Devour (16 page)

“He knew you thought he was me. That’s all that mattered. If I hadn’t shown up he would have just pretended until you realized it. And then...” He shook his head furiously. “No, I’m not thinking about that.”

“He didn’t seem...I don’t know, evil. He was a jerk, but he seemed…he seemed normal, like you.”

“What did he say to you?”

“I told him I didn’t think you were coming. He said why wouldn’t he come. I said I knew things were weird but could we just try to have fun tonight and not worry about everything. He said he would and then he kissed me. He stopped and said...I was exquisite.” I cringed looking at Eli. “Wow, you’re exquisite.”

“He said that?” Eli asked and seemed shocked. “That was the words he used?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing. It’s just strange. He doesn’t usually comment, he just takes what he wants and leaves. Maybe he’s just playing with me. Never mind.” He waved his hand before taking mine in his. “If you see him just ignore him. He won’t play if it’s not fun.”

“So...this is how all Devourers live? Having random kisses and just eating emotion from strangers all day and night?”

“Mostly, yes. But...I don’t…anymore.” He sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. “I haven’t lived like that in a very long time. I survive on strangers but they don’t even know I’m doing it. I just find ones that are sad or angry. It made things a lot harder on me but...I’ve survived that way, albeit it uncomfortably and near severe hunger sometimes; to try to atone for what I’ve done.”

“Eli...” My heart was breaking for him. He was so guilty, his fingers were actually shaking in my hand. “That’s over.” As much as I didn’t want to think about the things he’d done before, especially with other girls, I knew it wasn’t his fault. He was fighting it. “Eli, look at me.” I pulled his face up when he didn’t. “I don’t blame you. You’ve changed, that’s what matters. What happened? What made you decide to be different?”

“I don’t know, really.” He smiled. “I was walking into a diner one day and a little boy bumped into my leg. I was so annoyed and when I looked down to see him looking up at me, just as annoyed as I was, I laughed. For the first time in my entire existence...I laughed out of pure enjoyment. I’d never felt that emotion before. I watched him walk away with his mother and I thought about how hard it would be to hurt him after that, to make him scared and feed off him, and I knew I couldn’t. From that day on, I never forced an emotion onto another person unless it was necessary. That’s why I liked your Josiah so much the other day. It reminded me of that boy who saved me,” he said and smiled again remembering. “But I never felt another good emotion after that day, until I met you. Now I can’t stop feeling it around you. It’s all over you.”

“So I’m your muse,” I said and smiled coyly.

“That’s a very good description. My muse, Clara Belle,” he breathed and ran his fingers down my cheek.

“So how do you know my middle name?”

“I saw it in your school file. That secretary’s office is very nicely decorated-”

“Eli!” I laughed. “You broke into the school?”

“Technically, I was already in the school. I broke into her office.” He smiled gorgeously at me. “I had to know you,” he admitted and shrugged.

I leaned over and put my head on his chest. Some girls might be upset about him digging through their files. I was just glad he cared enough to go to the trouble. He sighed happily and ran his fingers through my hair. It felt so good. For the first time in days, I felt like everything was ok and maybe working out for the best.

“So, do you have more questions for me?” he spoke into my hair.

“Tons, but I can’t seem to work my brain right now.”

“Well, can I ask one thing?”

“Sure.”

“Can I have the kiss that was supposed to be mine anyway?”

I looked up at him and smiled. He turned my face up towards him and pressed his lips to mine gently. I pulled back a little.

“I...don’t want to lead you on.”

“You’re not. I know what I’m getting into. I can be patient, I told you.”

“I’ve been called a tease before,” I muttered thinking about Tate and then regretting it.

“You are not a tease. I asked for it didn’t I? I won’t get the wrong idea, I’m glad to spend any time with you I can get. Sometimes...a kiss is just that.”

I pulled him back to me and let him ravish my mouth furiously, turning in my seat to reach him better. His breaths were huffing like we were running a marathon and he groaned several times as my skin heated and he absorbed the want I felt for him and my happiness at the situation for the moment. It was odd to think that I was essentially feeding him what he needed to survive. When I ran my hand through his hair his grip tightened on me and he pulled me closer and I let him kiss me deeper.

I let him devour me.

Eight

A
fter Eli took me home, ten minutes before curfew, he walked to his house despite my protest to drive him. He assured me he’d be fine and waited for me to go inside. I was glad the Pastor and Mrs. Ruth weren’t waiting for me. I’d just had one of the longest make out sessions of my life, case being, because I didn’t have to stop him, and I’m sure I had that just-been-kissed look. Unlike Tate, he didn’t try to push me too far, didn’t try to ply me with sweet nothings as he reached for skin under my clothes.

It was heavenly to feel safe in more ways than one.

He did tell me he’d see me in the dark so I wasted no time trying to get to bed. That night, he took me back to the park. It was daytime again and we sat and counted cloud animals as we lay in the grass. I lay my head on his stomach and ran my fingers over his eyebrow piercing. Once again, he walked me home when it was over and kissed me on my porch.

