ExtraNormal (12 page)

Jesse took one of the bags and tossed it in the dumpster. “So…,” he said. “I was thinking maybe I could drive you home today. Since…you know my secret.”

I tossed the other bag into the dumpster. “Your secret?” I repeated. I knew which one he meant—that he’d been following me home—but his sudden embarrassment told me we were both thinking of his other one. “I can’t,” I said quickly.

“Why not?”

 “Jesse…” I kept my head down. “It’s not a good idea…to…be with me.”

He stepped close. “Just a ride home. To keep you safe.”

I turned my head away, rubbing my arms. I should step back. Shouldn’t have come to school. Shouldn’t allow this sensation to affect my judgment…

“There are a lot of sickos around here. More than you’re used to in Albuquerque, or you’d know it’s not safe to walk home at the same time every day by yourself.”

I made the mistake of turning my head, looking at him. I nodded my consent. Before I knew it, I was following him to his car, letting him open the door for me. It seemed so normal. A boy and a girl riding together in a car. It happened every day. In the media. Maybe even on Earth. But not in real life.

I put as much distance as possible between us. But it didn’t help. Clear, rational thinking was impossible. “Thank you,” I said when he pulled up to my house. I put my hand on the door handle. Told myself to pull on it.

“I…” Jesse started to say.

I turned my head away. I didn’t want to hear it. Whatever it was. This would all be over tonight. And none of it would matter.

“Are you…” he tried again.

A stream arrived from Mom.

I streamed, glancing at Jesse, who was still talking.

I was too stunned to reply for a moment.

My hand fell from the door handle.

 “Anyway…I’ll understand,” Jesse was saying.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Can you say that again?”

He furrowed his striking eyebrows. Shook his head. “I just wondered if you were busy… thought we could hang out. But if you don’t want to…”

“No,” I heard myself say. “I’m not busy.”

 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I led Jesse through the side gate, directly into the backyard. Staying out of doors with Jesse was probably a silly precaution. But it was one less violation—in case it ever came down to a trial. And I was pleased when Becca came running through the gate behind us. Not that the council would be impressed with a human child as a chaperone. But still, another decrease in violations had to be good.

After Becca did a cannonball into the pool, I dropped onto the small patch of grass. Jesse sat next to me, stretching out his long legs. “So this is how you spend your free time?”

“Yep.” I pulled on a blade of grass, trying to look calm. But my mind was racing. I was getting in too deep. Breaking too many rules. First I’d let him stay the night because I’d just been attacked and was terrified. But what was my excuse now? Mom wasn’t home? I couldn’t say no to him? The council would never forgive me for this.

“This is quite the life.” His eyes were intense, studying me.

“Mmm,” I said, purposefully keeping my gaze on Becca.

“I guess you deserve it after a long day as a janitor.”

I laughed nervously. “That’s for sure.”

 “I was a little skeptical when I heard you’d been hired.”

“Yeah?” I glanced up. His affectionate gaze hadn’t left my face. I snapped my attention back to Becca.

“But I’ve been impressed.”

The words filled me with warmth, the way his compliments always did. I scratched my arm and tried to look natural while scooting a safer distance away from him. Then steered the conversation away from myself. “So how long have you worked at the school?”

“Two years,” he said. “I took…a little break…at the end of last year. Fortunately Leo hired me back when school started.” His emotions sharpened suddenly. “I assume you’ve heard the rumors.”

I shrugged without taking my gaze off Becca, considering my response. “Some.”

“What have you heard?”

“Just like you said. Rumors. Nothing worth believing.”

He paused long enough that I couldn’t resist glancing at his face, which was somber.

“They’re probably true,” he finally said.

“Yeah?”

He was silent again for a long uncomfortable moment. “Does that bother you?”

I put my head in my arms. None of this should bother me, since none of it was part of my world. Very soon I’d go back to my real life, and this would just be a fond memory. But I couldn’t tell him any of that. “Only that it seems to bother you,” is what I said.

He studied me, his jaw set firm. “Does it…do I…scare you?”

