Finders Keepers (5 page)

           
“How is your head?
 
I’ll take you straight back to the ER if you even blink the wrong way.
 
Dave, does the right side of her face look a little saggy?”
 

Her mom, of course.
 

Sky looked up as Ellie approached the table.
 
He locked eyes with her and didn’t look away.
 
Her breath caught in her throat and her cheeks reddened.
 
She’d seen herself in the mirror this morning.
 
It was a step up from zombie bride, but not by much.

           
He ate, he chatted, his manners were impeccable, and yet every time Ellie looked up from her pancakes, his eyes were on her.
 
The result of this attention was that she couldn’t eat a thing.
 
She picked at her food until her father commented on her lack of appetite.
 

“I am all right,” she said even though her brain was shouting LIAR in big fat capital letters in her head.
 
She glanced down at her mutilated pancakes and then up.
 
“I forgot the whip cream is all.”
 
She reached for the can in the center of the table.
 
Sky’s eyes narrowed and for the first time he averted his gaze.
 
She shook the can, distracted, and then tipped the can upside down.
 
Nothing happened.
 
She pressed the tip harder.
 
Nothing.
  
And then just as her dad was reaching across the table to take the can from her, it exploded.
 
Not the can exactly, but the whip cream.
 
Big chunks of curdled whip cream exploded from the can all over her plate and bounced back splattering her in the face.

Stunned, she sat completely still.
 
Everyone stared at her.
 
Taylor smothered a giggle.
 
Yesterday this might have been funny.
 
Today…not so much.
 
Ellie reached for her orange juice and like the toothbrush holder, clumsily knocked it over.
 
Frothy yellow liquid spread like an oil spill all over her mother’s best white tablecloth.
 
Everyone jumped up from the table at once, exactly as she hoped.
 

           
“I’ll get some paper towels!” Taylor said.
 
As she passed behind Ellie to get to the kitchen she elbowed her hard in the ribs.
 
Ellie squealed and then that squeal froze as she realized she’d been shoved right into Sky.
 
He grabbed her elbow and steadied her, but after she was righted again, he didn’t let go.
 
She heard her mother muttering about maybe taking her back to the ER.
 
Her motor function seemed to be off.
 

Okay, maybe not such a brilliant plan
.
 

Ellie groaned to show just how fine she was.
 
Then she turned full on to face Sky.
 
“I will scream if you don’t let go of me.”
 
Instantly the pressure on her arm let up.

 
         
“I’m not going to hurt you, Ellie.”
 
The way he said her name sounded so natural, like he’d said it a million times before.
 
Conflicting emotions flooded her veins.
 
She didn’t trust him, but he felt so familiar it almost hurt.
 
She reached up without thinking and brushed the long black hair away from his face and caught glimpse of white underneath the glossy sheet.
 
She jerked her hand back as quickly as if she’d touched a live wire.
 

           
Sky gave her another meaningful look and then called out over his shoulder, “Thank you so much for inviting me for breakfast.
 
Best pancakes I ever had.
 
I’ve got to get going, but thanks again.”
 
His teeth flashed that same sparkling silver white when he smiled.
 
Ellie clamped her teeth down on her bottom lip.
 
It just wasn’t natural.

           
Her parents said goodbye and thank you for saving Eliza and it was nice to meet you and all the other perfunctory things which were expected.
 
Taylor smiled and waved, then mouthed to Ellie,
Walk him out
.
 
Ellie automatically turned and followed Sky to the door.
 
Part of her was curious to find out what Sky wanted to say to her privately but the other half was more interested in having her own questions answered.

           
As if by unspoken agreement, neither stopped at the door.
 
Ellie turned the door knob and then followed Sky out onto the front porch, shutting the door firmly behind her.
 
This situation had never actually arisen before with her--sitting alone with a boy in full view of her house--and she sneaked a peek at the front windows to see if the parental units were worried enough to spy on her.
 
The glare of the morning sun made it impossible to tell.
 
Sky sat down on the top front step and she sat down next to him.
 
She left a good two feet, at least, between them.
 

           
He didn’t look at her.
 
Instead he rubbed at an invisible spot on his jeans.
 
“How much do you remember about last night?”

           
“I know you’re lying about finding me in the parking lot, if that’s what you are asking,” she said.
 

           
His face, though still bowed in front of him never flinched.
 
He didn’t appear at all surprised.
      

“I just wanted you to know, that everything is going to be all right.”

