by Rachel Jonas
She leaned away again and gave the lecture her full attention for the first time since the bell rang. She was different—a bit outspoken, offbeat, and kind of a lot to take in at first with how direct she was about everything—but I believed there was some truth to what she said. We probably would’ve gotten around to hitting it off eventually. However, this jump-start was kind of nice. I suppose Mrs. Cruz was right about this one thing: Beth was a good fit for me.
I liked her already.
—
Chapter Eight —
Nick
A set of quiet footsteps approached from behind as I crossed the east parking lot. I probably wouldn’t have noticed had this been a week ago, but the change meant very few things slipped past me these days. I checked over my shoulder, thinking I’d find a teammate arriving early to prepare for the game like I had.
No such luck.
Instead, I found Roz.
And if I had to guess, she was still stalking me to ask questions. Questions I couldn’t answer. On more than one occasion, she cornered me in the halls, demanding in that smug, passive-aggressive way of hers, that I tell her what was going on with me.
As if I knew.
My steps quickened and I counted the seconds it’d take me to get to the door of the Athletic Building where I could easily lose her when I made it to the locker room.
“Hold on!” she yelled, jogging, from the sound of it. “You can’t keep pretending nothing happened, pretending nothing’s changed.
Her tall, thin frame suddenly darted in front of me and she plastered herself against the double doors, arms spread, using her body as a barrier between me and it. I think we both knew I could fling her to the sidewalk if I wanted to, but maybe we both knew I wouldn’t do that.
An aggravated sigh left my mouth. “What now?”
I had no intentions to physically remove her from my path, and once Roz realized this, she breathed easier, pushing strands of dark hair away from her face.
“I just want answers,” she panted, winded from chasing me down.
What didn’t she get? “I can’t tell you anything more than what I already have!”
“You’ve told me nothing.” She seemed irritated, but her irritation had nothing on mine.
“Because I know nothing,” I countered. My voice seemed deeper, hard in ways it wasn’t usually. “Why can’t we just chalk this up to one of those things… one of those freak moments where a person exhibits inexplicable strength when someone’s life is in danger? You’d be surprised what the human body is capable of under extreme circumstances.”
The look on Roz’s face made it clear she wasn’t buying any of this. “That’d be a feasible explanation if it wasn’t for the fact that the truck was moving… fast… and you didn’t lift it. You freakin’ stopped it, Nick. Like an Australian ironwood.” Her tree analogy reminded me of making the same reference when it first happened.
A visual of Maddox’s smashed grill flashed in my mind like a photo negative.
“Well, sorry to disappoint you, but there’s nothing special about me. I’m just a regular guy who’s suddenly wondering if he should’ve let that truck hit it’s intended target.” A dark smile spread across my face.
Roz glared after the off-color joke. “Ha-ha.”
“I’m just saying; my life would be a heck of a lot quieter if I had. Now, if you’d excuse me, I need to get in to change and warm up.”
She stayed firmly planted in that spot. “Are you saying you haven’t noticed how weird things have been?” Her eyes narrowed as she studied my face. “I mean, I know you’re a jock and all, but you mean to tell me that brain of yours, small as it may be, hasn’t connected any dots?”
I let her have that one. Exhaling, I lifted my eyes toward the sky. “I’ve noticed the weather’s been jacked up, but that doesn’t have anything to do with me.” I lowered my head again, giving her the most uninterested look I could.
My brow tensed when Roz’s gaze darted from one end of the parking lot to the other, like she wanted to make sure we were the only two around.
I laughed at her being all weird and shifty. “Listen, if you’re about to try selling me weed or something, don’t waste your time. Coach makes us take random piss tests pretty much on a weekly basis. I’d never get away with it.”
When she didn’t even crack a smile at the joke, I rolled my eyes. “Loosen the heck up.”
Her expression was blank. “What if I told you… you’re not the only one experiencing weird things?” she blurted. “What if something big is going on, but we’re all just too blind to see it?”
For the fraction of a second, I held my breath, listening to Roz’s theories, but then I realized how absurd that was—to think there was some sort of correlation between my changes and everything else.
I think she saw the frustration in my expression. I was mere seconds from walking away when she spoke again, forcing her next statement out quickly. “People have been reporting things. Strange sightings. Strange sounds,” she added.
A look behind her dark eyes stole my attention, though. It left me with the feeling she wanted to say more.
Adjusting the strap of the duffle bag on my shoulder, I stared her down. “Where’s all this information coming from?”
She picked at her cuticles and I noticed her hands shaking. “My dad’s a cop. I’m not supposed to pry, but… sometimes I listen in when he gets calls from the station. They usually come in late at night when he thinks I’m asleep.” The rosy tint in her cheeks brightened. “He’d absolutely kill me if he knew I was telling anyone this, but… I just think more of us need to pay attention. And… I don’t know… maybe you, specifically.”
I laughed. Couldn’t help it. “Me? Why?”
She lifted her hands in the air when she got frustrated. “I don’t freakin’ know! Maybe there’s just something you’re supposed to do, something you’re supposed to understand.” Her expression went blank before adding one last thing. “Or… maybe it’s just because I’m pretty sure you’re not what you think you are, Nick.”
