The Golden Couple (The Samantha Project Series, # 2) (5 page)

“Maybe there’s another way to contact the guy,” I suggested, hoping to relieve Erik’s worry. “We can talk more about it tomorrow. I’m gonna go say goodnight to Colin.”

“I have one last analysis running on his blood,” Jack said. “If everything looks good, then we should plan to leave early tomorrow morning, around 5.”

Jack and Erik stayed outside, while I went in to see Colin. “I’ll be over with Brittany if you need me, okay, Colin?”

He reached out and took my hand, pulling me down next to him on the bed. “Do you have to sleep over there?”

“Yes. But you’ll be okay. You look a lot better.” It was a total exaggeration. His face was badly bruised and the gash on his forehead was swollen. “How’s your chest?”

He cringed as he tried to sit up. “Still sore. But nothing I can’t handle. I’ve been beat up on the football field a thousand times. This is nothing.”

I knew he was lying. I could tell he was in a lot of pain. His injuries were far worse than any he’d had from playing sports. I slid his t-shirt up to reveal dark bruises all along his stomach and chest. I wasn’t expecting to see so many. I felt a lump in my throat knowing the bruises wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for me.

“Sam, what are you doing?”
 

“Um, nothing. I was just checking out your six pack abs.” I gently outlined the definition in his muscles with my finger. “It looks like you were you working out a lot while I was gone.”

“That’s what I do when I’m stressed. I always head to the gym. And when you were missing, I was really stressed. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t concentrate at school. I didn’t know how to find you, Sam.”
 

Guilt consumed me once again as I considered what Colin had gone through because of me. How could I even think of being with Erik when I had a boyfriend like Colin? What was wrong with me? Colin was caring and thoughtful. He was funny and smart. Every girl in my high school wanted to date him. He was the hottest guy there, and a star athlete. He could have had any girl and he chose me.
 

I scanned his body again and noticed a massive bruise along his lower left side. I moved his jeans down to see it better.
 

“Hey, you better stop that unless you’re planning to take this somewhere,” he teased.

“What? Oh, I wasn’t doing anything.” I carefully pulled his t-shirt back down and noticed him smiling at me. “You’re not at all ready for that, Colin.”
 

He laughed. “I’m just joking, Sam.”

“Yeah, I know.”
 

“Is something wrong? You seem upset.”

“Colin.” I felt tears forming and bit my lip to stop them. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
 

“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s not your fault, Sam.”

But it was my fault. And I felt sick about it.
 

“I guess I should go. I need to spend some time with Brittany. We haven’t really talked since leaving Texas.”
 

“Are you ever gonna tell me the story of how you ended up with a twin sister?”

“Yeah, but not tonight. I have to get over there before she goes to sleep.”

“Maybe you could talk to her in the van tomorrow. That way you could stay here tonight. I might have a relapse if you go next door.”

“You’ll be fine. Jack will take good care of you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
 

“Okay, but can I at least get a kiss goodnight?” Colin was trying to sit up, but his sore ribs were stopping him.

“Yes, but I don’t want you breaking a rib for it. Lie down.” I leaned over and kissed him just as Erik came through the door.

“Oh, sorry,” Erik said, turning away. “I was bringing my stuff over. I can come back later.”
 

I felt myself blushing. “No. I was just leaving. See you tomorrow, Colin.”

“Goodnight, Sam. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I whispered it in his ear so Erik wouldn’t hear. I didn’t like him standing there watching me with Colin. I gave Colin a kiss on the cheek, then quickly left, passing Erik on the way out. “Goodnight, Erik.” He seemed uncomfortable and didn’t respond.
 

When I got to Brittany’s room, she was still up. I sat next to her on the bed and turned off the TV.

“Hey, I was watching that,” she protested. Brittany had somehow found her pajamas now that I was sleeping in the room instead of Erik.

“I need to talk to you.” I hesitated, not sure how to approach the topic. “Brittany, I just wanna say how sorry I am about your mom. And everything that happened at the trailer.”

“Can I just watch my show?” She reached around me, attempting to get the remote that I’d set on the nightstand.
 

