Forks, Book Two Read online

  After I got ready for school, I made my way downstairs. The lights were out which was a good indicator mom was still asleep. Unlocking the door, I opened it up and looked outside.

  Ken was already gone.

  Shutting the door, I made my way to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. While it brewed, I grabbed some bread and made a quick PB&J for my lunch, then tossed it into a baggy. Opening the drawer, I pulled out the wax paper, and wrapped up my sandwich and slid it into a plain brown paper bag. Mom had some pretzels she liked to nibble on when she read, so I tossed a few of them in a plastic bag and added them to my lunch.

  A breakfast bar was in the drawer. I pulled it out and opened the wrapper. Mechanically, I took a bite and chewed it without even really tasting it. My mind was on other things. Like what Vincent wanted to talk to me about. I knew I would have to hear it sooner rather than later. The problem with that was I didn’t know if I wanted to hear what he had to say, especially if it had anything to do with Viktor. What did that say about me?

  Would I rather know the truth or be like Mom and ignore the entire thing, hoping it would somehow go away. That I might somehow forget I saw him counting Red Hots the night Jason was shot. That he wasn’t a Vampire. Of course, I really had no proof and everything in me balked at the absurdity of it all. I wasn’t one of those people. I didn’t believe in Vampires, Elves, Witches, Ghosts, or even Werewolves. And even though there were plenty of people that would attest they did indeed exist, Jason, Kirk, and Lucky included, I always thought people like that were a short bus ride away from Crazyville. Jason was crazy and so was Kirk. Did that mean Lucky was crazy too?

  I didn’t know.

  Normally I was the practical one in my family. I had to keep my head out of the clouds and my feet firmly rooted to the ground to counter-balance Mom’s craziness.

  I finished off the bar and tossed the wrapper in the trash.

  After I made a cup of coffee, I checked the clock on the stove and realized I still had some time before I needed to leave. Today I was in no hurry to get to school early. So instead, I shoved my feet in my boots and slid on my slicker.

  With my cup of coffee in hand, I stepped outside to the porch. It was another damp foggy morning. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for but I headed straight for the tree beside my balcony.

  It was just as I thought. The branches were about ten feet up in the air. Taking a sip of coffee, I stared up at my balcony. The tree limbs did hang over really close so it wouldn’t be impossible to get on the balcony if you had a ladder. The problem was… I couldn’t see Vincent bringing a ladder with him and even if he did, how did he get out of the tree so fast?

  My eyes slid down the tree, to the base. My skin prickled. Suddenly, I felt like I was being watched. I turned slowly towards the tree line, but I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Just your imagination,” I told myself and headed back in the house even though deep down, I didn’t believe that for a minute.

  The bell rang just as I pulled into school. Someone else parked in my usual space so I had to drive to the back of the lot to park. Trying to hurry, I grabbed my bag and opened my car door. Water sloshed over my feet when I stepped out. I looked down. I was standing in a big puddle. Groaning, I slammed my door and made my way into school. My sneakers squeaked loudly on the floor all the way to class. The hallways were empty which meant I was already late and if I didn’t get a pass from the office I would be marked tardy, but right now, I didn’t even care.

  Once I made it to the end of the hall, I pushed open the door and stepped inside class. Everyone turned to look at me. Keeping my head down, I made my way to the back of the room. Glinda’s brows creased as she watched me squeak down the aisle. I ignored her and slid into the desk across from hers.

  Thankfully, the teacher didn’t come in until I was seated. I grabbed my notebook and a pen out of my bag.

  “What happened to you?” Glinda whispered.

  “I stepped in a puddle.”

  “Oh no!” she exclaimed, quietly. “Are your feet wet?” She sounded like she was biting back a laugh.

  “Yes.” Wasn’t it obvious?

  “That sucks.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “I have an extra pair of socks in my locker you can borrow.”

  “Really?” I asked, sounding a little too excited by the prospect of dry socks.

