Take Me To Your Reader: An Otherworld Anthology (29 page)

Over the next week, I was swamped with football practice. School started soon, and our first home game was less than two weeks away. Coach was relentless with our conditioning training, and I spent the entire week either working out with the team or passed out from exhaustion. I didn
't hear from Krissy once, and I didn't have the energy to call her.

But no matter how tired I was, I always paid close attention to my surroundings, vigilant to see if anyone was watching me, or if anything was unusual in any way. With both Krissy and me in danger, I took no chances, questioning everything. But I never came across anything or anyone suspicious. I didn
't even see anyone that I hadn't known since I was in Sunday School. The one good thing about living in my small town: anything out of the ordinary would stick out immediately, and everyone would be talking about it.

I had placed the stone egg in my parents
' gun safe, tucked away in a cloth handgun sleeve. No one would look there and if they did, they wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary unless they opened the sleeve. Plus, it was an added bonus that the safe locked with a five-digit combination lock, so whatever threat Anusha was worried about wouldn't be getting the object she fought so hard to save.

Monday morning rolled around, and I flew out of bed with an abnormal amount of gusto. It was the first day of school, and I was excited to see all my friends again.  If I was being honest, I was excited to see Krissy.  I hated the way we left things, and I hoped she
'd give me a second chance. Well, at this point it would be like a tenth chance, but who's counting?

I left early and headed to Krissy
's house to offer her a ride to school. I knew her truck was down for the count, and no one wanted to ride the bus if at all possible. I pulled up to her house without calling first. I was afraid that if I called and told her I wanted to see her, she'd reject me. So, better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission. I stepped out of the car, taking a deep breath before jogging up to her door and ringing the doorbell. Those seconds waiting for the door to open were completely nerve wracking.

"
Tate? What the hell are you doing here?"

I looked all around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. I finally spied her in an upstairs window.
"Hey! Can you come down and talk? Or I can come up?"

"
No!" She paused. "I mean, I'll come down. Just…give me a minute to put on some clothes. I just got out of the shower."

She started to slam the window shut, muttering under her breath as she did. I stood on the stoop, rocking back and forth on my heels and waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Geez. How long does it take a girl to throw some clothes on? What is she doing up there? Reshowering? Okay, I should not be thinking of Krissy showering. Naked. Wet. Soapy.

"
…without calling first? Did something happen?"

Oh, shit. Krissy stood in front of me, talking, but I
'd barely heard a word she'd said. Damnit! I'd been with her less than two minutes and I'd already screwed things up again. I needed to get on my game.

"
Hey. No, I just wanted to check in with you, make sure you were okay. You haven't had anything strange happen this week?"

Krissy crossed her arms over her chest.
God she looks good
, I thought, praying I didn't start sporting wood in front of her. In barely there shorts that highlighted her tone, tan legs and a tee shirt that hung off one shoulder, leaving it exposed, she looked practically edible. "No. It's been pretty boring around here. No alien sightings. You?"

"
I've had football every day, so I haven't had much time for anything else."

We stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like hours. I didn
't know what to say. Honestly, I'd come over here just to spend some time with her. And it didn't seem like she was too thrilled that I'd shown up.

"
Listen, Krissy. About last week—"

She cut me off.
"Don't worry about it. It had been a long night, and I didn't mean to take it out on you. I know you were…just being yourself." She took a breath and changed topics. "Is the stone safe?"

"
Yeah, I have it locked up tight and hidden away. No one's getting to it."  She nodded, leaving us both in an another uncomfortable silence. I laughed to myself. I'd never had this much trouble with girls. They always made things easy for me; I never had to work to get a girl to like me. Maybe that's what made Krissy so appealing.  "So, can I give you a ride to school?"

"
Oh, um, I was just going to take the bus."

I reached out and wrapped my finger around one of her silky smooth curls. As a kid, I loved touching her hair; it was always so pretty.
"C'mon Krissy, you don't really want to ride the bus with all those little kids, do you? Let me drive you."

Krissy pulled her hair back into a ponytail, preventing me from touching it.
"You're right, I don't. But I'm sure you don't want to be seen pulling into school with me."

"
Why would you say that?" Did she really have no idea how much I liked her? I always thought I made it abundantly clear.

"
Never mind. Let me just go finish getting ready. I'll be just a minute."

We had barely pulled into the school when I realized something was off. Students were huddled into groups, whispering. This wasn
't usual first day of school gossip, something major had happened. I glanced over at Krissy as I pulled into a parking spot. "What do you think all this is about?"

"
I have no idea, but whatever it is must have just happened, otherwise our phones would be blowing up."

I checked my phone, but I only had one message from Will, asking me what time practice started tomorrow.
"Do you think it's about…"  I didn't even want to say the word out loud. How did I know if aliens had super hearing or anything?

"
I doubt it. But something happened, that's for sure."

I turned off the car and we stepped out. Krissy
's friend Tanesha rushed over to us, practically bouncing as she asked in an excited whisper, "Did you hear? Someone killed Vice-Principal Evans. And it must have been bad, because they brought in some big-shot agents from the FBI or something. They've been pulling people in to the office one by one and questioning them."

"
They think it was a student?" Krissy asked.

"
I don't think they have a clue, because they're questioning everyone: students, teachers, secretaries, even the lunch ladies! I just talked to Weston, and I guess he was one of the first people brought in since his mom works here, and they got here so early. He said the only thing the feds really wanted to know is where they were a week ago Thursday night."

