Guardian (6 page)

Grace cleaned house all weekend with Danella so it was bleak and enticing all in one.  Watching her through the kitchen window dancing in the little shorts she wore when no one was around kept my eyes peeled until Danella would catch me and close all the curtains.  She would occasionally scowl out the window and take away the flowers I tried to bait Grace outside with snapping them up faster than a goblin’s gold tooth!

Monday could have been better. I tracked Kinsler who simply followed Grace to watch her in class rather than joining it.  I sometimes think he does it thinking I will screw up and leave her alone.  Not!

That also constituted me as a stalker too, but he who covets his toys closer keeps his toys.  Maybe not the greatest human logic, but I wasn’t human.

She noticed that both of our bikes were missing in the parking lot.  I reached the cafeteria in time to see Pike’s little adventurous interlude with my girl.  He picked up the dollar she dropped and she told him thank you. 

“Anything else you need, just ask?” his voice was deep and offering more than she knew meant.  It was too deep of a voice for his age, she thought.  It spiked her heart rate more than I liked making me want to strangle him and drag him through a minefield.

  She gaped openly at him as he walked to where he sat down in his usual spot where he always sat alone, but she had never noticed before.  She tried to reason out why a good-looking guy sat in solitary without girls all around him.  Little did she know!  He’d always been covered in girls before he decided to pursue Grace.  And it wasn’t until very recently that he cut them all out completely.  Now suddenly, she was top priority.
              Pike read her thoughts too and turned to watch her staring.  He was giving her a disgusting grin that spread a loud blush as she headed to our table.  She even peeked back over to him again once she sat and saw him studying her with perfect intent.  Why didn’t she creep out at that?  It was very stalker like
too
. 

Suddenly, she thought of me and where I might be. About time. I checked behind me for any sign of Kinsler and dodged towards the table to ease her pain.  I hated her pain.  It seemed I was often the cause of it. 

Pam settled beside her right after she sat down taking my usual seat.  Her face dialed murder as she glared, her thoughts angry and vile.  I wondered where it came from since it led her thoughts and hid the meaning.

When Pam moved over Grace’s head popped up to me as if she sensed me there.  She had an uncanny way of knowing and it worried me sometimes if she’d just read my mind.  I picked up my slice of pizza and started in on it knowing well she would watch my every move like she’d just done to Pike.  Jealousy was the angry monster who screamed in my head and I didn’t want her to hear that.  It was ugly, vile.  I was so disgusted with myself.  I needed to get away from her as soon as possible to wage the war inside battling to destroy Pike, Kinsler, or any other friggin’ idiot who stepped in my way.

The girls talked about the upcoming Halloween party and I tossed a few nods in.  Caylie tuned all of us out and drooled over some new guy that showed up today.  So much for poor Mike, not that I really cared.  She was a friggin’ soap opera all by herself.  Every word of what she said about this new guy was exaggerated and it burned me that Grace listened so intently.  What the hell kind of name was Switch anyway?  My sentiments were mimicked by the girls.  Unfortunately, I knew the name well.

Just then, Pike broke into my thoughts. 

Aw.  Grace sees another toy she likes.

Stay the hell out of my head.

Jealous much?
              I heard the craphead laugh out loud from where he sat. 

I shifted in my seat intending to stand and rip his face off once I got him alone, but then the supposed Switch hellion made his grand entrance sending the room into a frenzied hormonal oven of teenage drama over the edge.  At least the girls.  Every female in the school cafeteria watched him walk in with the annoying Josie already clutched onto him.  High school could be a nightmare.  How could any human not detest it? 

Just then, my radar went off reminding me who I was dealing with.  Pike too.  Switch...wasn’t human. 

His glamour didn’t hide from our kind unless one was novice and without practice.

Switch was dropped at the sport table where Kinsler kept his kingpen seat and the entire room of girls sighed at his laugh and wide toothy grin smile, while every dude in the room I think rolled their eyes in unison.  He seemed to pay little to no notice as he shook hands and high fives with everyone at the table. 

