Parahuman (Parahuman Series) (17 page)

     “I am
still really, really mad at him.” Laney had briefly told Hali about Jarrod’s
behavior last night. “He was a complete jerk last night, and then Devan
informed me later that Jarrod actually warned him away from me.” Laney was
still trying to process that little piece of information. Jarrod had always
been a fixture in her life; annoying a lot of the time, but manageable. The
idea that he was warning Devan away from her was utterly bizarre. She had to
wonder if Devan had misinterpreted what Jarrod had been trying to say.

     “No
way!” Hali gasped, and then she got a pensive look upon her face. “Although,
I’m not altogether surprised that he did something like that. He’s been a
little possessive about you lately. I’ve even gotten an occasional dirty look
from him when you’ve told him you were doing something with me rather than fall
into line with his plans. I’ve just blown his attitude off as Jarrod being
Jarrod.”

     Laney
gaped at her. “Why didn’t you say something? All three of us have known each
other our whole lives, and you’re my best friend. He has no right to be giving
you any dirty looks.” Laney was fuming at the thought.

     She
stomped into her next class with a scowl on her face until she saw Devan seated
in the front by the windows. His head was bent over a book on his desk. She was
disappointed that he would be sitting so far away from her, but at least she
would be able to view him this time.

     Most
of the student had taken their seats and Laney noted that they were all staring
and gesturing at him. He had to feel it and be really self-conscious about all
the attention, but he didn’t show it. Laney was going to walk over and talk to
him before class began but was thwarted by Mrs. Pavalidus calling the class to
attention. Laney gave one last glance in his direction as she went to her seat
three rows over.

     After
the information of Devan’s eye sensitivity was related all over again class
skated along at a slow rhythm. The teacher demonstrated some equations on the
white board and worksheets were then passed around. Laney endeavored to stay
focused but it was a lost cause; her gaze kept drifting to Devan.

     His
attention, however, remained fixed forward. Never once did he turn and look in
her direction. At times he would cock his head as though he was going to turn,
but then nothing. It was rather disheartening.

     Laney
was ready for the bell this time. She stuffed her unfinished worksheet into her
folder−she was going to have so much homework tonight−and when the
bell rang she jumped up and raced for the door…at a moderate pace. She
pointedly ignored Hali’s snort.

     She
was ready when he walked out the door…well, more like ducked out the door he
was so tall. 

     “Hey
there.” That was a total brain fart.

     Devan
looked down at her in mute grimness. At least she thought that’s what it was.
Why was he so bleak?

     “So,
what is your next class? Maybe we can go for three in a row.” Laney chuckled
nervously.

    
“Spanish II.” Devan replied shortly.

     Laney
gave him a huge smile; she wasn’t going to allow him hide behind his wall.
“Again, with the talking my ear off. Pretty soon I’ll have as hard of a time
shutting you up as I do Hali.”

     “Hey,
I resemble that remark.” Hali said, exiting the classroom.

    
“Resemble it, revel in it, and roll around in the mud in it.” Laney retorted
cheekily.

    
“Okay, now you’re just being cruel and hurtful.” Hali sniffed and wiped at the
imaginary tear in her eye.

     Devan
was looking back and forth between them with a frown.

     Laney
grinned at Devan’s confusion. He was just so cute. Well, more than cute really.
“Don’t worry about her, she majors in Drama 101.”

     Hali
dropped the tearful act for righteous indignation. “It is Drama 201 now, and
don’t forget it.” She snapped.

    
Twirling on her heel she set off down the corridor for her next class, Literature.
Laney took note of the rude gawking around them. What were they, a side show?

     “Hey,
there’s a bloody catastrophe over in the east corridor, why don’t you all go stare
at that for a while.” Laney waved them all away. Grabbing Devan’s arm she gave
him a tug in the direction they needed to go. The touch of his skin was warm and
firm and it sent an electric arc through her arm. Devan tensed at her touch as
he usually did and she grudgingly let go. She knew that he had a problem with
being touched and she couldn’t help wondering why?

     “Come
on, I have Spanish, too. Mrs. Mendez is a really cool teacher, but she dislikes
tardiness.” Laney gave Devan an impish grin. “Although, since this
is
your first day if we somehow got lost in the hallways for fifteen minutes she
would probably let it slide. What do you say, want to be bad and break some
rules?”

