Zach dug his hands in his pockets and shifted from one foot to the other. “I wanted to see you. I thought we could, I don’t know, talk?”
I glanced nervously over his shoulder, anticipating John’s arrival at any moment. Zach had picked THE worst moment to show up unannounced. “Well, this really isn’t a good time.”
“But your parents and my parents made plans to meet up for brunch so that we could have some time alone to talk and work things out,” he said, as if that made it all right. “Didn’t your mom tell you?”
My mouth fell open, and yet I shouldn’t have been so surprised. I was pretty sure the whole thing was strictly my mom’s idea, anyway. Apparently she would stop at nothing to see Zach and I get back together, and we hadn’t even been broken up a full day.
“That may be the case, Zach,” I said, “but this really is not a good time. I’m actually getting ready to go out.”
His eyebrows pushed together. “Go out?”
“Yes.”
“With who?”
I squared my shoulders. “With a friend.”
“Olivia?”
At that precise moment, John pulled into the driveway. I closed my eyes and sighed, hoping that when I opened them Zach would have magically disappeared. No such luck.
Zach didn’t say anything as John got out of his car, but simply stood in stony silence as he watched John amble up the walkway.
“Hi Zach,” John said cheerily, as if their being on my front stoop at the same time wasn’t at all weird.
Zach glanced at me and then back at John. “What are you doing here?”
John extended his hand. “John Kelly. Nice to meet you. We had Spanish III together.”
Zach eyed the hand with barely contained contempt, refusing to shake it. “I know who you are.” He turned to me then. “Are you serious? You broke up with me for this guy?”
When standing next to each other, I could see how Zach might clearly think himself the winner. He stood taller than John by a good six inches and had biceps as big as my thigh. John was more compact, though I didn’t for one moment doubt his strength. Zach was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and had the classic good looks of a jock, whereas John was dark-haired, fair-skinned, and a bit scruffy around the edges. They couldn’t have been more opposite.
And yet I couldn’t deny that there was something about John that edged out Zach in a very definite way, even if I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.
John held up his hands. “Take it easy. There’s nothing going on between Blake and me.”
Zach squared his shoulders, intent on confrontation. “Then what are you doing here?”
“We’re just friends.”
“Oh really?” Zach said.
“I think you should leave,” I said to Zach, not giving John the chance to answer. “Obviously my mother should have talked to me before sending you over here.”
“Just who do you think you are?” he said to John, poking him in the chest with his finger and ignoring me completely. “You waltz in here and think you can steal my girlfriend away from me. Well, I’ve got news for you: That’s not going to happen.”
John took a deliberate step back. “I hate to inform you, but she’s not your girlfriend anymore. And I would appreciate you keeping your hands off me.”
“Oh, yeah? And what if I don’t?” Zach shoved John in the shoulders with both hands, making him rock back on his heels.
I rolled my eyes. The last thing I needed was two guys fighting over me on the front stoop of my house. And if I had to place a bet, it would be on John. Zach was a fantastic athlete, but he really didn’t have the brawling spirit in him. He was even scared of spiders! I suspected John could take care of himself in a fight just fine. He had that look about him. And as annoying as Zach was being at the moment, I didn’t want him to get hurt.
I tugged Zach’s arm. “Stop it. You need to leave.”
He yanked his arm out of my grasp. “No. He’s the one who needs to leave. I came over here to talk to you . . . I brought you flowers, Blake!”
“And I appreciate that, Zach. But can we please talk about this later when you’re not so emotional?”
He broke out in hysterical laughter, trying to disprove my point, but failing. “Who’s emotional? I’m not emotional! I just can’t believe you broke up with me for this guy, and you don’t even have the decency to tell me why.” He looked at me head-on, his face going an angry shade of red. “You’re nothing but a back-stabbing bitch!”
John stepped between Zach and me, his expression hard as steel. “Get out of here now. Go. Before I do something that will get me in a lot of trouble.”
Zach’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and his throat worked in a convulsive swallow as though he meant to put up a fight. But he turned without another word and stormed off down the walkway back to his car.
John and I watched in silence as Zach reversed out of the driveway, his tires screeching as he sped off down the street.
I let out my breath. “Sorry about that.”
John’s hand brushed my shoulder. “No, I’m the one who should apologize. I shouldn’t have provoked him. He seems like a really good guy, all things considered, and I’d probably react the same way if a girl like you had just dumped me for some loser.”
I tried to smile, but I was pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. “I don’t think you’re a loser.”
“Do you want to cancel? We can do this some other time if you’re not up to it today.”
But what good would it do to cancel? I’d only be stuck at home dwelling on the fact I’d made Zach miserable. Again.
I shook my head. “No, I definitely need to get out of the house. Just let me leave a note and lock up.”
As John and I were walking toward his car he slipped his hand in mine. “For what it’s worth, I think you made the right decision.”
