The Secret of Strange Waters (The Light Keeper Series Book 2) (9 page)

My fingers gripped my books and I pulled them to my chest, not budging from where I stood. I wasn’t about to leave Owen, who was grossly outnumbered. I could see why he was taking the risk with the Waters, and prayed he wouldn’t have to show his strengths. It would be more than his secrets he’d be exposing. I watched as they pushed him back against the lockers and crowded around, pointing and gesturing close to his face. He caught a glimpse of me through the crowd, my eyes wide with fear and wonder at what would happen next. “Go to class, Lily,” Owen commanded over their shoulders. I caught a glimpse of his fear and realized it was for me, and not him.

A hand closed around my arm, gripping it so hard the bone felt like it would snap. Whoever was behind me had a good hold on me. French was back in Owen’s face, blocking his view. “Lily? What a pretty little name. As fresh and pure as a little flower aren’t you?” I tried to turn to see who had me, but he kept me facing Owen and the crowd who taunted him.

“Let go of me!” I jerked myself away, but I stumbled, falling to the ground as Mr. Johnson, the science teacher, broke up the crowd and sent everyone on to class. Owen picked me up. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine! Some pervert grabbed my arm!” I rubbed the tender spot as Owen collected my books. I straightened out my clothes and hair, and then Owen hurried us toward class.

He led me gently by the hand. “I’m sorry about that, Lily. Next time, keep on walking and don’t stop. I can handle myself.”

I pulled him to a stop outside the classroom door. “I wasn’t going to leave you there! But I hope you understand how dangerous and how much trouble can come from that Water! You’re putting us all at risk with your selfishness!” The bell sounded, making us both tardy.

“I can take care of myself and I don’t need you getting hurt! And as for being selfish, those guys are being jerks because I quit the team!” Realizing we had an audience, Owen quietly made his way inside and took his seat. I followed, keeping my head down; the teacher’s tone told us to get to our seats. He finally did it. He quit the team, and now he could quit the Waters.

* * *

After school, we all decided on malts. Owen made me promise not to mention the altercation, which meant I couldn’t tell anyone about the pervert who’d taken the opportunity to grab my arm. It was probably for the best. Talon would only get mad, and since I had no idea who grabbed me, he wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway. After a few brain freezes, we headed home. As we turned into our little road, we saw Hunter and Owen’s new car sitting in the driveway—that was Granny’s surprise. It was a faded, dull, red 1971 Barracuda with shiny new rims and tires. When Hunter stopped the car, Granny came outside, smiling. As soon as they got out of the car, Hunter was jumping up and down screaming. “No freaking way!”

Owen’s eyes darted up to her, and she nodded. Then it hit him, and he was jumping up and down, too. “Oh my gosh! Granny! Oh my gosh!” Granny had bought the exact car they both had been drooling over for months.

We all got out and stood there, watching them freak out over the car. “So what’s that all about?” Meagan asked, not realizing that the guys had gotten their dream car.

Holly eyes rolled so hard I giggled. “It’s their new car,” she explained.

“That’s not a
new
car.” She curled her lip. “It’s hot, though. I’ll look good in it. Wait, does he have to share?” She stuck her nose in the air and walked over to Owen, who looked right past her to me.

He waved me over. “Lily, come see! It’s so fine!” He opened the door as I approached. Meagan huffed and went to stand next to Talon, who stood grinning ear to ear, checking out the ride.

“Get used to it,” he nudged her. I gave Talon a warm, apologetic smile, and turned my attention back to my cousins.

Granny was making a special dinner, so we stayed outside talking until it was ready. Talon walked home for a minute to get his cell and make a call. A few minutes later, when Owen went inside to help Granny, Meagan ran to my house, claiming she needed to use the “little girl’s room.” As she walked away, I noticed the clothes she was wearing. They were the same as in the vision. She was going to make her move. As she made her way around the corner by my bedroom window, I jumped up and followed. I walked quietly and peeked around the corner. The two of them were talking, and Meagan leaned in really close to Talon, who was pinned up against the front door—like he’d been in my vision. He
was
smiling, but it was more like a nervous smile. As she leaned in and kissed him, he put his hand on her hip and gave her a shove back. My heart started to pound as anger built up within me, and then she stepped forward, close to him, and tried it again. Talon opened the door behind him and disappeared inside as I came around and revealed my presence. “What do you think you’re doing, Meagan?”

