The Marked (7 page)

I DIDN’T
start getting nervous about Valentine’s Day until Esther brought it up on our way back from a soccer game. Anna’s dad had come to see the game, and he drove Anna and her friends back to school. That left me and six other players on the bus. It was a sunny day, so Hennie and Esther had decided to tag along as spectators. They were, of course, the only ones.

I was exhausted but happy. Allie and I had each scored goals, and Anna, for once, had not. I sat across from Hennie and Esther with my gear on the seat next to me and tried to keep my eyes open. I didn’t get nearly enough sleep these days, and I usually ended up taking a nap on the bus ride home. But it was a rare chance to hang out with Esther and Hennie, so I pretended to be alert.

“So, what are you two doing for the big day?” Esther asked me.

I squinted at her through half-opened eyes. “What big day?”

“Valentine’s Day. It’s next Friday. What are you and Cam doing to celebrate?”

We hit a bump in the road, and I grabbed my bag to keep it from falling off the seat. This allowed me to avoid meeting Esther’s eyes. I didn’t want to think about what she’d be doing on Valentine’s Day.

“I thought maybe I’d get him some chocolate?” I said tentatively.

Esther’s mouth dropped open. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

I leaned my head against the seat. It had, of course, occurred to me that Valentine’s Day was approaching. I could hardly miss it, with pastel candy hearts and yellow marshmallow chicks displayed in every corner of our grocery store. But I’d tried not to pay attention. The last thing I wanted was to be disappointed by whatever Cam did—or didn’t do—in honor of the day.

“What’s so bad about chocolate? He loves the stuff.”

“It’s boring,” Hennie said, leaning over Esther’s lap from her spot by the window. “Everyone buys chocolate. You have to find something different, something unique that shows how well you know him.”

“Great. No pressure or anything. What are you doing for Yashir, smarty-pants?”

“I bought him a new nose ring,” she said dreamily.

“Oh, yeah,” I snorted. “Nothing says romance like an earring you wear in your
nose
.”

Esther laughed, then sobered abruptly and shook a finger at me. “That does not get you off the hook. You need to come up with something good. Are you going out or anything?”

I sighed. “Actually, Anna’s having a party. Cam and I just talked about it this morning. He’s borrowing a car to drive us out there.”

Esther’s eyes widened. “That sounds amazing. Will your grandma go for it?”

“I don’t know, probably,” I said. Grandma, strangely enough, was always bugging me to spend more time with my friends. I think it was built-up trauma from watching me having no friends for so long. I hadn’t exactly told her about Cam, but she knew. Just last week she’d given me one of those sly, knowing smiles and asked if I wanted her to drive us to the movies someday. Embarrassing, but sweet.

“You don’t sound happy,” Hennie said. “Why not?”

I crossed one leg over the other and hiked up my sweatpants, studying my shins. Purple bruises marked the spots where I’d been kicked during previous games. Today’s kicks were still lumps. It took them a few days to turn black and blue. Even with the shin guards, I was always a mess after we played. “It’s at Anna’s house.”

“So?” Esther said.

“So, Anna’s sure to do something to ruin it for me. She hates me. She hates me more and more every day.”

Okay, probably an exaggeration. Anna had been lying low since school started and, except for a few incidents on the soccer field, hadn’t come after me directly. But all I had to do was think about our encounter in the stairwell and I could imagine the hatred directed my way.

“Of course she does,” Esther said. “You’re going out with her old boyfriend, who watches you with big brown calf eyes wherever you go. You’re like a legend at Delcroix. The girl who stole Cam Sanders’s heart.”

I smiled. “Now,
that
I would love to believe. Seriously, though, she’s probably going to booby-trap the house. I’ll walk into the bathroom and water will fall on my head, or I’ll reach for a chip and a bowl of salsa will drop in my lap. I’m doomed! I might as well stay home.”

“Stop that,” Esther snapped. “I will not let you get yourself into a lather about this.” Subtly, her face elongated, and her eyebrows arched just like the math teacher Mr. Crestine’s. He used to be in the Marines and liked to talk tough. “You are going to that party, and you are going to have a good time. Do you understand?”

