Claire De Lune (16 page)

Lisbeth sighed. “Okay. I don’t love it, but as long as you agree to be careful, I guess it’s all right with me.”

“I’ll be careful,” Claire promised. She stood up and half-
skipped to the door. As soon as she got up to her room, she grabbed her phone and called Matthew. It went straight to voicemail, and Claire realized that he was probably at soccer practice.

“Hey,” she said, “it’s me. Guess what? I talked Lisbeth into letting me go to Doug’s! She’s dropping me off at seven thirty. Good news, huh? Anyway, I just wanted to call and say I’ll see you there.”

She hung up and headed to the closet, wondering what on earth she was going to wear.

The soft
tick
of snapping twigs moved through the forest ahead of her. When would that fool ever learn to move silently? Her own feet made no noise as she wove through the trees, moving closer and closer to the edge of the woods. She stopped and doubled back. The scent trail hit her like a slap in the face. It reeked of determination, bitter somehow, with an edge of something almost like ammonia. The rich musk of self-importance cut through it, mixing unpleasantly with the first smell.

She allowed herself a small, victorious snuffle, almost inaudible beneath the ruffling leaves. Stupid, egotistical bitch. She deserved whatever happened to her.

On Friday night, Lisbeth pulled up in front of Doug’s driveway, which was packed with cars. Half the street was full too. Claire swallowed hard. She’d been so excited to see
Matthew that she hadn’t really thought about all the other people who would be there. Even though things had gone okay at the diner, it still made her nervous to walk into a roomful of incredibly popular people.

“Well, are you going or not?” Lisbeth teased.

“Yeah, of course.” Claire opened the door and slid out. If she backed out now, Lisbeth might get suspicious. She’d just have to suck it up and hope that she didn’t get laughed out of the room when everyone saw her walk in.

“I’ll pick you up at eleven,” Lisbeth called.

“I’ll be ready.” Claire shut the door, smoothed her hair, and walked up to the house. She knocked once, but there was so much noise inside that no one heard her. After a couple of deep breaths, she opened the door and stepped in. The living room was full of people huddled in small groups. In the corner, a CD player thudded away next to a table with bottles of soda and bowls of chips and pretzels. Claire hesitated in the front hall and took another deep breath. The smell of cheap alcohol tinged the air, and Claire realized that not everyone had soda in their red plastic cups.

Across the room, Kate-Marie Brown caught sight of Claire and curled her lip. She turned to whisper something to the blond girl next to her, and Claire felt her heart stutter in her chest.

Okay, so this was definitely a huge mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking when we were at mini-golf, because I really, really
don’t belong here.

A warm arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her against a familiar body. “Hey, there,” Matthew murmured in her ear. “I’ve been dying for you to get here.”

Claire twisted around, looking up into his sparkling eyes. “It’s really good to see you, too,” she said, meaning every word.

She shouldn’t be worried about Kate-Marie or anyone else. They were all just …
humans,
right? Clare caught her breath, startled by her own thought.

Matthew frowned, catching the sudden change in her mood. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. A little thirsty, maybe.”

“Then let me get you something to drink. Do you want it spiked or unspiked?” He stepped toward the table with the cups and raised his eyebrows at her.

“Something diet and unspiked, please.” She hoped her answer wouldn’t make him think she was a total dork. Then again, he hadn’t smelled like he’d been drinking, and she’d been plenty close enough to tell.

“No problem. I’ll be right back.”

Matthew worked his way across the room, stopping to slap a couple of guys on the back and to greet a cluster of girls that were staring at him. The girls practically fell over themselves flirting with him, and jealousy gripped Claire, squeezing her ribs until she couldn’t breathe.

Her self-control was slipping, and panic rose in her chest.
She could feel her wolf-form pushing against the too-thin layer of her human skin. What if she changed without meaning to, the way she had in her room that first day? She forced herself to unclench her hands. The backs of her hands were still smooth. Just because her heart was twitching against her ribs was no reason to freak out.

