by T. A. Brock
True, he had asked. And he’d done it nicely, more or less, which for him was apparently no easy task.
It took her several moments before she could answer. And she was sure that nothing good could come of it, but…“Fine.”
His features seemed to relax, and even though it was just a tiny bit, she was shocked by the severity of the change.
“Fine? Does that mean yes?”
She nodded and went back to her busy work. Grayson didn’t say anything else to her for the rest of the class.
When the bell rang, Peg caught up with her in the hall.
“Hey, I’m sorry if I upset you earlier.” Peg’s smile was the halfway kind.
Cori stopped and faced her. “It wasn’t you. I just woke up grumpy. Really.”
Peg shuffled her feet. “I was under the assumption that you and Aiken were, well, you know.”
Cori shook her head. “We aren’t. I’m not looking for that right now. I’m…well, relationships aren’t my thing. I’m bad at them.”
“Aw, that can’t be true. You seem like a pretty good friend. So far.” Peg grinned, showing that chipped tooth, and chucked Cori’s shoulder.
Cori smiled back because the girl was downright contagious—and she needed a bit of Peg’s good mood to rub off on her. Especially if she was going to spend lunchtime with Grayson.
“Keep me around for a while and we’ll see if you still think so.”
Peg nodded and they continued walking, her bright red stilettos clicking on the tile. “Of course, I give all my friends a complimentary trial run before they are welcomed into true friend-dom.”
“Awesome. Sixty days?”
Peg pursed her lips, pretended to think it over. “Ninety.”
“Ninety? I’ll never make it.”
They were giggling and suddenly Cori wasn’t having to pretend she felt better—she actually did.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I won’t be seeing you at lunch.” When Peg gave her a strange look she hurried up with the explanation. “I’m, uh, going to sit with Grayson today.”
Peg stopped walking so suddenly, her dangling silver hoop earrings swung with momentum. Her mouth was hanging in surprise.
Cori shifted awkwardly. “He asked me, so I couldn’t really say no. You know how I’ve been trying to talk to him. I mean, I suggested he sit at our table, but he didn’t like that idea.” Peg was still gawking. “It’s just for one day. No big deal, right?”
“Are you sure you want to do that? I could help you come up with an excuse.”
Cori shrugged as they continue down the hall. “It’s just for thirty minutes. I can handle it.”
“Oh, I’m sure. It’s just—why would you want to?”
Cori didn’t have an answer.
By lunchtime, Aiken was still nowhere in sight. She guessed he was sick or something. In the cafeteria she went through the salad bar line and looked around for Grayson. She didn’t see him, so she took her time as she got a Coke and paid for everything. But then he still wasn’t there.
Now what?
So maybe this was all part of the game. Was he…standing her up? Her cheeks turned to fire at the thought. The tips of her ears burned. Of course he was. How could she have been so stupid? The sudden change of heart he’d had was not him trying. It was him pushing. Pushing back. And harder than she ever would have.
She started quickly toward her usual table. Hopefully Peg wouldn’t ask in front of Rex. God, how humiliating.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The voice came from behind her but it seemed to wrap all around her and even through her. Though it wasn’t much more than a whisper, the intensity of it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Was it his voice or was it that pulling sensation she’d been experiencing? It was almost like the feeling you got when your blood pressure dropped. Or what it felt like to go fast down a big hill.
“I was going to sit with my friends since you weren’t around,” she managed to say.
He stepped in front of her. “I’m here now.”
She nodded, annoyed by the idea that he might’ve stood her up and disturbed by the odd feeling that had come over her. “Lead the way.”
They wound through the cluster of tables until they arrived at one in the far back corner. It was about as secluded as you could get in a crowded high school cafeteria. Cori put her tray down and slid into the empty chair. Grayson sat opposite her without a speck of food. He had water though, as usual. It was strange that he never ate. She could ask him about it but didn’t feel like dragging the answer out of him today. She started in on her salad while Grayson wordlessly sipped his water—or rather gulped it.
The next ten minutes went without a word being spoken.
When she’d finished eating, she pushed her tray aside and sat back, crossing her arms. What now? She glanced at him but he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at her empty tray. She let her eyes travel around the cafeteria while she contemplated something to say.
“So, this is what it’s like having lunch with someone else,” he mused. “Huh. It’s not that much different than being by myself.” He was looking at her now, those greenish eyes so guarded.
It felt strange to be alone—well, sort of alone—with him. Cori wasn’t a big conversation starter in normal situations, but put her with a rebel loner with a lack of social skills that rivaled her own and she was basically useless.
“Sorry,” she muttered. Maybe if he was a little friendlier it wouldn’t be so hard to talk to him.
Yesterday was a fluke, she decided. Whatever air of bravery had made her talk to him like she had was clearly gone today. She was back to her normal mousy self. It wouldn’t be a surprise to her if she started speaking in squeaks.
He finished off the last of his water and capped the bottle before leaning forward in his chair so he was invading her personal space. Mouse or not, she was determined to not back down. She had a shred of pride left.
Eyes squinting, he said, “What’s wrong with you? Yesterday you were annoying the hell out of me. Now, you won’t say anything.”