Grace sized him up way too vividly in her head.  Saying I was losing my temper was putting it mildly.  My head shot her direction as her thoughts rang out an
Oh my
.  I wrapped my head back around to him and heard, not saw, him break into her thoughts. 

His eyes were on her like I assumed they would be.  I forced her hand to her charm. 
Rub it, dammit!
  Switch nodded once in her direction knowing now I’d shut her off from him.  She doubted instantly that his look was meant for her but confirmed it by looking behind where she sat. I hated her lack of self confidence, but knew it was only because I’d spent her lifetime thwarting off suitors.  The less, the better.

“Whoa!  Did you see that reflex?  Eyed you right on Grace.  I’m telling you, you’re like some kind of walking jock magnet.  They just key into you.”

Shut the freak up, Pam.

At this point, I had to assume this Switch guy was from the wrong side of the tracks, meaning the winter court but I didn’t recognize him.  He’d glammed himself different or something, but I’d find out which cad he was from their court and pay him back for his visit.  He rang me as familiar.  Pike agreed.  He screamed “up to no good”.   

Switch sat and never looked back at her, but his mind traced around the edges of hers searching for a way in. Not gonna happen dirtbag. 

Grace had been so enamored by him, she didn’t even notice my hand on her arm until it was all over. When I removed it, she removed her own hand from her charm not thinking twice on the gesture.

Pam continued on about the dude unaware of his otherworldly allure.  Then she changed that quickly to give close attention to Josie’s conversation at the next table on college guys as I listened to Caylie give Pam her take on dating older guys.  Grace didn’t seem to care unless I was, so I sat back and enjoyed listening to Grace’s clear headed mind being all jealous of what I might be thinking when I was busy being jealous of her looking at the new guy.  Hell, I had to get out of high school and Grace away from here with me.

Kinsler was friggin’ flagging her down too now.  The cafeteria was a zoo today. Would I get a break?  I stood paying little attention to them and said to all, “I’ll be right back.”

I stood behind Kinsler under glamour waiting for his next move and ignoring the stupidity of him even thinking he could threaten me where Grace was concerned.  He got my point, but didn’t follow through with my advice to leave.

Kinsler and three others succeeded in sitting at the table behind ours now as I returned like I wouldn’t kick their butts to the curb if they started some crap.  I walked myself behind Grace and just stood there guarding her from both of the evils of the room and that didn’t even count Pike who kept stock of the scene and helped none. 

I forced her hand to the pendant I’d given her on her thirteenth birthday that was wrapped around her pretty neck.  A too exposed neck for me, but I couldn’t say it to her or she’d definitely get the wrong idea. 

“You’re not wanted here!  Leave her be!”

I saw Grace shiver and I settled my hand on her shoulder. 

I felt him invade Caylie’s mind before I could stop it.  When she stood and announced she was sick and going home Grace shot a look to me.  My face said a lot, but my mouth told her to sit back down.  Grace was upset at the way I talked to her, but when Caylie let out a string of curse words even I wasn’t accustomed to the all but forgotten pretty boy Switch and his entrance was old news.   Caylie’s display would be the highlight of the day. 

Caylie finally sat her butt down after exhausting my magical pull.  When Grace asked her why she was sick, she said she had no idea what she was talking about.

“Totally freaking nuts!” Pam air quoted.

Ouch.  A slice of pizza knocked the side of my face and oozed down my cheek.  I grabbed a napkin and wiped it off then covered Grace and lodged her outside the door that led through the emergency exit by the kitchen. 

We watched through the cafeteria windows laughing our heads off.  Switch was in there with the best of them returning to the scene of a detailed crime I never let him commit because I was able to stop him this time.  And Kinsler. It successfully let everyone forget to ask any of us what the scene was all about with Caylie’s freak out session.  It wasn’t mentioned again.

