“Chill,” Brody says, rolling his eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I’m chilled.”
“I saw you looking for an escape route.”
“Yeah, well, ‘I’m not going to hurt you’ is what psychos say right before they hurt you.”
“I’m not a psycho,” he says, “And you’ve been watching way too many horror movies.” Then he sighs and puts his head back in his hands. I can tell he’s debating something, and then he takes a deep breath, and slouches back against the seat in defeat.
“Listen, let’s just go to breakfast, okay?”
“You want to go to Denny’s?” Is he crazy? “No fucking way.”
He grins. “It’s sexy when you swear.”
I tap my fingers against the steering wheel.
“Come on,” he says, “I’m hungry.”
“No.”
“You’ll be in a public place,” he says.
I hesitate. “And if we go, then you’ll tell me what’s going on?”
“Yes,” he says, “Then I’ll tell you what’s going on.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “How do I know you don’t have your minions waiting at the restaurant, ready to take me out?”
“A, I don’t have any minions, and B, even if I did, Denny’s wouldn’t be the place I’d choose for an ambush.” He turns to look at me then, really look at me. Staring into his eyes like that makes me a little uncomfortable, but I don’t turn away, mostly because I don’t want to show any weakness. “Besides,” he says, “You really think I would do that?” He seems genuinely hurt.
“I don’t know anything anymore,” I say truthfully.
“Please,” he says, reaching over and putting his hand on mine. “Let’s go eat.
And I’ll tell you everything.”
“Fine,” I say, pulling the car back onto the street. “But you’re still paying.”
***
Twenty minutes later, a middle-aged Denny’s waitress is setting two menus down in front of us. But I’m not hungry. At all. Apparently Brody doesn’t feel the same way, because without even looking at the menu, he orders a double stack of pancakes with apples and whipped cream, bacon, home fries, coffee, and a chocolate milk.
“Just coffee for me, thanks,” I say. The waitress gives me a dirty look, I guess because she’s worried about her tip, and then leaves without saying anything.
“So talk,” I say.
Brody folds his hands in front of him on the table. He stays silent.
“I’m waiting.”
“I know.”
“So then what are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out how much you can handle.”
“I can handle anything.”
The waitress returns and slams two coffees down in front of us. I pick up the creamer and dump some in.
“Then why are you shaking?” Brody asks.
“What?”
“Why are your hands shaking if you can handle anything?”
“My hands aren’t shaking.” But as I slide my spoon into the coffee and stir it, the metal clinks against the sides of the mug. I quickly set the spoon down on my napkin.
“So is it real?”
“Is what real?” Brody asks. He takes a sip of his coffee. The fact that he’s so calm is kind of unnerving.
“The whole thing with Raine,” I say.
“Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, it’s real.” He’s still sipping his coffee all calm, like it’s nothing. Like he didn’t just announce that there are witches in our midst.
“They’re witches?”
“Yes.”
“And…” I take a deep breath and then just say it. “Am I?”
He hesitates. “Natalia…”
“Brody,” I say, “Just tell me. I can handle it.”
“You are,” he says, “But not like them. You’re…different.”
“Different how?”
“Different.”
“So I’m not evil?”
He sets his cup down and looks at me over the table. “Is that what you think?
That you’re evil?”
“Kind of,” I say, finally voicing the horrible, dark thought that I’d been wrestling with these past few days, ever since the night I ran into Becca at the gas station. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes, and I look out the window and blink hard, determined not to let Brody see me cry.
“You’re not evil.” He reaches over and takes my hand, and I pull my gaze from the window and down to our intertwined fingers. I don’t say anything, not trusting myself to talk. “And who told you that you were evil?” Brody asks. “Cam?”
“No,” I say, “Cam didn’t say that.”
He raises his eyebrows like he doesn’t believe it. “Natalia, it’s important that you don’t listen to what Cam says.”
“Yeah?” pull my hand away from his. “Well, Cam says I shouldn’t listen to what you say.”
“That’s because Cam doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.”
“And you do?”
“Yes.”
“How? Are you a witch too?”
“No.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m… a neutral party.”
The waitress returns, setting down Brody’s ginormous stack of food. She refills my coffee from the pot she’s holding in her other hand.
“You change your mind?” she asks me. “You want to order something?”
“No, thanks.”
“She’s a little hungover,” Brody says, rolling his eyes at the waitress. “Rough night of partying, and so, you know – “ He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Her stomach.”
