“Oh,” all three girls said at the same time.
“What?” I asked.
Paige shrugged. “It's just that . . . you seem a little different. Like this is all new to you. Being homeschooled explains it.”
I guessed I wasn't fitting in as well as I'd hoped.
Ashley grabbed Paige's arm. “There he is.”
I turned to see where she was looking. Bram entered the doors of the cafeteria. He didn't look like I felt, out of place. He looked around the cafeteria confidently, with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“That's my brother,” I muttered before they could say anything inappropriate.
Ashley gasped. “No way. I guess I see the resemblance. Call him over.”
I didn't really want to do that, but I want to give them any more reasons to think I was weird. “Bram!” I yelled, waving.
He spotted me and lumbered over. “What's up, Sis?”
“Nothing. Just eating,” I answered. Roxy cleared her throat. “Oh, this is Roxy, Ashley, Paige, and Hunter.”
Bram nodded at them. “Nice to meet you guys.”
The girls stared at my brother as if he was some kind of celebrity. I couldn't believe it. Even here, Bram still had the touch.
Hunter was too busy shoveling mashed potatoes in his mouth to notice.
“Nay, have you seen Dorian?” Bram asked.
That was a good question. I should have been looking for my little brother, making sure he was adjusting well, instead of eating and making friends.
I looked around the cafeteria. He and Josh were huddled over trays of food at a table in the back. “There he is.”
“See you guys around,” Bram said, heading in Dorian's direction.
I spent the rest of lunchtime listening to the girls talk about people at school who I knew nothing about. I didn't want to know anything about them. It would be easier not to know.
The bell rang.
“Do you know where your next class is?” Hunter asked. I didn't. “I'll walk you.”
I had Language Arts next with Mr. Mayer. I followed Hunter down a hallway to a room at the end.
“Here you are, Snowflake.”
“Snowflake?”
“Yeah, I think I'll call you that. It fits.” Hunter had dimples that reminded me of Chase, but Hunter had blond hair and hazel eyes.
I already missed Chase dearly. “Why does Snowflake fit?”
“Because snowflakes are . . .”
I waited for the sweet, poetic thing he was going to say. They were beautiful. They were unique. They were delicate.
“Because snowflakes are white. Enjoy your class.”
I sighed and entered the classroom to endure another meaningless hour.
Chapter 13
We were supposed to meet Bram at the vehicle after school. Dorian was babbling about some physical science class. He said that was the only thing good about his first day.
The air was humid and muggy, making me miss the constant chill of Nowhere. I put my shades on and pulled my hood over my head. We were outside, so I figured it was okay. If Bram was going to have us waiting in the searing sun, it couldn't be helped. We could have used our Grimbilities—which would allow us to transport ourselves inside the vehicle—but it was too risky with so many kids around.
Finally, he came strolling out of the main building with a satisfied smirk on his face. No backpack, no books—just his keys, which he tossed from hand to hand.
“Where've you been?” I demanded as he approached. “We've been waiting here for like twenty minutes.”
“Hey, I had to pry the ladies off of me. I can't help that I have a magnetic personality.” He unlocked the car, and we climbed inside. I was thankful for the tinted windows.
The ride home was just as bumpy as the ride to school. I was happy I hadn't eaten a huge lunch. I would have gotten carsick.
We had no idea where we were going. The GPS provided instructions to our temporary home. We rode through typical suburban neighborhoods into an area that was unpopulated. There were a few houses, but they were separated by large portions of empty land. I calculated that we were about thirty-five minutes away from the school.
As we drove, the houses got farther and farther apart. After a while, there was nothing. The GPS told us to make a right, and we turned into the driveway of a nice-looking red-bricked house hidden among tall trees.
A black sedan sat in the driveway. Keira and Josh were already there. Keira had been provided her own transportation. I hoped she was a better driver than Bram.
We pulled our luggage from the back compartment and headed inside.
Josh greeted us at the door. “Welcome to our humble abode.”
The place was nice. It was smaller than our home in Nowhere, but it was cute and cozy and free of adults. The living room was spacious, decorated with brown leather furniture and tan and orange accessories.
Keira came down the carpeted stairs. Her hoodie was gone; she only wore a tank top, revealing how well-endowed she was. I zipped up my hoodie, despite the heat. “It's a little warm,” Keira said, “but I've turned the air down as far as it could go.”
We Grims were accustomed to coolness. School had been fine, but the house was hot and stuffy, as if no one had lived there for a long time. “There are three bedrooms upstairs. I figured Josh and Dorian could share, I could share with Naomi, and Bram could have his own room because . . . who would want to room with Bram?”
Bram rolled his eyes. “I call the single room since I'm the oldest and in charge,” he declared as if someone was challenging him.
“What about dinner?” Keira asked him.
“What about it? That's you and Nay's department.”
Putting my insecurities aside, I removed my hoodie. The air was taking a while to kick on. “Excuse me. Why is that our department?”
“Because you’re women,” Bram answered, as if I'd asked the stupidest question in the world.