    
Devan’s eyebrows rose above his sunglasses. Laney burst out laughing. “I’m just
kidding.” She then sobered up quickly. “They would so not believe that I got
lost, but you could do it no problem.” Laney wiggled her eyebrows at him.

    
Devan’s expression was softening up again, his lip was twitching. Laney was
almost quivering in delight.

     “This
school is so small I don’t think I could get away with five minutes.” Devan
replied.

     Laney
smile widened at his comment. She placed her hand on her heart. “Was that a
joke, Devan?”

     “No,
that was a factual observation on the small size of this school.”

     Laney
chuckled at his dry tone.

     They
were the last people to walk into class and everyone stared at them as they
strolled in. Half of the people had already had a class with Devan but that
didn’t stop them from gaping at him all over again. At least their mouths were
closed unlike the ones that hadn’t seen him yet. Laney took note of the glower
that Jarrod was sporting and gave him the same one right back.

    
Grabbing Devan’s arm Laney towed him over to the teacher. “Mrs. Mendez, this is
Devan Ferris, your new student. Which I’m sure you figured out already.” Laney
smiled copiously so that the teacher would get a hint.

     At
first Mrs. Mendez stared at Devan like he was going to suddenly pounce on her
at any minute, but she recovered quickly and smiled.

    
“Hello Devan, it’s nice to meet you. It seems you made a friend already and I’m
not too surprised, Laney is one of the nicest students I’ve ever had. Since it
can be difficult starting a new school I think I’ll rearrange some seats so you
have someone next to you that you know.”

     Laney’s
smile widened. Mrs. Mendez got the hint. 

   
“That’s unnecessary.” Devan stated firmly.

     Laney
spun toward Devan; he stood there at attention his demeanor rigid and aloof.
Her heart plummeted at his objection…rejection.

     Mrs.
Mendez stammered and caved under Devan’s authoritative voice. “Well, okay then.
You go ahead and take this seat in front of my desk.”

     Devan
marched over to the desk and sat down, not once looking back at Laney. That
hurt…a lot. Laney spun dejectedly toward her own desk three rows away. Jarrod
had a seat right next to her, and he had a smug smile on his face. Laney’s eyes
narrowed. She was going to pop him one good if he didn’t get rid of it.  

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

     Pushing
open the nearest exit doors Devan inhaled deeply the fresh outdoor air. The
slight claustrophobic feeling that had surrounded him the minute he walked into
the school dispelled immediately and his muscles relaxed along with it.

     He
had had rushed out of the last class while Laney had been waylaid by Jarrod.
Not that she would have pursued him. Devan hadn’t missed the hurt look she’d
worn when he had instantly rebuffed the idea of sitting beside her. His gut had
clenched when he’d rejected the offer, and then amplified when he observed her
injured expression, but it was the only way.

     Jarrod
was a potential threat to his and Brett’s anonymousness, and that couldn’t be
allowed. The distance Devan was instituting was causing an agony of symptoms to
his nervous system and organs that he recognized as distress, but why he was so
distressed was something he was having a hard time quantifying. 

    
Devan’s phone started to vibrate in his side pocket alerting him to a text from
Brett. He shook off his musings because they were irrelevant; this was the only
solution to the problem…at present. Grabbing his phone he read the message.

     
‘Got
a job at the library. Will be there after school until five o’clock.’

     
Devan stared at the text in
astonishment. Brett had never acquired a job in any of the other communities
they had resided in. He speculated on whether his comment of socializing with
the public had instituted the change?

    
Finding a secluded area far from the cafeteria in a small group of trees, Devan
dug into his lunch; detoxifying from the school atmosphere. The area around the
school was the one place in the entire town that had been cleared
significantly; making space for baseball, football, and track fields. He had
some doubts that the school contained a high quantity of athletes required to
fill the positions for each sport. 

     
After finishing the last of his three elk hoagies he’d made Devan was tempted
to take a run into the nearest woods, but his belly was too full. Instead, he
leaned back against the tree for a quick fifteen minute cat nap, and hoped the
second half of the day would go faster than the first half had.

      A
couple minutes later, and already in a half sleep state, Devan heard the raised
voices of two individuals. He was well hidden in the crop of trees and didn’t
take too much notice of them; that is, until he recognized one of the voices as
Laney’s. The other was Jarrod’s.   

