The Missing- Volume II- Lies (9 page)

So why was I having such a hard time convincing myself?

I took the bag but didn’t open it. I didn’t want him here. With me. With Maren.

It felt wrong. Like bugs crawling underneath my skin.

Just go!

“Please eat something,” he said quietly. I refused to open the bag. I sat there like a petulant child, defiant and irritated. I was being ridiculous, I knew that. But I felt as though he were encroaching. He was dominating and taking over. I was used to his incredible possessiveness. I had always found comfort in it.

Not now.

“What did you bring her?” Maren asked, taking the bag from my lap. She rummaged around, pulling out a packet of cookies. “Can I have these? They’re my favorite.”

I nodded, giving her a smile. Bradley’s eyes narrowed. “I got those for Nora.”

“She doesn’t mind. Do you, Nora?” Maren asked, though her eyes were fixed on Bradley. She was making a point; I just didn’t know what it was. Was this some sort of pissing contest? I felt an excited sense of anticipation. I could hardly stand it.

Maren popped two chocolate cookies into her mouth, chewing slowly. Bradley’s face flushed. Though I wasn’t sure if it was in anger or something else. His eyes were heated but hard to read. I had always been able to recognize his feelings. I could understand them as though they were my own.

Not this time.

It disturbed me.

“So, Bradley, Nora wants to take me somewhere. She says it’s special.” Maren sounded almost teasing as she continued to eat my cookies. I sat silently between them.

Forgotten.

She watched him.

He watched her.

She licked her lips.

He burned bright.

They were completely and totally fixated on each other. But the reason wasn’t immediately obvious. It wasn’t simply sexual tension or absolute loathing. It was something else. Something more concerning.

Bradley took a deep breath, letting it out noisily. “Nora has class.”

“It’s okay to skip once in a while though. The world won’t stop turning because we miss one lecture.” Maren held the bag of cookies out to Bradley. “Here, have one. They’re delicious.”

Bradley glared at Maren. Seconds turned into minutes and still she kept her hand outstretched, holding the bag of cookies. How long would she stay that way? How long would she wait for him to acknowledge her?

Finally Bradley snatched the bag and promptly gave it to me. But he didn’t look at me.

“They’re Nora’s. I bought them for her.”

Maren didn’t appear upset by Bradley’s rudeness. It was on the tip of my tongue to chastise him for being nasty. I hated how horrible he was to Maren.

But I didn’t say anything. Because Maren again smiled at Bradley. It was secretive and coy. It was playful and discreet.

And it wasn’t for me.

It was for
him.

“Maybe next time you can buy two bags of cookies. That way we can all have some,” Maren suggested, wiping crumbs from her mouth. I watched the way her fingers moved across her lips and felt warmth in my belly.

Desire, thick and heady, unfurled in my darkest places. It throbbed and soared. All because of the way she stared at Bradley.

My Maren.

My Bradley.

Mine.

Bradley didn’t respond to her and instead turned to me. I let out a sigh that felt like relief. He saw me.

Why had it taken him so long?

It shouldn’t have.

He always cared about me most. That would never change. Not now.

Not ever.

“You have class, Nora. We can walk together,” he suggested.

“We’ll all go. And then maybe after class, we can head to this special place Nora was telling me about,” Maren piped up, placing her guitar into the beat up case and closing it.

The idea of the three of us going anywhere together seemed to be a recipe for disaster.

I didn’t like it. Not at all.

“Where were you going to take her?” Bradley asked me, speaking low while Maren packed up her things.

It’s none of your business!

Bradley grabbed my arm. “You weren’t going to take her to the barn, were you?” he demanded, baring his teeth.

“What does it matter?” I grimaced as his grip became tighter.

“Don’t make it so easy for her, Nora! Why do you have to hand it all over to a woman you barely know?” He gave my arm a shake.

“Everything okay?”

Bradley released me and took a step back.

“Fine. Everything’s fine,” I lied. Maren tucked her hair behind her ear and gave each of us a smile. Nothing special. An easy grin for unimportant people.

“So what do you say? Should we all meet up after class?” Maren prodded, oblivious to the tension between my friend and me.

Oblivious or uninterested.

Before I could answer, Bradley started to walk away. Then to my surprise and devastation, Maren followed him.

I gathered my bag and uneaten lunch and walked behind the two of them. Alone.

“You’ll never catch up with them if you keep walking so slow.”

I sighed, feeling a pounding in my temples. “I’m not trying to keep up with anyone.”

She had a habit of showing up at my lowest points. As though she were tuned into my emotional turmoil.

Rosie twisted the ring on her finger. Over and over. “I never thought I’d see the day when Bradley would talk to a female that wasn’t his ugly, ugly Nora.”

