Deception (8 page)

“Perhaps it’s the audience I’m trying to acquire.  Ben’s not the one I’m trying to get my voice heard.”  His stare was intense.  I immobilized with eyeballs the size of saucers. 

“You know Grace I think you need a boyfriend.  You’re spending way too much time with Ian here.  He’s cramping your style.” 

I looked back up at Caylie letting anger take me now.  “Caylie, mind your own business.”

Her pointer dexter finger shot up.  “Wait for it.”  And she was gone holding the finger up in openmouthed pause mode.  Just like that. 

“Let’s get outta here.  Loverboy is long gone by now.”  Ian said in his serious tone allowing me to keep my dignity and acting like his recent norm.

I tilted my head and squinted my eyes with his last comment leaving me in serious mind jeopardy but ignored it too.   I remembered quickly what I wanted to hit him with being away from my parents decisively holding onto the other question about “the pact” between him and Kin for later.  “What happened tonight in the kitchen?”

He paused and grinned, “I held your hand and helped you rinse off.”

“Be serious, Ian.  My hand was cut.”  I held up my hand to show no sign of any injury.  “There is nothing there now.” I dared him in my mind a thousand times over to say something along the lines of my fantasy world since he verbalized that he held my hand.

He shrugged in the booth across from me, “It wasn’t that bad, so why worry.” 

The gangly tall, wispy-haired waitress took
that
opportunity to walk up.  “Burger okay?” she was staring at the half-eaten one.

“A little intense.”

She gave a confused look.  “Maybe I’ll try one for luck.  You seem to have a lot of it.”  She looked at Ian, averted her eyes to Ben who stood outside talking with others, and now made a point to glance at someone else I didn’t see. I let a nervous giggle seep out too loud and refused to look at Ian. 

We stood saying goodbye to friends when the busboy pushed Ian from the back.  “Excuse me!” he told Ian rather rudely turning his deep dark eyes in my direction.  It was Christian from school.  I could’ve have sworn Christian winked at Ian.  Being the second time to hear him speak, his voice seemed dark, deeper than before.  Deeper than I first thought.  The kind that belonged to boys you didn’t get involved with because they were bad news. Christian simply said, “Incoming.” 

Ian waved at the door towards hurrying us to the parking lot.  I glanced in time to see Kin coming our way with some guy being choked under his arm and ducking my head to ask about Christian at the same time, “Did that Christian guy from school say something to you?”

“No, why?” Another glance told me Kin had knocked the guy to the ground and shoved him aside. A boy from school who he taunted for the last year about doing his homework for Kin. A bully once, a bully always. The guy didn't know how to accept "no" from anyone.

“Nothing, I just noticed he winked at you. And since you are a guy, I considered it odd.”

“He owed me a favor,” he shrugged putting one hand in his Levis and one on my back. My back cinched feeling the heat of his hand through the thin shirt and jacket all the same. A look back gave me my answer. Christian was blocking Kin off.

“Was he paying you back?” I didn’t know they really knew each other. Guess they were both bike “dudes” as Caylie would put it, but wouldn’t have thought friends.

“He is and we are not.”

My confusion didn’t add up
. 
“Not what?”
And it sounded like he just answered my thoughts. The way his face perked, reacted said as much. The sound of his tone made me think. "Er...never mind."

“Out the door now!”  Ian was distracted once more watching the front door, inside the restaurant, and outside all at one time. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but he had it down to an art. Though never catching him doing the kind of magical mishaps I was prone to, he had a few unexplainable incidents himself. I had to remind myself that Ian was a dark and dangerous guy whether I knew him well or not. He had his secrets. But I was tired of safe. Tired of hiding. Tired of holding back. He knew my hangups and hasn't run yet. It was time he came clean with his own. I wanted the truth. “Did you have some type of sense of knowing when trouble is coming?”

He laughed. “If it were so, I’d have predicted you.” He didn’t explain even with my prodding.

