Duality: Vol 1, Melancholia (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) (28 page)

Jasmine walked quickly across the front of the store and went inside.  Derek didn’t get out of his car.  I couldn’t see what he was doing, but his door stayed shut and his engine remained running.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Rae

AS I RODE AWAY FROM the curb in Derek’s car, the heartache settled in deep.  I had a feeling this was the last I’d be seeing of Malcolm.  Sure I’d sit next to him in art class or pass by in the hallways, but I’d probably never see him up close and personal, touching me, smiling at me again.  It was over before it had really begun.  Story of my life.

“So, you live in the Highlands.  Do you know how to get there?”

I was suddenly nervous.  He didn’t have a GPS in his car that I could see.  “Um, no.  I just moved there.  I don’t know where anything is.”

“Okay, no problem.  I know the general area.  I’m sure we’ll find it no problem.”

I smiled weakly, not feeling very confident in his navigating abilities.  “Okay.”  I probably should have waited for Kootch.  He knows where my neighborhood is, and Malcolm had gotten him out of bed to take us home.

But I didn’t want to force Malcolm to be around me any longer, and Derek’s comment about my parents had reminded me that every second counts.  Getting back before my parents woke up and checked on me was a priority.  They did that sometimes, probably more than I cared to know.

“So, how do you like school so far?” Derek asked.

“Pretty good.  It’s only been one day.”  The boring conversation was keeping my mind off my parents catching me, so I went with it.

“Yeah, well, it’s pretty decent.  Who do you have for Chemistry?”

“Um, I can’t remember.  Some really long name that ends in ski.”  Thank God it wasn’t Holder.  I didn’t know how I could face that guy on Monday.  Hopefully I’d be able to avoid him in the hallways.  I still wasn’t sure what to do about him.  If I reported him to my parents, the police, or the school administration, my parents would use it as an excuse to move.  I really wasn’t ready to move away yet.  Even though Malcolm was acting cold, I still had a potential friend in Jasmine.  I couldn’t just walk away from something so precious.  Friends might be a dime a dozen for other people, but for me, they’re gold.

“Ah, you’ve got Chomanovsky.  She’s decent.  But Holder’s better.  That’s who I have.  I’m his SA too.”

“SA?”

“Student aid.  I have a free period, and I go to his class and help him out and get credit for it.  I stock materials in the labs, run errands, put in orders at supply for him.”

“Oh.”  I had a lot to say on the Holder subject, but since Derek was a fan, I kept it to myself.  I wondered if he knew his teacher was into crashing teen parties and engaging in the attempted kidnapping of girls.  It made me nervous to be in Derek’s car, knowing they were so close.

“Have you met him yet?”  Derek asked.

“Yes.  I have.  Remember?  At the accident?  He kind of gave me a ride home.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right.  How could I forget?  What did you think?  Nice guy, right?  A little weird, but nice.”

I breathed out a sigh of relief that he at least noticed Mr. Holder’s craziness.  “Yeah, he’s weird.”

“Don’t let that bother you.  He’s just this scientist guy, you know?  Like, he doesn’t know how to relate to people who aren’t as smart as him, I think.”

It seemed like a heck of a lot more than just social awkwardness going on, but I wasn’t going to burst Derek’s bubble and get him all worked up.  I could already see him getting a little too happy about being around me.  I had a potential Rainbow on my hands getting this close to him, being in this car alone with him.  Better to keep my thoughts to myself.

Derek made a few turns in silence.  I didn’t recognize anything around us.  Everything looked different at night.

“It’s too bad you came at the end of the year,” said Derek, glancing over at me and smiling.  “That must be hard, moving so close to the end.”

“Yeah.  My dad got transferred.”
Lie, lie, lie.

“Oh, yeah?  Where does he work?”

I hated these questions.  I never knew how to answer them and always ended up looking clueless.  “He works from home.  On his computer.”

“What’s the company?”

“I’m not sure.”  I was fairly certain my dad owned his own company, but I couldn’t very well say that now.  I had to stick with the transfer story.  I hated telling lies; they were so hard to keep track of.

“My parents work for Glacier Banks.”  He sounded proud.

