The Watchers (26 page)

“What if I told you I did have one on the
inside of my wrist that no one ever notices?” he asked as he
slammed his door shut.

“I wouldn’t believe you.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “It would make you too
perfect.”

He smiled. “I would need a motorcycle as well
right? Black and silver?”

“Hm….” I looked at him and felt the tension
boiling up between us again. I hadn’t thought it possible to find
him cuter, but I did. “A motorcycle wouldn’t hurt. But you’d still
need the guitar.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said seriously,
pushing a button on his visor. A black gate across the dirt road
silently swung open at his touch.

“I was just kidding,” I laughed.

“You’d be surprised how much of that really
is me, though.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t.”

We were silent for a moment as I worked hard
to control the thoughts I was having about him. There were more
than a few.

“Alex is going to call you when you get
home,” he said into the silence.

“What about?”

“She heard about you. One of the hunters we
met up with is a friend of her father. They mentioned you were the
one who found the Ranger. You’re going to get an earful, but you’ll
handle it gracefully.” His voice was certain.

“You mean you didn’t tell them it was you?” I
asked.

I figured he had lied and told them he had
saved the woman and had found me wandering around, or that we had
been together…or anything but the truth.

“Well, no. You saved her life. I wouldn’t
take that from you in a million years. I still remember the first
person I saved. That never fades.”

I put my head against the head rest and
closed my eyes. “I understand that. It’s just that tomorrow is
going to be miserable.”

“Why?”

“I’ll have to hear all of the kids thinking
about it, wondering how I found her, and then there will be the
stares, and the questions, and the people who will be suspicious,
because I was supposed to be recuperating from getting blown up
today, and it’ll just be miserable...”

“I didn’t know I was doing all that,” he said
trying not to laugh. “I promise you won’t hear anything when I’m
around at least. Doesn’t that sort of make up for it?”

I’d forgotten about that. “Speaking of
that…Why can’t I hear when you’re around?”

“I sort of do it on purpose.” He saw my
expression and hurried to explain. “I know how hard it is when the
gift first develops. It can be overwhelming. When I saw you that
night in town I thought I recognized what you were going through. I
didn’t know for sure, but whenever I was around you, I kept up
the…protection, thinking it couldn’t hurt. Just in case.”

I wacked him on the arm, and the car swerved
across the dark road. “Hey!” he said trying to exaggerate the hurt
to his arm.

“Why can’t you just teach me how to do that
for myself! Then I wouldn’t need you to do it for me!”

“I didn’t know for sure you could read
thoughts until today.”

“Oh.”

He pulled to a stop, and I blinked in
surprise. I looked at my sprawling house, which had every single
light on except for the ones in my attic. “How’d that happen?” I
asked.

“Time flies by when you’re having fun.” He
stared out at the forest, his eyes thoughtful.

“Daniel?”

“Yes, Clare?” His voice was a silky purr, and
my heart started thumping wildly.

“I’m sorry for making you leave yesterday,” I
said. “For acting weird after the vision.”

“I can’t remember a time when you didn’t act
weird,” he joked. “You were overwhelmed. I get it,” he tacked on.
He opened his door and got out. I followed him slowly, not eager to
end our time together. We walked across the lawn in silence, our
body language a strange mixture of calm and tension. Was he as
reluctant to leave as I was to let him? He stopped at the stairs
and faced me. “I respect you helping Susan, but please don’t go
into the woods again,” he begged.

“I won’t,” I promised.

“Right…”

There was an awkward pause, the most awkward
since we’d been together. What was he thinking, and why were his
eyes so hard to read all of a sudden? I couldn’t stand the tension
– I had to act. I let the screen-door slam back and stepped down
the two stairs separating us. I grabbed the front of his jacket and
kissed him. His surprise didn’t last long. He wrapped his arms
around my waist and kissed me back. I didn’t see any visions or
feel a ‘joining’ of emotions. I simply felt his lips on mine and
his electric touch against my skin.

“You’re sort of pushy,” he teased, his lips
still touching mine.

“Yep.”

