The Spirit Keeper (16 page)

“Nothing.” Her shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. “He just walked away apparently.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes until I finally said, “Why don’t we go over there now, just you and me? We won’t leave until we find out exactly why they’re here and what this ‘personal business’ of Victor’s is. We’ll demand answers. We can even take him down if it comes to that. Two against one.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Meg said, even though a smile touched the corners of her mouth.  

“Well excuse me, but do you have a better idea?”

I wanted Meg to tell me that everything would be okay, that she and David had everything under control and not to worry about any of it. Instead she patted my leg and said, “Close out the register. Dinner will be ready in a little while.” Then she got up and walked away.

As I stood behind the register counting the day’s sales, I thought back to what Adrian had said about being on my side. I had assumed that he meant he was on my side against Katie. In my opinion, anyone who stood with me to fight the evils of my number-one nemesis had to be good, right? But then it occurred to me that maybe he’d been talking about something much bigger than that. What if he meant he was on my side, taking a stand against his family and the tribe?

I sat down heavily on the stool, a wad of one-dollar bills in my hand and an assortment of coins on the table in front of me. God, I was so confused. I knew what I had to do, though. There was only one thing to do now: confront Adrian and get the answers that I needed, once and for all.

My eyes were glued to Adrian as Priscilla and I walked into the cafeteria the next day.

I had lingered until the last possible moment on the sidewalk that morning, hoping to snag a ride to school and confront him during the drive, but there had been no sign of him. So I had finally left, afraid of being late to school. Now there he was, no more than thirty feet away.

Before I had a chance to make up my mind about whether I wanted to talk to him now or later, Priscilla began waving her hand in the air and shouting his name. He looked up from the book in his lap and waved back, giving us one of his patented smiles. And when his eyes found mine, I didn’t think it was my imagination that his smile got a little bit bigger, his face a little bit brighter, or that my heart started to beat a little bit faster. Getting answers was maybe going to be harder than I thought if I couldn’t get my feelings under control.

Priscilla nudged me. “I’ll grab some lunch for you. Go talk to him. Find out what he was doing with Katie yesterday.”

Adrian closed his book and was already getting up when Katie and the Double Ds scooted in front of him, blocking my view and breaking our connection. “Never mind,” I said, irritated at once. “I’ll talk to him later.”

The sky was gray and misty, which meant we were trapped inside for the duration of lunch. The tables closest to the windows were a hot commodity; everyone wanted to sit there. But by the time we made it through the line, every one of them was occupied. Our only choices were a few open tables near the buffet, which no one liked because they always got bumped, or a solitary table in the middle of the room that was inexplicably vacant. I looked around for Adrian, but he was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Katie or the Double Ds.

“Oh, now this is just lovely,” Priscilla said.   

I had followed Priscilla to the lone table in the middle of the room in a zombie-like trance, preoccupied with thoughts of where Adrian had run off to, and if Katie and the Double Ds were with him.

“What’s lovely?”

“Someone spilled soda all over the table. I guess that explains why no one is sitting here.”

She was right. Half the table top was covered in a sticky mess of congealed brown syrup.

“Then let’s go back over there,” I said, tilting my head toward one of the many vacant tables near the buffet.

“No way. I would rather
not
have someone spill their slop down my back. I think there’s a clean spot right here.”

Priscilla and I set our trays in the approximate two feet of clean space and pulled out our chairs. But no sooner had we sat down when trouble showed up.

“I don’t get it,” Devon said. I didn’t have to turn around to know that Danielle and Katie were there, too, and I braced myself to meet the day’s harassment quota.

“What don’t you get?” said Danielle with mock concern.

“I don’t get how a guy as hot as Adrian could be interested in some pathetic loser like Sarah,” Devon said. “She dresses like she buys her clothes off the racks at Goodwill, and she’s not even pretty. Her hair is disgustingly long, and it just hangs there all limp and gross.”

 “You’re right,” Danielle said. “She could at least wear it in braids or something. I mean, she
is
an Indian. Isn’t that, like, what they do? She could even stick a few feathers in it to make it look better.”

My cheeks blazed with a burning fire, but I managed to keep quiet, even if I couldn’t completely ignore their insults.

“The only reason why guys give girls like her the time of day,” Katie said in a very teacher-like voice, as though trying to educate Danielle and Devon on the finer points of guy logic, “is because they know how desperate they are. They know girls like Sarah will do
anything
for a little attention. Of course, what does that say about Adrian? He obviously has very low standards and completely no taste at all.”

Their laughter rang in my ears. I had never given them the satisfaction of seeing me cry, and I refused to do it today.

It was one thing for them to constantly pick on me; I expected it. But for Katie to stand there and imply that
I
was the one who was desperate . . . that
I
was the one who had to resort to cheap tricks just to get some guy to notice me . . . after she’d thrown herself at Adrian . . .
What was her deal?

Something in me snapped. I’d stood by and stayed silent for too many years, not even telling Meg and David the extent of the bullying. But I wouldn’t stay silent any longer. This was it. This was the moment I was going to stand up for myself.