“Oh.  That’s nice.”  I had no idea what that was.  It could be a water bottling company or a law firm as far as I was concerned.  All I could think about was my parents getting up to check on me and finding all my pillows stuffed under my covers.  The police would be parked in my driveway if that had happened.  I prayed I wouldn’t find a cruiser at my house when we finally got there.

It was taking us too long to get to my house.  I pulled my phone out of my tiny purse that was still slung across my shoulders and pushed the battery back in, powering it up as fast as I could.  When it finally came on, I looked at the time, wishing I’d checked it before I’d left Malcolm.  This trip seemed like it was taking forever, but I wasn’t sure how much time had passed.

Derek grabbed the phone out of my hand.

“Hey!”  I was so shocked he’d done it, I sat there with my hand frozen out in front of me, my mouth hanging open.

“What model is this baby?” he asked, smiling and glancing down at it.

I grabbed for it.  “Give it back, Derek!”  Now I was pissed.  Talk about rude!

He fumbled the phone trying to keep it away from me and dropped it on the floor by his feet.  His left foot jerked back and kicked my cell under his seat.  “Oh, shit.  Sorry about that.  Don’t worry, I’ll get it.”  He reached down and fished around, yanking the wheel left and right in his efforts.

“Don’t!  Just … get it later.  You’re swerving all over the place.  The cops are going to pull you over for drunk driving.”  The last think I needed was to be delivered home by a cop, assuming they weren’t already there.

Why did I do this at all?  Why did I agree to sneak out? 
I had never so spectacularly destroyed a first day ever in my life.  I figured I had about a five percent chance of getting out of this with my life and heart still intact.

“Sorry about that.  That was stupid,” he said, back to driving like a sober person again.  He looked sorry, but it didn’t make me any less mad.

“Are we going the right way?  I don’t recognize any of this and it’s taking a really long time.  It didn’t take that long to get to the party.”

He looked at me, no longer smiling.  “What?  You think I’m trying to kidnap you or something?”

My heart stopped beating for three full seconds.  A huge thump from it got it going again, but now it was racing like I’d just run a mile.  “Um, no.  I hope not.  I’m just … I want to get home is all.”  I felt bad for making him think that.  I dropped my gaze to my lap.  “I’m just freaked out from talking to the cops earlier.”

“Oh, I see.  You had the cops after you.  Well that explains why you were hiding in the bushes with McNamara.”  He snorted, looking out the windshield again.

I didn’t like his tone at all.  “I was hiding with him because we were running together.  Away from the cops
and
Mr. Holder if you must know.”  I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth.

He clenched his teeth together, making the side of his jaw bounce out a few times.  When he finally spoke it was in a low, almost dead tone.  “Mr. Holder is a genius.  No one appreciates him like they should.”

I smiled weakly, trying to placate Derek and just inspire him to drive me home without yelling at me.  “I’m sure he is.  He seems very … smart.” 
Not!  He seems very nuts is the truth, but I’m not going to say that to you because you’re blind, apparently!

“You just need to get to know him better.  Then you’ll see.  He has all our best interests at heart.”

Now I felt like I was being inducted into a cult or something.  I had to get out of this car.  Anyone who thought Mr. Holder was some kind of savior or whatever was no friend of mine.  “I really have to pee,” I said, suddenly inspired to try and escape.  Screw worrying about cops and parents.  I had to get away from this crazy Rainbow.  “Can you pull into that gas station?  I’m afraid I’m going to go in my pants.  I had a bunch of beer.”  I grinned at him, turning on the happy as hard as I could.  That’s twice tonight I’d used my charms to get my way.  I reached out to touch his arm and seal the deal.

“Don’t touch me!” he yelled, pulling his arm across his chest to get it away from me.

“Sorry,” I said, acting offended.  Either he had a touching phobia or he was worried about what I’d do to him.  I prayed it was the former because if it was the latter, that meant he knew something he shouldn’t.

“Here,” he said, putting on his turn signal as a gas station came into view.  “I’ll bring you in here and wait.  But hurry up.  Your parents are going to figure out you’re gone and then the shit’s gonna hit the fan.  I have to get home too.”

