Masquerade (10 page)

“
So why comic books?” I
asked him in a hushed tone.

Without turning around he answered, “A
lot of the characters are exceptional. They’re different than
everyone else. They have…abilities, and they have challenges to
face. But yet they’re still like everyone else too.”

“
I guess I never thought
much about it.”

“
Do you ever wonder what it
would be like to be different?”

“
No.” I already
knew.

He turned abruptly, and I almost ran
into him again. “Heven…”

“
So which one is your
favorite?” I asked, ignoring his tone and gaze.

He sighed and reached for
my hand to lead me to another rack. “I like all of them. But a few
of my favorites are
Secret
Avengers
,
X-Men
and
Iron Man
. Then there are the
classics.”

“
The classics?” He lifted a
comic off the shelf and held it out. “
Spider Man
.” I smiled. “I’m familiar
with him.” He thumbed through the comic pointing out things I never
noticed about comic books.

“
Thanks for bringing me
here,” I said on our way out of the store. “I had fun.” For the
first time in a long time.

“
Me too.”

There was a loud clap of thunder above
us and then lightning lit up the sky. I jumped, unable to stop my
reaction. Geez, I was such a baby. But Sam didn’t laugh at my
reaction or even roll his eyes. He put his arm around my shoulders
and pulled me against him saying, “Let’s get you to the
truck.

Once again that familiar feeling of
safety enveloped me, and I smiled into his shoulder. A few fat
drops of rain began falling as we approached the truck, and I
spotted a trash can a few yards away to toss our empty Bubble Tea
cups. I jogged the distance to the can while Sam unlocked the
doors. Just in front of the trash can I was suddenly flanked by two
men. They walked so close to me that their shoulders jostled me as
I walked. “Excuse me,” I said low and quickened my pace to get
away. They moved right along with me. I threw the cups the
remaining distance into the trash and turned to run back to Sam.
One of the men grabbed me around the waist and turned me back
saying, “Let’s take a walk, sweet thing.”

My heart hammered in my chest as the
other one laughed low. I opened my mouth to refuse, but I didn’t
get the chance because Sam ran up behind me and inserted an arm
between me and each guy, shoving them out and away. He had enough
arm strength to do it. Unfortunately, the men were not fazed, and
they came quickly at Sam, pinning him up against the side of a
building.

“
Go get in the truck,
Heven.”

“
But…” I couldn’t leave him
there.

“
Oh, we just want to talk
to her.” One of the creeps laughed.

Sam looked at me, appearing completely
calm. “Go.”

I ran, climbing quickly into the truck
and locking the doors. I reached for my cell and keyed in 911
resting my finger on the SEND button, keeping my gaze glued on
Sam.

Sam straightened, shoving both the men
off of him, and I realized they weren’t much older than us. They
were both tall, dark headed and…grinning? Except their grins
weren’t reassuring, they were frightening. In that moment the few,
fat drops turned into a heavy avalanche of rain, pounding down from
the sky.

Sam said something, and
one of them laughed. Sam retaliated by shoving him full on, and the
guy stumbled backward. He advanced on Sam, and I tensed, waiting
for the worst, but the other stepped between them and said
something causing the angry one to back down, but not before he
yelled something at him. Sam got up in his face, his lips barely
moving as anger seethed from every pore. The muscles in the
recipient’s back rippled beneath his shirt, and once again I
worried for Sam, but the guy backed down. The other guy said
something and Sam shot a look in my direction, his eyes narrowing
into slits. His jaw was set and hard when he turned back. It scared
me, and I realized I didn’t really know anything about him. But
then he turned back to point a finger in the man’s face and shout.
Suddenly all three of them looked up the street, and I followed
their gaze, but all I saw were shoppers running into stores, most
of them covered with hooded raincoats.

Sam turned his back on them and
walked, almost prowled, toward me, but it wasn’t over. I beat on
the window in warning, but it was unnecessary because just as one
caught up to him, Sam turned, throwing a fist that connected
solidly with his pursuer’s jaw, and he hit the wet pavement. Sam
challenged the other guy, but he shook his head and helped his
buddy up.

Then Sam was at the
door
.
I unlocked
it, and he slid in beside me, starting up the truck.

He said nothing as he pulled into
traffic and disappeared down the street.

“
Who were they?” I
gasped.

His jaw tightened as he pushed the wet
hair off his forehead. “My roommates.”

“
Your roommates?” Didn’t he
live with his parents?

He nodded. He was soaked from the
rain. I hurried to turn some of the heating vents toward him and
pulled off the sweatshirt he gave me. “Put that back on. You’re
going to freeze.”

“
You’re soaking wet!” I
slid over and used the shirt to dry his arms and face, running it
over his head to dry his hair.

“
Smells like you now,” he
murmured.

“
Are you hurt? Your hand?”
I worried.

He flexed his hand and shook his head.
“I’m fine.”

“
What was that all
about?”

“
Nothing. They thought they
were being funny.”

“
They looked
angry.”

“
They aren’t very
nice.”

“
Why not?” I
demanded.

“
They’ve had some rough
times.”

“
That’s no excuse for bad
behavior!”

He smiled.

“
I’m serious!”

“
I know. Don’t worry about
it okay? They won’t act like that again.” Something in his voice
told me he’d make sure of it.

“
Are you going to get into
a fight when you get home?”

“
No.”

I twisted my hands in my lap. What if
he did? There was two of them and only one of him.