We ended up at the wide mouth of the trail leading to Taughannock Falls. I hadn’t been to see the falls since the end-of-year trip my class took in the fifth grade. While my parents enjoyed the outdoors and fresh air, they preferred lounging by the pool or on the deck of someone’s boat, rather than doing anything too physically strenuous like hiking.
We had walked maybe a hundred feet, clusters of people passing us both ways, when John pointed to a small break in the spindly trees just off the trail.
He towed me by the hand. “This way.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he said, a note of breathless anticipation in his voice.
We edged our way down a small slope and broke through the trees, ending up in the valley of a dried-up riverbed. The dark gray walls of the shale-rock canyon rose to the sky on either side. My breath caught in my chest, overcome by the sheer beauty of it. “Wow!”
“It’s something, isn’t it?” John said with a grin, satisfied by my reaction.
We were not alone, the two of us. Other people had the same idea, and small scatterings of people filled the canyon. Still, the space was so vast it could have been just him and me.
The bedrock dipped and rose so that rainwater collected in small, isolated pools. “Take off your shoes so they won’t get wet. And see the algae?” he said, pointing to streaks of green and rust-orange film on the rocks. “Be careful where you step. It’s slippery.”
I had ventured only a little way when, as if to prove him right, my right foot skidded out in front of me. I flailed my arms to compensate, but John had quicker reflexes. He grabbed me around the waist to steady me, gently setting me back on my bare feet.
“Hang on there,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
My cheeks flamed. “Thanks. I’m not usually so klutzy. I’d probably get kicked off the team if Coach saw that brilliant move.”
He laughed. “I doubt that. You’re better than all of them put together.”
I ducked my head, embarrassed by his flattery. “No I’m not, but thanks.”
John stared at me, seemingly am
used. “You know, I wouldn’t have ever pegged you for a cheerleader.”
Now it was my turn to look amused. “I’m not sure whether or not to be insulted.”
John laughed. “You’re not the stereotypical ditz, is all I meant.”
“Gee, thanks. Olivia dragged me to this cheer clinic when we were in the sixth grade,” I explained as we kept walking. “I didn’t want to do it at first, but she was too scared to go alone. I was more interested in other things back then.”
Every now and then John’s arm grazed mine, and his dark, coarse hairs tickled my smooth skin. “Like what sort of things?”
“Like drawing. I wanted to be a fashion designer for the longest time. Go to school in New York. Move to Paris one day. The whole bit.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But I found out I was pretty good at cheering and tumbling, and now here I am. Co-captain with Olivia.”
John grinned. “Do you two do everything together?”
I thought about how Zach and I used to double-date with Olivia and Gabe, once upon a time. That wouldn’t be happening anymore. “We used to.” John didn’t ask what I meant, and I didn’t elaborate.
“So what’s up with you and Jill?” I said to change subject. “I had no idea you were even dating. Usually she doesn’t keep quiet about those sorts of things. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t really think you’re her type.”
John shrugged. “It wasn’t anything serious. And it’s over now.”
We walked in silence for a few moments, me too busy wondering how many girls he’d dated in the past to say anything. I’d always taken him for a loner. Guess I’d been wrong.
“So. Cheer camp,” I said, when I couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “We had a really intense clinic the week after school ended, and then there was another week when all we did was learn new routines and tumbling. That was more or less just for fun, though. It was supposed to be a team-bonding thing.” I rubbed the back of my left thigh in memory of a pulled muscle. “I’m still sore!”
“Does that mean you have some free time until school starts again?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing exactly what he was insinuating. I couldn’t stop the slow smile that spread across my face. “I suppose it does.”
At last we came upon a length of bedrock completely submerged in water from one bank to another—inches deep in some parts, though mid-calf in others, judging by the way a group of girls was squealing and splashing. John and I crossed via an uneven path of rocks jutting slightly out of the water and made our way to drier ground. He pointed to a large boulder, and that’s where we headed to sit down and rest.
John removed the pack he’d slung across his back and set it in his lap. He rummaged inside before handing me a blue aluminum bottle. “I thought you might be thirsty.”
I took the bottle with relief. “Thanks. I’m glad one of us had the foresight to bring drinks.”
He pulled out a red bottle for himself and, unscrewing the top, upended it and took a generous swig. “I don’t know about you, but I really needed that.”
“It’s hot,” I commented, for lack of anything else to say. Strands of hair stuck to my face. I hoped I didn’t stink, and I had to resist the urge to lift up my arm and take a whiff.
John looked at me, one brow raised in question. “Hungry?”
I clutched my stomach in response. My meager breakfast had done little to fortify me. “Very.”
“I figured as much.” He pulled a brown paper sack from his bag and passed it to me. “It sounded like I woke you up when I called, and I can’t imagine you had much of a chance to eat anything.”
I peeked into the sack, my stomach growling with the anticipation of food, and pulled out a wrapped deli sandwich from the local bagel shop.
“Tomato and mozzarella on rosemary focaccia,” John said. “Is that okay?”
“Sounds delicious.” I unwrapped the sandwich and held out half to him.