“Me? I was coming over to go the bathroom. Looks like your boyfriend is a little needy.” She lifted her shoulder nonchalantly and smirked. Then she went inside and hurried down the hall to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

I met Talon in the hall, and we walked back outside to the porch. He put his head down, knowing that I knew. “She did it, she kissed me. I didn’t kiss her back,” he said, holding his hands out defensively. “She seems to think that we could sneak around. She made the offer, and when I refused, she asked me if I was sure. Then she kissed me.”

At least he was honest. “I know, I saw you, remember? I recognized her clothes from the vision and knew it was gonna happen soon. I ought to punch her right in the mouth. She blamed you!” I exclaimed. Talon laughed. “Sad thing is, I have to tell Owen.”

“Maybe that isn’t such a good idea.” Talon shook his head. “It might cause trouble. Let him figure her out on his own.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You hate him and you don’t care if he gets hurt.”

“That’s not true,” he said, almost smiling. “Well, it’s kind of true, but I don’t really
hate
him. Hate is such a strong word.”

“I can’t let her hurt him,” I insisted. I was getting all worked up. I couldn’t stand her before, and after this, I completely hated her. I wiped at Talon’s lips, not wanting her to linger there.

“Calm down,” he said, clearly amused. “He’s a big boy. Besides, how do you know he isn’t using her, anyway? He may be trying to get some, or make
you
jealous.”

“Make
me
jealous? Ha!” I laughed. “That’s absurd.”

“Yeah, it is, but still true, and I think it works sometimes.” He shook his head and walked away as I stood there with my mouth gaping. He was so far off base, it was ridiculous.

I didn’t think of Owen in such a way that another girl would make me jealous. I thought of him in a way where I loved him as a cousin, or a brother, perhaps. I couldn’t imagine anything bad happening to him without hurting.
It’s completely normal for me to feel this way
, I reminded myself, and then I stormed off behind him to meet up with the others.

We sat on the patio until dinner, listening to Owen and Hunter talk over their driving schedule. They’d take turns driving to school, and also discussed the paint job. They’d try to buff out the paint. It might work, but if it didn’t, they’d save up to get one. They had big plans.

Later after dinner, Hunter took Holly out for a spin in the new car. He won the coin toss for first dibs.

Meagan hadn’t made eye contact with Talon or me since she came back to join us. She could probably feel my eyes glaring at her, though. I wished I could use the Light to burn a hole in her, or set her hair on fire, and then something inside me realized I should be careful what I wished for before she went up in flames.

Owen noticed my mood and gave me a strange look. “What’s bothering you, Lily?” he asked.

“Nothing.” I stared at him directly, hoping he’d know better than to keep on pressing, but he did anyway.

He narrowed his eyes and searched mine. “Something’s bothering you.”

“Leave her alone,” Talon complained. “She may not want to talk about it.”

“Oh, I want to talk about it all right, but not right now.” I glared at Meagan and changed the subject as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “It sounds like they’re back.” We could hear the car coming a mile away because the engine was so loud.

Owen walked to the back door to let Granny know he was taking Meagan home. She said goodbye to us both, but it was only for Owen’s sake. She never even looked at Talon; I guess the rejection was more than she could handle.

“Temper, temper,” Talon said with a laugh after they were gone. Holly heard him as she walked up to take a seat.

“Who has a temper, and why?” she asked, giving Talon an accusing glare.

Talon kissed my hand. “Lily. She’s mad at Meagan.”

“She kissed him!” I pointed to Talon. Holly’s mouth gaped with a gasp.

“She went to the house after Talon to make her moves,” I explained.

“No way! I’d have told her off, Lily! She’s got some nerve!” Holly’s little body bowed up in anger as she glanced toward the road.

“I’m telling Owen,” I said, pulling my hand away from Talon and crossing my arms over my chest.

“Oh, I don’t know if I would do that.” Holly winced and shook her head as if it were the worst idea ever. “That could cause you and him to have all sorts of problems with your relationship.”

Talon made a face. “Let’s not use the word ‘relationship’ to define what
they
have.”

“Then what would you call it, silly? We’re cousins, family, and friends.” I laughed. His jealousy was ridiculous.

