Silver Smoke (#1 of Seven Halos Series) (19 page)

Rykken felt something stir in the pit of his stomach. "Did Justin hurt you?" he blurted out.

"No, no," Brie said. "Justin's great." Rykken didn't know whether to feel relieved or sick.

Brie stood up, and walked to her own set of double doors. She opened the door and stepped in, then stopped.

"You haven't missed the Reef Hawaiian Pro in the last five years. You want to go Stanford for college, and God, you actually have the grades and athletic talent to get in. And you're always writing in that notebook you carry with you. You even pull it out in the middle of conversations sometimes."

Rykken gaped at Brie. Her face was hard, anger carved into her features.

"I turn the music off on my iPod and eavesdrop on you and Pilot in the car every morning."

Rykken shook his head in disbelief. "Why would you do that?"

"My brother tells you everything about us. I needed to know if I could trust you." Brie looked up. "You don't talk when you think people are listening... it was the only way I could find out more about you."

"That's ridiculous."

"It's true." Brie laughed soundlessly. She stepped inside her door. "I'm sorry you think so poorly of me." She closed her door silently, and she was gone before he could reply.

Rykken wanted to go after her. He might have considered it if it wasn't completely creepy to enter a teenage girl's room in the middle of the night without an invitation.

Also, she was with Justin now. He had to get that through his head. No matter what happened between them, she was dating someone else.

Rykken sighed, walking back to his room. Now that the pendant was gone, his mind had cleared. He felt incredibly guilty about the way he treated Brie. It was like the pendant had taken over, making him harder on her than he normally would have been.

Rykken stopped at his own set of double doors.
The pendant isn't gone
, he reminded himself. Pilot had it, probably somewhere in his room.

Rykken passed his own room, turning a corner and finding another set of glass double doors similar to the ones for his room. He felt weird spying on his friend, but he had to know what happened to the pendant. He owed it to Brie and Pilot.

He cupped his hands around his eyes and peered into the room. Pilot wasn't there, but Rykken spotted
Hawaiian Myths and Legends
sitting on Pilot's bookshelf.

The pendant was on top of it, but it was no longer on its chain. The pendant was part of the book's cover now, as if they had never been separate.

"Can I talk to you?" A distinctly male voice tickled Brie's ear, sending shivers down her spine. She jumped, spinning around and hitting someone's shoulder with her math book.

"Ow!" The voice gasped, grabbing his bicep.

"Rykken!" Brie was so surprised she dropped her books in front of her locker. Rykken bent down at the same time that Brie dropped her purse on the ground so she could pick up her books. Her purse hit Rykken on the head.

Rykken grabbed his head, wincing. "Ugh. Are you trying to kill me?"

"Sorry!" Brie's heart was pounding, though she couldn't tell if it was because he surprised her or for a different reason.

Rykken rose. "I guess I deserved that." He folded his hands over his head, grimacing.

"What do you want Rykken?" Brie eyed him suspiciously.

Rykken winced again. "I want to apologize."

"For what?" Brie strained to keep her voice low. "Sneaking around my house, breaking my plant, and catching me crying?" She put her hand on her hip, her voice rising slightly. "Or is this the apology for the time you said horrible things about me to your friends and the entire school heard?" Rykken was suspended in place with his mouth open. Brie could feel herself reaching a full-on yell, but she couldn't seem to control her voice.

"Wait—I know," she said sarcastically. "This is for calling me superficial and going off on a completely unprovoked diatribe at a party I was hosting, right?" Brie's hands were shaking. "Don't worry, it was nothing. No hard feelings, now that you want to apologize." People nearby paused at their lockers, gaping at Rykken and Brie.

His eyes met hers. She tried to keep her hostile front, but her anger faded under his hurt gaze.

Brie glanced away, pushing a bang out of her eyes only to have it fall back into place. Rykken reached up, then dropped his hand quickly.

"All of it really," he replied quietly. He took a step back. With the extra space between them, Brie's breathing returned to something close to normal.

Rykken looked away, putting distance between them with the smallest movements. "Look, you were right. Pilot wants us to be friends and we should try."