After lunch, Geography class went fine. 

We took our weekly pop quiz on the facts about whatever continent it was this week.  

Kinsler sat four seats back from Grace throwing spit wads at her today.  But I think she found her limit when he pretended to walk to the trash can and stole her paper from her desk to get a reaction out of her. She said through gritted teeth to leave her alone. 

He bellowed with laughter, but glamoured himself at the same time forcing the teacher to notice nothing.  The all human teacher looked up, watched, and returned to whatever it was he was looking at on the empty desk in front of him.  

I reached over and grabbed Grace’s arm after Kinsler passed back by to sit down.  She calmed.  She also stared at me and shook her head back and forth, then shrugged it off.

Kinsler doubled back and leaned against my arm successfully breaking the connection between us. My chair fell as I faced off with him.  I was as tall as him, but he had the power and strength over me.  The standoff between us in the middle of class wouldn’t end until Kinsler backed down first.
 

Kinsler moved on the other side of her desk to trap her in between wanting me to react with violence to scare her off.  In the end, he laughed and turned to sit in his own seat and clicked his tongue against his teeth giving his version of this isn’t over.

No one else noticed any of it.  Switch was reaming with words of what he could do to me if Kinsler would let him two desks behind Grace, which was too damn close to me or
her
.

Grace looked around for the paper that started it all finding it in my hand. 

“How?” she mouthed to me then, “Never mind,” turning away from me and anyone else for that matter.  I laughed in spite of the fiasco we’d just put on.  She was thinking about me saving her again making me stifle a larger laugh at the idea of it. I was a sitting duck between two sumo wrestlers who’d have me for lunch if I said what I wanted at that moment for I knew they were listening.  Smug as I was at her reaction, I wasn’t that stupid.

She watched me one more time focusing on my misshapen hair seeming to like it that way for years now.  Maybe that’s why I purposefully mussed it up sometimes and stopped cutting it so often.  I subconsciously wanted to see her watch me now. I sat my pencil down when she started to analyze how I held it.  Suddenly, I changed my mind.  She needed to guard her thoughts.  When her eyes burned into me like they were I didn’t want the two jerkfaces behind me to always listen in.   Even now they were all taking turns grunting behind us. When I smiled at her hoping to calm her thoughts she rewarded me with her wonderful flushed cheeks, then turned back around to hide under the blanket of hair.  I couldn’t think of a fast enough response to excuse me from staring at the back of her in turn because she made the air stir and it did things to me it shouldn’t. 

“Time.”  Coach took up the papers and passed out yesterday’s quiz.   Startled by the C on the top of her paper I blamed myself as the cause of her failure.  When she crossed her arms in defeat all I wanted to do is hold her, but that couldn’t happen.

Kinsler offered his take on it, “Harvard won’t take you now, not that you’d ever make it there.  You’re doomed to a life of servitude, princess.”

When Grace wished for his death in what she thought was her own secret thoughts, I pained as I knew he’d not stop there. “Good girl status lowered to bad girl status, I like that!”

Yeah, he would.  His belief that she is of his court always plays with his thoughts.  He is determined she is ruthless in spirit.  He doesn’t see that it’s only towards him.

Several people laughed at us as Kinsler attempted sexy in front of Grace.  When she looked disgusted, he huffed like the animal he is.  I wanted to surgically remove his tongue.  Grace cut her eyes to see my own reaction.  My sorrow bled through my look at not being able save her from this.  She thought it too.

Coach had a one sided discussion about the thirteen colonies versus how the idea came about expanding to the states. No one listened. 

Want a study session after school?  We can make our own history. 
I heard Grace say to herself.  I darted my eyes in her direction to see her folding up a piece of paper.  It had to be from Kinsler.

Like slow motion, the next few minutes were a reality nightmare.

