Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (7 page)

“Megan, come here; show me how this goes on.” Natalie,
a girl my age, held up one of my halters that were a little confusing to figure
out. There were two straps that criss-crossed at the back and if you had never
seen it on, it was hard to figure where each one went.

I held the top up to demonstrate which arm went where.
Before I could back away I was sucked into the chaos, choosing the clothes for
everyone that I thought would look good on them. It was the most fun I’d had in
a long time.

At lunch I worked with Eddie again, serving homemade
chicken soup and freshly baked buns. I learned that Nate was the cook for all
the meals, which was surprising since everything I had tasted so far was
delicious. I didn’t see him much until I was leaving and then he just nodded
and thanked me. He no longer scowled. Now his expression was always that look
of shock and confusion.

When I arrived home, I took out my phone to read my
texts. It had been beeping all day and by noon I had finally had enough and
turned it off.

Sitting on my bed, I took the phone out of my bag and
saw that most of the texts were from Mandy. The last time I had seen her, I was
running to a burning building. This was the first she had tried to contact me
and it wasn’t even to ask how I was or what had happened. It was about the all-important
cheerleading practice. She wondered where I was and if I was mad at her. (I
never said she was smart.)
I turned my phone off again and decided it was time to do my homework.
It took me the rest of the night. My
parents still hadn’t come to talk to me. It had been about forty-eight hours
since I had seen them. It seemed impossible considering we lived together, but
it
was
a big house.

The next day at school I went right to my locker
without meeting my friends at the lounge. It was our morning ritual to sit on
the benches with our coffees. I’d listen, wishing I was anywhere else in the
world, as they made fun of the other students who walked past. It was an
activity I really didn’t miss.

My first class was calculus with Mr. Robinson. From
the corner of my eye I could see Jenny, who had this class with me, waving,
trying to get my attention. I stayed focused on the chalkboard, ignoring her
not-so-subtle attempts. The same thing happened in my next class, American
Literature with Mrs. O’Neil and it was Mandy this time waving at me. It was
harder to ignore her, since she sat in the desk next to mine. I was never as
interested in school work as I was today, not once looking away from the
teachers’ lectures.

Last night I thought about what Mona had said and she
was right. I didn’t need people like them in my life. I chose to be happy and
that wouldn’t happen with them around.

I avoided my friends the rest of the day. I tried to
talk to Nate, but he ignored
me
. I was turning into a loner. I took my
lunch and ate in my car. So far my day had sucked.

The rest of the week was more of the same, avoiding my
now old friends, while Nate avoided me. I tried speaking to him a couple of
times at school and at Riley House, but failed miserably. At night I did my
homework and then sat out on my patio staring up at the stars, in a chair, not
the hot tub. It had been almost a week since the fire and I was suddenly a
loner. My friends still tried to get me to talk to them, but I would always
find a stupid way to avoid them. Once I ducked into a janitor’s closet when I
saw Shane coming down the hall. I kept my phone turned off most days. Mandy was
driving me crazy with texts.

The one good thing that came out of this mess was
working with the residents of Riley House. I went there every day after school.
I helped the teenage girls pick out outfits from my old clothes and gave them
makeup tips. And playing games with the children was so much fun. They were the
family I never had, complete with little brothers and sisters, extended cousins
and eccentric old uncles. A few times I saw Nate watching me with the kids, but
if I tried to approach to him, he’d walk away.

Thursday morning I woke up hopeful. This awful week at
school was almost over.

After my second class I walked quickly to my locker
trying to avoid a confrontation with Mandy. I traded my books for my lunch and
when I slammed my locker shut I saw Nate heading down the hall. I ran up to him
before I had a chance to change my mind.

“Hi,” I said, falling in step with him. He didn’t look
surprised to see me, but he wasn’t happy about it.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing. I just thought I would eat with you, if you
don’t mind.”

“I do,” he said, walking faster, trying to lose me.

“Look, I’m trying to avoid my friends for reasons you
can probably guess. Come on, what’s the big deal?”

“I don’t socialize.” His pace quickened, but I wasn’t
giving up that easily. I matched his pace.

“
Here
, but at the shelter you’re the life of
the party. Why is that?” I asked, starting to lose my breath in attempt to keep
up with him.

He stopped suddenly. I had to take a few steps back to
stand in front of him, my sneakers squeaked against the floor. “Go away,” he commanded,
his old scowl returning.

I was about to argue some more when I heard a voice
behind me. “Is this guy bothering you, Megan?” Nate and I both turned to see
Shane standing beside a locker. His broad shoulders squared, his chest puffed
out, he looked ready for a fight.

“No,” I answered with a sneer.

“Let’s go. Everyone’s waiting at the table.” He took
my arm and started to lead me away. His fingers dug into my skin. I would have
had a hard time getting away from him without causing a scene if Nate hadn’t
interfered.

“Sorry, but she already made plans with me,” Nate
informed Shane, yanking his hand from my arm. Shane glared at him as if he were
a bug he’d love to squish. “Yeah, right, like she’d hang out with you.” He
turned to me again. “Let’s go.”

I stood my ground, inching closer to my reluctant
protector. “No thanks, I’m sitting with Nate today.” I took Nate’s hand, which
surprised us both and led him to a table in the back of the cafeteria.

He sat across from me looking very uncomfortable. His
vivid blue eyes darted around the room.

Ignoring the fact that he obviously didn’t want to be
seen with me, I took out my food, a salad that Mona made for me. I’ve told her many
times that I could buy my lunch but she always insisted, saying that you never
know what they put in cafeteria food.

