Discoveries

by K Swanson

  Grumbling something about damned cats, he moved to the desk on the other side of the room, leaning against it.

  Jayden scowled when the man seemed to be staring straight at him, muttering, “What’s your problem, old man?”

  Lex stood, his chair scraping against the hardwood as it scooted backward. Demon let out a soft ‘mrowr’ and took off as thunder boomed overhead, making me jump.

  The man leaning against the desk frowned and looked up, as if he could see the sky from where he stood, oblivious to the tension filling the room. “I didn’t see any storm warnings on the news this morning.”

  “Want to say that again?” Lex’s voice was low, his fists clenched at his sides and his jaw tight as he glared at Jayden. That was the most expression I’d ever seen him exhibit. It was a little scary.

  Jayden grimaced, running his fingers through his dark hair. “Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean that.” He blinked slowly, as if once he closed his eyes, he had trouble opening them again.

  Anger drained from Lex, his shoulders relaxing as he slid his hands into his back pockets and shifted his weight.

  Lex started to say something, but Nick jumped in instead. “Haylie, Jayden, this is our grandpa. Gramps, this is Haylie and Jayden.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, sir,” I murmured, not really sure what else to say. The tension in the room seemed explosive, and I didn’t want to feed into it.

  His grin widened. “None of that now. You can call me Joe. Or Gramps, like the boys do.”

  Biting my lip, I nodded. It seemed disrespectful to call an elderly man by his first name. Perhaps it was because calling an older person anything except sir or ma’am would have given me time in the panic room at the institute. With younger adults, like Min and Phil, it seemed to be okay, but the older ones liked to cling to signs of respect like that.

  Joe glanced at his watch, then back at us. “So who wants to make dinner?”

  From the way he smirked as he pushed away from the desk he’d been leaning against, I could tell he was joking.

  Lex set down his pen. “I can. Haylie will help.”

  I would? I mean, I didn’t mind helping… but I really had no idea how to cook. Wouldn’t CJ have been the more logical choice? Vaguely, I remembered him saying he was taking some sort of culinary class.

  Joe blinked once. “Really?” His voice sounded uncertain as he raised a brow.

  Lex nodded, but from his grandfather’s reaction, I wondered if Lex knew how to cook. It would be just my luck to end up poisoning everyone with our lack of skill.

  Narrowing his eyes at me, Lex replied, “It’s only logical. We’re both done with our homework.”

  I gaped at him. How did he know I was done? I’d been reading ahead in history, just killing time while the others finished, but I didn’t think I’d given any sign of being done.

  Joe pinned Lex with a stare. “Fine, but I don’t want another accident like the last time I let ruffians loose in the kitchen.” His tone was gruff, but the slight upturn of his lips told me he wasn’t entirely serious. Or if he was, he at least viewed the past events with amusement now.

  I sensed a story there, but didn’t want to pry. I just hoped that didn’t mean my fear was an actual possibility.

  Someone snorted, then Lex stood, dropping his book into his bag. “Let’s go.”

  As he passed his cousin, he rested a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “You will stay out of the kitchen.”

  Nick ducked his head as his cheeks turned pink. “Wasn’t planning on offering my services.”

  With a nod, Lex left the room, gesturing for me to follow.

  As we passed the room Lex had gotten the shirt for me, he opened the door and tossed his bag inside before leading the way upstairs.

  Now that I was aware of how spastic their cat was, I kept my distance when I saw her sleeping in the same spot she’d been in earlier.

  Lex stood in the kitchen, leaning against one of the counters, his dark eyes watching me. “What sort of food do you like? I’m not really sure what we’re fixing.”

  I rubbed the back of my neck then swallowed hard as I tried to discreetly wipe my sweaty palms on my jeans. Something about being alone with him made me nervous. I cleared my throat while trying to collect myself. “Let’s see what we can find.”

  We searched the pantry, then the fridge.

  A couple ingredients jumped out at me, and I realized they had the stuff to make pizza similar to what Phil and I had made a few days ago. “What about homemade pizza?”

