Full Moon (3 page)

It wasn’t like
my plans were laid out for the weekend. I might get to see Michael
if he attended the high school. Except, in the few moments I spent
with him, he seemed older somehow. Grace was like one giant
fireball of energy. Someone who chattered, so I wouldn’t have to.
“Sure. Sounds nice.”

Her vice-grip
on my arm released when we came to the world’s tiniest car.

“
It’s a smart car. Awesome, isn’t it?” Grace patted the
bonnet.

I pointed my
finger at a pair of pink fuzzy dice hanging off the mirror. “I
think they’re bigger than your car.”

Grinning,
Grace unlocked the doors. “My brother got those for me.” She rolled
her eyes but patted the dice affectionately. “Oh shoot, I didn’t
even ask.” She smacked her head. “Do you need to stop by your place
before we head to the mall?”

“
Probably a good idea.” A change of clothes seemed required. I
felt underdressed. I didn’t have loads of money, but it wouldn’t
hurt to check out the mall.

Grace zoomed
out of the school lot and headed in the direction I pointed. She
swung the little car on my street and then slammed on the brakes
right in front of the house. Freaky, as I’d only pointed and never
said the house number.

She jumped out
of the car faster than I could get my seat belt off. I stepped out
and pulled at my shirt, not in a rush to go inside. Grace just
seemed a lot classier than my dilapidated house.

“
I, uh, live here with my foster folks…”

“
No way! My brother and I are adopted. I totally know the
feeling.” She smiled. The sympathy in her eyes too much for
me.

“
Maybe similar, but trust me, it’s completely different.” I
pulled out my house key. “I get the feeling your folks are pretty
well off. Jim and Sally are, well…they just are…They work hard,
but…” Not knowing what else to say, I turned and headed towards the
front porch. The neighborhood and house spoke better than I
could.

Grace followed
on my heels, but I didn’t miss the funny look on her face. When I
opened the front door, she pinched her nose. Her face screwed up
tight.

“
Sorry. It’s bleach. We’ve been cleaning and
painting.”

She coughed,
politely covering her mouth and dropping all expression from her
face. “It’s fine. It just caught me by surprise.” She glanced
around. “The place is, uh, cute.”

Jim lay on the
couch watching TV in dirty jogging pants and a paint-stained shirt,
one of those ugly wife-beater tank tops. He lowered the volume with
the remote and waved before looking over. Then his thumb hit the
wrong button and channels started flickering past when he noticed
Grace. Obviously at a loss for words, Jim sat up, his mouth hanging
open. In the past three years, I’d never brought anyone home, and
Grace was probably the prettiest thing he’d ever come in contact
with.

“
My room’s upstairs,” I mumbled.

“
Hu-llo there.” A weird smile crossed his face as he stared at
her.

Is he actually trying to flirt with her? Gag!
Any minute he’d be salivating like a dog – all I
needed was a bell.

I grabbed her
wrist and pulled her towards my room. Her eyes were wide and bright
blue. She didn’t say anything, but as soon as we got into my room,
she went straight to my open window and took a few deep
breaths.

“
Sorry ’bout that.” My cheeks refused to stop burning. I
grabbed my black miniskirt and threw a turquoise shirt over my
white tank top. Pulling my pony holder out, I shook my tangles out,
ran a finger through my hair and then clipped a small barrette to
hold most of my bangs away from my face. Far from stunning, but at
least it looked decent.

Thank goodness
Jim was absent from the living room when we left. Hopefully to
shower and change.

Two steps
outside, I started laughing.

Grace stared
at me, one eyebrow raised. “Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting…I don’t
know what I expected.”

“
Not taken personally.” I grinned. “He’s never acted
like
that
before.
He’s harmless, honest.” At least she hadn’t taken off running. If
she could handle that, she was definitely friend-worthy.

Both giggling,
we got into her car. “How did you end up with them?”

