Forks Read online

  Approximately two hours later, my alarm buzzed. Rolling over, I groaned and shut it off. I climbed from bed and shivered. It was freezing in my room. I looked up and my window was once again open, a frigid breeze gusting through the opening. Wrapping my comforter around me, I stepped forward but then stopped. Red Hots were scattered across my floor. “What the--?”

  “Amber,” Mom screamed, her voice shook.

  I jumped—my heart almost seizing. “What?” I screamed back, not meaning to but she scared the beejeebies out of me.

  “Are you awake?”

  “No!” I gritted. Wrapped in my comforter, I hobbled over to my window and slammed it shut, twisting the lock this time. My weird dream hung on the peripheral of my mind trying to gain entry once more. I ignored it.

  “Amber,” Mom called again, this time not so screechy.

  “I’m coming.” I grabbed my stuff and went down to take a shower.

  After I showered, I came back to my room, with a little broom and dustpan, prepared to clean up the Red Hot mess, but when I walked across the floor, there were none. I even lifted up the edge of my white shag throw rug, but there weren’t any there either.

  “What is going on?” I shook my head. “I must have still been dreaming….” I said just to placate myself, and keep the creepy feeling at bay, even though, deep down, I knew I had seen them. I tried to think about the day ahead and made sure I dressed carefully—which meant I wanted to look good. I blew out my hair and tried to flatten out my curls as best as I could. It was raining so I knew this would not last long, but hey, I made the effort anyway. I wore a white men’s undershirt, and a button down shirt and pulled a black v-neck sweater over my head. I was going for casual, comfy, not trying too hard look. My skinny jeans were still damp from the night before so I settled with a pair of faded blue jeans that hung on my hips, cuffed at the bottom and my black converse. I wasn’t going to win any awards for my fashion choices but I was warm and comfortable and at the end of the day isn’t that all that mattered? I thought so.

  I grabbed up my books and the paper I did with Viktor the night before and put my books in my messenger bag and the paper into a clear plastic folder to give to the turtle, i.e. Ms. Campbell. We posed good arguments for both sides and I felt like we should get at least a B, hopefully higher. I could use an A to bolster my deteriorating GPA.

  Mom was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. She wasn’t dressed yet and still had on her slippers and fuzzy robe. “You feeling all right Mom?” I asked.

  “Sure,” she said and tucked her hair behind her ears, a nervous habit she had, which meant something was up.

  “Is Ken coming over tonight?” I grabbed my lunch from her and shoved it into my bag. I didn’t bother asking what it was–PB&J with an apple. I could feel it weighing down the bag.

  “I don’t know, he has that investigation he is working on …so….” She trailed off looking unsure.

  “Mom, I’m sure he’ll call you later.” I tried to reassure her.

  “You think so?” She brightened.

  “Yeah, sure, why wouldn’t he.”

  “Yes, I guess you’re right.” She shoved her hands in her pockets. She looked like a little kid.

  “Do you need me to pick anything up from the store?”

  “Um...” She chewed on her lip. “I don’t know.”

  She looked confused. Not a good sign.

  “I’ll be home a little late so if you want something, give me a call and I’ll try to drop it off before I head over to the hospital.”

  “Hospital,” she repeated. “Why are you going there?” Her brow creased with worry.

  “To see Glinda,” I reminded her. “I’m going with Viktor after school.”

  “Oh right.” She rubbed her forehead. “Maybe I’ll go back to sleep for a bit.”

  “Yeah, totally, you should. It’s one of those good rainy days for sleeping.”

  She looked over her shoulder toward the door. “I didn’t realize it was raining.” Her brow furrowed.

  “When isn’t it raining?”

  “I guess you’re right,” she giggled. The sound set my jumpy nerves on edge. I hated when she laughed like that—it reminded me of a demented physco. “Don’t you have a book to read,” I suggested hopefully.

  “Yes, I do,” she enthused. “I just got it in the mail, actually.”