“In his case, a blessing. For you, an affliction.” He made a face. “Look Lily, Meagan kissed
me
. I should probably be the one to tell him, not you. I don‘t want it to look like I‘m hiding something from him.”

“I’m going to tell him. That’s final.” I tried to sound demanding, but he laughed at me. He didn’t say any more about it, and neither did I. I didn’t want to start a fight with Talon.

I WAS
IN MY ROOM
when I heard Owen’s car as he returned. Holly was with Hunter, and Talon was in his room doing homework. I insisted he take time to study without me, since Geometry was his worst subject, and he was bad about letting me distract him. I walked outside and met Owen as he got out of the car.

I watched as he shoved the keys into his pocket. “We need to talk,” I said.

“That doesn’t sound good.” He pulled his keys back out, and they rattled as he motioned to the car. “Get in. I’ll take you for a ride.” I hesitated and looked toward the house. “Oh come on, you need
his
permission to take a ride with me?”

“No!” I curled my lip at him as I walked over, got in, and slammed the door.

Owen huffed. “Easy! Easy! She’s an old lady!” He shook his head. You would have thought I’d slapped Granny, the way he was carrying on with a pained look on his face.

“Sorry!” I couldn’t understand how guys related cars to women. The ‘Cuda, as they called it, was tough looking and not at all feminine to me. I noticed how nice the interior was, considering its age, even though it smelled like a mixture of motor oil and the vanilla-scented pine tree that hung from the rear view mirror. The only thing this car needed was a paint job. It was sort of hot, and I was a little embarrassed when I noticed how undeniably handsome Owen looked behind the wheel.

Once we got up the road, he turned to me and smiled. “What’s all this seriousness about? Talon got another bug up his butt?”

Discouraged, I frowned. “Why are you always picking a fight with him?”

“Because it’s fun. Trust me, the day I really pick a fight with him, you‘ll know it and he‘ll feel it.” His remark made me sigh.
Maybe I shouldn‘t tell him about this.
He‘d have a reason to be mad at him then. “So what do you want to talk to me about?” he asked.

Taking a deep breath, I began to explain. “Well, it’s about Meagan.”

“Are you jealous? Think she’s gonna steal away your favorite cousin forever?” He smirked, and I gritted my teeth thinking that Talon might have been right all along. I hoped he was joking, but part of me felt he wasn’t. The remark took away my focus and my tact, and I didn’t quite tell him the way I wanted.

“Get real, the only thing I’m jealous of is the fact that she kissed
my
boyfriend,” I blurted.

“What? Talon kissed her?” He twisted my words and pushed the gas harder, his jaw tense.

“Uh, no!
She
kissed him! I saw her do it! I knew she would try it sooner or later. I had a vision about it and I could tell from day one she was using you to get to Talon!” I wasn’t in control of my words at all. I should’ve taken time to make them less harsh. The car sped faster, dust billowing behind us.

“Give me a break! You’re so infatuated with him that you think everyone else wants him, too! Well, Meagan wants me! She’s proven that!” He paused to give me a second to take that in; I almost gagged trying to push that image out of my head. “Whether you like it or not, she’s who I’m gonna be with!”

“I don’t care
who
you’re with! I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Yeah right, you’re jealous! You try to find any reason to hate her. It’s bad enough I have to put up with you, now you are trying to start problems with me and Meagan. You can’t let me be happy! I‘m so sick of it! ”

“Sick of me?” I screamed. Glaring at me, he nodded. “Take me home! You won’t have to
put up
with me anymore!” My voice cracked, but I refused to cry.

“My pleasure!” He turned around and sped home. Before he reached the red reflectors, he reached down under his seat and pulled out the black sports bottle that he used for his Water. He knew I didn’t approve, and this was his way of showing me he didn’t care what I thought. He turned it up and took a swig, staring me right in the eyes.

“I thought you didn’t keep the Waters on-hand like that?” I wondered what could have made him change his mind. Surely that was about the bullies, too.

“It isn’t any of your business,” he hissed as he tossed it back under the seat and pulled in the drive.

Before he could come to a complete stop, I jumped out of the car. Hunter walked out to meet Owen, as I took off for the house. “Stay away from me,” I yelled, as I reached the front door.

“Gladly!” he kicked his tire.

