“Seventeen. That’s an odd question, Theia.”
“You’re not seventeen.”
“I’m almost eighteen.”
“You use words like ‘trollop.’ How old are you really?”
“You speak very formally also, little lamb. Should I call your age into question too?”
My father let me read only classic literature. As much as I loved Jane Austen, I knew the constant immersion in the nineteenth century caused another language barrier between my peers and me. I didn’t feel I owed Haden an explanation, though, and I gifted him with a blank gaze.
I wanted answers. I needed them, and Haden owed me that much. “What are you?”
He met my eyes and in them I recognized his loneliness. He wanted to tell me; he wanted to open himself.
Instead he told me to wake up.
CHAPTER TEN
Father’s voice on the other end of the phone line was brittle and tired. Apparently, the delay in his business trip was less about the airlines and more about “the bloody idjits who won’t listen to reason” at his meetings. At any rate, Father would not be home anytime on Sunday either. He hoped the Monday-morning conference call would put this to bed, whatever this was.
I hung up and sighed. The power had been restored sometime during the night, and the yard was full of debris and tree branches that must have flown like missiles in the wind. The sky was free of turmoil that morning, though. The sun shone brightly and there was no hint of fog; in fact the air had that balmy poststorm feel. It should have made me feel better, but it didn’t.
The fury that rampaged through our town last night wasn’t a meteorological event. My unease didn’t dissipate—I had a feeling it wasn’t over. There was a desperate frustration in that wind, in the bolts of electricity that ripped seams in the sky. The sky may have been clear now, but the leftover emotion still felt strong.
I wanted to talk to Ame about the necklace, the talisman I’d put on last night. Varnie had said she would know what to do. He’d also said I would need it but it wouldn’t protect me and, frankly, I had no idea what that meant. Ame always wore crystals for different things, like better concentration or anti-exhaustion—but I thought a talisman was supposed to be more of a ward than a good health supplement.
I wandered the house, full of restlessness and eager for . . . something. I needed a good distraction. And . . . I had an idea. Of sorts. I just hoped my friends wouldn’t kill me for it.
I scrolled through the short contact list on my iPhone, finding the number Gabe had used to call me from yesterday. I paced another moment or two, my finger hovering over the CALL button. I’d never called a boy before. Ever.
I was being ridiculous. A product of my father’s overprotective upbringing. It was no different calling Gabe than it was Donny or Ame. I pressed my finger to the touch screen and listened to the music while my party was being reached.
“Yo,” he answered.
“Gabe? It’s Theia.”
An edge lined his voice. “You okay? I can be there in five minutes.”
I smiled with relief. “I’m fine, really. Thank you for . . . last night. I need your help, sort of. If that’s okay.”
“That depends. If this is moving-heavy-things help, I’m your guy.”
I laughed, wondering again why it was so easy to talk to Gabe and why Donny tried so hard to resist him. “I need to invite Mike Matheny to my house, but I don’t know his number.”
“Matheny, huh? You already getting over the new guy? Good. He seems like a jerk.”
It felt strange to think of Haden as “the new guy.” He was so indefinable to me that such an easy explanation seemed wrong. “I’m not interested in Mike that way. He’s in my trig class with Amelia. I’d like to invite him over to study—well, I mean, I already did the other day. But then the whole school ended up in the emergency room, so it didn’t happen. I mean, I like Mike. I just don’t like Mike that way.” I paused my nervous rambling and went ahead and took a breath. “So, anyway . . . I thought he might like to study with us. With Amelia.” I stressed her name, drawing out the syllables hoping he’d understand. “He and Amelia would probably get along well, don’t you think?”
“Uh-huh,” he answered, which must have been guy talk for something. The sound should have been noncommittal, but there were layers in it.
“Donny isn’t in trig this year,” I mentioned. “But I have a feeling she’ll be coming by anyway.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I mean, unless the two of you made plans for today.”
“Nope. She’s being . . . herself.” He sounded resigned.
