Which had never happened before!
I snorted my frustration. One thing I knew for sure: I was going to the library this afternoon, but I was
not
going alone.
Chapter Five
Knowing things were going to progress in a not-so-good direction without a clue as to how to stop it gnawed at my insides every time I saw Lainey and Matt together at school.
This morning, I’d seen the two of them chatting at her locker. After lunch, they’d walked together down the hall. A little too close. This afternoon on my way to study hall, I fell into step behind them while Matt walked Lainey to class. As I passed by Jared on my way to an empty table in study hall, I saw him do a double take and narrow his gaze on Lainey and Matt talking together outside the door.
When Lainey entered study hall, I waved her over, intending to talk to her about Matt, but then a girl with straight black hair and fair skin set a pile of books down on the table beside me. “Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked, blinking her brown, mascara-free eyes at a rapid pace.
“Um, sure.” I slid my books over to give her room. “Are you new here?”
Wearing a starched button-down shirt tucked into a pair of pressed khaki pants, she pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled. “I’m new to the school but not the area. I’m Harper, by the way.”
Lainey walked up right when I started to introduce myself. Waving to indicate Lainey, I said, “This is Lainey,” then pointed to myself, “and I’m Nara. Nice to meet you.” I caught Lainey’s eye and continued, “This is Harper. She’s new.”
With a half smile, Lainey surveyed the girl from head to toe. “I gathered that.”
Harper pressed her lips together. Was she annoyed or embarrassed? I couldn’t tell. I sighed at Lainey and leaned across my books to ask, “Where did you go to school before?”
Harper pulled out a pencil from her three-ring binder, then lined it up beside her math book. She didn’t look up until she was satisfied it was perfectly parallel to the spine. “I didn’t. I was homeschooled.”
Lainey cocked her head. “That explains a lot.” She cleared her throat at my cut-it-out look, then said in a brighter tone, “I mean, public school must be a bit of a culture shock.”
Harper looked directly at Lainey for the first time, a slight smile on her pale oval face. “Yeah, it’s a big change, but I’ve taken classes at private schools here and there, so I’m used to a structured school system.”
“Well, private and public schools are two entirely different animals.” Lainey made sure the teacher wasn’t looking, then flipped open her phone and settled back in her seat. She held Harper’s gaze as she typed on her slide-out keyboard. “You might want to ditch the prep school clothes. You look like you’re going to church or something.”
Harper’s lips twisted. “Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“No problem,” Lainey said, then glanced down at her text screen.
She completely missed Harper’s sarcasm, but I didn’t. Inwardly snickering, I smiled at Harper, then said to Lainey, “You didn’t text me when you got home last night. How’d it go at the vet’s yesterday with Lochlan?”
“Loch’s going to be fine. He did have to get a cast, though.” Sitting up, she pinched her thumb and forefinger together. “You should see his tiny wittle cast, Nara. I made them put a manly dark green one on him. Of course, Dad went ballistic when he got to the vet’s office and saw Lochlan. He spent a half hour talking to the vet until he was assured his ‘little guy’ would make a full recovery. Dad took today off and stayed home to keep an eye on him.” She sighed. “Told you he loved that dog more than me.”
“You could always offer to go hunting with your dad.” When she rolled her eyes, I smirked. “What’d your dad say about the trap we found?”
Lainey leaned closer, eyes wide. “You should’ve seen him out there last night with his police flashlight. He tromped around in those woods for hours, pulling up every single trap he could find. He’s already got someone at the office tracing the numbers stamped on them.” Her voice filled with pride. “This poacher doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Poacher?” Harper jerked a concerned gaze from Lainey to me. “Sorry for interrupting, but I’m hoping to become a vet. I hate hearing stuff like this.”
“Ugh, the horrific condition we see some animals come into CVAS…” I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “Makes me want the government to establish an eye-for-an-eye law.”
“You work at CVAS?” Harper shifted forward in her seat, brown eyes lit with interest.
I nodded. “I volunteer.”
“I’ve been thinking about doing an internship there. Do you think they’d want more help?”
“Always.” I grinned. “Just call and ask for Sally. She’ll get you an application.”
