by Brea Essex
“Well, you had better call Mom! I’m not going to be the one responsible for explaining why you cut school and are coming home with some boy she doesn’t know.” Now she sounded more like herself.
“Don’t worry. I’m going to call her right now,” I reassured her.
“Okay. I’ll see you at home.” She clicked off without saying goodbye.
I sighed. Logan walked toward me, clutching a long strip of tickets in his hand. “I guess I’d better call Genevra and try to explain.”
He smirked at me. “I guess you should. Good luck.”
I tapped the entry in my phone marked “home.” “What’s wrong, Raena? Why are you calling while you’re at school? Did something happen?” Genevra sounded a little paranoid, but after the incident yesterday, I couldn’t blame her. She didn’t even know the half of it. I felt pretty paranoid myself.
“I’m okay,” I told her. “At least, I am now.”
“What happened?”
I took a deep breath and launched into my explanation. “Well, when I got to school, I went to my locker. Andrei had broken into it somehow and left a threatening note. He said he’d be waiting for me after school.”
“What? He’s threatening you? I’m calling the police! What’s his last name? Do you know where he lives?” Genevra asked, seemingly in one breath.
“He lives near the university. Genevra, I’m scared,” I whispered.
“We’re going to get this taken care of, Rae. Don’t worry. Now, I want you to have someone escort you and Tanis to the parking lot after school. Better yet, I’ll come pick you girls up. Shane and I can drive back to the school later and pick up the car.”
“I’m not at school,” I admitted.
“What?” Her voice went up an octave. “What do you mean, you’re not at school?”
“I was scared. I had to get out of there! I was afraid he would hurt me again.”
“Again? When did he hurt you before? Where are you? How did you leave the school? Are you with someone?” she demanded.
“Andrei showed up at the school the other day, and when I tried to get him to leave, he grabbed my wrist. He followed Tanis and me home from school, and when I tried to get away, he grabbed me again.”
“That’s it! We’re filing a restraining order. But you still didn’t tell me where you are or who you’re with.”
“I’m at the Boardwalk. I’m with Logan,” I told her.
“Who on earth is Logan?”
“I go to school with him. He’s in all my classes. He saved me from Andrei the other day. He got me out of school today.”
“I want you to come home, Raena. Right now. We’ll call the police, and then we will discuss your punishment for skipping school.”
“But Genevra…!” I protested.
“Raena…” She sighed. “I understand you were scared. I know you felt like you had to get out of there, but I just can’t let you cut school without doing anything. Now get home!” She clicked off.
“Was she upset? Do I need to take you home now?” Logan asked.
“Yes. I’m so sorry. I know you just bought all those tickets. I feel terrible.”
“Don’t,” he told me. “Did you have fun today?”
“Definitely,” I answered.
“That’s all that matters. Don’t worry about the tickets. We can use them another time. Now, let’s get you home.” He slung an arm across my shoulders as we walked back to the car.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“I’m going to teach you how to drive,” Logan announced when we reached his car.
“What?” I asked.
“You need to learn how to drive, Rae. Why don’t you let me teach you?” he insisted.
“Do we have to do this now?”
“Why not? It’s not hard. I’m sure you’ll learn in no time.”
“I guess so,” I agreed hesitantly.
He opened the driver’s side door and gestured for me to get in. “Logan, I’m not too sure about this,” I told him before he closed the door.
“I don’t want you to be stuck at home with no way out if Andrei shows up there,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t be there all the time.”
“Point taken. Okay, let’s give this a try.”
Logan shut the door and walked around to the other side of the car. He climbed into the passenger seat and handed me the key. I stuck it in the ignition and turned it. Nothing happened. “Why won’t it start? Is the battery dead?”
He laughed. “Haven’t you ever driven a manual before?”
I gave him a withering look. “No, I haven’t driven a manual before. I’ve never driven a car before. That’s why you’re teaching me.”
That smirk of his showed again. “All right. The first pedal on the left is your clutch. You need to push it all the way to the floor. Put your right foot on the brake…”
He proceeded to show me each gear and how to shift. After several difficult trips around the parking lot, I stopped the car and threw my hands up in surrender. “I don’t think I can do this!”
“I know you can. You just need more practice,” he reassured me.
I shut the car off and stared at him. “Can’t we finish this some other time?” I asked. “Genevra told me to get home right away. I don’t want to be in any more trouble than I already am.”
“All right.” He sighed and opened his door. We switched places, and he started the car and headed for my house.
“So, what do you think Genevra will do when you get home?” Logan asked as he drove.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “She said something about calling the police and filing a restraining order against Andrei. I don’t know how much help they’re going to be. As to what she’s going to do to me, I’m not sure.”
“For some reason, I don’t think a restraining order is going to do much to stop Andrei,” Logan told me.
I sighed deeply. “Yeah, I get that feeling too. But what else can we do?”
“I don’t know yet. But we will figure something out.” He reached for my hand and fell silent for a moment. “They’re going to hate me now, aren’t they?”
