Earth Angel (Falling Angels Saga) (3 page)

But the adults’ plan backfired. The next year the Poplarati threw an even bigger party with an exclusive guest list. The called the party The Expulsion, flaunting their youth and bravado in the face of the school’s administration. Since no adults were at the party, they couldn’t prove who was there, and so no one got expelled. Eventually The Expulsion became today’s Explosion.

I spouted this trivia to Guy over the next several days. He seemed to get a kick out of it. I liked having a boyfriend who was handsome and cool, and yet not intimidated by my brains, or the fact that useless data could come spilling out of me at the drop of a hat. From where I was sitting, our relationship was perfect.

“So I’m not going to see you all weekend?”

“Don’t look at me like that,” said Guy.

It was Friday. Guy was walking me to first period English when he sprung the news on me. I wasn’t looking forward to English. We had recently started reading
A Raisin In The Sun
, which at least had brought us up to the twentieth century, but still.

“How am I looking at you?” I asked.

“Like I’m the Grinch who stole Christmas.”

I had to smile at that one. “Don’t flatter yourself. And when were you going to tell me anyway?”

“I’m telling you now.” There was something odd about his expression. I got the feeling there was something more he wasn’t saying. We arrived at my classroom.

“You never mentioned you had any friends before. Is Rocky an…” I didn’t say the word
angel
. The halls were packed this time of day. No telling who might overhear.

When he nodded his response, an emptiness swelled in the pit of my belly.
The end of exile,
popped into my mind.
Is this what he isn’t telling me?

“Rocky isn’t exactly a friend,” he said with a short, derisive laugh.

“So this non-friend says he needs your help with something that’s going to take all weekend, and you have to jump to his request?”

“Something like that.” He was avoiding looking me in the eye. The emptiness I was feeling spread into my chest.

“And you’re leaving before lunch?”

Another nod of his head.

“Will I ever see you again?” The words came out tortured. I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t want to seem needy, or greedy. But knowing what I knew, I had to.

He took me into his arms. “Of course I’m coming back. I wouldn’t even be going if I didn’t have to.”

Our faces were inches apart. I looked into his eyes. “This sounds important.”

“It is,” is all he said. No further explanation. He held my gaze. “I love you,” he said softly.

“I know you do. I’m just disappointed is all.”

“All right you two. I need to see a little space,” called Mrs. Madera, who had just stepped out of her classroom across the hall.

We moved apart.

“Tell your mom I’ll miss her hospitality.” We both started laughing at his sarcasm.

“Count yourself lucky. You are the only boy lucky enough to experience all her charms.”

We continued laughing until the first bell.

“See you Monday.” His kissed me gently on the lips, and headed down the hall toward his first period class. He didn’t look back.

#

Suze was thrilled that Guy wasn’t coming over. She tried pretending she wasn’t, that she was actually concerned, asking questions like: “Did something happen between you two?”

I knew she was hoping the answer would be 
yes
. I have to hand it to her. When I told her things were fine and that he’d definitely be back on our couch next Saturday, the look of relief on her face seemed almost real.

I was surprised how easily we fell back into our old Saturday evening routine. I had almost forgotten how close we were before Guy, and Armando, and all the mess.

We scouted out a romantic comedy we hadn’t seen on Pay Per View, and planned to watch it after dinner. Then we converged on our tiny kitchen to prepare a light supper. My job was to pull a green salad together, and Suze would grill chicken breasts to be sliced into strips and placed on top.

I was enjoying spending time with her. I thought the evening would be torture, with me wondering what Guy was doing every second. But hanging with my mom lightened my mood. We laughed our way through dinner.

“Remember Miller David?” she asked. We were just about finished eating.

“Of course I do. You met him on a dating site.”

Miller David was the first man she had gone out with since my father left ten years ago. He went out with her a few times and disappeared. He stopped calling, and he never returned any of her messages.

“Yes, that’s right. The one who dumped me the way a high school boy might do it.” She was annoyed.

“Why are you bringing him up?”

