Perilous Light (3 page)

James had apparently gotten me a good ID. The bouncer barely glanced at it before gesturing for us to enter.

“
See? I told you it would be fine.” James pushed me further into the club. “But with that dress, you probably didn’t need the ID.” He snickered.

It was a small venue, and the crowd started to swell. I stayed by James’s side as we walked toward the back. I was out of my element and acutely aware of it.

“
Happy Birthday, Char!” Turning around, I saw Rachel and Henry heading our way.

“
Rach, you guys are here!” I’d had no idea James had gotten them IDs and tickets, too. I hugged both Rachel and Henry and then gave James a hug for good measure. “Thanks.”

“
Wait, the pious Charlotte Calloway is thanking me for getting everyone IDs?” James laughed.

“
Oh, come on. Cut me a break. I’m just glad that they’re here.”

“
I know. I’ll go get us some drinks.”

Noticing that both Henry and Rachel already had drinks in their hands, I nodded. Rachel gushed about how good I looked, and I complimented her as well, considering we were wearing very similar dresses. The transformation wasn’t quite as extreme with Rachel because she always dressed that way when we went out.

When James got back with the drinks, Rachel took my hand and pulled me away from the boys. “So, this was pretty cool of James, right?”

“
Yeah, it was.” I smiled. It was a thoughtful gift, and I wasn’t about to deny it.

Rachel leaned toward me and lowered her voice. “Some might even call it a romantic gesture.”

I nearly choked on my drink. “Romantic?”

“
Come on, Char. The guy can’t take his eyes off you.”

I glanced over at where James stood with Henry. “Rachel, you know we’re just friends.”

“
Yes, and remind me why again? Is it the same reason you can’t be more than friends with Liam?” Rachel raised an eyebrow. “Because seriously, Charlotte, I don’t get why you would turn your back on such good options. You don’t see me doing that with Henry.” Rachel turned to smile coyly at Henry.

I tried not to roll my eyes. “Um, yeah, clearly you haven’t turned your back on
that
opportunity.” Many times over the last year I had been tempted to tell Rachel the truth about Calvin and Energo, but she never would have believed me, which would only have made things weird. Even if she did believe me, she would probably freak out that her new boyfriend wasn’t really an exchange student from Europe. Luckily, everyone believed that Henry’s formal speech was normal for a European.

“
I think you should give it a chance, that’s all. James is hot and so into you, and I bet he’s really good in—”

I cut her off before she could continue. That was an image I didn’t need. “Rach, like I’ve told you a million times, we’re just friends.” I pulled her back to the guys before she could argue.

The band took the stage, and I relaxed as the set started. I could push negative thoughts out of my head much more easily when I got lost in music. Music had always been my escape, and it had really come in handy over the past year. It felt good to zone out with my friends. I recognized that they weren’t as big of fans as I was, but I really appreciated them coming, and they seemed to be having a good time. The set went way too fast, and unfortunately, as soon as the music stopped, my relaxation was interrupted.

“
Hi, can I buy you a drink?”

I lifted my head, startled to see a guy watching me expectantly. “Um, thanks, but no thanks.” I looked for my friends. I didn’t see Rachel and Henry, and James stood a few steps away, apparently oblivious.

“
Why not?” the guy asked.

“
Because I don’t need one.”

He laughed and stepped in closer. “Well, I was only asking to make conversation. I’m Dave, and you are…?”

I glanced at James, but he was still staring straight ahead. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t getting involved. Wasn’t he supposed to be one of my Guardians?

“
Charlotte,” I said distractedly. I tried to move away, but the crowd had me cornered.

“
Nice to meet you, Charlotte. You sure I can’t buy you a drink? What are you having?” He touched my arm as he talked.

“
Excuse me,” I said as I stepped around him to edge closer to James. “James, please, can you get that guy to leave me alone? He doesn’t seem to be getting that I’m not interested.”

“
You want me to get him to leave you alone?” James wore a funny expression I couldn’t read.

“
Of course, why else would I be asking?”

“
If you say so.” With that, James pulled me to him and kissed me. Really
kissed
me. At first, I was shocked and couldn’t react. By the time I came to my senses, James had his arms around me so tightly, it was almost impossible to free my hands to push him away. Finally, I struggled against him enough to push against his chest. His response was to hold me tighter, but eventually, his laughter made him loosen his hold. I acted out of instinct and slapped him.

“
Wow. Charlotte. If I’d realized kissing you would get such a physical reaction, I would have done it sooner.”

Stunned and angry, I didn’t know how to respond. As I tried to calm down, I saw a familiar face in the crowd staring at me with disbelief. It didn’t take me long to place the face—William. I tried not to panic, but what was Calvin’s right-hand man on the Guard doing in Charleston? Was Calvin around?

“
That guy isn’t going to bother you anymore. Trust me.” James laughed, but I didn’t even acknowledge him. I had to find out if the man I’d seen was really William. If it was, would he tell Calvin that I had been kissing James?

I pushed through the crowd in the direction I thought I saw him moving. I heard James call my name, but I ignored him. Completely distracted, I ran into someone and flinched as a drink spilled down my arm.

“
Sorry, you okay?” a familiar voice asked. I gazed up into a set of equally familiar brown eyes.

Liam’s mouth hung open. “Charlotte, what are you doing here?” I didn’t respond and tried to move around him to search for William, but he caught my arm.

“
Are you all right? You aren’t here alone, are you?” As usual, Liam was worried about me.

“
No, I’m—”

James appeared next to me. “Did you honestly think Charlotte would be here alone?” James wore his all too common smirk.

“
Great, James. Let me guess. You not only got her a fake ID, you’re also getting her drunk. Seriously?” If looks could kill, James would have been dead. Liam must have been taking lessons from Kevin.