  “Yes.” She giggled out loud this time. “I’ll get them for you after class.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered as the teacher started talking.

  With wet feet, it was an excruciatingly painful hour, and when the bell rang, I was more than ready for class to be over.

  “Come on.” Glinda jumped up and grabbed her stuff.

  “Kay.” I put my notebook back in my bag and followed her from class, squeaking the entire way.

  “What did you do last night?” She stopped at her locker and handed me her bag to hold.

  “I had this dinner thing with Mom and Ken.” I set her bag on the floor.

  “Oh really.” Her eyes widened with interest. “Where at?”

  “Bella Italia.” Reaching up, I rubbed the stiffness from my neck.

  She opened up her locker and pulled out a pair of fuzzy hot pink socks. “Why there?” She gave me a weird look and handed me the socks.

  “Got me.” I took the socks and handed her back her bag. “I guess that’s where they wanted to go.” I leaned against the locker and pulled my foot out of my wet shoe. Reaching down, I peeled off one sopping sock. My toes were all white and wrinkly. Gross.

  “So what did you have?” Glinda fidgeted with the strap on her bag.

  “Just some pizza.” I pulled on her sock. It was a little too fuzzy but it was warm and immediately I felt better.

  “When did you get home?”

  “I don’t know.” I quickly pulled on the other sock and shoved my feet back into my wet sneakers.

  “Did you see anyone?”

  “No,” I lied. I didn’t want to tell her about Vincent coming over or who I thought I saw behind the partition in the restaurant.

  “Right…” She gave me a look of disbelief. .

  I ignored her. “Thanks Glinda. I’ll get these back to you tomorrow.”

  “No biggy.” She slammed her locker shut a little harder than necessary and I flinched from the sharp noise.

  “Call me later,” she said. “I want to know what happens.”

  “Huh?” I looked up just in time to see Glinda make a hasty exit down the hall. “Where is she going?” I said to myself.

  “Got me,” a deep voice said from behind me.

  Startled by the disembodied voice, I whirled around. Vincent was standing behind me.

  “Oh, hey.” I hiked my bag on my shoulder, feeling unaccountably nervous.

  “Nice socks.”

  I glanced down at my feet. “Stupid socks,” I groaned. My pants were stuck to the tops of my borrowed fuzzy pink socks. I looked like a reject. Bending down, I quickly yanked my pants over the socks and stood again.

  “What happened last night?” he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing,” I covered and lowered my gaze to his shirt. I didn’t want to look at his face while I was lying. He was wearing another super hero t-shirt under a jean jacket. This one had a Green Lantern symbol on the front.

  “Really?” His disbelief was apparent in his tone.

  “Well, yeah,” I lied smoothly. “Where did you go?”

  “I left.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “Yeah, but why?” It didn’t matter but it seemed like the thing to say.

  “Because you wanted me to,” he said simply.

  Even though it was true, hearing him say it out loud caught me off guard. “I didn’t…” I lied again but my face heated this time and somehow I knew he knew I was lying. It may have had something to do with the look on his face. “I was afraid Mom was coming upstairs.” I added another doozie of
a lie on top of the other ones.

  His brow hitched up. I was beginning to know that look—it had liar written all over it. “So…” I began but stopped. I had no idea what to say.

  “Can you do lunch today?” he asked suddenly.

  “Um…” I was going to tell another lie, say I couldn’t, but what was the point. “Sure.”

  “You sure?” He looked as shocked by my answer as I felt.

  “Yeah, I’m sure.” Even though I wasn’t.

  “Cool.” He raked his hand through his hair and gave me a wide smile.

  Now that was the face I had been missing. It warmed me completely and I suddenly felt more at ease. “Where do you want to meet?”

  “How about the library?” he asked.

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  “All right.” His brows creased like he wasn’t sure if he believed me.

  “I promise,” I added.

  His face brightened. “Cool, I’ll see you in a bit.” He exhaled and I could smell cinnamon on his breath.

  “Okay. I better get to class.” I gave him a half- hearted smile and turned to go.