I took that to mean she gave him the brush-off already, despite last night. “If you wanted to come by and make sure I’m still doing okay alone in the big house, this afternoon would be a good time to do that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I heard him open a can of soda. It wasn’t even noon yet. “So have you always been a matchmaker or is this a new thing for you?”
“New, obviously. I’m not very good at it, am I?”
“I would sound like a real jerk if I told you I got a lot further with your friend last night than I would have if you hadn’t gotten involved, so I’ll just shut up about it and give you Matheny’s number.”
I blushed with the same old fear. “Gabe, um, I don’t know if I can call two boys in one day now.”
“You really are an odd girl. I’ll just bring him by. We’ll see what happens.”
“What if he’s busy?”
“He won’t be. There’s a protocol.”
“What kind of protocol?”
“I can’t give up trade secrets, English.” I smiled at his use of Donny’s nickname for me. I heard a drawer open. Was he getting dressed? I blushed hotter. “If Matheny thinks I need him as an excuse to be at your house, since I’m not in your trig class, he’ll assist for the score. It’s what we do.”
I paused. Assist for the score? Then I realized it was a sports metaphor. Not a very flattering one, but I was proud of myself for understanding guy talk.
We ended the call, and I rang the girls next. I didn’t tell Ame that the boys would be there, and I forgot to mention that Gabe would likely be with Mike when I asked Donny to come by. It must have slipped my mind.
Donny borrowed her mother’s car, since her windshield was cracked, and brought both Ame and a huge bag of snacks. Amelia eyed us both suspiciously in the kitchen.
“What’s with the pork rinds?” she asked Donny as she unloaded the grocery bag.
“I know it’s been a long time since you’ve eaten anything that’s not salad, but pork rinds are what we like to call a snack food. And why are you wearing so many watches?”
Amelia had four on one arm, each brightly colored with cartoons. “I couldn’t decide which one I felt like wearing today. Since when do you eat pork rinds? And don’t even tell me they’re for Theia.”
I wasn’t exactly sure what a pork rind was myself, so I read the package while they argued and then wished I hadn’t. I grimaced in a less than ladylike manner that would have raised my father’s blood pressure. “Why did you buy these?”
Donny mimed the cut sign at her throat and I shrugged. The doorbell rang and Amelia narrowed her eyes at us.
“I’ll get it,” Donny offered.
That was not a good idea. I didn’t need her shooting Gabe down before he had a chance to come into the house. I jumped in front of her. “No, I will.”
“Maybe I should get the door,” Amelia said, clearly realizing now that something was up.
“Noooo,” Donny and I answered, because that would have been disastrous.
And then it was on.
The three of us raced to the front door, giggling, pushing, and pulling one another out of the way. I went down first, but I took Ame with me—well, after I grabbed her shoe. Donny shook her hips in victory and threw open the door, out of breath and laughing.
The laughter died quickly. “Haden? What are you doing here??
??
Haden? I stood up quickly, wiping my eyes and clearing my throat, embarrassed and completely out of sorts. What was he doing here?
Haden held up a pink bakery box like an offering and looked over Donny’s shoulder at me before he answered her. “I was hoping Theia was home. We have a history project. I thought we could work on it today.”
“Did you call first?” Donny wanted to know.
“No,” he answered sheepishly.
She leaned on the doorframe, crossing her arms. “You just showed up at her house thinking she’d drop everything to study with you?” Wow, Haden didn’t stand a chance. She was veering towards level-two bitchery already.
“I brought pastries,” he answered, using a humble tone I’d never heard from him before. “I should have called.”
“Did you bring enough for all of us?” Okay, he had half a chance here.
His practiced grin slid across his face. “There are a dozen red velvet cupcakes in this box.”
Donny nodded. “By all means,” she said, gesturing towards the room. “Come in. Let me take the box for you.”
Donny snagged Ame’s sleeve on her way to the kitchen and left me alone with him. Awkwardly alone.