I looked up at him and squinted into the sun, feeling surprisingly relaxed considering the tone of the conversation. “Sort of,” I whispered. “But not in the way you think.”

“What do you mean?”

I considered my answer carefully. “I guess…” I hesitated. “I’m afraid of how you make me feel. It’s so new.”

He grinned. Crooked and stunning. “That’s something I can relate to.”

I sensed that he wanted to touch me. And wished he would. It was strange, how much affection we had for one another when this was the first real conversation we’d ever had.

“You’re smiling.” Jesse touched the corner of my mouth.

I pulled away briefly from the intensity of his touch, then sank back into him. “Am I?”

His finger lightly caressed my cheek. He pulled his hand away, sighing, and wrapped his arms around his legs. “So tell me about Albuquerque.”

“Where?” My cheek and mouth tingled from the memory of his touch.

“Albuquerque.”

“Oh, yeah.”
Albuquerque
. I had to stay alert. “There’s not much to tell. Lots of cactus and sun.”

“Any beaches?”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Have you ever been to one?”

I remembered the trip I’d taken with my parents to the overlook of the Tiranim Coast and nodded.

“Which ones?”

“I don’t remember names,” I said with caution. “But they weren’t around here.”

“Then they don’t count.” He glanced at me nervously, then looked away. “Why don’t we go to Newport on Labor Day?”

There were too many things in that statement that I didn’t understand for me to come up with a suitable response. “Umm…”

“What do you think?”

“Is that a beach?”

He grinned. “Yeah. A real one. Water, waves, sand. You’ll love it. It even has a Ferris wheel.”

I knew what a Ferris wheel was, or thought I did. But they belonged in carnivals and fairs, not on beaches. “Is that one of those—” I started to form a circle with my hands, but stopped mid sentence.

Jesse smiled, one eyebrow cocked. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been on a Ferris wheel.”

I plucked another blade of grass and studied it, knowing better than to respond defensively. So much for being careful. “I guess I’m pretty sheltered,” I finally said.

 “I guess we’d better do something about that,” Jesse responded. “So what do you say? Newport on Monday?”

Relieved he didn’t seem to think much of my blunder, I rolled onto my back, looking directly into the sun. What a fantasy. An entire day on a beach with Jesse. It sounded better than an entire chocolate cake all to myself. But I had to put a stop to this now. Before we both got hurt. “Jesse…” I sat up and crossed my legs in front of me. “I like you…a whole lot. I want you to know that.”

He nodded, his face and emotions leery.

“But this…you and me…it won’t work.”

His mood plummeted, which pained me.

I raced on. Irrationally in need of keeping him from feeling pain. “It’s not what you think. It’s just my parents. Imagine the strictest parents in the whole world, and mine are ten times worse.”

 His jaw stiffened. He looked at me with those intense blue eyes, then looked away.

“You shouldn’t even be here,” I continued. “I’d get in trouble if my parents found out.”

“Is it…because of…?” His eyes narrowed. “Do they know…?”

“No,” I said adamantly. “It’s nothing personal. They don’t even know you exist.” I touched his arm, feeling his confusion. “It’s just boys. All boys.”

“I see.”

“Jesse—”

“So how are we supposed to…?” He swallowed and looked away. “I thought we…”

“Jesse…I’m sorry.”

After another awkward silence, he rose to his knees. “I should go.”

 “Please don’t,” I whispered, filled with regret for saying anything that would hurt him. A spray of water hit us both, followed by a burst of laughter from Becca. “Hey you squirt,” I called, with an effort to keep my voice light and good natured. “Keep it in the pool.”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he whispered in a husky voice. “I can’t think straight when I’m with you. I just know you’re driving me nuts.”

I grinned, blinking back tears. “I know exactly how that feels.”

He leaned close, his hands at his sides. I could feel his sweet breath on my face. I closed my eyes soaking it in—his anger and confusion along with his love.

Then I felt him walk away. And forced myself to let him go.

 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I considered streaming Mom and telling her everything. The potential danger to Jesse increased with every minute we spent together. If the governing council found out about him, they might do more than just wipe his memory. If he knew too much about me he could be one of those humans I’d heard rumors about—who ended up brain dead, living in some long-term care facility. If I told the truth now, then maybe they’d just punish me and leave him out of it.