“I saw him yesterday.”

I was trying not to react. I wanted her to start dating again—partly for my own sake. I figured if she had a boyfriend, she’d be a lot easier on mine. But I didn’t want her dating a jerk like Miller.

“How’s he doing?” I tried keeping my voice cheery.

“I have no idea. We didn’t speak.”

“So, he didn’t see you?”

“Oh, he saw me! I made
sure
he saw me. I was leaving the office to pick-up something quick to take back for lunch, and he was coming out of Subway. He started in my direction, but he was so busy talking to the big bosomed floozy he was with, he didn’t see me. That is, until I got directly in his path.”

“You didn’t?” I said, smiling at my mother’s bravado.

“I most certainly did. He finally looked up when he realized the person in front of him wasn’t going to let him pass.”

Now I was chuckling. “What did you say when he saw you?”

“Nothing. I just stood there, staring at him with the stink eye.”

“Go, Mom. What did he say?”

“Nothing. He stood there staring back. He had this look on his face like he’d been caught with his pants around his ankles. It was like an old western showdown. Finally I rolled my eyes, flipped my hair and walked right past him. I heard the floozy ask,
do you know her?
And he said
no
. Jerk.”

I gave her a round of applause. “Good for you.”

I began clearing away the dishes. I was happy she was getting her confidence back. Her last boyfriend’s sudden disappearance was a big blow. Of course, I knew he’d been sent back to hell, but still. It was time she got back on the old dating horse again.

Not that long ago I would have been happy she wasn’t dating. A man was the last thing I wanted in her life. Yet as much as I hated to admit it, with Armando in her life, my mother had been transformed. She was more than just my mother. She was a woman, full and complete. There was a time when I wanted to be all she needed to feel good about herself. Those feelings were immature, because just as I needed more in my life, so did she.

When I placed the salad bowl in the sink, I happened to glance out the big bay window into our garden. It was way past sundown, and the yard was full of shadows.

I thought I saw something move.

I told myself it was a rodent digging for grubs, but then the person moved between shadows, and I realized someone was in our backyard. My heart leapt into my mouth.

Without thinking, I took the flashlight out of the kitchen drawer and moved to the back door.

“Is something wrong?” called Suze.

“No. I just want to check on something.”

I grabbed my coat off the rack and exited out the back door. I know it was stupid. This could have been the answer to a burglar or molester’s prayers. But I didn’t think so. I thought I saw Erin hiding in the shadows in our backyard.

I stepped out into the night. A mist was drifting down from the mountains leaving the air cool and damp. Ours was an eco-friendly yard of low water shrubbery, sand and succulents. I shined the light near the dracaena bush where I’d seen her. The beam cut through the mist, illuminating a small object lying on the ground by the bush. As I was about to investigate, I heard a rustling to my right.

I whipped the light in the direction of the sound, the beam ricocheting off sand and shrubs. My heart was thunderingin my earslike a drum. “Erin?” I caught a flash of red fabric—her favorite hoodie—as she ducked into another shadow and ran from the yard. The flashlight was trembling in my hand.

When I’d made it a goal of mine to see Erin and fix the rift in our friendship, this kind of meeting was not what I had in mind.

“What’s going on out there?” Suze was standing backlit in the doorway, pulling a sweater around herself.

“Nothing. I think it was a possum or a badger. Go back inside.” I hoped my voice didn’t betray me. I took a few deep breaths to get my nerves under control.

“You sure you’re okay out here alone? I don’t mind waiting. Badgers can be dangerous.”

I forced a smile. “This is our own backyard, Mom. I’m fine. I’m just going to scare him off. Go back inside!”

“Okay, okay. Don’t chew my head off. I’m going to go queue up the movie. Don’t be long. And be careful!”

As soon as she went back inside, I moved to where I saw the small object Erin had dropped on the ground. The beam of the light landed on a dead bird. I think it was a blue jay, but couldn’t be sure. Its head was missing. Fresh blood was starting to congeal on the tufts of the bird’s neck and breast.

