They stared out at the moon’s reflection on the lake.
Catty broke the silence. “So now we’ve seen Cassandra in the park, but can anybody figure out what she was doing?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“What we do know is that she’s doing something odd here and that it involves the lake,” Jimena said.
They all turned back and watched the shooting fountain in the middle of the water.
Serena nodded and stepped to the edge of the lake. “What’s so important about this lake?”
“Beats me,” Catty answered.
“The land here used to be a swamp,” Jimena explained. “But the swamp was drained a long time back, and now the red-line subway tunnels under it, so the lake’s bottom is actually the subway’s roof.”
Vanessa looked perplexed. “That doesn’t sound like enough of a reason for Cassandra to be interested in it.”
“Maybe it’s what you said,” Catty put in.
Vanessa turned to her, confused. “What?”
“Maybe she goes into another dimension. . . . Maybe there’s a door or tunnel into another realm,” Catty suggested.
“Could be,” Vanessa answered.
“We can ask Maggie tomorrow,” Serena suggested.
Finally, Jimena took a deep breath and sighed. “We might as well go on to Planet Bang. We’re not going to get anything done here.”
The girls started walking away from the lake. They didn’t noticed the empty paddleboat bobbing back to the shore.
CHAPTER NINE
BY THE TIME CATTY, Vanessa, Serena, and Jimena arrived at Planet Bang their mood had lifted. The music was loud and the resounding beat made them forget Cassandra.
“Look at the line,” Catty moaned.
Kids were crushed against the building in a line four deep, waiting to be checked by the security guards before they went inside to buy their tickets. The line continued down the block.
“Forget the line.” Jimena started walking quickly. “Follow me.”
Serena hurried after her.
“Come on,” Catty cried to Vanessa and grabbed her hand.
They ran past the security guards.
“Hey!” someone shouted.
They hurried inside and shoved into the crowd of kids waiting to pay their entrance.
A security guard yelled after them, “Come back here.”
“We better go back.” Vanessa glanced nervously behind her.
“Don’t look back,” Serena warned. “They’ll see your face. They won’t come after us and risk having that mob of kids break loose and run in here. You think they want a riot?”
“Still, it was wrong what we did,” Vanessa sulked. “What if the security guards look for us after?”
“Loosen up, Vanessa,” Catty laughed and paid her entrance fee. “With everything going on, do you think they really care that four hot chicks pushed past security without letting them dig through their purses?”
Vanessa smiled. “The line looked a mile long. I really didn’t want to wait in it.”
“Now you’ve got it.” Serena paid and they hurried inside.
The breakneck rhythm thumped through the walls and pulsed around them. Their bodies felt the need to move and they started to dance close, hips in line, the way they had practiced. Jimena scanned the crowd, searching for Veto.
“Hey, guys.” Michael Saratoga came over to Vanessa and kissed her cheek. She smiled and followed him to the dance floor. Catty stopped dancing and watched them go.
Serena stopped, too, and peeked at her watch, then around the room. “I have something I have to check on.” She didn’t bother to wait for their reply but hurried off.
“Who’s she trying to fool?” Catty asked.
“What do you mean?” Jimena stared after Serena as she disappeared into one of the dark corners where lodos and stoners hung out. Had Catty figured out why Serena was always disappearing and who she was meeting?
“I mean, it’s so obvious she’s meeting a guy.”
Catty put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you think? I mean, why doesn’t she want us to see him? Is he some complete nerd or something? I’ve even thought that maybe she’s seeing someone’s boyfriend.”
“She hasn’t said anything to me.” Jimena hated lying.
Catty looked at her suspiciously, then sighed. “When is it going to be my turn? I mean, you’ve had a boyfriend. Vanessa has too many guys who like her anyway, and now Serena’s always running off to meet some secret hottie.”
Jimena laughed.
“It’s not funny.” Catty pouted.
