The Spirit Keeper (8 page)

All I could do was stare at him. What could be more life-altering than
doing the deed
for the first time? Even so, I was really relieved that whatever was going on had nothing to do with the ins and outs of human reproduction. Meg had never had “the talk” with me, for one reason or another, and it wasn’t something I was too broken-up about. Meg had kind of missed the boat on that one, but it’s not like I was some naive little kid. I read books and watched enough TV to know how it all worked.

Another wave of customers swarmed in and David left to deal with them, looking more than a little relieved, I thought. I went back to transplanting, but I kept a close eye on my uncle. When the greenhouse emptied again, he waved a hand at me and told me to get lost. He’d mind the place by himself.

“Are you deliberately trying to get rid of me?”

David smirked. “Go before Meg comes back and sticks you with a to-do list that’s a mile long.”

That was all the motivation I needed. I told him “adios” and took off running, heading for the foot path that would take me to the woods and my private sanctuary.

I pulled my shirt over my head, congratulating myself that I’d had the foresight to wear my bikini under my clothes, and flung it over my shoulder. It was going to be another hot day, and tendrils of hair were already clinging to my face and neck like a sticky spider’s web.

It wasn’t until I had reached the edge of the woods that I remembered the girl from the day before. I slowed to a stop, wondering how smart it was to come here on my own. What if she showed up again? What if she wasn’t a harmless girl at all but some maniac who went around hacking people into small pieces and burying them in the woods?

No, I was just being silly. There was nobody lurking in the woods, least of all a girl who seemed more phantom than real.

At the creek, I nudged off my shoes and shimmied out of my shorts, leaving my clothes in a pile at the water’s edge. Then I waded in a few feet and scooped the water over my arms and chest, acclimating to the cool temperature. My skin was covered in goosebumps and my teeth were chattering, but it felt good. I waded a bit deeper.

“How’s the water?”

I yelped in surprise and stumbled forward, jamming my right knee against a rock jutting out of the water. “Shoot!” I said, scrambling to my feet. The pain that radiated through my entire leg was nothing compared to the embarrassment at being caught completely by surprise.

By Adrian. 

I turned around, tugging inconspicuously at my suit to make sure everything was still in place. “What are you doing here?”

Adrian smiled and gave me the once-over, his eyebrows jutting up in what I hoped was approval. “Sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” Though by his smile I didn’t think he was too sorry.

I splashed my way through the water, determined to make it back to the bank without making a total fool of myself by falling over. I grabbed my shorts, suddenly very self-conscious.

“It’s okay,” I said, pulling them on. “Usually no one comes here except for Priscilla and me. I was surprised, that’s all. How’d you know where I was?”

Adrian kicked off his shoes and pulled his shirt over his head. I tried not to stare. And I
really
tried not to freak out and start hyperventilating when he grabbed my hand and pulled me knee-high into the water with him.

“My shorts!” I screamed out of nervousness. My shorts were the least of my concerns, though.

“Holy . . .
that’s cold!
” Adrian gasped and let go of my hand. Then he turned on me, his dark eyes glinting in the sunlight. A mischievous grin spread across his face.

I backed away out of instinct. I knew that look. It’s the same look that David got on his face whenever he was about to do something really irritating. “Whatever you’re thinking of doing, don’t. I’m warning you,” I said.

Adrian laughed at my warning and splashed a handful of water in my direction, though not enough to drench me. Keeping my eyes on him, I continued to back away.

“Are you going to tell me how you knew I was here?” I said, hoping to distract him.

Adrian lunged, but I easily dodged his outstretched hand. We both laughed. He continued to advance on me, and I splashed at him to get him to back off. He lunged again and missed a second time.

“Tell me, or else.” I sent a cascade of water in his direction, completely soaking his chest.

Adrian stopped then and shrugged, still smiling. “I was on one of the trails and saw you run past. I followed you.”

I waded to the fallen tree bridging the two banks of the creek and hoisted myself up, bringing my legs to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. “I guess my secret place isn’t so secret anymore, huh?”

“I can keep a secret,” Adrian said, showing off his dimples.

I buried my face in my knees so he wouldn’t see me smiling. But when I finally looked up again, I saw that he was staring back at me, a serious expression on his face now. It made the butterflies in my stomach beat their wings against my insides much faster than before.

“What?” I said, even more self-conscious now.

He looked down and shook his head. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

I lowered my legs into the water. “Geez. Not you, too. Just say what’s on your mind.”

He shook his head again, still not meeting my gaze. “Sorry. It’s just that . . . you don’t seem . . . what I mean is . . .”

I held up a hand to stop whatever it was he was trying to spit out. “I get it. You’re comparing me to the picture in your head that Katie so artistically painted for you.” I smiled and decided to be brave and go for it, even though I was so nervous I thought I was going to puke.

“I don’t seem like such a loser, is that it?” I said. I really hoped that’s what he’d been trying to say, otherwise I was about to make an enormous idiot of myself.

He stared at me for a minute before a huge smile broke out across his face. “I don’t think you’re a loser at all.”

