Destine (The Watcher's Trilogy) (7 page)

Gabriel
smirked and raised his eyebrows
.
“Where has this friend of yours gotten
to
?
I must know which young man has so captivated her attention
to force her to commit such a condemnable offense
.”

I pointed behind him to the front of the cafeteria
.
“She’s over there
.
She’s the blond
e
with the pink highlights and the ridiculously short skirt
.
The guy is next to her, the one with the blond
e
hair,
tan, and perfect smile
.
Cute, I guess
,
if you’re into that type of thing
.
Cami
certainly seems infatuated
.” I didn’t even try to hide the bitterness in my voice
.

He glanced behind him and I watched his expression change
.
His face hardened and darkened, he looked angry, and then as quick as it was there it was gone, washed away. He glanced back in my direction
, his face free of tension.
“Are you into that type of thing?”

For a split second my head was full of nothing but whit
e noise, and all I could think wa
s
, “
No.
I’m into dark hair, light eyes, and pale skin
.
T
hat’s my type
.
”
B
ut thankfully what I said was, “Not hardly!”

“Good, me
n
either,” he teased
.
“You won
’
t have to worry about losing a second lunch partner to the likes of him.
”

I didn’t want to misread what he just sa
id, but was he promising to eat
lunch with me every
day
?
I was taken aback by
his sudden friendliness
.
The rest of my classmates had no troub
le at all ignoring my existence
and suddenly the new kid
, who had spoken to no one
as far as I could tell, was asking to sit with
me!
I decided not to question his decision, since I really did want the company
.
Instead I a
sked, “So was that your family’s
moving truck I saw last Wednesday, on Spruce
Street
?
”

“Indeed, it was,
”
h
e replied
.
“My f
ather and I moved here from Springdale
, Utah.”

“Wow, Utah!
I’ve
n
ever met anyone from Utah
.
What’s it like?” I wondered aloud.

“Well,
i
t’s
right outside Zion National Park and it
’
s
absolutely beautiful
.
The landscape is breath
taking.
”

“I hate to disappoint you, but the only scenery we have in New Jersey a
re strip malls and gas stations,
”
I joked
.

“I do miss home, but your little town has some charm of its own
.
Do not so quickly
disregard
that which make
s
Shady Lane unique.
”

I thought about what could make Shady Lane unique
.
The fact that the local beauty salon dyed the hair of all the local grandma’s almost the exact same shade of blue, or maybe
the local male population
’
s affection towards large pick-up trucks without mufflers
.
I didn’t
see what he could possibly
mean, but I was enjoying the company and I didn’t want it to end, so I didn’t argue
.

I smiled at him and finished my milk
.
“So have you heard the rumors swirling around school about you?
You are the very mysterious new boy, and everyone seems to think you have a troubled past.
”
I had meant it as a joke, but he suddenly looke
d
serious.

“That is a story for another day
, because t
he bell is about to ring
.
Would you like me t
o walk you to our next class?” h
e asked.

I hoped I hadn’t offended him
.
I never in a million years thought that any of the silly rumors were true, but his sudden turn to the serious seemed to suggest otherwise
.
Oh well, if he was truly angry I doubted he would ask to walk me to British Lit
.
Again I smiled at him, and stood to throw my milk carton away
.
“I wo
uld love the company,
”
I replied as the bell ra
ng
.

We were jostled and bumped along with the rest of the seniors on our way out of the
cafeteria
. W
e
walked side-by-side through the halls in silence
.
I was ra
c
king my brain to think of something to talk about, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of anything
.
I did notice some
sideward
glances in our direction
.
I guess the new boy
’
s interest in my company was as shocking to everyone else as it was to me
.
I
ignored them
. A
s we entered Mr. Brown’s class I was suddenly glad that I had been
t
o
o
distracted by my problems with Cami to change my seat
.
I slid
into my front row chair and Gabriel sat down behind me
.
I smiled at him as a thank-you for walking me to class, but I still couldn’t think of anything to say, so I spun around in my seat and faced the board
.
I suddenly had that creeping sensation again, goose bumps raised on my arms
.
It was as if his body gave off energy or a force field that my body could se
nse without him touching me
.
It
wasn’t
physically
uncomfortable, but it was strange
.