  Lex backed out of the pantry, and his brows rose as he looked at me. “Not a bad idea.”

  He headed to the sink to wash his hands while I grabbed the ingredients.

  “So… you cook?” Lex glanced at me as he chopped some of the veggies, making me a bit nervous that he might cut his fingers.

  With a shrug, I opened the thing of pizza dough and flattened it on a cookie sheet. “Not really. Before I moved here, I’d say not at all.” Admittedly, I wouldn’t mind learning to cook better.

  He glanced at me, and I cringed as he didn’t stop cutting. “So, what do you do in your free time?”

  I opened my mouth, only to close it right away. What did I enjoy doing? “Look at the stars? And, um… read.” That was all I’d really had time to do since coming here.

  His eyes lit up so briefly I almost missed it. “What do you enjoy reading?”

  “I read a really cool book that had dragons in it the other day. I don’t remember what it was called though. I haven’t had a ton of time to read, but I do enjoy it.”

  “We should go to the library one of these days. For such a small town, we have a surprisingly large selection of books.” He nudged his glasses up on his nose.

  “That sounds like fun,” I replied, smiling at him.

  “There’s nothing else you enjoy doing though?” He tilted his head with interest.

  “I’m not really sure. I’m open to trying almost anything at least once.” I spread sauce on the dough.

  “What sort of thing wouldn’t you be willing to try?”

  I sneaked a glance at him, smiling when I saw the concentration on his face. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’d enjoy hunting. Or wrestling with gators. I’ve heard that’s a thing.” My gaze slid to him again as I hoped my answer amused him.

  I wasn’t disappointed when his lips quirked up and he huffed out a breath. “I don’t think any of us have really done much hunting, and you’re safe from wrestling gators. We don’t have any here.”

  “You don’t?” I wasn’t sure why that surprised me. Hesitantly, I asked, “What sort of dangerous creatures do you have here? Should I be worried about getting bitten by spiders when I’m in the woods?” My eyes widened at the thought. I hadn’t even considered that when I went walking in there.

  He snorted. “Not really. We don’t have many dangerous animals here. I mean, we might have a cougar or bear in the woods, but we’ve never seen any. Doesn’t mean they aren’t there, but they probably have the good sense to stay away from humans.”

  I gulped. “So… if I saw a cave in there, I should stay away?” I had no desire to come across some sort of beast that might try to kill me. After spreading cheese over the dough, I took the chopped veggies from Lex and added those to the top.

  With a smirk, Lex shrugged. “You’d be better off asking CJ. I don’t usually go very far into the woods, but I’m pretty sure he’s explored every inch.”

  I asked, “What about you? What do you do for fun?” Did he ever even have fun?

  “A lot of boring things.” He popped a slice of green pepper in his mouth as he set the rest of the bowl aside.

  “They can’t be boring if you enjoy doing them.” Did the other guys tell him his interests were boring? That seemed harsh, although I could see Nick saying it in a teasing manner and Lex taking it to heart. Maybe. They were cousins though, so I imagined Lex took very little that Nick said seriously.

  “I like photography.” He leaned bac
k against the counter, pushing the corner of his glasses up on his nose.

  “Really?” After putting the food into the oven, I turned to look at him. I wasn’t sure what was so surprising to me about his interest. I met his gaze, freezing at the serious look on his face.

  He crossed his arms. “Yeah.”

  When he didn’t look away, I blinked, breaking the connection. I dropped my gaze.

  “Can I see your pictures sometime?” Who knew if he was any good, but if it was important to him, I wanted at least one person to show interest in something he loved. If he did truly love it.

  He was silent for a moment and I slowly looked back up. Had I offended him? He tilted his head, studying me. I didn’t know him well enough to know what that look meant. Nervously, I picked at my nails.

  Finally, his lips twitched. “Sometime.”

  I busied myself with checking on the food, closing the oven door when I saw it wasn’t anywhere close to done. Lex didn’t show much emotion at anything, which unnerved me, but I still found myself liking him. That could be dangerous.

