Spiral (Spiral Series) (28 page)

I looked at Jill and Maxie. We were standing arm to arm in a curve facing inward on ourselves. Emma was right. We were our own life-sized triangle of insecurity.

“I am going to get drinks,” said Maxie.

“I want pretzels,” said Jill. “Be right back.”

And before I knew it I was alone.

On the other side of the room, which crowded with all the classmates who habitually ignored me, I saw Pierce talking to Haley. I watched the tilt of her blond head as her perfectly shaped features bent down to listen to something he was saying. They looked like they were deep in conversation, triggering a fantasy to flash through my mind of leaping across the room,, jumping on Haley, and throttling her. Superwoman without the awkward costume, I thought to myself with a chuckle.  Well, at least I wasn’t taking myself too seriously.

“Why are you smiling?” Maxie asked, appearing at my elbow with two red cups filled with liquid. It turned out to be non-spiked fruit punch. My dad would kill me if I came home drunk, then bring me back from the dead just so he could do it again.

“Was I?” I asked, turning away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Pierce’s eyes dart in my direction, and my face flamed. Now, I thought, he probably thinks I’m jealous, when I’m soooo not. Not at all. Not even one little bit. No.

Just to make sure, I asked Maxie, “This doesn’t have alcohol in it, does it? I don’t even want to think about what my dad would do if I came home drunk.”

“Has he ever talked to you about it?” Maxie asked.

“Yeah, he said that if I did he would think up the worst penalty imaginable”

“Death? Loss of cell phone privileges?”

Before I could answer, Jill walked up to us. “Casey is ridiculous,” she said. “It took ten minutes for him to find a bowl for the pretzels.”

“Maybe you should have some sympathy for people who have to deal with you,” said Maxie, “instead of being so judgy.”

“Are you implying that I’m hard to deal with?”

“No, I am outright telling you that you’re hard to deal with.”

Into the middle of this exchange another voice inserted itself. “How’s it going?” Pierce asked.

“Oh Pierce, didn’t see you there,” I said, examining my cup like it was my job.

“Sure you didn’t,” said Pierce dryly. “How am I ever supposed to impress you if you don’t follow me around?”

“You can impress me anytime,” said Maxie. “You already have.”

“Sorry, but you probably can’t impress me. I'm not attracted to tall guys,” said Jill, craning her neck upwards to look at Pierce. He wasn’t that tall, just an inch or two over six feet, but that was enough to give Jill an opening.

“I'm attracted to all guys,” said Maxie, grinning. “Jill, you should be more positive. You're mean when we talk about guys.”

“As opposed to other times, when I’m a sweetheart,” said Jill dryly.

“See? She acknowledges the bright side, then she discards it,” said Maxie, exasperated.

“How is Haley?” I asked Pierce, trying not to sound like the petulant five-year-old I felt like.

As usual, Pierce’s face was inscrutable, except that his eyes were starting to sparkle. “She’s her usual.”

And with that he wandered off.

“Uh oh,” said Jill. “I think someone has a problem.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Anyone who hangs out with Haley is in big trouble.”

“That’s not the someone I was referring to.”

After two weeks of school I was ready for graduation. Not only did I hate sitting in classes when it was brilliantly sunny outside, but I was starting to feel more restless and more worried about Visioners. The only saving grace was the time I got to spend with Natalie. It was like a warm summer breeze in the middle of winter. I loved being with her at Mrs. Tiger’s, and I looked forward to weeding in a way that I would never have thought possible a month ago.

I tried to spend as much time with Natalie as I could, but it was hard not to worry about her. The dark circles under her eyes were getting worse, and I wondered what was going on. I had ended up calling my aunt again, demanding to be able to tell Natalie who and what she was, but my aunt had refused. She didn’t want Natalie to know anything until after graduation.

Since it wasn’t long until the end of senior year and Blueberry was small, I had been viewed as something of an anomaly coming in, but I made friends quickly. Andrew was cool, and even if Jackson didn’t like me I could see that the girls in the halls eyed me appreciatively. It was something that I was used to and always ignored. Natalie never did that, even if I wished she would. Sometimes I would catch her looking at me, but when I made eye contact she whipped her head around and blushed.

I bumped into Natalie in the hallway Friday on afternoon at the end of my third week of “high school.”

“Hey,” she said, her silver eyes going wide and adorable.

“Hey yourself,” I said, then grinned. I finally had a chance.

“Can I PLEASE ask you a question?”

“Now?” she said.

“I am worried I’m not going to get a chance,” I said.

“What makes you think that?” she said.

“I’ve been trying to ask you for weeks.”

“Ask me what?”

“Exactly.”

“So,” said Maxie, interrupting us again right on cue, “we’re all going to the baseball game tonight. Want to come? Andrew’s pitching.”

I smiled at her but looked at Natalie. “Are you going?”

Maxie gave me a sly smile. “Obviously.” Natalie blushed and looked down, mumbling something that was either, “Yes, I’m going,” or “Less grilled shrimp gunk.” I decided she was going.