Harper jotted Sally’s name on a piece of paper. “Thanks, Nara.” Peering up through her hair, she asked in a less-confident voice, “Do you think you could meet me there after school today and introduce me to her?”
I shook my head. “Sorry. I can’t today. I’m heading over to Central’s library after school.” She looked so disappointed, that I added, “But I’ll be happy to call and give her a heads-up that you’re coming.”
As Harper beamed her thanks, Lainey sent me a text.
Lainey – 2:20 p.m. ~ I have the BEST idea. Meet me by my car after school
.
Once Harper went back to studying, I texted Lainey.
Me – 2:25 p.m. ~ Will do
.
I already knew what she planned to tell me, and I wasn’t sure how, but I was going to do everything I could to talk her out of it.
* * *
The moment I exited through the double doors at the end of the school day and saw Lainey leaning against Matt’s Jeep, chatting with him, I realized how I was going to solve my library dilemma,
and
stop my best friend from hatching some kind of crazy scheme.
In my dream, Lainey told me she had the “best idea evah to deal with Jared” but she refused to elaborate, other than to say her idea involved Matt, before she drove off. When I pointed Matt out to her yesterday, I’d hoped that seeing him moving on with his life would help her get over Jared. I didn’t expect her to
use
him to deal with her “Jared issues” or worse, to get back at Jared. Neither scenario was fair to Matt.
“Hi, guys,” I said.
Lainey’s eyes widened. While Matt’s attention was on me, she jerked her head toward her car, telling me to “go wait over there.” I ignored her signal. “Thanks for offering to go to the library with me, Lainey.”
Lainey frowned. “What are you talking—”
“Don’t you remember?” I met her irritated gaze. “Since I helped you with that
project
yesterday, you promised to help with mine today.”
“’ello, everyone,” Drystan said, strolling up beside me.
I nodded to acknowledge him, surprised I hadn’t seen him at all today. Guess we were on opposite class schedules. “Hi Drystan, what did you think of your first day at an American school?”
“Drystan? What happened to Maddox?” Lainey tossed a knowing look my way.
“New country, new name. Right,
Inara
?” Drystan winked, then yanked his leather jacket’s collar up around his neck to ward off the brisk wind. “American schools aren’t much different than schools at home. “Well,”—he paused, grinning—“other than the ladies can’t seem to get enough of my accent.”
Despite his cocky comment, the way he said “enough,” like “e’nuff” and dropped the h off hello would totally attract the girls.
Lainey snickered. “This is perfect. Since I need to chat with Matt about something,
Drystan
can go with you to the library and charm all the college girls while you research.”
Drystan glanced at me, eyebrows raised. “I can?”
“Lainey,” I began, reaching for her. The second my hand touched hers, a bolt of electricity shot between us.
“Ow!” Lainey jerked her hand away and frowned at me as if I’d done it on purpose.
I’d yanked my hand back too, rubbing my throbbing fingers. That really hurt. Like, all the way to my teeth kind of hurt. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Damn! I even heard that one.” Drystan gave a confident laugh as he intentionally hooked his arm in mine. “I’m not afraid. Come on,
Inara
. Take me to Central’s library. I’ve been meaning to head in that direction anyway. I hope they’ll have some old videos I’ve been looking for.”
Static sparked through my sweater, underneath my jacket, as Drystan pulled me away from Lainey and Matt. I glanced back at Lainey, whose head was already bent toward Matt’s in conspiracy fashion. I’d lost my chance. Apparently, Fate had adjusted his tactics to keep me from interfering…in a very painful way. Just how high of a voltage could the human body take? Did Fate have the ability to amp it to a deadly level? I really didn’t want to find out.
* * *
As I pulled into the library’s parking lot, Drystan glanced around, his green eyes scanning the bold white columns framing the main library’s entrance. “I can see why it’s such a popular college. It’s visually appealing.”
“‘Jeffersonian’ is the quickest way to describe the architecture.” I swept my hand to encompass the column-infused, sprawling campus.
