Shadow Keeper (8 page)

Her blue eyes darted around the room as if daring anyone to snicker. She strolled through the quiet classroom, down the aisle where I sat, and stopped at my desk. Her lips were thin and tight, but she stood tall and didn’t flinch. “You’re in my seat.”

Excellent move. She’d taken control of the room—and me. Or, at least that’s the way it looked to the rest of the kids. I crawled from the chair and tossed my book on Carson’s desk. He jumped up and shoved Vanetti on the shoulder.

“You owe me, Alexander,” Vanetti said as he searched for a vacant desk.

When we finished playing musical chairs, the teacher instructed everyone to pass their homework forward. The kid behind me passed his, and I handed it to Lisa. She didn’t look back, but she made what looked like a deliberate effort to rustle the papers and hold them out to the side so I could see them. The one on top was in my handwriting. This must be her way of letting me know she added my homework to the stack.

When class ended, I waited until we were outside the room before I spoke. “Can I walk you to your next class?”

“That might not be a good idea. We probably shouldn’t be seen together until all the gossip dies down.”

Inwardly, I flinched. Vicious gossip seldom dies; that’s how urban legends are born. But I wouldn’t admit it to her. “Okay, if that’s how you want it.”

Her forehead crinkled when she glanced over her shoulder. “You’re still following me.”

“My next class is in this direction.” We walked down the hallway without speaking until we reached her math class. “I liked the way you handled the situation in Spanish. Just do the same thing here.”

She gazed into my eyes. “Sherry told me about your advice of holding up my head. I wasn’t sure I could go through with it until I saw you sitting there. Having you in the room gave me the courage to do it.”

“I’m glad I could help.” I glanced around at the kids in the hallway. The foot traffic had thinned down. I tried to summon the same courage I’d given her. “I’d like to see you again, Lisa. I mean, outside of school. Can we get together sometime? “

Her gaze lowered to my chest. “Perhaps we should. There are a few things I’d like to get cleared up.”

“Great.” I gathered my nerve. “How about this Saturday? We could go to a movie or something.”

“Oh.” She nibbled at her lip. “You mean like on a date?”

“Yeah. You do date, right?”

“A little, but my mom is really strict. I was thinking we could get together later today. Right after school maybe.”

“I have football practice that lasts until about five, but we could hook up after that.”

“That won’t work. As soon as my mom picks me up, we have to drive back to Davis where we’re living.”

“Why not tomorrow at lunch,” I suggested.

Her eyebrows knitted together. “There’s always such a crowd at the Burger Barn. I kind of wanted to talk to you without a lot of people around.”

My mind flirted with suggesting either of the two previous places: my house, or the minimart. But neither of those meetings had ended well. I wracked my brain for someplace secluded, but Lisa came up with a better idea.

“Tomorrow, I might be spending the night at Sherry’s house. Her mom is secretary to one of the department head’s at UCD. My mom is meeting Sherry’s mom today to talk with her.”

“That’s even better.” I smiled at the new plan. “I could meet you at Sherry’s house. They’ve got a big backyard. We could talk without half the town butting in.”

“No one would see us?” she repeated. “Good. Then it’s a date…I mean, I’ll see you at Sherry’s tomorrow after school.”

“Right after practice,” I promised. My mouth tugged into a huge grin. I didn’t care what she called it. I was going to see Lisa again. I waited until she disappeared into the classroom, then turned and sprinted all the way back down the hall to my last class.

Chapter Ten

Another miserable night, but I expected as much. I drifted in and out of a restless sleep as the nightmares plagued me. The scabby looking rat–man lurked in the darkness and threatened to attack if I ventured too close. I never saw it, but felt its blood red eyes staring at me, watching me. The stench of the creature’s rotting corpse and the wheezing of its labored breathing always alerted me when I stumbled too close. Then it would pounce on me. I’d awake with a start, bolting upright on the bed, my heart thumping and my body shaking.

As soon as I laid back down and closed my eyes, Lisa appeared. Her fingertips stroked across my brow and soothed my fears. Her warm, sweet breath glanced over my cheek, and her soft lips pressed against my mouth. When she vanished, I found myself searching for the creature again, knowing that after I fought him, Lisa would return to me.

Morning came and I rolled out of bed more tired than when I’d first crawled in. I stumbled with the routine of getting to school and attending classes. In Spanish, I saw Lisa for the first time. My sleep–deprived body perked up when she confirmed she’d be spending the night at Sherry’s house and would see me there later. All I had to do was make it through football practice without getting killed by a bunch of heavy linebackers.

****

“I’m not going home,” I said as Carson maneuvered the pickup out of the school parking lot. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Paul because I was afraid he’d get weird, but I want you to drop me off at Sherry’s house.”

“Sherry?” Carson’s eyes got wide. “X–man, how many women do you need? First the new girl, and now Sherry. You can at least wait until after her and Paul breakup before you start hitting on her. Man, that’s just wrong.”

“I’m not hitting on Sherry.”

“Then why are you going to her house?”

“If you’ll shut up long enough, I’ll tell you.”

“Okay, so tell me.”

“Lisa is spending the night at Sherry’s. I’m only going there to see Lisa.”

“So, you’re not interested in Sherry.”

“No, of course not.”

“Why not?” His voice rose to a hostile pitch. “Isn’t she good enough for you? Not pretty enough?”

“Man, what is your problem?” I could tell he was upset. His knuckles turned white from the tight grip on the steering wheel. “Sherry is pretty. Smart too. And she’s a lot of fun to be around, but I’ve known her since grade school. She’s like a sister to me. I don’t know if I could think of her as a girlfriend. Could you?”

He took a long minute to answer. “I’ve got two sisters.”

“So?”

“So, I don’t need any more.”

