He popped his jaw. That boy. Justin.
When he said no more, I prompted, What about him?
Are you dating him?
The lunacy! Justin had asked the same thing about Cole. Throw in the reaction Id gotten from Kat, Reeve, Poppy and Wren regarding my association with both Cole and Justin, and one thing became crystal clear: speaking to a guy at Asher High was the equivalent of picking out wedding bands.
No, Im not. Why do you care, anyway? I heard the neediness in my tone, and cringed. Basically, in guy code, Id just said something along the lines of, Please tell me how much YOU want to date me. Please. Im begging you.
Thankfully, he ignored that and asked, Howd you get home yesterday?
I walked.
He threw me a look that was all kinds of dirty. Dont ever do that again, do you hear me? Those woods are dangerous.
For a moment, all I could do was sputter. First, you sound like my grandfather. Second, I think its absolutely adorable that you believe you can boss me around. Forget feeling sorry for anyone who dared challenge him. He needed challenging! Third, how do you know I went through the woods? For all you know, I live behind the school.
You dont. Confidence practically shot out of him like an arrow.
I had to ask, couldnt stop myself. Were you in my backyard last night? There. Better to get the hard truth so that I could get over myself than to chicken out and obsess about the answer.
A beat of silence. Then, Yes.
Wait. What? Why?
He cranked the music back up. I considered turning it down myself, but in the end, I acted like Miss Manners, as my mother would have wanted, and kept my hands to myself. This was his car. He could do whatever he wanted. Outside the car, however
A while later, he pulled into the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour grocery. A handful of other vehicles were there, and people were straggling in and out of the store. Cole removed the key from the ignition, cutting off the music for good.
He thought for a moment, then said, Im giving you my phone number. He faced the front windshield with such a dark expression, I suspected that whatever had snagged his attention was gonna get murdered. If you ever need a ride home from school, call or text me, and Ill make sure youre taken care of.
Uh, what was that? Surely the bad boy of Asher wasnt offering to chauffeur me. Me. The weird girl with the staring problem.
Okay? he insisted. Got it?
He was. He really was. I had a ride, I explained. I simply chose not to take it.
That dark expression leveled on me, eliciting a shudder. First, thats all you have to say to me?
Well, yeah. What had he expected? Thats the sweetest gesture in the whole wide world, and right now I feel like Im dancing across the stars? There was no way those words would ever leave my mouth. The fact that I was thinking them was enough to send me into a major shame spiral.
Second, why didnt you take it?
I wanted to walk, I said, giving him the same partial truth Id given my grandparents.
Youd better not want to walk again.
Or what? I asked. I wasnt meaning to be facetious. I honestly wanted to know.
He was total animalmake that, manimalas he snarled, Has anyone ever told you that youre the most frustrating person theyve ever met, or have most of the people in your life been too polite?
Hey
He rattled off his phone number, and I had to scramble to keep up and program it into my phone. Now give me your number.
It took a moment for his words to sink in. What kind of bizarre world had I entered? But Cole, I cant ever give you a ride. I dont have a car, so theres no
Are you trying to tick me off? Give me your number.
I was torn between feeling delighted by his insistenceand peeved. Peeved won. Ask nicely, I said, a day Id spent with my mom suddenly slithering into my mind.
Youre so not getting a Mother of the Year Award, Mom. You have yet to bake my favorite chocolate cake.
Ive just been waiting for you to ask nicely, darling.
A wave of homesickness hit me.
Nicely, Cole gritted out.
Well, how can I resist that? I grumbled, tempted to give him a bogus number just to prove a point. But then he wouldnt be able to call me, and, well, I really wanted him to call methough I had no idea what wed talk about.
Still waiting, he prompted.
I rattled off the numbers.
Thank you, he said, and if I wasnt mistaken, there was a note of relief in his voice.
I had to be mistaken. Either that, or those violet eyes had reduced the points in my IQ.