The smells around her suddenly intensified, and the urge to flee became too strong to ignore. She had to find some place to calm down, somewhere away from all these people. While Matthew’s back was to her, Claire slipped out of the room and down the back hall. She opened the first door she came to and breathed a sigh of relief. It was empty. And decorated in princesses. She’d found Doug’s baby sister’s room. Claire closed the door behind her and sat down on the edge of the bed.

After a few deep breaths, the haze of panic started to clear. Claire stood up and ran a hand over her hair. A few more seconds, and she’d be ready to go back out there.

The door opened and Matthew poked his head in. He had a cup in each hand.

“Hey—I wondered where you’d gone. Everything okay?”

Heat rushed into Claire’s cheeks. The last thing she wanted was for Matthew to know that she’d freaked out. She wanted to lie to him, to tell him she’d taken a wrong turn on the way to the bathroom.

Claire shrugged. “It was just a little claustrophobic in there. I needed some air.”

Matthew stepped into the room and set down the drinks on the nightstand. He stood close enough to her that Claire swallowed hard.

“So, are you feeling any better?”

“Not really,” she admitted. Damn, why was it so hard to lie to him?

“Then let’s get out of here,” Matthew whispered.

Claire’s pulse sped up, and a little glow of anticipation sparked in her middle.

“Really?” she asked.

He leaned in. “Of course. What I really want is to spend time with you. Just you. And since we don’t have a lot of opportunities to do that, maybe we should take advantage of what we’ve got, you know?”

Claire nodded. Half of her was jumping up and down with excitement, but the other half was worried. “Won’t it look weird if we leave?”

“Nah,” he murmured. “Most of them are three drinks in already. They won’t notice if the couch is on fire.”

He was right—Claire hadn’t really thought about that.

“So, how come you’re not drinking?” The question popped out before she stopped to think about how it sounded. She bit the tip of her tongue and winced.

Matthew shrugged. “Too risky. I get caught drinking, I’m off the soccer team. And that means no scholarships, no college team. I’d be stuck going to community college and living
with my parents. And that is definitely
not
part of my plan.”

He smiled at her.

“Come on,” he said, grabbing her free hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

They headed down the hall and through the living room. Claire was so tense that the back of her neck was practically an armored plate. She could feel everyone sizing her up, judging her. Matthew edged them toward the front door without being obvious about it.

Once the front hall was empty, the two of them slipped out the front door into the almost-dark, and Claire was pretty sure no one had seen them.

The night was quiet after the shouting and music of the party. They were alone. Really alone.

“Thanks for the rescue. So, um, where are we going?” she asked as they walked toward Matthew’s car.

“Wherever you want,” Matthew answered, pulling her in close.

“What about that coffee shop over on Fourth Street? The one next to the bookstore? Emily and I hang out there a lot.” As soon as she said it, Claire remembered that the last time she’d been there, she’d run into Victoria. Crap. What if she was there again?

Matthew smiled at her. “That sounds great.”

There were very few cars out—people really were staying home after dark these days. When they got to Fourth Street, Claire
could see that the little row of businesses were all dark, the coffee shop included. Matthew slowed down as they passed it. A bright-pink piece of paper had been taped to the inside of the shop’s glass door.

“‘Temporary New Hours,’” Claire read, “‘ten a.m. to six p.m.’”

“You can see that from here?” Matthew’s voice was incredulous. “I must need my eyes checked.”

Oops. Damn.

“It’s closer to my side of the car,” Claire offered. “I didn’t think about them being closed.”

There was a flutter of movement at the far end of the row of businesses. Claire blinked at it as Matthew’s car drew closer. It was a person.

Oh, God. It wasn’t just a person. It was Lisbeth. She was walking down the sidewalk. Claire couldn’t figure out why she would be here when everything was closed. Lisbeth turned to look at Matthew’s approaching car.

Claire slid down in the seat so fast that her knees banged against the dashboard.

“Claire?” Matthew sounded shocked, and the almost-bitter smell of worry filled the car.

“It’s Lisbeth!” Claire hissed. “Just—keep driving and tell me when you can’t see her anymore, okay?”