“Thank you,” I said. “Shane can be kind of obnoxious.
If you weren’t there I’d probably be sitting with them against my will.”

His face softened. “If he gives you any trouble let me
know. I hate guys like that.” He paused, glancing over at my old friends. “You
know, I never understood why you even hung out with those jerks. Eventually I
just assumed you were like them.” He looked more shocked than I was that those
words came out of his mouth. “Anyway, you can sit with me today, but you’ll
have to find somewhere else to sit from now on. I told you I don’t socialize.”
He stood up and got in line for food. I was worried that someone from my group
might come over, but Nate didn’t take long. His tray was heaping with food when
he came back. He picked up a burger and ate it without looking at me once. By
the time I finished my salad, he had scarfed down two burgers, two orders of
fries and a piece of cake. I gaped at him, in shock at how much and how fast,
he ate.

He looked up at me. “What?”

“How can you eat so much?”

“I’m a teenage boy,” he said with a grin. Was it
because I was an only child and had never really paid attention to the way my
friends ate? Was this normal?

I glanced up in the direction of my old table and saw
everyone there staring at me. “Oh great, we’re being watched. They are
terrified that I’m going to tell the police what really happened. I’ve been
avoiding them all week. Mandy’s been texting me constantly. She’s driving me
nuts.” I sighed. “You know, the last time my best friend saw me was Friday
night when I was driving to a burning building. She waited until Sunday to
contact me. And even then it was to ask why I wasn’t at cheerleading practice.”
I shook my head and sighed. “I don’t know what the right thing to do is.”

He gazed at me thoughtfully and then pushed his tray
beside him so he could lean forward, elbows resting on the table. “Well, most
of the time it’s to be honest.” He paused. “Will you tell me? I won’t say
anything. I told you it should come from you. But it might help to open up to
someone about it.”

Now I was seeing the guy Eddie talked about. His face
had so many expressions. This one was filled with concern and I had never seen
it directed at me. I took a deep breath and began. I told him everything that
happened, the drinking, how I didn’t want to be there. How they refused to help
when the fire started and that they tried to convince me not to help the
family. “I told them they were wrong for running away and I left them in the
parking lot. That’s when you found me.”

His gaze was intense as he watched me, as if seeing me
for the first time. “I’m sorry I was so hard on you.” His stare was making me
uncomfortable. Finally his lips turned up at the corners and he looked away.
“Anyway, I won’t tell the police. You don’t have to worry. But I still think
you should, although I know how hard it must be for you.” Both of his hands
were resting on the table between us. I was sure he was about to take mine into
them, but just as I lifted mine, he pulled away. He shook his head as if to
clear it and then stood up. “Lunch is over; I’ll see you in geography.” He
walked away, heading to the door before I could respond.

Disappointment flooded through me as I watched him go.
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to happen, but it had to stop. Nate never dated, I
knew that. He hadn’t even looked at a girl the whole three years he’d been in
school here.
Don’t get your hopes up
, I scolded myself. I stood slowly,
picking up my bag and both of our trays. I dumped our garbage into the bin and
paused in front of the can. Out of curiosity, I took a quick peek at Mandy, who
was sitting alone with Jenny. She was watching me.

I held her gaze for a moment then quickly left the
room.

Football Bullies

I rounded the corner heading to science class. Shane,
Brandon and Chris were waiting in the stairwell, blocking my way. I tried to
get around them, but Shane stepped in front of me.

“Be nice. I mean it,” Brandon demanded from
where he stood behind Shane.

Shane shot a defiant look at him, but
Brandon stood his ground. “Look, Megan, we just want to know why you’re
avoiding us. The police have been talking to each of us, asking questions. We
want to know what you told them.”

“If they’re asking questions, I probably didn’t tell
them anything. All I said was that I was at the school getting a book when I
noticed the smoke. But they saw your beer bottles and fireworks. They can
probably figure out who my friends are. They know I’m lying, but I was arrested
anyway and I got stuck with two hundred hours of community service. How was
your weekend?” I folded my arms in front of me and smirked at Brandon.

“Look, we’re sorry you got in trouble, but we told you
to come with us,” Chris said, leaning against the railing.

I stared at each one of them. “There was a family in
that house. If I hadn’t gotten there when I did and pounded on the door, Nate
wouldn’t have heard me and saved them. The paramedics said they would have been
dead before the ambulance got there. You guys can’t be that heartless not to
care.”

“We’re sorry about what happened. But if you had come,
they wouldn’t be looking at us. My dad could cut me off,” Brandon said with
some anger and resentment showing on his face. Where was the nice guy I thought
I saw in him the other night? All it took to change him into a carbon copy of
Shane was the threat to take his money away. This realization made me relieved
I had never given in to his advances.

“You make me sick,” I said, starting to leave.

Shane grabbed my arm roughly as I walked by. “Megan,
if you make it hard for us, we’ll make it hard for you.”

Chris and Brandon came over and stood next to Shane.

“Is that a threat?” I asked, my voice a little more
shrill than I had intended.

They smiled, enjoying the fear in my voice. “No, it’s
a promise,” Chris said with his arms folded in front of him.

“You’re going to let her go. If you don’t, I
will
break your arm,” I heard Nate’s voice coming from behind me. I turned and
immediately saw that he meant what he said. His eyes were wild, his jaw set in
a hard line. He looked dangerous. Brandon shoved me behind them. They stood
like a wall in front of me, facing Nate. I was so close to them, the smell of
all their colognes wafted around me. But blended into one, it was a little on
the strong side. I peeked in between their shoulders and saw that Nate didn’t
back down from these three linebackers, he only looked more determined. He clenched
his fists at his sides as if he was preparing to fight.