“Yeah.” She acted like a refugee, except she’d crossed centuries instead of continents. Everything was different for her. I was trying to understand, but it was getting old fast. “How can I help?”
“I need your patience.”
“You have it.” She really did, but forgive me for wanting my girlfriend on my arm. She was hot and amazing, and I wanted to show her off. “Any ideas when you’ll be ready?”
“No, but you shall be the first to know.”
Wow. Smackdown. “Fine. Just don’t mind me enjoying life without you while I wait.”
There was a stunned silence at the other end of the phone.
She wasn’t any more stunned than I. “Susanna, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”
“It would sadden me if you gave up your friends for my sake. That isn’t what I want,” she said, a faint quiver in her tone. “Do as you wish. I trust you.”
“You can trust me. I’m totally yours.” This was where I should be noble and skip the game, but did I want to get into that habit? I shouldn’t have to sacrifice hanging out with friends during my final year of high school while she adapted. Hiding away with her was taking its toll. “Maybe we could arrive late, after things have settled down.”
“Mark, please go. Without me.”
Okay, we’d said enough. “I’ll call you when I get home.”
“When will that be?”
“Ten o’clock. Maybe a little later.”
“I shall have the phone in the bedroom. Mark, have you forgotten about tomorrow?”
Damn. She couldn’t enjoy the twenty-first century with me, but I had to relive the eighteenth century with her? “I won’t forget. I’ll pick you up after my training ride. Nine o’clock max.”
After we hung up, I frowned at the clock. It was too early to leave for the game. I had an idea about what to do with the extra time. I ran up to my room and booted up the laptop. At the meeting with Heather Cox two days ago, she’d thrown out a phrase I hadn’t noticed in all of my early investigations into delayed birth certificates.
Short of a court order…
That implied judges. I needed to research what that meant.
It didn’t take long to discover that judges could order the Department of Vital Records to create birth records, but that route required a couple of things we didn’t have—decent evidence and a sympathetic judge.
Slumping back on my bed, I wondered how I might get them anyway. We had zero documents, but that didn’t have to be a hindrance. Since the government wouldn’t believe valid evidence if we produced it, I didn’t have any qualms about producing fake evidence that they could believe. Susanna was the weak link there. She might balk, which meant it would have to stay a secret for a while.
The bigger issue was finding a sympathetic judge. I knew exactly one judge, and she was the complete opposite of sympathetic. Her son, a classmate who’d paid big for bullying me in middle school, went to Neuse Academy. Judge Nelson—and any judge who knew her—would be out of the question.
Neither of these problems, though, would stop me from pursuing the court order option. There had to be a way to make it work, and I was going to find it.
* * *
Tonight, Neuse Academy was playing Wake Day School. I expected us to win easily.
I rode over, locked my mountain bike, and strolled in. The game had already started and, since we were the visiting team, Neuse students had been relegated to the cheap seats. Fortunately, that made it easier to spot Gabrielle, Jesse, and Benita. The fact that Benita wore lime-green fingerless gloves didn’t hurt either. The bodyguard was behind them, shades on, lips straight. Nobody sat anywhere near him.
A few rows down from them were Alexis McChord, Carlton May, and the rest of our old crowd. Last year, before Alexis broke up with me, I would’ve been sitting right in the middle. It was strange to admit it, but I didn’t regret losing any of them—except Carlton.
My gaze slid back to Gabrielle. She hadn’t been at Neuse for long, but she’d already started hanging out with three of the school’s biggest misfits. Jesse was a scholarship kid and so smart that he’d been a loner for most of his time here. Benita had always seemed more interested in her cello than people. And me? Well, nobody considered my friendship worth risking Alexis’s wrath.
I wasn’t sure why Gabrielle had included me, but I was glad she had.
As I sat down beside her, she gave me a shoulder hug and immediately became engrossed in the play on the field. Yeah, just the way football ought to be enjoyed.
After the game, I hung back a few minutes with Jesse and Benita as the bodyguard murmured instructions to Gabrielle. Once he gave her the nod, we walked to the parking lot, where the SUV sat humming at the curb. Benita and Jesse crawled in first.