I successfully avoided Kin who was currently blocked by Christian in the doorway and shouting explicit comments to me I didn't care to hear. Escaping him successfully multiple times in one day gave me a satisfaction worth noting. We headed back to my house and Ian said his good night right inside the door answering an eager Mrs. Starmen’s yell to remind him to be on time to pick me up for the Halloween party. He assured me “he wouldn’t miss this for anything” and thanked her for always being so kind. He also reassured her that I would be safe with him.  I felt more like he was saying goodbye than “thank you,” but I let them hug and walked him back to the door. No hugging repeated in my direction. Not that I was expecting it!

After finishing my homework and searching for sleep after his HOME text came through, my eyes barely resisted closing. My standard CU LTR returned and I resulted dreaming again since reality wasn't enough.

Halloween. My birthday was almost here. The party house was booming when we arrived. Bodies were everywhere.

“What are you?” someone asked at the door. We didn’t even know whose house it was.

After imagining saying something like, “
I’m the evil stepmother come to take you away to your slavery for the way you treat people!”
I really said,
“The grim reaper, at your service.”   Adjusting my pink lace cuffs and digging my nails into my palms, Ian stepped closer .  I glanced down nervously checking to be sure my sleeves were pulled tight.  The long flowing pink lace skirt was smooth and wasn’t ruffled up too far showing my black look-a-like leggings peeking out the edge.  I felt my necklace catch against the lace right above my tank.    Surveying her costume, I could see the problem.  She had on nearly the same, but with pink hair, more skin, and ugly shoes.

Laughter came from all directions.  Ian rescued me fittingly.  “She is more of a punk rock Cinderella.” 

“How cute,” another snotty girl said, “and she brought her hot freaky Prince.”  She looked Ian up and down.  The snotty “she devil” girl turned to Caylie, “And you?”  She looked her up and down too. 

“Your worst nightmare if you don’t let me inside to go to the restroom.  You are so whack!”  Caylie stepped in the house and pushed the girl aside. The girl turned to her friend while motioning to Ian and told her something about her wishes coming true with hot, dark and freaky. Caylie, my very good friend, turned in her tracks and simply said, “You are so SOL on that deal.  He’s already taken.”   She rolled her eyes at the girl, smiled at me and didn’t dare look back.   Ode to Caylie!  She is so brave
.
  I wondered why we were here with these jerks?  I was busy contemplating leaving and not facing Ian after a comment like that when I saw Pam was already here.

She was standing by the fireplace in the main living room.  Wow, she was with a boy.  Even more wow!  I sizzled up to her and raised my eyebrow in silent questioning, but obvious curiosity.  Pam took the bait.  A huge smiled played on her lips.  She rarely smiled.   

“David, this is Grace.  We are friends from school.”  She moved her hand back and forth between us.  Perhaps this could be a good thing for her.

Obviously, David wasn’t from our school or any high school.  Decked out in full black leather pants a little too tight for my taste, white t-shirt, and black leather jacket, he stood with an air of smugness and
lots
of ego.   And he didn’t have a costume unless he was auditioning for the screenplay of
Grease o
r some vampire wanna be.  So that led my mind to the obvious; that he was screaming every bit of way older than high school and Pam loved every minute of it. 

“Nice to meet you.”  And why was he really here?  With a high schooler?  I knew what most guys that age wanted from a high school girl.  Pam did too.

I turned to search for Caylie and Ian now wishing to return to my safety net.  With Caylie nowhere in sight and unable to find Ian or his scent anywhere caused panic for really no reason except my own selfish desires.  There I stood in the middle of the crowded room completely sandwiched by hormonal teenagers moving and swaying to the fast moving music that was playing through the whole house.  Making my way towards the entrance hallway that would lead to the rest of the house I moved one step, then another, and… Ian walked up in his decked out black Levis, doc martins, and the inescapable fitted green t-shirt in exchange for his black as an attempted costume.  And it was perfect.  Just perfect.  He looks that good.  Scrumptious!  This prince thing works for him though he didn’t really need a costume to be my prince. 

I closed my eyes to lose the thought.   When I opened them, he had the lopsided smile inches from my face.  I felt like my eyes might be crossing, he was so close.  A hand touched my elbow and shivers ran all up and down my arm.  He whispered, “Miss me?” 