  “Good day for reading.”

  “Yes, it is.” She took a breath. “Thank you for reminding me.”

  I let out a pent up breath. Now we were cooking, she was on the right path. “You know what?”

  “Hmm?” she said, distracted.

  I lifted up a book on the hall table, guessing this was her new purchase. “You should read this today and that way you can tell me what happens tonight when I get home.”

  “I think you’re right.” She took the book and cradled it to her chest. “Good call, sweetheart.”

  “Yep, sounds like a plan.” I slid on my slicker. I didn’t want to wear it but it kept me dry and by the looks of the torrential downpour outside, I would need it.

  “Well, I’m off,” she said breezily, heading toward the living room.

  “Have fun,” I called after her.

  “Oh, I will.”

  “Thank the Lord,” I mumbled and headed out into the rain.

  twenty

  Lightning flashed and thunder boomed overhead when I pulled into the parking lot at school. I hoped it wasn’t an omen of what was to come. It was already a dreary nasty day. I wished I was at home in my sweats reading a good book.

  Surprisingly, even though I talked to Mom for a bit this morning, I was fifteen minutes early. At least it wasn’t foggy today. Rummaging in my bag I pulled out a breakfast bar and ate it really quick, chasing it with some old bottled water that was in my car. Crumpling up the paper, I shoved it into my glove box. That is where I put all my trash, and emptied it when I remembered. Lowering my visor, I checked my teeth for food remnants. Something hit my car, and I snapped back up my visor, my heart pounding. The passenger door opened. In pops a wet head and smiling green eyes. “Can I hang for a minute?”

  “God,” I gasped, holding my hand to my chest.

  “You remembered my name.” He lifted his brows, waggling them.

  “You are so not funny.” I made a face at him.

  “Oh no, don’t tell me you weren’t hoping to see me?” He frowned.

  “Oh, yeah,” I deadpanned. “I’ve been waiting on baited breath.” My heart picked up pace in spite of my attempt at sarcasm.

  “Amber…” He gave me a wounded look. “It hurts ...right here.” He padded his chest.

  “Yeah, right,” I tried to sound serious but ended up laughing anyway.

  “She laughs,” he said.

  “Yes, she does,” I agreed.

  “Music to my ears,” he said and gave me another one of his heart stopping smiles.

  His eyes turned serious. “I was afraid you’d forgotten about me.”

  “Not likely,” I said and then wanted to kick myself.

  “Ha!” he laughed. “I knew I was unforgettable.”

  “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.” Not able to keep a straight face, I ended up smiling.

  “Where you been?” he asked, suddenly.

  My brows creased. “What do you mean?”

  “We had a date…didn’t we?”

  “When?” I asked, not sure what he was talking about. Obviously, I would have remembered that.

  “Last night…” His eyes flickered strangely.

  “What?” A feeling of unease washed over me.

  “In your dreams…” His brow hitched up a notch, but his face stayed deadly serious.

  “You were in them so…” Oh my God, what was I saying?

  His lips turned up into a slow knowing grin. “I thought I saw you.”

  “Yeah, right,” I scoffed and then an image of him grabbing me and pulling me into the darkness popped into my mind—remembering a bit
of my dream. I shifted uncomfortably. “What did you dream about?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  “Me, you and…” He waggled his brows again.

  “Oh.” I grabbed my messenger bag and pulled the strap on my shoulder.

  “Gee, that was …Ow,” he said, his brows creasing.

  “Oh stop.” I swatted his arm playfully. He grabbed my hand and held it in his. His hands were hot, just like in my dream. I pulled my hand away. “So did you hear about Glinda?”

  His face turned serious. “Yeah,” he said, shaking his head. A lock of hair fell over his brow; he pushed it away.

  “Where were you?” I rushed out before I lost my nerve. “Weren’t you with her?”

  “I was but I left and she went with some other people from out of town.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “How am I supposed to know?”

  “Well, I thought you two were like…together.”

