. That wasn’t good.
“Hi,” I took a second bite and waited for her to smile giving the signal she was interested. They always were. They made us that way...or rather picked us accordingly for certain jobs over others. My powers had always outshined the rest and I hated it.
She smiled bright like the sun, then grimaced and eyeballed the schoolyard.
“Why did you sit here?” she inquired doubting herself. I truly hated that girls were so self-depreciating of their own beauty. They were not told enough how much they attract our attention and keep us completely under their spell if they really wanted it.
“You looked like you needed a study partner?”
She looked at her book that was obviously not school material and said, “Yeah. That sounds good. Aren’t you in my science class?”
Was she? I wasn’t here this morning and that was my only class with Lark. I had to report in about retrieving the wayward saint-like taker of years like me. Well, mostly. She was better than me. I was dirt compared to her.
“Ah, yeah. Physical Science. I missed it today.” It was the truth.
“No problem. You can share my notes.”
I gave her the winning smile that would seal the deal. When she complied and opened her notebook to let me look over her notes, I took advantage of the moment.
If I hurried, I could be back to get another word in with Lark to rile her up. It was just so easy and I needed to hurry this job up and get away from her. I have no explanation for the apology for hurting her at the lunch area, but her pain ebbed out like a beacon. I just didn't want her to think I said it to be cruel, but rather informative knowledge she might need to know.
I took in a breath, three. Three years would do. At the third intake of my lungs I caught her scent. Something cinnamon and bakery-like. She had just recovered her notes when I felt the energy soar like a slow typhoon over our heads and into my lungs. I arched my back from the burst of power feeling much better.
“What the bleepity heck do you think you are doing?”
My head jerked back at the sound of her voice losing the power to form words. At first she just stood there. And before I could stop myself, my eyes passed over her angry face, down her bare throat, over her curves, and back up to her taunt mouth. I’d never had a female approach me with the intention of intimidation. It was the biggest turn on of the century.
She saddled the bench beside me with her feet and pushed my arm as hard as she probably could. Her moves were so quick, I did not react accordingly. I just watched her bedazzled by the fact that she had the balls to walk up to me like no one else would, siphon or not. No one had ever done that.
“Jealous, Pigeon,” I hid my reaction, speaking in the raspy tone again at her spunk.
Her face turned ten shades of the sun and like a top blowing she grabbed my hand and pulled me to standing. I didn’t even feel her pull me up, but I felt her.
Snatching my books with the other hand, I told the nameless girl thank you and followed the vehemently spewing beauty beside me who just touched me and didn’t act like I was a leper...without having to trick her into doing it.
Alone by the towering, shady oak tree she pushed a finger into my chest and whisper shouted at me, “I saw what you did Daniel Crawford. I know what game you play. I was warned about you and always refused to believe it was all true—until I just saw what I saw. You.Are.A.Monster.”
Her finger still touching me, I didn’t even register that she’d just shared what everyone else had assessed of me. No, I caught the part where she had questioned its sincerity. Every part of me admired her for it too.
For just one second longer though, a thought passed through my brain. The magic genie lamp just granted me the ultimate wish. A girl was touching me without magic and didn’t completely hate my guts. My weirdness wasn’t zapping her with electric current.
“You doubted their assessments of what you now conclude must be the truth?” I prodded. She called me Daniel! She knew my name. Was she trying to goad me?
She was caught off guard but stumbled out with, “Be
side the point, Daniel. You shouldn’t do that to them.”
She said my name again. Why on earth I care about this single fact was disturbing. At the second time saying it, it seemed like she simply wanted to say it. Like it was an experiment on the tongue.
Worse, I was baffled still watching her finger touch me. I’d do or say anything to get her to keep saying my name and keep her hand on me. It’s like the more she said it, the more she owned it.
“And what you do is any better, princess? You think because you take it off the top that you’re better than me? We are the same make, just different models, babe.”
“WE ARE NOT,” she shoved my chest touching me more, “THE SAME.”
Oh, crap! She was right. And she saw right through me. I couldn’t let her see further in no matter what the lower half of me was shouting out. I tried to reign in the need to take from her, but it was moving in swirls all around us taking away my ability to choose.
“Why did you say you didn’t believe what others said about me?” I had to know why she didn’t have pity in those green like glass eyes.
She was already turned to leave but she did stop and look up into the array of colors the oak shook over us from the power we both exuberated. “Because I think you are better than that or could be. Anyone can. That you just act like you don’t care so others will think you are tough. I refuse to believe anyone is innately evil unless they choose to do so. Until you show me you’re like they say, stay away from me Crawford. I was just fine before you showed up.”
We were back to last names. I felt myself crash at the loss.
Did she know she just offered up her own years to me? Her body was cashing in more than she knew.
She left by way of class but her eyes told me much. So much that I had to look away. Slamming my hands in both pockets, I flashed a million reasons through my brain as to why she followed me outside in the first place. I stopped to grab a drink from the machine in the hallway and found we were both late.
LARK ✜ Together Again
I forced my mind to forget him the whole day though my heart was racing at the mere thought of him. His energy field was cracking codes for more than just one year in the offering. Did he know he was offering it to me?
Running down the hall, I was late for my after school college preparation class that was designed just for seniors who wanted a work release to intern at local businesses. Today was the first day being that it wasn’t during school hours. It was meant for just those who were serious about working volunteer hours. I wanted to be a nurse. So...I would go next week for my final semester in high school. I had one more orientation this week before I could actually interact with patients even though I have been for years. It was the only job that was safe for someone like me.
I stepped through the doorway with my prepared short speech of why I was late expecting Professor B, short for Baumgartner, to smile and give me a nod to just sit down. It was a trek across the huge campus. “Best made plans of mice and men often go awry” was calling it mild.
