Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One

by Karen Lynn Bennett

  When she got like this, it was better to just let her vent. It was a Ruthie bubble that just got bigger and bigger until it popped and then she could see everyone else again. But it didn’t bother me today.

  Dad’s car was in the driveway and I could smell a roast in the Crockpot as soon as I opened the front door. We’d starve to death without a Crockpot.

  “I’m home!” I yelled.

  Dad’s head popped out of his office. “Hey, how was school, honey?” He had a hopeful, yet veiled look on his face. Probably expecting the worst. He had been giving me some space since school started.

  “Not bad, really.”

  A smile spread across his face, relief pulling it wide. “That’s wonderful! Come on in and tell me all about it.”

  My breath hitched. Again, I didn’t want to rehash the last few days; they had been bizarre and wonderful and normal all at the same time. What did he expect me to say? It was school! How could I get out of this? My heavy backpack gave me an idea. I let it pull me over a little as if it were filled with rocks.

  “Actually, I don’t have time. The principal is shooting for a higher API score again. And the teachers all dumped on us already. I’ve gotta get started on it now, or I’ll never finish tonight.”

  “Oh, okay, honey. We’ll catch up later. Besides, I’m a little overloaded with work right now. Our project fell way behind and the bosses are screaming for miracles.” He sighed. “I may be in the office a lot tomorrow and next week.”

  “That’s okay, Dad. I’m going to be buried anyway, if the next week is anything like this one.” Not true, because frankly, my classes this year just weren’t that hard. But it got me out of talking about my day like kindergarten sharing time. Besides, I was glad Dad’s work was busy. Dad loved his job, which is why he wasn’t retired completely yet. And he was way good at it, too. That’s what Mom used to say. She would have seen right through me. I missed her right now. Dad must have noticed something in my face because he pulled me into a hug.

  “Love you, Tru Lee and always,” he whispered. He always said that as a little joke. My middle name is Lee. Yep, pretty lame.

  “Not breathing.” That was my little hint that I was ready for the hug to be over. He laughed and sent me off.

  Hours later, I jumped with a strangled gasp as Dad popped his head in and said “Good Night, Honey!”

  “Geez! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

  He chuckled. “Sorry, I thought you were studying.”

  “I was!” I gestured to the messy assortment of textbooks and paper across my desk.

  I ran my hands over my face, trying to shake off the sleep. One second I was sitting at my desk with my pre-calculus book cracked open, staring out my bedroom window at the wild tomato plants that had started by themselves from my mom’s old garden, and next I was almost falling out of my chair in fright.

  “Oh, pardon me!” he said gallantly. “That osmosis thing never worked for me. But better luck to you. And, sweet dreams!” Dad ducked out before I could toss a pillow his way.

  “Goodnight, Dad!” I yelled before turning back to my untidy desk.

  Bits of a dream swam around my mind. It hadn’t been scary. It was mostly a memory, I think. When I was a little girl, Mom and I planted a garden from seeds. I checked on the rounded rows of dirt almost hourly, impatiently waiting for them to sprout. Mom finally told me to leave them alone so they could sleep. So I decided to take a nap out there in the garden. I bedded down on some patio chair cushions with my fluffy toy dog and a blanket.

  When Dad picked me up to carry me into the house, he asked, “How’s my little gardener?”

  I said, “I said I’m no gardener, I’m a sleeper. I’m not sprouted yet.”

  Dad had laughed at that back then, just like he’d been laughing at me now. It was so surreal.

  Why had I remembered that? Had it really happened? The phrase “I’m a sleeper” kept repeating in my head, distracting me. Finally, I resorted to my headphones, the music blocking out annoying thoughts and allowing me to focus on homework. If luck was on my side, I’d get to sleep for real by midnight.

  Smooch

  Before I knew it, I was opening my eyes to Friday morning. For a moment, I felt something was amiss. Then I realized what it was—no nightmares! They had been plaguing me on and off this week. Fortunately they hadn’t been bad enough to wake Dad.

  I sent a heartfelt thank-you out into the great unknown to whomever or whatever had helped me, because I was really grateful for the uninterrupted night of sleep. Sure enough, the mirror reflected that sleep can really do miracles.

  Dad was already gone. He took off early so he wouldn’t be stuck in the traffic winding through the mountains toward Silicon Valley, where his office was located. It was a horrible commute. A Post-it note stuck to the front door:

  Have a great day, Tru! Lunch in the fridge! Love, Dad

  I smiled.

  Ruthie chatted all the way to school about lame little brothers and how late she stayed up to finish homework. She was still stuck in her bubble.