I drew myself up straight and saluted her. “Yes, sir, Mr. Crestine, sir.”

“And you, Miss Khanna: a nose ring? Does that actually sound romantic to you?”

Hennie hung her head and carefully arranged her skirt to cover her knees. This was not part of the act, but simply because she tended to panic if she exposed too much skin. I guess her parents were pretty strict. “Um, no.”

“Of course not,” Esther boomed. “You’ll return that nose ring and buy that boy a drawing pad and pencil, do you hear me? So he can draw YOU!”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Crestine,” Hennie agreed.

Allie peeked around from her seat in front of me. Like me, she was wearing her Delcroix soccer sweats, but unlike me, she had her hair in adorable pigtails, with little tendrils of hair curving perfectly around her face. “What are you guys talking about?”

“You want a piece of me?” Esther demanded.

“Good grief, no!” Allie laughed. “You’re terrifying.”

Esther giggled. “I know. I could have gotten you all doing push-ups if I wanted.”

“Not me. I’m way too tired,” said Allie as she got up on her knees and turned around in her seat to face us. “So, what’s this about Valentine’s Day? Dancia got invited to an off-campus party?”

“With Cam,” Esther said self-importantly. “But she doesn’t want to go. Is she crazy, or what?”

Allie’s mouth dropped open, feigning horror. “Doesn’t want to go? She
is
crazy.”

The bus hugged a tight curve in the road, and Allie squealed as she fell to one side.

“Sit down in back!” the driver hollered.

Allie sank down in her seat, muttering, “I better hear about this party later.”

“Fine, fine.” I held up my hands in surrender. “I’ll go to Anna’s party. But what will I do there? It’s Anna and a bunch of her friends. They all hate me.”

Everyone from the Program had been invited, actually. They had been planning to have it the week after Initiation, but with all the fuss over the break-in they decided to wait until Valentine’s Day to make sure it was safe.

“Are you sure you aren’t just being paranoid? Why would the rest of them hate you? For instance, Trevor. He likes you, doesn’t he?” Hennie said.

“Sorry, but no. I mean, he doesn’t hate me, but it’s not like we’re friends, either.”

Talking a lot about Trevor and Anna was not a good idea. There were too many things I simply couldn’t explain. I searched for a subtle way to change the topic. “Hey, Esther, do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.”

Esther pulled her backpack into her lap and rifled through its contents. She extracted a granola bar, a slightly mashed bag of crackers, and an apple. Esther always traveled with food. She claimed she had low blood sugar. I think she just liked to eat.

“Seriously,” she said, as she handed me the granola bar, “why would Trevor be like that? He’s a decent guy, and he’s Cam’s best friend. I think you’ve just got to get to know him better. Maybe start eating lunch with them. I’d go over there with you, if you want.”

“Wait a minute,” I said suspiciously. “Is this about me and Trevor or you and Trevor?”

“Well…” Esther paused. “He is kind of cute.”

“Cute?” I shuddered. “Trevor is
not
cute.”

“Handsome?” Hennie offered, starting to smile.

“
Ew
, no!”

“How about striking? Mysterious? Sexy?”

Allie spun around, her knees swiveling into the aisle. “Trevor Anderly? Hot. Definitely hot,” she said.

“I need my aisle clear!” the driver yelled.

Allie faced front again.

I clapped my hands over my ears. “I am not listening to this. Esther, please tell me you don’t like Trevor.”

Esther narrowed her eyes. “Why not? Why should you be the only one to date a junior?”

“I’m not saying you couldn’t, I’m just saying…”

“What? That I’m not good enough for him?”

“No!” I held up my hand. “He’s not good enough for
you
. He’s scary, Esther. Haven’t you ever noticed that?”

Esther scowled. “No, I haven’t. I think he’s a smart, good-looking guy. And I’ve noticed him staring at me, too. So I’m not crazy, all right? And thanks for the support, by the way.”

