Sojourner (7 page)

“Please don’t,” I say, aware that everyone, including Gail watches us.  I avert my gaze to the floor, more comfortable with linoleum than people.  Besides, I’ve never been all that good at hiding things, and whatever I’m thinking is going to be right there, screaming at anyone who looks at me, especially Lev.

How can I be both attracted and afraid of him at the same time?  I don’t even make sense to myself.

As we head to Griffin’s locker, I feel like we’re being followed, and sure enough when I glance over my shoulder, I spot Mr. Maguire keeping an even distance.  He’s got his planner and book with worksheets tucked under one arm so I’m pretty sure he’s either going to the office or the teacher’s lounge.

“Here we are,” Griffin says, stopping short.  His quick fingers settle on the lock and begin twisting.  As I stand there, feeling foolish because of Griffin’s obvious showing off, I peer down the hall and find Lev at his locker, his blue eyes fixed on me.  At the moment our gazes lock, neither of us moves.  Around him the air has that glistening quality like an aura almost.  I squint, trying to make out what I’m really seeing.  Then Griffin nudges me, breaking my concentration.

“See, I told you you’d like this surprise.”  He smiles and holds out my purse as Mr. Maguire comes up right behind us.  The teacher’s eyes narrow in concentration as I take the purse, unwilling to meet his gaze.  Then Maguire passes us by.

                “W...where did you get that?” I stammer, taking the cool black leather in hand.  Somehow it’s not as damp as it should be.
                “You don’t expect me to reveal my secrets, now do you, Lizzie?”

“Guess not,” I mumble, running my hand over the leather.  Why was Griffin at the cemetery and how did he know this was mine?  Was he following me?  Did Lev know?

Lev….  I look down the hall, but the place in front of his locker is vacant.  So I turn to Griffin.

“Thanks,” I say.  “I guess I should get to class before I’m late.”  Thinking I’m off the hook, I turn to go, but he grabs my arm.

“You could thank me properly.”  He grins wickedly, making me really uncomfortable.

“What do you mean?”  My heart rams my chest.  I wish he would let go of me.  Instead his fingers press the skin warmly.

“How about joining me for lunch.  It’s the least you could do, you know.”  Slowly his fingers caress my skin, a tactic that has worked for many girls before me and will work on many after Griffin has finally forgotten I exist, whenever that will be.

“I sort of already made plans with someone,” I stammer out.  “Sorry.”  I ease my arm from his grip, relieved to be free.

“A fast mover, aren’t you?” he says, a hint of displeasure darkening his tone.  I can tell by his frown that he’s expecting some kind of answer that I don’t have.  I can’t tell him why his magical good looks and witty charm aren’t working on me the way they do on every other girl. 

“Look, I didn’t know.  So I made plans.”  I hope he’ll get the hint.

“How about tomorrow then?”

“Tomorrow….”  Oh, that’s not what I expected.  The girls are right.  He doesn’t give up.

“Yeah, tomorrow.  Like I said.  It’s the least you can do.”

“All right,” I finally say, still looking for Lev.  “We’ll have lunch tomorrow.”  Unless by chance lightning strikes me dead and I don’t have to worry about it.

“Cool.”  His grin reappears, but before he can add insult to injury, I excuse myself to class, relieved to escape.  There’s something about that boy that takes way too much energy, I think, plunking down in my math class.

As Lev is in this class, too, I glance toward his seat.  Empty.  I chew my lip while opening my notebook, all the while glancing toward the door, waiting.  The tardy bell is going to ring at any second, and, if I know anything about Lev, he hates to be late.

The bell suddenly rings.  No Lev.  My shoulders cave under the weight of disappointment, and I settle myself in for some math, wondering where he is, and what I’m going to do about the lunch period I expected to spend with him, saving me from Griffin.

I suffer through the rest of the morning classes.  Yes, I’m tired, but I know better than to fall asleep.  A lot of the students still watch me since it’s only my second day and the first morning was so amusing.  The boys are still entertained, and the girls still don’t much care for that.

“Ms. Moon?”  Mr. Maguire catches me in the hall just as I’m about to head down to the cafeteria for lunch, and his weighted stare leaves me very uncomfortable.

“Yes, Mr. Maguire?”  I stop and wait for him, preferring to get whatever conversation over before I go to the cafeteria.

“I don’t mean to pry, but I was wondering what Mr. Hauser was doing with your purse.”  He stares intently at me through his glasses.

“I’d lost it, and he ran across it and was good enough to bring it to me.”  I brush the hair from my face.

“A strange thing for you to lose.  Is it possible that he took it from you?”  My body tenses, and I really dislike where he is going with this. 

“No, I lost it.”

He nods.  “Very well, Ms. Moon.  I know you aren’t acquainted with the way of things around here, and sometimes Mr. Hauser feels a bit exempted from the rules.  I just want you to understand that he is not above that, even if his father is a town selectman.”

“Thank you.”  Walking toward the cafeteria, I find that whole conversation more bizarre than even Griffin, which is really saying something. Shelly and her friends sit at the same table as  yesterday, and they willingly move over so I can join them.  As I sit, Shelly looks over at Griffin and smiles, shaking her head.

“Gee, Griffin is still watching you, Lizzie.  Big surprise.”

And Lev is still absent
, I muse, looking around the cafeteria, searching.  Part of me wonders if it will be strange like this the whole year.  Frustrated, I switch tactics and begin looking for Lev’s sister, Celia, but I don’t see her either, only Griffin’s consuming stare.  Oh, and Gail’s antagonistic frown.  More than once she touches his arm, an act of possession that any girl could figure out.  Too bad she can’t get Griffin to pay attention to her.  That would solve a whole lot of problems right now.

