by Megan Linski
And try to figure out mysteries of super humans.
“Isn’t it?” Isolde asks. She wipes her mouth and says, “I used to come here every day with my girlfriends when we were in high school. Some things never change.”
I sip my frappe carefully. Isolde tilts her head and says, “Still having guy troubles?”
“Yeah.” I sigh. “It just got even more complicated. Thames doesn’t want to talk to me anymore.” And Cairo just threw a giant tree off of me, if you’d like to know.
“Boys your age often don’t know what they want,” Isolde says. “Girls don’t, either. It’s okay to be unsure. Just let it happen, Cassia. Things will turn out as they’re meant to be.”
The rumble of a motor gets my attention. Thames is outside the restaurant, parking his crotch rocket on the street. My insides flare up at his arrival.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Isolde. I get up from the table and head outside, where Thames is parked. He looks incredibly guilty.
“I see you fixed your bike,” I say. “Which is unbelievable, because only a few weeks ago it was in a million pieces.”
“Hey, Cass,” he says glumly. “How are you?”
“How am I?” I ask. “How do you even have the nerve to ask me that?”
He sighs. “I’m sorry, Cass. What happened today was a mistake. I should’ve never let Cairo talk me into saying that stuff to you.”
“You obviously had a good reason. Cairo just bench pressed a tree today after it nearly fell on me, so whatever you guys are hiding has to be important,” I say dryly.
“What!?” Thames’ eyes widen. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me around to the side of the building, out of eyesight. “Don’t be so loud! Okay, what exactly happened?”
I explain everything. With each word, Thames’ expression grows more and more panicked. “You said lightening came down from the sky and hit the tree?” he asks.
“Yeah. It was so weird,” I say. “Thames, won’t you please tell me what’s going on? I promise I won’t tell anyone your secret.”
“It’s not really mine, it’s Cairo’s,” he says quickly. “And you’re right, I’m not totally human either, but it’s not the same with me. If you found out what we really were, your life would be in danger.”
“It sounds so dramatic. It can’t be that bad.” I cross my arms.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. Both he and I have different opinions on it.” He kicks the wall.
“Is that why you left home?”
His eyes don’t leave the ground. “Maybe.”
He sighs. “Look, if your own life isn’t enough motive for you to back off, think of me and Cairo. You’re not the only one who could be in danger if we expose ourselves.”
I snicker. “Expose ourselves.”
“Oh, really? Grow up.” He rolls his eyes. “If he tells you what he is… or even what I am… people could find out and it would really complicate things. Maybe even get us hurt. So just be grateful he saved your life a few times and leave the rest up to imagination.”
I think about it. If Cairo or Thames could get hurt if they told me what was going on, maybe it isn’t worth me knowing.
I’m still really irritated. I want to know the truth. I’m dying to. But I care about Thames, and Cairo, and me being nosy isn’t worth their lives.
I decide to go for a compromise. “Okay. I get it. But I’m not gonna stop asking questions unless you guys agree to be my friends.”
“I can only speak for myself. You’re going to have to ask Cairo,” Thames says. “I’m more than willing for us to remain friends.”
He extends his hand for me to shake. I smile and say, “Great. Friends.”
I tackle him into a tight hug. This is so unlike me, but I missed Thames so much, even for just one day, that I can’t resist. My actions even shock me. He holds back for a minute, surprised, then embraces me back.
“I’m really glad we made up, Cass.” His voice is muffled by my hair. “Losing you would’ve sucked.”
“Yeah. You too.” I pull away, and grin at him. I feel loads better now that this crap is over, though it only lasted for a few hours.
“You want a ride? I got an extra helmet,” he says, jerking his thumb toward the bike.
“Hell no. I’m not getting on that thing ever again,” I say. “Besides, I’m here with Isolde. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See ya.” Thames seems a little happier when he leaves. There’s even a little spring in his step.
Isolde is smiling knowingly when I sit down at the table. “Did you two make up?”
