by Anya Breton
Alex crowded me out, closed the door behind us and then stepped around me to walk across the deck we’d emerged onto. Down the stairs into what sounded like a gravel drive he walked. I followed several feet behind him.
“…be our downfall and he doesn’t care,” a snarling female voice echoed from within what I assumed was their garage.
A male voice responded, “He cares. He thinks what he is doing is right.”
Yet another male voice answered impatiently. “You always defend him, Aaron.”
The response from the first male voice was sour. “And somehow I’m always outcast with you two.”
“My car is just over there,” Alex spoke far louder than he needed to. I assumed it was for their benefit.
The trio inside immediately ceased their discussion. One by one the intimidating figures emerged from the darkness. Their raven hair, dark eyes and penetrating gazes were all hallmarks of the clan. The suspicious glares they gave me weren’t. I stood stiffly while they walked around us into the house.
“Let me back it up first,” Alex spoke before disappearing into the pitch-black garage.
The headlights flipped on and I could see that it was a four-car garage much like every other except theirs actually had four cars within instead of seasonal storage like most. The black Chevy Cobalt backed up beside me. Alex reached over to unlock the door for me then sat back to wait.
I got in quickly, but only because I’d rather get home than remain where I was. Sitting in a car alone with him was the price I had to pay to get there.
He backed around the house, turned in a hundred and eighty degree angle in front of the van they’d used to kidnap me then started down a narrow driveway. Several turns, bumpy roads and miles passed before I realized the Chattan family must live near the lake on the outskirts of Junction Hill.
Alex broke the silence once we’d pulled onto a smoother road. “Do you like Indie?”
I glanced over at him in confusion. “Indy?”
He gestured at his stereo. “Indie rock or independent music.”
“Oh,” was my dull response. A moment later I was able to give a better reply. “I like some of it.”
He reached forward to turn up the volume on his stereo. One of the songs Stan had given me that week was playing in the background. I wondered if Alex had heard it before I’d gotten the CD from my music buddy.
Once again I had dozens of questions. Did his entire family shapeshift? Even the ones that didn’t like me? What about his little sister? Why were three of his family members obviously upset about the decision of their leader to protect me instead of kill me? How could a black panther hope to protect me from a rogue witch or vampire? Had he ever seen one?
I didn’t dare ask any of those. Instead I sat in the passenger seat mutely staring out the window all the way to downtown Junction Hill. My hand was ready on the door handle when he pulled up outside our apartment building.
“See you tomorrow,” Alex waved as I stepped out of the car in front of our apartment.
I waved in distraction while looking up at our windows. They were dark. I didn’t know what time it was but that either meant my mother hadn’t gotten home yet or she’d already gone to bed. Either way, it was a good sign.
I unlocked the door, stepped through and saw the open bedroom doors. The DVD player’s green LED readout said it was nine fifteen. My mother would be home in forty-five minutes.
After tossing the note I’d written into the trash I retreated to the bedroom to attempt my homework once again. I was no closer to a finished paper when my mom got home than I had been when I’d sat to read. With a sigh I got up to greet her.
She chattered about her day, a particularly rude customer and how she’d paid the last two hundred dollars on one of her medical bills thanks in part to my bonus. It was very good news but not nearly enough to make-up for the day I’d had. We hugged goodnight and went into our respective bedrooms.
I flopped onto my bed and stared at the wall. It would be another long night. Each time I closed my eyes I saw the piecing gaze of a black panther with steel blue irises. That was enough to keep anyone awake.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
It was my turn to play the avoidance game. I couldn’t look Alex in the eye in the light of the following day without seeing the black panther. So I didn’t look at him at all.
Evasion was easy in history class because I arrived moments before Mr. Zimmerman began lecturing. Alex seemed to have been watching the door in concern. His shoulders relaxed in relief when Guy and I appear around the corner. I intentionally walked in front of the class to get to my seat in an effort to avoid him.
Lunch would be more difficult. He knew the few places I went to hide from my friends. He also knew who they were and where they sat in the lunchroom. I would have to find a new place to hang out.
I headed to the photography studio after the fourth period bell rang in hopes that I could catch Mrs. Lozano before she left to eat.
“Hi Aeon,” she greeted me with a smile as made a move to pull the studio door shut. “Do you need in?”
I quickly shook my head. “I was hoping to talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I’m already finished with my project,” I told her what she’d already known. “Now I’m just taking up space and chemicals by printing stuff I don’t really need. Is there any chance I can cut class so I can finish my AP History homework?”
Mrs. Lozano nodded eagerly. “Sure, I owe you a free period anyway.”
“Thanks,” I replied in obvious relief. “I really appreciate it.”
“No problem,” the older woman smiled warmly. “Good luck with your homework!”
We waved to each other then departed in different directions. I took the back hallways to the school library and hoped that there would be enough material about my history topic there that I could finish what I’d neglected to do the evening before. More importantly I hoped Alex wouldn’t think to check for me there. Guy settled in with a yawn to record two hours of a dull performance.
With two minutes to spare I printed the paper for Friday on the library printer. Guy and I hurried to drawing class across the school. I pushed through the door minutes after the bell had rung.
