What I've Done (16 page)

“You. I shoulda known you were lyin’ to me that day when I seen you at the surf shop.”

Eli’s expression is borderline murderous when he looks back at Johnny. “It’s time for you to move on.”

Johnny snorts. “What you and your little girlfriend here gonna do to me?”

“Nothing,” Eli answers. “But there is a police officer behind me that is very interested to know who the new drug dealer in the area is that keeps selling to minors.”

Johnny peers around us, his face scrunching up like he had smelled something rotten when he discovers Eli is not bluffing. I look back also to see where a uniformed female officer is walking through the park in the distance.

When I turn back to Johnny, he is pointing a crooked, chubby finger at me. “You will give me my money back. Maybe next time your little boyfriend here won’t be around to protect you if I don’t get it.”

“She doesn’t have your money,” Eli says.

Johnny laughs and gives me one final dark look before walking away in the opposite direction of the officer with a very brisk speed. Once he is safely out of distance I exhale deeply and my tears weld up.

Eli reaches out to comfort me for what feels like the hundredth time by now. “It’s okay, Lily.”

“No, it’s not!” I yell, stepping away from him. “I don’t know how he found me, but he did and he can probably find Rose just as easily. I have to go find her. What if he knows where she is going to school and tries to hurt her? Now that he knows who you are, you’re probably in just as much danger as we are.”

When he makes no attempt to contradict me, I turn to walk away. I need to get to my sister and run away from here. We need to go somewhere deep into hiding.

I have only taken two steps when Eli is standing directly in front of me again.

“How did you do that?” I gasp.

His expression grows hard, refusing to give up on me. “I know what you’re thinking, Lily. But you can’t leave now.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking? You know pretty much everything there is to know about me but I know nothing about you! Do you know how frustrating that is?”

His expression is still hard but he also seems somewhat defeated. “I don’t tell you anything about myself because I don’t want to have to lie to you, Lily. The truth is I am not some kid in high school and I don’t have any family. I was sent to protect you and I am able to do unusual things that would blow your mind. But I’m not sure you’re ready to hear all of that just yet.”

I laugh incredulously. “What do you mean you were sent here? And blow my mind as in what, exactly? Are you saying you’re some kind of wizard?”

He gives his sexiest of smiles in response and his eyes sparkle with mischief in the sunlight. “Not quite. But I promise to tell you everything you want to know on your birthday.”

“Why on my birthday?” I ask.

His answer does nothing to belittle my confusion. Whatever he thinks he is telling me isn’t coming across as clearly as he must have imagined. I had mentioned to him yesterday that I would be turning eighteen shortly, but I can’t imagine what significance my birthday has in everything that is happening.

He shakes his head and intertwines his fingers with mine. “I’ll explain it all to you later. You’ll just have to trust me, Lily.”

I sigh and look down at our hands that fit so well together. “Why is trusting you as easy as breathing?”

He laughs and pulls me close to kiss the top of my head. There are already so many unanswered questions about Eli—where he lives, why he is always there when I need him and why doesn’t he have a family, but I the mystery surrounding him will continue for now. Whatever big secret he has to reveal will have to wait.

* * *

The next day is very uneventful, although I keep a paranoid eye out for Johnny to be lurking somewhere all day long and nearly jump out of my skin every time there is a loud noise or someone surprises me in some other way. Gabe has not even come to school and with the usual crazy activity going on it proves to be a very nerve wracking day.

After school I am introduced by Kalia to another young female employee of hers named “Billie.” Billie is fair skinned with striking green eyes and straight black hair. She doesn’t have much to say as we work through the afternoon, although she is quite friendly. The store itself is quiet with only a few young teenage boys coming in to flirt with Kalia.

Well before the sun sets Kalia decides to let me leave early and gives me my wages in the form of a check. I have to suppress an excited squeal when holding the paper in my hand as I have never been given money for working a day in my life. Once out of the shop I glance down at the amount and feel shocked by how generous Kalia has been in paying me. Tears of pride and joy fill my eyes.

Minutes later, Eli meets me on the beach with our new identifications in his hand. We sit together in the sand with our bodies pressed up against each other. Goose bumps erupt across my leg each time his warm skin moves against it.

My insides are shaking with the thoughts that have been weighing on my mind ever since the terrifying run in with Johnny. It is first nature to want to run when things are not going well, having learned the behavior from my mother. I inhale deeply, hoping to calm myself.

It has only been a few days since Eli and I met in that shady alley, but I know I need him and the comfort of knowing he is close. There were a few moments at school today when I had nearly hyperventilated at the thought of Eli not being beside me, especially without Gabe around. Even if Gabe had been in school, he still doesn’t know about the impending danger I am facing from my mother’s old drug dealer.

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep up this daily routine of not seeing you all day,” I tell Eli. “I don’t feel safe when you’re not around.”

He lifts his shoulder briefly. “I’m around more than you think. I came in time to help you out with Johnny today, didn’t I?”

Visions of Eli lurking outside the school and near Svetlana’s house begin to fill my head, but rather than freaking me out, they are actually comforting. However, if he really is watching over me, why hasn’t he asked about Gabe by now? If I’m reading his signals correctly, he feels something more than friendship for me just as I do for him. I would think he would be jealous by this other guy I have been spending time with. Maybe it means that he trusts me inexplicably, the way I trust him. Or maybe he had just happened to start watching over me after Gabe and I began our little spat. How long
has
he been watching over me?

We watch the rolling waves filled with active surfers as each of us are absorbed in our own thoughts. Every time Eli runs his thumb along my knee, it feels as if a lit match is in its place. It drives me crazy enough to the point I have to place my hand over his to stop the torture.

“So you still haven’t told me anything about yourself. Are you in high school, or what?”