“I know you’re trying to pretend it didn’t happen but you have to deal with this.”

“Bad shit happens, Sam. That’s life.” She crossed her arms, staring at the blank TV screen.

“Listen. You can put on an act for Erik or Jack, but I’m your sister. You don’t have to hide your feelings from me. I just went through this myself when my—our—parents were killed. And I’m still not over it. I relive that night over and over again in my head. And I think about them constantly. Every day. Even though it’s been months now.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Well, I guess I’m stronger than you. ’Cause I feel fine.”

“You’re not fine, Brittany. I know you’re not because I tried telling people the same thing when Mom and Dad died. I told everyone to just leave me alone and give me time. Ask Colin. He’ll tell you how stubborn I was. But Brittany, all that did was make me more lonely and more depressed. It wasn’t until I started talking about it and letting people help me that I started to feel better.”

“Well, good for you. But I’m not like you. I told you. I’m fine. My mom and I didn’t get along that well anyway.”
 

I reached over and forced Brittany into a hug. She tried to fight me, but I wouldn’t let her go. She finally gave in, resting her head on my shoulder. I could tell she was doing everything possible to keep from crying. I kept quiet. Brittany wasn’t ready to talk about it. Just like me, she had trouble letting people in.
 

Eventually she got up and I headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. “Jack said we’re leaving at 5 in the morning, so I guess we should get to sleep.”
 

“Why didn’t you stay with Colin again tonight?” Brittany asked.

“Because I thought we should spend some time together. Besides, that’s how it should be. Girls in one room, boys in the other.”

“Yeah, if you’re in summer camp. I don’t think it matters at our age.”

I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure where she was going with this.

“I miss Erik.” I came out of the bathroom to find Brittany staring dreamily at the ceiling. “Sam, you don’t care if I date Erik, do you?”
 

The question caught me off guard. Since we’d left, she’d been very aggressive in pursuing Erik. I was starting to wonder if latching onto guys was Brittany’s way of dealing with all the sadness and loss in her life.

“I don’t think you should be worrying about dating right now, Brittany, especially after everything you’ve been through.”

“Just answer me. You don’t care, right? I mean, you have Colin now, so why would you? I know you kind of had a thing for Erik, but that’s over, right?”

“Let’s not talk about it. We need to get to sleep.”

Brittany turned off the light. “Well, you can’t have both of them. So I guess that’s my answer.”

Her words kept me awake: I can’t have both of them. It was true, but I couldn’t stand the idea of Brittany dating Erik while I still had feelings for him. But what could I do about it? I had Colin. That meant Erik was free to date Brittany or any other girl.
 

It was hard to imagine Erik even wanting to date Brittany. She didn’t seem like his type. But then again, she
was
my identical twin. If he was attracted to me, he would be at least somewhat attracted to her, too.

I finally fell asleep, but not for long. The phone rang at 4 a.m. “Sam, get up.” It was Erik, sounding frantic. “We’re leaving.”

“I thought Jack said 5,” I mumbled.

“There’s a police car out in the parking lot. My dad’s freaking out. Just throw on some clothes and meet us outside by the van. Hurry up!”

I got Brittany up and we both dressed and tossed everything in our duffle bags. When we got outside, Colin and Jack were already in the van. Erik was waiting to load our stuff. I could see the police car in the parking lot, but nobody was in it.

“How long has it been here?” I asked Jack as I got in the van.
 

“Not long. I couldn’t sleep, so I was awake when it arrived. I saw the officer go into the front desk area. Haven’t seen him since. Could be nothing, but we can’t risk it.”

“Everything’s packed. Let’s go.” Erik climbed in and Jack took off down the road.
 

“Do you really think the cops are looking for us?” I asked Jack.
 

“I
know
they’re looking for us. I’m sure GlobalLife put out an alert right after they found out what happened to Worthings. But there’s a better chance that GlobalLife will find us before the police do.”

“How would they even know where to look?”

