Cameron followed my gaze, his eyes landing on Zack a moment, then returning to me. “He looks dark and broody today. Something put him in a sour mood. You sure it’s over between you two?”
“Very over. I heard from a reliable source that he and Gina hooked up last night. She can have him. I don’t care.”
“That’s obvious,” he said as if he didn’t believe a word I’d said. His eyes narrowed. “Did you tell him we kissed?”
I stared at Cameron’s shoes. “Yes,” I blurted without thinking. “But not on purpose.”
He eyed Zack again and shook his head. “You said he scammed on other girls, but I’ve never noticed him looking at anyone the way he looks at you. I don’t know what’s going on with him and Gina now, but he doesn’t act like someone who’s over you. Maybe you’re both too stuck on yourselves to give the other a break?”
I gave a quick laugh that made me sound like I was choking. “What are you talking about?”
He moved closer and lowered his voice. “Don’t be dumb. If you want Zack back, tell him. Don’t wait until it’s too late. I can tell you from personal experience it sucks to chicken out and then miss your chance.”
Guilt oozed through me since he was obviously referring to me.
“Decide what you want and go for it. Then maybe you’ll have one less regret to live with.” Cameron squeezed my shoulder and returned to his table.
It was a great pep talk and I appreciated it, but the only way to fix things with Zack was to make peace with what he’d done with Gina. That wasn’t going to happen. And apologizing for kissing Cameron, when it hadn’t been my idea, was every kind of wrong.
Out of my peripheral, I spied an empty seat where Zack had been sitting. I took comfort in knowing he couldn’t have heard Cameron’s low voice over the din of the cafeteria. Zack didn’t need to know how he affected me.
A purse was shoved into my hand and fingers gently grasped my arm as John steered me toward the door. “Geez, Autumn, you’re standing there like a zombie. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but can you please try not to scare your friends?”
It was horrifying to think I’d been standing there with a vacant look on my face. I really needed to get a grip.
“I’ll walk you to class to make sure you survive.”
“Um.” What else was there to say?
John dropped me off and dashed to his own class. The seat next to mine in English Lit was empty. I took my seat, expecting Zack to arrive any second, but the bell rang and he still hadn’t shown up. Did he hate me so much that he couldn’t bear to sit next to me? If that was the case, then a road trip with him was definitely out of the question.
After English Lit ended, I shuffled to my last class. Nausea swirled in my stomach and a haze followed wherever I went. Where was Zack?
Mr. Collins droned on and I suffered through it, using body language like little nods and occasional eye contact to appear as though I was paying attention. But I barely heard him. In just minutes, I’d be on the road. Alone.
Zack would stay here, maybe go on a date with Gina. Now he was free to have fun with her without a pathetic girlfriend watching through the window. Where was Gina today anyway? Aside from lunch, I hadn’t noticed her all day. Then again, I hadn’t noticed much else either.
When the bell rang, I walked to my locker like a corpse, my heavy body dragging along the linoleum.
Maya leaned against my locker, her arms folded across her chest. “Okay, spill it, Autumn. What the hell is going on?”
I glanced from her to my locker, realizing she was blocking it. There was no way to avoid her questioning. I’d have to cough up something to pass as truth… actually, I could give her the truth. “Zack and I aren’t friends anymore. But for real this time.”
Her eyes softened and she squeezed my hand. “What happened?”
“He was with Gina last night. Like really with her.”
“No way.” Maya’s mouth dropped open.
“It’s true. He admitted it.”
“Gross.” She gave a mock shiver. “But if you’re just friends, why can’t he date anyone else?”
I blinked. “Gina is a skank.”
“That does explain why she looked so happy today. She kept making goo-goo eyes at him during lunch and anytime I saw her between classes. Made me want to vomit.”
So Gina had been at school for more than just lunch. And I hadn’t noticed her other times for the same reason I hadn’t noticed myself standing like a zombie in the lunch room. I acted as though I was on another planet, but I was still on Earth.
Except that it was extremely hot. Yep, I was in hell.
Maya snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Autumn! Where did you go? Come back to us. Hello?”
“Yeah. I gotta go. It’s a long way to Yosemite.”
“Zack’s not going with you?” she asked.
I held up my hands, palms up and lifted my shoulders. “Why would he come with me when he could be hooking up with Gina?”
“Trevor and I will come then. You’re not going alone. We can go to the concert another time.”
“No. Please don’t do that. I’d rather go alone than screw up your plans. And you don’t want to be stuck with me in a car right now. Trust me. I’ll just make you guys miserable. Seriously.”
“I’ll get Trevor and be at your car in five minutes. I mean it, Autumn. Don’t you dare drive away alone.”
I was the last person in the world they should hang out with —I wasn’t fit to be with humans and ruining their weekend was unthinkable.
Maya disappeared down the hallway and I stuffed my books in my locker, then bolted to my car, in a hurry to make my getaway.
Scanning the grounds, I didn’t see Maya or Trevor anywhere. Or Zack. As I approached my car, despair thickened in my throat and I slowed, not wanting to face an empty car.
Not wanting to face my future without Zack.