“
Come on, Liam, like I was going to let her miss the opportunity to see her favorite group. Clearly, you didn’t care quite as much.” The insinuation in his words wasn’t lost on anyone.

“
Shut up, guys!” I yelled. Even a year later, Liam and James still didn’t get along. Kevin and Liam had never trusted James, and I could tell it really bothered them that I spent so much time with him. “And for your information, Liam, I’m drinking a diet coke.”

James nudged me. “You ran away before you could see that I successfully got that guy to leave you alone. You should have seen the look on his face.” He laughed.

“
What guy?” Liam’s hands were in fists.

“
James, you do realize that you could get killed for that, right?” Henry asked as he walked over with Rachel trailing behind him.

“
Yeah, but it was still worth it.” James winked at me.

“
What did you do, James?” Liam asked.

I could tell that Liam was getting frustrated by being left in the dark, but I still hadn’t come to terms with the fact that James had kissed me and I couldn’t think of a thing to say.

Rachel chuckled. “Oh, come on. All he did was kiss her. I don’t think Monty would kill him for that. Although, it was a pretty intense kiss.” I scowled at her. She took in Liam’s shocked expression and then mouthed “sorry” to me.

“
You did what?” Liam got right in James’s face.

“
I was only doing what she asked.”

“
I never asked you to kiss me!” I was so full of emotion that I couldn’t control my voice.

“
You told me to get the guy to leave you alone, and that seemed like as good a way as any. But seriously, Charlotte, why did you take off like that? It looked like you had seen a ghost.”

“
I had to get away from
you
.” Even if Rachel wasn’t around, I wouldn’t have admitted the truth. I must have imagined seeing William because I wanted to believe that Calvin missed me and had sent William to check on me.

“
To seventeen years of Charlotte,” Rachel said, raising her drink. Everyone raised their glasses, defusing the situation.

After taking a sip of my Coke, I noticed that Liam wasn’t alone. He was with a couple of his college friends.

“
Hey, Charlotte.” Liam’s roommate Jason fought back laughter. I bet the situation appeared funny to an outsider.

I waved. “Hey.”

“
Hi, Meg,” I said quietly. I always tried to be nice when I ran into her, but she didn’t seem to like me too much.

“
Hi, Charlotte.” She didn’t even bother to make eye contact.

Liam introduced everyone else, and I felt relieved that the topic of my being in a club I was too young for and kissing James didn’t come up again. Liam evidently decided that the blame for my presence could be pinned on James, so he didn’t give me a hard time about it. I also thought he was glad to see me enjoying the show. Despite how weird I felt about James kissing me, and my fear that William had witnessed it, as soon as the second set started, I lost myself in the music and let go of the usual anxiety that had become a fixture in my life.

Liam brought me back to reality as the set ended. “So what are you guys up to now?”

Rachel pulled her attention away from Henry. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it.”

“
I suppose we can do what we always do.” Henry didn’t need to give any more information than that. Almost every night, we ended up at the same place—James’s house. The combination of no adult supervision and his ridiculous entertainment system made it the logical spot.

“
So do you guys want to come over to my place, too?” James didn’t seem too keen on inviting Liam, but maybe he was trying to make amends for kissing me.

“
Sure, we’ll come,” Liam answered quickly.

“
We will?” Meg studied Liam skeptically. “We are seriously going to go hang out with a bunch of high school kids?”

Liam shrugged. “I can drop you off first.”

“
Maybe you should.” Meg’s tone was icy, but Liam didn’t seem affected.

I tried to hide my relief that Meg wouldn’t be coming. Hanging out with Liam would be so much more relaxing without her around.

“
I’m game.” Jason smiled. “It’s not like we have anything else planned.” Meg glared at him. I stifled a laugh. I was beginning to like Jason.

***

I slunk down on the couch next to Liam, already exhausted. The car ride over to James’s house had been awkward enough, and I figured the one place James wouldn’t be was next to Liam.

“
So, pretty cool show tonight, huh?” Liam asked.

I smiled as his fingers played the bass line of a song on his knee. It was comforting to see him do it; it reminded me that not everything had changed.

“
Yeah, Kiev is awesome. You know, I always think of you when I listen to them because they were on the playlist you made for my birthday last year.”

Liam smiled, and we sat in silence for a while. I closed my eyes, the late hour catching up to me.

“
I could hurt him, you know.”

“
Hmm…?” I opened my eyes.

Liam wore a serious expression. “James. I could hurt him for kissing you.”

“
Ugh, don’t remind me.” Once again, I wished one of us had the ability to manipulate time.

“
I’m sorry you’re stuck being around such a jerk all the time.”

“
Normally I would try to defend him, but tonight he deserves it.”

“
He always deserves it.” Liam grinned.

“
I feel so stupid.”

He put a reassuring hand on my arm. “What do you mean? Why would you feel stupid?”

“
I should have expected him to do it—I fall for everything.”

“
Char, he took you by surprise, and you’re only human—well almost.” He snickered. I was surprised that he called me Char. He usually used my full name.

“
So you don’t think it was partially my fault? I shouldn’t feel guilty?” I wanted Liam to tell me it was okay. Maybe if he said it, I would believe it.

“
No, not at all. But do me a favor, okay?”

“
Sure…” I said carefully.

“
Next time you have the urge to kiss a boy, pick someone other than James.”

From his expression, he should have been ready, but he didn’t stop me when I punched him in the arm.

“
So anyone up for a dip in the hot tub?” James shouted over the blaring music of the video game Henry and Rachel were playing. It was one of those dance games, and Henry was making quite the spectacle of himself.