Charade (21 page)

“She stops more often to see you,” Gran pointed out, like she was trying to remind me of the other good things Mom was doing of late.

I nodded. “I like spending time with her, but I’d really like to stay here, if that’s okay?” What would I do if she didn’t want me here any longer?

Gran smiled and her shoulders seemed to relax. “As long as that’s what you want.”

“It is,” I confirmed.

“I don’t want you to feel like you can’t go home when you want.”

“I am home.”

“It’s settled then.” Gran smiled and grabbed up her mug and took it to the sink. She seemed lighter than before. Had she really been worried that I would want to go back home? Sure, things were going great with my mother lately, but only for like a week. Then, there was Henry. How much time was he spending around Mom’s house? I suppressed a shudder. For whatever reason, the thought of seeing him anymore than I had to was more than I could handle.

*   *   *

Sam was leaning against the side of his pickup when I pulled into the school parking lot. My heart lifted at the sight of him. He had my door opened and was reaching in to grab me before I even had the engine of Gran’s car turned off.

He hugged me tightly, his nose pressing into the side of my neck. Something was wrong; he was upset about something, sad.
What’s the matter?
I spoke with my mind because when I tried with my mouth his lips covered mine. I didn’t have much (okay, practically none) experience in the kissing department, but even with my lack of knowledge, I knew that Sam was an expert kisser. But even with his expert kissing, I couldn’t forget that something was bothering him.
Sam, what happened?

He pulled away, reluctantly, with a sigh and leaned his forehead against mine. His whiskey-colored eyes were heavy-lidded, but they were also clouded. Behind him the door to the truck opened and I glanced over Sam’s shoulder to see Logan jumping down from the cab of the truck.

My eyes flashed back to Sam, searching for an answer, searching for something because I knew this was why he seemed upset.

“Hey, Heven,” Logan said as Sam pulled back from me.

We’ll talk later.

“Hey, Logan! I didn’t know you were coming to the meeting.”

He seemed a little self-conscious like he didn’t know what to say, so instead of pressing for an answer, I hooked my arm through his and pointed us in the direction of the school. “I’m glad you came. You can sit next to me.”

Sam shot me a grateful look and I smiled. “I told Logan that he and I could go out for pizza after the meeting. You know, have some guy time and I figured there was no harm in him coming to the meeting.”

“The teachers won’t even notice.” I laughed as we approached the doors. Sam stepped ahead of us and held open the door and we stepped inside. The meeting was being held in the gymnasium and Mrs. Britt was already seated on the bottom bleacher of the room with a stack of papers beside her. Students talked in low tones around her, all clustered into several small groups. Kimber was sitting a few rows up by herself and she glanced at me, but her eyes strayed to Logan who was walking beside me. I stepped toward her and she glared at me, but I ignored it and sat next to her anyway with Sam taking up the space on my right and Logan right next to him.

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound like nothing was wrong between us.

“Come to gloat?” Kimber sniffed.

“Gloat?”

I guess my confused tone sounded true because it got her to turn and look at me. “Like you don’t know.”

“Know what?”

Her eyes narrowed on my face as she studied me, but she found nothing because I really had no idea what she was talking about. After a few minutes of her scrutinizing me she gave up and looked at her feet. “I figured the first place he’d go was to you.”

“What are you talking about, Kimber?”

“Cole dumped me.”

My breath caught. Why would he do that? Now, it would absolutely look like he was interested in me—at least to Kimber anyway. “I had no idea.”

She laughed. It sounded hollow and bitter at the same time. “Right.”

I caught her wrist and squeezed. “Really. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.” But I can’t say that I wasn’t surprised.

She looked down where I grasped her and then back up at me. For a minute, I thought I caught a glimpse of the friend I used to have. Her aura seemed to shift, ready to change but then the same old colors bloomed back around her. They were the same colors that filled the space around her every time we saw each other anymore: red, brown and some orange. I sighed and released her at the same time that Mrs. Britt stood up and called the meeting to order. The bench we were sitting on vibrated as Cole walked across to slide in next to Logan. He offered his fist to Logan who smiled and bumped his against Cole’s. I smiled. Guys were so strange sometimes.