He reached out and wrapped his hand
around mine. “Everything’s fine.”

“
Why would you live with
them?”

He sighed. “It’s complicated.” Then I
saw a wall go up. He was done talking about them.

I didn’t bother pressing the issue.
Instead I turned my head and looked out the passenger window, but I
stayed right next to Sam. After a few short moments he placed an
arm around me and pulled me into his side. “I won’t let anyone hurt
you.”

“
I know.”

We drove the rest of the way home in
silence.

Chapter Seven

Heven

Kimber’s red bug was in the driveway
when Sam dropped me off. When I climbed out of his truck, Kimber
climbed out of the bug and ran to the front door.

“
You didn’t answer your
cell,” she hissed.

“
I turned it off,” I hissed
back, letting us into the house.

“
Heven? I was beginning to
worry!” Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel.
“Oh, hello, Kimber.”

“
Hi, Mrs.
Montgomery.”

“
Sorry I’m late, Mom. The
bus broke down, and I got a ride from a friend.”

“
Oh. Well I am glad you’re
home. How was the competition?”

“
We won.”

“
Well that’s wonderful. I
guess now that it is over that means that you’re no longer needed
on the squad.”

She didn’t come right out and say it,
but I got the impression that Mom would rather I didn’t cheer. When
I told her I would be filling in for an injured Jenna, she didn’t
tell me no, but she didn’t seem happy either. She wished me luck
and told me I wasn’t allowed to miss Bible study to cheer.
“Actually, the coach asked me to come back to the
squad.”

I could feel Kimber’s excitement and
Mom’s disappointment. My head began to pound. “I told her I would
think about it.”

“
Yes, you should take some
time to think about your choice.” Why did it feel like she was
trying to say something else, and why didn’t she just say
it?

“
Is it okay if I hang out
with Heven for a while, Mrs. Montgomery?”

“
Sure, honey. I’m making
chicken. You are welcome to stay.”

I pleaded with her with my eyes. She
sighed. “Sounds great. I love chicken.”

Mom returned to the kitchen to finish
the dreaded chicken, and we escaped to my room, closing the door
behind us.

“
You have major explaining
to do,” Kimber fiercely whispered.

“
Oh?” I went to my dresser
and began pulling out something dry and comfy to wear. I caught a
glimpse of my limp hair in the mirror and winced. Geez, it’s like I
tried to look hideous.

“
Don’t play dumb with me.
You like Sam!”

“
Shhh!”

She looked at the door guiltily.
“Sorry.”

I tossed her a pair of sweatpants and
a sweatshirt, motioning to her cheer uniform. She looked at the
clothes and grimaced. I rolled my eyes and rummaged around coming
out with bright pink velvet lounge pants and a matching zip-up
hoodie. She brightened and reached for the clothes. “You are such a
snob.” I laughed.

“
I just like to look nice.”
She sniffed. “And you’d better start caring about your appearance
if you want Sam.”

My appearance was not up for
discussion. Still, a little part of me worried that she was
right.

“
Why didn’t you tell me
that you liked him?”

I thought about my answer while I
changed into the very clothes she’d snubbed. “It doesn’t
matter.”

“
Are you crazy!? Of course
it matters! I never would have used him,
dated him,
if I’d known.”

“
I thought you liked
him.”

She sank down on the bed. “I do like
him, he’s a nice guy. Just not like that.”

“
Really?”

“
I’m in love with Cole. I
always have been.”

“
How are things with that
anyway?” I hoped to turn the topic to her and get some distance
from my own feelings.

She smiled. “Good. It seemed his fight
with Sam, my confession of loving him and me only using Sam fixed
things.”

“
You’re back
together?”

“
We haven’t said the words
yet, but yeah.” She smiled brightly.

“
Thank God. You two belong
together.”

“
Now, back to you.” Kimber
said, going to my dresser and pulling down her thick red hair. “Uh,
look at all this frizz!”

I rummaged through a forgotten drawer
of products and came up with some anti-frizz spray.
“Here.”

“
Don’t you think it’s time
you start putting your wardrobe and products back to
use?”

“
Kimber…” I
sighed.

“
I get it, Hev. I do. But
it’s been ten months. Enough moping.”

“
I am not
moping.”

“
Then admit you like
Sam.”

I stared at her, mutinous.

“
Did you kiss him?” she
asked, eyes twinkling.

I grinned. Then I thought of
something, and my grin disappeared. “Did you?”

Her eyes turned serious. “Never. I
swear.”

Something inside me relaxed. “Fine, I
like him.”

She squealed. “So?”

“
No, I didn’t kiss
him.”

“
Why not?”

“
I hardly know him.” Yet, I
felt like I did. I
sensed
him. Just like he’d said.

“
Who cares? He’s
hot!”

I laughed. It felt good.

Kimber turned sober and came to stand
in front of me. “This year has been really hard on you. I know. But
please, don’t hide from him, he likes you. I saw the way he was
looking at you today. I can’t believe I never noticed it before.
He’s totally into you.”

That’s what bothered me most. He did
like me, and I couldn’t understand why. He was hot, mysterious and
was actually nice, too. He could have any girl he wanted, so why
would he aim low?

“
Hev?”

“
Yeah?”

“
I’m so sorry if I hurt
your feelings by ‘dating’ him. I would never hurt you
intentionally.”

“
I know.”

Mom knocked on the door then stuck her
head in the room. “Chicken’s ready!”