“Samantha, are you asleep?” Jen asked.
My head jerked up, my eyes popping open. Apparently, I had been. Jen sat across from me at the lunch table.
“What? Oh sorry, yeah… I didn’t get much sleep last night.” It’d been a long week already. With missing Blake more than I cared to admit and then last night’s activities, I felt completely drained. To my delight, I’d awoken in the morning to a bare, wingless back. Gives me at least one more day to figure this out.
Jen’s eyes sized me up. “Are you feeling okay? You look awful.”
“Gee thanks.” If you only knew, Jen.
“Sammy, you know I don’t mean it that way,” Jen protested.
“Yeah, I know,” I assured her. “I’m fine, just tired. That’s all.”
“Well, talking about my pathetic love life probably put you to sleep,” Jen said balefully.
She was taking Blake’s rejection hard. I felt bad, but psychoanalyzing why he didn’t like her was torture for me. Usually, I would reassure her that the guy was a jerk anyway and she was better off, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it this time.
“Are you feeling bad about Blake?” I asked, cringing over my own words.
“Blake? No, I was telling you about Kory.”
All sleepiness was forgotten. “Kory?”
“Yeah, you remember him, right? He’d moved away and then all of sudden, he’s back again. And he looks so good, Samantha!”
“Wait, you’ve seen him?”
“Yes! That’s what I was about to tell you about when you dozed off on me.”
“I’m awake now, tell me.” I hoped I didn’t sound too eager. I just knew Kory’s arrival had to do with Blake’s abrupt departure. I wasn’t sure how though.
“Well… yesterday after school, I went over to Mack’s house.”
I stared at Jen. To my knowledge, she didn’t usually do that. I’m sure that made Mack’s day.
Jen flushed. “I wanted to ask him about Blake. I know they’re friends now.”
Oh, that’s why. I nodded for her to continue.
“Anyway, I got there and didn’t know Mack had some guys over. So I walk in the living room and there’s Kory! I about had a heart attack. I’m sure my face went red.”
Kory was at Mack’s house? “Really? Who else was there?”
Jen waved her hand impatiently. “I didn’t recognize the other two guys, I only knew Kory. Oh Samantha, he’s always been cute, but now… he’s freaking hot! It was a complete nightmare! He hardly even acknowledged me!”
“Jen, I’m so sorry. That totally sucks.”
“It’s fine. He was all worked up about something. Honestly, I don’t think he even remembered me anyway. He’s changed so much.” She paused. “One thing’s for sure… he doesn’t like Blake at all.”
I swallowed hard. “How do you know that?”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you about because it was all so weird! So as soon as I got there, it was obvious Mack wanted them to all leave. He sort of hinted that he wanted to be with me alone.”
I tried not to smile. Of course Mack wanted to have Jen all to himself.
Jen continued. “So Kory was like sure, whatever, and then walks up to Mack saying, ‘Blake better stop being so naïve and stupid. I’ve warned him, this threat’s real.’”
Jen paused, and I asked, “What did he mean?”
“I have no idea but one of the other guys starts laughing, saying something about Blake thinking he owns Tonbo Island, but things are changing.”
“Tonbo?” was all I could think to ask.
“Yeah, weird right? Kory told Mack, Blake can run to Tonbo for answers, but he’ll only get more lies. That’s when Mack got all serious, which is so odd for him, you know. He just said, ‘Got it, Kory. You better go.’ Then they all stared at me. That was when Kory all of sudden smiled at me and said he’d see me around. Then to Mack, he said something like, ‘Consider it a warning. We’ve got a bug problem.’”
She sighed heavily and then scrunched up her eyebrows. “Why are boys so confusing? Do you think Kory really wants to see me again?”
I stammered, “Oh… uh… yeah, probably. Maybe you will.” Wondering if Kory actually liked Jen was definitely the least of my quandaries. What in the world did all that mean? Threats? Bug problem? I was sure Kory had everything to do with Blake taking off. Now I just had to unravel the rest of the puzzle. Starting with—what is Tonbo Island?
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