The Resurrection of Aubrey Miller (6 page)

A breeze blows by and I catch the scent of sunshine and rainbows as Quinn finally decides to grace us with her presence and join us for dinner. She lands forcefully in her seat, the excitement rolling off of her in waves. Her eyes fall to the table and then to the apple in my hand. Smiling, she shrugs her shoulders, “I ate something over there with Candace and Sabrina. You can have it.”

Glancing over to the where the emaciated bobble-head twins stand, I find myself met with two very disapproving and unattractive grimaces. I sneer back, partly because I already dislike them immensely, but mostly out of some instinctive need to protect Quinn. They remind me of two grotesque demons, hungry and ready to feed on her love of life and genuine kindness.

I really need to stop watching so many exorcism documentaries.

Or maybe I’m just experiencing meat withdrawals already because all I can seem to think about as I watch them is hunger and eating.

Regardless, I don’t like them.

Forcing my stare away back to Quinn, I gesture at the empty space on the table in front of her. “You couldn’t have eaten much, considering they also only have like one piece of celery on their plates, and you only had an apple, which I took. Sorry about that.”

Guilt flashes in her eyes as she timidly shakes her head. “I ate before we came anyway. I’m not really hungry.” A fabricated smile magically appears before she adds, “I just wanted to hang with you and my Boarding Buddy.”

Just as I’m about to challenge her, because I know for a fact I didn’t see her eat anything before we left together, Kaeleb interjects, “Speaking of Boarding Buddies…where’s yours, Raven?”

I roll my eyes so hard it hurts. I have no idea why he’s focusing on me so much. This freak getup is supposed to frighten people, not invite inquiry. Unfortunately with him, it seems to be having the opposite effect.

“I don’t have one,” I remark. “I skipped orientation.”

“So you need one then?” For once, his face is devoid of any sarcasm or laughter. Sincerity laces his expression as he rests his elbows on the table and leans forward, clasping his hands together in front of him.

I, however, have sarcasm coursing through my veins instead of blood. “Um, not really. I own a map and possess a brain. I can figure it out on my own.”

Not even remotely fazed, Kaeleb reaches his hand across the table. “Let me see your schedule.”

“What? No.” My face scrunches and I shake my head.

“YES! Do it Raven! We can all tour the campus together and plan out our schedules tomorrow!” Quinn screeches from beside me. Leaning far away, I stick my finger in my ear, wiggling back and forth a bit to try to lessen the pain of my now bleeding eardrum, while giving her a hesitant, wide-eyed stare.

Kaeleb, of course, just laughs.

Quinn’s face falls a bit with disappointment, forcing an incomprehensible emotion into my cold, dead heart known by others as
caring
. Dislodging my finger from my ear, I hold my palm up to her face before responding, “Okay. But, please…
don’t
scream.” She nods and claps, but makes no sound.

Scooping the handle of my backpack into my hand, I fling it onto my lap and open the second pocket to produce my schedule before handing it over to Kaeleb. I can
feel
Quinn as she eagerly bounds up and down next to me and I swear she’s about to explode as she attempts to contain her excitement. Without the release of a scream, I’m actually afraid she might.

Kaeleb casually peruses the paper and I’m a bit surprised when his eyes widen a fraction once he’s finished. It’s slight, probably not even noticeable to most, but I saw it. He hands the paper back to me and I immediately turn it in my hands to read over it again.

Peering back at him over the top of the paper in my hands, I ask, “What’s with the face?”

The corners of his mouth dip down slightly. “What face?”

“You made a face.” The heels of my hands hit the table as I lower the schedule completely so I can get a better view of him while he stares blankly back at me.

The standoff lasts a couple of seconds before he relents. “The
Elements of Trust
course threw me a bit, I guess. I wasn’t planning on knowing anyone in there.”

Surprised, my head jerks back. “You’re in that class? With me?”

He raises his hand and cups his jaw, running his fingers back and forth along the base of his stubble as he stares at the table. Once he lifts his head, our eyes meet and he grins.

“Yet another irony.” He releases a light-hearted laugh. “A trust-based course in which you’re forced to depend on random peers to ensure your safety while attempting death-defying, extremely dangerous activities.”

Clearing his face, Kaeleb leans across the table and his eyes fill with defiance as he once again drops his voice to a low whisper. “I guess, in essence, one could say that I will have to trust you with my life. Interesting turn of events, don’t you think?”

Cue annoyingly perfect smile.

After his point is made he stands quickly, the seat screeching across the floor as he rises and then steps away from the table, leaving me alone with Quinn and the realization that Linda absolutely screwed me when she made me sign up for the stupid course.

And although I’m rendered speechless, I make sure to mentally document twenty IOUs to the swear jar as I silently curse her in my head.

The curses against Linda are mounting today, which will be my fifth time attending the
Elements of Trust
class.

The classes started off harmless enough. Eye contact exercises, proximity awareness, trust leans as a group, but today…today is no simple task for me.

Rappelling.

Are you kidding me?

And with Kaeleb as my anchor?

Dr. Palmer has fucking lost his mind.

Oh, Dr. Martin Palmer. Plump and bearded Palmer. He seems to be genuinely caring as he guides me through the various activities. His kind blue eyes are always watching my interactions with the students, and it almost seems as though he’s monitoring me for some reason. Maybe I’m paranoid, but it feels as if he shows more interest in me than the others.