He seemed out of place in my house. He even seemed out of place in the jeans and tee he wore. He moved differently, uncomfortably. He looked right at me then, and I swallowed hard. Haden was blushing.
I couldn’t believe it.
Apparently blushing is contagious, because my face heated to my hairline too. We didn’t say anything for a very long moment, and then tried to speak at the same time. After a couple of false starts, I held my hand over my mouth and pointed to him to begin.
“I’m sorry I was sort of a jerk last night.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I really didn’t. When hadn’t he been a jerk to me? And why apologize now? There was real sincerity in his voice, though. He seemed so different today, almost sad.
“Sort of?” I asked.
“Right.” If there had been a hole, Haden would have crawled into it. “I’m sorry I was a big jerk last night. You’re a nice girl and I’m not a nice guy.” He didn’t look at me while he spoke. “I find myself not knowing how to act around you, I guess. You’re not like . . . you’re not like I thought it would be.”
I felt the pinch of my brow. “Like what would be?”
The doorbell rang again and Haden blew his breath out in relief. “You better get that.” He finally looked me in the eye, revealing a soft smirk. “Before one of the girls tackles you to get there first.”
“You heard all that?”
“It sounded like a stampede from the other side of the door.”
I covered my face briefly. It was embarrassing—but not humiliating. It was . . . kind of nice. “There are snacks in the kitchen.”
I hurried to the door and let Gabe and Mike in.
From behind, I heard Donny. “Thei, we moved the snacks to the sunroom. It’s the only room that doesn’t feel like a museum display—” She paused. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Hey, Donny.” Gabe took off his coat and stuffed it in the crook of her arm. “We’re here to study.”
She let the coat fall to the floor and turned around in a huff.
“Christ,” Gabe muttered while smiling, “did she paint those jeans on?”
I made the world’s most pained introductions to the three boys, though I’m sure they already knew one another. I caught sight of Ame flashing in and out of the room as soon as she saw Mike. I tried to usher them back to the sunroom, but Haden flinched when I got too close and stared at Mike and Gabe with unfriendly eyes.
He noticed me watching him and smiled, covering his distress. “Theia, you have company. I should have called.”
“Stay, man,” Gabe said easily. “Only half of us have a trig test anyway.”
Mike looked confused. I felt bad for him. He was the only one in the house who really had no idea what all the strange currents were about, but once we made it into the sunroom, he made a beeline for the snacks. “I love pork rinds,” he said, and that seemed to make him happy enough.
Donny smiled with satisfaction that her covert intelligence had been credible. Still, Mike and his snack happiness aside, the rest of the room crackled with tension. Ame was flushed and I couldn’t tell if she was glad or upset that we’d invited Mike. I knew Donny was only pretending to be angry at Gabe’s presence, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t pay for it later. Haden was wary of both the boys, and Gabe just wanted Donny to look at him, which she refused to do.
“So, Theia, how can we help?” Gabe sat on the wicker couch and pulled me next to him. “Make flashcards or something?”
Donny scowled when he put his arm around me. We all knew it was friendly and designed to irritate her. Well, most of us knew. Mike was still crunching on his pigskin things and didn’t appear to notice, but Haden looked distinctly unsettled.
Donny pulled Ame to the love seat and sat Mike next to her. Haden took the chair. When the wicker creaked as he sat down, I remembered my violin smoking when I played in that chair. And then I thought of the black rose in my drawer and the burning man falling from the sky. And then the school bell and the tarot cards. And last night’s storm. Despite the warmth of Gabe next to me, I was chilled from head to toe. I’ll admit he smelled nice, though.
Donny didn’t sit down. It was either too much coffee or too much weirdness in the room. Nobody said anything. Except for Mike’s crunching and the rattling of the pork rind bag, the room was unnaturally quiet. It seemed like someone should have at least brought up the school bell that deafened us, but in Serendipity Falls denial would prevail. Amelia was the only one who made any attempt to pull out schoolwork.