Keira put her hands on her hips, which was not a good sign for Bram. “Listen, this is how this is going to happen: We’re all going to take turns cooking. We’re all going to share the cleaning, dishes, laundry—everything. There’s no food in this house. You're in charge, so get to the grocery store.”
“B-but,” Bram stammered. “I don't know how to grocery shop.”
Keira folded her arms across her chest. “Figure it out. You want to be in charge, you get all the responsibility that comes with it. Now get going.”
Frowning, Bram backed up. I admired Keira for being the only one who could make Bram do anything. He listened to her better than he listened to Father. “Where's the grocery store?”
Keira turned Bram around and pushed him gently toward the door. “The GPS will take you wherever you need to go. Buh-bye.”
I couldn't help but chuckle. With Bram gone, we chose our bedrooms and unpacked. We let the boys have the room with the twin beds. We left Bram the small bedroom off the right of the staircase, and Keira and I claimed the master bedroom.
The room wasn't our style at all. Everything was white and lavender and way too bright, but it would do temporarily. A small desk sat in front of the window. Two matching dressers stood against either wall, and identical nightstands sat at both sides of the bed. A flat-screened television was mounted on the wall. We hung the few clothes we had in the closet and stuffed the drawers with tank tops and underwear. Since we hadn't packed much, it was more than enough room.
“We need to shop for some clothes,” I said.
“Yeah,” Keira agreed. “We can go tomorrow after school.”
Bram came back an hour later, and it turned out he wasn't lying about not knowing how to grocery shop. He brought back bags filled with bagels, Twinkies, Dr. Pepper, Twizzlers, crackers, Oreos, five different kinds of cheeses, pita bread, and tomato sauce. At least he had remembered some necessities like soap and dishwashing liquid.
“Not one vegetable. How do you expect us to live off of this junk?” Keira asked as we unpac
ked the bags.
“Hey, I warned you,” Bram said as he settled on the living room couch and turned the television on.
Keira said she could figure out something to do with the cheese, pita bread, and tomato sauce, but made it known that she would not be cooking for the next few days.
Josh and Dorian joined Bram in front of the television and quickly became engrossed in some show about vampires. I stood at the kitchen counter, helping Keira slice the cheese.
Keira opened the jar of tomato sauce. “See, this is exactly what I don't want to happen. I'm not going to be waiting on them hand and foot.”
“Don't you guys have homework?” I called into the living room. In Nowhere, we did our studies and then the rest of the day was ours. In Human high school, students did their studies and then came home and did more work. It didn't seem fair.
“Who cares about homework?” Josh yelled. “What are they going to do? Flunk us?”
I sighed. He had a point.
After twenty minutes, dinner was ready, if you can call pizza pitas dinner. Keira had done a great job, considering what she had to work with.
It took almost another twenty minutes to pry the boys away from the television. It was easy to see how Humans got addicted to the device.
Finally, the five of us sat around the small dining room table. Silently, we munched on the pita pizzas that we washed down with Dr. Pepper.
I tried to think of what Mother would do in this situation. “So, let's go around the table and talk about our first day. I'll go first. I was pretty nervous in the beginning, but everything was okay. Keira and I have a class together. I met a few nice kids. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. How about you, Josh?”
Josh shrugged. “It was okay, I guess. The kids ignored me. I don’t know if that was a good thing or not. A couple of the classes were interesting. That's it.”
“Don't worry, man,” Bram said. “You don't need friends. You got us.”
“Bram, how was your day?” Keira asked.
“It was awesome, actually. I'm like the mysterious, dangerous guy. Girls were practically throwing themselves at me.”
I noticed Keira shift in her seat.
“If I was Human, I could have any girl I chose.”
“But you're not Human,” Keira said bitterly. “So be careful.”
“I'm not an idiot—” Bram was cut off by the tinkling sound of his cell. “It's a text from Doyle.” He paused to read it. “He's coming by tonight to see how our first day was and how we're settling in.”
We cleaned the kitchen, showered, and prepared for bed. I had just slid into a black nightshirt when the doorbell rang. I heard Dorian let Doyle in. The rest of us ran down and gathered in the living room.
“How do you all like the place?” Doyle asked.
“It's adequate,” Bram answered.
“Remember, no Humans are allowed,” Doyle reminded us.
Dorian flipped through his chemistry book. “What would happen if a Human came here?”
Doyle took out his tablet. “Just don't bring them here. That's all you need to know. How was your first day?”
We told him the mundane things about school, but Keira and I had left out an important detail during dinner.
“After one of our classes, Naomi and I saw a girl with the glow,” Keira said.
Doyle stroked his chin and smiled slyly. “Is that so? That means it will happen soon.”
“Hopefully so we can go home.” Dorian muttered, making me believe something had happened that he had left out.
“I know it's only been one day, but has anyone made connections with someone who could be involved in the upcoming attack?” Doyle asked.
We shook our heads.
Doyle made a note of that on his tablet. “Well, it seems as if all is well and you have settled in nicely. Remember the rules and keep your eyes open.” He stood with his briefcase. “Call me anytime you need to.”
Bram walked him to the door.
“All right kids, time to hit the sack,” Bram said when he returned, sounding like Father.