~~~
Chapter Twenty-six
Trying to ease the feeling of being suffocated, I took a deep breath and trudged toward the Mustang with my head down. As I drew closer, my skin tingled, and a woodsy sent wafted up my nose.
Zack.
I couldn’t see him, but knew with every shape-shifter cell in my body that he was inside my car. But why would he be there after our fight? Oh, right. I was a damsel in distress — his specialty. I texted Maya with an update, then started up the engine and backed out.
I’m surprised you’re here, I told him silently, just in case anyone was watching.
Zack didn’t answer and was still silent at the freeway onramp. In my rearview mirror, I could see the back of his head as he craned his neck to see behind us. With so many cars on the road, it wasn’t easy to tell if we were being followed.
I bit my lip, unable to believe that he’d actually come, and equally unable to believe that I’d let him. But I didn’t hate that he was here and that made me nervous. He’d already hurt me enough.
Checking the mirror, I frowned. “Are you going to ride in the back the whole way?”
“Maybe. Did you bring my things?” he asked.
“They’re in the trunk. Why weren’t you in class?”
“Because I needed to get inside your car without being seen. So after lunch I faked being sick, went to the nurse and she sent me home. Instead, I used your spare key and waited in here.”
“For two hours? It’s freaking roasting in here.”
“No kidding. Hand me the map and I’ll navigate.”
He would’ve had a much more comfortable afternoon if he’d bailed on me. I was still mad at Zack for the Gina incident, but baking in my car for two hours, just so I’d have someone to drive with, went a long way to calm my fury.
I grabbed the packet of papers and stretched my arm behind my head. Zack relieved me of the bundle and for the next few minutes all I heard were papers rustling.
“Nobody’s following us. I’m coming up.” He snaked between the two front seats and strapped himself in
. “We’ll stay on the five north for a while, then we can choose between taking the forty-one all the way up to Oakhurst or the ninety-nine to the forty-one. We can decide once we get there.”
I glanced sideways at him. “Okay.”
Zack turned and faced the window, making me feel awkward about saying anything else. Being with him didn’t feel the same and I hated it. I hated Gina. I hated him for what he’d done with her and for ruining what we had.
I sighed. This was going to be a long ride. Turning on the music, I let myself slide into the lyrics as I imagined accomplishing everything I wanted from this trip. Then I could confront my parents on which lie they told, whatever that was, and move on from Zack.
About an hour later, Zack pointed to a fast food sign. “Take this next exit. I’m hungry. And I’ll drive, if you don’t mind.”
“No problem.” I did as he asked. “Drive-thru or do you want to go in?”
“Drive-thru. The sooner we get there, the sooner we might learn more about your parents.”
And the sooner he’d be back home and free of me.
Zack made no attempt at more conversation and I couldn’t stand the quiet — that was when I did most of my thinking and I didn’t want to go down any crazy mental paths. I had to break the silence, but I needed to do it right.
“So… did you want to break up with me? Is that why you did that with Gina?” Clearly, I should’ve given this more thought, but then again why beat around the bush?
“Make a right here. I want a cheeseburger,” he said at the end of the off ramp.
“Sure. I’ll just get a veggie burger or something.” I seethed over my unanswered question as I pulled up to the drive-thru window and put in our order.
He tapped the dashboard, waiting for his food. “Is that why you did it?”
“Did what?” The car ahead of me moved forward and I took his spot.
Zack avoided my gaze. “Why you kissed Cameron. Was it because you wanted to break up?”
I gaped at him, my stupor preventing me from coming up with an intelligible response. The car behind me honked and I moved my car forward again.
“I get the appeal. Cameron’s a good guy. And he’s human,” Zack continued. “No laws to break, no scouts to avoid. You could do worse.”
Was Zack trying to pawn me off on someone else? The drive-thru window opened and I gave some cash to the pale-faced girl wearing a headset. She handed me our food, then I passed it to Zack and eased the car back onto the street.
“Let’s fill up the gas tank so we won’t have to stop again.” His hand disappeared into the food bag then reappeared a second later with a french fry.
I nodded, still unable to speak as I rolled the car along the row of gas pumps. How could I reply to his comments about Cameron? Should I agree with him or tell him the truth — that Cameron could never replace him? That even after what he’d done I still loved him?
Zack climbed out of the Mustang and began working the pump.
I rolled down the window so he could hear me. “We could say the same about Alura. She’s really pretty and your life would be a lot easier being with her.”
He glanced at me for a second, then focused on the pump. “She’s engaged.”
Otherwise she’d be an option for him? I ground my teeth. “You didn’t answer my question. Did you hook up with Gina to break up with me?”
“No. I did it because you asked me to.” He turned back to the digital readout on the pump. “Do you want to be with Cameron?”
“No.”
“Okay then,” he said, as if those two words settled everything. They didn’t.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“No, Autumn. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m too pissed off. I can’t even think about it, much less discuss it yet.”
Except that sweeping it all under the rug wouldn’t work if we were both still upset. But maybe it was just as well we didn’t hash it all out right now. I was still too raw and Zack was bound to make me angrier if he kept acting like a douche.