“Good,” I said, relieved to have that out of the way. “So, how do you like Hilltop so far?”

He shrugged. “I like it. I’m, uh, I’m glad we came.”

“You know you can sit with Priscilla and me at lunch if you want to. You don’t have to sit by yourself. Or with Katie.”

In fact, I didn’t want him anywhere near that girl. Ever again.

Adrian smiled. “That would be great. Thanks.” Then he looked over his shoulder at the woods beyond. “Well, I should go. I didn’t tell my dad I was leaving. I had to get away for a little while, though. He’s sort of driving me crazy.”

I made my way back to the bank with Adrian and watched as he slid his wet feet into his sneakers. Then he slung his shirt over his muscled shoulder. I had the urge to reach out and touch it but kept my hands clasped firmly behind my back.  

“I’m glad you followed me,” I said, like the total moron that I was.

Adrian laughed. “Me, too. Maybe I’ll see you later?”

“Maybe.”

He gave me a small wave before turning and jogging off down the path. My entire face was burning, and I wasn’t surprised to feel that my knees were shaking. I couldn’t stop grinning as I made my way home, thinking of him the entire way.

When I’d gotten as far as the greenhouse, David flagged me down. I raised my hand to wave and then stopped in my tracks when I saw the look on his face.

“We got busted,” he said. “Meg wants to talk to you. Now.”

I closed my eyes and let out a very long sigh, adding a mental
oh crap
.

I pressed my face against the pane of glass in the back door and peered in, looking for any signs of my aunt. But the coast was clear, as far as I could tell, and so I inched the door open and crept quietly inside.

Despite Meg wanting to talk to me, I really wasn’t in the mood to listen to one of her long-winded lectures about responsible behavior. And anyway, David was the one who had told me I could ditch work in the first place. If anyone should have to face the consequences, it was him.

I shucked off my muddy sneakers and tip-toed across the linoleum floor, stopping only when I came to the entrance to the hallway. I looked left in the direction of Meg’s room, but everything was quiet down that way. Figuring she must be outside in the front garden, I breathed a sigh of relief and took a right, padding at ease down the hallway toward my room.

“Geez, Meg!” I place a hand on my chest to still my suddenly racing heart. “Don’t scare me like that!”

She sat perched on the edge of my bed, eyebrows raised in expectation, and I wondered how long she’d been sitting there exactly like that while waiting for me.  

“We need to talk,” she said. She patted the empty space next to her, inviting me to sit down. I didn’t move.

“If this is about me skipping out on work, David said I could. So if you’re going to be mad at anyone, be mad at him.”

Meg patted the bed again, more insistently this time. “I’m not mad. Well, I’m not mad at
you
. You’d think by the time a man reaches the age of twenty-five, he’d be able to follow a few simple directions.”

She waved a hand and let her voice trail off, surprising me by not saying anything more about the subject. But I knew by the faraway look in Meg’s eyes and firmly set lips that whatever was on her mind had little, if anything, to do with David. Something else was bothering her. The air between us felt different somehow, charged with a sort of electric tension, and whatever was going on was starting to make me feel very uneasy.

I had yet to sit down, and Meg finally got up and went to the window. She parted the sheer yellow curtains and lifted the wood sash as high as it would go. A sultry breeze wafted in, rustling the papers tacked to the bulletin board on the opposite wall and tickling the fine hairs on my arms.

“It’s stuffy in here,” she said, wiping a hand across her damp forehead.

I took a deep breath in through my nose to fortify my waning patience. It was obvious that Meg was stalling, and yet it was not really like her. “Didn’t you say there’s something we need to talk about?” I reminded her.

“Yes,” Meg said, seemingly distracted by something she saw outside. She said nothing more.

I gritted my teeth and took another deep breath. If I wasn’t in trouble, and Meg wasn’t here to talk to me about boys and sex, then what? Was it drugs? A lot of kids at my school experimented with different ways to get high, but I had no plans or desire to get caught up in any of that mess. I was an A student; not an idiot.

Usually Meg was quick to deny that
anything
was wrong, even when I knew something really was, just to keep me from worrying. But she turned to face me then, an odd expression on her face. She held the fabric of her shorts clenched tightly in each hand, and her mouth opened and closed repeatedly. She seemed torn, like she desperately needed to say something but didn’t know how, or even where, to begin. My stomach somersaulted.

“Your mother was a very . . .
impressionable
young girl,” she finally said. “And certain people took advantage of that.”

Of all the things I thought Meg might want to talk to me about, my dead mother wasn’t one of them. We rarely discussed her at all, in fact. It wasn’t because we were heartless or uncaring or didn’t want to remember her; it was because the memory of losing both her and my grandparents was still too raw, even after six years. Dredging up the past wasn’t something any of us did willingly.

Meg massaged tiny circles in her temples, as though warding off the beginning of a headache. “Maybe it was wrong for us to keep this from you for so long, especially after Mama and Papa and Melody died, but all we really wanted was to forget and live in peace. All we wanted was a fresh start. All we wanted was to protect
you
.”