  “Hey Amber,” he called, stopping my hasty escape.

  I tensed and turned around.

  He gave me another heart-warming smile and my stomach flip-flopped just like it did before all the weirdness between us. “See you at lunch.”

  “Yep, see you.” I jerked my bag on my shoulder and hurried off towards class.

  Later in the day, on my way to the library, I passed the girls bathroom and veered inside to fix my hair a little. I washed my hands and stared at my reflection. A stranger was looking back at me. I didn’t even recognize myself. My eyes looked too bright, my face too red. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself but when that didn’t work, I gave up and headed to the library.

  When I pushed through the doors, the overwhelming musty odor that always accompanied rooms filled with used books greeted me. It was a familiar smell and I immediately relaxed a bit. I always felt better when I was surrounded by books—they were the only constant in my life. No matter where I was, books were always there for me, to keep me company when I was lonely or to cheer me up when I was sad.

  There were a few students scattered around at tables but no one noteworthy. Pulling my bag more firmly on my shoulder, I made my way to the back of the library. As I walked around the corner, I held my breath and plastered on a fake smile.

  The table I usually sat at stood empty. Releasing my breath, I tossed my bag on the top and pulled out a chair. Maybe Vincent decided to bail on me. I didn’t want to admit it but I felt like a huge load had been lifted from my shoulders. Sitting down in my usual seat, I pulled out the book we were reading for English along with my water bottle and one of my spiral notebooks with a pen clipped to the side. At least now, I looked like I was doing something constructive besides waiting.

  Turning, I propped up my chin with my hand and stared outside at the gloomy- rain-soaked-landscape. A heater under the window kicked on, blowing warm air across me. It wasn’t long before my eyes drifted shut. I listened to the sound of the rain, slashing against the windows. Someone coughed from across the room and I could even hear pages of books being turned. The sound lulled me even more.

  A chair scrapped against the floor.

  Startled, my eyes snapped open.

  “Sorry.” Vincent sat down and gave me a half-hearted smile. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “It’s okay.” I grabbed my water and twisted off the lid. Lifting the bottle, I took a sip. The water revived me somewhat.

  “What did I do?” he asked, his voice sounded hoarse…pained.

  My heart lurched in my chest. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t get you.” He shook his head and his hair fell forward over his brow. He pushed it back.

  “I don’t get me either….so…” I shrugged and averted my eyes.

  He laughed a little. It sounded empty, hollow… forced.

  God, I felt like such a ‘b’.

  “You know what… just forget it.” He pushed his chair back. The legs scrapped against the floor and I flinched.

  “Vincent…I…” My chest constricted and I couldn’t breathe.

  He stopped and his eyes locked on mine. “What?”

  “I just don’t know what to say,” I blurted.

  He exhaled and raked his hand through his hair. “I just don’t get why you let me…” he trailed off.

  “Because I wanted you to,” I admitted.

  “What changed?” His brows creased and that look was back…the sad one.

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I guess nothing.”

  “Nothing changed?” He gaped at me in disbelief.

  “Well…”

  “Don’t.” He shook his head. “Let me just get this out …okay?”

  “Okay.” I nervously picked at the label on my bottle.

  “I’m not some kind of weird stalker you know.”

  My eyes flew to his. “I know you’re not.”

  “I thought you liked me?”

  “I did, I mean, I do like you…but…” My heart pounded.

  He laughed again… it had a harsh edge to it. “But not like that, right?”

  I exhaled, trying to find the right words. None came. I was stuck. “What do you want me to say?”

  “The truth would be a good start,” he said a little harshly.

  I flinched from his tone. “I like you, I do, a lot…but…” Oh. My. God. What am I saying?

  His brows creased and his lips formed a firm line. I remembered how those lips felt pressed against mine and I almost caved. I knew he wanted me to tell him how I felt about him but how could I tell him that when I didn’t know myself. Everything was happening too fast. I couldn’t catch my breath.