“You know what?” I say, glaring at him. “I think I will have something. An omelette. Ham and cheese. And bacon.”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” Brody says when the waitress is gone.
He digs into his pancakes. “Delicious,” he says, “You want some?” He holds the fork out to me, and even though I’m not hungry, I lean over and let him put the food in my mouth.
“They’re good,” I say.
“Best 2.99 pancakes you’ll ever have.” He takes another bite, then wipes his mouth and sets his fork down. “Natalia, I’m serious. You have to stay away from Cam.”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t, something bad is going to happen. To you and to him.”
“If Raine’s evil, if she’s a witch, then how do I know you’re not? “ I ask him, deciding to ignore the part about me staying away from Cam. “Your sister was coming out of Derek’s house, Brody.” A look passes across his face, and I can tell I’ve surprised him, even though he’s trying not to show it. “You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“Well, that psycho has been taking pictures of all of us, did you know that?”
“No,” he says, “But I’m not surprised. Derek’s a bad guy, Natalia.”
“Yeah, no shit,” I say. “And if your sister was hanging out with him, how do I know you’re not bad, too?”
“You have to trust me.”
I laugh. “Right.”
But Brody isn’t laughing. He’s staring back at me, serious.
“So what is it?” I ask. “What’s this bad thing that’s going to happen?”
He hesitates. “I can’t tell you.”
“Are you kidding? You can’t tell me? That’s bullshit. So far you haven’t told me anything. And I’m not going to stay away from Cam. Not unless you can give me a little more information.”
“You’re not going to stay away from Cam? It shouldn’t be that hard. You barely know him.” I look away quickly, but not quickly enough. “Natalia,” he says, “Please tell me you haven’t been hanging out with Cam.”
“I haven’t been hanging out with Cam?”
“Jesus Christ,” he says.
“I’m not going to stay away from Cam unless you tell me exactly what this bad thing is that going to ha
ppen.”
“I told you, I can’t,” he says. “But you have to… Look, I don’t want to scare you, but Raine’s dangerous. And she’ll do anything to keep Cam close.”
“She’d hurt me just because of some boy?”
“Listen,” he says, reaching over and squeezing my hand. “You have to trust me.
You have to stay away from Cam, and close to me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m the only one who can keep you safe.”
And for some reason, in that moment, I start to believe him.
Chapter Two
Campbell
Natalia’s been ignoring me.
I can’t figure this girl out. One minute we’re kissing and I’m her knight in shining armor and the next, it’s like I don’t even exist.
Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but last night I sent her a few texts and she never responded at all. I sent her another one this morning just wondering if she was okay and she gave a very brief reply.
I’m fine thx. See u later?
See me later? No conversation about her crazy ex and those pictures we found, no theories about what we should do next with the Triad…nothing. Just an “I’m fine, thanks,” like I’m some random idiot bothering her and she’s trying to blow me off as nicely as possible.
It’s put me in an irritable mood.
On the drive in to school, Aiden is back to his old self but I’m out of sorts.
“Is it bad that I still want to go to the dance with Becca?” he says.
I give him a look. “Is it bad? Define bad.”
“Well, look. I know she’s not really into me, but can’t I still hang out with her and get the benefits?”
“There are no benefits, Aiden. I explained this to you already.”
“She might still let me touch her boobs though. Benefit number one.”
“She might suck the life out of you before you’ve gotten your greasy paw on it.
But yeah, maybe Becca will flash you a nip before she steals your life force. Maybe that’s worth it to you?”
I downshift as we cross Main and Lincoln. An old man and woman are walking arm and arm on the sidewalk and it makes me think of Nat. I wonder if someday we’ll be that old couple, holding hands and reminiscing about the crazy times we had in our youth. Something tells me that old couple wasn’t dealing with the shit we’re dealing with, though. They had trivial problems. Like the Depression.
“A nipple might not be worth it. But if I recover in a day or two like you did, then maybe it is. I’m not sure.” Aiden fiddles with the strap on his backpack and I shake my head.
“You’re joking but it’s not funny, dude. What are you gonna tell Becca?”
“I don’t know. What are you going to tell Raine? I mean, she doesn’t know you plan on bailing either.” He gives me a long look.
“I have to go.”
“Oh, I get it. So you get to have your cake and eat it too, but I don’t?”