"Well, it's too late for apologies," Brie said unkindly. She wasn't going to let him pity her as the best friend's little sister. She shut her locker door and stepped away, but Rykken grabbed her wrist.

"Wait."

Brie turned quickly. The place where he touched her burned her skin. She found herself inches away from his face, feeling his warm breath on her cheeks. She had never seen his face up close like this. He had deep, chocolate eyes with a slight curve at the edges, straight nose and lips, and high cheekbones.

She blinked several times.

"It can't be too late," he said.

Brie wriggled her arm out of his slackened grip, and he willingly released her from his hold. "I'm not a charity case."

"And I'm not doing this for Pilot." Brie eyed Rykken skeptically. He took a deep breath. "I'm not a jerk. I can be a nice guy. And I do think I misjudged you." The tone in his voice was different than usual, almost tender in comparison to the last few weeks. It tugged at Brie's heart. She felt her chest warming against her will.

Despite that, Brie shook her head firmly. "I don't think we can be friends."

Rykken flinched, swallowing hard. "A truce then?" he asked distantly, not meeting Brie's eyes.

Brie considered his offer. "A truce would be better than this."

Okay," he replied, nodding his head several times.

Brie turned away.

"Brie," Rykken said. She turned around, but Rykken was staring at the ground. "I gave Pilot the pendant."

Brie's throat went dry, her chest cold. For a split-second, she considered slapping Rykken again, but stopped herself when she remembered how that hadn't solved things the first time.

Rykken crossed his arms in front of his face, as if he expected to get walloped again. When she didn't make a move, he said, "It's okay, I think. The pendant went with this book Pilot has,
Hawaiian
Myths and Legends
. It's back in the book, dormant. For now."

"What? Pilot doesn't even read."

"It's a book he was reading for a school assignment."

"Where is the book?" Brie asked.

"It's missing. Pilot and I looked for it on Sunday morning, but it was gone."

Brie was close to tears. "How could you do that? I told you to give the pendant to me because it was dangerous!" She clutched her stomach. "If something had happened to Pilot—"

"I know the pendant is dangerous, trust me." Rykken's voice was choked, like it was difficult for him to speak. "There's something else you should know though. When I last saw the pendant in the book, there were words engraved in the stone." Rykken shook his head, as if he couldn't believe his own words.

"Something, I couldn't read it. It looked like Latin."

"The Smaragdine Table." Brie couldn't believe it herself.

"What?"

Brie pursed her lips. "Nothing."

He looked at her. "Look, that pendant changed my moods and my thoughts. If you know something more—"

"I would tell you," Brie interrupted. He didn't seem convinced. "All I know is that the pendant is dangerous, and we're all better off without it―like I told you on the beach when we first found it." She touched Rykken's hand. "Thank you for telling me all of this."

"Telling you what?" Justin asked, grabbing her books. He had come out of nowhere, but Brie tried not to be annoyed.

Rykken backed away from Brie quickly. "Nothing. We were just talking about a class project." Rykken had a strange look on his face. "I'll see you in class Brie," he said, running his fingers through his hair as he turned to walk down the hall.

"That was weird," Justin said, smiling at Brie. She smiled back, as convincingly as she could.

"Can I walk you to your next class?" he asked. "I know it's old-fashioned." He grinned. "It could be cool though."

"No, it's great," Brie said, smiling more sincerely this time. "It's exactly what I need right now."

*****

"Sure," Pilot said. "And Tuesday and Wednesday night, if you want." He loosened the top button of his shirt so he wouldn't sweat. "But if you're asking if there are other girls on Friday and Saturday, the answer is no." He leaned in, even though their table was in a quiet corner of the restaurant. "I just realized we've been here for 45 minutes and I still haven't learned anything about you."

Kennedy tilted her head. "What do you want to know?"

Pilot smiled. "Everything. What your family is like. What you like to do on the weekends. You're so... mysterious."

Kennedy fiddled with the black fringes on her shimmery dress. Normally, Pilot thought fringe was for cowboys, but the effect of Kennedy's dress under the lights was unexpectedly nice.