He lightly traced the side of my face with
the tips of his fingers, his face still very close.
“Goodnight.”

“Night.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Normally, you say something smart when I say goodbye.”

“I’m saving up my smart replies for when I
can think straight,” I told him.

He laughed and kissed me again, a brief
goodbye kiss. My happiness faded. “Be careful with whatever you’re
doing tonight. But don’t let them get Susan. I couldn’t bear the
thought of them killing her after she was strong enough to
survive…”

He reached out and touched my necklace then
moved his fingers along my collar bone like he was thinking of the
right thing to say. “Trust me.”

I nodded, and opened the screen door
slightly. “I do.”

His voice stopped me before I could go
inside. “Clare?”

“Yeah?”

“You make my jacket look hot.”

I rolled my eyes, secretly pleased. He
grinned, knowing how I liked the compliment then left. He walked
back to his Audi, his hands tucked in his pockets. I waited at the
screen-door for him to leave, wishing I could see him in the
dark-tinted car. I waved when he drove off, his red tail lights the
only light on the dark street. Not knowing if he had waved back, I
went inside. I shut and locked the door after me, checking the
deadbolt twice to be sure.

Ellen was sitting on the couch to my left,
bundled up in her favorite afghan. Her shoulders were hunched
forward as she watched the television. I smiled, realizing why the
house was lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Hi,” I said walking into the living
room.

“Ahhh!!!” She jumped and slid off the couch
in shock, looking absolutely, and wonderfully, ridiculous. I
laughed and went over to help her up.

“You’re a spazz.” I looked at the TV “Which
one is it? The guy that never dies or the guy that attacks you in
your sleep?”

“Neither of them dies, that’s why there are
so many sequels, but it’s Jason this time.” She put a hand over her
heart and looked at me sheepishly. “What are you doing home so
early?”

“Are you complaining that I’m early and I
follow your curfews, or are you upset I scared you?”

She stuck her tongue out. “I just thought you
would want to make the most of your time with your new
boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, Mom.”

“If you say so, sweetie.” She smirked. “Nice
jacket. A friendly gesture I take it?”

I kissed her on the cheek, not able to hide
my good mood any longer. “I love you,” I told her, “even if you are
a pain in the…”

The phone rang, echoing through the house
with a sharp, startling, noise. Her wide eyes returned to the
television to watch as someone else died in a morbidly creative
way. “Get that will you, sweetie?” she asked.

“Yeah. It’s probably Alex. I’m expecting her
call.”

I ran to the kitchen and picked the phone up.
“Hello?”

“If you ever do that to me again, I will
de-friend you quicker than you can say southern-fried-chicken, do
you understand me?” The words sounded as if they were being forced
through clenched teeth.

“Hi, Alex.”

“You had no right to go wandering off into
the forest like that. And you certainly had no right including me
in your ridiculous plan. Are you aware of what’s been happening to
people? Did you know the woman you found has a broken arm, internal
bleeding, a concussion, and was in the beginning stages of
hypothermia? Are you aware that could have been you? What do you
know about hiking? Did you even go prepared? I bet you were wearing
that stupid jacket of yours. And those shoes! Do you have any idea
of how worried I’ve been? You didn’t even tell me what you were
planning! I can’t believe you! Of all the stupid things!”

I smiled into the phone as she continued to
shriek, knowing she was this mad because she cared about me, and I
had worried her. As she spoke, I fixed a sandwich, my hunger
increasing now that I was home. When she finally stopped and
demanded an explanation, I gave her mine, not sharing everything,
but explaining my desire to do some good, knowing she would forgive
me.

As I sat down at the table with my food, my
lips flying over my explanation, I felt an amazing surge of warmth.
I had thought that moving here would be hell. I had thought that
nothing could compare to the places I had lived in and loved, but
this place had somehow managed to creep up and surprise me. I’d
never been happier.

Happy, except for the fact that I was perched
on the edge of a coming storm.

Chapter 13

“Blue?”

“Nope.” I smirked over my bow and arrow. We
were in gym again. We were supposed to be shooting arrows at
innocent targets. Not much of that was happening.

