Forks Read online

  “Have you read it?”

  “Yeah, of course,” he said too quickly, and his lip tilted up at the corner.

  I didn’t believe him. “Why don’t I believe you?”

  “I guess you have some trust issues.” He lifted his brow and gave me a look that made my stomach swirl.

  “Hmm, who’s your favorite character?”

  “Huh…” He propped his chin in his hand, leaning forward. “That’s a hard one.” His lips twitched. “Beowulf is a pretty great character as is Grendel, the first bad ass dragon but who really won me over was Wiglaf.”

  “Me too,” I gushed a little too enthusiastically. No one ever picked Wiglaf; instead, they immediately picked Beowulf or the Dragon. I tried to pull my enthusiasm back at bit.

  He stared at me. “You do something different to your hair?

  I tucked it behind my ear, feeling self-conscious. “Yeah, I blew it out.”

  “It looks …”

  Curtis walked up with Cressida trailing behind and ruined the entire mood. “What’s up my man,” he said, doing some clap hand thing with Vincent.

  “Nothing much, just chatting up my girl Amber, here.” He grinned at me and my heart did another flip-flop.

  “Really?” Curtis cut me a cursory glance. “That’s not what she says.”

  I wanted to kick Curtis in his leg.

  Vincent frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “You haven’t told him?” Curtis glared at me.

  I shrugged noncommittally.

  “She’s going on a date with Jason tonight.” He made a smug face. “Isn’t that right Amber?”

  The way he said my name made my skin crawl. “Ah…” I didn’t know what to say.

  “Well?” Curtis prompted when I didn’t say anything. “Tell him what you told me.”

  Cressida laughed in that maniacal way of hers and put her hands on Vincent’s broad shoulders, massaging them.

  I wanted to knock them off.

  “Yeah right,” Vincent scoffed. “No way,” he laughed and then sobered. “He’s messing with me right?” He stared at me, his expression unreadable.

  I felt sick. “Well, uh, I, um…” I couldn’t say it was just for show with Curtis standing here. “Yes but…”

  “What?” Vincent gaped.

  “See man, I wasn’t lying…” Curtis laughed.

  “Well…” His eyes flashed. “No big loss.” Vincent lifted his hand and placed it over Cressida’s.

  My heart fell.

  Cressida leaned over and her big boobs mashed up against his back. The sunlight sparkled off her face. She leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. He smiled and pulled her around onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, blocking me.

  I felt sick. Gathering my things, I shoved them in my bag. “I guess I should go.”

  No one seemed to know I even said anything.

  “You going to the party tonight at the twins place?” Curtis asked, flipping his long bang from his eyes.

  “Sure, I’ll be there.” Vincent lifted his hand and tucked a piece of Cressida’s hair behind her ear. It made me want to puke.

  I knew I didn’t have any right to be upset. He wasn’t my boyfriend or anything but it still felt like a big slap in my face.

  “Yay,” Cressida gushed, bouncing up and down on like she was giving him a lap dance.

  If I didn’t leave, I was either going to be sick or cry, I didn’t know which.

  “Is Viktor here?” Cressida asked Vincent a little loudly.

  My ears perked up.

  I didn’t hear him speak so I took a peek and immediately regretted it. He was looking right at me. I swallowed past the lump already forming in my throat.

  “Nah, he’s not here today.” He gave me look like he could see right through me. Like he knew I was listening and was daring me to show a reaction at the news. The proverbial knife twisted a little deeper in my heart. I lifted my bag and pulled it over my shoulder.

  “See you,” I said, and took off across the library, making a hasty exit.

  After I left, I stopped off at the bathroom and splashed cold water over my heated face. I was shaking. I took deep breaths trying to get my rampant emotions under control. I was mad and sad and felt like crying. I wasn’t sure what my problem was exactly but my good mood was definitely shot.