“Yeah, it is.” Jimena started dancing. She took Catty’s hand and danced with her back to the dance floor. “It’s funny because you haven’t bothered to check out what’s around you.”
“What do you mean?” Catty started moving, facing Jimena this time.
“Move your hips, wild one,” Jimena teased. “And I’ll show you.”
“What?” Catty seemed baffled.
“You are way too cute to think you’re never going to get a boyfriend.” Jimena placed her hands on Catty’s hips. They danced close, facing each other. Jimena glanced around. “Okay, now look at the guys watching us.”
“I see them,” Catty complained. “They’re all looking at you.”
“Not.” Jimena laughed. “Now I want you to take a good look around and pick the one that you like.”
Catty turned and studied the guys. A cryptic smile slowly blossomed on her face. She smoothed her hands up over her waist, up and around her neck, then slowly through her hair, as if she were testing her power over the guys.
Suddenly, she turned back and faced Jimena. She was blushing and breathless with excitement. “I sort of like the one with the spiky hair.” Catty motioned over her shoulder with her chin.
Jimena looked around. “Chris?”
“Yeah.” Catty smiled.
Chris was new at La Brea High. He was a sweet-looking guy with a sizzling smile, but Jimena was surprised that he was the one Catty would pick from all the rompecorazones and golden boys who were staring at her. He wore extra-large long shorts that came to the tops of his white socks and a heavy-metal red leather belt with spiky studs. A large suede cuff was buckled around his wrist. His head bobbed to the music and his red leather Reeboks bounced up and down.
Jimena sighed. He looked . . . well . . . strange. She shrugged. “Okay.” Then she danced Catty over to Chris.
He smiled shyly and pointed to his chest as if to say “Me?” When Catty nodded, his smile stretched into a look of happy surprise, and he started dancing with her.
Jimena watched them for a moment, then closed her eyes and let the music take her away. She lifted her hands over her head and swayed. Someone bumped into her. She didn’t bother to open her eyes to see who it was, but continued moving with the beat.
This time the person pressed against her. Warm hands snaked around her bare waist.
A pleasant nervousness rushed through her. She turned and started to murmur Veto’s name, but his name caught in her throat. “Collin!” What was he doing at Planet Bang?
“Hi, Jimena.”
She stared at him. There was something different about him. Then she knew—it was the first time she had seen him without traces of zinc oxide on his nose and lips. His sunburn had turned a deep bronze and his blond hair wasn’t windblown, but combed and silky. She had never seen him look so good. Then the premonition of the passionate kiss flashed uninvited into her mind. She blushed and backed away from him.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her back. The air was fragrant with his tangy soap smell. “You want to dance?” She took a deep breath. She was filled with dizzy confusion. Why would Collin want to dance with her? He smiled. Was he flirting with her?
She shrugged and wished she had worn a sweater over her revealing top. She could feel his belt buckle pressing against her stomach. She couldn’t catch her breath.
“Why do you look so surprised?” he asked.<
br />
She glanced up at him. Why hadn’t she noticed how handsome he was before?
He held her close, his hands firm on the small of her back. She placed her hands on his chest and tried not to look in his blue eyes. Normally his eyes were rimmed with red from too much time in salt water, but tonight they were clear and deep.
He looked down at her, but she quickly looked away. Why couldn’t she look into his eyes when it was usually so easy to look in the eyes of other guys, tilt her head, and tease them?
She continued dancing with him but felt uncomfortably aware of the closeness of their bodies, the scratch of his khakis on her bare legs.
His hands moved up to the exposed skin on her back and he leaned down, pressing his cheek next to hers. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, which were awkwardly crushed between them, a barricade.
Someone tapped her shoulder. She turned quickly, grateful for an excuse to pull away from Collin. Her face felt flushed and she drew in air.
Catty spoke into her ear. “Thanks. Chris is so cool. Isn’t he adorable? I’m really psyched.”
