Ordinary (Anything But) (4 page)

She slowly turned to face Honor and lifted an eyebrow.
“What?”

Honor flushed. Now that she had her singled out, words evaded her. Honor cleared her throat, feeling dumb. “We need to talk.”

Natasha Becwar was somewhere around five feet tall and slim with light brown hair she wore short and messy. She had large brown eyes overemphasized by black eyeliner and looked like a punk rocker fairy with her oversized purple and red tie-dyed shirt, black stretch shorts, combat boots, and pixie face. Multi-colored bangles went halfway up her forearms and hoops dangled from her ears. Her nose was pierced and a tiny green gem sparkled there. She was hard. There was no softness to Natasha and Honor always wondered why that was. What kind of life did she have at home that had made her the way she was?

Kids bustled past them on either side, eager to get out of the
classroom, while Natasha continued to look at her like she was an annoyance. “About?”

“What do you know about Christian?”

“Everything okay, girls?” Mrs. Logan watched them from behind her desk, a quizzical look on her face.

Honor adjusted her grip on her textbooks.
“Fine. Everything’s fine.” She offered a smile, which the teacher returned. She looked at Natasha. “Well? What do you know about Christian?” Honor asked in a lowered voice.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you yesterday. I saw you watching him and I know you know something.” Natasha started to move away and she grabbed her wrist. “What is it? What was wrong with him? Is he okay?”

Natasha yanked her arm out of Honor’s grasp. “Look, I wouldn’t be worried about Christian if I were you.” With that, she quickly left the classroom.

Honor frowned and hurried to catch up. The hallway was almost empty so it was easy to find Natasha. She was at her locker, her fingers busily working the combination on the lock.              “What do you mean?”

The locker door creaked as it opened. Natasha grabbed a few books from it and shoved them into a purple tote. She didn’t look at Honor as she answered, “Just what I said. Don’t worry about Christian Turner.”

A sick feeling formed in Honor’s stomach. “Meaning?”

Natasha slammed the locker door shut and let out a sound of irritation. “Do I need to spell it out for you?” She glared at Honor. “You figure it out. I have enough problems of my own without having to babysit you too.”

Honor fell back a step, unable to grasp what she was hearing. “What?” she asked; completely confused. “What are you talking about?”

She pressed her lips together into a tight line. Natasha leaned close to Honor and said slowly, “You and I are not friends. We don’t talk. Stay away from me.” She slung the tote straps over her shoulder and strode down the corridor.

Honor stared after her. What was
wrong
with everyone? She felt like she was in that old television show, ‘The Twilight Zone’. Everything was disjointed. She swallowed; her mouth dry. She and Natasha had never exactly been friends, but she’d never been so outwardly rude to her. Honor turned in the direction of her locker, feeling completely disoriented with everything that had happened within the last twenty-four hours. She opened the locker door and put her books inside, grabbing her red backpack.

Something strange was going on and Natasha had just made her even more determined to figure out what it was. She knew something. Natasha knew something and she was trying to keep whatever it was hidden.
Honor shut the locker door and turned, sucking in a sharp breath. Ryder stood against the wall across the hall. A gray tee shirt fit his leanly muscled chest like a glove and black jeans hugged his legs, his customary black boots in place. He looked like he was posing for a photo shoot, and with his looks, he totally could have been.

What a waste of a good body
, Honor thought. He wore a half-smile that widened into a full one as their eyes met. She shot him a look of irritation. Why was he always around, hovering? The guy needed to take a hint.

She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a wrinkled twenty dollar bill.
“I have something of yours.”

Ryder pushed away from the wall. “That’s yours. You earned it.”

“Right. With my exemplary customer service skills?”

He stopped within inches
of her. Honor tilted her head back, ignoring the way her pulse picked up with his nearness. “I’m sure you’re usually much nicer to your customers. I seem to bring out the worst in you.”

There was a twinge at her conscience, but
she ignored it. “That’s your goal. You intentionally do it.”

“So you’re saying you let me win.”
Ryder lifted his hand and Honor flinched. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, his fingers closing around her fist with the money in it. He gently squeezed. Ryder’s fingers were warm and firm, calloused. Honor frowned at that. She couldn’t picture him working at anything harder than making himself look good. “Keep it.”

Honor opened her mouth to protest, but he was already walking away. She looked at her hand, expecting to see some lingering sign that he had touched her; a burn or a brand maybe. Nope. It was her normal hand.
She carefully folded the money and put it back in her pocket.
Must be nice to be able to just throw money away. To have so much it’s no big deal to part with a twenty.
She made her way down the deserted corridor, feeling out of whack. Honor couldn’t understand him. One minute Ryder was nice, the next he was mocking. Sometimes she imagined she saw a flicker of something in his olive green eyes, something deep and penetrating, but Honor knew that’s all it was—her imagination.

Honor briefly closed her eyes as the cool air touched her heated skin. It was overcast, the sun covered by wispy clouds. She was almost chilly in her tan shorts and thin white top. Her thoughts went back to Ryder and her skin felt warm once again. What was it about
her
that held his attention the way it did? There was nothing special about Honor, never had been. She was average in about every way; her one overachievement was her running. She’d excelled at track all four years, even placed second at state three of those and third the other year. That was no reason to warrant Ryder’s interest in her. He could have any girl in the school, any girl at all, but he instead had to do whatever it was he was doing with her. Tormenting her came to mind.

