Foreshadow (9 page)

When Tanis and I arrived at school, Logan waited at the gate as promised. He greeted me with a smile, taking my bag without saying anything. Tanis waved and disappeared. Logan and I walked extremely close to each other as we headed to class, our hands brushing.

“I need to stop by my locker,” I told him.

He nodded and gestured for me to lead the way. We had been together constantly at school for the past two days, but I rarely used my locker, and he had no idea where it was.

When we reached it, I stretched out my arm to dial my combination. I paused at Logan’s quiet question— “What’s that?”

I glanced around, wondering what he meant. “What?”

“
That.
” He touched my wrist where the sleeve of my shirt had slid up my forearm. I stared at him, not sure what to say. “Did Andrei do that to you? When he grabbed you the other day?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. His eyes narrowed. I ducked my head to avoid his gaze, and concentrated on pulling my sleeve back over the bruise.

“I’m glad you’re rid of him, Raena. He was a jerk.”

“I know. I’m glad, too.” I reached up again, spun the lock, opened the door…and froze. A note hung suspended from my locker shelf. It was from Andrei. I glanced around, confused. Nothing else seemed to be out of the ordinary, but now the day had taken on a surreal quality. How had he known which locker was mine? How had he gotten into it?

My hand shaking, I reached into my locker and pulled the note from the shelf.

“What’s going on?” Logan asked.

“Look,” I whispered. I held the note out so we could both read it.

Rae,

I tried to work things out with you, but you refused. I don’t think you realize how big of a mistake you’re making here. I WILL be with you, and you WILL be with me. That’s the way it’s meant to be. We need to talk. Today. I’ll be waiting for you after school. Andrei.

I heard a roaring in my ears, and my vision began to cloud. My knees began to buckle, but Logan’s strong hands grasped my shoulders, steadying me. He took the note and crumpled it. “Rae, I’ve got to get you out of here. Let’s go.”

He started to guide me back to the parking lot, but I protested. “Logan, we have to go to class.”

“No. I have to get you out of here now! We need to go somewhere he can’t find you. I have to protect you.”

Logan put his arm around my shoulders, steering me out to the parking lot to his car. He opened the passenger door and helped me into the car, ordering me to put my seatbelt on. He rushed around the car, yanked open the driver’s side door, and jumped in. He’d barely shut the door before he turned the ignition and threw the car into gear.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked as we peeled out of the parking lot. I thought he was just trying to make conversation to calm us both down.

“Well, I could use some coffee,” I told him.

“Okay. Do you want to go to the coffee shop in the Village?”

“No!” I yelled, startling him.

He glanced at me, eyes wide, and then turned his attention back to driving. “Okay, okay. Sorry, not the Village.”

Still breathless, I said, “Andrei works there.”

“Well, we don’t want to go there, then.” Logan glared out at the road, perking up a little. “I know the perfect place.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see,” he responded cryptically.

****

Logan

My head spun at the implications of the note Andrei had left in Rae’s locker. He had threatened her. There was no other way the note could be construed. The fact that he had somehow known which locker was hers and had gotten into it without knowing the combination, suggested he had the ability to carry out the threat.

I wanted nothing more than to take Rae and run as far away as possible. I didn’t want to worry her family though. Hopefully Andrei didn’t have a way to track us. The most important thing now was to get her away from the school. Andrei could find her there. He could find her at home, also, but that would have to be dealt with later. I had to keep her safe for the time being. I just had to take things one step at a time, handling the present while trying to come up with a plan for later.

Raena

We drove for a while in silence, listening to the radio. Logan headed toward Santa Cruz. I had no idea where he planned to take me. Eventually, he told me to close my eyes.

“Why?” I asked.

“Just do it, Raena.”

I shut my eyes. We drove for a few more minutes. “Now open them,” he whispered.

I complied, surprised to see where we were. I sucked in a deep breath. We were at the Boardwalk! Ever since I’d been a little girl, I had loved coming to the Beach Boardwalk. I used to beg my mom to take me every time we came to visit Genevra and Shane. “How did you know this is one of my favorite places?” I asked.

“I didn’t. I just figured you needed to have some fun. You need to forget about the stress for one day. Besides, there’s a coffee shop here, and you said you needed coffee.”