    
Instantly alert, Devan sat up pinpointing their location. The voices were
coming from around the corner of the building.

    
“Jarrod, I don’t understand your behavior last night.” She sounded annoyed.

     “That
Devan guy just rubs me the wrong way, there’s something not right about him.”
Jarrod griped.

     “From
my point of view it was you who wasn’t
right
.”

     “I’m
sorry; I just don’t like the idea of you hanging out with him.” Jarrod
continued to grumble.   

    
“You’re my friend Jarrod, but who I spend time with is none of your business.”
More annoyance saturated Laney’s voice.

     “It
just seemed like in the last few months we were getting a little closer to each
other.”

     There
was a slight pause from Laney after this statement. Devan unconsciously leaned
forward.

    
“Jarrod, we grew up together and you’ve been a good friend, especially during
these last few months, but were
just
friends
.” She definitely put
some stress on those last two words.

    
Another pause, this one from Jarrod.

     “So I
guess Devan is more up your alley?” His voice had gone from whiney to angry
making all the hairs on Devan’s body rise, and before he knew it he was
standing beside the brick of the school building.

     “What!”
Laney’s voice came out high pitched.

    
“Yesterday when we were climbing, you two were looking at each other all gooey
like.”

    
Gooey?!
Was it even possible to look at someone like that? 

     “I don’t
know what you’re talking about,” she retorted heatedly. “Is that why you’ve
been behaving the way you have, because you think Devan and I are interested in
each other?”

      “He
thinks he can just come here and take everything that’s mine; the guys a freak
with his eyeglasses, height, and weird hair.” The tenor of Jarrod’s voice was
disjointed. Listening wasn’t enough anymore; Devan had to see what was going
on.

    
Judging the distance to the roof to be about twenty-five feet and seeing that
no one was around Devan jumped and pulled himself up effortlessly. He silently
made my way over to the two voices.

     “He
is not a freak,” she said vehemently, “and Devan didn’t come and take anything
from you”      

    
Peering down from the rooftop Devan could see Laney standing with hands on her
hips, an expression of displeasure on her face. Her defense on his part was
heartening considering how he’d been behaving toward her.

     “See
how you stick up for him, you like him.”

     “I do
like him, he’s nice guy.” she said aggressively.

    
Devan’s gut clenched at her words. He hadn’t been all that nice to her today.

     Laney
continued angrily. “And have we reverted to third grade calling people freaks; its
prejudice and immature.” 

    
“There’s something going on between the two of you,” Jarrod insisted unpleasant,
“and I don’t like it.”

     “It
doesn’t matter if you like it or not, it has nothing to do with you,” she said
angrily, “you’re acting like a complete head case.” She turned intending to leave,
but Jarrod’s hand shot out to grip her arm.

     A red
haze swathed Devan’s vision in response to Jarrod’s hand on her person and
without thinking he dropped from the roof landing directly behind him.

    
Laney’s expression transformed from anger to shock at his unexpected,
unconventional appearance. Jarrod spun around, not at the sound of Devan’s
landing which had been relatively soundless, but at the look on her face.

     Devan
was standing about sixteen inches away from Jarrod which had him backing up and
releasing Laney’s arm reflexively with an alarmed expression. Devan was trying
to maintain a blank expression but anger rolled through him making it difficult,
and by Jarrod’s reaction it could be Devan wasn’t trying hard enough.

    
“What’s your deal, we’re trying to have a private conversation here.” Jarrod
may have at first backed up in apprehension at Devan’s appearance but his
manner was still aggressive.

    
Laney’s gaze swung to Jarrod; irritation coloring her expression once again.

     “I
just wanted to ask Laney if she had informed her father that I wouldn’t be
taking the job.” Devan was hoping his statement would mellow Jarrod’s attitude,
getting him to desist in his hostility.     

    
Jarrod’s expression went from anger to delighted smugness. Devan recognized
that he thought he had been successful in his intimidation. The urge to erase
the look from Jarrod’s face was overwhelming, and Devan’s years of self-control
was the only thing keeping him in check.

     Laney’s
eyes narrowed but it wasn’t in anger; it seemed more like speculation.

     “That’s
such a disappointment, what happened?” Jarrod asked in feigned innocence, his
face elated at this new information.

     “We
won’t be staying here long so I didn’t see the point.” This ought to make him
even more pleased.