Riiiing!
  Kinsler was already too close to her and touching her underneath her elbow.   Coach held me, moving quick enough she never saw the act.  He sunk his claws into my hand and held me there under the glamour.  He was stronger than me and I couldn’t break free being forced to watch.  Dogface Pike was missing in action.

“Well, want to make history with me?”

“Kin, it’s not that kind of history class.  Geography, jock strap.”  She smiled in pride to her own insult.  I hurled all manner of curses at the man holding me down.

“Chekov dies.  End of story,” he told over his shoulder to his cronies hoping for a quick laugh. 

The other two foul gits were laughing heartily.

“Still the wrong history class. And I don’t recall who Chekov is anyway.” Grace said trying to break free of him. 

One dude snorted at her inching closer than I liked, “I’ll give you a lesson in it.  It’ll be good for you.  I promise.  Will be for me.”  He laughed.

“She’s mine.”  Kinsler barked sending the dude back in defeat.

My own eyes flashed bright.  My head dizzied with the kill ratios going through my skull that named each slow death I’d put him through. When I found the release from Sane’s temporary brain release (sometimes it happens when caught off guard) who doubled as coach at the second, I jumped three feet through the air and sent my own growl in Kinsler’s direction and landed in the same face off place where we’d stood in class. 

If she wondered about the sudden appearance, she wasn’t acting upset by it though Grace did find the inclination to speak her mind.
 
“Whoa!  This is unnecessary boys.  I can handle myself, Ian.”  I knew that look.  She wanted me to save her, but back off in the same instant.  Couldn’t happen today.

“Yeah, let her handle herself guardian boy.”

I ached to kill him with my bare hands for doing this to her.  If she’d not been watching, I’d have taken my closest fist and pounded the wall just to release the anger welling up inside me with his face attached.  No, anger didn’t describe well enough.  But her seeing that would not make her rush to follow me anywhere.  It would repel her to the other side of the other court.  Kinsler’s court to be exact.

Another figure appeared in the doorway, but Pike didn’t say a word.  Kinsler backed away from me and motioned for others to follow renouncing his claim. I walked Grace out without a word to Pike knowing he would wait it out and follow Kinsler. 

When we rounded the corner and stood near the end of the hallway where classes were already in session and no one was around I pulled her into my arms and just held her feeling her body instantly relax.  I told myself it was for her benefit, but there was more to it than mere worry for her.  The thought of losing her was consuming me.             

***

After school I met Grace at the lockers and found out it was a chicken and dumplings night at her house.  She hadn’t let go of the scene from earlier, but sadly it wasn’t the first altercation from Kinsler in her life.  She would move past it if I took her mind off of it.

She even shoved a delightful slur in Kinsler’s direction when he bullied a freshman into his locker.  As we slid by him, I was suddenly too aware of how he slipped his hand around me and brushed her cheek with his fingers.  She cringed and noted in her mind that he stunk.  Good!  I followed her close out the main doors and through the parking lot with my hand never leaving her skin.  For safety, of course.

When we parted for the ride home I didn’t turn to my bike.  I watched feeling like death leaving her, but without the rain, I didn’t have an excuse.  I glanced at the main doors.  She copied me and started to say something.  I cut her off saying too fast, “Do you want to ride and I’ll bring you back?  I’ll take you wherever you need.”

She just stared, empty minded. 

“Sure!”

She climbed on the back of my Shadow and jumped like always when I slid in front of her.  I felt her hands tighten when I laughed and revved the engine more.  My insides climbed back up on a high when her hands tightened even more straining my control for knowing once again she was safe, but for the first time today.  She believed I was doing this to make her grip her hands a little tighter around my waist.  It was.  She daydreamed of the day I would kiss her.  Soon! 

“Ready, princess tree hugger?” I purred feeling ten times better.  My helmet and mask hid my face as we reenacted our same ritual of comments when she rode with me.  She just watched my lips.  Of course, she knew I knew this too. 

“Yes, my shadow prince,” she always said playfully.

