Spencer shook his head. “This is just embarrassing. I feel bad for you. The best sport in the world is basketball. Everyone knows that.”
“Of course. Everyone,” I scoffed.
Spencer grimaced. “You’re desperately in need of some sports education. Hey, you should come to my game.”
“I’m not familiar with sports etiquette. I’ve never been to a game in my life. I might end up cheering for the wrong team,” I warned him.
“Don’t worry. You’re just in the crowd. But after the game we can do something, like go to dinner or see a movie. It’ll be fun.”
“Are Alexis and the rest of our lunch group going?”
Spencer looked at me as if I were joking. I had a feeling I had missed something important.
“I didn’t invite them,” Spencer said slowly. “I was thinking it would, well, be a date.”
“Oh.” My ability to pick up on male signals was shameful. I had no idea Spencer even thought of me in that way. I had never considered him more than a friend, and my brain went into overdrive thinking of ways to decline politely.
“Uh, what night again?”
“Saturday.”
“This Saturday?”
He nodded expectantly.
I couldn’t lie and say I was busy. When he had asked me about my weekend plans at the beginning of class, I told him I would just be at home watching an Arrested Development marathon all Saturday. And, somehow, “Sorry, but I was actually planning to sit on my couch and watch TV for hours on end” didn’t seem like a respectful enough reason to turn someone down. I fiddled with my eraser in an attempt to waste time. Maybe if I waited long enough, he would forget he asked the question. When I looked up, he was still watching me.
“So?” he prompted. He was starting to get impatient.
“Yeah?”
“It’s a date then,” Spencer beamed. Wait, what? That was a “yeah” as in “yeah, so, can you please repeat the question?” not “yes, I agree to let you take me out and pay for me.” I mentally cursed at myself.
“I know a great place by the stadium we can eat. It’ll be perfect.” Spencer was grinning from ear to ear. Crap, he was practically glowing. I sighed. I couldn’t bring myself to crush his spirits now. I could endure one date.
“Sounds great?”
Just then the bell rang, and everyone got up to leave. From the back of the room, Cecelia cast me a contemptuous look. She still did not seem to be enjoying my presence.
Spencer and I met Alexis just as we were walking out the door. She was shuffling a disorderly stack of papers in her hands.
“Almost done,” Alexis grunted.
“You said that this morning.” Spencer shook his head at her. I could have sworn I heard him mumble, “Get it together, Alexis,” under his breath.
“Well, this morning I didn’t have Amber’s notes. Thank you, by the way. They’re really detailed.”
“No problem,” I said.
“Hey are you okay? You seem quiet and pale.” Alexis put her hand on my forehead as if to take my temperature.
“I think she looks beautiful,” Spencer piped in unnecessarily.
Alexis glanced at him strangely. I mentally gave him negative points for subtlety.
“I’m just cold, that’s all,” I lied.
“Do you want my jacket?” Spencer offered as we walked through the doorway of our chemistry class. Jeesh, I knew this kid was only trying to be chivalrous, but he was really jumping the gun.
“Err… no, that’s okay,” I said quickly. Spencer’s face fell slightly. At least he didn’t misinterpret that.
Spencer, Alexis, and I took our seats and waited for the class to start. The lesson was on thermodynamics, which to me already sounded confusing. I was so busy taking notes that I didn’t even look up when the teacher addressed the new student who walked into the room.
“Hello, young man. Can I help you?” Mrs. Rosa inquired.
“Yes, I believe this is my chemistry class?”
I dropped my pencil. I knew that voice. But it couldn’t have been…
“Sorry I’m late. I’m not from the area, so I’ve been filling out paperwork at the front office all morning.”
“Welcome to Pierce,” Mrs. Rosa smiled. “What’s your name?”
“Dylan Winters, ma’am.”
I looked up. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What was he doing here?
“Mr. Winters, please feel free to sit in any of the empty seats. We’ve just started a lesson on thermodynamics. You can meet me after class for the notes.”