He gave me a little wave, which I returned and then scowled, motioning at Kimber with my head. He grimaced and turned his attention up front. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Kimber who was glaring straight ahead. If she believed me at all before, she didn’t now.

The meeting seemed to drag on forever with Mrs. Britt going on about what time to be at the airport and how important it was to be on time. She went over all the airline regulations on security and packing and passports. She handed out info sheets for our parents and packing lists for us along with an itinerary and hotel information. I didn’t care about any of this. I only cared about returning the scroll, everything going back to normal, and the chance for Sam and me to be alone.

Sam nudged me in the ribs.
You aren’t paying attention.

It’s boring and Kimber’s aura is attacking me.

Sam’s shoulders shook with his silent laughter and I felt my lips crack into a smile. Logan looked between us, trying to figure out what we were laughing about. When Sam caught him looking, his smile fell away to be replaced with a pensive frown.

What’s going on, Sam?

What am I going to do with Logan when we leave for Italy? How can I just leave him alone?

I didn’t have a response for that. I hadn’t really thought about it, but it was a long time to leave Logan all by himself.
Don’t worry. We’ll think of something.

Sam nodded, but I don’t think my lame response made him feel any better.

I did my best to pay attention, I really did, but the closer we got to Italy, the more nervous I became. What if something went wrong? What if we got caught trying to sneak away from the class and were unable to return the scroll? From what little research I did online about the Catacombs, they were pretty big with different sections… What if we got lost?

My thoughts were interrupted when Mrs. Britt introduced the teacher’s assistant that was coming along on the trip to help chaperone. She was a tall woman with strikingly sharp features and dark brown eyes. Her dark hair was long and curled down her back. When she walked in, most the male students sat up a little straighter.

“This is Ms. Merriweather, everyone. She will be assisting us in our studies abroad.” Ms. Merriweather gave us all a wide smile and a small wave. “We are very lucky to have her,” Mrs. Britt continued, “because she speaks perfect Italian and has actually lived in Rome for a time. She will be very helpful in getting us around.”

The new lady stepped forward and spoke up. “Please, call me Tabitha, and I am very excited to have this opportunity. I’m very sure that we will all have such a wonderful time together.”

“What happened to Mrs. Malone?” Cole whispered toward Sam and me.

I shrugged. Mrs. Malone was supposed to be the chaperone with Mrs. Britt. She was the home economics teacher. “I don’t know,” I whispered back.

As if she heard, Ms. Merriweather’s eyes snapped up to where we were sitting. I fell silent and slumped a little in my seat.

“Way to go,” Kimber muttered. “Pin us as the bad ones before we even take off.”

I didn’t bother to reply because Ms. Merriweather was still watching us. I focused on her aura, but it wasn’t anything unusual or even stunning. In fact, it looked a lot like my mom and Henry’s the last few times I saw them: calm and cool, relaxed and happy with a lot of blues and greens. I hoped that meant that she would be easy to get along with. She looked up at us again and I smiled, hoping to impart the message that we wouldn’t be problem students.

From beside me, Kimber groaned then cursed beneath her breath, and without warning, a clipboard slammed across my lap. I jerked and both Sam and Cole whipped around to see what was happening. I focused down on the paper in my lap. It looked like some sort of chart… for hotel roommates.

Uh-oh.

Never mind the fact that we had to share a room, which meant Sam and I weren’t going to be able to sleep in the same bed, but I had a sinking suspicion that I wasn’t going to like my bunk mate. I scanned the list for my name and used my finger to go across to the next column to see who my roommate would be… Kimber.

Great.

I glanced at Kimber and offered her a tentative smile and she practically sneered at me. “Prepare for a memorable trip, roomie.”

My stomach knotted. No way were we going to be able to share a hotel room for two weeks and not kill each other. Just as I was about to raise my hand and request a change, Mrs. Britt announced, “There will be no changes to the roommate roster. I expect everyone to get along and cause no problems… or else.”

Wonderful. I glanced at Sam and he patted my leg while pulling the clipboard from my lap. I looked over his shoulder to see who he was paired with. He let out a snort and handed the clipboard across Logan to Cole.