Gabrielle touched my arm. “Want to meet us at Goodberry’s for ice cream?”
“It’ll take me about fifteen minutes to get there.”
“You rode your bike?” At my nod, she said, “The SUV can handle it. Throw it in and ride with us.”
A quick glance at my watch showed that I still had an hour before I needed to call Susanna. “Okay.”
We took our ice cream to Gabrielle’s house, which actually belonged to her aunt. There was a movie theater in the basement, with a dozen amazingly comfortable seats, the best sound system I’d ever heard, and a concession stand (except we didn’t have to pay). We finished our ice cream while watching outtakes from Gabrielle’s latest movie release. It was almost midnight before her driver took us home. We dropped off Benita, then Jesse.
Honestly, Jesse’s home shocked me. It was located in a row of townhouses at the center of a mildly scary neighborhood.
As we headed toward my house, Gabrielle said, “Where he lives is just another thing for Benita’s parents to hate about him.”
“What are the other reasons?”
“They think they have plenty. Benita is a nationally known cello prodigy, and Jesse’s black, short, and poor.” Gabrielle bit her lip. “Really poor. Neuse Academy puts extra money in his scholarship to cover his clothes so that he doesn’t embarrass himself.”
“How do you know this stuff?”
“Everything in my life is carefully choreographed.” She gave a tiny shrug. “My aunt had all of you investigated.”
Damn. “By who? The school?”
“The school couldn’t tell us much. Privacy concerns. They cooperated as far as ethics permitted.” She smiled. “They did, however, suggest you for my lab partner.”
This information was vaguely creepy. Why was she telling me? I could’ve spent the entire semester being oblivious, and it would’ve been fine.
At some level, though, I could understand her caution. Even at a school filled with the children of the rich and locally famous, Gabrielle would stand out. “Okay,” I said, staring at the back of the seats in front of us—just like she was. “Why did I get the job?”
“I asked for a person who was good at something outside of school. The person had to have a photo release on file, and—”
“Why a photo release?”
“When Gabrielle Stone takes AP Physics at a ‘normal’ high school, it’s guaranteed that she and her lab partner will be photographed.” She blew out a resigned sigh. “And most importantly, if my lab partner was a guy, he had to be unlikely to hit on me. I’m taken.”
I was too, but I wasn’t the kind of guy who would’ve hit on her anyway.
The driver pulled to a stop at the curb in front of my house. I released the seatbelt and turned to face her. “Did our personalities matter?”
She smiled but didn’t meet my gaze. “Naturally, but I had to figure that part out by myself.”
“Not entirely. We have to decide too.”
She frowned at me. “Decide what?”
“If
we
want to hang out with
you
.” I slid out of the car and went around to the back for my bike.
She leaned out the window. “Why wouldn’t you?”
“Not everybody wants to have their friendships choreographed.” I set my bike on the driveway. “Thanks. This was fun.”
The window rolled up, but not before I’d seen Gabrielle’s eyes narrow in surprise.
As the SUV slipped away into the night, I entered the side door of the garage. There were no lights on at my house. I tiptoed up the back stairs, heading to my room.
As I passed the landing beside the studio apartment, it hit me. I’d forgotten to call Susanna.
* * *
My brain became aware of a muffled sound. Someone jogged past my bedroom, their feet thudding on the carpet.
My eyes snapped open. The room wasn’t the pitch dark of early morning. A thin line of sunlight edged the bottom of the door.
I checked the clock. Crap. Had I really slept until nine? I rolled to my stomach and buried my head in the pillow. This screwed up my whole day.
Feet thudded down the hall again, this time slowing as they neared my room.
“I’m up,” I called.
The door opened with a sucking sound. “Are you sick, Mark?”
“No.” I shifted my head to see my mother better. “I overslept.”
“Oh.” She frowned. “You were out late last night.”
“Yeah. I went to the game with some friends from school.”
“Did Susanna go?”
“She stayed at the lake house.” I sat up in bed and rubbed my face. “I’m heading out there now. We have a date.”
“Doing what?”
“Visiting some historical site downtown.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Will she be here tonight?”
“I think so.”
“Good. I’m going to do stir fry, but I’ll get chicken for her.”