I didn’t rise to the bait. I knew she wanted me to. “Are you stalking me?” I asked, annoyed and frustrated and trying not to cry as my two friends continued to walk without me.

Maren was speaking and Bradley looked less than pleased by whatever she was saying. He looked down at her with a frown, his mouth set in a straight line. Didn’t she see how angry she made him? Why did she continue to speak to him when he was so rude?

Maren looked back over her shoulder at me and smiled. I couldn’t help but smile back.

Not smiling wasn’t an option. Not with Maren. She pulled the expression out of me, whether I wanted to or not.

Rosie snapped her fingers in front of my face, getting my attention. I had almost forgotten she was there.

“No, I’m not stalking you. Not that it would be particularly hard. It’s not like you have a life or people to occupy your time.” Rosie’s callous observations weren’t wrong. I despised how right she was. “I have some things to do. And then I saw you and wanted to say hello. Though I guess I could just see you at
home.”
She smirked, enjoying herself.

I wanted to hit her. So badly. I thought about how satisfying it would be to connect my fist with her face.

“It’s not your home,” I reminded her.

Rosie gripped her purse in her hand, knuckles white. “It
is
my home. It always should have been.”

There were a thousand things I wanted to say to that statement, but I kept them all to myself. I didn’t argue with Rosie. There was no point. I had been on the receiving end of her cruelty often enough to know when to back off.

“It’s no wonder that she’s following after him like a lost puppy,” Rosie mused, inclining her head in Bradley and Maren’s direction.

I bit down on my tongue hard enough to split it in two.

Don’t respond. Don’t give her anything.

“I always did like Bradley. He’s so protective. So nice to look at. He’s easy to love, isn’t he?”

I felt bile rise up in the back of my throat. I was going to be sick.

Rosie’s eyes glittered dangerously. “You’re looking a little green around the gills, Nora. Was it something I said?”

Maren was walking back towards me. Towards us. Rosie laughed. I didn’t know what was so funny. Bradley was gone. I hadn’t seen him leave. He hadn’t even said goodbye.

That hurt. More than I cared to admit.

“What’s wrong, Nora?” Maren asked, giving me a strange look.

Rosie snickered beside me, but I wouldn’t introduce them. I wouldn’t let my foster sister into this part of my life.

I looped my arm with Maren’s and pulled her away.

“I’ll see you at home, Nora!” Rosie called out.

“Shut up!” I muttered under my breath.

“What?” Maren asked and I shook my head, trying to smile.

“Where did Bradley go?”

Maren was still looking at me strangely, and I knew that I was acting nutty. She looked over her shoulder back to where Rosie was still standing. I didn’t want to explain my former foster sister to her. I didn’t want to let Rosie’s poison infiltrate any part of what we had.

Thankfully she didn’t ask about Rosie. She allowed me to pull her along, and I reveled in touching her like this.

“He went to class. I don’t think he’s going to meet us later.” Maren sighed. “I wish he would. He seems like he needs to loosen up a little.”

I stopped, planting my feet. My good feelings were erased an instant. All because she dared to mention Bradley.

“You don’t know anything about Bradley,” I snapped. I didn’t like her talking about him. I didn’t want her wondering about him. I didn’t want her to think about him at all.

Maren looked startled. “What’s the problem? I’m just trying to get to know your friend. He’s intense. And I know you care about him. And I care about you. So I want to find out more about him.”

She cared about me?

I relaxed, my shoulders sagging.

I ran my hand up and down her arm and she didn’t pull away. Not this time.

That felt important. Significant.

Maren grabbed my hand and held it tight. “But we can go. Just the two of us. Maybe Bradley could come another time.”

Just the two of us.

“Okay,” I whispered, gently lacing my fingers with hers and running my thumb over her pulse.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

And I knew this was it.

The moment.

The one I had been waiting for.

The Present

Day 8

Your house is on fire

Your children will burn

I
laughed and laughed. I couldn’t stop.

I was delirious with exhaustion and dehydration. I was starving and had forgotten what it felt like to be full.

All I could think about was Maren. And Bradley. And the whispered secrets my mind shielded from me.

And it was all so funny!

I lay against the wall that separated Maren and me. It was as close as I could get to the woman I loved.

“Do you remember that time you snapped the guitar string and it hit me in the face? It sliced my skin right open. It hurt so much, but you wiped up the blood and then we started laughing. And laughing.”

Could Maren hear me?

I knew she could.

So I kept talking. I kept laughing. Just so I didn’t feel so alone.

My eyelids felt heavy and I closed them. Only for a minute. But I didn’t want to sleep. The dreams were more terrifying than being awake.