Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away. “Ah, well, it’s probably not a good idea. I mean, we’re in public . . .”
“Come on,” she pleaded. “It won’t take any effort for you at all.”
He actually appeared nervous. “Nah, not right now.”
“Not you too.” She laughed. Above her and in front of her, that demon water was still spinning, spinning, spinning . . .
“Jill,” said Adrian, a harsher note in his voice than I’d ever heard before. In fact, I couldn’t recall him ever addressing her by her actual name. “Stop.”
It was all he said, but it was like a wave of something went through Jill. She flinched, and the water spirals disappeared, falling away in droplets. “Fine,” she said, looking confused.
There was a moment of awkwardness, and then Eddie said, “We should hurry. We’re going to be pushing curfew.”
Lee and Jill set out to make their shots and soon were laughing and flirting again. Eddie continued watching them in his concerned way. Only Adrian paid any attention to me. He was the only one who really understood what had happened, I realized. His green eyes studied me, with no trace of their usual bitter humor. I wasn’t fooled, though. I knew there had to be some witty quip coming, mocking my reaction.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly.
“I’m fine,” I said, turning from him. I didn’t want him to see my face. He’d already seen too much, seen my fear. I didn’t want any of them to know how afraid of them I was. I heard him take a few steps toward me.
“Sage—”
“Leave me alone,” I snapped back. I hurried off toward the course’s exit, certain he wouldn’t follow me. I was right. I waited for them to finish the game, using the alone time to calm myself down. By the time they caught up to me, I was fairly certain I had wiped most of the emotions from my face. Adrian still watched me with concern, which I didn’t like, but at least he didn’t say anything else about my breakdown.
Surprising to no one, the final score showed that I had won and Adrian had lost. Lee had come in third, which seemed to trouble him. “I used to be a lot better,” he muttered, frowning. “I used to be perfect at this game.” Considering he’d spent most of the time paying attention to Jill, I thought third was a pretty respectable performance.
I dropped him and Adrian off first and then just barely got Eddie, Jill, and me back to Amberwood on time. I was more or less back to normal by then, not that anyone would’ve noticed. Jill was floating on a cloud as we went into our dorm room, talking nonstop about Lee.
“I had no idea he’d traveled so much! He’s maybe been more places than you, Sydney. He keeps telling me that he’ll take me to all of them, that we’ll spend the rest of our lives traveling and doing whatever we want. And he’s taking all sorts of classes in college because he’s not sure what he wants to major in. Well, not all sorts this semester. He’s got a light schedule so that he can spend more time with his father. And that’s good for me. For us, I mean.”
I stifled a yawn and nodded wearily. “That’s great.”
She paused from where she’d been searching her dresser for pajamas. “I’m sorry, by the way.”
I froze. I didn’t want an apology for the magic. I didn’t even want to remember it had happened.
“For yelling at you the other night,” she continued. “You didn’t set me up with Lee. I should never have accused you of interfering. He really has liked me all along, and, well . . . he’s really great.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding and attempted a weak smile. “I’m glad you’re happy.”
She returned cheerfully to her tasks and to talking about Lee until I left to go down to the bathroom. Before brushing my teeth, I stood in front of the sink and washed my hands and arms over and over, scrubbing as hard as I could to wash away the magical drops of water I swore I could still feel on my skin.
CHAPTER 13
MY CELL PHONE RANG at the crack of dawn the next morning. I was already up, being an early riser, but Jill rolled over in bed and put her pillow over her head.
“Make it stop,” she groaned.
I answered and found Eddie on the other end of the line.
“I’m downstairs,” he said. “Ready to practice some self-defense before it gets too hot.”
“You’re going to have to do it without me,” I said. I had a feeling Eddie was taking his promise to Clarence about training us very seriously. I felt no such obligation. “I’ve got a ton of homework to do. That, and I’m sure Ms. Terwilliger’s going to make me do a coffee run today.”
“Well, then send Jill down,” said Eddie.
I glanced over to the cocoon of blankets on her bed. “That might be easier said than done.”
Surprisingly, she managed to rouse herself enough to brush her teeth, take aspirin for a headache, and throw on some workout clothes. She bid me farewell, and I promised to check on them later. Not long after that, Ms. Terwilliger called with her coffee demand, and I prepared myself for another day of trying to fit in my own work with hers.
I drove over to Spencer’s and didn’t even notice Trey until I was standing right in front of him.
“Ms. Terwilliger’s?” he asked, pointing to the caramel sauce cappuccino.
“Huh?” I looked up. Trey was my cashier. “You work here?”
He nodded. “Gotta make spending money somehow.”
I handed him some cash, noting that he’d charged me half price. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look so great,” I told him. He looked tired and worn out around the edges. Closer inspection showed bruises and cuts as well.
“Yeah, well, I had kind of a rough day yesterday.”
I hesitated. That was a leading comment, but there was no one in line behind me. “What happened?” I asked, knowing it was expected.
Trey scowled. “That asshole Greg Slade wreaked havoc in football tryouts yesterday. I mean, the results aren’t up yet, but it’s pretty obvious he’s going to get quarterback. He was like a machine, just plowing guys over.” He extended his left hand, which had some bandage-wrapped fingers. “He stepped on my hand too.”
I winced, remembering Slade’s out-of-control athleticism in PE. The politics of high school football and who was quarterback weren’t that important to me. True, I felt sorry for Trey, but it was the source behind the tattoos that intrigued me. Keith’s warnings about not causing trouble rang back to me, but I was unable to stop myself.
“I know about the tattoos,” I said. “Julia and Kristin told me about them. And I get now why you were suspicious of mine—but it’s not what you think. Really.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard. Most people think you’re just saying that because you don’t want to tell where you got it.”
I was a little taken aback by that. I was pretty sure Julia and Kristin had believed me. Were they actually spreading around the opposite? “I had no idea.”
He shrugged, a small smile on his lips. “Don’t worry. I believe you. There’s something kind of naively charming about you. You don’t seem like the cheating type.”
“Hey,” I scolded. “I’m not naive.”
“It was a compliment.”
“How long have these tattoos been around?” I asked, deciding it was best to move in. “I heard since last year.”
He handed me my coffee, thinking. “Yeah, but it was the end of last year. School year, I mean.”
“And they come from a placed called Nevermore?”
“As far as I know.” Trey eyed me suspiciously. “Why?”
“Just curious,” I said sweetly.
A couple of college kids dressed like rich hobos got in line behind me and regarded us impatiently. “Can we get some service here?”
