Torn (28 page)

I nodded as I accepted
the tests back from Dom. Adri needed a few minutes to talk to Mrs.
Campbell, so I took the opportunity to pay Mrs. Sorenson a visit.

"More blank
checks from the administration, Alec?"

At one point it'd
bothered me that certain teachers took an instant, unexplainable
dislike to me, but I'd long since chalked it up to something I
couldn't control. If someone was determined to hate you there
generally wasn't much you could really do about it.

"No, but I'd
like to discuss Adriana Paige's grade in this class with you."

"That's none of
your business, young man."

I felt a smile cross
my features ever so briefly. Her pulse and breathing all but
screamed that I was right. She was trying to hide the fact she'd
been holding Adri to a different standard than the rest of the
students.

"Be that as it
may, I came across some information that causes me to worry about the
quality of teaching in this school."

I held up the tests
and sighed.

"I remember a
fair amount about this section Mrs. Sorenson, but more importantly
I've noticed that John and Teresa's answers to several questions
aren't substantially different than Adri's, but you marked hers
wrong."

"How did you get
those?"

"That's
irrelevant. The question is what you're going to do about this? I'd
hate to have to take these to the school board. Once I do that
there'll be the inevitable witch hunt and who knows what they'll turn
up, or what they'll do about it."

It always made me a
little sick to threaten people's livelihoods, but the way her
breathing spiked told me there were plenty of other discrepancies to
turn up.

Her voice dropped to a
pale shadow of its normal, arrogant tone.

"What do you
want from me?"

"I just want you
to do what you're paid to do. Go back and re-grade Adri's test the
same way you graded the rest of them. Given how well she's doing in
the rest of her classes I expect that you'll probably find her work
deserves an A."

I left Mrs. Sorenson
trembling at her desk and went straight to the Spanish classroom.
Things were even easier there. Mrs. Tiggs had been skating on the
brink of getting fired for years. I'd never had a class from her but
even I knew she spent more time with the television on than she did
actually teaching.

I met everyone out in
the parking lot and smiled at how Adri's face lit up when she saw me.
Despite all of the reasons to be worried or unhappy I spent the next
hour or so in a pleasant haze as the pack crowded around the table in
the informal dining room and consumed a respectable dinner.

Donovan caught my eye
as I stood up from the table. I followed him back to his office and
felt a surge of surprise as he flicked on the white noise generator
that would shield our conversation from the ears of the rest of the
pack.

"Master Alec, I
hold you in the greatest of respect but feel I must caution you
against what you're doing with the young lady."

I stomped on a flash
of anger. It shouldn't be this hard to keep my temper, but for
whatever reason it was harder to control myself when it came to Adri.

"I haven't even
kissed her, Donovan. I haven't behaved in the slightest bit
inappropriately."

Donovan made himself
smaller, assuming a submissive pose in an attempt to help me leash
the anger.

"I didn't mean
to imply you had, Alec, but you need to understand what you're doing
to her. You have strong feelings for her, it's only natural that you
want to touch her, but it would be wrong to do so. You'll form the
Ja'tell bond with her!"

His words slowed my
wrath, providing something for reason to work on.

"You supported
my father's decision to marry mother. Out of the entire pack it was
only you and Addison that did so. Why would you deny me Adri now?"

"You know how
you feel about her, but do you really know how she feels about you?
If you addict her to your touch before you truly know she loves you,
you'll be no better than the drug dealers Jasmin ran out of town last
year."

It was like I'd been
struck a physical blow, one I reeled back from mentally as I tried to
regain my footing.

"I never meant
to harm her."

Donovan came forward
and clasped me on the shoulder.

"I know, Alec,
but the only way you'll be sure of her love is to keep her at arm's
length. Otherwise you'll always wonder if she would have chosen
differently but for the Ja'tell bond."

I went through the
rest of the evening in shock. Donovan had meant to slow the growth
of my feelings but it had the opposite effect. I'd stopped denying
my love for Adri inside the privacy of my own thoughts.

His efforts hadn't
been entirely fruitless. I'd spent my entire life watching my mother
pine over something she'd never have again. She'd loved my father,
but she'd also been addicted to him. It was a potent combination
that would never be replicated again, and so she lived out her
remaining years a ghost in corporeal form.

I'd sworn never to do
that to anyone. It'd supported me for years, kept me clear of any
number of girls my age who'd been willing to throw themselves at me,
but I'd forgotten my resolve in the rush of emotions Adri had
awakened.

I went through my
nightly ritual like a sleep walker. I completed homework, grimly
reviewed our far-flung enterprises with Donovan, and then dutifully
endured my time on the machine.

Adri had spent most of
that time with Dom studying her Spanish homework. I made myself
scarce until the rest of the house retired to bed, and then finally
returned to my room. I'd wanted desperately to spend the evening
with her, but couldn't risk her normal ability to read me.

I watched her sleep
for several minutes before finally showering and then laying down
next to her. I salved my conscience by making sure there was a thin
sheet between us, but couldn't silence the nagging suspicion that I
was just too weak to cut myself off completely.

My retiring so late
meant I woke up only a few minutes before Adri did. I was lying on
my side gazing at her when her eyes first flickered open. I couldn't
resist smiling at her, but her response was entirely unexpected. She
smiled back and then moved in as though planning on a kiss.

I pulled back. I
didn't want to, but I wasn't going to leave her a broken shell once I
was gone. I avoided her advance and hoped her ESP was up and running
enough to realize it wasn't that I didn't like her.

It was silly really.
The quickest way to ensure I didn't destroy her with an
uncontrollable addiction would be to ensure that she hated me, but I
couldn't bring myself to do it.

