The Tainted (The Tainted Series Book 1) (2 page)

“Is that what you’re going to wear to school? You look like you’re homeless.”

Rebecca chuckled at him as she reached for a piece of toast, “This is called fashion, Thomas, it’s what everyone’s wearing these days. Plus, you’ve just insulted your own shirt.”

Ingrid walked over to the table after replacing the frying pan on the stove. She pulled a large leaf from the back of Rebecca’s hair before sitting down in her own chair. “And are leaves in your hair also a fashion statement these days?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes as she took a large bite of her breakfast.

“You’re not sleeping again are you?” Ingrid asked as she delicately placed homemade jam on a piece of toast. “Is it the nightmares?”

Rebecca swallowed her mouthful before attempting to answer, “I’m alright, just wasn’t tired.”

Thomas again turned down the edge of his paper and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything this time.

Ingrid, however, was about to respond when a loud honk from somewhere outside the house cut her off.

Shoving the last bit of food in her mouth, Rebecca stood up from the table and grabbed her book bag. “I’ve got to run, Emily’s here.” Without another word she headed out the front door and down the steps.

The small Geo Tracker that waited in the driveway looked a lot like a Rubik’s Cube. Every panel, collected and replaced over the years, was painted a different color. It shook visibly as it idled in park, and was nearly impossible to drive since it no longer had power steering. Still, as long as it was running, it was a far cry better than having to take the bus to school.

A loud creak sounded as Rebecca pulled open the door. Throwing her book bag in the back, she crawled into the car and slammed the door shut behind.

“I can’t believe this thing is still going,” she said with a smile while watching Emily laboriously wrench the steering wheel to turn the car.

“If you wanna take the bus, be my guest,” Emily said, though she smiled over at her best friend.

They’d met on the first day of high school, three years prior. Rebecca’s 8
^th
grade year had been a complete disaster. Convinced that her bad behavior would get her sent away again, she’d gone above and beyond in her classes to get herself in trouble. She’d been so successful that the school had actually labeled a seat for her in the detention room. It wasn’t until nearly the end of the school year that Rebecca had begun to adjust and find happiness in her new home and life. While she’d been able to get her grades up enough to graduate middle school that year, she’d had little luck making any friends. By this time the other students were all either completely afraid of her, or seemed to go out of their way to make her life horrible.

In her freshman year, Rebecca’s first period of the day had been gym class. At the start of class, her teacher had told the students to pick a partner for the day’s activity: table tennis. Rebecca had stood and watched as the other students all paired off with each other, none of them even glancing in her direction.

All of a sudden, Rebecca felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to find a girl smiling widely up at her.

“I’m Emily,” the girl said and stuck out her hand.

Rebecca raised an eyebrow, but slowly stuck out her own and shook the girl’s.

“I’m new here, well I’m not really new, I’ve lived in this town my whole life, though you wouldn’t know that. Nobody knows that. Nobody knows me… yet.” Emily winked at Rebecca, who stifled a laugh.

Emily explained that she’d been homeschooled up until this year, when she’d finally been able to convince her parents that it was important for her to have a real ‘High School Experience’.

“Really, I just needed to get out of the house. I love my parents and all, but how lame is it that I’m 14 and my mom’s my best friend.” Emily swung hard at the ping-pong ball, missing it completely.

Emily either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the strange looks she was receiving from the other students as a result of her decision to associate with Rebecca. Emily was fun and goofy, and seemed to say or do whatever popped into her brain. Never before had someone been so open and nice to Rebecca at any of the schools she’d attended, and she soon found herself able to forget everyone else and laugh and horse around with Emily.

They shared two other classes that day and sat together at their own table at lunch. By the end of the week, the two were inseparable; bonded over the simple fact that they were outsiders and each other’s first true friend.

Now, as they entered into their senior year, Rebecca viewed Emily as the sister she’d never had. Though school had gotten easier and the students at least slightly nicer, Rebecca was sure that Emily was the only reason she’d made it through the last three years.

“So Becs, you ready for this?” Emily winked at Rebecca while tugging on the wheel and pulling out onto the road towards town.