“GlobalLife has very sophisticated monitoring programs, Sam. And they’re one of the few corporations allowed to tap into the government’s surveillance programs. It’s one of those ‘you help us, we’ll help you’ deals. That’s why we need to try to avoid any places that are monitored with cameras or at least stay out of the camera’s sight.”

Jack turned the light on in the van. “Erik, check the map. We need to have some alternate routes planned, just in case.”

Erik got the map out. Brittany had claimed the seat next to him and was making herself comfortable, leaning against his shoulder.

I sat in the third-row seat, next to Colin, who was well enough to sit up. The only clothes he had were dirty and torn so he had to wear some of Erik’s clothes. It worked out because Colin and Erik were almost the same size.
 

“I missed you last night,” Colin whispered in my ear, kissing me. I kissed him back.

Erik glanced back and caught us but quickly looked away.
 

“Are you feeling better?” I asked. “Did Jack run more tests?”

“Yeah. He said the drugs they gave me are finally out of my system. And my blood work showed that everything’s almost back to normal. I still feel a little weak, but Jack said I’ll feel stronger in a day or so.”

“You should get some sleep now that we’re on the road.”

“No. I’m wide awake. And I feel like I can actually think with those drugs out of me. So now can you tell me what happened to you, Sam? Where did you go all those weeks? How did you end up in Texas? And why is GlobalLife after you?”

“There’s a lot I need to tell you, but I’m really kind of tired. Could I sleep a little before we talk?”
 

“Sure. Here, you can lie on me.” Colin put his arm up.

“I would, but I don’t want to hurt your ribs.” I leaned against the seat instead, positioning a pillow under my head.

I closed my eyes and tried contacting Erik’s mind.
“Erik, I need to talk. Are you listening?”

Erik didn’t respond so I assumed he hadn’t heard me.

“Erik. Please listen. I need to talk.”

Silence. Then finally he answered.
“I have to read the map. What do you want?”
His thoughts were cold. He kept his eyes on the map.

“It’s Colin. He’s asking what happened. I don’t know what to tell him.”

“Tell him the truth. You had no problem telling Brittany all of our secrets.”
His tone turned argumentative.

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have told Brittany everything, but I learned my lesson, okay?
So given that, maybe I should be more careful with what I tell Colin.”

“He’s your boyfriend. You have to tell him.”

“Yeah, but maybe I shouldn’t tell him everything. Like maybe I shouldn’t tell him about the timer. Or my abilities. It might freak him out.”

“He loves you, Sam. He’s made that perfectly clear. He’s not gonna freak out.”

“Well I
would freak out if I found out he was some type of genetic mutant.”

“So now we’re ‘mutants’? Gee, thanks.”

“You know what I mean. We’re different. There’s nobody like us.”

“Brittany seemed to be okay with it.”
He looked down from his map to see her resting on him.
 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I need to tell him.”

His tone turned caustic. “
Or you could just lie to him. Not tell him how you’re feeling. Not tell him anything. Even though he needs to know. Make it easier on yourself.”

His comments hit me hard. He was calling me a coward and a selfish one at that. I cut my thoughts off from him and went to sleep.

We stopped around noon at an old gas station in the middle of the Arizona desert. There were no restaurants around so we ate beef jerky, nuts, crackers, and other nonperishables that Jack had packed. We sat at a picnic table that was next to the parking lot. It was nice to be outside and get a break from the van. The air was dry and the desert sun was toasty warm.

“Pretty nice for January,” I commented, rolling up my sleeves to soak in the sun.
 

“I guess for you two,” Erik said, looking at Colin and me. “The rest of us are used to warm winters.”

Jack got up. “I’m going to use the restroom and then we’ll head out.”
 

“I’m gonna go, too.” Colin said, getting up.

“Again?” I asked. “You just went.”
 

“Geez, Sam. What are you, the bathroom police? Leave him alone,” Brittany scolded, embarrassing me.
 

Jack and Colin headed to the small building next to the gas pumps. The building was made to look like an adobe hut. A display of cactus souvenirs was set up outside near the entrance. The place clearly catered to tourists needing a break from the road.

Minutes later, Jack came out carrying some bags, followed by Colin, who also had a bag.