I frown. “It’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because. I’m not using it as an excuse to get laid.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m trying to keep her from getting suspicious. You just want to go so you can get your rocks off with Becca…which is never going to happen.”
“It already did, remember? She already touched—“
“Please.” I hold up my hand. “Spare me the details. I know what you told me the other day. But trust me, that was just a tease to hook you in.”
He smiles a little. “You think you’re so smart,” he says softly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me shit, Aiden.”
He shrugs. “Can we talk about something other than the Triad for a change?”
I speed up as we get closer to school and try to think of something else to talk about. But all I can think of is Natalia.
***
When I get to school, I really want to catch Natalia alone to find out if something’s happened, but she won’t really look at me. She’s in the hallway talking with her friend Adrianna and I can’t find a good time to make my move.
A little later in the morning, she’s finally alone and I’m about to go talk to her when I hear someone calling my name frantically. It’s Raine, of course, at the worst possible time—she seems to have a sixth sense for that sort of thing.
“Cam, honey, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Her cadre of witches waves at me but Teri and Becca drop back to talk to Brody and a bunch of other kids while Raine keeps heading my way.
“Looking everywhere for me? I’m always in the same places every day.”
She does the eyebrow raise. “Oh, no, you’re not. You’re very crafty, like a wily little fox.”
“No. I’m just hanging out like always.”
She laughs like I just said the funniest joke of all time. She drapes her arm on my shoulder and leans in. I can smell peppermint on her breath and her blonde hair brushes against my face.
“So what did you want to talk about?” I say, as I see Brody leave the one group and approach Natalia. The two of them begin talking and walking away together.
That should be us, I think.
“The dance of course!” Raine says.
“Go for it.” I pull away from her and pretend to look at my cell, when really I just don’t want to chance her getting her hooks into me and somehow draining my life force.
I don’t know how she does it, maybe just by touching me. Either way, the further away I am from Raine Marsden, the better.
“So, Aiden and Becca were talking and they thought it would be fun if we all rented a limo and went together. Wouldn’t that be hilarious?”
“Aiden suggested that?” I try not to let her see my annoyance. What the hell is that kid thinking?
“Well, I don’t know whose idea it was,” Raine says, waving a hand. “All I know is that it will be hysterical watching Aiden and Becca’s drunk make out session. Maybe I’ll take video and then threaten to release the tape. She’ll be paying me off for, like, the rest of her life.”
I pretend to laugh. “Good stuff. But I don’t know if it’s such a great idea to all go together. I mean, you don’t know Aiden. He can be a real pain.”
Suddenly Raine’s face gets this weird, flat look and her eyes kind of glaze over.
She stares at me and I feel…I don’t know. Just. Strange.
“It’s a really good idea,” she says in this slow voice.
“It is?”
“One of the best ideas ever. You can’t wait to go to the dance with us.”
I lick my lips. For a long while, I feel like time sort of slows down. And I’m just kind of standing there thinking about it and realizing that it does sound kind of fun. I mean, picture the madness of Aiden and Becca and me and Raine—not to mention Teri—
all hanging out together, drinking, partying, getting wild.
I’m a freaking teenager, in the prime of life. I can’t be getting so serious about everything. Whatever’s going on between Raine and Natalia, I should just drop it for awhile and try to enjoy myself.
But you need to keep them away from Aiden.
He can take care of himself.
I shake my head as if to clear the cobwebs. “Actually, it does sound like a pretty good idea,” I say. I throw my arm around her. “You better be ready though because I’m intending to party like a rock star.”
We go down the hall together.
Chapter Three
Natalia
“Okay,” I tell Adrianna. “Now just go over there, and ask him.”
She pulls on her hair and looks across the hall to where Lancaster is standing near his locker with some of his friends from the football team. Cam, thankfully, isn’t around.
It’s the end of school on Monday, and I’ve kind of been avoiding him all day. Not on purpose. I mean, it wasn’t a conscious choice or anything. I meant to text him this afternoon, I just… I didn’
t really know what to say to him. Am I supposed to tell him what Brody said? It’s not like Brody specifically told me not to. But still. It’s confusing.
“Hello?” Adrianna asks, waving her fingers in front of my face. “Are you listening?”
“Yes, of course,” I tell her, even though I haven’t been. “But, um, maybe you could repeat that last part?”
“Well, the short version is that I don’t know what to say to him.”
Microsoft Word - santaanna1234567.doc Page 19