We mounted the stairs toward the library entrance and he mumbled, “It’ll be ironic if I run into my uncle while I’m on campus.”
I paused on a stair. “Your uncle’s a student?”
Drystan gave a half smile. “No, he’s a guest, visiting at the request of the history department.”
“How funny that you’re both here at the same time,” I said, continuing my climb.
“Yeah, it’s right funny, but I don’t plan to see him while I’m here. He’s paying for my expenses, so I’ll honor his request that I get back into football while I’m here.”
“I’m assuming you don’t mean American football. Now you’re talking my language. Well, we call it soccer here.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You play?”
“What? I don’t look like I’d play soccer?”
Drystan shook his head, clucking his tongue. “The girls who play football back home don’t look like you.”
We’d reached the entrance, and I laughed, ignoring my warmed cheeks as I pulled the door open. I hadn’t expected his indirect compliment. “I take it you aren’t close to your uncle?”
“How can you be close to someone you’ve never met?” Drystan held the door for me to proceed him inside.
“You’ve never met him?”
“I didn’t even know he existed until after my dad died. He started calling, trying to convince us to move to England.” He lifted his shoulder, then let it drop. “I’m only moving for my mum. I couldn’t care less about getting to know my uncle, even if he’s supposedly ‘taking us under his wing’.”
Drystan wore his resentment like an invisible cloak of protection. I started to ask him if his uncle and mom also called him Maddox, but his gaze was already locked on the media room in the back corner of the library. “While you’re researching, I’m going to talk to them.”
Before he walked off, I asked, “What kind of video are you hoping to find?”
His lips tugged upward. “An old-school one.”
After he strolled away, I straightened my shoulders and headed for the card catalog. I already felt better having someone with me. Once I turned off my phone—per the instructions in ALL CAPS plastered every five feet in the library—I pulled out Ethan’s journal and turned to the feather-marked page. I jotted down the name of the article, the title of the newspaper, and the date on a scrap piece of paper before closing the book to rifle through the cards for the library’s call number location for the article.
At one point, my neck tingled as if someone were watching me, but the intensity in my dream had been much stronger than the low vibe I felt right now. I scanned the entire library, then let out a sigh of relief that no one was looking up from their books. Every single student on the main floor had his or her head down, studying.
“What are you looking for?” Drystan whispered in my ear, making me jump. With a triumphant smile, I showed him the card I’d just found, then jotted down its stack location on a scrap of paper. “It’s an article I discovered while surfing. Since it was from thirty years ago, I could only find a snippet about it on the Internet. I want to read the entire article.” As I slipped the card back into place in the catalog, I asked, “Did they have your video?”
Drystan rocked on his heels. “Yep, they’re copying it onto a flash drive for me.” He held up his phone. “Said they’ll call me when it’s done.”
“Uh, we’re supposed to turn our phones off. How come you get to keep yours on?”
A dimple displayed in his right cheek. “I got special permission.”
“Let me guess…” My gaze narrowed. “The girl working the counter swooned over your accent.”
He flashed an unrepentant grin, then nodded toward the paper in my hand. “You ready to find your article?”
The long hall toward the stack elevators didn’t feel nearly as ominous with Drystan by my side. It was still shadowy, but I could ignore that when I had someone to distract me. “So, tell me what’s on this video.”
Drystan walked beside me at a leisurely pace. “I’m looking for new techniques.”
“New techniques? On an old video?”
He smirked. “Old techniques I can adapt in new ways.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” I snickered. “But if the library is letting you check out a copy, it can’t be too risqué.”
Drystan’s light brown eyebrows lifted up and down with his grin. “This technique requires loads of stamina, acute depth perception, the ability to think several steps ahead, and guts. It involves your entire body and mind. It isn’t for the faint of heart.”
We’d reached the elevator where a sign had been taped over the button. OUT OF ORDER.
“Great. Out of order.” I sighed, then glanced at Drystan. “Now I’m totally curious…what kind of
technique
requires all those things?”
“Parkour.” Turning to our left, Drystan pulled open the stairwell door and held it for me.
“Parkour?” I used my foot to push the metal chair that blocked the way to the stairs off to the side.