Spiral (Spiral Series) (15 page)

I choked
and
Pierce’s smirk got bigger
for a moment, but then he gave Mrs. Tiger a sweet smile.

“We look forward to seeing you next Saturday,” he said, gently setting his cup down in front of one of the cats. The cat, a golden with white circles around his eyes, eyed him speculatively. Pierce eyed him back.
Part of me
wanted to giggle, but
the other part
was too hot and sweaty
to care
.

“Can I walk you home?” Pierce asked as we headed down Mrs. Tiger’s driveway. She hadn’t bothered to stand outside and wave, like she usually
did
, because it was too damn
ed
hot.

“Um, pro
b
ably best if you don’t,” I muttered.

“Ah,” said Pierce,
guessing the reason
instantly. “Is this about Jackson
?
”

“What? No,” I protested. I couldn’t explain to him that the person I trusted most in the world didn’t like him and I somehow didn’t care. I was trying to stay a solid three feet from Pierce
, because
I was very conscious
that
I had been sweating for hours and I couldn’t possibly smell good.

“So, there’s nothing between you and Jackson?” Pierce asked.

“What? No, Jackson’s just . . . protective,” I murmured, not able to look at him. “He’s a friend.”

I examined Pierce from under my lashes. He was waiting expectantly.

“We’re just friends,” I said. Even if my feelings weren’t always friendly, Jackson had made it pretty clear he thought of me as a sister.

“Good,” said Pierce, giving me a smile that made my breath catch. “I was hoping you would say that.”

The next day was Sunday, and Jill, Maxie, and I were going to the lake. It was too cold to swim, but it was a gorgeous day and we were going to have a birthday picnic. Maxie had invited Andrew, but he had baseball practice.

“Is Jackson coming?” asked Jill.

“Nope,” I said, pursing my lips.

“He’s been such a flake lately,” said Jill.

I nodded, feeling sad. She was right. I had no idea what had happened, but at some point this spring my best friend and only confidant - about certain things - had disappeared.

“This is going to be fun,” said Maxie reassuringly. “Cute boys with their shirts off is always a good thing.”

Jill rolled her eyes. “You can have them.”

“Thank you,” said Maxie, giving Jill an appraising look. “But I don’t think you’re much competition anyhow. Eight guys and one me sounds about right.”

We got to the lake early, so it wasn’t very busy yet. We found a good spot on the grass and laid out a blanket, and my friends stretched out to tan. I was too pale to try and tan, with skin so translucent that Jill had once remarked that she was surprised you couldn’t see through it. There was just enough breeze so that the late spring heat wasn’t suffocating, but not so much that I was cold.

“I wish there would be another romance slam,” said Maxie wistfully. “I would totally go. It should be a weekly thing or something.”

“You would only go in the hopes of seeing Pierce talk again,” Jill said.

“Why not?” demanded Maxie. “He’s gorgeous. You can’t teach gorgeous, and he has that whole damaged boy thing going on. It’s hot. I like that he’s at our school, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the same as hearing his story of long-lost love.”

“You’re ridiculous. It was a childish crush,” said Jill, shaking her head. “What would you do with a boyfriend anyway?”

“You want details?” asked Maxie, raising her eyebrows and grinning.

Jill groaned.

“Besides, did you see his tattoos? Totally hot.”

After that the morning passed quietly. We all dozed off at one point or another and a couple of friends from school saw us and came by to chat; clearly we weren’t the only ones who had had the idea of hanging out by the lake to enjoy the day. Lots of other people showed up as the morning went on, and a couple of the guys were even brave enough to swim. They rushed into the water and yelps and cries filled the air as they splashed around.

Casey, the guy whose party we had skipped over break, arrived late in the morning, once baseball practice was over. Since Andrew had decided to stay home and study after practice, I was surprised when Casey waved and came over to our blanket.

“I’m going out on a boat with some friends. Want to join?” he asked. “Any friend of Andrew’s is a friend of mine.”

He grinned at me and I realized that he was trying to be nice because I was Andrew’s sister now: reaching out to the high school freak and her two friends.

“Sure,” said Maxie happily. Turning to us she said, “Going out on the water would be awesome.”

Jill lifted her head. “I like how you make that a statement and not a question. I don’t do boats. Or socializing. Or boats.”

“We’re at a lake,” Maxie pointed out, rolling her eyes. “It’s going to be fine.”

“I am here under duress,” said Jill, folding her arms over her t-shirt. Maxie had made her promise to wear a bathing suit, but she had forgotten to say that she couldn’t wear anything over it. “Just because it’s about to be Nat’s birthday.”

“Right, I forgot. You would rather be in a cave,” said Maxie, with irritation. “Let’s go. It’s better than just sitting here. It might be fun.”

I eyed the boat and Casey’s friends. One of them was Haley, and I could feel her death stare all the way from where we were sitting.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Haley.