“Where’s yours?” Donny asked Haden.
“Excuse me?”
“Your books. You said you were here to work on your project, but you didn’t bring any books or papers.” She executed a perfectly arched brow, and I vowed to learn to do that someday.
Haden leaned back in his chair. His grin was dark. “I lied.”
He had all our attention then. He aimed his at Amelia. Something stole over his face like a shadow, like it had that morning in the courtyard. A sort of static electricity hummed around him and I caught a whiff of sulfur. I shivered, but no one else seemed to notice. Except maybe Amelia, though instead of exhibiting dread, she sat up straighter and cocked her head at Haden.
Her eyes got glassy and her breathing changed, deepened. I looked back at Haden and he seemed so ugly to me just then, though I couldn’t explain why. He was just . . . wrong.
“Stop it.” My voice was small, but firm.
The charge in the air evaporated instantly. Haden’s face returned to, well, too handsome for words, and Amelia blinked a few times. Everyone else looked at me like they wondered what I was trying to stop exactly.
“Stop interrogating Haden, Don,” I said quickly, covering.
Haden looked at me, really looked at me then. In his face I recognized the sheepish boy and the dangerous man all blended together. I knew, in my soul, that he was indeed the Haden from both worlds. He was far from innocent and at the same time somehow as naïve as I was.
“May I speak with you in the kitchen, Haden?” I stood, my legs a little wobbly.
“Of course,” he answered, unfolding himself from the chair with the kind of grace normal people just didn’t have.
When we got to the kitchen, I turned to him to begin a likely stilted conversation because I had no idea what I wanted to say, but I stopped before a word escaped my lips. He was right there, so close, with just a breath between our bodies. He blinked slowly and inhaled deeply, like he was smelling a flower.
I ached to press my lips against his eyelids, to feel the soft thicket of his lashes on my skin. When he opened his eyes, the moment stood still, trapping us both in a strange tenderness that we hadn’t yet experienced together. I reached into the pocket of my khaki pants and pulled
out a black petal I’d saved from the other morning. It rested gently in the palm of my hand, perfectly preserved yet not made of silk, and I brought it up between us, forcing him to see it.
He stared at the tear-shaped petal. “Not today, Theia.” He released another sigh. He lowered the timbre of his voice until it tugged my heart with its pleading tone. “Just for a few hours, can we forget? I know it’s a lot to ask, but please. Please, can we just have one afternoon?” Haden’s voice shook. “It would be a gift, and I would treat it as such, if you’d just allow me to be . . . me . . . for a little longer.”
“I don’t understand. You want one afternoon of what exactly?”
“Just to be normal. Just to be here. With you. Your friends. I can’t explain how much it would mean to me if you could find it in your heart to forget about everything else for just one afternoon.”
I searched his eyes for something to explain his request. “You have to promise not to do that . . . whatever you were doing to Amelia.”
He nodded his assent, looking hopeful.
“Will you answer me one question?”
“I suppose it will depend entirely upon what you ask.”
Tell me again he was seventeen because he certainly didn’t speak like it. “Why won’t you touch me? You avoid it like I’d burned you.”
“Will you believe me if I say it’s for your safety?”
My expression must have said no.
Haden leaned towards my hair, his breath warming my ear and setting off a trail of warm, tumbling sensation throughout my whole body. He whispered, “I can’t touch you because I want to touch you more than anything in the world.”
I swallowed around my heart, which had edged its way into my throat.
“If I give in to that,” he continued, “all will be lost.”
Learning to listen to your intuition is an important life skill that will keep you out of danger, save your life, and win you a huge mound of cupcakes.
Either that or Amelia was cheating at poker.
After an hour or so of failing to get any studying done, Gabe came up with the idea of poker. Donny suggested we play for clothes, but Haden thought perhaps cupcakes and cookies could suffice as the chips. I’d never played poker before. Also, as evidenced by my small stack of cookies, I wasn’t what one would call a natural.