“Oh, my!”I could feel my dinner rising into my chest. I swallowed hard.

What in the world is Erin doing leaving a headless bird in my backyard? The girl’s going crazy.

I recalled the dreams I’d been having where Erin turned into a monster. Ripping the heads off birds and dropping them in your former best friend’s backyard didn’t exactly qualify as monster behavior. I tried laughing it off as a dumb prank by an old friend who was irrationally angry with me. As I kicked the bird behind a shrub to keep Suze from seeing it until Icould discard it in the morning, tendrils of fear, nonetheless, gripped my belly.

#

Ditch day.

I left for school early because I didn’t want Suze to see me carrying the outfit I planned on wearing to The Explosion. I eased out the front door while she was still in the shower without so much as a good bye. I didn’t know what I would tell her about leaving so early, but I had all day to come up with a good lie.

When I got to school, the locker area was near deserted. Seniors were taking the entire day off. The rest of the student body would not go back to class after lunch.

I was at my locker, hanging the capris pants and top in back where they wouldn’t get wrinkled, when Guy ambushed me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist. I hadn’t seen or heard from him all weekend.

I had planned on pretending to be angry with him for not calling or texting, but when I felt his arms around my waist I lit up with a smile.

“Hey you,” he whispered in my ear. “Miss me?”

“No,” I replied. “I had the best weekend ever. I didn’t even think about you until just now.” I was laughing as I said it.

He spun me around. “Really? Because all I did was think about you.”

And yet you didn’t call or text,
is what I wanted to say. “I missed you,” is what I actually said. He pulled me closer. He smelled good.

“I missed you, too,” he whispered. Then he kissed me without warning. It was a brief yet passionate kiss that took my breath away, right in front of my locker.

He took a step back and looked me up and down. “Man, I almost forgot how beautiful you are.”

As curious as I had been about his mysterious weekend, once he called me beautiful, all thoughts of questioning him went out the window. I was overcome by a feeling of warmth and security. “Shut up,” I said. I knew I was blushing.

#

It was nearly impossible to concentrate in class. I knew I needed to knuckle down because the sophomore AP exams were coming up soon. These were important tests because they would help decide our placement for junior year. The right placement in junior year was the key to getting into the best colleges. This is what we AP students were working so hard for.

Still, my thoughts kept drifting to the party and having Guy all to myself all afternoon. When the bell for lunch finally rang, I was tingling with excitement. By the time I had changed clothes, it had increased. As I walked past the cafeteria and out into the student parking lot, I realized I had never done anything like this before.

Maudrina was already waiting next to Guy’s car. Her eyes were bulging with excitement. Ditching class was new for both of us.

A few minutes later, Guy arrived wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a mischievous smile. “Hey there, ladies. Are we all ready to experience The Explosion?”

“Yes,” we both replied.

“Righteeo.”

The party was being held in a house on top of a hill that overlooked the valley. Mansion was more like it, with a beautiful, rolling, manicured lawn. There was a ten-foot wall surrounding the place so no one could see in. The gate had been left open. As we drove through, I felt as though we were entering the home of a big Hollywood star. The long drive that led up to the house was lined with tall evergreen trees. When we rounded the curve, ahead of us were wall-to-wall cars, like an overcrowded parking lot. People got as close to the house as they could, and just left their cars strewn across the drive at odd angles.

“Guess we’ll have to hoof it from here,” said Guy pulling in behind one of the many pickup trucks that crammed the drive.

When we started up the hill, we could see a small group walking ahead of us. The girls had on the same jeans and tops they wore to school. I started feeling uneasy. I didn’t want to stand out like the geek who was trying to be cool.

“I think I’m overdressed,” said Maudrina, a nervous lilt in her voice.

“That makes two of us.”

“Nonsense, ladies. You both look lovely.”

I appreciated that Guy was trying to put us at ease, but it wasn’t working. “Thanks,” I said. “But I don’t think lovely is what those girls are going for.”