But Dylan wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. He was too busy scanning the room. When his shining green eyes landed on me, his entire face lit up like a toddler’s on Christmas morning. He winked as he passed me on the way to the vacant seat behind me. All I could do was gape like an idiot.
“What are you doing here?!” I hissed hotly. “In case you didn’t know, you’re in the wrong state.”
Dylan clucked his tongue. “If anyone’s in the wrong state, it’s you. Running halfway across the country and thinking no one would follow you. How naïve.”
“Don’t you dare call me naïve until you learn how to use a comb!” I turned and swatted his unruly hair.
“Miss Tesse, do we have a problem?” Mrs. Rosa paused the slideshow presentation and put her hands on her hips.
“Ooh, someone’s in trouble,” Dylan whispered from behind my back.
I sucked in a deep breath. “Yeah, the new kid’s disturbing me. I don’t think he’s familiar with class policy yet. I’m sure he would appreciate it if you could go over that with him as well after class.”
That shut Dylan up for the rest of the hour. I tried to take notes, but at the end of class, I looked down at my notebook to find an illegible jumble of scribbles. I couldn’t remember a single word Mrs. Rosa had said. Instead of concentrating on the lesson, I had been hyperactively aware of the kid behind me, sitting in a seat he didn’t belong in.
“You sly little traitor!” Dylan accused as soon as class ended.
“Why are you here?” I asked, ignoring the insult.
“I have to talk to the teacher, remember? We’ll discuss this over lunch.”
I stared at him, openmouthed. “Fine.”
I found Spencer and Alexis waiting for me in the hallway.
“How’d you make friends with the attractive new kid so quickly?” Alexis raised one eyebrow and gave me a thumbs up.
“I think he’s strange. Do you know who he is?” Spencer demanded in a manner that made me cringe.
“An old friend,” I said. “We were neighbors.”
Spencer snuck a quick look at Dylan through the classroom window. “What’s he doing here?”
“Why don’t you ask him?” I threw my hands up into the air in exasperation. “Can we go to the cafeteria now?”
When Dylan finished his conference-thing, I opted to sit with him at a separate table so that we could catch up. Spencer looked overly disappointed, but I was too high-strung to feel guilty anymore.
I tried my best to look pissed at Dylan while he crossed the cafeteria, but it was really hard to stay angry with him, especially when he looked so ridiculously happy just to see me. My expression faltered and melted into a smile, which Dylan saw as a green light to envelope me in a bone-crushing hug once I was an arm length away.
“Please stop,” I urged. “We’re not five anymore. People are going to get the wrong idea.”
Alexis waved at me excitedly while Spencer coughed on his sandwich.
“Since when did you care what people thought?” Dylan released me and dug his fingers into my hair to mess it up. “Consider that payback.”
“How did you get here?” I persisted, taking a bite of the macaroni I had bought. I tossed Dylan a salad I had ordered him from the lunch line.
“Thanks. On a plane, of course.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Gosh, okay. Remember how you came here about half a month ago? Well, you abandoned the kid you grew u
p with, and he didn’t like that very much.”
“And your parents were okay with you abandoning them?” My voice was colored with disbelief.
“Of course they weren’t at first. They were pretty upset. But I can be a very persuasive kid.” Dylan paused to steal some macaroni from me. “They saw I wasn’t happy, and my grades were slipping. Eventually they ran the idea by Matt, and he offered to let me stay with you. He actually insisted. I told my parents it would be like a trial of college life, living away from home for a while.”
I snorted. “Minus the college.”
“Anyway,” Dylan continued. “They agreed. Nathan threw a fit until he realized he would get my room.”
“And you’re going to live with us?”
“Yeah, but I’m still paying rent, so don’t look at me like I’m a freeloader. Oh, and we have the same schedule too. Matt told the counselor you would help me catch up in all my courses. The school was quite accommodating.”
“Matt never told me anything!”
