Silver Moon (13 page)

My mouth drops.

Although I should get out of the car and tell him where to go, something in me says that for once in my life I need to keep my mouth shut. Plus, walking in the rain is something I definitely don’t want to do.

“Okay, then,” he says, taking my silence as affirmation that I need a ride to school. He accelerates down the driveway.

We ride in silence the entire way.

Ben and I walk side-by-side in the frigid climate to the front doors, completely uncommunicative. A few stragglers hanging out eye us. I know, by the end of the day, we’ll be the talk of the town.

I can see it now:
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The real life enemies make amends!
or something to that effect in the school newspaper.

It’s not until we reach the inside and make our way down the hall that Ben speaks.

“See you in English,” is all he says. He continues walking to his first class without even so much as a glance toward me.

“What was all that about?” Jana asks when I reach my locker. One eyebrow lifts higher than the other.

“Honestly, I have no idea. He showed up at my doorstep this morning, waiting for me.” I shrug.

“Just be careful, okay?”

I jerk my head around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m trying to look out for you. He’s a heartbreaker,
ya
know.” She doesn’t wait for my response, not that I have one. Instead, she struts down the hallway and disappears around the corner.

I’m left mulling over our conversation. Part of me wants to listen to everyone about staying away from him. The other part of me wonders if this conflict between our families can be left in the past. I don’t know which to trust—my head or my heart.

Chapter Thirteen

T
he next day, the same thing happens. Ben picks me up for school. Will this be an everyday occurrence? I can’t help the tug in my stomach every time our eyes meet.

“I didn’t expect you to be here again today,” I tell him while sliding into the passenger seat.

He tosses me a grin that makes my body feel like Jell-O.

“I enjoyed the ride yesterday. Plus, I still feel sorry for you, since you don’t have a car. I mean, most kids our age do.” He playfully nudges my arm. As soon as he makes contact, a jolt of power runs through my body.

He feels it too.

“What was that?” I whisper, unable to believe what just happened. Static electricity. Yes, that
has
to be the explanation.

“I have no idea,” he says, turning around to face the windshield.

“Do you think it’s static?”

He considers this for a minute before nodding and saying, “Yeah, sure. That could be it.”

I nod. “Okay.”

He slowly turns back to the steering wheel, gulping loudly, and we accelerate down the driveway. I keep thinking,
Static, static, static
, but I know better. Static doesn’t affect your entire body. Real electricity does.

After we get to school, I turn the corner and notice Jana and Blake waiting at my locker. They send me cruel glares, and I’m positive they hate Ben.

“See you in five minutes,” Ben whispers in my ear. He continues his trek down the hall and disappears amid the sea of students.

“Candra, what’s going on?” Jana asks in a very serious tone. “You know you shouldn’t be with him. Your family and his family don’t get along. Everyone’s talking about it.”

“So let them talk,” I say, opening my locker and grabbing my English book. “Our families may hate each other, but it doesn’t mean Ben and I do. Besides, he’s really sweet. I haven’t had a guy treat me like that in God-knows-how-long.”

Jana glances over her shoulder at Blake. He chews on the inside of his cheek, glaring at me, and then looks away, shaking his head.

“What?” I blurt.

“Nothing. You’ll find out,” he replies. “C’mon.” He laces his fingers with Jana’s and steers her away from me.

“I don’t get it,” I mumble, now standing alone in the hallway.

In English, Ben pulls my desk closer to his. He doesn’t seem to care what everyone else thinks, either. Not even Mr. Everett.

“You know, just in case I need to cheat or something,” he says, winking at me.

“Yeah, because I’m totally writing something down right now.” I’m not.

His mouth curves into a playful grin. “Listen to you smarting off to your ride home from school.”

I feel my cheeks heat up and instinctively duck my head. I’ll do anything for that smile. It never fails to remove whatever thought is on my mind.

“You’re right. I should be much nicer. So, when should I get on the floor and clean your shoes? Or maybe I should iron your shirts every morning,” I tease.

He leans into the crook of his desk, facing me. “Are you suggesting you’d like to live with me?”

“What?!” I squeak, receiving a few glares from students and Mr. Everett.

“Is there a problem, Ms. Lowell?” Mr. Everett asks.

I shake my head. “No, there’s no problem.”

“Good. Then you can begin reading where we left off,” he says.

My face burns. I have no idea what we’re reading, who’s reading it, or where we left off. Hushed giggles escape mouths across the classroom.

“I honestly have no idea where we’re at,” I say.

“Ms. Lowell,” Mr. Everett begins, staring down at some papers on his desk, “might I remind you that there’s no talking in class and that I expect you to pay attention? Isn’t that why you’re here in the first place—because you were in trouble back home?”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business what happened to her prior to arriving here,” Ben tells Mr. Everett.

I wish I had a camera, because the look on Mr. Everett’s face is priceless. Instead of sending Ben to the principal’s office or giving him an extra assignment, they have a showdown with their eyes.

Ben wins.

Mr. Everett clears his throat and pretends to shuffle a few papers around on his desk. “You’re right. It’s none of my business.” He turns around to the board.

