He shook his head, laughing to himself, and walked off down the hallway. I turned back to see Seth, his stare terrifying me to my core. I shrugged, but he didn’t respond. He simply turned and walked away.
14
“Did you hear that someone trashed the music room today?”
I coughed on the bite of spaghetti in my mouth, the shock sending the noodles the wrong way down my throat. I gulped down half my water glass and forced myself to breathe.
“No. Really? Do they know who did it?” I pushed a meatball around my plate, waiting for her to drop the bomb.
“Not sure. All I heard was that a bunch of chairs and stands were thrown around, and there was an odd burn mark on the carpet.”
My body relaxed and I melted into my seat. “Burn mark? That seems weird.”
“Yeah, right? Maybe someone was smoking or something in there or tried to burn down the school and got caught. I don’t know.”
“That school seems to be getting rougher all the time.” Stephen took a big bite of food and shook his head.
“Did you want to send me to the other high school in the town that only has one high school?” Chloe laughed.
“You’re just lucky it isn’t you getting into trouble.” His eyebrows came together and his eyes narrowed, but the smile sprawled across his lips gave him away.
“I wonder if that Seth guy was involved,” Chloe said, twirling the noodles on her fork like a pro, then shoving them into her mouth.
I shrugged. “Why would you think that? He’s a bit intense, but I don’t think he’s that bad.”
“Now hold on a second. I hope Chloe’s been helping you make some decent friends here. This Seth guy isn’t going to be a problem, is he?” Stephen’s playful tone vanished, his concern pouring out of his eyes, straight at me.
Chloe waved her empty fork in the air. “Relax, Dad. Arianna is fine. No reason to panic.” Then she pointed her fork in my direction and narrowed her stare. “But to answer your question, you might think Seth just seems intense, but whenever something bad happens around here, he’s usually somewhere close by. It’s like all the mysterious bad things converge into one hurricane Seth.” She nodded, seemingly satisfied with diffusing the situation, and resumed spinning her spaghetti noodles on her plate. Without looking up, she continued. “Besides, Dad, you can chill. Arianna is dating Griffin Carlisle.”
The worry creases in his brow ironed flat. “Ah, Griffin. Nice kid. Been having a rough year though. Not a lot of points up on that scoreboard.”
“Arianna doesn’t really care much for football.”
Stephen stood. “Well then you’re going to have to get out of my house.” He pointed at the door.
My hands began to shake, and I dropped my fork to my plate. “Oh. Maybe I could try . . .” I stammered, but Chloe reached over and grabbed my hand.
“He’s just kidding. Remember, football is life. I thought I warned you of that already.”
“Right.” I picked up my fork again, heat building at the tops of my ears.
“How did you hear about me and Griffin?”
“How did I not hear? The whole school is talking about it. It’s the first time anyone’s ever seen a girl that much on a mission for a date. And the fact that he said yes is just blowing people’s minds. I’m just mad you hadn’t told me yet.”
“I planned to, I just hadn’t found the right way to mention it yet. Did I do this wrong?”
“No. I think it was awesome. And besides, maybe if things go well, he’ll ask you to the homecoming dance.”
“Homecoming dance?”
“Okay, sometimes I swear you’re from another planet. The homecoming dance. The posters all over everywhere.”
“I haven’t been here that long. I guess I never noticed. Are you going?”
“Yeah. Brad is taking me.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize that you and Brad . . .”
“Yeah, I don’t know if there is a me and Brad, but I guess maybe we’ll see?” She raised her eyebrows and waggled them at me.
Stephen put his hands over his ears. “I don’t know if I want to hear this. I am pretty sure I don’t want to hear this. La la la.” He stood up and grabbed his empty plate while keeping one hand over his right ear, then dumped the plate into the sink. “I think I’m going to go see if there is a game on.”
“Sure, Dad. We can wait for you to come back to talk about boys.”
“I can’t hear you,” he said as he neared the hall.
“Dad,” Chloe’s voice dropped, the humor vanishing, “did you take your pills today?”
“Of course,” he said. He doubled back toward his daughter and gave her a kiss on the top of her head before rustling her hair and walking away. “I appreciate you taking care of me, but you know I can do it myself, right?”
Then he disappeared into the living room.
Chloe grabbed her plate and took it over to the sink.
“It’s practice night. Did you want to go to Tony’s?”
I looked around the cozy kitchen, the windows fogged up from the pasta steam, the cold black night on the outside. The image of the demon flashed into my brain. Maybe he wasn’t the only one looking for me. Maybe I had better be careful. “Or we could just stay here. It’s not like I’m a stalker or anything.”
Chloe pointed her fork at me and laughed. “Look at you. Maybe you are figuring this out.”
15
The minutes dragged into hours, dragged into eternity, until the final school bell rang. The anticipation of seeing Griffin outside of school and the potential of going home—my real home—pumped through my blood. My entire body had twitched all day long, with maximum restlessness occurring in English class when my foot tapped for the entire sixty-minute period as I tried to avoid looking at him. Later, in chemistry, I’d started imagining how our evening would go and I kept dropping beakers, overfilling ingredients, and generally becoming a danger to myself and the entire student body. But what if this was it? What if after tonight I could actually go home?
