Ice (27 page)

“So you guys chat often?”

“Practically every night.”

Marcus looked thoughtful and nodded. “Hm…”

I felt worried then because I couldn’t interpret what “Hm” might mean. I wanted to ask why he acted so weird about Charlotte and me keeping in touch, but I was too scared to ask. I quickly looked away, making a note about the history of Alaska in my notebook, and pretended I didn’t notice.

There was an odd silence hanging between us after that, so I looked at my watch. I still had fifteen minutes before Justin would pick me
up, but I darted up from the floor anyway and said, “Wow! Justin will be here any minute! I better get my things together.”

Marcus looked stunned as I hurriedly shut my books and shoved them into my backpack. “Really…? It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long.”

“Apparently it has,” I said as I started slipping on my coat.

He looked at his watch. “I have a couple minutes after six…don’t you guys have dinner at six-thirty?” he asked, puzzled.

I zipped up my coat anyway. “Justin’s always really early.”

Marcus still looked confused. I felt a little bad, but I couldn’t stand the silence anymore. It was especially awkward for me since things had been going so well earlier. I didn’t want to ask what was wrong, because I was scared it was linked to the old e-mail I had accidentally sent him.

“Well, uh…I guess this is goodbye then.” He stood up and walked up to me. I had slipped on my gloves and had my backpack over my shoulder, ready to walk out the door. He placed a hand gently on my shoulder and I couldn’t help but stare at it like it was a hideous spider ready to bite me any second. At the same time, I was startled by how gentle he was being. I had never been in that kind of situation with Marcus before. It was uncharted territory that I wasn’t sure made me feel strange, or excited.

“I really enjoyed tonight,” he said with a crooked smile.

Once again I was struck by how attractive Marcus was, but it didn’t make my heart pound like it used to. Was I just more mature now, or did I no longer feel the same way? I was still so confused. I mentally told myself not to blow it, though, because this is what I had dreamed about for so long.

“Me, too,” I said, making myself smile in what I hoped was a sweet way. I had no idea if I succeeded or not, because it had been ages since I had tried to smile sweetly for someone.

His hand lingered on my shoulder for a moment, and then he leaned towards me. I felt myself stiffen in panic, terrified that he might be about to kiss me. For the first time in months my heart started pounding in his presence, but I wasn’t sure if it was for the right reasons. Then he wrapped his arms around me in a hug, avoiding placing his lips on mine. It was brief; he pulled away a second later. I was left blinking, feeling a bit confused, but also a little relieved. Even if I were sure I was in love with him, it seemed a bit soon for a kiss. “Goodnight, Christine.”

“Uh, Goodnight,” I said a bit flustered, but
I tried to appear cool and collected by casually moving some hair behind my ear. I headed for the door at a pace that was a bit faster than normal. I tried to slow it down on the steps since there wasn’t a railing, but couldn’t for some reason. It was like my body was charged with adrenaline. I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I tromped past the kitchen and the cook, a red haired twenty-something guy with a stained apron smiled at me and nodded in greeting. I waved in the two seconds of vision I had of him before my body carried me into the sitting area. Margaret was at the register again, this time with a customer. She was putting cash in the register. “Have a nice night, Honey,” she called out to me.

“You, too, Margaret. Thanks again for helping Marcus out.”

“Not a problem, Sweetie,” she said as she counted dollar bills for the customer.

I was about to fly out the door and wait for Justin out of sight from the diner when the door opened. The next thing I knew the bell was jingling and Kavick was standing in the doorway in front of me. We just stared at each other for a moment in a stunned kind of way. He looked just as surprised to see me as I was him. I finally got a hold of my senses and apologized, stepping aside.

“It was my fault,” Kavick awkwardly replied, stepping beside me instead of going up to the register to wait to be seated. It was nearly packed now that it was dinner time.

“No, I was spacing out,” I said, slapping my forehead in the process. I felt stupid for acting so strangely about the way Marcus had been with me. It was just a little touch and a hug. I wasn’t sure exactly what effect it had on me, but it definitely affected me. I glanced around the entire diner, looking anywhere but at Kavick. “Am I supposed to pretend not to know you?” I whispered, barely moving my mouth.

“The hunters know you helped bust me out of the Factory, so I think it’s useless to keep pretending,”
he replied in an equally low whisper.

We put the act away then and finally looked at each other again. Standing so close to him reminded me again how tall he was. I had to look up to make eye contact with those pretty blue eyes of his. “So…this isn’t a coincidence, is it? You heard about Marcus staying here from last night, didn’t you?”

I smiled, pleased that I would get to spend some time with Kavick that didn’t involve us whispering in my room at night. I also liked that he wanted to spend time with me despite the funny way he had abruptly left the night before. It made me feel safer about our friendship despite the strange way he had been acting recently.

He looked a little awkward and said, “Actually, it is. I didn’t hear anything about Marcus and the diner. Did you guys have a date here?”

I could see the innocence and confusion in his eyes. It really was a coincidence. My good mood instantly took a dip and old insecurities came rushing back.

“Nope,” I said in a low voice, looking around to make sure nobody overheard the word “date” linked with Marcus and me. “Still haven’t talked about you-know-what with him. Marcus is staying in the room upstairs and will be working here.”

“Oh,” Kavick said in an even manner that didn’t reveal any like or dislike. “Sounds like he’s planning on staying a while.”

I rolled my eyes. “You can say ‘I told you so.’”

“Told you so,” he said without wasting any time.

I just smiled, finding it
amusing, and then moved on to my next question. “So what brings you here? Are
you
here on a date?” I raised an eyebrow quizzically and nudged his side with my elbow.