“How’d you do that?” I whisper.

Ben cuts me a sideways glance and the corner of his lips slightly curves. “I’m just good like that, I guess.”

“Huh.” It comes out as more of a huff, but I’m sure he heard me. I fall back against my seat, paying attention to Mr. Everett this time. After all, he’s right. I’m here to stay out of trouble, and to keep my grades from slipping. The bad part? Now that I have new friends and Ben, I don’t miss home
as
much. Pathetic, I know.

The bell rings and Ben stands, saying, “See you after school.”

Sitting with Jana and Blake at lunch is the worst part of the day. Both avoid any eye contact, and neither say one word to me, like I’m invisible. It’s not like I have anyone else to sit with either. Ben has a totally different lunch schedule than me. It’d be much easier to carry on a conversation with him right now.

At the end of the day, I stand at my usual spot near the building, and away from the curb. My eyes stretch, searching for his BMW.

“Please don’t tell me you’re riding home with him again.” Jana’s voice startles me.

“Uh, actually I am. Why?”

“This is wrong. So very, very wrong. You have no idea what you’re getting into, Candra. Please don’t do this.” The expression on her face grabs hold of my stomach and twists it into a pretzel. She’s pained, concerned. Is Ben really that bad?

“He’s not like them,” I say. This is getting out of hand. How many times do I have to tell someone that it doesn’t matter what our families think, as long as we have fun together?

But then I wonder if that’s the same as living a lie.

Jana throws her arms around my neck in a sudden hug. “Just be careful, okay?”

I nod, still unsure of what the big deal is. So his brothers want to bully me, and we’re both stuck in the middle of this stupid family feud. Who cares? If we choose to live a different life, then so be it.

Ben pulls his car next to the curb. I run over and open the door.

“Miss me?” he jokes. His head lowers, so he glances at me through his long, black lashes.

“Ugh. I never thought today would end,” I groan, getting in his car. Immediately his earthy cologne fills my nostrils; it’s musky and thick and I could inhale it all day.

“Why’s that?” He moves the gears into drive. One hand clutches the steering wheel, the other rests on top of the shifter. We creep through the ocean of students in the parking lot.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I get to see you.” My chest feels like an elephant’s sitting on it. Why’s it so hard to tell him?

Ben gives me a quick glance, and the corner of his mouth twists. He doesn’t say much on the way home, adjusting the radio so it plays some mellow rock music. As we pull into my driveway, he slows to a stop.

I shoot him a confused look.
 
“What’s wrong?”

“You know we’re just friends, right?” he asks.

I know what those words mean. He doesn’t want anything further with me. It’s okay to date Lily, the bottled-blonde ditz who worries about shopping and her looks more than life itself.
 

But, to play along in what might be the sorriest excuse known to man, I say, “Oh, yeah, of course. You didn’t think…I mean, because of what I said…”
What did I say again?
I fake a laugh.

He smiles, rubbing his fingers along the two-day old whiskers surfacing on his chin. “I just wanted to be clear.” But his face drops, like it bothers him to tell me that we’re mere friends. He pushes the gas, and we coast down the driveway, pulling up directly outside the front to let me out.

“See
ya
later,” I say, opening the door.

“Candra, wait.” He grabs my arm before I have time to get out. “There’s this stupid festival going on this weekend.”

I assess what he says. Two minutes ago he informs me we’re friends, and now he’s asking me to a festival?

“What about it?” I ask.

“I wondered if you might be interested in going with me.”

My head barely shakes. “I’ll think about it. Thanks for the ride.” I manage a smile, but as soon as my back is turned, it fades away.

Chapter Fourteen

A
s soon as I step foot in the house, the phone rings.
Odd,
I think, since nobody calls unless Randy and Beth are home. I decide to answer it anyway.

“Hello?”

“Oh my God. Is it really you? Hey, stranger.”

It’s
Layla
.

Joy doesn’t describe how many butterflies flap their wings inside my stomach right now. “What… How…” I pull up a chair and sit by the kitchen counter.

“Oh, I got this number from your mom. Ran into her at the grocery store. She said you’re making a name for yourself up there.”

You have no idea.

“Yeah, things are…different here. That’s for sure. But tell me what’s going on back home. I have to know everything.”

“Well, Casey Birmingham totally got a boob job. And, let’s see, oh! Joe
Palicki
totally got caught jerkin’ off in the locker room. It’s all over school.” If there’s one thing I could tell anyone about
Layla
, it’s that she loves gossip.

“What about you and Sean? How are you guys?”

“Oh,
pssh
! Don’t worry about us. We’re the same old
Layla
and Sean,
ya
know? Sean got a job at Judd’s Meat Market over on
Sansaren
Highway
. Remember that place?” She makes a gagging noise.

“How could I forget? You can smell it if you’re in a three mile radius of the place.”

“I know, right? I told Sean to stay away from me until he’s had a shower.”

I laugh at the thought of Sean wearing an apron covered in meat scraps, and rubbing them all over
Layla
.