I sat on the front steps after dinner, waiting for him to show. Red bands of sunset peeked between the houses across the street, and dead leaves twirled and danced across the front lawn. I pulled my sweater closer to my chest.
“What are you looking at?” I asked the lone crow sitting on the fence post beside the driveway.
“Wouldn’t you be shocked if he answered?” Chloe chuckled as she tugged the front door closed behind her and hurried down the steps to the front walk.
“Maybe. But at least then I’d know what was so interesting.”
“Maybe he thinks you’re a bug or something.”
“Do I look bad?” I pulled my hair over my shoulder, tugged my fingers through the curls, then adjusted my top.
“You look fine. It’s going to be great. And don’t be so nervous. If you get back early, I’m going to a movie with Stacey, Brad, and Ashley, then probably off to Tony’s if you want to join.”
“Thanks. We’ll see.”
“Have fun,” she mocked in a sing-song voice and marched off toward the car.
As she pulled open the driver’s side door, a white pickup truck pulled up in front of the house.
“Your prince has arrived.” She laughed to herself and got into the driver’s seat, closing the door behind her.
I stood up and rushed across the lawn toward the truck. Before I could reach for the passenger door, Griffin ran out and opened it for me.
“Thank you. But maybe I should be opening your door, considering I’m the one who asked.”
He smiled, a big wide smile that teased heat into my cheeks. “But I should’ve asked first.”
He climbed back into the driver’s seat and headed off down the road, taking a right turn toward the edge of town instead of left like I would have expected. The houses fell away into dark expanses of open fields. Stands of nearly naked trees spotted the landscape. A strange quiver started in my hands—a flash of the night I arrived, naked and in pain.
It seemed decades ago now. So much had happened in such a short time.
“Where are we going?” I hid my shaking hands underneath my thighs and slid forward on the truck seat, trying to get a better view through the windshield.
“Not far. Just far enough away from Faraway.”
I scanned my brain for words to say but let the radio fill the silence instead. A slow rhythmic beat of guitar and a southern voice, clear and smooth, calmed my anxious soul. There were so many things I wanted to say, so much to discover, but the heaviness of what this could mean clouded over everything. Just a few songs in, Griffin turned the truck off the main road and down a well-worn dirt path shrouded by trees on either side. A cautious flicker started in my stomach, the darkness seeping in and reminding me of the demon who’d attacked me in the music room. A demon who, until the end, looked like anyone else. Just a normal person. I glanced over at Griffin, at the serene look upon his face. This couldn’t be a trap, could it?
The road narrowed as we plunged deeper into the unknown, farther and farther away from town and anyone who would be able to hear me scream. Griffin turned down the radio, the eerie silence adding to my impending panic. I glanced around at the floor, beside the seat, even in the truck bed behind us, for anything that might be handy if I’d made a colossal mistake. I eased myself closer to the door, ensuring that the lock was off if I needed to jump.
“Almost there. I hope you’re not afraid of a little wilderness?”
“No.” I forced my voice still, fighting against the waver building in my throat. “It just seems really far from other people. What if something happens and we need help?”
His forehead crinkled as he squinted in the distance. “I’ve been out here thousands of times. I’m sure we’ll be fine. Besides, I really wanted to be alone with you.”
“Ah, okay. But don’t you need to be around people? It seems like you’re with your team and your friends all the time. I would think you’d want to be somewhere more public.”
“Oh. Is that what this is about? I didn’t think you were like that.”
“Like what?”
“I didn’t think you cared about all that. I thought you actually wanted to be with me, not the football player.”
I shook my head. “No. I don’t care about that. I’ve never even seen a football game before. I am just making sure you are good.”
“Well, considering everyone saw you ask me out, I’m sure they already know where I am tonight. Besides, I didn’t want everyone around watching.”
“Okay.”
“You know what? Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should just take you home.” Griffin hit the brake and we stopped in the middle of the road, the dark woods closing in around us.
My mind processed as quickly as it could. Maybe he should take me home? If he’d tricked me, I’d never get home, but if not . . .
“Don’t. Please just forget I said anything.” A risk, but one I was willing to take.
I held my breath the rest of the drive, devising the best escape plan I could in case I needed it. Eventually the truck veered around a sharp corner and Griffin cut the engine.
Ahead of us spread a sparkling blue lake, calm and crystal under the stars.
“We’re here.” He jumped from the driver’s seat, and before I could get to the door handle, he had opened it for me. “I thought we could have a small bonfire out here. Is that okay?”
Relief settled over me as I jumped down to the gravel below. Griffin reached into the back seat and pulled out a shopping bag. We walked toward a small firepit surrounded by benches made from old tree stumps facing the water. I stopped for a second, took the shopping bag from his hand, and rested it on the ground. I grabbed the zipper of his coat and started pulling it down.
He caught my hand and held it firmly in the middle of his chest. “Wait. What are you doing?”
“Just in case you were worried, I don’t care about this jacket. I really just wanted to spend tonight with the apple boy from the farmer’s market.”