He sighed. I realized there was a pattern to his sighs lately; it was whenever the situation with Anana was brought up. Of course, who else would he be dating? I mentally scolded myself for my folly. That was classic Christine, always saying the wrong things.

“I’m here to see Jonathan O’Connell, actually. He’s the cook.”

I remembered him mentioning before that Jonathan worked here; I had never seen him before, though. Before I could comment on that, Margaret stepped away from the register and said, “Can I get you kids a seat?”

I felt myself blush because I had drawn attention to Kavick and me. For some odd reason I thought we wouldn’t be noticed, since we were standing against the wall near the door. It was a little awkward not being secretive for once. I quickly spoke up, looking around Kavick at her. “Oh, I was just waiting for my uncle.” 

I looked bac
k up at him sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up.”

“Oh, no,” he said
quickly. His polite attitude reminded me of Justin. I never met people that nice in California, so it still amazed me at times. “Sit with me while you wait. I’ll get a seat by the window so you can see when your uncle drives up.”

“I think I’ll take you up on that,” I smiled.

Kavick turned back around to face Margaret and said, “Can we get the table right over there?” He pointed to the nearest booth next to the big window.

“Of course, Honey. Let me clean it off for you first.”

We followed her over to the booth, and even though there weren’t any dirty dishes or crumbs that I could see, she wiped it over with a rag. “There you go, kids. What can I get for you two?”

She pulled out her memo pad and pen from the pouch around her waist, ready to write. Kavick sat down and laid his gloves on the table
. “Coffee, please.”

“That’s all you ever order,” she declared, furrowing h
er eyebrows. “Do you ever eat, Boy? Come to think of it, you are awfully thin.” She took a step back and looked him over.

Kavick chuckled like this wasn’t anything new to him. “I’m just here to see Jonathan again.”

“That could be a while, Hun,” she said as she wrote down his order. “You can probably see that Johnny will be busy for a while.”

“I don’t mind. I’ve got someone to keep me company,” he said, giving me a smile. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I’ll be leaving soon for dinner, so I really shouldn’t order anything,” I said as I folded my arms on the table.

“Okay, one coffee it is. I’ll have it right out for you, Kevin.” Margaret walked back over to the register to greet a customer that had just walked in. I looked over my shoulder to make sure it wasn’t Justin. It was just a police officer who appeared to be a regular since she greeted him as “Officer Conner”. I remembered seeing him on TV when the local news covered the Factory fire.

“You weren’t going to wait outside, were you?” Kavick asked, looking a little concerned.

“It was only going to be for about fifteen minutes,” I reasoned, but I still knew it was a stupid idea.

“Fifteen minutes is long enough to get hypothermia.”

I leaned back from the table and patted my puffy coat. “I think I’m padded enough to stave off hypothermia that long. I feel like I weigh an extra twenty pounds in this thing.”

He grinned and said, “Just promise me you’ll wait inside for your uncle from now on, okay?”

I gave an exaggerated sigh and said,
“Okay, Dad.”

I think he nearly laughed that time, so I was happy my lame joke had lifted his spirits a little. I felt like I had to make him forget all about Anana and the other Wolf-People that were causing him so much stress lately.

“Sure you don’t want a cup of coffee to warm you up?”

I shook my head. “I’m fine, thanks. I feel like I’m about to suffocate in this coat.”

“I know what you mean.” Kavick gave me a full chuckle then, unzipping his own puffy coat (no bear fur that day). He was wearing the white sweater I remembered him wearing the first night we snuck out to see the Northern Lights together. I guess I was staring at his sweater, because he tugged at it in a self-conscious way. “Is there something on my shirt?” He looked down at it curiously, trying to find fault with it.

“Oh, no, no,” I said, feeling myself blush again. “Sorry. I just remembered that was the same sweater you wore the night you took me to the
Magic Place.”

A big grin spread across his face and I realized I had actually referred to the spot by the name I had secretly dubbed it in my head. I felt my eyes widen, but I quickly regained my composure, trying to act like I hadn’t slipped up.

“The Magic Place, huh?” he asked, the grin never leaving his face. There was a look in his eyes I couldn’t place, so I wrote it off as mischievous, because I figured he was about to tease me.

“Yeah,” I said, like it was perfectly reasonable. And it was. The lights were spectacular out there. I dropped my careful façade and frowned at him. “You think it sounds stupid, don’t you?”

He shook his head to my surprise, smiling pleasantly. “No. I think it’s perfect. It really was magical.”

He held my gaze and I felt my heart pound
, because I got that nervous feeling, like he could read my mind. I still felt like an open book in front of him, probably because I told him everything.

Well,
almost
everything. I hadn’t told him why I had nearly run into him when I was leaving the diner. That did however remind me of Marcus’ funny reaction to me mentioning that I talk to Charlotte nearly every night.

I clasped my hands together and narrowed my eyes in thought. “I’ve got a question for you.”

He propped an elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. “Go for it.”

“I was visiting Marcus earlier, and I mentioned chatting with
Charlotte…”

He nodded, looking very serious and still holding my gaze. I kept glancing down at my hands periodically as I spoke. It was an easy way to hide my nerves.

“…And he asked me if I spoke to Charlotte a lot. I told him I chat with her nearly every night…and then he does
this
.”

I sat up straight, mimicking Marcus’ thoughtful look. I narrowed my eyes and nodded. “‘Hm…
.’”

Kavick just blinked at me. I th
ink he was as clueless as I was.

I then slapped my hands down on the table. “What on earth does that mean?” I then glanced around to make sure nobody heard me.

“I have no idea,” he said flatly.

I dropped my head down into my arms. Margaret came over with Kavick’s coffee so
I immediately straightened up.