“Oh, crap.” Matthew sped up a little, and Claire stayed hunched down into the seat. Her legs had started to ache from being crunched into such a weird position. In her back pocket,
Claire’s cell phone started to ring. She managed to wriggle it out at the same time that Matthew turned a corner. Lisbeth’s number was lit up on the caller ID.

“Nooooo,” Claire moaned.

“Don’t answer it,” Matthew suggested.

“She’ll be
furious,
” Claire said. But if she answered in the quiet car, Lisbeth would know that she wasn’t at the party. She was screwed.

“Wait fifteen minutes and then text her.” Matthew suggested. “Tell her you couldn’t hear the phone because it was so loud—that it’s too loud to talk.”

Claire licked her lips and nodded. Lisbeth would be mad, but she’d probably buy that. The phone in her hand beeped as the call went to voicemail, making her decision for her.

“You can scoot up now,” Matthew said. “We’re far enough away.”

Claire slid back up in the seat. “Do you think she saw me?”

Matthew shook his head. “I think probably she saw
me
and got suspicious, you know?”

Claire leaned her head back against the seat. “I’m so sorry, Matthew. If my mom weren’t being so stupid about all of this … ugh. I’m just sorry that I’m making you sneak around, I guess.”

Matthew shrugged. “Look, I’d rather be honest about all of this, too, but my dad has screwed up enough stuff in my life that I totally understand. And who knows? Maybe she’ll
change her mind once this werewolf stuff calms down.”

“I seriously doubt that. My mother doesn’t change her mind.”

“Well, either way.” Matthew stopped at a red light. He reached over and touched her face, his hand tracing the shape of her jaw. “It’s worth it, either way.”

They drove around for a while, marveling at the fact that everything really was closed at night. Matthew didn’t seem to be nervous about being out after dark, which surprised Claire.

“Aren’t you worried about the werewolf ?” she asked.

“Well, we
are
in a car,” he pointed out. “So we’d be faster than the werewolf. But mostly, I just think that the odds of being in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time—they’re pretty small. I wouldn’t go for a hike right now, but driving around town? Nope. Not nervous about that. And anyway, you’re here, which means you must not be terrified either, right?”

A little shock zinged through Claire. She hadn’t really considered that he would turn the question back around on her. “Um, no, I’m not. For the same reasons you just said, really. Oh, crap!” She looked at the clock. “I’d better text Lisbeth.”

Lisbeth
was
pissed, but she seemed to believe that Claire was still at Doug’s. Claire felt bad about lying to her, but, she reasoned, she wouldn’t be doing it if her mother would listen to reason. As it was, she didn’t have any other choice.

Since nothing was open, they ended up driving aimlessly around town, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. When they ended up back on Doug’s block, Claire looked at the clock. It was quarter till eleven. How had so much time gone by so fast? From the street, the music coming from inside was just a whisper of bass. Claire leaned back in the seat and sighed. She really, really didn’t want to go in there and face everyone, even if Matthew was with her.

He leaned over and kissed her. Claire could feel him smiling.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go see who’s still conscious in there.”

“Okay,” she whispered, still a little tingly from the feeling of his lips against hers.

If Matthew was with her, it wouldn’t be that bad. And it was only fifteen minutes, right? The two of them walked across the front lawn and into the house. There were still small groups of people scattered though the family room, but their conversations were louder, and there were a couple of people passed out on the couches.

Claire stayed near the windows, watching for Lisbeth’s car. The last thing she needed was Lisbeth coming up to the house—she’d be in twelve kinds of trouble for sure. When the car pulled up outside, Claire ran for the front hall.

“I’ll call you later,” she said, as Matthew quickly kissed her good-bye.

“Hey, Engle!” The slurred call came from somewhere in the living room. “Get your ass over here—we need a fourth for poker!”

Matthew laughed and headed back into the party while Claire opened the door and darted across the dark lawn. She slid into Lisbeth’s car.

“Now I believe you couldn’t hear the phone—if the music’s that loud out here, it must have been deafening in there!” Lisbeth shook her head. “So, did you have fun?”

Claire sighed. “I dunno. Sort of, I guess.” It was true. The time she’d spent with Matthew had been amazing, but the rest of the party stuff had been pretty torturous.