Unfaded (15 page)

             
A scuffling noise came from behind me and I swirled around, just in time to see the door knob turn. I didn’t give myself a chance to think about it. Chucking the lamp with all my might, it crashed into the opening door, breaking into a million pieces. Within a second I’d crossed the room and slammed myself into the wood, trying to push out whoever was trying to get inside.

             
“Hey! Stop it! It’s just me.”

             
Kian.

             
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s just that someone—I mean someone was at the window and then I heard the door and I thought they were there.” The words gushed from my mouth; I couldn’t seem to stop talking. “I thought you were, I mean, I thought they were coming for me. There was this energy and the light bulbs broke.”

             
“Shhh, I’m here,” Kian reached out and took me in his arms, holding me close in a hug. “There’s no one here.”

             
“But there was,” I insisted. “At the window. I heard them.”

             
Kian went over to the window and pulled open the curtains. The back parking lot was empty. But there was one thing I noticed. All the streetlamps were out. They had been burning. I knew this for sure because I’d thought about how the glow made everything look so orangey grey.

             
Someone had been there. This I knew for certain.

             
“We need to get you out to the front,” Kian said as he let the curtains fall back into place. “Your Dad’s there and he’s having a fit. The fire's out. But you dropped your keys in the snow and they found them. We’d better let him know you’re ok.”

             
I reached into my jacket pocket and sure enough, it was empty. “Did you say anything?”

             
“No and I don’t think we should,” Kian said. “He’d only get more upset.”

             
That made sense to me and we headed back out to where a crowd was slowly gathering. The air was smoky and thick. I hesitated, there were so many people. The police were there, along with an ambulance and fire trucks—the flashing lights were overwhelming. Kian noticed my hesitance and reached out to take my hand.

             
“You’ll be fine,” he said, squeezing my fingers gently. “We did nothing wrong.”

             
Either way, I had the feeling I was about to get in trouble.

             
As we moved across the parking lot, Thelma was the first to find us. She was dressed in her husband’s gigantic parka and her hair was tightly rolled in pink curlers.

             
“Good Lord, girl,” she called out. “Thank goodness you’re all right. You’ve given us all a fright.”

             
Dad was talking to one of the police officers. The second he saw me, he rushed over and threw his arms around me in a bear hug. When he was finished, he stepped back, looking at both Kian and me. He’d seen us holding hands.

             
“Are you all right, Mai?”

             
“I’m fine,” I said.

             
“They found your keys.” Even though the emergency lights were flashing back and forth over his face, I could still see the paleness of his skin.

             
“I must have dropped them earlier,” I said. “I had to get my Biology book from the shop. Kian and I were over studying in Thelma’s library when we heard the noise.”

             
Dad gave Kian a long, hard stare. I wasn’t quite sure how to interpret it but I had a good idea. Especially with the words that came next.

             
“Where’s Connor?”

             
I looked down at the ground before I was even aware I was doing it. “He’s at home,” I said. Then it dawned on me. All these people around. By tomorrow morning the entire town would know about this and someone would tell Connor that I came out of the motel with Kian.

             
Something very bad was about to happen and I was positive I wasn’t going to come out looking good.

             
Meanwhile, Dad had to deal with everything at once. One of the police officers got off his phone and came over.

             
“No idea what started it. Fresh tire tracks. Looks like arson."

             
“What does that mean, Jerry?” Dad asked.

             
“Well,” the sheriff pulled up the collar of his coat. “Looks like someone decided to have some stupid fun. Wasn't robbery. Your cash register hasn’t been touched and the safe in the back is fine. We’ll do a search and send out a few cars but they’re probably long gone.”

             
By the stiffness of Kian’s jaw line, I knew he didn’t believe that. No, there was more to this story and I decided that I’d do whatever it took to find out the truth. Whoever started this fire was going after my new friend.

             
"Where were you and your friends tonight?" Sheriff Stokes asked me.

             
I stiffened. "My friends wouldn't do something like this."

             
"You haven't done anything that might upset someone lately?"

             
"No."              

              Dad stepped in for my defence. "Mai's friends are decent, Sheriff. I've known most of them for years. They aren't troublemakers." He gave Kian a long look.

             
“You kids were over at the motel?" Sheriff Stokes asked. "You see anyone?”

             
“No, Sir,” Kian said. “We saw the smoke and came over.”

             
“That’s a long ways off. You must have mighty fine eyes to see it all from way over there.”

             
“I saw it too, Sheriff,” Thelma said, coming to our rescue. “And I was all the way in my room. I was further away than those kids. Even had the television on, watching the late show.”

             
Sheriff Stokes rubbed his hand over his neck. “Ok, Thelma. I believe
you
.”

             
Meanwhile, they finally managed to get the tow truck hooked up and we all watched as the car was slowly pulled from the building.