“Tomorrow we’re doing critique of the still life drawings you’ve done,” Mrs. Finch was telling the others as I hastily fetched my drawing from the rack.
I looked down at what I had and frowned. With the deadline over my head, I worked feverishly to make up for the two days I’d been distracted. At the end of the period I had a finished piece that was a poor example of my skill but it was a finished piece all the same.
Unintentionally I had forgotten my things for gym. Guy and I had to hightail it to my locker and then to the locker-room. I stepped onto the field out of breath and dismayed that we were still playing something that required mesh shirts.
I pulled the shirt over my t-shirt and pretended I hadn’t seen Alex starting for me when I turned to head in the opposite direction. He’d not been wearing a mesh shirt so I knew he wouldn’t be able to follow me to the end zone. When I turned around again I caught him watching me with a frown before I glanced away. After that point Alex concentrated on playing the game of soccer.
Guy and I walked speedily from the locker room, out the door and toward Burning Idea after class had finished. My trepidation grew the closer we got to my after school job.
Would Felix ask me for the money back? Had they gotten Trey’s arm stitched up? Would Alex attack someone else?
Now that I knew what the new kid was, I had to reconsider the attack on Trey. How had Alex been able to scratch him without shifting into a big cat? Could he shift parts of himself without a full transformation? Did the fact that he could turn into panther explain how he was able to run faster than a normal human?
Felix was arguing with a customer when I walked through the door. “…never had talking Invader Zim key chains.”
“Not In
vader Zim,” the woman insisted. “His dog, Gir.”
“We’ve never had talking key chains period.”
I grabbed one of the items the woman was asking after on my way to the register. “Maybe I can help,” I smiled at them both and then nodded toward the back room.
Felix took a few steps back so I could take the counter. I waited until he disappeared into the back before pulling the key chain out and hitting the button that made the plastic box speak a quote from the television show.
“That’s it,” the woman exclaimed. Her tone soured while her finger pointed toward where Felix had gone. “That guy is an idiot.”
Rather than comment I posed a helpful question. “Were you looking for anything else?”
“No, this is what my daughter wanted.”
“Good choice,” I smiled and rung up the purchase.
With the customer happily on her way I did a circuit around the store to tidy up the displays. As usual, my two-day absence meant the place was a mess. Guy hovered around me taking noticeable shots of my actions from new positions. It annoyed me, but not enough to gripe at him.
At the end of the evening I hadn’t seen Trey and Felix had neglected to mention anything about the hundred and twenty dollars he’d given me. Guy and I took lower Eagle Drive to the apartment at quarter after nine. Though neither of us mentioned the attack on Saturday night we were both more aware of our surroundings while we picked through the darkened streets.
I felt eyes on me at all times. There was little doubt what was watching me but I didn’t know which of the black-haired steel blue eyed creatures it was. Protected wasn’t what I felt. I felt stalked.
* * * *
“William wants to go to the lake.”
“Isn’t it a bit cold to go to the lake?”
Jenny’s question had been the wrong response. Ashley’s glare proved that. I turned my head so I could roll my eyes without being seen. The movement was an unfortunate one because I caught Alex Chattan’s eye because of it.
He was seated alone across the lunchroom with the cameraman standing a short distance behind him. The expression on his face was grim as he watched me. I returned my head forward and dropped my gaze to my tray.
“The Mount Washington is still running,” Ashley informed her with a disgusted snort. “Besides, if it’s cold, who do you think will warm me up? I think it will be romantic.”
“Lake Winnipesaukee is boring in the summer,” Jenny continued. “I can’t imagine how bad it would be if the slides and arcades were shut down.”
“Lake Winnipesaukee is not boring in the summer,” Jen argued with a lifting pitch that emphasized her dismay. “Fun Spot? Hello?”
“Pffft,” Jenny snorted. “A glorified bowling alley. We have a bowling alley in Junction Hill. We don’t need to drive two hours to bowl there for twice as much.”
Not to be put off, Jen continued, “And like five different kinds of Pac Man, dozens of games, indoor golfing, miniature golf, go carts, pizza. Plus there’s the beach and boating. You’re crazy if you think it’s boring. Junction Hill is boring.”
“I gotta agree with Jen,” I added my two cents. “Lake Winnipesaukee was always fun when we went during the summer. The Hill is pretty damn boring.” Or at least it was until shapeshifting southerners moved in.
“In any case,” Ashley butted in sharply. “William’s family has a sailboat. We’re going to go sailing too.”
“Sailing on the lake when it’s forty degrees? What fun,” Jenny drawled sarcastically.
“You have to ruin everything just because you’re jealous, don’t you?”
My eyebrow lifted at Ashley’s accusation. It was one of the most hypocritical things she’d ever said. None of us spoke. Eventually she sighed and stood to take her tray to the trash.
I shoved my food around my tray in distraction.
“You know, that new kid has been sitting alone for two days,” Ashley announced once she’d sat again. “We should invite him to sit here. I mean he’s in that documentary with Aeon so that should be reason enough to be hospitable.”