  The rest of school was a blur. English was my last class and when I walked in, Viktor’s chair was empty and even though I knew he wasn’t going to be here I was still kind of hoping to see him. Jason was once again sitting in Viola’s chair. His face brightened once he saw me.

  “Hey, I saved you a seat,” he said, and pulled my chair back so it was closer to his.

  I set my bag down and slid in. “Thanks.”

  “Movie time,” Ms. Campbell screeched and scuttled over to the wall and flicked off the light. “Class, take notes, I may be giving a pop quiz at some point on this.”

  A loud groan erupted and I could hear everyone pulling out their notebooks. I tried to pay attention but between Jason playing with my hair, and the darkness of the room my thoughts wandered back to Vincent and then to Viktor.

  Jason jerked on my hair and passed me a note. I felt like jerking his hair so he would know how it felt.

  I carefully unfolded the paper and looked at was written. “Want to go to the party with me?” He made a little stick figure down on his knee’s begging.

  Quickly, I wrote back. “Is Kirk going to be with you?” I passed the note back.

  I heard him exhale behind me and then he shoved the paper back.

  “Not if you don’t want him to be.”

  “Maybe. I’ll think about it.” I passed it back. I hated to admit the only reason I was even considering going was because Vincent was supposed to be there.

  I knew when he opened it because I could hear his breath catch. Within seconds he passed the paper back.

  “No pressure! CALL ME PLEASE! Only if you want to.” He made another stick figure this one doing a happy dance, snapping his stick fingers with his number written underneath.

  I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it.

  “Ms. Davis, do you have something to share with the class?”

  “Um, no… not really.” My face burned.

  “Let’s try to keep our mouths shut then, shall we.” She gave me a stern turtlesque look. A barrage of snickers cascaded throughout the room.

  “Sorry,” Jason whispered, placing his hand on my shoulder.

  I batted his hand away.

  “I think you broke my hand,” he complained theatrically, his voice low.

  “I didn’t hit you that hard.” I glanced over my shoulder.

  He pushed out his bottom lip, holding his hand, like he was in pain.

  I turned back around and smiled.

  After class ended, Jason jumped up. “Sorry I got you in trouble.”

  “It’s not your fault Ms. Campbell has bat hearing.”

  Jason looked startled and then recovered. “You like the Batman?” he said, his face full of awe.

  “What’s there not to like?”

  “I know, right.” A broad smile broke across his face. “So are you really considering going to the party with me?” He cast his eyes to the ground.

  “As friends,” I added, figuring I should get it out of the way, just in case.

  “Yeah, of course,” he said, but I could tell he was hoping it was going to be a bit more than a friendies type date.

  “I have to check with my mom but I’ll let you know, kay?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Kay. Call you later.”

  “I’ll be waiting.” He walked away and I caught him pulling back his arm and foot. “Yes!” he said and then he took off down the hall.

  I wished I felt as excited about going out as he did.

  By the time I got home, I was still indecisive about going to the party. I changed into my sweats and even tried to do some of the homework I missed, but my heart wasn
’t in it. A cool breeze wafted into my room. I lifted E up. “What do you think E, should I go or stay home?”

  E stared me down with his one eye.

  I sighed and set him back on my bed. “Well that didn’t help.” I got up and turned on my computer, thinking maybe I could blog about something but after ten minutes, my computer still wasn’t connecting to the internet. “Stupid thing.”

  Deciding to kill some time while it booted up, I went downstairs to see what Mom was doing. She was all dolled up in one of her best dresses. “Wow, Mom, you look great,” I said.

  She turned and skimmed her hands down the sides of her wrap around dress. “Do I?”

  “Yes, you look awesome,” I said with meaning. Mom always looked good but when she dressed up she was a real knock out. “Where are you going?”

  “Ken’s taking me out to dinner and the movies.” She preened in the mirror, checking her reflection. “Do you think he’ll like my dress?”

  “I should say so,” I said.

  “Oh, Amber, I think he’s the one,” she gushed.

  “The one?”

  “Yes…the one.”