             
Dad stepped forward to examine the amount of damage and I followed behind out of curiosity. Inside, the office was a mess. So many things were destroyed. Everything else was soaking wet from the fire hoses. The computer had been knocked off the counter and it lay on the ground, the screen cracked and melted. All the paperwork I’d so carefully stacked was scattered across the floor, soaked and burned. Glass was everywhere and bits of charcoaled wood and plaster covered the tiled floors.

             
It was a mess.

             
“Be careful,” Dad said to me. “The whole ceiling could go.”

             
I went back out into the cold and waited with Kian until Dad finished up inside. He went over to talk to the sheriff for a bit.

             
“Do you think he’s buying it?” I whispered to Kian.

             
“I don’t know,” he said.

             
I hadn’t done anything so why did I feel so guilty? Part of me wanted to start confessing on the spot yet there wasn’t anything to say. Although it was killing me to keep something from Dad, I also had to agree with Kian. I had a great relationship with my father. I shared things with him that I knew my friends wouldn’t dare tell their own parents. I couldn’t think of the last time I’d ever deliberately been deceitful. But on the other hand it wouldn’t do any good to have him worrying. If he’d known that I’d almost been killed in that mess he’d probably never let me leave the house again. Not to mention that he’d probably rush me over to the hospital by ambulance just to make sure there was no internal bleeding or some silly thing when he found out I’d nosedived out of the way.

             
Then there would be questions about Kian. I knew there was something there but I wasn’t ready to let others know. If he had some sort of dark secret, I wanted to be the one to hear about it from his own mouth. There had to be some sort of reasonable explanation.

             
“Mai?” Dad approached us, holding some stuff he’d gathered from inside the building. “Where’s your backpack?”

             
I had to think about that for a second. “It’s at Thelma’s library,” I said. “I can go get it.”

             
“I’ll go,” Kian said and he was gone before I could even protest.

             
“You’ll be wanting this then,” Dad said. He pulled something out from the pile of debris on the floor and handed it to me. It was my Biology textbook, soggy and bloated.

             
I took it from him. I couldn’t think of anything to say. I decided the smartest thing to do was lie on the spot and try and not look as guilty as I felt.

             
“It was Algebra that I went back for,” I said. “Not Biology. I’m getting my books mixed up.” Did I have that textbook in my backpack? I wasn’t fully sure. What if Dad insisted on searching my bag when Kian returned?

             
But fortunately he didn’t.

             
“Where’s your car?” he asked.

             
“At home.”

             
“How did you get here then?”

             
My face flushed as the blood rushed over my cheeks. “Kian.”

             
“Get him to take you home,” Dad said. “And nothing else. When I get there, you’d better be in bed.”

             
“Ok,” I said.

             
“I’ll make sure she gets home, Sir” Kian said. “Come on, Mai.”

             
Kian’s car was where we’d left it. A thousand years had passed since I’d climbed out an hour earlier.

             
We drove in silence for the entire ride home. There wasn’t anything to say. Kian kept glancing in the rear view mirror as he drove. I watched behind us from the side mirror. No one followed us. Eventually he came to a stop outside my house. All the lights were on and I could see Marley wandering back and forth in the living room and talking on the phone. She glanced out the window, nodded when she saw me and resuming her pacing.

             
The car idled quietly.

             
“Are you a criminal?” I finally asked.

             
He smiled. “I’m not wanted by the police.”

             
“That’s not answering the question.”

             
“No, I’m not a criminal.”

             
“Then who were those people?”

             
“I don’t know.”

             
“Why were they after you?”

             
“I can’t tell you,” he said.

             
“Why not?”

             
Kian turned towards me and placed his hand on mine. “Look, Mai. I’ll tell you everything. I promise. But I can’t right now. Not until I’m sure.”

             
“Sure of what?”

             
“Not until I’m sure of what they’re after.”

             
I sighed. That didn’t sound very reassuring. “You’re sure you’re not a criminal. You’re not lying to me, are you?”

             
He shook his head and his eyes were warm and kind. “I wouldn’t lie to you. Not you. Not ever.”

             
And I believed him. I wanted to believe him because no one had ever looked at me so intently before. And his eyes were watery as if he was on the verge of crying. Suddenly he seemed so lost and afraid. There were too many emotions displayed on his face and I couldn’t stop those feelings from affecting me.

             
“I’d better go,” I said. I had to get out of there before I started crying myself. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class.”

             
He nodded and reached over, opening the door for me. As I walked around the car, he rolled down his window.

             
“I won’t let anyone hurt you, Mai,” he said. “I want you to believe me. Just promise me you'll be careful."

             
“I will and I do,” I said and I knew it was true.

             
I was exhausted when my alarm clock woke me. I wanted to go back to sleep. My blankets were too warm and cosy. I thought about feigning sickness but eventually forced myself out of bed and into the bathroom. Leaning against the walls of the shower, I almost dozed off on the spot, and once again in the kitchen while trying to eat a bowl of cereal. Marley finally noticed my lack of brain function and placed a cup of coffee in front of me.