A Different Kind (26 page)

After the weeks that had passed since the Greys had taken me, I was starting to wonder if maybe they had forgotten about me. Maybe Logan and his mom were wrong and they were never planning to take me again to begin with? Still, I felt better knowing if they came back that at least maybe this time I’d be able to defend myself.

“Okay, let’s try something new,” Logan said as I made the metal Fido figurine dance before him.

“Like what?” I asked, running the dog around Logan’s head.

He raised an eyebrow, then snatched the dog out of the air. “Like….” He dropped the metal figurine onto the bed and picked up a paperclip.

“I already made the paperclips float; that’s not new.”

Logan held the paperclip up. “Melt it.”

“Huh?”

Logan smirked. “Remember my sculpture from Metal class?”

“Yeah, that was really cool.”

“Well, to make it I melted the pieces of metal together…so, melt the paperclip.”

“I can do that? Huh.”

Logan laughed. I took a breath as I stared at the paperclip. It floated into the air. My eyes squinted, and I tried to imagine the metal turning into a shiny puddle. It started to shake, but then dropped motionless onto the bed. I was thinking too much again.

“Try again,” Logan said.

The paperclip floated up. My breathing was slow and even. This time I didn’t think about what I wanted it to do, I just felt it. The paperclip bent. That was new, but still not what I wanted it to do. The paperclip twisted more, spiraling into a whole new shape. It started to grow red. I couldn’t help but smile. Then I lost control. Instead of falling back onto the bed the way the paper clip had done in the past, it shot across the room, flying through the air and pinging against the window.

Logan flinched as the metal hit the glass.

“Holy shit, sorry,” I said.

Logan looked over his shoulder and laughed. I got up to retrieve the paperclip, but as I picked it up off the floor I caught sight of something out the window that made me pause. Parked across the street was the black sedan.

I dropped the paperclip.

I stared out the window, wishing I could see through the tinted glass of the sedan. I couldn’t see Mr. Doggett, but I knew he was in there. At the back of my mind I heard Logan say my name, but I was too focused on the memory of Doggett’s ice blue eyes to really hear him. After a moment I felt Logan’s hand on my shoulder, and I snapped out of my thoughts.

“Do you think they’re going to take me away like Dr. Strieber?”

“Who, the government guys we saw a while ago?”

I nodded, never taking my eyes off the sedan.

Logan shook his head. “They’re not going to do anything to you.”

“What do you think they did to the doctor?”

“I don’t know.”

I sighed. As if aliens weren’t enough to deal with, now I worried that even if
they
didn’t come back for me, the government would want to take me and experiment on me.

“Payton, relax. I’m
from
another planet and no one has ever taken me away. I’m sure Dr. Strieber is fine, and you don’t have to worry about the government.”

“I just wish Jo would answer her phone so I’d know if anyone has heard from him yet.”

“For all we know the doctor was arrested for performing brain surgeries on his own time. Something tells me that was illegal.”

“That’s true I guess.”

I wasn’t entirely sure I believed that. It wasn’t like he was arrested by police officers, although I do remember thinking they looked like FBI agents. Even if they had been FBI, that didn’t explain why Doggett was with them when my mother had said he was an insurance adjuster, or why I’d dreamed of him injecting me with something.  Still, I was trying to be hopeful. If they were FBI and Doggett was undercover as an insurance adjuster or something, if my dream had just been a dream, then maybe the government wasn’t looking for me.

I glanced at Logan and smiled. When I looked back out the window, the black sedan started its engine and drove away.

“See,” Logan continued. “That probably wasn’t even one of their cars; that could have been anyone. Some guy probably just got lost and pulled over to adjust his GPS. We do live in a circle; people pull down this road by accident all the time.”

I sighed. Logan was right; I was
probably
just being paranoid.

CHAPTER

30

J
o rode with me to school the next day. We made it halfway there without saying a word.

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I said. “But why don’t you just tell everyone that you’re straight. Like, just say the photo was a joke or a dare or something. Not that you should have to hide who you are or anything, just that…it’s just, I don’t like seeing you upset because everyone at our school is an asshole.”

Jo sighed. “I thought about it, but I can’t. It was one thing not to tell anyone about it; it’s another to lie about it. It doesn’t feel right. That would probably be the easy road, but it’s not me.”

I nodded, understanding. Jo was right, that wasn’t her. Hailey spun lies to make people like her; I twisted the facts, but not Jo. She’d always been the honest one. When we were fourteen Hailey stole a candy bar from the school store because I dared her that she wouldn’t do it. Jo had been with us and had not been happy about what we’d done. She didn’t sell us out, but the next day she went into the school store and donated a dollar and five cents – the exact cost of the candy bar.

We didn’t talk much the rest of the drive, but I could tell Jo was nervous about going to school. I tried to think of something to say to make her feel better, but nothing sounded right in my head, so I didn’t say anything.

At first, when we got to school, it was like any other day. I walked through the hall with Jo to her locker, silently praying that everyone had already found something else to talk about. But once Jo started to pull out her English book, it became apparent that Jo’s being gay wasn’t exactly old news yet.