“Thank you, Logan,” I told him, placing my hand over his. “This was the perfect idea.”

We didn’t have too much trouble finding a parking spot since it was a weekday. The rides wouldn’t be open for several hours yet, but hopefully the coffee place would be. Unfortunately, to our immense disappointment, it was still closed. “Come on,” Logan said. “I’ll take you somewhere else.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “Coffee can wait.”

“No, I promised you coffee and I’m going to get you coffee,” he insisted.

I impulsively grabbed his hand and instantly felt that heat again. “Logan, it’s okay.”

A genuine smile flitted across his perfect lips, and he held fast to my hand. My stomach did a little flip. “Since nothing’s open, why don’t we go for a walk on the beach?” he suggested.

“Okay.”

We walked down one of the many short staircases leading from the Boardwalk down to the beach. We sat down on one of the steps, took off our shoes, and rolled up our jeans. He took my shoes from me, shyly holding out his hand for mine. It was strange to see him hesitant.

We headed toward the water. As we wandered along the edge of the surf, fading waves lapped at our toes. A fog hung low over the water, but it showed the promise of burning off by afternoon.

This is so peaceful,
I thought to myself as we walked. Being with Logan made me feel better than being with Andrei ever had. Just walking in silence with him was bliss.

He stopped walking and faced me. He lifted his free hand and brushed my hair out of my face, tucking a stray lock behind my ear. He stared at me as though trying to memorize every feature of my face. Finally, he spoke. “Raena, I think I love you,” he murmured as he bent his head down toward mine.

My world felt as though it exploded when Logan’s lips touched mine. The heat I felt when he touched me intensified, lighting me on fire. My knees began to buckle, but his strong arms wrapped securely around my waist and helped me remain on my feet. His lips were soft and warm. I reached up and locked my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me.

A wave broke against our legs, startling us. He pulled back and started to release me. My hand on his face stopped him. “I think I love you, too, Logan,” I whispered as I slid my hand up into his hair, pushing it out of his eyes.

I wished I could have captured the look on his face forever. As my words registered, his eyes lit up, and his lips curled into a wide grin. I saw no trace of his trademark smirk. My heart stopped at the thought of what I needed to say next.

“Logan…” I hesitated. “I do like you a lot—maybe I even love you—but it’s too soon. I’m not ready for a relationship right now. After what happened with Andrei the past couple of days, I need to be careful. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just…it’s just too soon.”

His smile fractured. The gleam in his eyes dulled. “Of course,” he whispered with a slight crack to his voice. “I understand.”

He let go of me and started to walk away. “Why don’t we go out on the pier?” he suggested with a false note to his voice.

I ran toward him and grabbed his arm, hauling him back. “Logan! Please don’t be upset. I’m not rejecting you. I just need a little time. It would seem so fickle to start dating you so soon after ending things with Andrei…not that much happened with Andrei. You understand, don’t you? Can you give me the time I need?”

Logan closed his eyes. His brow furrowed, and he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. He opened his eyes to look at me. “Yeah. I understand. I can give you time.”

“Please don’t give up on us. I just need a few weeks to deal with this. Besides, I don’t want Andrei coming after you.”

He laughed, but it held no humor. “I’m not afraid of Andrei.”

“I know. But I am, a little. And I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

He cupped my jaw with one hand. “Don’t worry, Raena. Nothing’s going to happen to me. You can have all the time you need. I won’t give up on us. I promise.”

I gave him a small smile, and we headed for the pier. Even though some of the shops were open, we passed them. Before we reached the end, I stopped. “Let’s watch the sea lions,” I suggested. Several square areas were cut out of the planks of the pier, but the railings offered safety needed to look down without worrying about falling in. Sea lions were visible through the holes, as they cooled off from sunning on the rocks.

I shivered a little, and Logan took off his coat, wrapping it around my shoulders. I gratefully pushed my arms through the sleeves, marveling at the way it hung on me. I had never realized how much bigger he was. He put his arm around my waist, pulling me close against him to help keep me warm. I wasn’t sure this constituted giving me the time I needed, but I enjoyed being close to him, willingly sharing his warmth.

We watched the sea lions for a while as we wandered out to the end of the pier. The ocean rolled along happily, and the sun had just started to peek out from behind the clouds. I glanced down to the beach, noticing it had become more crowded.