Her eyes lifted above her glasses to me and then behind me. “And this is an example of why our program may be cut. Being late to class exemplifies the wrong way to show a future employer you’re dependable as well as being late to class with said new kid standing next to you.”
I turned with a jerk knowing already what new kid would be late with me. I, of course, smelled him. HE wasn’t in this class. How did he get here?
“Hey Pigeon. Can I join you?” His lady-killer smile enflamed me, giving me a whiff of something warm and distinctly cedar. Either he was an avid Polo Brand kind of guy or he bathed in it. I knew that scent. Maybe his scent wasn’t just an abilities thing. Sam and I stopped by every counter in the mall stores to douse our wrists in our favorite men’s cologne. We told ourselves we were picking out the scent for the hottest man contest.
What do you know? Mine was RL Polo.
A girl in the front row sighed and gave Daniel that complete “I’m crushing on you” look so he rewarded her with another wicked smile. He cut his eyes to mine afterward and I had only a second to straighten my face to blank. I had no business caring what anyone thought of his smirky buttheadedness.
The class roared with laughter at the two of us standing side by side. Some whistled. As Daniel made his way back to a seat to sit near the window, he received a few high fives including one from Foster, my ex.
Great! He was in here too.
My speech was ruined. I was late and red-faced in front of twenty people who knew too well that I was never late and did not get flushed easily. So much for subtle entries in disguise.
And both of us got detention for a non-class. Professor B mumbled something about setting examples.
I surveyed the room for an empty seat. With no seating arrangement, I was forced to look at each row in hopes for something to sit in and hide myself from this shame.
Sure enough, one seat was available and it was directly parallel to Mr. Calm, Cool, and Relentless. I huffed like I’d never done before and made my way to the desk.
And if matters couldn’t be worse, Foster sat in front of me looking ready for battle. He’d find any opportunity to cause embarrassment. I knew he still liked me, I just didn’t give it up like his friends expected him to get and he knew something was off in our kiss that day. Whether he thought it strange or strangely intriguing—I didn’t know. High school can be so complicated.
Ignoring both of them, I tuned to Professor B’s list of placements and found out I wasn’t alone in going to Arlington Memorial Hospital for an internship. We had to pick our choices yesterday on the first day of school because we’d start the next Monday and Professor B needed our work assignments finalized by Friday.
Several were going into the junior high school as teacher helpers, one was going to a law office, and the rest were headed to a courthouse, real estate office, or building construction office for architecture.
I was just pondering how Ray Downs was going to become an architect given he couldn’t pass algebra when a note fell on my desk.
I looked at the hastily folded notebook paper that flopped right on top of the word hospital written in the middle of my blank page. I’d traced the name of the hospital with doodles and such but now that was hidden.
I don’t know what compelled me to do so, but I glanced East to the eyes that were watching me way too much lately. I knew the note was from Foster. Daniel didn’t smile. He didn’t frown. He scowled. What the heck?
I unfolded the note hiding my face under my wall of blonde camouflage then slid down in the desk to hide behind the broad shoulders of said note writer.
Guess we get to be together again soon. I miss you Lark. Maybe we could get to know each other again.
Foster
I paled at the words I read twice and a third time. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t go through that nightmare again. I didn’t want to subject myself to the foolhardy belief that Foster really, really liked me or could survive my sick abilities. He always had an agenda. And I knew he’d been with girls since. Eww!
So.Not.Gonna.Happen.
I peeked sideways again to see if my newest neighbor had tried to read my note and found him rigidly staring forward at the whiteboard. I sighed with relief, but squared my shoulders a second later when I realized what the note meant. Did Foster mean he would be going to the hospital with me?
I was in so much trouble.
DANE Detention
I took my tardy note at the end of class and prepared my mind for extra detention after school. Lark would be joining me but she didn’t stick around to let me catch up and give her some snarky statement to get her all flustered. Her scent was easy to follow now that I had it. It called out to me like the wind. Not one other had ever left a trail for me to return to. And I didn't even take from her like she offered. Of course, none of anything was right since I turned eighteen. Girls ran from me like the plague once I touched them. Guys only high-fived and such. Since it took such an
amazing amount of effort to hold my breath in to arrest the heightened senses that I just refrained from it, I hadn't shaken a hand in years. Maybe I’d try it again.
That note was from her ex. I’d learned as much from sitting at lunch with the craphead. He was a leech who just wanted to use her. A despicable example of the male species that used women for his own selfish desires.
Suddenly, I saw it from her eyes. How she saw me. She was comparing me to him. It just wasn’t the same no matter how much I hated my indiscretions of the past.
I’d prove it to her.
I managed to get in her after school class by meeting with the counselor and making up some sob story about missing out on finishing my internship back home. The classes during the day were boring me to the proper level that I was sorely upset I hadn’t made my schedule to match hers exactly, but she’d have wondered. Not that she didn’t already figure out ten million other things that I’d managed to keep covered up from anyone else in this world including our own. No one had ever...detected me. Why could she?
Detention came.
I had a plan.
Lark sat on the other side of the room from me and was very happy with it until the teacher asked in her monotone drawl that we, all five of us, move to the front of the room so she could “keep an eye on us” better.
Lark avoided me in every way as she sashayed to the front making her hips move to a rhythm I swear was its own song. Why did I like that? She worked so hard at it!
A new, way off course, plan initiated.
She found my identical-to-her-earlier note and unfolded it. Luckily, she was forced to sit right behind me giving me direct access to drop my bomb on her.
Guess we get to be together again soon. I know what you know and that DOES make us alike. Maybe we could trade secrets.
Siphon (Siphon Chronicles, Book One) Page 3