“Sure it is,” said Maxie, giggling. “We could use a little excitement in our lives. Come on.” She pulled me to my feet and Casey grinned.

“What if we get dunked in that cold water?” Jill asked. “My hair cannot get wet. It’s not a good look. I’d look like a wrung out black dog.”

“You won’t,” said Casey. “I promise.” I had never gotten much of a read on Casey in high school. He had light brown hair and a round face. He was nice, but I had just sort of thrown him into the slow-mover category, meaning that even when he was moving fast he was moving slowly, just plodding along. Getting behind him in the lunch line was an experience.

Maxie rolled her eyes. “Nothing is going to happen. Come on.”

We followed Casey to the boat, which was tied to a small dock that reached out from one end of the sandy beach. I had heard that his family had money, and the gorgeous new boat proved it. He had five friends with him, including Haley, and the rest of them greeted us enthusiastically.

Casey pointed us toward the three seats at the very back of the boat and said that the wind wouldn’t hit our faces so hard there. Maxie was grateful for this, because she didn’t want her hair to be a mess.

“Come on,” she said, draping her towel over her legs. Jill and I sat on either side of her.

I tried to keep my distance from Haley, but it was hard on a boat. She wore a bright pink bathing suit that just screamed, “Look at my giant boobs.” If it had been possible to dislike her more than I already did, I would have. “Who knows what she’s saying to everyone about me,” I muttered, eyeing her with distrust.

“Who cares,” said Jill. “She’s too busy shoving those things in people’s faces to notice you.”

I didn’t think that was true at all, because I felt like Haley always had one eye on where I was no matter what else she was paying attention to.

“This was a bad idea,” I said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Don’t worry so much,” Maxie scolded, patting my knee. Her hand was cold from the wind. “We can take a quick ride and then head home. No big deal.”

“Are you guys settled?” Casey called out from the front of the boat. Maxie gave him a thumbs up and we were off like a shot.

“It’s nice that Andrew’s friends are making an effort with you,” said Maxie as the air slammed into our faces - so much for being out of the way of it - and we headed out into open water.

“Yeah,” I muttered. “I guess.”

“Andrew does seem to be trying really hard to be friends,” Maxie bubbled. “I think it’s great of him.”

I shrugged. I had always liked Andrew, but his friends were a different story. All they cared about was popularity, and I couldn’t imagine that would just change overnight.

Maxie elbowed me. “You’re too suspicious. I’m sure they don’t mean any harm.”

“Sure they don’t,” I muttered.

 “This is awesome,” Maxie yelled, interrupting my gloomy assessment. Even Jill was starting to grin. I had to admit, it was fun speeding in a boat over a beautiful lake on a bright day, and for a while not even Haley’s nasty presence could ruin it for me.

Before I knew it, though, she sauntered over to us and sat down on our bench, squeezing herself between Maxie and me.

A familiar creepy feeling rushed up my arms at her nearness; at this point I felt it every time she got close to me. It wasn’t just my imagination, it was actually physical, but I just chalked it up to how much I hated her, not to mention how much she seemed to hate me.

“So,” she said, grinning at me through the wind, “how’s it going?” Her blond hair blew in her face and made it look like someone had raked yellow claws over her cheeks.

I glared at her. “Go away, Haley.”

“Make me.” Her voice slithered over me and I shivered despite the warm day. I looked away uncomfortably. This had definitely been a bad idea.

“Look,” she said softly. “You don’t belong here. With us. Look at you. You’re too much of a freak to even be on this boat. Why don’t you just leave? Save us all the trouble.”

“Haley,” said Jill, “shut up.”

“Sometimes I like it when you’re to the point,” Maxie murmured to Jill.

“I’m just trying to help,” Haley said innocently. “I don’t want Nat to be confused about what she’s doing here.”

“I thought what I was doing here was enjoying a nice day,” I said. “But I guess not.”

She smiled at me. It wasn’t a nice smile.

“You should be more careful about who you get on boats with,” she said. “Bad things happen on boats.”

In one fluid motion she got up and returned to her friends. I suddenly felt isolated and alone. The three of us were the only ones in the back, and Casey was now moving unbelievably fast over the middle of the lake. I could see the shoreline, but it was really far off.

“What is her problem, anyway?” Jill asked, glaring toward Haley.

“She was probably dropped on her head a few too many times as a baby,” said Maxie. “Doesn’t know how to behave like a decent human being.”

The creepy feeling that had started when Haley came and sat next to me was growing. I was starting to feel queasy.

“I want to get off this boat,” I said.

Jill looked at me sharply. “I think that’s a good idea,” she said, with worry in her eyes.

Maxie looked between us and nodded. “Yeah, this isn’t fun any more. Hey, Casey?” she called out to Andrew’s friend, who was still driving. But he didn’t even turn around.