He followed my line of sight. “Why don’t we see about that coffee now?” he suggested.

When we reached the coffee shop, we were glad to find it open. We sat for quite a while, but we couldn’t take up the table forever. Afterward, the rides still weren’t open, so we went to play a round of miniature golf. I was horrible at it, but it didn’t matter to me. Being with Logan was the only important thing.

The rides finally opened. “Don’t you think you should call Tanis?” Logan asked as we stood in line at the ticket booth.

I sighed. “Yeah, I should let her know where we are. She’ll wonder if I don’t show up at lunch or at the car after school.”

I stepped out of line and walked a few feet away so I could make my call without a bunch of strangers listening in. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit Tanis’s number on my favorites list. I had planned on just leaving a message, but to my surprise, she answered. “Where are you?” she demanded.

“After you left, I went to my locker. Andrei had somehow gotten into it, and he left a threatening note. He said he would be waiting for me after school. Tanis, I had to get out of there. I was too afraid.”

“Oh, wow,” she said quietly. “Are you okay now? Where are you? You aren’t alone, are you?”

“I’m okay. I’m with Logan. We’re at the Boardwalk.”

“Is he going to take you home? I’m assuming you’re not coming back to school.”

“No,” I said. “I’m not coming back to school. Not today. Logan will take me home. I’ll see you there later.”

“Well, you had better call Mom! I’m not going to be the one responsible for explaining why you cut school and are coming home with some boy she doesn’t know.” Now she sounded more like herself.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to call her right now,” I reassured her.

“Okay. I’ll see you at home.” She clicked off without saying goodbye.

I sighed. Logan walked toward me, clutching a long strip of tickets in his hand. “I guess I’d better call Genevra and try to explain.”

He smirked at me. “I guess you should. Good luck.”

I tapped the entry in my phone marked “home.” “What’s wrong, Raena? Why are you calling while you’re at school? Did something happen?” Genevra sounded a little paranoid, but after the incident yesterday, I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t even know the half of it. I felt pretty paranoid myself.

“I’m okay,” I told her. “At least, I am now.”

“What happened?”

I took a deep breath and launched into my explanation. “Well, when I got to school, I went to my locker. Andrei had broken into it somehow and left a threatening note. He said he’d be waiting for me after school.”

“What? He’s threatening you? I’m calling the police! What’s his last name? Do you know where he lives?” Genevra asked, seemingly in one breath.

“He lives near the university. Genevra, I’m scared,” I whispered.

“We’re going to get this taken care of, Rae. Don’t worry. Now, I want you to have someone escort you and Tanis to the parking lot after school. Better yet, I’ll come pick you girls up. Shane and I can drive back to the school later and pick up the car.”

“I’m not at school,” I admitted.

“What?” Her voice went up an octave. “What do you mean, you’re not at school?”

“I was scared. I had to get out of there! I was afraid he would hurt me again.”

“Again? When did he hurt you before? Where are you? How did you leave the school? Are you with someone?” she demanded.

“Andrei showed up at the school the other day, and when I tried to get him to leave, he grabbed my wrist. He followed Tanis and me home from school, and when I tried to get away, he grabbed me again.”

“That’s it! We’re filing a restraining order. But you still didn’t tell me where you are or who you’re with.”

“I’m at the Boardwalk. I’m with Logan,” I told her.

“Who on earth is Logan?”

“I go to school with him. He’s in all my classes. He saved me from Andrei the other day. He got me out of school today.”

“I want you to come home, Raena. Right now. We’ll call the police, and then we will discuss your punishment for skipping school.”

“But Genevra…!” I protested.

“Raena…” She sighed. “I understand you were scared. I know you felt like you had to get out of there, but I just can’t let you cut school without doing anything. Now get home!” She clicked off.

“Was she upset? Do I need to take you home now?” Logan asked.

“Yes. I’m so sorry. I know you just bought all those tickets. I feel terrible.”

“Don’t,” he told me. “Did you have fun today?”

“Definitely,” I answered.

“That’s all that matters. Don’t worry about the tickets. We can use them another time. Now, let’s get you home.” He slung an arm across my shoulders as we walked back to the car.