Gravity, a young adult paranormal romance (15 page)

"What is that about?" Theo asked,
watching them as well. 

"I heard last night that they're" — I
swallowed the hard lump that formed in my throat —
"together."

Theo's bottom lip disappeared under
her teeth. Trying to think of something to say, perhaps. "Where did
you hear that bit of information?"

"I overheard some girls talking. I
definitely think they had their facts checked,
unfortunately."

She plucked at some lint on her
rainbow leggings. "Don't be too upset about it," she said gently.
"He's not that special. There are plenty of boys in this school who
are just as cute. And it could still be a mistake."

"Thanks," I said, picking my food to
pieces. But I didn't think anyone else like Henry really existed.
He was the only one of his kind, and true to what she'd said,
Lainey had snatched him up. I just wanted to stop thinking about
it, hoping the burning sensation in the pit of my stomach would go
away. "My parents and I went out to dinner last night, and I saw
Principal McPherson."

"You mean he eats like a normal
person?" Theo asked.

"Ha ha. Not just that. I followed him
and he had a meeting of some kind with these other men. They were
talking about something that I couldn't exactly understand. About
clearances and being clean."

A scheme had been hatching in the back
of my mind all morning. It appeared now as clear as day, a
predestined path I had no choice but to take.
  

"I knew there was something wrong with
him," Theo said, peeling the tomatoes off of her sandwich with her
thin fingers. "He creeps me out. No one should get that excited
about lunch menus."

"You like spying on people," I
observed. "You said you do it all the time."  

"Yes. I had a spy kit as a kid,
magnifying glass and all. Until my mom caught me peeping into other
people's windows. What are you getting at?"

"I want to make use of your talents,
let's say." I felt like I should be stroking my chin as I revealed
my nefarious scheme.   

"How so?" She looked very suspicious,
raising one eyebrow at me.  

"What if we were to follow McPherson's
moves, and see what he's up to," I suggested. I knew I sounded like
a paranoid nut. "Then we could figure out what was going on. For
all we know, it's just a role playing game or something, but it
could be more sinister."

She thought for a moment, then
shrugged. "Alright, I'm game. If McPherson's part of a drug
smuggling cartel, we could get on the news. So what, we just track
him between classes?"

That's exactly what we did. Between
History and English, I found him and stayed several yards behind. I
navigated around people getting to class, trying not to take my
eyes off of the back of his balding head. He didn't seem to do
anything unusual, stopping once to chat with some boys wearing
varsity jackets.

Then, before Art class, I watched him
go towards the back of the school. I followed him around the
corner.

"Hello, Ms. Donovan," McPherson said,
waiting for me on the other side.  

I let out a little shriek. His smiled
his lemon-toothed smile, hands clasped in front of him. I wondered
if he had been on to me the whole time, and realized with a start
that he probably had. Perhaps he wasn't as stupid as I had
assumed.

"Do you need help with anything?" he
asked in a syrupy voice. I knew he had me made, and so did he. He
never spoke that nicely to me.

"No," I said, shaking my head slowly
back and forth, my eyes widening as I stepped back.
 

"Then how about getting to class," he
suggested in the same sickeningly sweet tone. 

I turned and raced to Ms. Vore's room,
flying all the way into the seat next to Theo.

"What just happened?" Theo asked,
noting my agitated state. I tried to smooth down my frizzy hair,
wrapping it into a ponytail and securing it behind my head to try
to reduce the heat on my neck.  

"McPherson caught me following him," I
said, breathing hard. "I think he might have been aware of it all
along. Did you see anything"

"Not really," she said, opening her
sketchbook. "I even ran an errand during English for Mr. Boone, but
McPherson was just in his office, working on paperwork. The only
thing I saw was him telling Madison how "spiffy" her skirt looks,
but that's hardly news. Gross, but still, not news."

"Maybe he just keeps a really low
profile during school," I suggested. "I wanted to play girl
detective; maybe I just didn't get the method right."

"We were a little obvious," Theo
relented. "Do you think you're going to get in trouble?"

"I hope not," I said, the possibility
not even occurring to me before. "What could he really accuse me
of, though?"

"I'm sure you'll be fine," she said.
"Forget I said anything. If he was going to punish you he would
have done it already."     

Between the McPherson strangeness and
the drama with Henry, I was achingly glad when the bell rang and
the weekend arrived.

Chapter 11

On Tuesday of the next week, Henry
caught up to me in between classes. I hadn't spoken to him since I
heard about him asking Lainey out. I went back and forth from
feeling like an idiot to feeling betrayed. Either I was naïve or I
had been tricked. Or both.  

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he
asked. I didn't want to bring it up. I was still too hurt, and too
vulnerable. I kept my eyes forward, hoping he would get the
hint.  

"I've been busy," I said curtly.
 

"Are we still on for studying
tonight?" he asked. Lockers slammed around us, people chattering
loudly, so he'd turned up the volume. "I made sure to clear my
empty schedule for you."

I had completely forgotten we had
agreed to continue the tutoring sessions.  

"I don't know," I said, but then a
thought occurred to me. I had my first big Geometry test coming up
on Friday, and I could not flunk. "I mean, if Lainey says it's
alright." I muttered.

"If Lainey says..." he repeated,
frowning. "What does Lainey have to do with it?"

School was not the place to talk about
it. I squeezed my eyes shut, pushing my feelings deep
down.

"You know what? I need to be going," I
said. "Just meet up with me after class."

The last thing I needed was to get
upset and then have to sit in class and stew in it. I started
walking as quickly as my legs would carry me, away from him. My
daily sprint to school had given me more stamina.  