The first half of the
day proceeded in more or less the same fashion. Biology started off
a little shaky, but I put Mrs. Sorenson to rights fairly quickly.
Despite our conversation the night before she'd thought she could get
away with grilling Adri again. I'd spent a few minutes before I
finally went to bed reviewing the chapter we were going to be
covering, so I promptly tripped her up and made her look foolish in
front of the rest of the class.

After the second time
it happened we lapsed into an uneasy silence. She left Adri alone
and I stopped making her look like an idiot. We'd spent the rest of
the class trading messages via Adri's notebook. I expected to be able
to keep her distracted by asking her questions about herself, but partway
through she'd gotten obstinate and refused to answer another unless I
promised to begin answering hers in return.

I should have said no
and just stopped asking her about herself but I needed to know where
she'd come from, what had created the thoughtful, vulnerable person
who more than ever had me wrapped around her finger.

The only thing I
managed to hold over her was a promise to pack her onto a plane if
she touched onto things that were better for her not to know. She
seemed to take the threat seriously. She went back to answering my
questions, and I tried to touch on everything I could think of short
of the recent events that still haunted her.

I was surprised when
the entire pack showed up during lunch to wait while Adri took her
makeup test. Apparently she'd been behind from starting out the year
late, and Mrs. Campbell expected her to make everything up.

It was hard to tell
how much of the pack's support was because they genuinely liked Adri
and how much of it was due to increased harassment from Brandon's
pack. Dom, Rachel, and even Jasmin seemed to fall into the former
category which was no less than Adri deserved.

I'd been considering
the latter problem for a while but hadn't hit on any likely
solutions. They still outnumbered us, but the actual balance of
power had evened out when I'd killed Nathanial and Simon. If they
poached our territory again we could probably kill more of them, but
they'd been very careful to avoid provocations since I'd challenged
Brandon.

We could always assume
a more aggressive stance in our own patrols, but that'd decrease the
pack's chance of survival when the Coun'hij finally decided to get
involved.

I pushed the problem
away long enough to watch as Adri handed her test in, had it graded
on the spot and then all but jumped up and down as Mrs. Campbell put
a large, red 'A' at the top of the paper.

The pack crowded
around her, full of congratulations, and I somehow found myself
holding her hand again. I regretfully let go as we finished up
lunch, and then headed off to my English class.

Physics flew by with
extra speed, almost as if to make up for the fact that each of the
classes I didn't have with Adri now limped by with unbelievable
slowness.

Mrs. Alexander was
still absent, so we were able to spend the entire time conversing. I
hit upon an unexpected nerve when I asked her about her best date.
She instantly blushed and looked away as if afraid to meet my gaze.
I waited a couple of seconds and then finally reached out and lifted
her chin up so I could see her face.

"What's the
matter, afraid I'll be jealous?"

She slowly shook her
head, obviously wishing she could look back down.

"No, there isn't
anything to be jealous of. I'd never been on a single date before
Sanctuary, and you know all about what's happened since I arrived."

"That sounds
like the easiest one I've asked you yet. Why the sudden
bashfulness?"

She sat silently, her
heart pounding erratically for several seconds and then finally
looked away and whispered.

"Because I'm
worried once you realize just how much of a loser I was back home,
how much of a loser I still am, you'll decide you don't belong with
me."

It boggled the mind
that someone so attractive hadn't dated before coming to Sanctuary,
but it hardly seemed like a cardinal sin.

"Why would you
not dating very much have any impact on how I feel about you?"

"Because in
addition to being the most thoughtful boy I've ever met, you also
happen to be rich enough to buy a small country. You're so
incredibly gorgeous girls swoon when you walk into a room. How can I
possibly compete against the kinds of girls that'll continue throwing
themselves at you for as long as you're breathing?"

She'd started out at a
whisper, but quickly gotten louder. By the time she finished
talking she was loud enough to cause heads to turn back and look at
us. I probably should have been concentrating on calming her down,
but whenever she got really animated she started talking with her
hands, which triggered all kinds of pounce instincts.

I reached out and
captured her hands before responding.

"Please don't do
that. The fact you didn't date until recently doesn't mean you're
some kind of nerd. Even if it did, that wouldn't matter to me.
Also, other girls who may or may not find me attractive are
irrelevant. I don't want them, I want you."

It was completely the
wrong thing to say given that I was supposed to be giving her room to
decide whether or not she really liked me, but the words just slipped
out of their own accord. It was so startling I accidentally let go
of one of her hands, which promptly began gesturing as she tried to
come up with a response.

I stomped on the urge
to snatch her hand out of the air, and instead gently recaptured it.
It was obvious she didn't believe me, so I opted for the appearance
of arrogance.

"It's ok you
don't believe me yet, I'm equal to the challenge of convincing you."

She chewed on my
answer for a moment and then jumped backwards in the conversation.

"Don't do what?"

It was a second before
I realized what she was talking about.

"Your hands, you
tend to talk with them when you're excited or angry, and it's very
distracting. I mean for us. All of the motion results in a hundred
tiny signals flooding my brain as my instincts try to decide whether
you're prey to be chased, or a bigger predator that I need to flee
from."

Adri's eyes went so
wide I worried maybe I'd actually scared her.

"Oh, I didn't
realize it was a problem. I'll stop."

"It isn't
actually that bad. More like an itch you can't quite reach.
Although, if you ever want to drive Jessica absolutely crazy, spend a
few minutes around her fidgeting. She's the most naturally
high-strung out of anyone besides Jasmin. The fact she's also a
submissive only makes things worse."

I could almost see the
gears spinning inside her head. Even when she was thinking about
being vindictive she still looked sweet. She looked up at me with an
innocent smile.

"She won't eat
me if I do that?"