“You dog.” My mouth broke into a wide grin. “You’ve got the hots for Sherry.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Hey, this is me you’re talking to. It won’t go any further.”

His grip eased on the steering wheel. “Okay, so I like her, but that’s as far as it goes. She’s still with Paul.”

“Yeah, but he cheated on her with Regina, then lied about it. As soon as she finds out for sure, she’ll probably kick his butt to the curb.”

His face scrunched. “Do you think she’ll be mad at me if she hears that I went out with Regina too?”

“I don’t know, but at least you weren’t dating her when it happened.”

“Right, I just hope Sherry sees it that way.”

Her house sat on the outskirts of town, but was only a few minutes from school. In a small town like Esparto, nothing was further away than a dozen blocks.

Carson parked the pickup in front of the house and turned off the engine. “I’m going in with you for a minute just to say hi.”

“That’s fine by me.” I stepped onto the sidewalk. His
minute
was probably going to turn into an hour, but I didn’t care. At least I’d have a ride home. Up until now, I worried I’d have to hitchhike, or call my mom.

He caught up with me on the front walk, but grabbed his hat and tossed it in the direction of the pickup. His cap landed in the pickup bed. He combed his fingers through his flaming red hair. “How do I look?”

I shot him a sideways glance. He had on jeans and a tee, the same as me. “Are you serious? Like I give a crap about how you look.”

“You ought to at least care about yourself. Your shirt looks like you slept in it.”

“This shirt’s clean.” I smoothed my hand down the fold–crease in the center of the gray tee shirt. “I just had it stuffed in my backpack.”

“You could’ve at least shaved.”

I scratched at the sparse patches of hair scattered on my neck. “I did—this morning.”

“Well, don’t worry, man. I doubt the new girl is going to let you close enough to rub your rough stubble over her lily white skin.”

“Probably,” I said, although I disagreed with his assumption. Memories of the other night with Lisa flitted through my mind. She’d pressed her hand against my chest and leaned toward me. In my bedroom and in the car, I’d almost kissed her.

Sherry’s mother met us at the front door and ushered us through the house to the backyard. Sherry and Lisa sat at a round picnic table doing homework, but put it away when we walked out the sliding glass door to the patio.

I pulled a plastic lawn chair up to the table so I sat close to Lisa. Carson plopped into one next to me and stuck his feet in the empty seat of another, but he wasn’t his usual goofy self. Quiet and laidback was more like it. Right away, he started in on Sherry’s favorite subject—horses.

****

“We’ve got two mares going to foal in late January,” Carson said. “If you want, I’ll give you a call when they’re ready. That might help you make up your mind if you want to be a vet.”

“I’d like that, Carson. Thanks.”

“How about you, Lisa?” I asked. She’d been listening quietly to the conversation and I wanted to include her. “Do you like riding horses?”

She fidgeted with the hem of her peach colored tee and smoothed it over the top of her jeans. “I’ve never barrel raced like Sherry has, but I have done a lot of trail riding in primitive areas where four wheel vehicles couldn’t go.”

“That sounds like fun.” She had an adventurous side. I liked that. “Where have you gone?”

“All over. The Southwest mostly.” She leaned back in the chair and a glimmer developed in her eyes. “When I was younger, I would go with my parents to Mexico and Central America. They’re both anthropologists. My mom specializes in ancient religions and spirituality of the indigenous people of the Americas. My dad used to teach classes at Cal Poly on Pre–Columbian Mesoamerican.”

“That is so cool. Last Spring I took a Pre–Columbian class at UCD for extra credit. At the end of the semester, the students went on a field trip to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan peninsula.”

The sparkle in her eyes intensified. “Oh, I loved Chichen Itza. What did you think of it?”

“I couldn’t go.” I glanced away so she wouldn’t see the anguish. My mom didn’t have the money for me to take an expensive trip like that, but I told Lisa a different story. “I got a job working for Carson’s dad during the summer and that cut into my travel time.”

“Oh, well.” She shrugged as if it was unimportant. “Summer isn’t the best time to see it anyway. It’s too hot.”

I leaned back in the lawn chair. She probably guessed the real reason I couldn’t go, but was being nice about it.

Her tongue swiped across her lips. “The best time to go is during the spring or autumn equinox. That’s when you can see the shadow of the serpent slither down the giant staircase.”

“That’s when I plan to go.” If I ever have the money. I tried to steer the conversation away from me. “Does your father still teach?”

“No.” She put her head down and stared at the cement patio. “My dad became very ill a few months ago. He’s in the hospital right now.”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. “Is he going to be all right?”

She shook her head. “The doctors don’t know what’s wrong. Until they figure it out, they can’t make him better.”

“A couple years ago,” Carson said, “my dad got really sick. When the doctors told him it was cancer, it was rough for a while, but they knew how to treat it, and he got better. It’s got to be harder not knowing what’s wrong.”

“It is hard,” she said. “The doctors won’t let him out of the hospital. That’s why my mom and I moved here, so we could be closer to my dad. My mom got a position at UCD and we’ve been staying there with some friends.”

I mentally calculated the miles from my house to Davis. “That’s a long way to drive if I want to come and see you—about homework, I mean.”

A smile tugged at her lips. “We’ll be moving to Esparto soon. The house we rented will be ready on Friday, which is the first of October. That’s when our furniture should arrive. Mom’s car is supposed to be delivered also. Then I’ll be able to get around without waiting for her to drive me.”

Carson’s eyes lit up. “You’ll be driving the Hummer?”

“No, I’ll get my mom’s Lexus.”

“You just ruined Carson’s day,” I said when he let out a heavy groan. “He was hoping to take a ride in the Hummer.”

“Sorry, but it doesn’t matter which car I drive. I only got my license in May when I turned sixteen and can’t have anyone underage in the car unless my mom is with me.”