"I'd rather hear about you," she said.

Pilot glanced down at the half-eaten bowl of shellfish in front of him. "I've been talking about myself this whole time."

"Sure," Kennedy said, rolling her eyes, "you told me about school and your dad and water polo. But you haven't said anything interesting. I could read everything you've told me so far in a magazine."

Pilot set his spoon down on the white linen. "What are you saying? I'm boring you?"

"No, I'm not bored—I'm waiting to meet the real Pilot."

Pilot's heart sank—up until now, he thought the date was going well. "Maybe my life isn't as interesting as you want it to be."

"Hah," Kennedy said. "I doubt that."

Pilot stirred his shellfish. "We just met. What did you expect—intimate details about my life?"

"You sound defensive."

"I'm not defensive. This is a date though, not an invitation to my life story."

Kennedy laughed. "Pilot, calm down. I'm not the media."

"But you can talk to the media."

Kennedy smoothed the top of her head. "If you thought I was going to talk to the media, why did you bother bringing me here?" She stroked her pale hair, no longer platinum blonde, but the color of a dove's coat.

Pilot met her gaze. "Fine. What would be interesting to you?"

"How about you answer one of your own questions." Kennedy dipped her fork into Pilot's bowl, snagging a piece of shellfish. "What is
your
family like?"

Pilot watched her chew, wondering how girls could eat without messing up bright red lipstick. She looked at him expectantly.

"Well, we threw a party last night and my dad and sister barely spoke. Sometimes I think if I wasn't around..." Pilot trailed off. He didn't want to finish that sentence, not in front of Kennedy. "Anyway.

Next question."

"Oh, come on. That's all you give me?"

"I already gave you some shellfish." She looked at him like he was an idiot. He twisted his neck, rolling his shoulders back to loosen the tension. "I can't be an open book, okay? I'm not built like that. The more public my life gets, the more private I want to keep it."

Kennedy was silent; she stared at her plate, twirling noodles around her fork. "Well, your family can't possibly be more dysfunctional than mine. Both my parents passed away a few years ago."

"I'm sorry," Pilot said automatically.

"I guess you would understand," she said, meeting his eyes. There was something vulnerable about them.

"Yeah. Absolutely," Pilot put a piece of shellfish in his mouth.

"Anyway, I live with my sister now." Kennedy looked up at him, frowning. "In Los Angeles."

Pilot dropped his spoon, splashing shellfish broth onto the white linen tablecloth. "What?"

"I'm here on business," Kennedy said. "But my sister and I live in Los Angeles. I work for her company, actually."

All the unformed plans Pilot had for them―school dances, hanging out on the beach, dinner with his family―vaporized in that one sentence. "I guess that's why you wouldn't let me pick you up."

Kennedy smiled. "It would be tough to explain the hotel address over the phone."

Pilot felt a sharp pinch in his chest. "Are you really seventeen?"

"Yes." Her expression reflected back the pain in his own. "I didn't lie to you Pilot. I really went to school at Iolani too." She put her hand on his. "I just need you to know that I'm not staying."

Pilot pulled his hand away. He leaned back in his chair, shaking his head. "You have some nerve."

"What does that mean?"

"You wanted me to tell you all this personal stuff, and then you drop this bomb on me." Pilot rubbed the back of his neck. "You asked me why I bothered bringing you here, but I think a better question is why did you bother coming here?"

She shrugged. "I like you." She acted like it pained her to say the words out loud.

"You must have known nothing could come of it. Maybe that's what you wanted." He lifted his napkin from his lap and threw it on the table. "I shouldn't be surprised—enough girls did this to me in New York." He pulled out his wallet. "Don't get me wrong, it was fun. I was a freshman in high school, hooking up with older girls who used me like a status symbol. I didn't care why they wanted me, I just took advantage of it." He took out his credit card and put it on the table. "I'm over that though."

Kennedy stared at his credit card, her mouth open. She shook her head. "I didn't mean it like that.

I'm sorry if I gave you the impression I just wanted to hook up with you."