My heart sped up when I heard the date they were looking for. That was the night Krissy and I found Anusha in the alley. Turning my head slightly, I eyed her reaction. She sucked in her breath and gulped. Shit. She realized it too. No matter, I wasn
't going to let anything happen to her. But how the hell did I protect her?

"
Wow, Tee, that's crazy. Did they say what happened to Mr. Evans?"

"
No clue. The man was always a little weird, but he didn't deserve this. Rumor has it that his wife was killed too."

"
Oh wow, that's horrible."

"
Yeah. The cheerleaders are organizing a remembrance vigil tonight."

Krissy snorted.
"Of course they are. Um, Tee, can I catch up with you later? I want to call my mom and tell her before heading into school."

Tanesha looked between Krissy and me, not buying the lie for a moment.
"Sure, yeah. Go call your mom. Be sure to tell her I said hi." Tanesha winked at Krissy before sashaying away, repeating her story to a new crew of kids who had just pulled up.

"
Do you think it's—" I started.

"
Yes. I do. It's too big of a coincidence for it not to be. What do we do now?"

I stood, watching Krissy
's lip quiver slightly and wanting nothing more than to wrap her in my in my arms. I leaned back against my car to resist the temptation. "First thing we need to do is get our stories straight. It's best to go as close to the truth as possible, so if they question you just tell them that your car broke down and I gave you a ride home. But we'll just change the timeframe. Tell them it was in the early evening rather than late at night. I'm sure they found your car in town the next day, so we can't lie about where we were."

*****

Krissy

I knew my head was nodding, but all I could feel was the tremble in my hands. Tate
's confidence in our plan made me feel slightly better, but I was still terrified of being questioned. Would I crack under the pressure? I wasn't sure I could pull it off. I never could with my parents; they always saw right through me.

"
Okay, I think I can do that. Piece of cake, right?"

Tate took a half a step toward me, raising his arms as if he were going to hug me, but before he could make contact, someone called his name from across the way.
"Tate! You comin' or what?"

He cringed and balled his hands into fists. Yeah, he was pissed he got seen getting so close to me. I sighed.
"Well, I should go. Make sure I can find my locker and all."

It was a bullshit answer; students were assigned the same locker all four years, and the freshman got the departing seniors
' lockers. I didn't worry about it and turned on my heel, walking briskly away before I made the situation worse.

I made it to my locker, through homeroom, and was breezing through Spanish 3 when there was a knock on the classroom door.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Cruz, but we need Krissy Montgomery in the main office please."

"
Uh, uh, uh. En espanol, por favor," Ms. Cruz replied. The class chuckled. Only Ms. Cruz—who'd been teaching Spanish at the school since she came to the States from Cuba in the 1960s—would make other personnel feel like they were back in tenth grade. The secretary looked around the room, clearly startled by the request.  She observed the stern look on Ms. Cruz's face and knew there was no getting out of it. Ms. Cruz didn't play.

"
Okay, um. It's been years since I've used this. Let me try. Necessito hablar con Krissy Montgomery en la officina, por favor?"

"
Muy bien, senora. Krissy. Apresurate para que no pierdas la tarea de hoy." 

I gathered up my books and nodded, following the secretary out the door.
"Si, senora. Hasta manana."

I followed the secretary silently down the halls. I tried not to read too much into it, but with each step I took, I felt as if I was walking into a trap. I
'm sure I was being ridiculous, but I couldn't shake the feeling.  Stepping into the office, I glanced around. Tate sat behind a closed conference room door, speaking animatedly. Two men in suits—FBI I presumed—sat opposite him, clicking their pens and taking notes.  Crap! This was happening.

"
Have a seat, Ms. Montgomery. They'll be with you shortly."

I sat, trying unsuccessfully to keep my legs from bouncing like a hyperactive two-year-old. Twenty-two minutes later (yes, I stared at the clock and counted), the door opened and Tate came out.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. McCallister. We'll be in touch if there's anything further. You may go."

Tate didn
't answer them, keeping his gaze fixed on me. I could see the questions in his eyes. He was worried about me. Or maybe just about what I'd say. I smiled ever so slightly out of the corner of my mouth, just enough to reassure him but not enough to draw attention.

"
Ms. Montgomery, we're ready for you now."

I stood, brushing by Tate as he passed, and entered the small conference room. Just that small contact reminded me I wasn
't alone in this, and my confidence surged. "Shouldn't my parents be here if you're going to question me? Or my lawyer?"

"
Do you feel you need a lawyer, Ms. Montgomery?"

I shrugged.
"I have no idea. You haven't even told me what this is about, but I know that law officials can't question a minor without their parents' approval."

"
Why don't we back up a minute. I'm Agent Rhodes, and this is Agent Samuels. We're with the FBI."

I waited to see their badges, but neither presented them.
"Aren't you supposed to show me your credentials too?"

Agent Samuels huffed.
"You've got a little mouth on you, don't ya?"

I shrugged again.
"I'm a teenager. Don't we all?"

Neither man laughed, but they begrudgingly pulled out their IDs and held them in the air.

"I'd like to see them," I stated, before adding sweetly, "Please?"

I held out my hand and waited. Yeah, I knew I wasn
't winning any brownie points, but I didn't care. Agent Samuels ground his teeth. I was really getting on his nerves. Oh, well. I smiled widely at him, but my smile faded just as quickly when I saw a flash of orange in his eyes.