I’ll never survive him long enough to be near him.  He was too tempting. So I shook my head and headed back to the fireplace where Pam and her man friend stood taking turns peeking back at Ian several times willing him to follow me.  His face looked suddenly every bit of in pain as I screamed in my head for him just tell the stinking truth then cringed along with him worried I had some kind of physic ability to hurt the people I love with my inner screams.  It was the second or third time it happened.

Leaning against the fireplace to let him be farther away so as to regain my common sense, he jumped away when his leg hit the fireplace screen.  I fell towards him, he caught me, and we both adjusted our legs to standing again after much commotion.  I realized then how close my leg came and wondered if he took the heat for me.

Pam was watching this with great attentiveness, but not at his injury.  Her face gave away what she really thought about the two of us but let it go and drew attention to Ian’s leg. Silent screams of how blatantly evident my infatuation for Ian was showing to others combined with his apparent need to be around me so much made nights like this unbearable.

There was
barely
a fire if at all.  At closer inspection, the logs were part of a gas-powered display, not actual fire.  Something was fishy.

“Are you okay?  Let me see your leg?”  I moved to sit down on the chair arm by us otherwise occupied by two girls who watched him with great interest.  “Fine!  Crowded!  Let’s move around to the sofa.”  Before I could think more on it, Ian was pulling me to leave. Guessing his leg wasn’t that injured, I followed suit.  

“See you later, Pam.  Nice to meet you, David.”  I trailed off my words being pulled through bodies crowded in every room, hallway, everywhere. Ian was acting suddenly very possessive, like a boyfriend kind of possessive.  Something strange, something life-altering was happening, I could just feel it.  I didn’t want to ask about his pull and yank moves in case I was just utterly dense.  I was taking Caylie’s advice.
  Scary!

Deep in confusion; I lost my footing on the carpeted steps leading out of the living room, stepped on his foot, flew forward, and landed against his chest.  “Sorry!” was all I said as he righted my balance.  For a second he stopped and just stared like he was going to speak, but didn’t.  When I pretended to look away not understanding the “you belong to me tug” he had on my costume shirt sleeve, but I wasn’t entirely complaining either, I asked, “Is your foot okay?”  That was all I could think of to say.

He smiled and nodded then herded us to the kitchen where we heard evidence of genuine laughter rising through the air.  Only
our
friends would still be sober.   I passed a couple of vampires, fairies, Zorro, and several masked unknowns on the way through the hallway.  Caylie, diva girl, had found a box of cheese crackers and chased behind us after she shared her intimate adventure kissing some stranger in the hallway.  It was obvious since her diva glittery lipstick was smeared everywhere.  This made the air very uncomfortable, but since this was a regularly thing with Caylie lately, it was a little less so. 

“Thank you!”  I told her.

“For what?”

“You know, at the door.”

“No prob!  You had it covered, Wonder Woman.  I just lit another match in the book of Grace.”   My life was
full
of lit matches that never amounted to anything but small flames and huge piles of rubble.

We all sat down around the little table crowded with twice as many people that should fit. I was practically in Ian’s lap so I shifted towards Caylie to put distance between us.  He noticed.  I turned my head slightly to glance at his reaction, but caught the last part of a smile I wasn’t sure who or what was intended for and listened as he launched into a tall tale of how cozy this little get together was in an obnoxiously chaotic sort of way.  All three of us laughed.  He’d saved me. Again!  
Yeah, saving me from myself.

Josie, the girl who couldn’t take no for an answer, walked up in none other than a Tinkerbell costume.  Very tightly fitted.  What grade are we in, kindergarten? I thought.  She definitely does not look like she is in kindergarten.

She walked right beside Ian, put her arm on his shoulder, and leaned down to whisper something super close to his face.  I tried to keep my body from going rigid, but this girl was too close to him. Unable to hide my reaction,, my death glare eased when Caylie cleared her throat.  Ian isn’t mine and  needed to cool it, it said. Josie was nice enough some of the time, but she wasn’t good enough for him. 

The room was too loud for me to hear her clearly.  Ian nodded, and the snake named Josie slid away.  Caylie was now jabbing her fingers into my thigh under the table.  I popped up with an “Oww!” and gave
her
the death glare. 