  My heart stopped. “Mom, I thought you were going to take it slow.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Um because …” I bit my tongue I didn’t want to ruin her excitement by bringing up the past and all of her failed relationships.

  “Yes…” she prompted.

  I shook my head. “I think that’s great Mom.”

  She took a breath and exhaled shakily. “Yeah, me too,” she said.

  I didn’t mention that she had just met him and he probably wasn’t on the same page as her yet and that he might never be. I didn’t want her to get her hopes up but I didn’t want to squash her enthusiasm either. I was stuck.

  “He’d be an idiot not to feel the same,” I said, meaning every word. Granted, Ken had turned out to be pretty great too. Most people wouldn’t even consider falling as fast as my mom, but she always said, in relationships, if you’re going to take a chance you should go all in and play to win. If not, it’s just cheating yourself out of your own happily ever after. The problem was, where my mom was concerned, it usually turned out to be a happily never after.

  “What are you doing tonight?”

  “I don’t know, probably just hanging out here.”

  “Oh.” Her face fell.

  “Why?”

  “Well, I kind of had something special planned for Ken, here, after.” She walked over to a bag and pulled out some sexy lingerie.” It was very small with lots of black lace.

  “Oh God, Mom! Eww.”

  “Come on, Amber, you’re not a child.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to hear about, that!”

  She made a face. “You’re ridiculous.”

  The last thing I wanted to do was be home when Mom and Ken were doing the nasty. “I think I’ll go out after all.”

  “Where?”

  “There’s a party tonight some kids at school are having.”

  “Oooh that sounds like fun,” she said, emphasizing the fun part, probably because she was thinking about her own night. “Don’t forget you have a curfew.”

  “What time do you want me home?” I lifted my brow.

  She giggled. “How about oneish?”

  “Sounds good.” I was probably the only teenager on earth who actually didn’t mind having a curfew. It gave me an excuse to come home when the night fell apart, and it usually did.

  “Are the Roth boy’s going to be there?”

  “Um, maybe…. I’m not sure.”

  “Those two are really cute,” she said, reapplying her lipstick. It was bright red and contrasted with her pale complexion. Only my mom could carry that color off without looking trashy. If I tried it I would look like a demented clown. My lips were too big.

  “Yeah, they are,” I agreed.

  “Which one do you like?”

  “Mom,” I groaned. “I don’t know.”

  “Ah…” She turned thoughtful. “So that’s your problem,” she said like she knew the hidden meaning of the universe.

  “I don’t have a problem,” I argued.

  “Yes you do.” She smiled knowingly. “You just haven’t figured it out yet…but you will…give it time.”

  “I gotta go get ready.”I started toward the stairs.

  “Who are you going with?” Mom turned.

  “Um, this boy named Jason.” I paused at the bottom of the stairs.

  Mom’s face brightened. “Oooh, is he cute too?”

  “Not really, but he’s nice.”

  “Well,” she sighed, “I guess nice has its perks too.” She didn’t look convinced. “Why aren’t you going with one of the Roth boys?”

  “Because neither one asked me.”

  “Oh.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “Well,” she said breezily, attempting to sound upbeat. “It’s their loss.”

  “Tell them that,” I muttered despondently.

  “Do you want me to?”

  “God, no!” I shouted. “I was just kidding.”

  “Okay,” she sighed and adjusted a curl.

  “Has Ken mentioned Glinda?”

  “No, not since last night,” she said, and put her lipstick back in her purse.

  “I wonder if she’ll wake up,” I said, watching her expression to see if she knew anything. My mom never could keep a secret.

  Her eyes shifted. “I guess time will tell.”

  “So,” I hedged. “Has Ken said anything else about the attacks?”

  “Um…” She chewed on her lip. “Not really.” Her eyes cut to some distant spot in the other room.

  I knew it. She did know something.

  “Well?” I crossed my arms, waiting.