“Yellow?”

“Double nope.”

“Come on! Tell me.” Daniel demanded, trying
out his charm smile.

“I’m looking for a word and that word
is….nope.”

He looked down the line of students, his
eyebrows creased. “You’re not going to make this easy at all?”

“If I made it easy, you wouldn’t enjoy the
answer half as much.”

“What if I didn’t tell you my favorite
color?”

I shrugged. “I’m more interested in your
favorite book.”

“That’s not fair,” he said, irritated.

He shot an arrow with more force than
necessary. It dug into the target deeper than it should have but I
was the only one who noticed.

“That’s my line,” I said knocking another
arrow and releasing it.

“Truce?” he asked, ignoring his bow and arrow
all together as he turned to me.

“Define ‘truce.’”

“If I tell you my favorite book, I get to
give you a kiss in front of everyone, and you have to tell me your
favorite color.” His eyes were playful.

“That proposition seems weighted heavily in
your favor; therefore, I must decline,” I replied.

He had been itching to kiss me in front of
everyone since I’d arrived this morning, which I couldn’t
understand. I’d never had a guy this serious about showing the
world we were together.

“You mean me kissing you in front of everyone
would be something only I would enjoy?” he asked, still
playful.

I hesitated. “I wouldn’t mind the kissing
part…”

“But you don’t want everyone to see.” He
seemed hurt by the thought.

“Loner, Punk chick, who loves not to be the
center of attention…does that sound like someone who would enjoy
having people stare at me while I kiss the most gorgeous guy in
school?”

“No. But I can see,” he tapped his temple
with one long finger, “that if I kiss you in front of all these
good people, not only will we be whistled at, and I will personally
enjoy it, but Mark, who is, as we speak, plotting ways of getting
you away from me so that he can ask you out, will in turn ask
Jennifer, because he thinks it will make you jealous.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about
this whole kissing in front of people thing, and I’ve decided it’s
not such a bad idea.” I threw my bow to the ground.

He stepped closer to me, peeking through his
lashes in that way he knew was seductively beautiful. “Oh,
yeah?”

“And not just because it will get Mark away
from me,” I said, mimicking his expression. “I think I’d like to
let all these girls know that you are officially off the market.”
It came out fiercer than I’d intended.

He stepped even closer and wrapped his hands
around my hips drawing me to him. “We’re going to get detention for
this,” he warned.

“Life’s tough.”

He pressed his body into mine forcefully and
kissed me in a way that, if I hadn’t known we were surrounded by
people, would have made me think we were alone in a dimly lit
place. I caved in to the kiss, not caring about people seeing, more
concerned with the way he felt. A chorus of whistles rang out from
Daniel’s friends. The girls cried out in disappointed shock. He
released me slowly.

“Green. That’s my favorite color,” I
said.

“East of Eden. That’s my favorite book.”

Coach blew his ridiculous orange whistle.
“Detention! Adams, you know we don’t allow kissing at school!”

“Sorry, Coach. I, um, forgot.”

I heard giggles and more whistles. Looking
down the line, I saw that every single person was staring at us
with their mouths hanging open. I heard their thoughts – Daniel
wasn’t putting up the shield as requested. Most of them weren’t
flattering. But, at least they weren’t about the pool incident.

How did she get him!?

There is no freaking way!

I knew she was freaky.

Slut

I can’t wait to tell everyone about this!

Figures!

How did she get the hottest guy in
school?!

I thought he didn’t date!?

Damn him! And I was going to ask her out
today. I didn’t think he was the type to go for a girl just because
she’s loose, but I guess we all fall prey to it. I don’t know
whether to congratulate him or hate him. I guess I can’t hate him.
We had the same idea. At least, I know he’ll get some.

I placed my hand on Daniel’s arm, noticing
his face. Impressions of what he wanted to do to Mark floated
through my head at the touch, and for a moment, I felt overwhelmed
by his anger. His fists clenched eagerly as an image of Mark lying
dead on the field floated up. His eyes flashed black, and I heard
the bow he had picked back up start to crunch.