“
I didn’t have much of a choice.” I shrugged. “The system kept
me stuck inside it. I got bounced around a lot back in Niagara
Falls, and when I landed with Jim and Sally…I’ve been with them
through most of high school and when Sally got the job transfer,
she an’ Jim asked if I wanted to come with them. I said yes. I have
to stay until I graduate.” I tried not to let my frustration and
disappointment leak into my words. “I never got adopted. It
supposedly took the system forever to try and locate either of my
parents, which they never did, and by the time they stopped
searching, I wasn’t the newbie baby parents wanted to adopt.” I
absently stared out the window as we drove.
Why did I just tell Grace my sob story?
It’d never been a self-pity point for me and I turned
eighteen in January, so it wouldn’t matter much longer.

“
Screw shopping. Do you want to come over to my place and
watch a movie instead?” She swung the little car around, doing a
one eighty. “We can dig through my closet and find something for
each of us.”

We passed End
of an Era cemetery. I held my breath, something I’d always done as
a kid whenever I drove by one. Michael crossed my mind. I quickly
pushed him out. “Sounds good.” My breathing resumed as the car
travelled by houses and left the cemetery behind.

The road
became more hilly, the houses sparse. Grace made a sharp turn, the
little wheels squealing in protest. The long driveway lay between
luscious green grass and red maple trees with the biggest leaves
I’d ever seen.

House wasn’t the right word to describe where she lived.
Church or castle seemed more fitting. Built out of limestone with
beautiful architectural detail, there were unique carvings in the
bricks.
Gorgeous.
It took my breath away.

Grace mumbled
something I didn’t hear. She parked her car between a dark blue
Mustang and a black Mondeo.

A sudden wave of nervousness flushed through my veins. Some
weird urge to jump out of the car and run nagged at my insides.
Chewing my pinkie fingernail, I tried to squash the jitters.
Why in the world did it feel like I wasn’t
supposed to be here?

Chapter
3

“
Are you coming?” Grace held my door open as she peered in the
little car. Her forehead creased then quickly disappeared when she
smiled. “Caleb’s a bit dramatic.” She laughed at some private joke
as I stepped out.

I frowned.
“Caleb?”

“
Yeah…
Yeah,
my adoptive father.” She gave her head a slight shake, her
hair sparkling in the porch light’s reflection against the now
growing darkness outside. The sun must have given up trying to get
through the clouds, and called it an early night. “There’s a
royal air
about him.
It’s hard to explain. You’ll see when you meet him.”

“
Air?”

“
Bad joke.” She giggled. “I meant h-e-i-r, like he pretends to
be a king.” She rolled her eyes. “He designed the
house.”

I didn’t get the joke, but I’d never been great with parents
or any adults.
Probably why part of me
wanted to stay outside.
Another part
begged to step inside and find the peace this place had to
offer.

The front
steps led to large wooden doors with multi-colored stained glass
insets. Grace pushed one open and ushered me in. “My room’s
upstairs. Let’s check out what I’ve got to wear for Saturday.” She
kicked off her ballet flats and started up the stairs, turning to
wait for me.

The place screamed rich. I bet old money since everything
looked antique. Grace said Caleb built it, but the house seemed
from before this century. Maybe the guy dug reproductive stuff and
had it all done to look ancient – like the stuff belonged in a
palace somewhere. The cool windows probably made rainbows on the
walls. They ran all the way to the second floor with an open
concept view.
A great
room
. I remembered studying it in an
architecture class at my old high school.

Grace led the way up the winding staircase to the first door
on the left.
Why am I so comfortable
around her? Like I’ve known her forever and yet we’ve barely just
met.

Grace
chattered at the top of the stairs, “I know what it’s like to be
the new kid. If I’d had someone to show me around, it would’ve made
things a lot easier.”