“For senior year? Ha,” Rebecca said while rolling her eyes. “I’m ready for it to be over and it hasn’t even started.”

“Oh come on, it’s not that bad. Besides we
rule the school
this year. We’re seniors. We’re large and in charge.”

“Large and in charge? Last time I checked you still barely came up to my shoulder,” Rebecca laughed, then quickly had to dodge as Emily swung a well-aimed punch at her arm.

“That’s only because you’re the Jolly Green Giant’s cousin.”

Emily, with her shorter frame, whispy blonde hair, and light blue eyes, looked nearly opposite of her best friend. Rebecca, who had always been very tall for her age, was now just about six feet. In fact, there were no girls, and very few boys, at the high school taller than her, and in truth she loved it.

From their homes in the woods, it was nearly a 20 minute drive to school. By the time they pulled into the parking lot, there was less than five minutes before the bell for first period.

“See you in second period, ‘k?” Emily yelled while running off in the opposite direction, towards her Spanish class.

Rebecca bolted towards her own classroom’s door, rushing through right as the bell rang. The last thing she wanted to do was start her senior year with a tardy notice.

Almost all the desks were full, except for two in the last row. Rebecca quickly made her way back and sat in one.

“Calm down students, calm down. I know you’re all still in summer mode so I hate to be the one to break the news to you, but it’s officially over. School’s back in session.” Her history teacher bowed his head as the class let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Looks like we were supposed to have a new student today, but…”

“I’m here.”

Rebecca spun in her chair, shocked to find that the seat next to her was now occupied. She was certain it had been empty only seconds before, and she hadn’t seen anyone enter the classroom after her.

Ignoring her questioning glare, the new boy stood up, towering over the class. He must have been at least 6’4” with a muscular built frame, broad shoulders, and strong arms that made him seem even more immense. His face lit up with a bright, intelligent smile, his tousled dark chocolate brown hair was cut short, and his brilliant emerald eyes held an air of mischief.

“Name’s Maverick, or Ricky for short.”

The teacher raised a questioning eyebrow at the boy, but didn’t say anything about his sudden appearance. “Welcome Ricky. Now if you’ll return to your seat we’ll begin class.”

Maverick plopped down in his chair and casually ran a hand back through his hair. After a moment, he turned, unable to ignore Rebecca’s unwavering glare any longer. “May I help you with something?”

“When did you get here?” Rebecca whispered harshly to the new boy.

“Moved to town about a week ago.”

“That’s not what I meant. How did you get in that seat? You weren’t there when I sat down, and then all of a sudden you…”

Rebecca stopped suddenly as a shadow fell over her desk. Slowly, she raised her head and found herself looking right into the glowering eyes of her teacher.

“I know it’s exciting to have a new student, and I’m sure you think he’s rather cute, but if you’re finding him too distracting, Rebecca, I can always have you moved.”

Rebecca leaned back in her chair, dipping her head down as her face flushed bright red.

Her teacher made his way back toward the front of the classroom, continuing on with his lesson. As soon as he’d turned, Rebecca shot the nastiest glare she could manage at Maverick. To her great displeasure, he simply smiled and winked back.

For the remainder of class, Rebecca refused to look anywhere but straight at the front whiteboard. She could feel Maverick looking over at her multiple times, but there wasn’t a chance in the world she was going to acknowledge it.

When the bell finally rang, Rebecca immediately picked up her books and rushed toward the door. She’d only made it a few steps into the hallway, though, before a hand came crashing down on her shoulder. Rebecca quickly twisted her shoulder free and held her head high as she continued walking.

“How on earth can you walk so fast?” Maverick said as he came up beside her, struggling slightly to maintain her fast pace as they weaved through the sea of students.

Rebecca didn’t answer him. She refused to even look at him.

“I know you’re angry about what happened in class, but don’t you think you’re overreacting a little bit?”

Unable to take it any longer, Rebecca suddenly stopped, causing Maverick to nearly crash right into her. She scowled up at him, trying to ignore the fact that he was the first person she’d ever met that made her feel small. “Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but I thought I was making it very obvious that I didn’t want anything to do with you.”