I hadn’t been to a Blueberry game yet, but this was a big one. The team was playing for a chance to be seeded first or second in the playoffs. Andrew had been focused on nothing else. The game was away, two towns over, and I was driving myself. Halfway there, my cell phone range. Glancing down, I saw that it was Maxie.

She sounded breathless on the other end of the line and fear squeezed my heart as I wondered if something had happened to Natalie.

“What’s wrong?” I demanded. “Is Natalie okay?”

Her voice registered surprise. “She’s fine, sitting right next to me. But it’s the baseball team.”

Uh oh.

“They were in an accident on the way to the game. The bus rolled over and the only one hurt was Andrew.”

Anger coursed through me at the sound of Maxie’s words. “Is he okay?” I asked, feeling cold. I already knew the answer. I felt like the air was being choked out of my lungs.

Maxie’s voice shook as she said, “We don’t know, but we’re going to the hospital. The game is canceled or postponed or something. I have no idea. I just wanted you to know so that you didn’t drive all the way there.”

“What hospital?” I asked. The cold was settling over me like a cloak, fueling my anger. A part of me had known that something like this would happen, and the other parts hadn’t listened carefully enough.

“County General,” said Maxie. “But you don’t have to come. I’m sure Andrew will be fine.”

I wasn’t sure about that at all. “I’m coming.” I said, and hung up. I quickly dialed Eric.

“The Visioners went after Andrew,” I told him when he answered.

“How do you know?” he asked. He didn’t sound surprised.

“Because there was a bus accident and he was the only one hurt,” I nearly yelled. “They are trying to force Natalie to use her hele.”

“Why would they do that?” Eric was maddeningly calm.

“Because it will tell them how much of it she has,” I growled. “We don’t know how powerful she became when she turned eighteen. If Andrew is very badly injured, and I’m sure he is, then her healing him will tell us - and them - how strong she is.”

“You really think they’d try to kill Andrew?” Eric asked.

“Of course they would,” I shot back. “They killed my family, didn’t they?”

Eric didn’t have a response for that. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m on my way to the hospital now,” I said, glancing out the window at road signs. “Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes.”

“Who’s her Watchful?” Eric asked. “Can you talk to him? Her?”

“I don’t know,” I said bitterly. “They wouldn’t tell me. They thought it would compromise his safety to let anyone know who he was.”

“They’re probably right,” said Eric. “It’s safer for everyone if the Watchful remains hidden. Do you need me to come?”

“No,” I said. “The less unicorn presence the better. The Dekers are already unhappy that we’re in their territory, and the Visioners will just view it as a challenge.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “But I have to do something.”

Once I got to the hospital it took me a while to find anyone. Natalie, Maxie, and Jill were in a waiting room, and as soon as I walked in Maxie sprang to her feet and said, “Olivia and Nat’s dad are with the doctors, but we don’t know anything yet. He’s still in surgery.” I nodded. It might just have been my imagination, but it looked like some of the tension seeped out of Natalie when she saw me.

“It’s a waiting game now,” said Jill. Not even Jill could come up with something sarcastic to say at a time like this.

“Are any of Andrew’s friends coming?” I asked, wanting them not to. What I really wanted was just to be alone with Natalie.

“Most of his school friends play baseball, and I guess they’re busy with the police and their parents,” said Maxie. “We let a couple of other people know. Andrew has a cousin that lives nearby, but he won’t get here any time soon.”

I was too anxious to want to sit down, but I forced myself into a seat a couple down from Natalie. “What happened?”

“They were driving and I guess the road was slippery,” said Jill. “It could have happened to anyone. At least that’s what we heard. I don’t think anyone is totally sure right now, but the bus skipped and flipped on its side.”

“How many were hurt?” The more people hurt, the less likely it was Visioners. They wouldn’t want to kill a bunch of people. That would piss off other unicorns.

“Just Andrew,” said Maxie. “No one is sure what happened, but everyone else got off a little shaken and maybe with a scratch or two. But Andrew’s in bad shape.”

I nodded slowly, feeling panic rise in my chest. The Visioners wanted to force Natalie to use her powers, whatever those were. It was an interesting plan, considering that I was there and had hele of my own. Haley must have told them there was a Silve unicorn in Blueberry. To me it showed a desperation that was more frightening than the inaction of the past weeks.

“Earth to Pierce,” Jill said, nudging me in the ribs. She really must have been upset; I had never seen her voluntarily touch anyone before. I met her eyes. For all I knew she was Natalie’s Watchful. She was certainly protective and badass enough.

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Now,” said Jill grimly. “We wait. And hope Andrew doesn’t die.”

Jill was right. It took hours for us to get any news, and then it would almost have been better if we hadn’t. We had just sat down to our dinner of vending machine snacks around eleven o’clock when Olivia came in. Her face was pale and tear-streaked, and she looked like she was keeping her hands clasped tightly in front of her to keep them from trembling.