Her massive
room had a king-size bed and four matching dressers, everything
painted with bright and fresh colors. Stepping into her closet, I
barely made it two feet. It was easily three times the size of my
bedroom. Hundreds of clothes dangled on hangers, organized by color
and type. Dresses hung on one side, skirts, pants, tops and blouses
on the other. Massive shelves, with more shoes than I dared count,
climbed to the ceiling. “Maybe you need to seek professional help.”
I laughed, setting my bag on one of the shelves. “Too bad you’re so
tiny, or I’d borrow a third of your clothes. You wouldn’t even
notice them missing!”

Grace bounced
up and down, like an elegant ballet dancer. “Tiny? That’s your
polite way of saying I’m short? Ha!” She grinned. “You’re just
tall. Everything’ll fit but my pants.” She twirled around the
closet. “Sleep over on Saturday. We can get to know each other.
It’ll be fun.”

Her face
looked so hopeful. Even with the weird nagging feeling still
pulling at my gut, I couldn’t say no. “Twist my ar—” I stopped
mid-sentence when her door flew open.

“
Gracey. You smell something? I smelled it all the way
down--”

My heart
stuttered a few beats before racing out of control. There, in the
closet door frame, stood Michael.

His head whipped from Grace to me. Heat rose on my face. I
dropped my gaze to my hands.
Grace’s
brother.
It suddenly felt like I’d
unconsciously used her to find him. They looked exactly
alike.
Why didn’t I put it together
sooner?

Grace ran over to him. “Michael, knock before coming
in.
I tell you that all the
time.
”

“
No you don’t. It’s nev—”

“
This is Rouge.” She rubbed her neck. “She’s new. A senior at
Port Q.”

“
Hello.” His voice made me melt and freeze all over—like fire
and ice.

“
Ha-hello.” I cleared my throat. “It’s, uh, nice to see you
again.”

“
You know each other?” Grace’s head swung back and forth
between the two of us.

“
We ran into each other the other night – that’s all.”
Michael's eyes never left my face. He inhaled, stepped out of the
room and disappeared down the hall. A door slammed shut and,
seconds later, loud music hit the air.

I wanted to disappear.
Could his
disgust be any more obvious?
“I went
running in the cemetery. I didn’t know he’s your brother. We just
met one time…he helped me find my iPod.”

Grace came
over and waved her hand. “Michael’s, like, kind of abrupt. He’s
lousy with socializing. What were you doing running in a cemetery
at night?” She paused then held up a finger. “On second thought,
don’t answer.”

A burning between my shoulder blades reminded me I needed to
relax. I took a deep breath.
Screw it. Not
worth the time.
I’d be out of here after
graduation so it wasn’t like I had to hang out with him or try to
be friends.
Nice try, Rouge. You still
think he’s cute.

“
Don’t you dare change our plans for Saturday.” Grace must
have thought my silence meant I didn’t want to be here. She picked
out some clothes, led me out of the closet, then flipped the light
off. “I’ll tell Michael to get lost for the night. He could do with
getting a life.”

“
No. Don’t worry. I’m still coming.” I swallowed, glancing
down the long hall as we headed for the stairs. “How old is
Michael?”

“
Just slightly older and trust me, he never lets me forget. I
hate to admit it sometimes, but he’s actually my real brother.
Sarah and Caleb adopted both of us.”

She took me
through the living room, which had a huge flat screen TV and an
awesome sound system. One of those wireless ones. The furniture
looked antique and expensive, but very comfortable, like it was
meant to be sat in. The beige and bright white accents of the room
made the abstract artwork on the walls seem like they were painted
right where they hung.

A woman, as
stunning as Grace, sat at a desk near the window. They could almost
pass as sisters. Both had similar features -- the same perfectly
tanned skin and beautiful ocean blue eyes. She also had the same
extremely feminine physique, but more muscular. She probably did
Yoga or Pilates ten times a day.

She had to be
Sarah, Grace’s adoptive mom. Sarah’s blonde hair skimmed her
shoulders. She grinned and leaned against the desk, her chin
fitting perfectly into her little hand. “Hello.”

“
Sarah, this is Rouge.”

“
Nice to meet you.” I was jealous of her perfect-sounding
voice. Bold, sensual and like she feared nothing.