If it weren’t for the threat of an audience, she would have shouted.
 
As it was, she lowered her voice and hissed instead.
 
“How can you say that?
 
I was attacked twice.
 
Twice is not a prank.
 
Why would he just stop now?”
 
She glared at him.
 
That’s what she needed—not a good cry—someone to yell at.
 
“What do you have to do with all this anyway?
 
Why should I trust you?”

He looked at her now, the full brilliance of his eyes only darkened by lowered black brows.
 
He fought to conceal it from his face but she could see the frustration.
 
Ellie caught her breath and held it.
 
It was like recognizing someone that you were sure you couldn’t know.

And then he said it, exactly as she was thinking it.
 
“You know me, Ellie.”
 

She swallowed the air she was holding in her throat instead of exhaling.
   

           
“We went to kindergarten together.”

           
Ellie choked on the air bubble she swallowed.
 

The corner of Sky’s mouth twitched with barely restrained amusement.
 
As if he knew she’d expected him to say something else.
 
But that was ridiculous because she didn’t even know what she’d expected.
 

“I don’t remember you.”
 
The words felt as blunt on her tongue as they probably sounded.
 

In spite of the sun shining on them, the coolness of the morning nipped at Ellie’s
bare
arms.
 
It reminded her of the previous night and her body shuddered reliving the feeling of wet, cold, exposed skin.
 
As long as she lived she never wanted to be wet and frozen.
 
Ever.
   

He shrugged now and stretched his legs out in front of him.
 
“I didn’t stay the whole year.
 
My dad was in the coal-mining accident.
 
My mom and brother moved right after it happened.”

“
Skyler
Blackturn
.”
 
It sort of just popped out of her mouth at the same instant it popped into her head.
 
No one told her why Sky was taken out of school when she was five.
 
It wasn’t until seventh grade when her social studies teacher assigned his students to learn more about their town that Ellie found out.
 
Colverville
and the surrounding areas were originally mining towns.
 
Most of the mines had been shut down decades ago, but around the time Ellie was two or three, a few mines were reopened.
 
She couldn’t really remember the details of the accident but something ignited and over a hundred of the miners died in the blast.
 
She remembered looking at the microfilm copy of the newspaper and seeing Sky’s picture.
 
She did remember him.

“You were a goblin for Halloween.”

His face lit up.
 
She imagined it looked very much like it would if he had just won the lottery.
 
His grin split his face so wide he could have been mistaken for a happy jack o’ lantern.
 
She laughed in spite of herself.
 
“I wasn’t lying, it just took me a minute.
 
It’s been a long time.
 
And you look different.”
 

He didn’t stop smiling.
 
Crossing his arms over his knees he thrummed his fingers on his elbows.
 
Ellie’s eyes widened at the sight of his right hand.
 
Only stubs remained where his pinkie and ring finger should have been.

Sky shifted and sat up a little straighter.
 
The muscles rippled in his arms.
 
“I just wanted to tell you that you don’t have to worry anymore.”
 
He shifted again, preparing to stand up.

“Wait,” she said.
 
He still hadn’t answered any of her questions.
 
A breeze whipped a piece of her hair out of her sloppy ponytail and he reached for it and put it behind her ear before she could.
 
His touch was gentle and careful as if she were fragile.
 

“Can I ask you a question?” he said.

She nodded, his touch momentarily stealing her voice.

“How much of the park do you remember?”

“I remember being shoved to the ground.”
 
Her heart picked up speed and her mouth went dry.
 
She stopped.
 
She was safe.
 
She knew she was safe, and yet… her hands were shaking.
 
The pressure of the cold, wet ground against her back was suddenly very real again.

Sky clenched his jaw and his eyes took on a thunderous with a chance of
tornadic
activity sort of appearance, especially when they rested on the bruise on her face.
 
His voice was tight when he asked, “Do you remember talking to me?”

“No,” she admitted.
 
She sort of remembered being picked up and carried.
 
The memory was not true to life—it was like trying to see something through a dark filter.
 
Whether it was the concussion, or the pain meds (even if it was just ibuprofen), what stuck with Ellie like a fading dream was the image of a black bird defending her with its life.
 
Pinstripe saved her.
 

Except that was impossible.
 
Especially the part where he was somehow more than a crow.
 
Ellie stopped her fantasizing and lifted her eyes to see Sky watching her closely.
 
She thought she saw something like simultaneous relief and disappointment in his face, but then it was gone.