After school, Henry followed me
outside. This time it was much more awkward, with neither of us
speaking. For once, he couldn't think of a thing to say. He always
seemed like such a chatterbox in school. He didn't seem to be
trying to get me to talk anymore, either. Finally, when we turned
onto my street, he spoke.

"You're being distant with me again.
Did I do something wrong?"  

I looked at him, unsure of what to
say. He seemed wrought with confusion, as though he had no idea why
I would want to avoid him. I bent over and picked up a dry red leaf
on the sidewalk, twirling it by the stem.

"If I did, I'll apologize a hundred
times until you talk to me. I'm sorry," he said, walking around so
he blocked my path and I had to look at him. I tried to concentrate
on the space between his eyebrows. Looking into his eyes right now
seemed too intense. If I did that, he would know exactly how I felt
about him. I didn't even know that myself yet. 
 

"You didn't do anything to me," I
said. I held my breath for a moment. "I just wish you would have
told me you were dating Lainey." The words sounded all wrong, like
I was attempting a foreign tongue.   

His reaction surprised me. He stared
at me like I had grown another head, and then burst out laughing.
Doubling over at the waist and clutching his ribs, he couldn't stop
himself. I had no idea what he found so uproarious. Irritation
filled me.    

When he could finally breathe again,
he stood up. His face was flushed, the corners of his full mouth
turned up. Like he'd just been running around the block, or having
sex. I blushed and looked away, hating my brain for its automatic
thoughts. Why did he have to be so attractive?

"
What
?" he asked. Where did you hear
that Lainey and I were dating? Is that why you've been avoiding me
like the plague for days?"

"A bunch of people have been talking
about it in school," I said defensively, holding on to my elbows
with both hands for support. "It's common knowledge."

"It's not common knowledge
to
me,
" he
protested. He bowed his head, getting me to look straight into his
eyes.
"
I am not
dating Lainey," he said. "I don't know if she passed the rumor on
or what, but it's not happening. She is...vapid. And phony." He
stopped, appraising me for a moment.

"Why didn't you just ask me?" he asked
softly.

"I don't know," I offered. My eyes
kept shifting all over his face, not being able to take him in
properly. "It just seemed too good to be true that you would
actually want to be...my friend."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've
ever heard," he jeered. "I expected more from you."

I glared at him, the harsh sun getting
in my vision and making me blink, ruining the effect. "Why are you
expecting anything from me? And why should I know any
different?"

"Because I told you how things were,"
he argued, irritation flaring up on his usually agreeable features.
"I thought you would believe me."

"I did believe you," I said softly,
feeling defeated. "I just...thought I was wrong." I heard him scoff
gently beneath his breath.  

"I've told her that we're just
friends," he said emphatically, retrieving the leaf that was still
tucked between my fingers and spinning it with his own.
    

"Why are you always hanging out with
her?" I asked. "I see you together in the halls, you sit with her
in class...not that I'm paying attention." But of course, that's
exactly what I'd been doing. I could feel the heat rising on my
face, up to my forehead.

He shrugged, and we started walking on
our way again. The clouds were hanging low in the sky, as if it
might start raining. I wondered if we would make it.

"Because Lainey always
seems to be around," he said. "Our dads are old pals, so it's an
unfortunate requirement. But she drives me crazy." He snickered at
some private thought I wished I knew. "Every conversation is about
her clothes and her hair and
blah blah
blah
and my only allowed input are my
views on those things. I just do my part, nod and smile and it
keeps her off my back."

I tried to take in what he told me.
But for some reason it seemed like just words. I kept waiting for
him to admit to tricking me, my paranoid nature winning out my
thoughts.

"What is up with this, by
the way?" he asked, snagging an acrylic black and orange striped
spider off of the nearest mailbox. "It's like
A Nightmare Before Christmas
. I've
never seen so many people decorate for Halloween. Do they know it's
still September?"

He gestured to the huge blown up
snowglobe in front of us, where a cutesy grim reaper and his scythe
waited inside.

I shrugged, retrieving the spider and
plopping it back on the mailbox, the googly eyes wiggling at
me.

"That's just Hell. Everyone takes a
lot of pride in whatever heritage they think we have. This is
it."

We arrived at my house at the same
time the first drops of rain splattered the pavement. Hugh merely
smiled and said hi to Henry; no more questions for the moment. He
apparently was satisfied with his interrogation last
time.

We took our seats in on the couch in
the den again. It seemed strange to have him back next to me, when
I had assumed that since Lainey had snagged him I'd barely ever
talk to him again. It was hard to concentrate on the numbers and
shapes, but I forced myself to listen to the hypnotizing sound of
his voice. I tried to pretend he was someone, anyone
else.

By the time his dad came to pick him
up, I felt prepared for my test, at least not to fail. As he waved
goodbye to me, it finally sunk in that he and Lainey weren't
actually together. I sat down on the couch in the living room,
looking at the swirling green walls. I could almost imagine figures
moving between the whorls.  

If they weren't together, then why did
everyone think they were? And what did they think about Henry and
me?

October arrived, bringing the cold
with it. I wore my jacket on my walk in the mornings. That Hugh and
Claire still let me walk at all amazed me, since the other little
girl disappeared. Alyssa still hadn't been found, and I saw signs
stapled to electrical poles pop up next to the missing cat flyers
all over town. Jenna's face had been there a few short months ago.
Perhaps it was because she was so much younger; my parents didn't
seem to connect Alyssa to Jenna.