I felt him run his fingers through my hair
.
I had only pulled the top of my hair up today, and the lower half hung down, loose around my shoulders
.
I immediately stiffened under his touch
.
He must have felt my tension because he leaned forward and whispered in my ear
,
“You had something in your hair.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as I turned around to see what he had pulled from my hair
.
To my horror it was potting clay
.
It must have been there the whole time
.
I felt my cheeks redden as I thought about him sitting through our conversation at lunch staring at a hunk of potting clay in my hair
.
Why hadn’t I thought to check my hair before I left class
?
I was mortified
.

I spun back around in my chair, attempting to focus on Mr. Brown’s lesson on the
Canterbury Tales
.
My own sense of humiliation helped me focus on taking notes, rather than the boy beh
ind me
.
When the bell rang, I
grabbed my bag and hurried out the door
.
I couldn’t look Gabriel in the face
because
I was still too embarrassed
.

Gym class today con
sisted of a mile run around the
school track
.
I had pulled my hair up into a bun as soon as I left English class
,
and n
ow I was thankful I had
.
Even if I hadn’t been mortified that
I had a hunk of potting clay in my hair, my hair would
definitely
have been a disaster after the run
.
After gym, I went to study hall
.
Cami had been absent from study hall on Thursday
; h
er and Alex had met in the library to work on campaign posters
.
Today as I entered the classroom, I was not surprised to see she was missing again
.

“
Gee
sh
, you might think they were running for Congressional
seats, not just student council,
” I remarked to myself
.
I sat in the back and spent the rest of the period half-heartedly working on my science homework
.
I bet Cami and Alex would be at the football game tonight
.
Cami and I never went to the football games
.
We had not been the school spirited type, but I guess that had changed
.

When the dismissal bell rang I slowly walked my way down to my locker and took my time collecting my things for the weekend
.
I was in no rush, and unlike my peers
,
I had no place to be tonight
.
When I finally had all but emptied my locker of every book I hefted my heavy load on
to my shoulder and made my way to
the front doors
.
As I stepped down the
stairs I caught a glimpse of a pearl white Escalade pulling out of the student parking lot onto Elm
.
Cami
was
riding in the passenger’s seat
,
happily smiling at the driver. F
rom this distance all I could see was his pale blond
e
hair, but I knew it was Alex
.

“
Better th
an a wood paneled station wagon
,
” I thought
.

I turned and started my walk home
.
No small feat with my weighted down book bag
.
When I arrived home, I was greeted as usual
.
Dad was still at work and Mom was sitting on the couch watching something on TV
.
When I walked past she glanced up at me,
and there was a moment when I thought she actually saw me, then she spoke
.

“The time is near
.
Ready yourself
.
Be careful who you trust!
”
s
he all but shouted at me
.

Great, it was either another one of her paranoid delusions or a quote from some ridiculous movie she had watched this afternoon
.
I nodded at her and she turned her attention back to the TV
.
I took that opportunity to disappear into my bedroom
.

Around 6 o’clock I had enough of homework, and simply couldn’t focus on it any longer
.
I closed my books and leaned back on my bed
.
Dad wouldn’t be home for another two hours and if I cooked dinner now it would be cold by time he got home
.
I was just about to go to my bookshelf to look for
a book
to read when I heard
something
.
It was a faint ping
ing noise
.
What was that
?
I checked my cell phone,
but
that wasn’t it
.
I opened my bedroom door and listened down the hallway
.
The television was still blaring and I didn’t hear Mom moving around
.
Then I heard it again
.
I spun around and looked at my window
.
Had something hit the glass
?
I walked over and glanced out
.
Standing the
r
e,
along side Mr. Wright’s fence
,
was the outline of a person
.
I opened the window and leaned out
, craning
my neck to get a better look
, when
the person stepped forward out of the shadow of the fence
.
I was looking directly into the clearest blue eyes I had ever seen.