  The pizza only had a few minutes left when Joe stepped into the room, nose in the air. “That smells amazing.” Grinning, he turned on the oven light to take a peek, then he stood up and patted Lex on the shoulder. “I think she’s my favorite. Don’t you let her go, boy.”

  Part of me expected Lex to blush or act embarrassed, but all he did was smirk. “Wasn’t planning on it, Gramps.”

  Oh, God, could my face get any warmer? Turning my attention to the floor, I scuffed my toes on the wood, not really wanting to meet his gaze.

  There was silence for a moment, and I chanced a look up, half expecting that Joe had walked away. Instead, I found him watching me.

  “I do believe Lex has a shirt just like that,” Joe said.

  God, I was going to die of embarrassment. Without waiting for a reply, Joe shuffled out of the room, humming a cheerful tune.

  Wishing a hole would open up underneath me, I finally looked at Lex.

  He was studying me, his finger brushing against his glasses to push them up on his nose. “Your shirt is probably dry by now. Why don’t you go change while I finish this?”

  Nodding my thanks, I escaped, dashing down the stairs and into the bathroom. I tested my shirt for any dampness, but to my relief, the fabric was toasty warm. I quickly pulled it on before folding Lex’s shirt and setting it on top of the washer.

  I headed back into the room we’d been studying in. Lex sat in a chair, a book in his hand. I wasn’t surprised. Every time he had a chance, I’d noticed he pulled a book out from somewhere.

  Sam glanced up at me, offering a hesitant smile. When I returned it, his cheeks turned pink and he broke eye contact as he ducked his head.

  Nick smacked Jayden on the back hard enough to make me cringe, but Jayden barely seemed to notice. With a grin, Nick asked, “So… you and your parents just moved here?”

  Remembering when he asked me the same question, I hoped Jayden was more comfortable with it than I was.

  Lifting a shoulder, Jayden said, “With my mom.” His tone was harsh, clearly bringing an end to that line of questioning.

  Lex sighed as he put a bookmark between the pages he was reading and gently closed his book. “Do you ever stop to think about the words coming out of your mouth before you say them?”

  Without pausing, Nick said, “Nope.”

  Pressing my lips together, I tried not to laugh as Lex stood, nearly tipping his chair over, then came over to me. He pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go check on dinner.”

  With a nod, I followed him, shooting Nick a smile over my shoulder. He grinned back.

  * * *

  After dinner, the guys dropped me off at my house and I made it with an hour to spare. When I pushed open the front door, my mouth watered as the scent of something baking hit my nose.

  “Haylie, is that you?”

  After slipping my shoes off at the door, I headed for the kitchen. I had been nearly silent coming in the house, so I wasn’t even sure how she knew someone had entered.

  “What smells so good?” I asked as she opened the oven.

  “Chocolate chip cookies.” She set the hot cookie sheet on a couple of hot pads, then popped another into the oven. “First batch just came out. Give it a few minutes and you can have some.”

  I bit my lip to keep myself from licking them. “I can’t wait.”

  When she rose back up to her full height, she narrowed her eyes at the floor, as if trying to remember something. Her expression brightened a few seconds later. “Oh! I wanted to ask you if you need a gift to take to this birthday party you’ve been invited to.”

  I blinked. A gift? I hadn’t even thought about that. “I guess so. I’ve never really been to a birthday party before. I guess I can ask CJ what he thinks…” What would I even get him? I didn’t really know Sam that well.

  “Well, why don’t you shop online for a gift for him, but instead of buying it, just let me know what it is and I’ll pick it up tomorrow?”

  She’d do that for me? “Are you sure? I don’t want to be any trouble.”

  She grinned, letting her hand hover over the cookies. Apparently deciding they were cool enough, she put them in a container. “It won’t be any trouble. I actually have tomorrow off, so if you want to go with me, we can go when you get home.” She put all but two cookies in the container, then she handed me one and bit into the second.