  “Well, I guess I could tell you…” She peered out the door and right then Ken’s cruiser swung into the driveway putting an end to the conversation.

  “Tell Ken, I said hi.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To get ready,” I said, heading toward the stairs.

  “Your hair looks nice,” she called.

  I stopped. “Thanks Mom, you look incredible.”

  She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. “I do, don’t I.”

  “Yes, you really do.” I smiled at her. “Have fun tonight.”

  “Oh…” She blushed. “I will.”

  “You too,” she called after me.

  “I’ll try.” Somehow, I didn’t think my night was going to be nearly as exciting as hers. Not even close.

  I ran up the stairs to get ready.

  thirty two

  My phone was ringing when I got back into my room. I jumped for it. “Hello,” I said, a little breathlessly.

  “Hey Amber, it’s me, Jason.”

  I already figured that. He was the only person other than Glinda or my mom that ever called me. “What’s up?”

  “Listen, I knew you said you would call but…”

  “Yes, I’m going to the party,” I cut him off.

  “Sweet!” he exclaimed and then cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah, that’s cool.”

  I couldn’t help smiling. “So, what time?”

  “I was thinking around nine, is that cool with you?”

  I glanced at the clock. It was seven thirty. “Yeah, that’s sounds good.” Since I didn’t have to do my hair it wouldn’t take too long to get ready.

  “Want me to pick you up?”

  I thought about that for a minute and then decided against it, in case I wanted to leave. I never liked depending on other people to get anywhere. That way I couldn’t be left, like what I did to poor Glinda. I still felt like a deserter and if I had stayed she probably would be the one going to the party with me tonight instead of Jason.

  “How bout I meet you?”

  “At the party,” his voice cracked.

  “How about we meet somewhere and then I can follow you.”

  “Oh, all right,” he sighed.

 
; “I mean if that’s okay,” I tried to backtrack.

  “Sure, sure, that will work,” he said. “Can we still walk in together?”

  “Of course,” I said.

  “Great!” he enthused. “Where do you want to meet?”

  “Um…I don’t know.”

  “How about we meet at the Visitor’s Center parking lot? You know where it is right?” he rushed out. “It’s beside the Timber Museum.”

  “Yeah…” I hesitated remembering that was where the girl’s car was found from out of town.

  “Amber, is that okay?” he asked, sounding nervous like I might bail on him.

  “Yeah, that’ll work.”

  “Cool. I’ll meet you there at nine.”

  “Sounds good,” I said. My weird dream bubbled to the surface and I tried to squash it down.

  “Thanks, Amber,” he said.

  “Why are you thanking me?”

  “Cuz…you know…” he hedged.

  “No, I don’t…know.”

  “Never mind,” he said. “See you at nine.”

  “Kay. Bye.” The lined died.

  By the time, I finished getting ready Mom and Ken had already left. I grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and pulled my jacket off the hook. With one last look in the hall mirror, I decided I looked good, for me. My hair had miraculously stayed straight. No frizz in sight which was a small miracle considering the constant dampness in the air here. Taking a breath, I flicked on the porch light, walked outside and locked the door. I hide the key under a plant, the usual hiding place, in case Mom forgot hers.

  It was really dark out and as I walked to the car, I kept feeling like I was being watched. To be on the safe side, I ducked down and checked the backseat.

  “See no monsters,” I tried to tell myself, but my heart pounded and my voice came out like I was being strangled. I climbed in the car and locked the doors.

  Turning on the radio, music crackled out of the speakers. I punched the buttons and tried different stations but all I got was a lot of white noise. Giving up, I popped in one of my mom’s tapes in the cassette deck. Elvis’ melodic voice dragged, but it was better than silence.

  Halfway through the song, his voice cleared and I thumped the steering wheel in time to the beat, singing the catchy chorus. Only one car passed me on the way to the Visitor’s Center. When I pulled in the parking lot at quarter after nine, I expected Jason to be waiting for me, but he wasn’t here yet. I shivered.