Catty went back to Chris, and Jimena turned back to Collin. He smiled sweetly, but even with the crush of kids dancing around them, Jimena felt too alone and isolated with him.
His hand was pulling her back to him when she caught Veto’s face through the strobe lights. She almost ran to him. But something in the way Collin was touching her so tenderly made her hesitate.
She took in a deep breath and watched Veto walk toward her.
“You know him?” Collin asked from behind her.
She nodded. Veto looked incredibly sexy. His black hair gleamed in the flickering lights. His eyes were black and piercing. Every girl around her was staring at Veto as if he’d already broken her heart.
Veto stopped in front of her, took her hand, and pulled her away from Collin.
Collin was trying to smile, but Jimena could see the twitch in the corners of his mouth. It surprised her how much she cared about hurting him.
Veto put his arms around her and her worries slid away. He pressed her close against him and danced her slowly into a dark corner.
“None of the guys at Planet Bang are good enough for you, baby,” he whispered into her ear. “They’re all a bunch of wimps.”
She laughed and smoothed her hands up his chest. She locked them behind his neck and gazed into his eyes. “All the guys are afraid of me,” she confessed. “They never do more than look. But I know they like to look.”
“The surfer’s not afraid of you,” Veto accused.
“Collin?” She glanced back. Collin was still staring at her. “Collin is my best friend’s brother. He’s like mi hermano. He just felt sorry for me, seeing me dancing by myself.”
“Chale.” Veto looked back at Collin. “I see his eyes. I know what he’s feeling for you.”
She looked at Collin, then at Veto. Was Veto jealous of Collin? He had always been celoso. Jimena cuddled tight against him. “Don’t worry about the surfer. Tu eres mi todo.”
She could feel Veto’s lips against her ear. “I’m not worried,” he whispered, and then his lips were trailing kisses across her cheek. She turned her lips to kiss him when Catty and Vanessa came up to them.
“Hey, Jimena,” Catty squealed, pulling Chris behind her. “Introduce us to your friend.”
“Yeah,” Vanessa said. “Everyone is talking about him.”
Veto seemed embarrassed.
“This is Veto,” Jimena said.
Catty paled and Vanessa took a step backward.
“What’s wrong?” Jimena asked, then she remembered. She whispered to Veto, “They think you’re dead.”
Veto laughed loudly. It was a hearty, full laugh. “Do I look dead to you?”
Vanessa and Catty exchanged uneasy looks.
“There was a mistake.” Jimena’s words came out with a nervous twitter. How could she explain that a person who was dead wasn’t dead any longer? “He’s been alive all along. Just somewhere . . .” Her words trailed off. That was all she really knew. Veto hadn’t told her where he had been.
Veto interrupted her and spoke with cool charm. “It’s a long story, but basically, I had to fake my death. The casket was closed at the funeral and my family moved away right after for their own protection.” He put his arm around Jimena and nuzzled her hair. “But I’m back now.”
Vanessa and Catty seemed reassured, but Jimena wasn’t. She had known Veto long enough to know when he was lying. A strange uneasiness filled her stomach.
Catty tilted her head quizzically. “You mean you were in something like the witness protection program?”
Veto grinned slyly. “Something like that.”
“Cool,” Catty said. “Wow. I want to hear all about it.”
Jimena looked from Vanessa to Catty. It was easy for them to believe. And why not? Veto was standing before them obviously alive. But the small seed of doubt inside her was starting to grow. Where had he been?
Vanessa stepped back beside Michael. “We should celebrate after. Let’s go to Jerry’s.”
“That’s a celebration?” Catty rolled her eyes.
“I’m hungry,” Vanessa clasped Michael’s hand and started moving her feet. “We want pastrami sandwiches.”
Catty shrugged. “All right.”
“Sounds good to me,” Chris said before Catty pulled him back to the dance floor.