“Who?” I had no idea what he meant.
“Your parents. They’re going to hate me for letting you cut school. Actually, it was my idea for you to skip out on your classes, so they’re going to hate me for that and for running away with you to the Boardwalk.”
I liked the idea of running away with him, but I had to correct him. “First of all, they’re not my parents. They’re my foster parents, my guardians, whatever you want to call them. Second, they aren’t going to hate you. It just might take a while for them to warm up to you. I should have thought about this sooner. It isn’t exactly the best first impression. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. Actually, I wasn’t thinking about it at all because I didn’t think you liked me.”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. “I didn’t think I could be more obvious!” He laughed. “Raena, please don’t ever doubt my feelings for you. I meant what I said earlier.” His voice dropped a little. “I am definitely falling for you.”
I smiled and fell silent. I didn’t know what to say. I had already told him how I felt and that should be enough for now, right?
We pulled up in front of my house, and Logan shut off the car. He stared at me nervously. “I feel as though I should walk you inside. I don’t want to leave you to face the firing squad by yourself.”
I laughed at him. “I’ll be fine. I can face the music by myself.” I hesitated a moment, and then blurted, “But I want you to walk me inside.” I ducked my head and blushed, as I did so often when embarrassed.
“I’m glad. Let’s get you in there before you get into even more trouble!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
As we got out of the car, I saw the curtains flutter. Genevra generally wasn’t one to spy, but she’d definitely been watching for me to arrive home.
The door was already unlocked, so we just walked inside.
“Genevra, I’m home!” I called.
She appeared from the living room, followed by Nuada. “What took you so long?” She stopped when she saw Logan standing in the foyer beside me. “Ah. You must be Logan.” She extended her hand to him.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs…?” He trailed off uncertainly.
“Deville,” she supplied. “But you can call me Genevra.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Genevra.” He shook her hand. “You have a beautiful home.” He somehow managed to sound genuine, despite the cliché compliment.
“Why, thank you!” She looked at me and mouthed, I like this boy! I just shook my head. Sometimes, she didn’t act mom-like.
I glanced down at Nuada, who wove her way around Logan’s legs in a figure-eight formation. Her purr rumbled like a motorboat, audible to all of us.
“Now that doesn’t happen often,” I stated.
“What do you mean?” Logan asked.
“She doesn’t usually take to people so easily. She reacted this same way to me, but it takes her a little while to warm up to everyone else.”
“I guess I’m just good with cats,” he said.
“Now then,” Genevra broke in, folding her arms across her chest. She was suddenly all business. “Do either of you care to explain what happened to cause you to skip school today?”
I opened my mouth to start to explain—again—but Logan cut me off. “It was my idea, Mrs. Deville. I mean, Genevra. I’m sorry.”
She gave him a strange look. “You don’t need to take responsibility for her actions, Logan.”
“No, it was my idea. As soon as I saw the note from Andrei, I had to take her out of there. I’m sorry. It may have been bad judgment on my part, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do at the moment. It was just my split-second reaction. I couldn’t let him hurt her again.”
Genevra sighed. “Well, I appreciate you trying to protect her. I would prefer if you didn’t pull her out of school anymore. At least call here if something happens, and we will all figure out what to do together.” He nodded in agreement. Genevra then turned to me. “Okay, Raena, I won’t punish you this time, but I don’t want to see this happen again.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “I understand you’re scared. This whole thing worries me, too. We need to call the police. Do you have the note?”
“I think so,” I told her. “I shredded the first one, the one with the flowers, but it wasn’t threatening. I think I stuck the one from today in my school bag somewhere.”
“Okay, I want to look at it before we call the police. Do you know his last name?”
I thought about it for a minute. “Yes, actually I do! It’s Petrov.”
“Perfect. That will help when we file the report with the police. I’m going to go pick up Tanis from school. If Andrei is there waiting for you, I don’t want him harassing her.” She looked at Logan. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”
He glanced at me. “Is it okay with you?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know,” he responded. “I just wanted to be sure. Yes, Genevra, I’d like that a lot. Just let me call my parents.”
“Do they know you weren’t in school today?” she wanted to know.
“I haven’t told them, but I will right now.”
She sighed. “Maybe I should talk to them. I don’t want you to get in trouble because you were protecting Raena. Maybe if the explanation comes from another mom, they will be more lenient with you.”
“It’s okay. I’ll explain what happened. They’ll understand.”
“All right. Well, I’d better go. I want to be there well before Tanis gets out. Can I trust the two of you to be here alone?” she asked pointedly.
I blushed. “Of course. Don’t worry about it.”
She hesitated. “Maybe I should have both of you come with me.”
“Wasn’t the whole point in this to try and keep me away from the school in case Andrei shows up there?” I pointed out.
“That’s true,” she conceded. “Well, I want you two to stay downstairs in the kitchen. Raena, would you mind starting dinner?”