My stomach rumbles, and since I haven’t grabbed a tray, as the memory of the spaghetti is too painful to try the hamburgers being served today, I rise and head to the salad bar, muttering, “Excuse me,” to my friends.  Scanning the offerings, I grab the salad tongs and fill my plate with lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.  I ration a bit of Ranch dressing over part of it, and as I whirl to return to my table, I almost bump into Griffin.

“Such fabulous lunch plans could get a guy’s feelings hurt,” Griffin mutters, also grabbing a salad bowl even though it doesn’t seem like that would be his ideal meal.  Most guys love burgers.  Okay, maybe not these burgers.

“They’re my friends,” I say, disinterestedly.

“I could be your friend,” he mutters, scooting around the salad bar, his tone warm and inviting.  “I could be a very good friend, actually.”  He scoots closer.  He’s clearly piled a bunch of veggies on his plate that he will probably never eat.

“Sorry, Griffin, I’m not looking for that kind of friend.”  Swallowing hard, I take a couple of steps away. I can feel Shelly, Bree, Matt, and Gail all staring.  I just don’t have a clue what they are expecting.  I’m still trying to figure that one out when someone tugs my arm, forcing me to turn.

“I thought you might need this, considering how cold it is.”  Celia stands there, my jacket in her hand.  Smiling, she offers it to me.

“Thanks.”  I take the jacket, hating that Griffin is watching my every move.  “Where did you come from?”

“I was outside eating.”  She starts to walk away.

“Hey, Celia, where is Lev today?”

“Doctor’s appointment.”  She also stares at Griffin, her smile toward him not as pleasant.  “He’ll be back this afternoon.”

“Thanks.”  She walks away, and I start to when Griffin blocks me.

“So, let me guess.  He was your real lunch plan. Shelly Roberts was just a contingency, wasn’t she?”  His words are light enough, but their intention is clear.  He’s trying to stake a claim on me.

“It’s really none of your business, Griffin.  I said I’d join you for lunch tomorrow.”

His face turns pasty, and I see an anger smoldering beneath the surface.  Probably by tomorrow he’ll be so furious he might not even want lunch with me.  Here’s to hoping anyway.

As I approach Shelly’s table, the girls burst into laughter.  I’m not the only one who notices.  Griffin scowls at them while returning to his own table.  The moment he sits, he pushes the plate away and shakes his head.  He sets one elbow on the table and leans his chin on his hand.  The fluorescent light gleams off his senior class ring.  Gail tries to take his arm, a comforting gesture, but he quickly pulls away, clearly agitated.  Her face flushes and she gets up to dump her tray.

“Looks like somebody is unhappy,” Bree comments, staring at Griffin.  “I just don’t get you, Lizzie.  There’s no male specimen more perfect than Griffin.”

“Shoot me now, please.”  Shelly shakes her head and throws a carrot at Bree.  “If that is perfect, then I’m becoming a nun.  Besides, I think Lizzie is waiting for someone else.  A tall blond who is absent.”  She turns to me, waiting.  “What’s up between you and Lev?”

“Nothing.”  I shrug, my fingers immediately fumbling over the silverware.  I look away, not wanting her to read my expression.

“Really?  That’s not what I hear.  Word is that the two of you are becoming an item.”  She grabs a celery stick and waves it at me.  “So clue me in.  What’s going on?  And why did his sister have your coat?”

“Nothing.  Honestly.  We’re just friends.”  I stab a piece of lettuce and quickly begin eating, trying to distract myself from questions I can’t answer.  I don’t know what’s going on between Lev and me in this life, let alone in my dreams.  So I’m telling her the truth.

Feeling her gaze, I can tell she doesn’t believe me.  I probably wouldn’t believe me either.  In the distance, Griffin watches me, too, the weight of his eyes stifling.  So I focus on lunch and breathing.  That should be enough to keep me out of trouble right now.

“So,” Shelly says, taking the cap off her water bottle.  “I was going to work on the Shakespeare project, and I wondered if you wanted to come over after school.  Maybe we could work together and get it done?”

“Sure.”

The rest of the day blurs past without me seeing a hint of Lev.  Although Celia said he would be returning, I don’t find him, no matter how hard I look.  As I open my locker, I glance at his coat hanging there.  The rest of the borrowed clothes are bagged up in my Jeep, ready to be returned.  More than once I’ve smelled them, savoring the scent of his cologne.  Shaking my head, I want to laugh because I don’t know any better than he does which side of the bipolar swing I’m going to wake up on, whether I will want to be near him or be afraid of him.

Taking a deep breath, I grab the jacket, figuring I can always drive his stuff over.  This time I will drive across the bridge instead of walking, that way I won’t have to worry about taking a winter swim just in case Lev has other plans rather than jumping in after me.

I also grab my purse which I haven’t really looked through since Griffin gave it back.  As I can’t really figure out what he was doing in the cemetery in the first place, the purse creeps me out.  Was he following me?  That’s the last thing I need.

Closing my locker, I pull out my keys.  As I stride toward the exit, Griffin sees me passing and matches my stride, joining me toward the exit.

“So are we still on for tomorrow?”

“Sure,” I say, half-holding my breath as I wait for divine intervention to save me.  I am definitely not ready for lunch with Griffin, even if it is only 45 minutes.