Jeremy Fischer walked up to us. I didn’t know him personally, but he was the president of New Liberty CRU club, or Campus Crusade for Christ. He seemed like an all-around good guy, but I worried he was going to say something hateful.

I never understood people who did that. I’d never been the most religious person, but from what I understood about Jesus he was all about love and forgiveness and treating people like you wanted to be treated. I didn’t get how anyone could take the things he said and think they meant it was okay to be shitty to people because they were different.

Jo shut her locker door. Her eyebrows rose as she turned to Jeremy.

“Hey,” he said with a wan smile. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry some people have been saying mean things. You don’t deserve that.”

Jo sighed and her expression softened. “You don’t have to apologize for other people.”

Jeremy shrugged. “Someone should.”

He smiled then walked away. Jo smiled, watching him go. The rest of our day was a strange combination of what Jo had experienced with Jeremy and the whispered teasing from Monday. In English a group of girls behind us gossiped, but only until another girl sitting beside me turned around and told them to stop.

When we left class a boy stopped us in the hall.

“So, is the rumor true?” he asked.

Jo’s mouth dropped. I could see her wanting to say the truth, but afraid of its consequences. Before she could answer, another boy stepped in. It was Paul.

“Joanna, you don’t have to answer that,” Paul said. He dropped a hand on the other guy’s shoulder. “Come on, Dan, that’s none of your business.” He led him away, then smiled at Jo from over his shoulder. She sighed in relief.

O
verall the day went okay, not that any of it was about me. This was all about Jo, but she was my best friend and I couldn’t help but feel for what she was going through. I started to feel like things would blow over – at least for the most part. Then, before we walked into the lunch room, Hailey stepped out in front of us.

“I need to talk to you,” she said.

I looked to Jo. She nodded in silent communication that she’d hear Hailey out. I turned to Logan and could tell he understood.

“I’ll meet you two at the table,” he said, then walked in without us.

A beat of silence passed. I crossed my arms. Hailey took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry,” Hailey said, her voice breaking. I couldn’t help but feel bad. “Jo, I’m so sorry I sent that picture around. I was upset; the two of you have been so close lately and leaving me out of everything. And I’m sorry about taking Melissa and Jared’s side too, Payton. I don’t know why I did that.” Hailey took a breath and gathered her thoughts. “No, actually I do know. You
lied
to me.” When she said it I felt like I’d actually stabbed her in the back. “Both of you. Payton, I had to hear from Jared that you two never slept together, and Jo, I had to find out that you were gay through some random photo text from Stephanie Malloy….”

“That bitch. I should have guessed it was her,” I interrupted Hailey.

“My point is,” she continued. “I know I really screwed up. I’ve been horrible to both of you, but I just…I don’t get it. I don’t get why you’ve been starting to push me away. You two were my best friends.” Tears started to tumble down Hailey’s face, and I was overcome with guilt. She’d been a bad friend, but she wasn’t the only one.

Jo rushed forward first, wrapping her arms around Hailey as she cried. Soon we were all hugging, all apologizing for one thing or another. Hailey sat with us at lunch that day. Eventually it became apparent who Jo’s real friends were. Those who had a problem with Jo stopped talking to her. I know that hurt Jo, but the people who cared about her, for who she was, and not just who she dated, were supportive.

Everything was starting to get back to normal again – until I left school that day. That was when I realized not all my problems were on their way to being solved. Logan and I walked to my car. Jo was staying after class to get caught up on the assignments she’d missed the last few days, so it was just the two of us.

“Think people would react the same way if they found out about where you’re from?” I asked.

“I think people would be afraid of me. I think they’d be afraid of you if they knew what you could do. They wouldn’t understand, and I think people do crazy things when they don’t understand something. It’s probably best if we keep our secrets to ourselves.”

I nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

I dug my car keys out of my purse as we started to walk through the parking lot. When I looked up, what I saw made me drop them. The keys fell to the ground, clinking and clanking against the pavement. We both stopped walking and Logan turned to me.

“Payton….”

I shushed him, snatching my keys off the ground.

“That’s him,” I said, grabbing Logan’s arm and pulling him behind the large van Timmy Rhodes called “The Shaggin’ Wagon.”

“Who?”                    

“That Doggett guy,” I said, peering around the corner of the van.

Our mysterious man in black slowly drove down the very aisle my car was parked in. This time the window of his nondescript black sedan was rolled down. I could easily see the driver. Logan’s hand dropped onto my shoulder as he looked around me to stare at Doggett.

I turned back to Logan. “He’s right by my car; what do we do?”

Logan looked around. “Well, we can’t drive home. He’s waiting for us.”

“What does he want with us?”

“I don’t know. It’s not like I’ve ever had anyone stalk me like this before.”

“He’s not stalking you, he’s stalking me.”

Logan sighed. “I know.” He looked around again, then grabbed my hand. “Come on.”

We ran through the parking lot.

I looked over my shoulder as our feet hit the grass. We ran into the soccer field, heading toward the woods. Doggett drove away from us, still looping the parking lot. As we reached the tree line he turned around and drove back down the aisle where my car was parked. I didn’t think he saw us.