Shattered Grace (Fallen from Grace) (30 page)

“
Unless you give me your hand, neither one of us will be walking through this door.”

Grace braced herself for the onslaught of emotion, held her breath, and raised her arm toward him. Thrown a little off balance by the not-so-gentle tug of her wrist, her eyes narrowed into a glare. “What are you doing, Quentin?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted her arm and pressed her hand flat against a rectangular-shaped frame. Instantly the space within lit up in neon green, scanning her hand repeatedly from top to bottom. Mesmerized, she watched the light move up and down. Quentin slowly pulled her hand away, curling her hand into a fist except for her index finger.

“
You’re going to feel a little poke.”

Before she could pull away, he stuck her finger in a rounded divot next to the scanning frame. “Ouch!” Damn it, needle pokes were the worst.

Chuckling, he gave her a sheepish grin. “Ah, poor baby. You going to be okay?” he teased.

“
Ha ha.” She frowned and jabbed her finger in her mouth.

“
I’m sorry, don’t be mad. Some people have a deadly fear of needles and I wasn’t sure if you’re one of them.”

She grunted and gave him a sarcastic grin around the finger in her mouth.

Still smiling, he turned back around, pointing to a small rectangular piece of rubber on the left side of the frame. “I promise this won’t hurt. Place your forehead against the strip here.”

“
What’s it going to do?” Grace frowned, not entirely sure she could trust him to determine what hurt and what didn’t.

“
A retina scan. It’s cool, just trust me.”

Oh sure, easy for him to say
.
Knowing she might regret it, Grace stepped forward and pressed her forehead against the strip like he instructed.

“
Don’t move and keep both eyes open.”

Very easy for him to say. When the red laser burst out of nowhere, the impulse to close her eyes fought against her will to keep them open. She pushed through it, not closing them. When the scan was done, she jumped back, startled by the sound of the unlocking mechanism. Gears clicked and turned, and a noise that sounded like steel bars sliding through the floor and ceiling met her ears before doors opened with a hiss.

Blue light spilled out from the opening. As she crossed the threshold, she had the uncanny sensation that she’d walked inside a live video game. Lined up along the floor of the long walkway were squares that lit up a slightly brighter blue as she stepped on each one. At the end of the hall was an open square room. A clear case sat empty in the middle, lit up by a bright white light shining down from above. Grace expected Quentin to be behind her, and was surprised to see that he still stood in the doorway of the closet.

“
What are you doing?” she called out to him.

“
Waiting for you to be out of the way.” With one foot, he stepped on the first square. Red laser beams shot out in spinning arcs from one end of the hall to the other, searching him out like an intruder. When he removed his foot, the laser beams disappeared. Quentin still stood in the doorway.

Confused, and too scared to walk back toward him, she shouted again. “Why can’t we walk down the hall now?”

Quentin shook his head. “I can’t, not without you. No one can.”

“
Why not?” Despite her lowered voice, her question bounced along the floor and walls until it reached him.

“
Because this is Pandora’s room and you’re her protector. No one can be more than five feet away from you in here, or
zap
,” he said, making a Broadway spectacle of his fingers.

It was all so strange. She almost felt cool, like a superhero. Coming to her senses, she shook off the ridiculous superhero notion. “That’s all well and good, Quentin, but what if the laser doesn’t recognize me and I get toasted?”

“
You’re not going to get toasted.” Quentin bit his lip and turned his face away.

“
Yeah, right,” she muttered to herself. Despite how quietly she said it, he still heard.

“
This room knows you all the way down to a cellular level now. Believe me, you’ll be fine.”

Grace didn’t bother testing his assurance by putting a measly toe on the ground and waiting for the laser beams. No, she decided, it was all or nothing. She booked it as fast as she could, leaping like a dancer through the doorway when she reached the end where Quentin stood waiting. Surprised by how incredibly fast she didn’t know she could run, she was even more relieved she wasn’t fried to a crisp. “Well, look at that. You were right,” she said with a wobbly smile, looking up into Quentin’s face.

Quentin walked away from her, leaving the walk-in closet. “Come on.” With a wave of his hand, he returned her smile. “Let me show you the gym.”

What Grace hadn’t seen when she walked in from the hallway was the state-of-the-art gym. Every kind of cardio machine imaginable ran the length of an entire wall. Free weights, Nautilus machines, and kettle bells were spread around the room. In the center was a boxing ring where, Quentin informed her, they’d train. When he noticed her apprehension, he said they wouldn’t start until next week and used the accident as the excuse why. She figured it was because she was the first girl he had to train. Either way, the delay worked for her.