  He pointed at his chest. “Me and Glinda?” he scoffed.

  I shook my head up and down, unable to voice my biggest fear.

  “No way,” he said, shaking his head adamantly in refusal. “It’s not like that with us. We’re just friends.”

  “It looked like more than that to me.”

  “Well you need your eyes examined.”

  A wave of relief rushed over me and I immediately felt bad. “What is it like then?” I couldn’t help asking.

  “Not like that…” He rubbed his face and dropped his hands. “I was doing her a favor.”

  “A favor?” I didn’t understand.

  “Yeah, there was some guy there she didn’t want to be near… so she asked me to …you know…play along.”

  “Oh.” That made sense.

  “Don’t tell me you thought…” He shoved his hair back, his brow furrowed. “Listen, I wanted to dance with you, but, you know, friends watch out for friends.” He shrugged.

  Gee. That was great and all and a relief but what about me? I wanted to say but didn’t. “Are you going to see her?”

  “I was there yesterday.”

  “You were? But I thought she couldn’t have visitors.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “Um…Viktor,” I said.

  His eyes narrowed. “When did you see him?”

  “We had this paper to do, so…”

  “Oh.” His lips thinned, like he was angry.

  In the distance I could hear the bell ringing. “I guess we better go…” I wanted out of the car before it got even more awkward.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. He turned to open the door and then stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “So you want to come with me to see her, after school?”

  Crap. “Ah…I’m already going…” I hesitated.

  “Let me guess, you’re going with Viktor.” His eyes glinted.

  “Well he asked,” I rushed out, feeling like I had to defend my actions.

  He stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face. “Have fun.” He jumped out of the car. Before I could say anything, the door slammed in my face.

  Irked, I pushed out my door. “I will,” I yelled. This time the only sound that greeted me was another roll of thunder and a bolt of lightning streaking down from the sky. Neither looked like good signs of what was to come.

  twenty one

  School went faster than I expected. Before I knew, it was time to go to the turtle’s class, i.e. Ms. Campbell. I hovered outside the door, reading the text again. Crap. Mom needed me to drop off some stuff from the store before I went to the hospital. I glanced inside the classroom. Viola was kicking my chair that I was luckily absent from. What was her problem? Gawd, I almost wished I could skip but I had the paper we were supposed to turn in inside my messenger bag.

  “Something interesting,” a deep voice whispered over my shoulder. I turned and Viktor was standing behind me, looking really good—as usual.

  I waffled on the threshold to the classroom. “Not really. Mom just wants me to pick some stuff up at the store before we head over to the hospital.”

  He lifted his brow. “Is she expecting company again?”

  “Who knows,” I said, and stuffed my phone back into my bag. “Do you mind?”

  “Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “I guess we better get inside.”

  “Yeah.” He smiled down at me and my heart did a little flutter thing. I was getting used to it. Between him and Vincent, my heart was flipping all over the place.

  He held open the door as I walked through. I could feel Viola’s eyes on me once I entered the room. I felt like flipping her off but didn’t. Edging to my chair, I pulled it forward a few feet to make sure it wasn’t in kicking distance anymore and sat down.

  “Good afternoon class,” Ms. Campbell’s nasally voice screeched out. “I hope you finished your papers because we are having a pop-quiz on the material you should have covered this weekend.”

  A loud resounding groan emitted from the room.

  She passed out a stack of papers to me. “Take one and face it down on the desk and pass the rest back behind you.”

  “Okay.” I grabbed the stacks of papers and took mine and tried to pass the rest back. Viola didn’t take them though. I turned to hand them back. She reached out but didn’t grab hold and all the papers fell over the floor.

  “Ms. Davis,” Ms. Campbell bellowed. “Pick them up please and hand them back.”

  The class erupted in laughter. I glanced over my shoulder at Viktor who thankfully wasn’t laughing. Cleaning up the papers and stacking them together in a messy pile, I walked to Viola’s chair, dropped them on her desk, and stood there. Grudgingly she took one and handed the rest back, giving me an evil glare. I wanted to poke her in the eyes. I sat back down.