I guess him to be close to my age, but I have no way of knowing for sure since the subject has never come up. There are two solid facts I know about him—one being his name and the other being that he appreciates good music. But I also know he would do anything to keep me safe and that I am falling for him more and more with each day that passes.

“Would it make you feel better if I was in school with you?” he asks.

 “Of course,” I answer in a soft voice.

It is almost embarrassing to admit out loud that I have come to rely on someone other than myself to keep me safe. I had managed to go years without anyone there to help with Rose and did a good job at keeping our life a secret from anyone that knew me until that horrible night of the semi-formal dance.

Eli grumbles to himself and hangs his head briefly, a small smirk still planted on his lips. “You really would ask me to endure the torture of going through high school for you?”

I bite my lip for a moment. “It’s only for a few months, but I obviously don’t expect you to do it if you’ve already graduated.” When it dawns on me what he is saying, I roll my eyes up to the sky. “Wait. Have you graduated already?”

“I would do anything for you,” he answers cryptically with a little shrug.

As we sit together in the sand, I think of all the things I don’t know about him and all the questions he has yet to answer. But I trust that he means it when he says he will keep me and my little sister safe.

No matter what secret he is keeping from me, I know one thing is for sure—I am falling hard and fast for this mysterious stranger that has found his way into my life.

CHAPTER 8

At school the next day I can’t stop wondering where Eli is. I know he is out there somewhere, watching over me as promised. Once again Gabe is nowhere to be seen, either. I walk into my fifth period class feeling terribly alone just as my cell phone vibrates in my pocket. When I slip it out I find a text from Eli:

How goes it?

Someone passing buy bumps into me and I turn to see a bunch of male classmates laugh maniacally. Ignoring them, I find an empty desk where I drop my notebook to peck out a reply to Eli:

Awesome. Where R U?

I tap my feet against the desk, waiting for him to respond. Katie, a small girl with straight black hair and dark glasses that has been kind to me for the most part this last week smiles as she sits down beside me. She is one of the very few people that have shown me any kind of compassion since my arrival in this school.

“Hey, Katie,” I say to her in greeting. My phone vibrates again:

What? U didn’t believe me when I said I would go 2 school 4 U?

I jerk my head up when I feel the presence of someone standing in front of my desk. Eli could be wearing ratty old clothes for all I care but today he is dressed in a brilliant blue t-shirt with a surfing logo on it that brings out the enchanting blue color of his eyes, making them appear even more brilliant. He looks clean and fresh, ready to take on whatever it is the day will bring and my heart does the usual summersaults in celebration of seeing him. I am so thrilled I have to remind myself not to shout.

“You’re here,” I say, trying to ignore the ball of excitement rising in my stomach.

He slips into the empty seat on the other side of me and slides it so our desks are nearly touching. “I said I’d do anything for you, didn’t I?”

“Thank you,” I say.

The buzzer announces the start of class. A big, burly man with a thick beard dressed in a loose fitting sweater stands in front of the class, looking down at a book through glasses from a few decades ago and makes no effort to be heard above the boisterous students. Apparently we have a substitute, but he makes no introduction of himself.

I strain to listen to the teacher as class drags on, but don’t speak to Eli again for the rest of the hour. It isn’t necessary for me to hear his voice to feel comforted—the warmth of him bounces on to me feeling every bit as wonderful.

Katie peers over me more than once during class to sneak a peak of Eli. It is almost amusing when I catch half of my other female classmates doing the same. I look over at him once or twice as well to find each time he is staring out the windows. He could be watching for Johnny, or he could just be bored out of his mind.

When the buzzer ends class we are lost in the swarm of kids scurrying from the room. Eli pulls me from the sea of traffic in the hallway, finding a closed doorway to stand in.

“I couldn’t convince the school to let me into all the same classes, but I’ll be around on campus all day,” he tells me.

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” I say with a giggle. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

He flashes me his trademark smile that brings tingling to feet. “All I care is that you are happy and feel safe.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me
now
the big secret you have been hiding?” I ask hopefully.

He laughs quite loudly at this and reaches in to kiss the side of my head. “I’ll catch up with you later.” With that, he is gone—from my sight, anyway.

* * *

The next few weeks I spend every free moment Svetlana will allow outside of school and work with Eli. He never comes to visit me while I am working but we often hang out together on the beach afterwards. Occasionally I see Gabe at school or visiting Kalia at the shop but he is still not overly friendly toward me and he tends to disappear for days on end. The only way I have to reach him is by phone, but he won’t answer when I call.

Johnny has not made another appearance since the day in the park, but I still keep watch for him, expecting him to appear at any moment. My nerves are practically fried because of my fear of it.

Spring comes and brings with it the famed California weather I had been expecting from the start. Kalia gives me a few days off during spring break and I almost get to spend one of those entire days with Eli, completely alone. We rent body surfing boards and spend the afternoon playing in the water. When we are together I feel more like myself than ever. When I’m with him I am able to forget all my worries and relax, even laugh a little more.

After I feel like I may have swallowed half of the ocean with my failed attempts at body surfing, we call it quits and dry ourselves off before grabbing burgers and fries for supper on the pier. We sit at a booth overlooking the water with our arms touching.

Eli grins at me as he eats, making me feel like I will go insane from the brilliance of it. “Your birthday is coming up.”

I stop chewing and eye him with anticipation. He had promised he would tell me everything on my birthday. Whatever he has to tell me seems like it will be mind-shattering and I have been patiently waiting for the day to arrive. I sit up eagerly on the stool, wondering if maybe he has decided to tell me early.

“We need to plan how you want to celebrate,” he says.

I let my shoulders fall. That was not where I was hoping this conversation was heading. Taking another sip of my malt, I begin to shake my head. “I don’t want you making a big fuss over it. Seriously.”