“You know him. He’s a writer. He was probably trying to make our grand reunion more dramatic.” Dylan shrugged. “What’s up with that table over there? They keep staring at us. One guy looks like he’s choking. Should we do something?”
“They’re my friends.” I played with my fork. “I accidentally agreed to go on a date with the choking one.”
Dylan grimaced. “Seriously, that one? No wonder he’s trying to spit fire at me. Rather unsuccessfully too.” Dylan waved at Spencer as his way of saying, “Yes, I can see you.” “Good luck getting out of that.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to,” I said in resignation.
“We’ll think of a way,” Dylan smirked.
But deep down I knew that even if we could think of a way, I wasn’t sure I would have the nerve to use it.
Chapter Ten
“Jeesh, what was with all the panthers?” Dylan complained. “They’re everywhere in your school. I swear I’m going to see them in my sleep.”
I rolled my eyes. Dylan had followed me around all afternoon like a lost puppy, and now we were walking home together. As thrilled as I was to see him, I was still majorly upset with his most recent spontaneous life decision.
“Go big or go home.” I emphasized the “go home” part and turned around to see if Dylan was still behind me. “Dylan – what the – what are you doing?”
I found Dylan on his hands and knees peering under some bushes. Dylan swatted his hand around in the darkness blindly with a blatant disregard for snakes and spiders.
“I saw a lizard. I’m going to catch it for your sister. She still likes lizards, right?” Dylan asked, the top half of his body obscured by a bush.
I exhaled loudly. He looked five again, with his legs waving around on the sidewalk while he searched through leaves for something he would never catch.
“I think she likes the sport, not so much the prize. She and Nathan would always let the lizards go.”
Dylan’s face reappeared from under the shrubbery, and he stood up, lizardless.
“Come on,” I urged. “The house is right over there.”
Dylan sprinted in the general direction I had pointed and stopped at a random gate. “This one?” he called. “It looks kind of… er, old.” I wrinkled my nose at his choice of words. “Sorry, just calling it as I see it.”
“Hush, Dylan. That’s the neighbor’s house,” I shushed him, afraid Adrian would overhear. But he was nowhere in sight. I tried to ignore the little sinking feeling in my stomach. “Ours is to the right. You can’t see it behind all the trees.”
Dylan made a little “o” with his mouth and looked up at the weathered gray house that wasn’t ours. “You’re right, it is creepy. I feel bad for the people who live there.”
“Still want to stay? The weird neighbors could be the deal breaker.” I slipped the key into the lock on my house’s gate. I couldn’t keep myself from periodically glancing at the gate to my right in the hope that Adrian might appear beside it.
“Looking for something?” Dylan asked, pointedly ignoring my question.
“No,” I responded hastily. “Nothing.” I heaved my bag higher on my shoulder and led the way inside.
Matt was waiting for us in the kitchen with a ridiculously happy grin, which I efficiently wiped off his face with my glower. I was getting right down to business.
“You didn’t tell me,” I said, gesturing to Dylan. “You should have told me.”
“Aw, Amber, come on.” Matt leaned up against the marble counter sheepishly. “Aren’t you glad?”
“Yes, but my joy is significantly outweighed by the disappointment I have in both of you.”
“Women,” Dylan whispered to Matt. I shot him a cold look, and he shut up. He knew I was being serious.
“What did you think you were doing when you lured my friend halfway across the country with the promise of food and board?” I said to Matt.
“Hey, hey,” Dylan interjected. “I chose to come. Matt didn’t force me.”
“You chose on a passing whim,” I said, clearly aggravated. “And Matt willingly indulged that whim.”
“It wasn’t just some passing wh--”
“You don’t get it, do you?” I said. “You still have parents and a brother, all of whom are very much alive and miss you right now. I think you have a bigger commitment to your family than you do to the kids who used to live next door.” I glared at him. I had been dying to say that since chemistry, but I had been restrained by the accepted social norms of public facilities until now.
“I had to-” Dylan broke in, only for me to cut him off.