He’d been in Anderson Junction for two years and in that time, he’d made it his daily task to irritate and fluster and creep ou
t Honor. It wasn’t like he didn’t date though. He did. It never lasted long, much to Honor’s annoyance. She’d received her share of dirty looks from his girlfriends and ex-girlfriends too, like she
wanted
him to bother her all the time. Sometimes he almost seemed sweet, in his own twisted way. That’s what really upset her. Honor didn’t want to like anything about him and sometimes she had to work hard at continuing to dislike him. Other times she swore she couldn’t stand a single strand of blond hair on his head.

The crunch of tires on gravel caught Honor’s attention. She twisted around to see the silver Chevrolet Tahoe once again in the parking lot. Panic, instant and swift, swept over her.
Oh, no.
Honor fisted her hands, fighting an intense urge to run. Why were they there again? Her shoulders slumped when she saw the same two men who had come for Christian yesterday waiting beside the SUV, watching her. One was tall with brown hair, the other short and bald. They both wore dark-colored suits and sunglasses that amplified their tough exterior. She eyed their jackets; sure she saw a bulge under them where a gun most likely was.

She swallowed thickly.
They’re going to kill me. I saw something I shouldn’t have and now they’re going to kill me.
Honor wanted to tell herself not to overreact, she wanted to tell herself there was probably a perfectly good answer to everything that had happened in the past day, but she couldn’t lie to herself. She instinctively knew it was not good that they were there, in the parking lot, waiting for her. Not good for her at all.

What was Christian involved in?
Drugs? It had to be drugs. Nothing else made sense. And those were the thugs he’d somehow pissed off and possibly gotten killed by. Since Honor had witnessed them taking him away and they had seen her watching them, now she was dead too. But it didn’t fit. The drugs didn’t fit Christian. What then? It didn’t really matter because there they were, eyeing her up, ready to shove her into their vehicle like they had with Christian the day before. Honor put a hand to her mouth, feeling faint and sick and scared. She stared at them, her body trembling. What did she do? She had to do something, but what?

The shorter one of the two called out, “Honor Rochester?” The taller one took a step in her direction.

Honor looked away, fear squeezing her chest.
What do I do what do I do what do I do?
She looked back to see they were both closer. They had their hands raised, palms down, and were inching toward her.

“We mean you no harm, but you have to come with us,” the
tall, brown-haired one said.

Screw that.
She put a hand to her forehead and tried to think.
I won’t get far if I run. They don’t think I’ll run. It would be stupid to run.
Honor’s jaw tightened and her hands clenched. She had to try. Even if she didn’t get far, even if she didn’t make it, she had to try.
I’m going to run.
She relaxed her arms and let her backpack slowly fall to the ground. She took a deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and inwardly counted.
One. Two. Three.

Honor sprinted.

Their shouts sounded behind her and she looked over her shoulder. The men stared after her for one second of stunned silence and then immediately went for the vehicle. Honor faced forward and pumped her arms and legs. Tires shrieked on the pavement behind her. The wind whipped her hair back from her face and sweat beaded on her skin. She sucked in gasping breaths, knowing she should pace herself and control her breathing, but too panicked to try. They weren’t going to get her without a fight. They never would have gotten Christian if he hadn’t been sick and too weak to fend them off.

Honor ran past houses and people. She could hear the motor behind her, catching up.
She cut through a yard, ignoring the startled look of an older man mowing his lawn. The whir of lawnmower blades drowned out the sound of her thundering heart for an instant. She decided to stay in the alleys that ran behind houses. A cramp formed in her side and strangled sounds burst from her as she tried to breathe.

When the burn in her lungs and side became too much,
Honor ducked behind a tan shed with peeling paint. She put her hands on her knees and hung her head. Her pulse raced from exertion and fear as she swiped perspiration from her brow with her arm.
I can’t keep running forever. I need somewhere to go, to hide.
Home would be too obvious and it would put her family at risk. Honor felt the burning sting of tears and took a shuddering breath. Anna’s house was out too.

She looked up at the sky
and noted the puffy gray clouds. It was going to rain. Honor sat down in the dirt. It caked against the wet skin accessible to it and formed a gritty layer. She leaned her back against the shed, her stomach churning with hunger aa she wrapped her arms around her midsection. Her throat was parched and there was a bad taste in her mouth. Her nose crinkled as she caught a whiff of herself. Honor smelled like sweat and failing deodorant.

What do I do now?
She fleetingly thought of going to McDermott’s. But again, it would be too obvious of a place and she really couldn’t see her boss overly excited about hiding her.
Mom’s probably starting to worry. Anna is sure to be pissed. That’s two days in a row I’ve ditched her.
Honor rubbed her aching forehead as a cool drop of wetness hit her nose and soon more followed. Honor turned her face up to the light rain, opening her mouth and trying to catch raindrops on her dry tongue. The rain did nothing but make her thirstier. She bowed her head, the liquid snaking through her hair and onto her skin, dampening her clothes.

Honor sat like that for a long time, scared and tired
, her thoughts an unpleasant jumble. Was Honor’s short-lived life over the moment they caught her? She wanted to go back to two days before, even to the day before. That moment when her mom pulled her into her arms before she left for work last night, wrapped her cinnamon sugar scent around her, and told her she loved her— she wanted to even go back to that moment and stay there.

And home—s
he wanted to go home. Honor blinked her stinging eyes. She’d probably never see her mom again. Or Scarlet. Her lower lip trembled and her vision blurred
. I’ll never get to do Scarlet’s hair for her again. I’ll never feel the warmth of my mom’s arms around me and know I’m safe. I won’t even graduate or go to college. Anna will never forgive me for getting killed.
Ryder will have to find some new girl to torment.
Her lips began to curve in a sad smile and she forced it away. And Christian; what had they done with Christian? Was he even alive? Honor had a terrible feeling he wasn’t. The tears threatened again and that time they won, trickling down her cheeks and onto her lap to mix with the rain.