“You could say that.” I finish off my frappe. One down, one to go. Thames is willing to be my friend, but Cairo? He’s a whole other story altogether. He seemed so edgy and scared around me earlier. Like hanging out with me was something that was forbidden.
I try to reassure myself I’ll find him tomorrow at school and ask him if he still wants to be friends. But it doesn’t take away the scary possibility that it’ll crush me if he says no.
The school is buzzing loudly the next day. Everyone is walking around in Heaven High colors and waving streamers, pepped up on energy drinks and school spirit. I’m looking for our star quarterback, but before I can find Cairo, he corners me.
“Hey,” he says. He’s got a wadded-up bunch of fabric in his hand. “You doing all right, Cassia?”
“Yeah.” My head is buzzing, and my tongue has turned thick in my mouth. Why is this so hard to do? I look around for some way to work myself into the conversation, and spot the wrinkled tee. “What’s that?”
“It’s my jersey,” he says, extending it. “I want you to wear it today. All the guys give it to their girls to wear the morning before a big game, for luck.”
My head practically explodes. “What? Me?”
“Yeah.” He draws his arm away. “Unless you don’t want to.”
“No!” I reach for the jersey quickly, like some rabid animal. Damn, I’m embarrassing myself. “I mean, sure. I’ll wear it.”
“Good.” Cairo smiles as he hands it to me.
He winks at me, then walks away. I press the jersey to my chest.
Am I his girl?
I shake my head. Last night he was warning me to stay away from him and being all dramatic, today he’s got me wearing the national high school symbol that I’m his chick, hands off.
Boys.
I change in the bathroom. Thames is waiting for me at my locker. It’s comforting to know that at least something around here is normal. His eye twitches when he sees me wearing Cairo’s jersey, but doesn’t say anything about it.
“I guess you guys decided to be friends?” he asks.
“I haven’t asked him. He just gave me this and walked off.” I pull at the jersey. It’s like a nightgown on me for how big it is. I bunch it up and tie it off in the corner with a hair tie.
“He’s got a big game today against our rival,” Thames tells me. “If you want to talk to him, I would wait until after the game.”
The rest of the school day goes by pretty typical. Other girls give me the death stare for parading around in Cairo’s jersey. Lavonne, Emalee, and Sydney go insane when they see me wearing it. Thames is back to his usual brooding.
Cairo doesn’t say anything when I hand him back his jersey at the end of the day, but he does smile at me.
I feel sad when it’s gone from my shoulders. It smelled like him, and I liked that. At least I still have his letter jacket.
“I’m going to the game tonight. Do you want to come?” Thames asks. I open my mouth, but before I can respond Thames says, “Don’t say no. I know you want to.”
I do. I really, really do. “Okay. Fine, let’s go.”
We pop by our usual spot to grab a pizza, then swing by the grocery store so I can get a jar of peanut butter and some plastic spoons. By that time, the game’s about to start.
Thames and I take a seat on the benches outside the field. Thames opens his leather jacket and shows me a few Budw
eisers he snuck in. He’s such a stereotypical bad boy, it’s unreal.
“I don’t drink,” I say. Haven’t touched a beer bottle since Eric, and probably never will again. “Don’t worry. I brought my own.” I hold up a small carton of milk I got at the grocery store when I was there.
“Nice.” Thames grins, then uncaps a beer with a bottle opener he’s got in his wallet. It unnerves me that he actually carries that around, but it’s not my business, so I eat my pizza with peanut butter and drink my milk without mentioning it.
Cairo enters the field along with the rest of the team, and the band strikes up. He looks so sexy in his football uniform. My heart skips a beat. For a second, he glances up into the stands and looks right at me.
Then he turns his attention back to the game.
I don’t like football very much, but I can’t keep my eyes off Cairo. My heart soars every time he throws a ball, sings whenever he scores a touchdown. I gasp when he gets tackled to the ground, even though I know he can probably take it. He gets right back up and plays like nothing happened.
I’d be sucked into the game, if Thames wasn’t drinking. I notice that it’s impossible to get Thames drunk. He’s on his sixth beer by the time halftime rolls around.