  “I’m not allowed to date,” I said really fast. Once the words were out of my mouth, I couldn’t believe I had even said them.

  His lip curled and his brow rose. “You can’t date?” he deadpanned.

  “Well, no. I can’t.” I pressed my lips together to stop from saying something else stupid.

  “Why?” He had the strangest look on his face. I guess I would too if I were him. Can’t date? Come on.

  “Mom says I can’t. I’m too young.” That was at least partially true. She did say that once, about two years ago.

  “Really?” He sounded relieved and his lips lifted up slightly, like he was about to smile.

  “Yeah.” I gave him a small smile in return.

  “When are you allowed to …date?” His eyes narrowed.

  “Um…” I lifted my shoulders. “I guess when I turn eighteen.”

  “When do you turn eighteen?”

  “Next summer, August,” I said and quickly added, “I’m a Leo. Grr.” I made a face.

  He laughed a little. It was just a breath of a laugh but it still counted. “Can we still hang out?”

  “Totally,” I said as the tightness in my chest subsided a bit.

  His lips turned up at the corners and his dimple made an appearance. My heart fluttered in response. “Okay,” he said finally.

  “Oh—kay,” I said slowly, trying to gauge his mood.

  “So you don’t regret…”

  “Not at all,” I cut him off.

  His smile grew and so did mine.

  “We good?”

  “Of course,” I said, feeling immeasurably better.

  He reached across the table and touched my hand. A feeling of warmth spread over me. Our eyes locked and for a breathless moment, I felt myself being drawn towards him just like the day in the field. I wanted to get closer…to wrap my arms around his broad shoulders…to feel his lips on mine…

  The bell rang.

  He pulled his hand away. “I guess I better let you get to class.” He stood up and pushed the chair back under the table.

  “Um, yeah, okay,” I flustered, feeling too warm suddenly.

  “I guess I’ll see you around.” He
gave me one of his heartwarming smiles.

  “Yeah, see you.” As he walked away, I felt a twinge of something akin to regret—like I may have just made a big mistake by telling him I couldn’t date.

  After lunch with Vincent, the rest of my classes passed by in a blur and now as I made my way to my last class, I was running late…again. Grabbing the door, I flung it open and ran into the Turtle’s, i.e. Ms. Campbell’s class and right into a hard object. Breathless from my running stint, I looked up right into a pair of smoldering gray eyes that could only belong to one person…Viktor.

  He grabbed hold of my elbow and steadied me. “Nice socks,” he said in that melodic way of his as my entire body tingled from his touch.

  I looked down and groaned in embarrassment. My pants were stuck to the top of my borrowed socks—stupid static cling. Sitting down quickly, I jerked my pants back down over them and couldn’t help glancing over at Viktor. I was sure he was watching me, but he wasn’t. Instead, he was staring at his phone, his brows creased with his long legs stretched out in front. He looked even better than I remembered and my traitorous heart jumped into double time.

  Ms. Campbell scuttled into the class. Her black orthopedic shoes squeaked against the tiles and once again, her skirt was jacked higher in the back than the front. She coughed loudly, which sounded like she was hacking up a lung. Reaching over across her desk, she grabbed a tissue.

  The unmistakable sound of Viola snickering made me tense. I wasn’t sure if she was laughing at me or Ms. Campbell.

  “Class, take notes,” Ms. Campbell wheezed and hacked again. It sounded like she got a mouthful of mucus that time and then she swallowed. Gross.

  “We’ll be having a test on this at some point.” She sniffed and grabbed something from her purse as she sat down behind her desk.

  The smell of Vicks Vapor rub filled the air as the lights clicked off.

  I pulled out my notebook and pen. The projector made a ticking noise as the movie started. I settled back in my chair. Glad for the darkness, I used it to look at Viktor while I pretended to watch the movie. I thought I would have some kind of “Ah-Ha” moment about him but the more I looked at his too good-looking profile, the more certain I became that there was no way Viktor could be a Vampire.