I revved the engine and left the parking lot hitting the accelerator to lift the bike on the front forcing her to pull me tighter. I felt like every bone in my body came alive.  She was picturing me half naked at the moment and that thrill didn’t help stop the high I was on but did make me tighten my abs under her hold giving her a taste of what she could have.  Freshman year volleyball proved a wonderful class because I was able to spend it with her, but it forced me to improve my chances by enticing her more. That’s around the time I started falling for her completely.  That’s also when she started the ungodly amount of time noticing other guys too.  It liked to have driven me crazy.  And when she went out on the date with that guy.... 

“Where first?” I yelled sideways to her.

“The edge of the park,” she yelled. 

Once there, I sat and played in the dirt drawing her name while she lingered at the maple trees a little longer than the others.  I was so far lost in her I was thankful none of the guys from the range could see me now.  They would say I was “played”.

My mind was a storeroom of pent up emotions that were screaming to get out like a damn girl.  I knew this well.  I couldn’t wait much longer.  The days were longer.  The nights were excruciating.

“They’re clothed in the most brilliant colors this time of year,” she told me from far enough away she couldn’t see the dirt in front of me.   She called the leaves her treasures.
 

“How are my beauties?” She talked to them too.  I felt a kind of peace knowing she felt comfortable doing this in front of me. 

When she stopped to ponder the difference between people and leaves I nearly laughed aloud. 
What?
  And she thinks I’m complicated.

Just then, the leaves not far from her rustled the way leaves shouldn’t unless disturbed by something unearthly.  Kinsler was here...to watch.  I glared at him each time he came near her. She sniffed the air like she could sense him or something, but her mind never went there.  He couldn’t just show up here and her not get suspicious so I knew he’d stay glamoured.  He kept me just at bay to stay close to her and make me uncomfortable.  Too bad he knew it. 

In the afternoon the two of us stayed outside in the gazebo talking with Caylie and little studying.  Caylie stayed an hour and left.   Dinner with her parents was always an unspoken game between Grace and I but held at bay in front of her father.  A pang of guilt hit me any time seeing Lord Evan in his uncharacteristic to him routine.  I never knew him personally, but a summer court prince spends years studying his adversaries.

              We had our standard argument over who was going to fold the napkins.  I’d fold them purposefully messy and roll them into a bun while she would do little girly triangles and lay the silver just right. She insisted everything be symmetrical, while I insisted everything be “lopsided” just to tease her.  She’d look at my lips without fail during various awkward moments between the two of us and napkin folding was one of them.  The first time I’d noticed this, I’d tortured her a dozen times.  Since the discovery I’ve tried other words to no avail.  The hardest part was my own discovery that I now often fantasize all the words that exit her mouth being said into mine. She was being overly attentive tonight.  I was in love with this girl and I just might lose her.

Overly attentive goes both ways. 

We sat down to eat moving the short stemmed green roses that appeared on our napkins into the vase at the center of the table. I dared a look at her hinting at the choice in flower.

I wasn’t crazy about chicken and dumplings, but couldn’t bring myself to tell Grace or her family.  Her mom was aware, but often told me it was good for my soul.  So, I would eat them with a smile.  I caught sight of Grace in distress and was up so fast and standing behind her cradling her hand where she’d just cut it open across the palm with a knife.  Her body slipped fast into the kitchen area hiding the injury from her parents.   She stretched her distressed green eyes up to mine eyeing me with suspicion.  I could hear her breathing start to pick up when I touched her and her heart fluttered hard and fast as I held her hand trying to stop her shaking.   I liked being the reason her heart sped up but not for this.

I kept my eyes on her lovely face and turned on the faucet.  Her hand landed on my arm and her skin burned into me.  Finally I spoke, “It’s okay!  You didn’t really cut it as bad as you thought.”  We both looked down seeing the last of the blood go down the drain knowing well how how bad she’d cut her hand.  A faded line was almost invisible as she pulled it to her.