* * *

“Hold still, Lily!” Mom was trying to get the digital camera to focus. She insisted on getting a picture of me and Talon in our coordinating clothes for the Homecoming dance. Talon’s tie matched my green dress.

I refused to go to the football game because of Owen quitting the team,
and
because I hated the sport, but Holly insisted that I go to the dance. For her sake, I agreed. Talon said he didn’t care either way. Owen and Meagan got dibs on the ‘Cuda, so Hunter and Holly followed us in the Lincoln. I still wasn’t talking to Owen. I haven’t yet forgiven him for all his cruel words—not that I was so tactful myself.

Hunter told me that Owen mentioned the kiss to Meagan, and she denied that it happened the way I said it did. She claimed it was Talon who wanted to sneak around, naturally. Now, Owen was giving Talon glares at every opportunity.

The dance floor was not as crowded as the line for pictures; most of our classmates were trying to get that done early. Like us, they would be leaving for parties or restaurants, and they needed the photo as evidence that they attended. We were going to a Mexican restaurant and then to a party at the house of one of Hunter’s friends.

Since the picture line was so crowded, we made our way to the dance floor for a slow song. Holly and Hunter followed—they were so cute dancing with each other, though Holly was sure to have a crick in her neck from looking up at him. They were such opposites, while Talon and I were a matched set. Resting my head on his shoulder, we fit together perfectly.

Owen grabbed Meagan’s hand and led her out on the floor, keeping his distance from the rest of us. Every now and then, I caught him glaring at me. As soon as our eyes met, he turned his away and kissed Meagan‘s neck. After a second slow dance, we got in the line for pictures and talked while waiting our turn, which came about fifteen minutes later when Owen and Meagan joined the line.

Granny asked that we not only take our couple photos, but she wanted us to take a group picture as well. So Hunter called us all in with him and Holly after they took their couple shot. Holly stood between me and Meagan and Hunter between Talon and Owen. It was probably for the best considering the tension between us.

As we walked off the photo set, I heard Hunter pleading to his brother to come eat with us. I cut him a look and awaited his reply, which was “I don’t think so. Not with
them
there.”

“Come on, let it drop. We’ll have a great time. You‘re going to Ryan‘s party, anyway,” Hunter said with a nudge.

“No. We’ll see you at the party. We want to go be
alone
.” I wasn’t looking at Owen when he said that, but I could imagine the look in his eyes.

“Fine,” Hunter pouted. “I see the way you wanna be, Little Bro.”

Owen threw his arm around Meagan as they walked through a break in the line, but a few guys stopped them to talk just as they got to the door. I recognized a few of them from the altercation in the hall. I didn’t see French anywhere, but I kept my eye on them as Talon led me back to the floor for one last dance.

We had a great dinner. After changing clothes in the bathroom, we headed to the party. Hunter’s friend lived in a huge home that seemed as secluded as my own. There was a huge pavilion outside that looked like it was built for such events, complete with a bar filled with snacks, sodas, and other age-appropriate items—most of which went untouched since there was a keg in the back of someone’s truck. Red plastic cups seemed to be in fashion, as was a heavy red punch made with Kool-Aid, fruit slices, and some form of liquor.

Meagan dipped a few of the orange slices into her cup and walked around the crowd sucking on them. The strong alcohol wafted from her as she passed by. Walking up to Owen, she fed him some fruit. They looked obscene as they kissed between each bite. His eyes were red and glassy, and he held a red cup of his own. It was strange seeing this side of him, and with us fighting, it felt even worse.

Things started to get crazy as more people arrived. Some of the seniors gathered around Owen, who was bragging about the new car and its power. He was really annoying—the more he hung around Meagan the more he was starting to sound like her. He waved his hands about with a cocky smirk.

After we finished making our rounds and saying hello to people we knew, which didn’t take too long considering Talon and I were both the new kids, we walked to our truck parked in the field and put the tailgate down. We both took a seat, and he nudged me to lie down with him.

“Look at the sky, Lily. Isn’t it amazing?” Talon always noticed things like that: the moon, the night sky. He had an appreciation for beauty—it was the artist in him. The sky was clear and the stars were brightly scattered like diamonds on black velvet. The air was chilled with our first cold front, and I could smell a change of the season in the air.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful.” I shivered. He pulled me closer to his warmth, and we lay there, silent, listening to the jumble of music, crickets, and voices in the background. After a while, we began counting airplane lights. It was nice for it to be the two of us, since we usually had Holly and my cousins around.