She gave him a dirty look. “I guess I don’t feel like talking to you.”
He was quiet, just staring at her. After a second, he glanced past her and she knew he was looking at Peg and Rex.
When he next spoke, his voice had changed, becoming eerily flat. Emotionless. “You can go sit with your friends if you don’t want to be here.” He didn’t look at her any more. Instead, he started fiddling with the lid on the empty water bottle.
Here was her out. She could trade this super awkward situation for one that was only slightly awkward. She could just tell Peg and Rex that she was bored or something. But…
She sighed, long and loud. “No. I don’t want to be there either.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.” Frustration made her curt. “I just…I just don’t.”
Still he capped and uncapped the bottle. “Where exactly do you want to be?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere else. Anywhere but here.”
He grew quiet again. Screw cap on; take it off. “Do you want to leave? I know a place.”
She didn’t think she’d heard him right. “What?”
“I know a place. Where we can go.” He shrugged. “If you want.”
It was strange but sometimes when she looked at him, when their eyes clashed, he didn’t seem quite so hard and distant. This was one of those times. And it was disarming.
But what was he asking?
“You mean leave, right now? Ditch class?”
“Yeah.”
She’d never done that before. It was so not like her. And besides, she couldn’t go anywhere with him. She didn’t know a thing about him.
“I can’t do that,” she said, sounding way too appalled, like he’d asked her to strip or get his name tattooed on her arm.
His mouth quirked which made him seem almost playful. “Of course not. You’re a good girl.”
She
frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with being a good girl,” she insisted.
“Very true.” He said it with such conviction that she believed he meant it. Until he added, “If you’re a golden retriever.”
Cori leaned forward so that they were eye to eye. “Did you just call me a dog?”
“No. I called you a good girl.” There was something in his eyes. Amusement? Did he think this was funny?
“I guess you think you know me,” she mused. “Well, you know what I think? I think you’re not as tough as you’d like everyone to believe.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.” She reached across the table to poke one of his well-formed biceps. “I think you’re a great—” poke “—big—” poke “—marshmallow.” Poke.
His mouth was parted slightly as if no one had ever dared to call him such a thing. Well, look at that. She could be a trailblazer.
“I’m not a…marshmallow,” he said indignantly.
Cori sat back and silently sipped her Coke, thoroughly happy with the way she’d handled that one.
“Well, suit yourself then,” he mumbled. “I guess you’ll just have to sit here with me and be miserable for the next ten minutes.”
“I’m not miserable.” Not any more. It was kind of fun when she was one-upping him.
“You’re not?” Black eyebrow cocked. “Sure seemed like it a minute ago.”
Cori lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “That was then.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What’s changed?”
She couldn’t help snickering. “I don’t know. I guess I figured out you’re a marshmallow under that hard shell.”
Now he scowled, dark brows furrowing deep over his pale eyes. Underneath it though, he seemed oddly…satisfied.
She laughed some more because, well, because it felt good. And it had been a while since it felt this good to laugh, felt real.
In an instant, his scowl went away, his expression becoming something more like awe. It surprised her, seeing such raw emotion written there in his features—features that were usually so tightly guarded—that the laughter faded.
“Don’t stop,” he said, his face still bright, foreign.
“W-What?”
And then everything was shut up again, locked tight, key tossed. She was about to say something, try to fix whatever had just happened. Except then she noticed he wasn’t looking at her any more. He was looking behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Aiken. He was sitting at the table with Peg and Rex and he was glaring at Grayson. The phrase “if looks could kill” applied.
“Don’t mind him.” She turned to face Grayson again. “He might be a little mad at me.”
“Mad at you?” he gritted out, clearly agitated. “For what?”
She shrugged. “You were there.”
“Because you didn’t go out with him?”
“Because I didn’t go out with him and now I’m sitting with you.”
Grayson glared back over her shoulder at the other guy and was about to say something when he was interrupted by the bell.
Dread hit her like a wrecking ball. Lunch was over and Aiken was here. She’d have to face him. And now he seemed to be angry. She wished he’d been here this morning so she could have talked to him about things. But then, maybe he wasn’t as mad as he looked. Yeah, go optimism.
Wordlessly, she rose and dumped her tray. Grayson followed. In the hall, he didn’t speak and neither did she. At her locker he was still with her.
“Don’t you have to get your book?” she asked as she spun the combination on her lock.
“No.”
Then Aiken was there, standing so close she had to crane her neck just to look at him.
“Hey,” he said, completely ignoring the fact that Grayson was standing less than a foot away from him.
“Hey,” she answered, carefully avoiding his gaze. “You weren’t in class earlier.” Stupid thing to say. But then, that was how she did things sometimes.
“Nah. I had an appointment.”
“Doctor?”
“Something like that. So, Peg and Rex want to do something tonight. Just the four of us. You up for it?”
She saw this for what it was: a shameless set-up. Thanks, Peg.
Truth was, she just didn’t want to go out and be with people. Yes, these people were her new friends but they didn’t get how hard it was for her to cope, especially in public. Sometimes she felt like she was barely hanging on; it was all she could do to just get through the school day. Now they wanted more from her?