Stay put, he said, and got out of the car. He walked around, andhelped me out. Wow. I never would have guessed he would exhibit the classic signs of etiquette. Tell me you arent going to be this difficult for the rest of the day.
I guess well find out together, I said. His skin was warm against mine, his palm calloused and rough. I liked that, even shivered.
Cold? He pressed me up against the side of the Jeep, his arms caging me in.
No. I mean yes. I mean maybe. I dont know! Was he going to kiss me? For real? Here, now, in front of strangers? Id stop him. Right? (Before and not after.)
I dont think youre cold, he rasped, I think youre scared. Youre right to be scared.
I gulped. Im not scared.
Lets see what I can do to change that, shall we? Were going on a little adventure, you and I. When I give an order, youll obey it. There will be no asking politely, no matter how much you bat your lashes at me.
I opened my mouth to protest. Id never batted my lashes at anyone!
He shook his head, silencing me. Its for your safety.
Again I opened my mouth to protest.
Again he shook his head. Thats the deal. Agree or Ill take you back to school right now, and none of your questions will be answered.
Peeved all over again, I ran my tongue over my teeth. He was underhanded, sneaky and manipulative, that was for sure. Too bad I still liked him. What questions do you think I have?
Probably the same ones I have.
No way. Not possible. Fine, Ill follow your orders. Anything for answers. Just as long as you realize that every time you issue one, Im beating you up in my mind.
Realized, he said, thrums of amusement suddenly evident. But please refrain from mind-punching my pretty face. I like it just how it is.
Now I was the one fighting amusement. Someone so egotistical shouldnt have been so charming. But then, I loved Kat, so there you go.
His gaze zeroed in on my twitching lips. He leaned closer to meso close I could feel the heat of his breath trekking over my skin.
Whats going through your mind right now? he asked, his lips hovering over mine.
Dont you dare tell him! I scrambled for a winning reply. Will Mackenzie be upset that youre with me? Not that youre with me. Im just saying Shut up, idiot! Thats enough.
He straightened with a snap, the maybe-kiss moment completely lost. She shouldnt be. Were not dating anymore. I wasnt given a chance to reply. Come on. Its time for our adventure. I want to show you something.
At the back of the building was the thick, thriving forest that wound all the way to my grandparents neighborhood. I frowned. The drive to the store had taken longer than it should have, then. I replayed the route and realized Cole had doubled back a few times, taken turns he hadnt needed to take. There was no reason to do thatunless he was as paranoid as I was and had thought we were being followed.
Are you walking me home? I asked, not sure how I felt about that.
Displaying even better etiquette than before, he moved limbs out of my way. Yes and no. Now, not another word out of you until I say its okay. Youll distract me, and I have to make sure we dont stumble on any trip wires.
A lovely nonanswer sprinkled with supposed courtesy. Wait. Did you say trip wires?
Distracting me, he said in a singsong voice.
Annoying me, I sang back. But I bit my tongue and stayed quiet as we hiked the rest of the way through bushes, over thick tree roots and boulders, and up and down hills.
By the time we reached the fence to my backyard, my thighs burned and my heart galloped in my chest.
Note to self: start working out today. At least the air I was so heavily breathing in carried hints of pine and wildflowers, the rot all gone.
See these tracks? he asked, pointing to the ground.
Dread washed through me as I took in the very tracks Id noticed two nights ago. I could even make out the indention of my own tennis shoesbut not Emmas slippers. Yes. I see.
His gaze snapped to mine, slitted. Do you know what caused them? Besides the ones belonging to you, of course.
No. Maybe. I licked my lips. Do you? And how do you know Ive been out here?
Give me some credit. Youre an eight and a half, on the narrow side, and your shoes have a distinct zigzag pattern.
That was not something a normal kid would notice. Howand whyhad he?
He crossed his arms over his chest. So you havent seen anything out here?
Besides you? I asked, trying to figure out exactly where he was going with this.
Yes, besides me.
I couldnt admit it. I just couldnt. First I want you to answer me. Do you know what caused those tracks?
Yes. No hesitation from him.