“Do you wanna stop anytime soon?” I ask, surly.
“Nope,” he states. He goes to take another swig before he finally notices it makes me uncomfortable. He’s so unobservant. He chucks the beer off the stands and goes to order a Coke from concessions instead.
It’s really cold out here. I’m sure it’s about to start snowing soon. I pull Cairo’s letter jacket around me and hope it warms up. As much as I want to see Cairo play, I can’t stay out here if the temperature keeps dropping.
Thames notices me shivering when he comes back. He sits next to me, and pulls me close. “Here.”
Thames wraps his arms around me. I instantly warm up, like I’m sitting right next to a fire. I lean against his chest and keep my eyes on Cairo. This is just a friend thing. It’s cool.
“Get some, Deacon!” a sophomore shouts out as he passes us.
“Fuck off, Malty,” Thames calls back at him. He keeps his arms wrapped around me and doesn’t move.
Cairo ends up making the winning pass, of course. When the game’s over, Thames uncoils his hold on me. I stand up and head down to the locker rooms. Thames doesn’t follow, just walks off. It’s like he knows I want to talk to Cairo alone. I already told him that I’d get a ride from Isolde. No offense, but I really don’t want to be riding in Thames’ truck if he’s been drinking. Not even if his weirdo supernatural powers make alcohol have no effect on him, because that’s what it seems like.
Cairo and some of the other football players are celebrating outside the field. I buck up the courage to walk through them, and they catcall as I go by. Some of them make obnoxious kissing noises when I get near Cairo.
“Hi!” Cairo looks winded from the game. His hair’s a mess, and his face is red, but damn, he just looks so darn cute. “Shove off, guys.”
He wards his friends away from me, who are still being gross, before giving me a sweaty, one-armed hug. “Did you see that last pass? It was insane!”
“I did. You really pulled it off for everybody.”
“It was a team effort,” he says. “I couldn’t have done it without my boys.”
I appreciate his modesty, but I don’t want to tell him that he’s really the reason we won. I’m not an expert on football, but even I know that our defense today was equal to the Detroit Lions. If we didn’t have Cairo, we’d have gotten slaughtered.
“Anyway,” he says. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Nervousness squeezes my insides. I feel like I’m going to throw up. I take a deep breath and say, “I know you said that we’d… be better off not talking to each other.” I use vague terms, because we’re in public and I don’t know how much his friends have guessed about him. “But I wanted to know if you’d still like to be friends? Just friends?”
He freezes. For a terrifying moment, it looks like he’s going to turn me down.
Then he smiles, and says, “Sure, Cassia. I’m down for that.”
“Really?” My insides stop being crushed to death and a huge grin lights up my face. “That’s awesome.”
“Yeah. We can hang out tomorrow, if you like. I’m free.”
Yes! I stuff down the squealing fan girl inside me and say, “That’d be cool. See you?”
“Sure. See ya.” Cairo gives me a superstar grin, and I try not to do backflips. I head out of there and call Isolde on my cell phone, trying to wipe the stupid grin off my face.
Lavonne, Sydney, and Emalee are clustered at the corner of the bleachers. Emalee looks pretty distracted talking to a band geek nearby, but Sydney and Lavonne have their heads pushed together and are whispering under their breath.
“Here she comes now!” Sydney exclaims when I pass. “Hail to the champion! She’s a force all women should aspire to be!”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, peering upward.
“We saw you!” Lavonne said. “You were cuddling with Thames during the game and went to Cairo immediately after it ended! Girl, you’re playing both sides!”
Am I? I suppose it must look that way to everyone else. It all seemed so innocent to me. I blink a few times and say, “I’m just trying to be friends with both of them.”
“Whatever you’re doing is working!” Sydney squeals. “Teach me your ways, O great one!”
“Stop.” I laugh. My cell pings to tell me Isolde has arrived. I wave the girls off and head to the parking lot to meet up with her.