Who’d you get?
I asked.

Your brother.

I snickered. That should be interesting.

Finally, the meeting ended and students began filing out. Sam and Logan made their way to the stairs. Kimber stood and gathered her bag and turned to walk away. “Kimber.” I reached out and grasped her hand.

Her shoulders tensed, but she turned. “What?”

“Can’t we put all this behind us and be friends again?”

“Are you serious? You stole my boyfriend, you’ve been a lousy best friend, and to top it off you’re a liar.”

“I’ve never lied to you,” I protested, hating myself. In a way, I
had
lied to her by omitting many things about myself, Sam and even Cole. But those things were only done to protect her, not to harm her.

She snorted. “So you’re telling me that Cole didn’t dump me because of you?”

“No, he didn’t.” I turned and looked at Cole for some back up.

He sighed and stepped forward. “Come on, Kimmie.”

The use of his nickname for her seemed to anger her more. “Don’t call me that.”

“Fine.” He gritted his teeth. “But, I told you, this is not Heven’s fault.”

“So you said,” she snapped. “But yet every time I turn around, you’re at her house, or at her work, hell, you even sat with her today!”

“I thought we were all friends,” he said.

“Not anymore,” Kimber said, yanking her hand from my grasp and rushing away.

I turned on Cole. “What happened with you two?” I demanded. “You should have told me you broke up.”

“It just happened last night.”

“Why?”

He shrugged and scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s just things are different now. I
feel
different and Kimmie just…” He sighed and sat down on the bleacher.

“Yeah, I know. You feel different.” I reminded him of our little conversation the night he came over and was a little drunk.

“Damn beer,” he muttered, shoving a hand through his hair. “It’s for the best anyway. I don’t want her involved in everything that’s going on.”

“I get it,” I said sadly, sitting down next to him and laying my hand on his shoulder. “Did you at least tell her about our father?”

“No,” he said. “I told my mom I wouldn’t tell a bunch of people. She isn’t dealing with this so well and the idea of word getting out…”

“Yeah. Okay.” I stared forward, trying to think of something to say, to do, anything to make any of this easier. Ms. Merriweather was dawdling at the bottom of the bleachers. When I first looked her way, she was staring at us with a thoughtful expression on her face. When she noticed me looking, she turned away, but I had a feeling she was listening to our conversation. Sam and Logan were already standing down at the bottom behind her, waving at me to hurry up.

“Come on,” I said, standing. “Let’s go.”

The four of us walked outside, none of us speaking until we made it to our cars. Cole was the first to climb in his truck and back up, but before driving away, he stopped and rolled his window down. He didn’t look at me, though, but at Sam. “So I’ll see you later on at the farm… for training?”

Sam’s eyes widened like he forgot, but then he nodded. “Yeah.”

“Training?” Logan asked. “What kind of training?”

“I’ll tell you about it in a few,” Sam answered quickly.

I wondered again what was going on with Sam and exactly what it had to do with Logan.

“Cool.” Cole nodded at Sam and then gave me a wave before driving away.

“He seems awfully eager to get his butt kicked,” Sam mused, watching the truck pull out of sight.

“I don’t think he’s thinking about getting his butt kicked so much as
who
is going to be kicking it,” I murmured.

Sam whistled between his teeth. “Gemma and Cole?”

“He’s interested—that much I know. It’s all over his aura.”

Sam laughed. “Something tells me Gemma would be a handful.”

I didn’t think it was very funny. Cole already had his hands full with an angry ex-girlfriend hell bent on revenge.

*   *   *

Maybe what I did next wasn’t the most intelligent thing ever, but still. I
had
to see if my friendship with Kimber had any chance of survival. I felt bad for the way things had been going and for the fact that she was hurt. And I knew she was hurting. I have been friends long enough with Kimber to know when she was putting up a front and she definitely was. Kimber was really good at making people see what she wants them to see: a spoiled daddy’s girl whose only worry was what to wear the next day and what flavor coffee she was going to drink. She’s gotten so good at the charade that even, I, her used-to-be best friend, bought into it.