“No, we moved because we had to. You moved because you wanted to!” I exclaimed. “Big difference.”
I heard the front door open, and Heather appeared in the doorway, her long hair dancing around her in loose ringlets. She was completely unaware of the tension in the room.
“Dylan!” Her eyes lit up when she saw him. She skipped up to him and held out her arms in anticipation of a hug, but Dylan remained motionless. She awkwardly cleared her throat and asked, “How was the flight?”
“No,” I blurted. “No, come on. Heather? Heather knew?”
“Surprise!” She did jazz hands next to Dylan. She was so hopelessly clueless.
“That’s it. I’m done,” I said, walking into the foyer. “Dylan.” I held his eyes with mine. “Please reassess what you’ve done before you rashly throw away something I don’t even have anymore.”
“Where are you going?” Heather asked from behind Dylan.
“On a walk,” I opened the door, and Dylan put his foot forward. “Please don’t follow me. I need some time to think. Alone. I’ll be back later.” I slammed the door behind me before I could change my mind.
Behind the house trickled a small stream leading into a woodsy area. I had never been back there before, but I knew no one would come looking for me in the woods, so I followed the water. The forest closed in around me, and the air grew heavy with the smell of wet earth and trees. A thick layer of dead leaves sealed the ground and prevented the growth of excessive shrubs which would have hampered my movement. The blanket of leaves crackled under my feet with every step, making it impossible for me to move silently.
When I was tired enough to deem myself worthy of a break, I collapsed under a tree and buried my face in my hands. My bag dug into my back painfully. In my haste to leave the house, I had forgotten to take it off.
My mind was running at a thousand miles a minute. I would have given anything to change places with Dylan. He had a life, a home, a family. Why would he give that up for this? I groaned in frustration. I needed to stop thinking about that.
I stroked my mother’s necklace in my pocket, and a lullaby she used to sing to me when I was a child came flooding back to me. I placed the chain around my neck and hummed the tune against the babble of the stream and the hypnotic songs of bird and frogs.
Chapter Eleven
I woke up in complete da
rkness, my fingers scraping against raw dirt as I pushed my body into a sitting position. I was completely disoriented. I couldn’t remember where I was until I recognized the sound of running water.
My eyes struggled to adjust to what little light the moon offered. When I was asleep, the woods had changed from welcoming to menacing, and, without a doubt, I had already outstayed my welcome by several hours. I could hear the faint cry of a coyote in the distance, but it sounded too far away to be of any danger to me.
I sat at the base of the tree, listening to the bubble of the stream as I tried to regain my bearings.
Just as I was about to get up, I heard leaves crunching along the riverbank. I held my breath and stopped moving.
I could tell from the heavy steps that it was definitely big, whatever it was, and it was moving toward me. It sounded like it was sniffing the earth. Very slowly I turned my head.
No more than three yards away, something human-sized was squatting close to the ground, smelling whatever was near it. At a glance, I thought it looked like a man. I didn’t realize how wrong I was until it stood up in one abrupt, jerky movement.
It was so emaciated that it didn’t even look like it should be alive. Its pallid skin looked like it had been stretched so tautly over its bones that it might snap. Its limbs were too long and slender to be a human’s, yet the creature still looked vaguely humanoid.
It lifted something glistening and dripping to its head and bit into it. I could hear cracks from the creature’s mouth as it chewed. I couldn’t stop myself from drawing my breath sharply in revulsion.
It snapped its head toward me, and I stifled a distressed squeak. Its pupils were tiny pins of black in bulging white spheres, and they focused on me greedily. Its lips curved up into a deathly smile, revealing hidden rows of needle-like teeth.
I needed to run.
I took off along the river, blindly tearing through whatever was in front of me. I could practically feel its footsteps beating the ground behind me. When I looked back, I saw it chasing me frantically on all fours like an animal, as if it were enjoying the hunt.
Feral (The Irisbourn Chronicles Book 1) Page 6