Unbidden, I took a step closer to him. What?
You tell me.
I rooted my feet into the ground, too afraid Id try to press myself against him and shake him. I never said I knew.
You paled. That was answer enough.
II
But I have to hear you say the words.
Stubborn, nervous, I shook my head. No. I wont.
Cole stared at me, frowning, a slash of menace in the shadows. Youre really handicapping me here, Ali. I shouldnt be talking to you about this. And I cannotabsolutely will notmention anything outright. You have to tell me what Im trying to say.
Dang it! Was he implying what I thought he was implying? That he saw monsters, too, but couldnt admit it until I admitted it? But if I admitted it, and that wasnt what hed meant
Lets try this another way, he suggested. Your dad is dead, isnt he? Killed this summer.
Immediately I spun, giving him my back. I wont talk about that, either, I said. I figured Cole had done a search on me the same way Id done one on him.
He died in a car crash at night, in a cemetery, Cole persisted. You were with him. Did you see anythingweird?
I wont talk about that, I repeated, stomping away from him. If I did, I would cry in front of him, and I absolutely refused to cry in front of him.
A scream burst from my lips as my feet were jerked out from under me.
Something tight and inexorable banded around my ankle, lifting me upupuntil I dangled from a tree branch, no part of me touching the ground. Blood rushed into my head, making me dizzy.
What the heck! I shouted. As I swung back and forth, I looked up. Thick rope encased my anklea rope that had been painted to resemble tree bark.
Someone had booby-trapped the land behind my backyard. Or was this one of the trip wires Cole had mentioned?
He closed the distance between us and crouched down just in front of me. Suddenly we were eye to upside-down eye.
Let me down! I demanded.
His smile was anything but pleasant. You and your commands. Ask nicely.
How dare he throw my words back at me! Will you pleaselet medown? I ruined the saccharine-sweet request by trying to punch him.
Laughing, and baffling me with the sincere amusement I detected, he jumped out of striking distance. Now, now. No need for that. Id be happy to help you. After, he added.
After? What do you mean after? Do it now!
After we finish talking.
Oh, really? I arched back, then curled in, repeated the actions again and again, until I had a nice swing going. He was stretched to full height, the best kind of target.
What are you Oomph! He crouched over, wheezing.
Id just head butted him in the gut. Satisfaction filled me as I said, How about now?
When he no longer sounded like an old man hooked to an oxygen tank, he moved directly in front of me, placing my forehead directly in front of his navel. Brave boy. To keep me still, he settled his hands on my waist. My bare waist, I realized with a flare of panic. My shirt had risen up, catching on the underwire of my bra.
Stupid gravity! Motions rushed, I reached up, clasped the hem and tugged.
Settle down before you hurt my favorite body part. Im really fond of mygut. He shooed my hands away, my shirt falling and once again catching on my bra. Here. Let me. He tucked the material in the waistband of my jeans. Better?
Yes, now get me down from here! Who would do something like this, anyway?
I would, he stated simply.
I tried to meet his gaze, but he was simply too high up. You did this?
Thats what I just said, isnt it?
But why?
You tell me.
Not that crap again. Cole. Please. Act like youve never been to juvie and let me down.
He sighed, and it was not a patient sound. Ali has a mean streak. Good to know. And I told you. Ill let you downafter we chat. So lets chat. Did your dad ever talk to you about something weird?
Dread slithered through me, wrapped around my heart and squeezed painfully. Like what?
You. Tell. Me.
Argh! I do not know you. I do not trust you. Therefore, I will not talk to you about this.
Another sigh slipped from him. The answer is simple, then. Youll get to know me. Are you going to the game? To Reeves party?
Funny that I didnt have to think this answer. No to the game, but Im considering making an appearance at the party.
Okay, let me rephrase. Youre going to the party. But are you going with anyone?
No. Wait. Yes, I was. I was going with Kat, wasnt I?
Good. Ill meet you there.
My eyes widened to the point I feared theyd fall out of my head. Hed meet me therefor a date?