     It
did; Jarrod’s face positively lit up. Problem solved. A hollow sensation was
all Devan felt at the resolving of this situation.  

     The
bell rang interrupting Jarrod’s afternoon delight. Avoiding Laney’s gaze Devan
turned and headed for the clump of trees to grab his pack.

     The
rest of the day progressed as usual; everyone staring, whispering and pointing.
Devan had fourth hour Physics with Laney. He was seated three rows over and
behind her which gave him some breathing room. She looked back at him a few
times, but gave him his space. Fifth hour wood shop consisted of Jarrod and his
friends and copious amounts of menacing glares. Sixth hour computers was free
of both Laney and Jarrod. It was a relaxing hour.

     When
the final bell of the day rang Devan gave a huge sigh of relief as he was
released from the longest and grueling day of my life.   

∞                    ∞                   
∞

    
The
Silverton Library was an eleven hundred sq. ft. one story structure with a
small parking area behind it. Stepping through the front doors was like
stepping back in time. The walls were hard wood slates the same as the shelving
the books rested on. Antique preserved animals were mounted and placed randomly
throughout the room on top of those shelving units and on the walls. There was a
dark green carpet on the floor, but it was old and frayed.

     This room
hadn’t been remodeled in quite a few decades. It was also eerily quiet, even
for a library, and Devan wondered if the building was closed and somebody had
forgotten to lock the doors, but then he heard the faint rusting of paper and
steady breathing from the far side of the room…which, really, wasn’t very far.
Walking around a bookshelf Devan spotted Brett in an old tatty multi-colored lounge
chair reading a book.

     “Are
you taking a break from all the hustle and bustle?” Devan asked, almost causing
Brett to drop his book in surprise. 

     He
recovered with a small grin. “You
just
missed the afternoon rush. How
was your first day?”

     “A
hotbed of excitement.” Devan commented drily utilizing an expression he’d
overheard once. Although, truthfully it was one of the least boring days he’d
had in school.

    
Looking around the empty library Devan couldn’t help thinking that Brett was
supposed to have taken a job so as to interact with people and here he was
sitting alone reading a book; he could be doing the same thing at the house.

     “Do
you work today?”

     Ahh,
the inevitable question.

    
“Actually, I declined that position.”

     “I
thought you were looking forward to working there?” He queried, bewildered. 

     What
to say; that a future coworker was exhibiting violent tendencies, that he had
slashed the tires of Devan’s jeep and was making threats. Brett would want to
relocate immediately.

     The
idea of that did not sit well with Devan. It brought a very unpleasant feeling
to his chest, and that was why Devan remained silent about it. Sure, he had
told Laney that they would be moving, but he had said it only as an excuse, not
in a genuine expectation of leaving. 

     “It
just wasn’t looking like a good fit.” When in doubt leave it vague.

    
Closing his book Brett sighed heavily, but then his countenance brightened. “How
did it go last night?” He asked, his eyes lighting with interest.

     That
was another area Devan didn’t want to delve into.

     “It
was okay.”

     His
looked disappointed in the short answer. “Just okay?”

     Devan
gave him a shrug. “Yeah.”

     “So,
what are your plans today than, are you going out to look for another job?” He
asked, recognizing and accepting that Devan wasn’t going to be more
forthcoming.

    
“Actually, I wanted to ask if we could exchange vehicles. I need to use the
truck to transport some material.”

     “Some
project for school, or something for the house?”
     “It’s an independent study project I want to try.”

     After
exchanging keys Devan left Brett in his reading chair notifying him that he
would likely be in late tonight.

    
Stepping out the back doors of the library Devan was met by a familiar truck
loaded down with the weight of one annoyingly, bothersome individual and three
of his associates. Observing Devan step from the building they proceeded to
clamber out of the truck, lining up in front of his jeep. Devan had a hunch
that Jarrod must be friends with a few of the individuals on the football team
because the males looked like defensive linebackers.  

    
Jarrod was sporting a superior smile as Devan walked their way.

     “Look
at you, at the library already and on your first day of school,” he chortled.
Earning him a few answering snickers from his company.

      The only
drawback to Jarrod’s ambush was that they were in front of the wrong vehicle,
because Devan was headed to the truck two parking spots over to the right.
Ignoring them he made his way over to Brett’s truck. Jarrod must have taken
Devan’s altered route as a sign that he was afraid to go near them.