Quentin walked through the laser security guards, to show Grace how to secure Pandora in the case. No matter what he’d said, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when they both cleared the closet doorway without sizzling like bacon on the hallway floor behind them.

By the time she had finished with her guided tour and put Pandora to bed, it was slightly after eleven. Laney had left soon after Zeke arrived earlier, and hadn’t returned home yet. A tingle of fear crept along Grace’s skin and over her scalp. What if something happened to her mom? What if they
got her? Oh God, she screamed in her head.

Fear crushed her ribcage, making it hard to breathe. Full of panic, she ran to the family room for her cell phone, fumbling over the touch screen buttons as she texted Laney.

Grace:
Its l8. R u ok?

In her head, she visualized every bad thing that could have happened to her mother. When the phone vibrated in her hand, she nearly dropped it.

Mom:
I’m fine. Out w/a friend. Be home soon.

The painful squeeze let go of her ribcage so she could breathe again. Her mom was fine, but she couldn’t shake the unease that filled her. Laney had been disappearing a lot the last couple of weeks, and had been sketchy with her explanations. Maybe it was time for Grace to ask more questions.

Tuesday morning, Grace was given the okay to return to school. And Quentin was right, she did feel a hundred percent better. He coached her on walking a little slower so she looked more like her recovering friends. Emily had been fitted with a cast the day before and would be returning to school today as well. Grace figured her safe bet would be to copy Em.

She parked closer to the school than usual, assuming that’s what she would have done if she’d really been hurt, then slowly made her way to first period. Amanda was already in her seat, a first. Seeing her reminded Grace she’d meant to call and check on her over the weekend. So much for mental notes.

“
How are you doing?” Amanda asked, twisting her long hair around her finger, not waiting for Grace to sit down.

“
I’m fine, still a little sore.” A lie. Grace flinched inside; she hated lying. “How are you? I was kind of worried about you.”

The strong lines of Amanda’s face hardened. “Why would you be worried about me?”

“
After what happened last week in the hall, and then you were gone for a couple days after…I wasn’t sure if something happened.”

Amanda narrowed her eyes to slits. “With Mr. Peters?” She turned her head, obviously annoyed. “I told you that was nothing.”

Grace didn’t correct her. It absolutely
was
something. “Okay.”

“
Do you really want to know where I was?” Amanda asked with a sudden excitement alight in her light blue eyes.

“
Sure.” Grace shrugged a single shoulder.

Amanda’s irritated sneer returned. “Try not to sound so enthused.” Grace sighed and left it alone; Amanda was seriously PMS’ing.

“
You have to keep it to yourself, though,” Amanda continued. “You can’t even tell Emily, Grace, I mean it.”

Grace forced a hand up, placing the other over her heart.

“
I met someone, and we went away for the weekend.” Amanda’s words were fast and clipped.

“
Someone who took you somewhere for a couple of days? Does he have really cool parents or something?”

Amanda leaned over in her seat to get closer. Grace glanced at the clock above the door. Amanda better hurry, she thought, because Miss Township will be walking in the classroom any minute.

“
He’s older. He was supposed to be on a business trip, but we spent a few days together instead.”

“
How much older?” Grace asked, now suspicious.

“
Older.”

Grace flattened her palms against the top of her desk and leaned toward Amanda. “Yeah, I heard you the first time. How old is he, and what do you mean he was supposed to be on a business trip?”

Amanda’s eyes were guarded as she stared at Grace in contemplation. “Don’t judge me.” She held up a finger in warning and Grace bit her lip. “He’s thirty-two, and his wife thought he was on a business trip.”

“
Thirty-two?” Grace screeched so loud, it almost couldn’t be considered a whisper. “Amanda!”

“
Sshh!”

“
What are you thinking?” she hissed. “He’s thirty-two, he’s married,
for crying out loud, and technically old enough to be your father
.”

“
Come on, Grace,” Amanda said, closing her eyes briefly and nodding her head slowly like a disappointed adult chiding a child.

“
You know how many fourteen-year-old mothers and fathers there are?”

Amanda rolled her eyes, and responded with a “
Pfft
.”

Abruptly, Grace twisted in her seat facing the front of the class, pretending to give Miss Township her attention. “This isn’t over,” she threatened from the corner of her mouth.

As soon as the bell rang, it was over for Amanda. She bolted out of her seat and out of class. Grace caught a glimpse of her standing at her locker. “Amanda,” Grace shouted, trying to get her attention before she took off in the other direction. “Wait up.”

Amanda shut her locker door, and twirled around. “Save the mothering, Grace, you’re wasting your time.”

“
Oh, knock it off. I’m your friend,” Grace insisted.

“
Are you?”
Amanda asked sarcastically, her glare a little ferocious.