Or maybe it’s my freakish appearance that he’s drawn to.

Or the neon yellow contacts I’ve been sporting this past week.

Who knows? For whatever reason, it doesn’t really seem to bother me.

But today, I’m seriously questioning his sanity.

“Come on, Raven! Open your eyes! You need to
see
your progress!” Palmer shouts from about five-hundred feet below. Okay, not really. I don’t know how high I am because my eyes are sealed shut and my breathing is panicked as I hesitantly take a step and lower myself down the wall.

“Yeah, Raven!” Kaeleb yells. “I’m sure you can see the mountains from up there!”

My voice is shaky as I rappel a little further. “Shut up, Kaeleb.”

His laughter bellows from below me. “Just wait until we do the Leap of Faith!”

My body shivers with the thought of standing on a fucking telephone pole and jumping off with nothing other than a cable and the people holding onto that cable to provide me safety. I can’t believe I let Linda talk me into this shit.

“Am I almost done?” I ask, sliding the rope between my hands and pushing off. I think I just flew down about ten feet.

My feet land hard, sending me spinning, and I don’t stop until my body bounces off the wall. All with my eyes still closed.

“Not even close! I’m surprised you can even breathe with how thin the air is up there!” Kaeleb’s mocking tone furthers my aggravation.

After taking a deep breath—thankfully, the air is
just
fine—I push off again, unsteady with jerky movements. “Shut. Up.”

And just when I think Kaeleb can’t possibly irritate me further…

“That harness is giving me a great view of your ass by the way. Your cargos are usually way too baggy.”

A loud gasp escapes me and I quickly let go of the rope to cover said ass with my hands, the release catapulting me further down the wall until I’m practically upside down, all the while subjected to heinous cackling from below. At least Kaeleb somehow managed to stop my freefall during his fit of laughter.

“Kaeleb, enough,” Palmer reprimands. “Raven, you’re going to have to open your eyes and right your body. You can do this.”

With his tone full of encouragement, I try to grab whatever shred of dignity I still have and pull myself upright with the help of the rope. Once I’m set, I lean back and rest my weight in the harness as I try to catch my breath.

My legs are straight against the wall as I allow my torso to gingerly recline and my eyes to open slowly. The view isn’t of mountains, but I can see the tops of the trees and the people walking through the courtyard area aren’t nearly as small as I imagined they would be.

I breathe in deeply.

I can do this.

Kaeleb manages to finally stop his theatrics long enough for me to get my bearings, then I give the rope a little slack and kick my feet off the wall. My hands are shaking, but I keep a firm grip as I sail downward a bit and then land firmly. I repeat these motions until I’m about ten feet off the ground.

Blood is rushing through my veins, the adrenaline coursing through me, and for about five seconds I feel like I can do anything.

That is until Kaeleb completely drops his very important anchor role, releasing the rope and throwing me into another freefall. An unexpected squeal escapes me as I plummet the remainder of the way down, only to land in his arms with an
oomph
.

His scent stirs all around me, and as my arms fly around his neck, I find myself inhaling deeper than probably appropriate. And when my lungs can take no more air, I enjoy its soothing effect until I remember that I’m pissed.

He could have killed me.

And now I’m going to kill him.

“Kaeleb! Asshole!” I yell, jumping out of his arms and planting my feet hit on the ground. I haul my arms back and shove as hard as I can. “You could have dropped me!”

His shoulders shake with his silent chuckles. “No way. I’m 6’3.” That was like a two foot drop.”

Palmer watches our interaction with interest. I swear I spot the tiniest of amusement flash across his features as he states, “Something tells me that Kaeleb would never drop you, Raven.” He directs his eyes in Kaeleb’s direction; all amusement lost and replaced with caution. “That being said, your actions were not at all conducive for this exercise.” Palmer looks back to me before adding, “I hope that your maturity level is greater than that of Mr. McMadden’s, seeing as though it’s his turn next. We need to maintain a serious environment for the others who actually hope to gain something from this class.” His voice is stern along with his glare.

What? Now I’m in trouble?

Sneering at Kaeleb, I respond, “Yes, sir.” Palmer gives a brisk nod before marching onto the next pairing of people.

“You’re an ass,” I snip at him, yanking the harness off of my waist and down my legs before stepping out of it.

“I never said I wasn’t.” He kicks the nylon contraption up and off the ground with his foot, then catches it midair with ease. “I’m sorry, but that shit too was funny not to pass up."

My face draws tightly and my eyes narrow at his statement. “And what if you’d dropped me?”

His arrogance lessens and his hazel eyes soften. “I wouldn’t have dropped you.” He maintains eye contact with me and his stare is so full of sincerity, I’m forced to break it.

My cheeks warm as I cast my glance to the ground, kicking the grass with my Docs.

“Well, at least you didn’t grope my ass,” I concede before looking back up. His lips form into a crooked smile and he chuckles under his breath. “Who said I didn’t?”

“I would’ve felt it,” I counter.

He shakes his head as his eyes fill with humor. “I have ninja hands.” He breaks to step into the harness and pulls it up, securing it before adding, “And
you
have a nice ass.”

My mouth pops open, but before I can say anything he steps into my personal space—the very space he
knows
I hate anyone to breach as evidenced during our proximity awareness exercises—and holds my gaping stare.