The next morning, I woke feeling giddy and refreshed. I was ready to get to school. I hadn’t wanted to go to school in a very long time. After putting on a sweater with my uniform skirt, I made my way down for breakfast.

“Hey, sweetie,” Mrs. Ruth said as she scooped and cut pancakes onto plates. “How was your night? I was pooped so I went to bed early.”

“It was good. I was home at eleven something, I promise.”

“We trust you, I just wanted to see if you had fun.”

“Yes, ma’am. I did have fun. Eli showed up.”

“You seem to mention him a lot lately,” she said with clear inflection as she passed me a big plate of flap jacks with extra butter, just the way I liked them.

“Yes, ma’am,“ I agreed and left it at that. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“Of course. The munchkins have to eat anyway. Hannah, wipe your mouth.” When Hannah gave her a sulky look, Mrs. Ruth gave her a do-it-now look herself. Hannah wiped her mouth, with the quickness. “So, how are the new classes? Do you have any with Tate?”

“Just homeroom. I like them all fine.”

“And how are things with him?” she asked and I heard her disapproving tone.

“I’m not seeing him anymore. He cornered me one day and…well, Eli came to my rescue.”

“What?” She dropped the fork she was using and fumbled to recover it. “What happened?”

“Nothing. It’s ok. It wasn’t a big deal.”

She thought for a second, chewing her pinky nail.

“Do you want Pastor to talk to the principal about switching homerooms?”

“No, it’s ok. I’m not going to run from him.”

“But it would be better, I think. I heard some rumors, Clara, going around town. Steroids? Please tell me it’s not true.”

I put my fork down mid-bite and sighed.

“It’s true.” She gasped and covered her heart so I went on. “He claimed he was only doing it for the meets, the championships. His dad puts a lot of stress on him. I told him no more but the last time I saw him he…well, let’s just say he wasn’t very nice. I accused him of still taking them and he didn’t deny it. So, I told him it was over but he didn’t take the news too well.”

“Clara! You should have called us! I’m surprised the school didn’t.”

“They didn’t know. Eli…he punched Tate,” I admitted and scrunched my nose at her look. “It was in my defense.”

“Clara, this is serious. This should have been reported!”

“Eli just ushered me to class and made sure I was ok. I didn’t even think about it. It’s fine. I think Tate’s pride was hurt enough for him to forget about me.”

“This is all very scandalous,” she sighed and shook her head. “I have to tell Pastor but I’ll keep it low key.” She gave me a look with twisted lips. “He’s not going to be happy about this, especially after what happened at the match.”

“I know. I didn’t want to worry you guys.”

“It’s not your fault but it needs to be addressed.”

“If you say so,” I said softly. “I’d rather just forget it myself.”

“How easy is it going to be to forget when homeroom starts in,” she looked at the clock, “seventeen minutes?”

“Crap, I gotta go,” I said quickly and chugged my milk. “See you guys.”

“Clara, please be careful. I worry about you.”

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “Bye, munchkins.”

“Bye, Clara!” a sweet chorus sang behind me as I made a mad dash to grab my cell and blot on some lip gloss.

I tossled my locks and ran to the door, only to be caught by Pastor.

“Hey, running late?”

“A little.”

“Wouldn’t be running off to see a certain dashing young man, now would you?”

“Maybe,” I said coyly, causing him to laugh, and kissed his cheek. “Bye!”

“Have a good day, sweetheart.”

“I’m sure I will!” I called and barely looked both ways before running across the street.

I thought how strange things were. I was never really close to our pastor and his wife before this. I went to church along with my parents but I never really participated. It was just something I’d always done. Now, however, they really were like parents to me. Pastor worked a lot. A lot. But what did you expect from a Pastor? That was how it should be. And they practiced what they preached. They were the sweetest, nicest, most sincere people I’d ever known in my life. I was extremely blessed that they offered to take me in instead of putting me in foster care. I would always be grateful to them for that. And though I missed my parents with an ache that still stung and burned in my chest and made my eyes prick, I was as happy as I could be in my situation. And I knew that when I peeked back at the house, Pastor would still be there watching to make sure I made it safely. I turned and there he was. I waved and smiled. He waved too and took that as his cue to go back to his work.

I waved to a few people I knew and hastily made my way inside. I had to get to my locker before homeroom. I almost growled when one of the girls from the Spirit Squad stopped me.

“Clara, hey. How. Are. You?” she said in her biggest sympathy voice. It rankled me because that was exactly how people talked to me after my parents died.

“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I heard about everything that’s been going on with Tate. And now Eli. Boy, you sure are busy, huh?”

“What does that mean?” I asked as the hair on my neck rose and buzzed with annoyance.

“Nothing,” she said innocently and flipped her long chestnut hair, “but you can’t really blame Tate for hitting Eli, can you? After he found you out like that?”

“Found out what?” I said suddenly very intrigued.

“That you were seeing Eli behind his back. I heard all about it; how he punched Eli by the cafeteria.”