He replaced the nozzle and turned to face me. I watched him, scared to hear whatever he was about to say.
“I thought I was driving.”
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized was frozen in my lungs, then crawled over to the passenger side and he got behind the wheel.
“We’ve got more than four hours to go, according to the map.” He glanced at me, eyeing my veggie burger as I adjusted its wrapper. “You look exhausted and it’s not even five yet. We might be better off finding a hotel as soon as we arrive and getting a good night’s sleep. We can get an early start tomorrow and still accomplish just as much but we won’t be tired.”
I was tired. “That seems sensible.” I set my own food aside, unwrapped part of his burger and handed it to him.
He snatched it from my outstretched hand. “You made a hotel reservation, right?”
“No. Wasn’t even sure you were coming or what I’d be doing.” I bit into my veggie burger.
Zack concentrated on his food, lifting it to his mouth and steering with his thighs. He looked like he’d had lots of practice eating and driving. When he’d finished, he handed me his wrapper and started on his fries.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a big rig slowly disappearing behind us. No sign of any other cars for miles. The awkward silence was weighing on me. “You think Charles is really dead?”
“I don’t know.” He stared ahead, a tic working in his jaw.
His brain was probably already considering all possibilities. When Daniel had become a clear threat, Zack had prepared for every scenario. He planned our next step in detail, always coaching me on what to do and what not to do.
“You must have a theory or two.”
“Two,” Zack said, waving his burger at me, the aroma of the meat wafting up my nose. Natural instinct told me to snatch it from his fingers, but good sense won over. I didn’t want to take the time to stop for a replacement burger. “One theory is that Charles is dead. The other is that he’s alive and healing somewhere.”
I had hoped for something a little less obvious. Some insight that came from something I didn’t know. “You read all of the books your dad left for you, right? Did you find anything that explained how to kill a werewolf?”
“No.”
“For all we know, it could require a silver bullet,” I said.
“Maybe.”
Zack drove me batty. Was he keeping information to himself? Not that I could complain if he was, since I hadn’t yet told him everything about Renzo.
I turned my attention to the scenery as we passed countless windmills, dry patches of desert with lonely far off buildings that looked like sheds, and the occasional clump of wooded areas filled with giant pine trees. But the scenery wasn’t interesting enough to prevent my brain from racing from one obsession to the next.
If I couldn’t prove my innocence to Mr. Collins, my parents would get called back to town. And then there was the stress over whether or not Charles could be waiting for us when we returned. I shuddered to think about him being alive and the revenge he’d want on me after I’d torn him apart.
I needed something to keep myself too occupied to dwell on any of that. “Do you mind if I read a book?”
“Not at all.”
He acted a little too relieved for my taste. I wondered why he bothered coming along if hanging out with me was such a chore, especially when he could be making out with Gina. I tried not to growl as I dug my e-reader out of my purse.
After reading the same line over and over, I finally gave up actual reading. I couldn’t concentrate on anything with Zack next to me and he wasn’t exactly a chatterbox. So I pretended to be engrossed in the book while images of him and Gina played in my head over and over.
“Autumn?”
My heart leapt. Did he want to apologize? Beg my forgiveness? Promise to tell Gina off in front of the entire school? “Yes?”
He cast me a quick g
lance. “That dark sports car has been behind us since we stopped for food — always keeping the same distance.”
My heart rate sped. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I didn’t want to worry you unnecessarily unless I was sure.”
The dark car stayed far enough behind and almost blended with the asphalt. I couldn’t tell the make or model. Possibly blue, but definitely sporty.
“You think it’s Renzo?” I asked.
“With him or Alura, we’d probably be fine. If they catch us, we could say we got back together and decided to celebrate by being tourists. At this point, I think they’re only dangerous if they find out you’re a shape-shifter or that we killed Charles.”
Too late for the former. “What if Charles isn’t dead and that’s him following us?”
“Home or Yosemite, it wouldn’t matter. Wherever he found us, we’d be in for the fight of our lives.”
~~~
Chapter Twenty-seven
“Could you make me any more nervous and paranoid?” I glanced back at the car again. Yep, still there. Zack was right — whichever city Charles attacked us in shouldn’t matter to me. But it did. The idea of being ambushed seemed much scarier away from home where everything was unfamiliar.
“Sorry.” Zack’s eyes left the road long enough to give me an apologetic look. “But I just want to be honest and not keep things from you.”
Like the way I was keeping things from him. Maybe it would be better if Zack and I didn’t talk after all. I squinted at the screen, trying to make out the words, but I still couldn’t get past the first paragraph. Whatever. Staring at words that I couldn’t focus on sure beat trying to make conversation with Zack.
Now and then, I checked the car behind us. Zack kept his eye on it, too. The hours stretched on and I spent most of the drive looking out my side of the window.
Just after the sun set, the blue car veered into the right lane. Instead of taking the exit, it sped up and closed in. Just when I thought it might just ram right into the back of my Mustang, it switched lanes and roared ahead of us.
As the car passed, it was too dark to tell the color, but by the shape, I’d guess it was Renzo. “Looks like they’re not following us.”