“So that’s why you talked to me in class?” Maverick said with a coy smile.

Rebecca continued to look fiercely up at Maverick, but she’d somehow lost her words. She was so angry with him, yet now she couldn’t tell if it was because of what had happened in class or because he made her feel so strangely uncomfortable. She was suddenly keenly aware of how embarrassed and self-conscious she felt, standing so close to him. She could feel her cheeks begin to flush red and her hands grow clammy as he continued to smile down at her.

Taking a quick step back from Maverick, Rebecca narrowed her eyes as she tried to ignore the flush that had come over her. “Whatever game you’re playing at, it’s not going to work on me. Leave me alone.”

Maverick lifted up his hands to signal innocence, “No game, I promise. I never meant to offend.” Dropping them back down, he shrugged nonchalantly, “If you ever change your mind and realize what a great guy I am, feel free to bother me during class again.”

With one final wink that made Rebecca’s anger surge, Maverick turned and walked off down the hallway.

“Who was
that
?” Emily said as she walked up to Rebecca, her eyes glued on Maverick’s retreating form.

“No one,” Rebecca answered quickly, and they began walking toward their second class.

“Didn’t look like
no one
to me, in fact he looked like quite a big, attractive someone…” Emily suddenly fell silent--she’d finally seen her best friend’s face. Immediately, she started laughing, “You’re red. I mean you’re really red. You think he’s cute!”

“No I don’t!” Rebecca shot back, but she made an effort to hide her face from her friend.

“
Sure
you don’t. Well I wouldn’t blame you if you did. I thought he was a big hunk of…”

“Stop! Stop right there! I don’t want to hear anymore.” Rebecca pushed her fingers in her ears and looked up at the ceiling.

Emily laughed again and pulled down on Rebecca’s closest arm, “OK, I’m done, I promise.”

“Thank you.” They had reached their classroom door and Rebecca pushed down on the handle for them to enter, “That guy makes my skin crawl.”

As soon as Rebecca had turned to enter, Emily gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes, but said nothing more to her friend.

Rebecca lay back on the dented hood of Emily’s Geo, basking in the warm afternoon sun as she waited for her friend. All in all, the day hadn’t gone too badly, besides the little incident in her first class. Luckily she’d made it through the rest of the day without having to see Maverick again. Now she felt entirely relaxed, soaking in all the sunshine she could before another long, cold, snowy winter arrived in the mountains.

Without warning, her world suddenly grew dark, her glorious sunshine now blocked. Rebecca opened her eyes and looked up at the bright smiling face of the absolute last person she wanted to see.

“You make quite a nice hood ornament,” Maverick laughed.

“What are you doing here?” Rebecca raised herself to a seated position on the hood and frowned up at him. She refused to stand, however, as she really didn’t want to get that close to him again. Even now, she already hated how self-conscious she felt.

“I was just leaving school and I saw you, so I thought I might come by and say hello…Hello.” Maverick smiled widely down at her, but Rebecca only raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Why are you trying so hard to talk to me? What’s your deal?”

“Can’t a guy be nice? I’m new in town so I figured I might as well try to get to know the locals.”

“I’m not a local.”

“You’re not? Don’t you live here?”

“Yes, but I’m not
from
here.”

“You’re a transplant then, like me. You move here with your family?” There was now something in Maverick’s expression that betrayed his lighthearted voice. It was a longing that Rebecca recognized all too well.

“No, I was moved here by…” Rebecca stopped talking before she revealed anything else. She wasn’t sure how he’d gotten her to talk about her past. It had just started to come out. She never told anyone about where she came from. It had taken her nearly 6 months of hanging out with Emily before she’d finally felt comfortable enough to share even part of her history. For some reason, however, she’d wanted to tell Maverick. She’d almost felt as if she needed to.

For a long moment, Rebecca silently stared at Maverick, who stood still, meeting her gaze. As she searched his eyes, the smile slowly faded from his face. There was something so familiar about them, almost as if she’d seen his eyes somewhere before.