  I scratched the back of my neck, nodding. “Thank you. That would be great.” That didn’t solve my problem of not knowing what to get him.

  The timer on the oven beeped, and she turned around to switch out the next batch. “Just make sure your homework gets done before this party so you don’t have to worry about it later.” I nodded as she began to put the cooling cooking on a plate. “Speaking of homework, did you get yours done tonight?” Her brows rose. Did she not believe that I’d been working on homework?

  “Yeah. I’m going to double check it before I go to bed, but I think I finished everything.”

  She glanced at me with approval. “Good. I might not know these people you spent time with, but I’m glad I can trust you to do the important things while you’re hanging out together.”

  I smiled and thanked her again before jogging upstairs and to my room.

  Once there, I bit into the still-warm treat. Melted chocolate coated my tongue, making me moan in appreciation.

  I tried to make it last, but still mourned its loss once I’d finished. With a look around my room, I plopped onto my bed and pulled out my phone.

  Haylie: I want to get Sam a present, but I’m not sure what he might like. Do you have any ideas?

  Before I could second-guess myself, I sent the message to CJ.

  While waiting for a response, I went to my closet. The party wasn’t for another two days, but I still wanted to figure out what I’d be wearing.

  CJ: I have a couple, but he won’t be expecting a gift. Don’t feel like you have to bring one.

  Frowning, I thought about how to answer that.

  Haylie: I know I don’t HAVE to, but I’d feel weird not getting him at least a little something. I just don’t know him well enough, yet. I don’t know what he’d like.

  Even though no one was there to see it, I felt my cheeks heating. Was it presumptuous to admit I wanted to get to know Sam better?

  CJ: Give me a bit to think on it and I’ll get back to you.

  Haylie: Thank you. I’m going shopping tomorrow after school.

  CJ: Guess that means no study party tomorrow. Text me if you need any help finding something or if you have any questions. I’ll keep my phone on me.

  Pleased that he seemed to want to help me, I thanked him before pulling out my swimsuit. I hadn’t thought this through very well. I didn’t mind swimming, but I’d never actually been swimming with people my age. It had been another thing they’d used to test my powers.

  Maybe I could wear a shirt over this. I held the bikini
up to myself, grimacing. Well, there was nothing I could do about it now. I’d already said I was going to the party, and I wouldn’t ask Min to buy me a new swimsuit when she’d just purchased this one. And this one wasn’t indecent. It just showed a lot of skin. With a shake of my head, I set it aside and pulled out an extra shirt and clothes to change into after swimming. There wasn’t much of the day left, so after getting Min’s permission to grab another couple of cookies, I settled down in my room with a book and my delicious treat.

  How to Find the Perfect Gift

  I squeezed through the crowded cafeteria, scanning the tables in search of the guys. Seeing Jayden and Sam already sitting at a table on the other side of the room, I headed in that direction.

  Jayden scowled as he munched on a small bag of pretzels while Sam appeared to be focused on the book in front of him. History, by the looks of it. When I sat down next to Jayden, his gaze took a moment to focus on me, but his scowl didn’t disappear.

  Sam glanced up, eyes going wide and ears turning pink. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something to me, then he closed it and swallowed hard. The color traveled to his cheeks and he quickly dropped his gaze back to his book.

  Before I could come up with anything to say, movement caught my eye. I glanced up in time to see Nick run into someone, nearly dropping a clear container on them as he struggled to keep his balance.

  Almost as if he’d planned it, Lex stepped around his bigger cousin, gently took the small box, and slid it onto the table. “Happy birthday.”

  Sam slowly looked up, eyes still a little wide. Was it really that much of a surprise that Lex would wish him a happy birthday?

  Nick popped Lex on the back of the head. “At least give it some enthusiasm! It’s a celebration, not a funeral.”

  Lex pulled his lunch and a book out of his bag, as stoic as always. His dark eyes met mine, holding my attention as he removed some sort of sandwich. Blinking once, he broke the spell before turning toward Sam. “Happy birthday.” His tone sounded no more enthused.