“No problem,” I said obediently. If it would give me more time with Logan, I wouldn’t argue.
Logan and I wandered into the kitchen as Genevra walked out the front door, locking it behind her. He took a seat on one of the counter stools as I started pulling ingredients out of the fridge.
“What are you going to make?” he inquired.
“I think I’ll make lasagna, if it’s okay with you. It’s one meal we can all agree on. Plus, I can make one veggie so I don’t have to worry about them trying to force meat on me.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Lasagna is fine. I didn’t realize you were a vegetarian, though.”
“Yes, I am. Is that a problem?” I asked.
“No, of course it’s not. It’s just something I didn’t know about you.”
I put ground beef in a bowl and popped it in the microwave to defrost, trying not to touch the raw meat—it grossed me out. I pulled out a big pot and filled it with water, putting it on the stove to boil so I could cook the noodles. “There’s probably a lot of things you don’t know about me,” I told him as I worked.
“That’s true,” he admitted. “So, Genevra and…Shane, right? They’re your foster parents?”
Trust him to dive right into the difficult questions. “Yes, they are. My mom died. Genevra was my mom’s best friend forever, so I ended up here.”
“And you’re not happy about it.” It wasn’t a question.
I glanced at him shyly. “I am now.”
He grinned at me. “What about your father?”
“I’ve never met him. I don’t know who he is or where he is. My mother left him before I was born.”
“Do you know why?”
“No. I never asked, and she never volunteered. Genevra might know, but it’s not important.”
“I think it’s important to know where you come from,” he told me. “I’d love to meet my real parents someday.”
That startled me. “You’re a foster child too?”
“No, I’m adopted. My mom told me they found me on their doorstep one morning when I was a baby. There was a note, just asking them to take care of me.”
“Have you ever tried to find your real parents?”
“No, but there’s not much I can do until I turn eighteen. My adoptive parents are supportive of it, though. They’d like to know where I came from, too.”
He fell quiet, and I chose to let the subject drop.
My phone chimed, cutting through the silence, and announcing a text from Cady. Where were U today? What time R U gonna be here? R U gonna bring that guy?
Oh great. I had forgotten about Cady’s birthday party! Also, I hadn’t even bothered to explain to her about the Andrei drama. She was going to kill me.
“Who is it?” Logan wanted to know. “It’s not Andrei, is it?”
“No, it’s not Andrei,” I reassured him. “It’s just Cady.”
He seemed relieved. “So, uh, what did she have to say? He didn’t show up at school looking for you, did he?”
“She didn’t say. But it looks like we have a party to go to tonight.”
“Huh? What party?”
“It’s Cady’s birthday. I forgot, like an idiot, but she’s expecting me to be there. Will you go with me?” I asked.
“Seriously, Raena? With all that’s going on, you want to go to a party? I thought you would have more sense than that.”
“Well, it looks like your jerk side is coming out again. If you’re not going to go with me, then just get out. I have enough to worry about with the Andrei drama, without having to deal with you insulting my intelligence,” I told him. “You know where the door is. I’ll see you in school tomorrow.” I turned my back to him and picked up my phone to text Cady back.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! How did this turn into an argument? This isn’t over.”
He strode over
to where I stood. “Calm down, please. You’re overreacting. First of all, I didn’t mean to insult you or upset you. I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m just asking you to think about this logically. You’re in danger. You’re hiding from this guy. You shouldn’t leave your house.”
“Maybe I overreacted,” I admitted. “But I don’t like to be told what to do. Cady’s expecting me to be there. I’ve been a serious failure as a friend lately. I need to make it up to her. Going to her party is the best way to do that.”
“What if Andrei shows up?”
“Well, he doesn’t know where she lives.”
“How do you know he isn’t staking out your house right now, just waiting for you to go outside?”
“I think you’re being paranoid, Logan.” I didn’t want to think about the possibility of Andrei hiding in my bushes or parked in a car across the street from my house.
“No, I’m being realistic. He somehow figured out where your locker was at school and got into it without breaking it. Who’s to say he doesn’t have some way to find out where Cady lives?”
I had to admit, he did sound pretty logical. “Well, it’s a possibility, but I guess it’s a risk I’m going to have to take.”
“And what if he does show up?”
“Then you can protect me. You are going with me, aren’t you?”
Logan sighed heavily. “Of course I’m going with you. I can’t let you risk yourself unprotected. I have to protect you, even when you’re being unsafe.” He grinned at me.
I chose not to respond. I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. I knew he was right. I’d be insane to leave the relative safety of the house. Andrei could be lurking anywhere, and he could follow me wherever I went. At least Logan would be with me. I felt confident he could protect me from whatever Andrei might throw our way.
“All right,” I said. “Let me just text Cady. She’s going to be surprised when I show up with you.”
I picked up my phone. What time do you want me there? I sent. I hate text speak. It drives me crazy. It also drives Cady crazy that I insist upon spelling everything out.