But Mom wouldn’t appreciate being pulled home early from her trip. I guessed that maybe she’d go easier on me if I waited until she came home. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking. Either way, I went to bed with the decision that I’d just have to stay away from Jesse until she got home.

I tried to sleep in the next morning so that I’d miss school. When that didn’t work I decided to fix a large breakfast. But lost my appetite on my way to the kitchen.

In the end, the force drawing me towards Jesse was stronger than my self control. I missed first period, and managed to avoid Jesse’s gaze when I ran late into choir. I found an empty chair in the back row, where I could study the back of his head. Mr. Chavez was singing with just the boys. I could hear Jesse’s clear tenor voice above the other more timid male voices.

When Mr. Chavez told the girls to join them, my high F turned heads. And not because of its tone quality.

Even Mr. Chavez looked up to see the source of the errant noise.

I was still flush with embarrassment when the room went suddenly dark, as though someone had turned the lights off. Then just as quickly a blinding light flashed in my eyes. The random light show persisted through the remainder of class, though I seemed to be the only one bothered by it.

When the bell finally rang, I rushed down the carpeted steps, feeling Jesse’s gaze on me. I stumbled when I got to the door and hurried to gym class without looking back. When I stepped into the locker room—usually one of the smelliest rooms in the school—I knew for a fact something was off. There was no sign of dirty socks, flowery soaps, or even female insecurities. The lights overhead flickered. I stumbled forward to my locker.

Lacey was there, pulling off her shirt. “So I got asked to homecoming.”

I heard the words but couldn’t process them. I could hardly see to open my locker, or feel what should have been strong emotions from Lacey. She’d been asked to something. A date. “Yeah?” I eventually said. “Who?”

“Christian. I’ve had a crush on him since…like…forever. But I have to say no. Everett said he’d meet me there.”

I paused, trying to think past the assault on my senses. When I figured out what Lacey had said, that she was turning down a date for an empty promise from Everett, irrational heat flamed at my cheeks. “That’s stupid!” I blurted. I suspected I was over reacting, being too harsh. But couldn’t seem to control myself. “You can’t refuse an invitation just for Everett! He didn’t even ask you out!”

“It’s not like that.” Lacey flipped a lock of her curly hair over her shoulder and continued to dress in silence. But she was an emotional blank. I couldn’t sense either anger or excitement. Nothing. It was like not being able to see, or hear. I put my head in my hands and waited on the bench until the locker room was empty.

A game had already started when I ran into the gym. I remembered from the syllabus it was called volleyball. Mrs. Daines directed me to a position in front of the large net in the center of the room. Everett hit the ball, which came directly towards me. The lights flashed at the same moment that my head reverberated from a loud boom in my ears. The next thing I knew the ball hit me squarely in the face. “Hey watch it!” I stooped under the net, planning to storm towards Everett, my head throbbing with pain.

“Mira, knock it off.” Lacey pulled on my arm. “He didn’t mean it.”

I looked at Everett, who appeared to be laughing. Then turned to Lacey, who was clutching my arm. Her face had a strained smile, but I couldn’t sense her. Couldn’t sense anything. Not even the other students nearby, whose faces showed obvious emotion. I covered my face with my hands and ran to the locker room. I changed and found a tree I planned to stay under during lunch, even though it meant going hungry for the second time that day. I needed to keep to myself. And think.

It was obvious I was having trouble with my electromagnetic field. By why? Could I be sick? Some Earth disease? I’d never been sick before. Maybe this is what it felt like. Or maybe it was my new diet. I should call Mom. She would know. But what if it had something to do with Jesse?

The Internet wasn’t likely to have information on this particular set of problems, but Centerpole would—though it might be classified. I leaned against the trunk of the tree, and opened a stream to Geery. It fell flat before reaching even a foot out from my head. I shouldn’t have been surprised. In this condition, I’d be lucky to stream with someone sitting next to me. Let alone overworld. There wasn’t any point in trying again.