My head was supposed to be in the game right now, focused on my team and playing the best I could my last year. But here I was, listening to this girl who didn’t know me from a hole in the wall, basically telling me… I’m not human?
I rubbed a hand down my chin, trying to keep my cool. I wasn’t blind to anything—not the natural disasters, not even how my body was changing—but what she suggested was crazy.
“Listen, we’d both be a whole lot better off if we just forgot about this; acted like it never happened, went back to being complete strangers.”
I fell silent, waiting for a response. It would’ve been nice getting out of this without having to hurt Roz’s feelings, but she just wasn’t receptive to subtle hints. So, I had to tell her pointblank.
Her cheeks blazed bright red now. “You know what? You’re absolutely right.” Her shoulders slumped, curving toward her center, like she wished she could curl up and disappear. She wouldn’t make eye contact with me now either.
“Just… forget I ever bothered you. Should’ve known to schedule an appointment before trying to have a conversation with Seaton Falls royalty,” were her parting words, words dripping with sarcasm, disgust she wanted to make sure I felt.
I did feel it and, under normal circumstances, I would’ve defended myself, would’ve told her she had me all wrong, would’ve told her I hadn’t dismissed her because I thought I was too good to be seen talking to her. But I stood there in silence, grateful to be staring at the back of her head as she walked away—her with all her anxiety-inducing questions and theories.
I couldn’t focus on that stuff right now. My head needed to be in the game.
With the door now accessible, I reached for the handle. My fingers had only grazed the edge of the cool metal when a hypnotic thump-thump, thump-thump pulled my thoughts toward it, made me freeze in place. The sound came again and I turned, automatically in search of Evie. Her heartbeat
was the only one I could ever hear, never anyone else’s, so I knew she was close. It even beat over the sound of my own, drowning out that quiet thrumming behind my ears.
During our morning walks, I sometimes enjoyed listening to the rhythm of it as much as her conversation. It told me so much about her, things she’d never say out loud.
It beat stronger, faster, when I got close; when I said things that came to my mind without thinking, things that made my feelings more transparent than I meant to make them. I once had the crazy notion that it symbolized a connection between us, pointed toward some sign we hadn’t figured out yet.
The pounding was so clear, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead, walking my way, I found my parents being shadowed by three large figures—my brothers. They always showed up early to make sure they got good seats. Doing my best to focus on them instead of the beating that drove me the good kind of crazy, I forced a smile.
“Ready to crack a few skulls?” Kyle asked when my family came to a stop in front of me. The crass comment earned him a playful glare from Mom.
“What your brother meant to say was have a good game,” she said, happily translating as she picked a thread off my shoulder and swished her fingers together to get rid of it.
“It’s your last year,” Richie cut in. “Make it count.” His tone was stoic like it always was, but those of us who knew him well, understood that was just his way.
I offered another tight smile. “Now you’re starting to sound like Coach.”
Richie responded. At least I think he did, but… everything disappeared in a vacuum, faded into the background, became white noise, a humming soundtrack to the gentle beating when I spotted her. She was just across the parking lot, free from the uniform I often got the impression made her feel alien in her own skin, forced her to be someone other than herself. Instead, tight, dark jeans rested low on her hips. A sliver of skin a few shades lighter than peanut butter peeked from beneath the hem of a vintage Transformers t-shirt, one that fit snugly in all the right places. It showed more of her curvy figure than I’d had the pleasure of noticing before. Forgetting I wasn’t alone, I tilted my head sideways for a better view, using my newly heightened vision to take in every detail.
“Earth to Nick.” The sound of my mother’s voice made Evie’s frame zoom out of focus and I blinked for the first time in several seconds. Mom followed my gaze and it didn’t take long to realize what, or should I say who, stole my attention from the conversation.
A menacing smile came my way next. My mother was notorious for making a big deal of my brothers and I being interested in girls. Her eyes darted back toward Evie, and then me again.
“Who’s she? Call her over so we can all say hi.”
Nope. No. Not happening.
Hesitantly, I shared information I had a feeling I’d regret later. “That’s just Evie. The one who’s family moved next door.”
Knowing full-well she was much more than ‘just Evie’, there was a method to my madness. If I gave my mother anything more than that, she’d start getting weird and excited. In her own words, she was tired of the names of the girls I was interested in changing on a weekly basis. I don’t think she cared if I ever gave one a title or not, but she wanted me to slow down a bit.
My interest in Evie had definitely brought whatever I had with any other girl to a screeching halt.
“Ohhh Evie,” she sing-songed. “She’s cuuute.”
“Mom… just… stop.” The potential for her to embarrass the crap out of me was off the charts.
“What?” she asked with a wide grin, trying her best to sound and look innocent. “I can tell you like her by the way you were staring. And girls can’t resist that adorable face of yours, so I’m sure she likes you back,” she gushed. “What’s her name again? Evie?”
I really shouldn’t have told her that…
I was shaking my head before she even got the question all the way out, but it was too late.
Yelling across the parking lot, my mother completely ignored my plea. “Evie!” she called out, getting her attention as well as the other twenty or so people headed toward the field.