I forced my features to remain normal and not show how horrified I was.  I was getting the distinct suspicion that he knew about the effects of my touch
and
that the fear I had of my parents finding out was more than just a normal teenage reaction to being out past curfew.  But that was nuts.  No one knew.  And he wasn’t like me, so how could he know anything?  I just needed to be alone for a little while so I could think and sort this all out.

“Don’t take a long time,” he said, shifting the car into park.

“Aren’t you going to take a parking spot?” I asked, unbuckling my seatbelt, slowly, trying to pretend I didn’t want to run out of there and never come back.  I was afraid he’d pull away before I could get out the door, so I had to be cool.

“No.  I’ll wait over here.”  He stared out the front windshield, not looking at me.

I really, really wanted my phone.  “Can I have my cell back?”

“I’ll get it while you’re in there.  It’s under my seat.  Hurry up, would you?  I have parents too, you know.”

I felt guilty, scared, and confused, all at the same time.  My head was ready to explode with all the conflict swimming around in it.

“Sorry.  I’ll be right back,” I said, getting out.  I ran to the front of the store like a girl barely controlling her bladder and threw the door open.  “Where’s your bathroom?” I asked the seriously bored-looking clerk.

“In the back.  But you have to buy something.”

“I’ll do it on my way out,” I said, not even sure I had any money in my purse.

I raced to the bathroom and locked myself in.  Pulling my pants down, I took advantage of my current situation while I figured out what to do.

My thoughts were interrupted before they could even start by someone banging on the door.  My bladder froze up, cutting off its stream.

Oh my god!  He followed me in!

“Rae, open up!” came a girl’s voice.  “It’s me!  Jasmine!”

I froze, hovering in mid-squat over the toilet.  “Jasmine?”

“Yes! Jazzy Butts, remember?  Open the door!  I think you’re in trouble!”

I pulled my pants up and ran to the door, sliding the lock free and pulling on the handle.  Jasmine chose that moment to push on the door at the same time and the thing flew in, hitting me in the knee.

“Ow!” I yelled, bending over to rub it.  “Oh, crapski, that hurt!”

“Sorry!  Sorry!” she whisper shrieked, pushing the door shut behind her and locking it.  “I’m so sorry!  Are you okay?”  She bent over with me and put her hand on my back, her face full of concern.

I was looking up at her, totally confused.  “I’m fine, but what are you doing here?”  I stood straight and hobbled back to the toilet.

She took a deep breath and let it out.  “I’m here to rescue you.  With Kootch and Malcolm.”

“What?”  I paused, ready to pull my pants down again.

“We’re here to
rescue
you.  We think Derek’s up to something.”

“Can we talk about this while I pee?” I asked.  All that beer and the panic and now the stinky toilet reminding me where I was all added up to a serious urge.

“Fine.  Pee and then let’s go.”  She stood in front of the mirror, checking her lipstick.

I talked as I went.  “He’s not bringing me to the Highlands is he?”

“No.  He’s going the opposite way.”

My stomach clenched.  “That’s what I thought.  It was taking so long.”

“Why didn’t you text me or something?” she asked, walking over to take some toilet paper off the roll for me.  For some reason the dispenser was across the room, totally out of my reach.  She handed me a wad of scratchy, thin paper and stepped back.

“He took my phone.”

“What?!  That’s … he’s a frigging
kidnapper!”

“It was an accident.  I think.  I don’t know.  I’m so confused right now I have no idea what’s going on.”

I finished my business and pulled up my pants, moving to the sink so I could wash up.  I zipped up when I was done.

“Neither do I.  All I know is we need to get you out of here without him seeing.  We’re going out the back door.  Kootch and Mal are waiting next door.”

I shut off the water and flicked my fingers at the sink.  “Okay, I’m ready.”  I wiped my wet hands on the sides of my jeans.

Jasmine stood at the door and looked back at me.  “Just stay close, and if Derek sees you, run to the tire store that’s to the right of this place and find the Gremlin.”

“But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be right on your ass the whole way.”

I smiled, knowing I had a true friend standing in front of me.  I couldn’t help it; I grabbed her in a hug and squeezed her hard.  “Thank you for rescuing me, Jazzy Butts.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said, hugging me back.  “We’re not in Geneva yet.”

I grinned as we parted.  “That sounds so wrong.”

“Tell me about it.”  She slid the lock to the side and opened the door slowly.