He waved it away and placed a plastic container of strawberries between us. “I’m good.” He picked up one of the small, dark red berries and held it at the level of my mouth. “I had some of these left over from yesterday. Open,” he commanded when he sensed my hesitation.
I opened my mouth obligingly, despite feeling very self-conscious, and he popped the strawberry inside. I bit down, the firm fruit bursting with juicy sweetness.
“So tell me about yourself,” I said around a mouthful of berry. “You know more about me than I know about you.”
He put a strawberry into his own mouth and shrugged his shoulders. “What’s there to tell?”
I looked down at the sandwich in my lap and pinched off a bit of the bread. “Lots of things. Like, what do you do in your spare time?”
“I work mostly. I sort of have to. It’s just me.”
That took me by surprise and I coughed, nearly choking on the food. “What do you mean it’s just you?”
Two young kids—a boy and a girl—ran by us just then, their mother yelling from a short distance away that they’d better stop this instant and wait for her or they were turning around and going home. John watched them for a moment before his gaze came to rest on me again.
“I lost both my parents a long time ago,” he said.
“Oh. I’m sorry. So you grew up in foster care?” I asked, feeling a frown pull at my mouth.
“Something like that,” John said, an unforgotten strawberry pinched between his thumb and forefinger. “I was . . . adopted, but I pretty much live on my own now.”
“You don’t have any brothers or sisters?” I asked, not sure what the proper protocol was for talking about heavy stuff like this.
“There’s Ian.”
“Who’s that? Does he go to our school?” I felt mildly ashamed for having written off John all these years, especially since he was proving to be a pretty nice guy.
John looked at the strawberry still grasped in his fingers, seeming to see it for the first time. He put it in his mouth and chewed in silence before answering. “I guess you could say he’s everything to me.”
I had finished half the sandwich by then and wrapped up the other half to save for later. Something had changed in John, and I was pretty sure it had to do with the mention of Ian.
“Well, I’m ready whenever you are,” I said as I wiped the crumbs from my lap.
John took the other half of my sandwich and stuck it, and the two water bottles, into his bag before slinging it onto his back again. Then he stood up and offered me his hand.
“Then let’s get going,” he said with a smile. “We’re almost there.”
October 27
“They can’t find out,” I echoed. I shook my head, unable to believe the words coming from John’s mouth. “When you say they, exactly who are you talking about?”
John’s eyes bore into mine, begging me to grasp the severity of the situation. “There are strict rules of living in the vampire world,” he said without answering my question. “Ian’s been in trouble before. They don’t give second chances. If they find out what’s he’s done . . .”
“And how would they find out?” I said, annoyed I still had no clue who we were even talking about. “You’re not going to tell. And even though I’m human, I’m not stupid. I’m not about to prance into some vampire lair and blab to the lot of them just to get Ian in trouble. Call it self-preservation.”
“There’s no vampire lair. And anyway, they wouldn’t touch you.”
“Oh? And why is that?”
He rolled his eyes. “Because you smell like death. Literally.”
I let his comment slide. “You never did answer my question.”
He bit his bottom lip, obviously debating about whether or not to tell me. “Every city has Watchers who make sure the vampires in their territory don’t cause problems.”
“Watchers. Are they like vampire police, or something?”
“I guess you could say that. The number of Watchers depends on how big the city is. There aren’t many h
ere, so sometimes it’s difficult for them to enforce the law. If you’re careful, you can get away with stuff.”
“I’ve got to go,” I said, turning away from him.
“Blake,” he said, grabbing my hand again, a look of confusion on his face. “Where are you going?”
“I’ve got to go,” I said again, wrenching my hand out of his grasp. “I-I’ve got to do something.”
He let me go then without further question and I hurried to my car. I didn’t bother to look back at John, but I felt his eyes on me the entire time.
July 29
Taughannock Falls boasted a tremendous drop of two-hundred-and-fifteen feet, measuring slightly higher than even Niagara Falls. I looked up from the bronze plaque before me, unconvinced, and studied the waterfall with a critical eye. There hadn’t been a drop of rain in weeks, and water dribbled from the upper creek to the boulders and pool below in a relative trickle. Still, it was pretty impressive.
“I heard someone died down there,” a girl stage-whispered to her companion, though loud enough so that everyone standing around her heard. She caught my attention, and I tore my eyes from the waterfall to glance over at them.
“You’re not supposed to cross the barrier, see?” she went on, pointing to a “NO CROSSING” sign. “There was a rockslide the size of a house. Some say a ghost now walks the trails at night.”
The guy she was with wrapped his arms around her waist and stuck his tongue in her ear, making her shriek and giggle. “That’s a load of crap,” he said. “Not about the rockslide, but about the ghost.”
The girl laughed, obviously messing around with him. She wiggled out of his arms and thrust a digital camera in his hand. “Take a picture of me, will you?”
She leaned against the wooden guardrail, striking a pose with one hand on her hip and her other arm thrown wide to capture the background. The camera clicked, and then the guy tugged on her hand, pulling her back in the direction of the trail. I watched them disappear around the bend.
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