No one argued.
“Aeon,” Ashley said firmly. “You should go invite him.”
My eyes lifted in annoyance. “Me? Why me?”
“You know him,” was her answer.
It was unfortunate, but I did. I growled at her, “Just because he’s got a camera with him, that means we must be friends?”
“We shouldn’t be rude.”
I glanced over to see that another girl was standing in front of his table. He was looking up at her from beneath his eyelashes as if he hadn’t wanted to put forth the effort of lifting his head. The girl gave a quick shake of her pretty blonde hair like he’d said something rude then turned on her heel to stalk away. My friends exclaimed upon seeing that Chelsea Kinkaid had apparently been told to take a hike by the new kid.
“I am not going to talk to him,” I repeated now that I had more of a reason to argue. My friends couldn’t expect me to ask a kid to sit with us who had refused to associate with one of the most popular juniors.
“He’s looking at us,” Ashley insisted.
“Then he can come over here himself,” I answered reasonably.
“Maybe he’s too polite to impose,” Melissa offered up an explanation.
I snorted at that.
Melissa added, “He looks like a nice guy, too nice to hang out with Chelsea. I say we invite him.”
With a heavy sigh I relented for her, “Fine.”
“He’s in my math class,” Ashley told the others as I was standing from the bench. “He’s always staring at me.”
Tray in hand, I walked to the trashcan with the cameraman trailing my steps. Then I took the long way back to the table by way of Alex’s. I found that he’d taken to staring straight ahead. His eyes widened in surprise when I stopped beside him.
“My friends are forcing me to invite you to sit with us,” I told him with a grumble.
“Are they?”
Rather than assure him, I turned and headed back to the table where the four girls watched avidly.
“He’s coming!” Jenny exclaimed with obvious excitement.
“Move over so he can sit there,” Ash gestured to the Jens in front of her.
Dutifully they slid closer to the middle of the table so that when he sat, he’d be face to face with our de facto leader. Alex arrived a moment later to stop directly behind Jenny. Her eyes widened at me as she stared across.
“May I sit with you?” He asked her politely.
Jenny stammered as she moved back to where she’d been, “Um, sure.”
He slid his legs over the bench and dropped down in front of me. I lowered my gaze to the table.
“Well, aren’t you going to introduce us?” Ashley’s grating voice broke the silence that had briefly lapsed.
“I’m Alex,” he spoke for himself. “And you are?”
Everyone at the table gave their names but it was Ashley that spoke next. “Where you from, Alex?”
My eyes lifted enough to see him.
He was looking at her when he answered. “Florida.”
Jenny exclaimed, “Cool!”
“It’s rarely cool in Florida,” Alex chuckled while looking at Jenny. “Like it’s rarely warm here.”
“It gets warm,” Melissa assured him helpfully. “In the summers it can get up to one hundred and it can be humid. Just not like Florida.”
His gaze switched to the next speaker. “That’s good to know. I’d been picturing snow year round and six months of darkness.”
Ashley rolled her eyes while the others laughed. “That’s Alaska.”
Back to Ash his eyes moved. “Alaska, New Hampshire, above the Mason Dixon line it’s all the same to me.”
She continued the questioning. “Why did you move here then?”
I tried to hide my interest in the answer.
Alex glanced at me before speaking. “My family moved. I kind of had to go where they went.”<
br />
“That sucks, moving in junior year,” Jen joined in. “I’d never forgive my parents if they did.”
He shrugged. “I’ll get by.”
Ash’s examination continued. “Do you play any sports?”
“I was on track and field at my old school.”
“Which event?”
“Hundred meter dash.”
I struggled not to laugh. A guy who could shift into a black panther and run however supernaturally fast he could run was certainly cheating by joining in track and field.
“And long jump,” he added.
Did that mean he had some extra help jumping too?
“But not football?” Someone pressed.
“Nope.”
Ashley’s eyes rolled a little. “Too bad. All the popular guys are on the football team.”
“Good for them,” he seemed to drawl in a condescending tone.
I hid a smile behind my hand. Her glare meant she’d seen it anyway.
Ashley turned back to him. “So were you excited when they picked you for the documentary?”
Alex lifted his shoulders lightly. “I don’t think of it as being picked so much as having it forced on me.”
“Ugh,” Ash grumbled. “You sound just like Aeon.”
He chuckled and leaned forward to rest his forearms on the tabletop. “There are worse people to sound like.”
He was trying to be nice to me. I didn’t want him to be nice to me. I wanted to continue avoiding him.
“Did you leave a special girl behind in Florida?” Jenny asked wistfully.
“Nope.”
Ashley jumped on the answer. “No? No girl at all or just no special girl?”
“No girl at all,” Alex responded with a firm shake of his head.
She pressed onward. “Are you gay?”
I closed my eyes in embarrassment for her.
“No, I’m not gay.”
“Then why no girl? You’re a handsome guy.”
He didn’t seem fazed by the compliment. “I never found one that would be able to impress my family.”
With a family like his it was no wonder he hadn’t found a girl they’d like. I kept the thought to myself.