Veto took Jimena’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
“Don’t you want to stay and dance?”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re hanging out with such kids. They never would have been your friends before. They’re the kind of people we used to laugh about.” He seemed angry, but underneath the anger she understood his hurt and fear.
“You’ll always be everything to me, Veto,” she said when they were outside and she was sure he would be able to hear her over the music.
He studied her face to find the lie, but she stared at him and didn’t shrink back. His face mellowed, as if he had suddenly become ashamed of his own jealousy.
He put his arm around her and nodded his head slowly, as if he understood that she had seen deep inside him and accepted his failings.
He glanced at the full moon. “Remember how you always liked the full moon?”
She glanced up at the sky. “Still do.”
“Yeah, we spent a lot of nights sitting on your grandmother’s fire escape staring up at the stars.” He bent down and kissed her lips lightly, then whispered against her cheek. “Let’s go someplace where we can be alone.”
They walked away from Planet Bang and turned down a side street into a residential neighborhood. The fragrance of night jasmine wafted into the air and the purple blossoms from the jacaranda trees floated lazily around them.
“I didn’t want to share you with the world tonight,” he confessed. “It’s been too long since I’ve been able to talk to you and I got a lot I need to tell you.” He rested his arm on her shoulder.
They stepped across the street. Jimena was filled with dreamy anticipation, anxious for Veto to stop and kiss her.
Veto started to speak again, but something made him stop. She could feel his muscles tense. His eyes cautioned her and told her not to make a sound. He squinted into the darkness. A breeze tossed oleander branches back and forth and made dim moon shadows swirl across the lawn.
Veto eased away from the sidewalk to the side of a house, pulling Jimena with him, his movements furtive and silent. “Come on,” he whispered. “We’ll cut through the backyard to the alley.”
She glanced at him. She didn’t see fear in his eyes, only caution.
“You worried about enemy gangs?” His alarm was making her uneasy. Veto had always been able to sense the presence of enemy gangsters and la chota. What was he sensing now? “We’re not in anyone’s territory. The neighborhood around Planet Bang is like City Walk. It’s open to everyone.”
He didn’t answer her. He studied the l
ayered shadows in the alley, then pushed her protectively behind him. “You don’t know what lives in the night.”
She started to answer I do, but a phantom shadow moved near the back of a garage and made her suddenly watchful. She strained to catch another glimpse of what she had just seen. Whatever it was seemed to have hopped to another shadow near an evergreen. The movement wasn’t the frantic rhythm of wind rustling branches. It had been too solid and purposeful, like someone trying hard not to be seen.
She felt the need to protect Veto now and wondered what he would do if she told him the truth about who she was. Would he even believe her?
Veto took two steps toward the drooping branches of an evergreen, his feet crunching softly on the gravel, and froze again. “Did you hear that?”
“What?” her voice was low. She had only heard his footsteps. She looked down at her moon amulet. It was glowing. Now her body thrummed, wary and vigilant, as if something ominous were about to happen.
She touched Veto lightly. “We’d better go.” She took a step backward and tried to pull him away.
“There,” he whispered in a harsh, angry voice.
A figure formed in the shadows and slowly Stanton appeared before them, his dangerous eyes so blue they seemed luminescent.
Serena had told her that Stanton was a shape-changer; he could turn into a shadow and drift for miles, then reappear. She wondered if he also had the power of a vampire to shift into a bat or wolf.
She looked at Veto and her body filled with new anxiety. Stanton’s ghostly arrival hadn’t startled him. Couldn’t he sense the danger? Jimena tensed.
Stanton stood aside and Serena stepped from behind him. “That was way cool,” she exclaimed in a happy voice.
Stanton’s long fingers touched her lips tenderly and silenced her. “We have company.”
Serena looked up and stopped short. “Jimena!” Serena walked over to them. “Introduce me to your friend.”
“Yes,” Stanton added, his voice as soft as the night. But there was something more in the way he spoke, as if he knew a secret. “Introduce us to your friend.”