He let go of my hand and I finished opening the zipper. He shrugged the jacket off and placed it back in the truck. The shadow that had fallen over his face lifted, and the light returned to his smile as he picked up the bag, took my hand, and led me over to the firepit.
I sat down on one of the benches and watched as he grabbed logs from a nearby stand and placed them in the metal pit in a kind of pyramid shape. Then he added bunched-up newspaper that he’d brought in the shopping bag and snapped a match. The sour sulfur smell filled the air as he lit the newspaper, and a small glowing fire bounced and danced from the logs.
The heavy smell of burning wood triggered the memory of Seth’s arms around me, and I cringed until Griffin sat down beside me and replaced the smell with his own.
“It really is nice here.”
Griffin ran the palms of his hands over the thighs of his jeans and gazed out toward the lake. “My dad used to take me fishing here when I was a kid. I guess I’ve always kind of liked it.”
“That’s awesome. You two must be pretty close.”
“We used to be. But things have been different lately. I don’t think we see things the same way anymore.”
“Well, that’s sad. Is it anything you can fix?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes once someone’s done something, it can’t be undone, you know? It will take me a while before I get over it, I think.”
“You don’t have to tell me about it, but you can if you want. I’ve seen a lot of things, and I’m pretty good at listening.”
His head hung to his chest and he laced his fingers in front of him. “He cheated. He had a great life with me and my mom, and he cheated on her and broke everything apart.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. I spent the last while trying to get over it, but I guess I still haven’t. I just don’t understand how someone can throw everything away like that.”
“Maybe there was a reason. Maybe you don’t know the full story. Love seems to make you do crazy things sometimes.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t have to go like that. He could’ve left first. He could’ve moved on and then started seeing someone else. But instead he made the decision to hurt us. Whether he planned on it or not.”
“Have you ever told him this?”
“I’ve tried. But he says he doesn’t fully understand either. What kind of answer is that?”
“I don’t know.”
Griffin put his hands over his face and rubbed them down his cheeks. “I’m sorry about all this. I don’t like to talk about it. It’s not exactly the best conversation starter.”
“It’s okay. I think I understand more than you know.”
And more than I would ever be able to tell him. Maybe the reason he’d gotten in my brain was because I saw myself. Someone who might understand me, not just condemn.
“I wanted to explain, because it’s why I turned you down at first. I’ve avoided anything to do with relationships since it happened. Just school and football and home.”
“Then how come you changed your mind? Why did you say yes?”
“I don’t know. There has just been something about you. Something honest that I can’t quite explain. But it makes me want to be better. It makes me want to believe that maybe I could find someone who makes me happy.”
“I don’t know you that well, but so far, you definitely make me happy.”
“And you make me happy too.” Griffin turned and took my hand, my small fingers disappearing into his wide palms. “But I took you out here for some fun, so let’s stop with all the heavy stuff.”
He leaned down and pulled a bag of marshmallows, some chocolate bars, and graham crackers from the shopping bag.
“What is all that?”
He raised his left eyebrow in a puzzled look. “It’s s’mores. You do know what a s’more is, don’t you?”
I shook my head, suddenly embarrassed. “I think I know what they are, but I’ve never had one.”
&
nbsp; His head jerked back. “Seriously? You really are city girl, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. I guess I don’t get out much.”
“Well this will be the best thing you have ever had. Trust me, once you’ve had this, you will be so addicted you are going to beg me to bring you out here all the time.”
“Is that a promise?”
His face split into a wide smile. “Yeah, I think it is.”
16
“I think I’m gonna be sick.” I leaned back and rubbed my stomach. The empty bag of marshmallows sat on the bench beside me. “But it might have been worth it.”
Griffin peeled the last marshmallow off the roasting stick. The caramelly brown color was absolutely perfect, just as he had been trying to teach me over the past several hours. He popped it in his mouth and licked the sticky residue from his thumb, my eyes unable to avoid staring at his dark red lips. “I told you.”
“I guess you’re right.” I leaned over and nudged him with my shoulder. He laughed, the light joyful sound echoing off the trees. I sat upright again and crossed my arms over my chest, the night air slowly losing its warmth.
“Are you cold?” Without waiting for an answer, he bolted to the truck and ran back with a red and black plaid blanket. He wrapped it around my shoulders. “Better?”
I nodded and grabbed the edges of the blanket, tucking it around me. Ahead of us, the moon reflected a beam of light across the lake. The tiny ripples of minor waves glistened and sparkled, a mirror to the stars that sparkled above it in the sky.
Griffin tossed the roasting stick and the empty marshmallow bag in the fire. He folded his hands behind his head and stared straight up, the mystery of the night drawing him in as well. Or maybe he’d finally run out of things to say. If he felt anything like me, his throat probably burned from talking so much, but if I could redo tonight, I’d take that sting one hundred times over. The evening breeze picked up and started to whistle through the trees. He sat up straighter and pulled his hands into his sleeves, staring down at the small glow of fire smoldering in the metal pit.
Kingdom of Salt and Sirens Page 101