I scooted my chair away from the table and stood slowly as I turned to face them.

“You’re the one to talk, Katie.” My voice sounded too quiet and paper-thin to my ears. I felt like I was standing outside my own body watching one of the most important scenes of my life play out before me. My skin felt hot, and my head felt strangely light.

Katie smirked and cupped her hand around her ear. “What did you say, Little Indian Girl?”

I looked around. It was common knowledge that I was Katie’s favorite target, and we had managed to grab the attention of those sitting closest to us. The sudden hushing of voices as word about what was happening spread outward like a shockwave. The cafeteria quieted within moments, and the silence was almost deafening. People clamored for better looks, and somewhere in the distance I heard one of the lunch ladies wonder out loud what was going on.

I cleared my throat and made a point of raising my voice and enunciating each word so no one would misunderstand. “You’re. The One. To Talk.”

Katie wasn’t used to being stood up to, but if there was one thing I knew she thrived on, it was an audience. There was no way she was going to walk away from this.

Her eyes narrowed, and the corner of her mouth twisted into a smirk. “And what do you mean by that?”

I took a deep breath and raised my voice even louder. “You’re the one who was practically giving Adrian a lap dance at lunch the other day, even though he clearly wasn’t into it. But it doesn’t matter,” I said, putting a hand on my hip. “
Dumb and easy
isn’t really his type.”

Everyone around us began giggling and making various cat noises. Katie’s normally milky-white complexion flushed an angry red as the meaning of my words settled. She seethed through her teeth, her entire body vibrating with rage.

“Careful, Katie,” I said. “That pimple on your forehead is in danger of bursting.”

Katie’s eyes blazed and her lip curled into an ugly snarl. “You nasty little . . !” 

She arched her arm, and there was a fraction of a second between the moment I realized Katie was going to hit me and when the slap actually happened. I took the hit full force on my left cheek, and even though I stumbled back, I didn’t give any hint that it had hurt.

The room went instantly quiet. I half expected everyone to start chanting for a fight, but there was nothing but silence as they waited to see if I would hit her back. It took everything I had not to cry out or put my hand to my face. Katie had packed a lot of wallop behind that slap, and it stung like being poked with a hundred needles at once. But I just stood there and stared at Katie, not moving at all. Priscilla had jumped up, ready to defend me, but I held out my hand and motioned for her to stay put.

“You’re a nobody, Sarah Redbird!” Katie yelled. “You’re a loser and an ugly freak! No one even likes you!”

Her voice echoed off the walls of the now-silent cafeteria. She opened her mouth to say something more but then shut it, her eyes focusing on something behind me.

Before I could turn around to see what had finally shut her up, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I tensed, expecting it to be a teacher, knowing for sure I’d just earned another detention. But it wasn’t a teacher. It was Adrian. I closed my eyes and sighed with relief, a voice in my head singing a chorus of hallelujah’s that he had showed up.

“I thought I told you to leave her alone.” Adrian’s voice was low and steady, though I felt the tremor of anger through his quivering fingers still on my shoulder.

“And what if I don’t?” said Katie. “There’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop me.”

Instead of answering her challenge, Adrian raised his voice and said, “If there was ever any question about the type of person you are, I think you’ve made it perfectly clear.”

Katie considered his remark and then lifted her chin. “Whatever. You two deserve each other.”  

Then, nose in the air, she stalked off toward the cafeteria exit with Devon and Danielle following on her heels. Unfortunately for them, they were intercepted by the principal. She grabbed Katie by the arm and not-so-gently escorted her down the hall in the direction of her office.

The moment they were out of sight, the cafeteria erupted in the jumbled noise of excited voices talking at once. I closed my eyes in relief and did my best to tune it out.

“Are you okay?” Adrian said.

“You should have let me at her,” said Priscilla.

“I’m fine,” I said, probing my cheek with my fingers and working my tender jaw. The truth was I felt weird and tingly all over. I sat down quickly and looked up at Adrian. “Did you really tell her to leave me alone?”

Adrian shrugged. “That’s what I was trying to tell you the other day before your uncle hauled me off.”

“I wish you hadn’t,” I said. “I appreciate the chivalrous gesture, but I don’t need anyone fighting my battles for me.”

Adrian knelt down beside me and brought his hand to my face. He rubbed his thumb across my wounded cheek, the touch of it leaving a small trail of fire in its wake. “I know you don’t, but I don’t like seeing my friends getting hurt.”

The bell rang and Adrian stood up.

“So we’re friends then?” I asked.

Adrian’s brows pulled together and he gave me a strange look. “Of course we are. Didn’t you know that already?” He smiled then, his cheeks dimpling. “Let me give you a ride home today.”

I looked at Priscilla, who was nodding her head enthusiastically and giving me a don’t-be-crazy look. I wanted to say yes, but I knew that David and Meg would flip if they found out. How many times within the last three days had they warned me to stay away from him? Too many times to count, that’s for sure. But the rain had started to pick up, and I’d forgotten my umbrella at home. I didn’t exactly relish the idea of getting soaked while walking home.