Just as I was relaxed enough to drift to sleep, he leaned over and kissed me. “Lily, are you ready to leave?” he asked. I definitely didn’t want to go—I could lie there under the sky with him forever. Before I could answer, we heard Hunter approaching. He was arguing with someone.

The closer they got, we learned that
someone
was a very intoxicated Owen, who was dragging Meagan along with him. The two stumbled together like Siamese twins joined at the hip. Meagan was giggling uncontrollably. We stood up and waited for them to approach.

“Like I said, you’re not driving home!” Hunter tried his best to get the keys from Owen, but he kept holding them out of reach. Hunter was losing his patience: “Give me the damn keys,” he said. He unlocked the Lincoln and told Meagan to get in.

She stomped her foot and latched on to Owen’s arm. “I go where
he
goes,” she said with a slur. She stood there a second with a smile, and then it faded. I never saw orange turn to green until I saw her fall to her knees and puke. When she was done, she rolled over on the ground, unable to stand, and seemed barely conscious. Hunter let out a frustrated growl.

Owen was oblivious to Meagan’s condition; all he worried about was arguing with Hunter and playing keep-away with the keys. Finally, Hunter snatched them, tossed them to me, and asked if I could drive the Lincoln home. “Holly can ride with you,” he said.

“Wait! What about Meagan?” I didn’t want to be responsible for her.

Hunter threw his hands up in the air; his brother used up all of his patience. “We can’t take her home like this! She’ll have to sleep it off at your house.”

“My house!” Just as Owen hated having to put up with me, I hated having to put up with her.

“She hates Lily! She can stay with me—in my—
bedroom
.” Owen spoke directly to me while swirling his hips with the word.
He wishes.

“You know that won’t happen. Shut up and get in the car.” Hunter was at his wits end, probably wondering how he was going to explain things to Granny.

He loaded Meagan, completely out cold, in the back of the Lincoln. Holly and I piled in, and I pulled out behind Talon. My cousins left behind me. About half a mile up the road, Hunter punched it and passed me and Talon, probably anxious to get home and out of the confinement of the car with his drunk brother. Meagan didn’t move—she was still passed out, and I doubted she’d remember anything about the night.

“You and Talon missed everything!” Holly was dying to spill the latest gossip. “Owen almost got his butt kicked! He would have, too, if Hunter hadn’t pulled him away.”

“What happened?” Talon and I always missed out on all the gossip. We were so wrapped up in each other, the rest of the world usually disappeared.

“Well, I don’t know the back story, but a few of the other varsity players are a little ticked that Owen was doing so well at football, you know, getting all the glory, and then quit the team. They were giving him a hard time. Hunter says it’s been going on for a while now. Of course, you know Owen—always gotta run his mouth. Then Meagan’s old boyfriend got involved. He started pushing Owen around.”

“What did Owen do?” Owen had the Waters recently, so surely he was able to stick up for himself.

“Not much, he was so drunk. He mostly stumbled around trying to look tough. That’s when Hunter pulled him back. One of the guys even started in on Hunter as they walked away. He wanted to turn back, but I told him to keep going. It wasn’t worth it.”

I focused on the road ahead. “Wow! We really missed all the excitement.”

“Yeah, Zeb French and his cousins, who started everything in the first place, left after Meagan’s ex got wound up. They were still making threats to Owen on the way to their car. Did you see them?”

“Uh, no.” I thought for a second, trying to figure out why I missed that. “Oh, I fell asleep.” I remembered Talon waking me up with his kiss—I must have been out longer than I thought. Meagan turned over on her back and started snoring loudly.
She’s almost as loud as Owen,
I thought, remembering our campout and how loud he was.
Maybe they were made for each other.

“Let’s dump her off in her driveway,” Holly said with a giggle. “That’d show her.” Sometimes the things Holly said seemed too menacing to be coming from such a delicate-looking girl, even though I knew she was kidding.

I drove slowly, with Talon about a mile ahead of me. I could still see him, but Hunter and Owen were nowhere in sight. I hoped he didn’t get too far ahead. I was nervous driving the big car, and even with the seat up, I could barely see over the steering wheel. I’ve never really driven much, though I got my license at the end of the summer.