Obediently, we headed upstairs. I think we were all too exhausted to fight with him. At the top of the stairs, I turned around to see what he was doing. He had turned the TV on and lain across the couch.
Chapter 14
The second day went a lot more smoothly. The morning would have been perfect if not for Morgan, the ever-cheerful new-student liaison.
“Where were you yesterday? I was looking everywhere for you,” she said, pouting.
“Oh, I was looking everywhere for you, too. I got so turned around, and I just couldn't find that darn staircase.”
She looked for a second like she didn't believe me, and then her expression softened. “I understand. The layout of this school can be very tricky. Is there anything I can help you with? Getting a student ID? Joining a school club?”
Joining a club? “No, thank you. I'm good for now,” I said, patting her on the shoulder, and I headed for my next class.
I sat with Roxy, Hunter, Paige, and Ashley again, eating the same unhealthy lunch as the day before. Hunter sat next to me. The light smell of his cologne tickled my nose. Once his arm brushed against mine, and I couldn't help but smile.
“What do you do after school?” Paige asked.
“Go home.”
“You should come watch our dance team practice,” Roxy offered.
I took a swig of Coke. “Dance team? You're like, cheerleaders?”
Ashley shook her head. “No, no, no. We're better than cheerleaders. We have an awesome team, number one in the region. You should come watch, maybe you'll like it. They're holding tryouts for next year's team next month.”
That comment stabbed my heart. I looked around the cafeteria. It was quite possible several of these kids wouldn't be here next year, or next week, for that matter. I shouldn't have cared about that, but I did.
“Okay,” I answered. If I was only going to be at Kennedy High for a short time, I might as well take full advantage of the experience.
“You'd make a cute Viking girl,” Hunter said.
Vikings were the school mascot. “Thanks,” I replied, hoping my cheeks weren't turning red.
After school, I met the girls in the gym, and they showed me where to sit to watch them from the bleachers. I looked through the poetry section of my language arts book while the team changed.
Keira came through the gym's double doors. “What are you doing in here? I sent Josh with Bram and Dorian so we could go shop.”
“Who's this?” Ashley asked. She had emerged from the locker room wearing tiny black shorts and a T-shirt with the school's logo on it. Roxy and Paige stood behind her.
“Oh, this is my friend Keira.” I waited for Keira to greet the girls, but she didn't.
“Let's go,” she ordered.
“Wow, bossy,” Paige said. “Are you her mom or something?”
Keira ignored her. “Naomi.”
I sighed and grabbed my backpack. “I'm sorry. I forgot we had plans. Maybe I can watch tomorrow.”
The girls looked at me strangely, but said nothing. Their coach blew the whistle for them to hit the floor.
Keira stormed ahead of me as if she was upset. I was confused, because I was the one who should have been angry with her.
“You know you totally embarrassed me back there,” I said as I followed her through the hallway toward the parking lot.
“Well, excuse me for trying to keep you from messing up.”
“What are you talking about?”
Keira stopped walking and looked at me. “You're doing the same thing you always do. Getting involved. You're becoming friends with those girls.”
“I'm doing what Dunningham told us to do.”
“No, we're supposed to observe. Talk to them. Get information. Keep it simple and basic. You haven't been with anyone but those girls since we came here. You're going to get emotionally attached, and no good could come from that. Come on.�
��
I followed her, but only because she was my ride. I was getting pretty tired of my best friend telling me what to do. “I really wish you'd stop treating me like a child. I'm not your kid sister.”
“Yeah? Well, don't act like a kid, and I won't treat you like one.”
“Keira, you need to lighten up. We can have some fun while we're here. That's not against the rules.” I wondered how someone who was only four months older than me managed to act like my mother.
* * *
I had only been to a mall twice before. We had places to shop in Nowhere, but they were mostly strips of stores and boutiques—not gigantic indoor malls.
Keira hadn't talked to me the entire drive, and that was fine because I had nothing to say to her. At least she was a better driver than Bram.
She walked ahead of me. I looked for stores that carried teenage fashions.
I spotted a store with fashionably dressed mannequins in the window. They wore the kinds of clothes we needed. “What about this store?” I asked, breaking the silence.
Keira nodded, and we went inside. Shopping and trying on clothes seemed to be what we needed to start talking once again. When we were done, we'd each bought several pairs of blue jeans and different colored tees and frilly tops to wear with them.
At home, we found the boys staring at the television, looking like zombies.
Bram had decided to cook that night, although I wouldn't consider making cheese and cracker sandwiches cooking.
We had been having a nice dinner conversation until Keira decided to spoil it. “Do you know that your sister is making friends with some girls—like real friends?”
“It's only been two days. I'm not friends with anyone,” I said defensively.
“But you want to be,” Keira said.
I did want to be their friend. I liked the girls. I liked Hunter even more.
Bram narrowed his eyes at me. “What did I tell you, Naomi? Keep your head in the game. Who is she hanging out with?” he asked Keira as if I wasn't even there.
“Popular girls. Girls on the dance team. The kind of kids Doyle told us to stay away from because observing them would be a waste of time.”
Naomi Grim: The Final Breath Chronicles Book One Page 9