“Did you have fun?” she asks as I hop in her car.
“Yeah,” I say. I’m sure half the school is gossiping about me right now. If the girls noticed Thames holding me and then me talking to Cairo, so did the rest of the class. This is a small town. Word gets around fast. By tomorrow everyone will have assumed I’ve slept with both of them.
I hope Thames and Cairo don’t hear the rumors and assume I’m playing with their emotions. If anything, I’m the one who feels like she’s had her feelings tampered with. Both guys have been yo-yoing me around since I got here with their endless secrets. I’m not toying with them. They’re toying with me.
Right?
It’s a Saturday, so I sleep in to try and kill some time. Isolde’s at work and I have no idea what time Cairo is going to text me, so I stay in bed until noon. I find myself constantly checking my phone to see if he’s called, and come up with nothing.
Maybe he’s not going to contact me at all. That would completely blow, but it wouldn’t be unusual. Guys forget to text girls all the time.
Right after lunch my cell phone goes off with a ping. I check it, and am happy to see that it’s from Cairo.
Hey. Mind if I pick you up in thirty?
My stomach bubbles with excitement. Sure, I text back. See you soon.
I put on some makeup and fiddle with my hair. I’m so aggravated with it by the time Cairo shows up that I’ve made myself ten times more nervous than I should be. But why am I nervous at all? We’re just hanging out. It isn’t a date.
“Hey.” Cairo smiles at me as I slide into his truck. “You look pretty.”
“Thank you.” I smile back, and hope it doesn’t look ugly. Cairo puts the car in gear, and drives away.
“We’re going to Thames’ place today,” he says as he turns out of my driveway. “Is that cool?”
“That’s fine.” Bummer. I was hoping I’d have Cairo all to myself. But I guess I should be happy that they’re trying to make up. Brothers shouldn’t fight. If I’ve got to sacrifice some private time with Cairo to help mend the family, I’m more than willing to.
Family’s more important than anything. That’s something I can only guess, because I haven’t had one of my own in a very long time.
When we get there, Thames is tossing a football back and forth between his hands in the front yard. “Ready to play?�
�� he asks with a boyish grin.
“You guys want me to play a game against you?” I say skeptically. “That’s going to go well. Scrawny little me against the two super humans.”
“I’ll be on your team,” Thames says, ignoring my comment. “We’ll take on Cairo.”
“Still isn’t fair,” I mumble under my breath. Cairo took down the entire opposing team last night practically by himself. I doubt Thames and I stand a chance.
Cairo takes one end of the yard and I take another, with Thames waiting for me to toss the ball to the imaginary end zone. I make a really crappy pass, and Thames fumbles the ball before managing to save it. Cairo tackles him to the ground almost instantly, in a charge that would take down a rhino.
Thames isn’t phased. He bounces up instantly. We run the pass again, until it’s time to switch and Thames is the one barreling into Cairo. Most of the game is me on the sidelines, watching as Thames and Cairo take down each other time after time. They’re enjoying themselves, and laughing. I wonder when the last time they did this was.
“Let’s switch,” Cairo says. “Thames, you pass. Cassia can catch.”
Thames makes a face, but doesn’t say anything. He goes to the other end of the yard and gets in position. He nods to me, and throws the ball.
Somehow, I manage to catch it. I sprint as fast as I can to the end zone. Cairo gives chase. Cairo’s toying with me. I know he can catch me, but he lets me get a couple of yards before he wraps his arms around my waist and goes rolling with me to the ground.
It feels just like it did when he caught me after I went flying off the motorcycle. I land on his soft body underneath. His lips nestle into my hair as he says, “I got you.”
Cairo’s muscular arms are tight and comforting. I try to wiggle out of them, but he only binds me tighter. “Cairo, let me go,” I say, laughing.
“What if I don’t want to?” he whispers.
I blush. Thames is staring at us. Cairo notices and lets me up, holding out a hand for me to grab. He lifts me off the ground, and Thames says, “Let’s do something else. There’s cosmic bowling at the alley today.”