My heart sank. Trevor was probably
watching
Esther, and she thought he liked her. But there was nothing I could do. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound negative. I didn’t realize you were serious about him.”

Esther shoved the apple and crackers into her backpack. “Yeah, well I am, and feel free to tell me it’s a great idea and you’re all for it and you’re going to help me get him.

Though I’m not sure how you’d do that. It’s not like I see you anymore.”

I threw a desperate glance at Hennie. I’d known Esther was annoyed that I spent all my free time with Cam, and I was feeling increasingly guilty about it, but I hadn’t known things had gotten this bad. “Esther, I’m the last person to give advice about guys. You know that. You’re way cuter and funnier than I am, and you’ve had, like, six different boyfriends. I didn’t even know that I shouldn’t get Cam chocolate for Valentine’s Day.”

“Dancia didn’t say you shouldn’t go for him,” Hennie said. “She just has a thing about Trevor. You know she didn’t mean any harm.”

Esther hugged her backpack to her chest. “You’re right,” she said a moment later. “I’m overreacting. I’m sorry.”

I handed her back the granola bar. “Probably low blood sugar. You should eat something.”

She gave me a tiny, sad smile, and started opening the package. “I’m just so frustrated. Lately it feels like nothing I do goes right. Not with boys or friends or
anything
.”

Hennie leaned in toward Esther. “What do you mean? Is there something else going on?”

Esther took a vicious bite of her granola bar. “It’s just the usual garbage. After Matt blew me off I practically begged one of the groups in my acting class to let me join in their scene for our next project, and they said no. They said they’d already assigned parts and started rehearsing. But I could tell they just didn’t want to perform with me onstage.”

Hennie put her arm around Esther’s shoulders. “Ignore them. They’re horrible, jealous monsters.”

Esther’s chin wobbled. “I just wanted to be in their scene.”

Feeling heartbroken, I reached over and joined Hennie in hugging her. “Esther, we’ll be in your scene if you want.”

Hennie nodded vigorously.

Esther let out a long-suffering sigh, and then leaned her head against Hennie’s shoulder. “That’s sweet, but you guys suck at acting. No offense, but I’ll pass. I’d like to keep my A.”

We laughed, though it was tinged with sadness.

“You know you can’t do anything wrong when it comes to us,” Hennie said.

“Absolutely.” I nodded. “We’re behind you, Esther, for whatever you want—even Trevor.”

Given her fascination with the subject of boyfriends, I expected Grandma to
want
me to go to the party with Cam. Still, old people and parents were supposed to worry about this sort of thing, so I figured she’d at least be a little concerned about us driving to Anna’s together. We were on the way home from school that Friday in our thirty-year-old Volvo. Grandma had been out for a walk that afternoon, so she had on her thick-soled white sneakers and a baby blue tracksuit.

She barely looked at me as she sailed through a red light and said, “Your Cameron will be driving? I suppose that’s all right.”

I winced as a car blared its horn and swerved to avoid us. “Grandma, you’re supposed to stop for the red ones.”

She kept her eyes on the road. “That man was speeding. He had no right to honk at me.”

I sighed and waited for the interrogation about the party that should have followed. “I won’t be home until after ten,” I said, half hoping she would tell me I couldn’t go. “I don’t know exactly when.”

“It isn’t as though you’re a kindergartner. Just be home by eleven. And no drinking. You drive that car home if anyone’s been drinking. You’re better than most drivers out there anyway.”

Clearly, she assumed
I
wouldn’t drink. It was nice to be trusted and all, but shouldn’t she be a little worried about me cutting loose?

“Cam has to ride the bus back to school after he drops me off,” I said. “They’d notice if he’d had been drinking.”

They ran the Silver Bullet at ten and eleven on Friday night. If you left school, you couldn’t be late coming back, or you’d be locked out all night long. One of the teachers met the bus when it got to school and checked to make sure everyone was sober. This was supposed to make parents who let their kids out over the weekend feel better.

“Who else will be there?” Grandma asked. “What about your friend Jack? I haven’t heard much about him lately.”