“Cool it!” she mouthed. 

I let Caylie off the hook with the small finger-sized bruises that I felt forming.  She was just being a good friend.  A good friend who was reminding others that best friends don’t act territorial! 
Harrumph!

I detested not knowing.  “What did Josie have to say?”  I tried to sound like I didn’t care.  Caylie’s face showed that it definitely wasn’t working.

No expression on his face gave any answers away.                “Nothing important!”

Harrumph!
  He hadn’t turned to look at me yet.  I was steaming.  My face scrunched up.  He chose that precise moment to turn and look at me. He laughed.  The fool laughed!

I looked away!  The jealous monster inside me screamed its fangs in a silent hiss.  He put his hand on mine under the table, squeezed, and let go. 

My traitorous heart fluttered amorously.  It was worse that he knew and never said anything about it.  I was so easy to read. It may have started as a crush in junior high, but somewhere along the way it grew.   For six years!  He wasn’t blind, he was heartless.   I tried so hard to hide it. 

Caylie was my rescuer this time.  She asked the whole table including the couple who, joined us, “Name your worst Halloween?”

Everyone jumped in then and starting talking at once, except for me and Ian.  I let them take turns talking back and forth purposefully not veering his direction.  I reached for the creamed puff snacks on the table in front of me and consoled my ailing heart with food.  Soon, my mind was into the story Caylie was telling about the Pumpkinhead that jumped out and grabbed her in the street when she was ten.  She had just told the part where Kin had pulled the real hollowed out pumpkin off his head when Ian stiffened his posture against me.  I unconsciously started looking for Kin even though I felt my usual abnormal detections that sent me alerts when he was near.  I could read Ian’s signals too.

The rest were laughing, eating, and telling scary stories about their Halloween dress ups of the past when Kin and the new guy walked through the back door.  The entire room went extremely quiet, as always when Kin walked into a room.  Ian’s hand shot up to shield my face from seeing him or so I thought.  It is not like he has laser beams shooting from his eye so I reached to move his hand and Ian laid it across the table in front of me.

Just then, Ian yanked me from my seat and we were headed for the hall.

My skirt caught on the doorframe in the hallway and ripped into quick, not sewn very well, shreds.  Ian wasn’t stopping.  All of the sudden, I was in a mini skirt and tights that were torn at the knee and a small cut was screaming like a bee sting on my leg.  I heard Caylie yelling behind me restate  her earlier assessment about my Ian radar being unhealthy.

“Oww!” I dug my heels in warring to stop his half run.  “What is wrong?  Why are you afraid of him?”

“I’m not,” he growled, “but I need air.  We are going outside for a minute,” he said as his eyes darted around still holding on, visibly shaken.

I shot an apologetic look at Caylie and heard someone at the table say to Caylie as I zoomed away, “She ever gonna see past the Ian radar?”  Caylie said something back about my radar and I missed everything but the Dear Abby part.   “A spade is a spade.  Diamond’s a diamond.  Well, that’s Grace.  But me on the other hand, am easily charmed if it’s a chiseled, uncut make my mouth water piece of karat that says—“

“Oh shut up, Caylie,” a disembodied voice shouted an inch from my face.  That was the last thing I heard as I was whisked back through the hall door into the room we first started out in.  Disentangled from The doorjamb grip I held, Ian and I were flying alone.

Pam was still at the fireplace, but her man-friend was heading towards us.  Pam wasn’t happy with his parting. Wondering where he was headed since his glare was on me, I gasped as Ian jerked around.  He looked straight at the Grease vampire dude who looked scarier than Dracula himself and I screamed in my head for Ian to move faster without a real reason why.

“I am worried about you, Ian.”  I said worried he’d rubbed off on me.  “Will you please tell me what is going on with you?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”  He grunted as he walked, not looking at me but straining my wrist to keep me going.

”Yes.”  Mad, but my anxious eyes said otherwise and I was sure he could hear it in my voice.  He could read most everything else about me lately.  His face and the sound of his voice sent vibes of
possible dangers ahead
.  A queasy feeling settled in my stomach.