“Sounds fun, but I really can’t. I’m supposed to meet my mom for dinner.” Not exactly a lie. She hoped she would meet her mom for dinner. Okay, it was pretty much a lie.
But he wasn’t deterred. “What time? I could pick you up afterward. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind waiting.”
He’d moved in so close she couldn’t even tell if Grayson was still there. With Aiken looming over her like he was, she was almost afraid he might try to touch her. Oddly, the thought left her feeling uneasy.
“Uh, I don’t know. We have dinner pretty late.” Not a lie. When they had dinner it was always late.
This made him grin. “Well then we can get together earlier, like right after school. Problem solved.”
She kind of hated how he’d manipulated the situation. She hated it enough that she wasn’t going to back down. “Let me think about it.”
His grin turned triumphant. “Okay. See you in class.” Then he spun, nearly knocking into Grayson—he was still there, apparently—and strode away.
Irritated, she shuffled through her locker until she found the right book and then slammed the door shut with a little too much force. When she looked up Grayson was right there, standing almost as close as Aiken had been. Except it didn’t make her uncomfortable. It actually made her feel at ease, something she didn’t often feel anymore.
She peered up until she met those strange eyes. They seemed to be searching her own.
“You wanna get out of here? I know a place.” His words were smoky, tinged with a chill.
This time, Cori nodded.
Chapter 11
The Best Part of a Graveyard
GRAYSON KNEW WHAT HE HAD TO DO. He now knew his life’s purpose. Or at least the only purpose he really cared about. For a few precious seconds it had been so clear, like heaven had opened up and shined a light on him. Or something like that.
He’d made her laugh. Not at him—which would be a totally different thing—but because of him. He’d made her laugh like Aiken had, but better. Because not only had she laughed, she’d chosen him.
He felt like he’d inherited a slaughterhouse. Which to a zombie was gold.
He was certain the feeling wouldn’t last. But still. He would ride the wave until it was gone. In fact, he was feeling so good that he hadn’t even had to struggle with his temper when Aiken wedged his way in between him and Cori. His temper was still intact as the guy tried to convince her to go out when she so obviously didn’t want to. And now…
Now they were walking past the student parking lot toward his favorite place. Even still, his good mood was bewildering. He was still a zombie—nothing to be happy about. Besides, as a rule, he didn’t do happy.
Whatever.
As they passed the parking lot he decided they should walk instead of drive. It wasn’t that far.
“Where are we going?” Cori asked.
“You’ll see.”
“We aren’t going to walk, are we?” She sounded horrified.
“Yep.”
“Ugh.”
He glanced at her. She scrunched her face up as she dodged a puddle.
“What? Walking’s good for you.”
“Not when it’s muddy.” He watched as she tip-toed through some deeper water.
“Look who’s a marshmallow now.”
Cori jutted her chin. “Am not.”
They went for a ways in silence, stepping over puddles on the sidewalk. He was fairly certa
in her shoes were soaked through to her socks.
When the ten-foot wrought iron fence of the cemetery came into view, Grayson sped up a little. He went around the south periphery and found the side entrance. He was already some ways past the gate when he realized he was alone. Turning, he found Cori standing stock still on the opposite side of the fence.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh, this isn’t, uh, what I had in mind.”
Of course not. She was human. Humans didn’t like hanging out in cemeteries. That was a zombie thing. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
He walked back to the gate. “You scared?” It was a taunt, but it was better than admitting this was a bad idea.
“No. It’s just creepy. Why would you want to come here?”
“It’s nice. I like it. Come on.”
She didn’t make a move, but those crystalline eyes were staring so intently at him. He held his hand out to her and then instantly wished he hadn’t when she just stared at it. It hung there like an opportunity waiting to be missed. Take it, he thought. Take my hand. Suddenly, it felt like the most important thing in the world and he wasn’t sure what he’d do if she didn’t.
It seemed like an eternity that she stared at his outstretched hand, but still he held it there. Waiting, hoping. Like his life depended on whether or not she touched him.
Then she took a step toward the gate. With him on one side and her on the other, it felt like they occupied two different worlds. And in truth, they did. Would she cross over to his? Somehow he knew that if she did—if she took his hand now—things would change for the both of them. The question was would it be for the better or for worse?
But then, how much worse could things get?
With an exasperated sigh, she placed her fingers in his palm and stepped through the gate. For a moment, he just stared at her because some part of him couldn’t believe she’d actually done it. Okay, yeah all she really did was enter a cemetery. So why did it feel like more?
Her hand was small in his. But instead of finding fault in that, he actually…liked it. In fact, now that he wasn’t looking at her like she was his only hope of being human again, he liked everything about her. Yeah, he did. He liked her hair, how it was long and straight and her bangs fell to the side so her eyes weren’t covered. He liked her short little fingernails and the fact that she didn’t paint them. He liked that she could look at him and he instantly felt chastised, like it was a sin to behold her or something. Maybe it was. He liked the way her neck became flushed when she was irritated. And how her cheeks got all rosy when—