  “You have thirty minutes,” Ms. Campbell, said. “Time starts… now.”

  I turned back around but my paper was absent from my desk. I glanced around and everyone was diligently writing answers down. I lifted my hand but Ms. Campbell’s back was turned writing on the white board at the front of the class. Standing up, I walked to her.

  “Ms. Campbell,” I said, my voice squeaked.

  She turned around, a nasty expression on her face. “What is it Ms. Davis?” she practically snarled.

  I instinctively took a step back. “I can’t find my paper.”

  “Here,” she snipped. She shoved past me and lifted up a paper.

  “Thanks.” I took the paper and walked back to my desk. Viola was giving me a snarky look. I sat back down and started reading the test. Not able to help myself, I glanced over at Viktor. He had his legs kicked out and was writing down his answers. He glanced up at me and whispered something I couldn’t understand.

  “What?” I mouthed.

  “Ms. Davis,” Ms. Campbell screeched.

  My body tensed and I turned toward her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing,” I said. Everyone was snickering.

  “Do you have something you want to share?”

  “Ah, no,” I muttered, embarrassed.

  “Well I suggest you get started on your own quiz then and stop making eyes at Mr. Roth or would you like to go to the principal’s office?“ She gave me a sharp look, her bulgy eyes bugging from behind her glasses.

  Another eruption of snickers resounded in the room. “I’m good,” I squeaked. I wished I had a rock to crawl under. Lifting my hand, I blocked my face and concentrated on answering the questions.

  Class couldn’t end fast enough for me. I stared at the clock, watching the second hand tick by slower than it should. I already handed in my quiz and our paper. Now we were supposed to be reading. The bell rang finally and I gathered my stuff. Viola was in front of me blocking my view of Viktor. She was talking in hushed tones to him and I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Viktor leaned over and glanced at me. She slammed her hands on his desk and stormed out of the room.

  “Hey,
” Viktor said, standing, lifting his books.

  “What’s her problem?” I asked, stepping up to him.

  “Got me,” he said, and shrugged.

  “Oh—kay,” I said slowly and pulled my bag up on my shoulder.

  “You ready?”

  “Yeah, I just need to stop by my locker.” I looked down and adjusted my bag.

  “I’ll meet you outside.”

  “You wanna come with?” I asked, lifting my head but he was already gone. “Dang—that was fast,” I mumbled and made my way to my locker which was on the lower level. The school was four stories high, kind-of, if you counted the roof and basement. My locker was on the lower level and usually I never used it except for some of my larger books I didn’t want to carry with me. The halls were pretty deserted, everyone already having left school when the final bell rang. There was water on the floor so my converse made a funky squeaking noise as I headed down the hall. The lights flickered from the heat kicking on. I could hear the echo of footsteps headed down the hall. At first I didn’t pay much attention to them but as I moved further down the darkened hallway, the footsteps kept in time with me. I stopped in front of the glass case that held some art projects at the end of the hall and waited. The footsteps stopped too. I looked over my shoulder but I didn’t see anyone. I turned back toward the case and saw a reflection in the glass that did not belong to me. I whirled around but no one was there.

  Getting freaked, I took a deep breath. “Calm down, Amber,” I told myself. I turned to leave and screamed.

  twenty two

  “Vincent!” A mixture of relief and wariness spread over me simultaneously.

  “What’s up?” He pushed off the wall, his face expressionless once again.

  “I was just headed to my locker.” Shifting uncomfortably, I pulled my bag closer to my body.

  “You shouldn’t really be down here alone,” he said. His gaze flicked over me.

  “I’m not…” I smiled tentatively. “Alone…” I had the strangest urge to run. I squashed it down.

  “You’re not?” His brow hitched up a notch.

  I forced a smile. “Of course not…” I stepped backward. “You’re here.”