by Tim Mettey
**
That night, Cora and I went to Riley and Genevieve’s house for dinner, which was becoming normal. The four of us were seated around their table. Cora, Riley and I were discussing what took place with the bus. Genevieve was just listening. She and I hadn’t spoken to each other since the quarry party when I yelled at her.
“Cora, what do you think?” Riley asked.
“Well, I’m not really sure. I personally love Elle, but Bryce seems pretty nice from what Nicholas has told me.”
“I don’t care for either of them,” Genevieve said, breaking her silence. “I thought we were supposed to be drawn to them as the three of us were drawn together, but I don’t feel anything for either of them. I have stronger feelings toward Cora, and that’s not saying much.” She grinned and crossed her arms.
“Genevieve, you know it’s a gradual thing. You said the same thing when we started looking for Nicholas,” Riley said.
“Nicholas, what do you think?” Riley asked, turning his attention to me.
“I am drawn to Elle for obvious reasons,” I said. Genevieve coughed. I pretended like she wasn’t there. I didn’t feel like getting drawn into another childish argument with her. “And Bryce has become a pretty good friend, so I’m not sure. I did try to see if Elle had the bad dreams that we get when we begin to get our talents, but she has learned to block them out, so I didn’t get much further. Is there a possibility that neither one of them is the 4th?” I asked.
“Of course, but it seems most likely that one of them is. On a different note, Cora, if it’s okay with you, I would like for you and Nicholas to stay here all day on Saturday. With it being October 10th, the six-year anniversary of the earthquake, I don’t want to take any chances. Genevieve and I were there last year at the graveyard,” Riley said.
“Wait a minute. You were watching me at my parents’ graves?” I asked, feeling violated. They had intruded on another private moment.
“Yes, we were in the cemetery, but we weren’t that close to you. We pretended to be cemetery workers putting flags on the graves. One minute you were there and the next you were getting into the truck, leaving in a rush.”
Before I had a chance to say anything more about it, Cora took over the conversation, protecting me from reliving those feelings again.
“We can’t come over on Saturday; we’re having company that day. Chase has been trying to come visit us for some time now, but I have been putting him off. He finally said he was coming this weekend whether we wanted him to or not, so I agreed to it.”
Riley’s mood changed dramatically. He looked upset, on the verge of anger. Lines appeared on his forehead and his fists balled up on the table. This surprised me, because he never showed much emotion.
“Fine,” he said. “We will be here at the house if you need us, and please remember to be careful and don’t trust anyone.” He looked right at Cora.