“You don’t have to treat her special, Mom.”
“I do too. She’s our guest.”
* * *
I drove to the lake house without calling. I figured it would be better to see in person how Susanna reacted to my screw-ups.
When I parked in the driveway, my grandfather was sitting on the deck, drinking coffee and reading a paperback. He didn’t look up as I approached.
“Granddad?”
He grunted.
“Something wrong?”
“I don’t know, Mark. Is there?” He sounded pissed.
“Where’s Susanna?”
“Maybe you should’ve called last night to find out.”
This wasn’t his business. “I got back from the game too late to call. Is she here?”
“Well, of course she is. Where else would she be?” He gave me a hard stare and then returned to his book.
When I entered the house, I found my grandmother in the kitchen, putting dishes away.
“Hey.”
She scowled at me and then called out, “Susanna, he’s here.”
“I’ll be down in a moment.”
I looked up at the soft tread of her feet on the staircase and stared. Something was different about her.
It wasn’t until she started walking toward me that I got it. She wore a form-fitting shirt, daring for Susanna. It was red, with a V-neck and no buttons. She was showing some skin and curves, plus it was the first time I could remember seeing her in a nice color. “You look great.”
“Thank you.” Her hands brushed at her exposed collarbone. “It will take time to grow accustomed to being without a scarf.”
“I’m glad you gave it a try.” I stood there admiring her, incredibly happy that she’d given something new a shot.
“Mark,” Gran said. “Don’t you need to leave?”
I nodded toward the door. “Oh, right. Let’s go.”
We walked out to the truck holding hands. I helped her in and then ran to my side.
She didn’t say anything until I was on the highway.
“Why didn’t you call?”
She didn’t avoid the problem. I could appreciate that. “I didn’t get in until midnight.”
“I was awake.”
That surprised me. Staying up late was obviously something she’d adapted to quickly. “If it happens again, I’ll call.”
“Do you anticipate that you’ll stay out until midnight often?”
I couldn’t tell if she were angry or not. “I don’t know, Susanna. Maybe.”
“Very well.” She turned her head to look out the side window.
“Are you upset?”
“No.”
How could she sound this neutral when I knew she couldn’t be? “I wasn’t alone.”
“I didn’t imagine you were. You said you would be with friends.”
She didn’t ask anything about them. Why not?
As I exited the highway, I glanced toward her. All I could see was her hair braided neatly down her back. “Would you like to meet them sometime?”
“Indeed, I would.” Her head whipped around. “Are you sure you want them to meet me?”
C
HAPTER
S
EVEN
B
LOTS
OF
I
NK
Mark’s fist banged the steering wheel. “Dammit, Susanna. What kind of question is that?”
This conversation made me weary. I’d been eager to hear from him. As the hours ticked by and the phone remained silent, I had put my book aside and watched the night sky through the window in my room. I didn’t resent his evening away from me. I wasn’t upset that he had friends.
But he hadn’t called as he promised, and he hadn’t apologized. Instead, he made me raise the subject. Why was this true? If this were merely an innocent mistake, why was it hard to discuss?
I gestured at the traffic light, which had changed to the color of green. “We can go now.”
He muttered something unintelligible as the truck lurched forward. We were soon racing toward the downtown of Raleigh, with its man-made mountains of concrete and steel. I closed my eyes against the sight and rested my head against the seat back.
Moments later, we pulled to a stop near the Etons’ house. It had been grand in my century, yet it seemed far less so when compared to modern homes.
Mark helped me from the truck but didn’t release me at once. Instead, he kept his hands at my waist, his face grave.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve called.”
I nodded. He should have. “It is past us now.”
“No, it’s not.” He pressed his lips to my temple and then sighed, his breath tickling my hair. “I had a good time, but I should’ve called you.”
“You have apologized. It is enough.”
“I don’t know if it is. We have to find things we can enjoy together.”
I gestured toward the Etons’ house. “Today is a start.”
We crossed the street and stood on the sidewalk. I had never been inside the house. Two centuries ago, I would’ve been invited in only as a servant. Today, I would enter by choice. A sweet excitement gripped me.