“And… so it begins,” one of my brothers mumbled.
We all knew how this would end.
Kyle, Ben, and Richie found various ways to hide the huge grins on their faces. Kyle turned away completely, pressing his lips into a thin, hard line that made his cheeks hollow. Ben put a hand over his mouth and squeezed his face into an odd shape, one he, apparently, deemed a better alternative than laughing. Richie pretended to send a text.
Meanwhile, I found myself wishing I’d been born into a different family.
My eyes lifted toward the sky. She always did things like this. And… now she was waving her arms wildly, smiling from ear to ear.
After a shocked ‘Who me?’ mouthed by Evie, she was on her way over, settling her curious gaze on me once she realized I was among the group of strangers; strangers I hadn’t imagined her meeting quite like this.
“This is totally gonna get you laid, bro,” came Kyle’s sarcastic words in a whisper.
My hand went to the back of my neck and, all of a sudden, it felt like the sun was high in the sky again, beating down on my head and shoulders instead sinking on the horizon. In the seconds before Evie was in earshot, my mother sniffed the air at the precise moment I noticed the smell of smoke myself. Today, it was wrapped in cherry blossoms. I’d gotten used to it. Evie’s perfume varied from day to day, but the smoke was always there.
Mom’s natural reaction was to scold Richie for not changing his clothes after work, assuming the scent came from the Seaton Falls Fire Department tee he was still sporting.
Only I knew he wasn’t at fault.
“Promise you’ll act normal,” was my final request as Evie walked the last few feet to where my family stood on the sidewalk outside the Athletic Building. I was sure she was full of questions and I would apologize for this profusely as soon as it was just the two of us.
A nervous smile spread across Evie’s face as she shoved her hands in her jean pockets. The polite thing would’ve been for my mother to greet her now, especially seeing as how it was her shenanigans that brought Evie over in the first place, but, instead, there was this… weird pause. A brief moment of complete silence that made me cringe.
All of a sudden, my mother ran out of things to say and I just about blew a fuse. Why would she go through all the trouble of embarrassing me, calling Evie over, only to stand here, mouth opening and closing several times like she did, in fact, have something to say, but couldn’t quite get the words out.
Evie looked like a deer in headlights as her fingers flitted through her hair, settling on the large, curly puff on top of her head.
“Rob,” Dad interjected, offering Evie his hand to shake when he introduced himself. He, too, stared like he suddenly forgot how to speak English, but at least he pulled it together better than my mother.
Speaking of, she still hadn’t snapped out of it. Blinking profusely was the only sign she hadn’t lost consciousness.
“Nice… to meet you.” It sounded like Evie had to dislodge the words from her throat.
“And I’m Richie, Nick’s oldest brother. And this is Ben and Kyle,” he added, gesturing toward the others.
Evie offered a stiff smile, waving hello to my brothers. I had to put an end to this. Turning to my family, I did my best to get rid of them.
“Why don’t you guys go find a seat,” I suggested… strongly. “I’ll catch up with you after the game.”
Mom’s expression was completely blank and her shoulders lifted with the deep breaths she took.
“Of course,” Dad answered, looping his arm around my mother’s, carting her off the next second like a child. Embarrassed wasn’t even the word for how I felt.
My face was blazing hot when I tried to explain what just happened to Evie. The part I understood, anyway.
“She just wanted to meet you,” I started. “She saw my att
ention shift when you got out of the car and… she kind of ran with it.” I downplayed that quite a bit to seem like less of a stalker.
Man, this was uncomfortable.
Evie dipped her head with a shallow nod. “No, it’s cool. I just thought I might’ve misunderstood her gesturing for me to come over. Like, maybe I misheard her calling my name or something.” She sounded shy, like she didn’t know what to make of things.
The best thing to do was change the subject. Breathing deep to combat my nerves, I looked her over. This girl was like nothing and no one I’d ever seen—flawless. I never got tired of the way she chewed her lips when she got lost inside her head, or how she could hardly stand still whenever our eyes met.
“I’m glad you decided to come,” I admitted. When I invited her a couple days before, she didn’t give a definitive answer as to whether she’d show or not, so this was a pleasant surprise.
“Yeah, from what I hear, watching you guys play isn’t something to be missed.”
The compliment put a little added pressure on tonight’s game, but usually that made me play harder, better. “Hopefully, the team lives up the hype.”
Her eyes drifted away when she smiled, taking in a deep breath when she did.
“I’m supposed to be sitting with Beth,” Evie said next, and my brow twitched when she did. Not that this was a bad thing, just a strange thing. She and Beth were polar opposites and I couldn’t imagine the two having common ground, but, apparently, I was wrong.
“Oh… well, good. Now you won’t have to watch alone.” It would’ve been nice if having her sit with my parents had been an option, but after that introduction, it was completely out of the question.
Evie nodded again and, over her shoulder, a massive wall of navy and gold Lettermen’s jackets came our way—the rest of the team, which meant I was out of time.
“Let’s go, Stokes,” boomed a deep voice. Theo, another lineman—my position. I nodded as he passed me, slapping his massive hand down on my shoulder.