  School was uneventful, and I thought about Bobby all morning, wondering how he was feeling.

  By the time lunch rolled around, I eagerly made my way to our table, noticing Bobby at a new table talking with a group of kids. He looked a lot better and it made me smile as I speculated about which Isaac/Phoebe groupies would be invading today. Ruthie, Phoebe, and Isaac were already there. Val walked up at the same time as I did, squeezing in between the two girls. Ruthie seemed happy about it, but Phoebe gave him a glare that was totally wasted because he was all about Ruthie. Isaac pulled me down next to him, making me feel wanted, which warmed my heart just a little.

  “Hey there, Parker.”

  “Hey back,” I replied, knocking my shoulder into his arm. He looked awesome in his ratty jeans and white T-shirt. His curly hair stuck up all over the place. I smiled nervously.

  Phoebe glanced from Isaac and me to Ruthie and Val, distaste clear on her face.

  “Where’s Zander lately?” she asked. Everyone shrugged.

  “I don’t know,” I answered, although she hadn’t directed the question at anyone in particular.

  “Oh, here he comes,” she asserted, the sparkle back in her eyes. I sighed. Perfect. I’m not sure at what point I considered myself actually in the running to gain Zander’s attention. And I wasn’t sure if I even wanted it with all the girls drooling after him. It would be a constant battle.

  Isaac was in the middle of stuffing his face, but somehow he worked in a scowl at his sister. He sat up straighter and inched closer to me.

  I peeked in the direction of Phoebe’s gaze and locked on to Zander’s midnight blue eyes. But he was looking at Phoebe, preened at his attention. Although there was plenty of room next to me, he squeezed into the spot on the other side of Phoebe, even though Val protested and he and Ruthie had to shift down to make room. Phoebe smiled beautifully, her pearly white teeth sparkling, and scooted closer to me to give him some more space. He still sat closer to her.

  I felt like I had been slapped. I had no reason to expect him to cozy up to me, especially with Isaac next to me, but I still felt hurt. I ducked my head, but not before I saw Isaac throw Zander a look of dislike. What now? His sister couldn’t like someone?

  Why did my eyes feel all watery? How stupid was I? Seriously! I had Isaac’s undivided attention and half the quad of girls staring at me with jealousy. Well, they could be staring at Phoebe—there were all kinds of reasons to be jealous there, but— Gahhh! I was being dumb and immature and really emotional, just like a girl. Suck it up, Parker! That made me think of Isaac and our drama class. I really needed some of those acting skills right now. I could do this.

  I fixed a bored look on my face, straightened my spine, and thought: I don’t give a shirtless shanghaied shaman about what Zander thinks of me or whomever the freak he likes!

  Then I looked up and right into those stellar blues. My mask slipped just for a second beca
use he actually had a contrite expression on his face. What up?

  Phoebe struck up a conversation just for the two of them, obviously, because I could barely hear her. I turned to Isaac, who was swigging down his bottle of milk. He caught my look and lowered the bottle. I smiled because he was just so dopey-looking with that little milk mustache. Before he could read too much into my smile, I motioned to his upper lip and then his milk, but he just smiled wider. And then he leaned in and threatened to smooch me.

  I automatically jumped out of my seat, laughing, because he looked like he just might do it, but he had hold of my arm. I squealed, managing to slip free. Something about a girl running from a boy—boys were such dogs. It just always seems to make them chase you more. But running was a reflex I couldn’t change. I really didn’t want milk all over me. And, honestly, I wasn’t that comfortable with him laying one on me in front of my lunch table or the whole school. Unfortunately, as I passed one of the tables near the edge of the quad, Hugh Lawson snagged me, pulled my arms behind my back, and held me by the waist. I didn’t think things could get worse, but they did.

  “Hey, Isaac! Caught someone for you!” He laughed evilly. Isaac was on me in a second, grabbing me from Hugh’s arms. Ignoring my pleas, he laid one on me, milk and all. And it wasn’t bad, just weird because I knew everyone was staring. Hugh released me, cackling. The whole quad was laughing and pointing at me.

  I froze. This was way too much like my outcast memories of last year.

  Isaac caught on before anyone else noticed my freaked-out state. As quick as lightning, he threw me over his shoulder and hauled me around the nearest building. Plopping me down on the pavement against a wall of lockers, he crouched down to cradle my face. He wiped the milk from both of us.

  “Tru, I’m really, really sorry if that hurt you in any way. I was just having fun.”

  I knew that already, and I totally knew I was blowing things out of proportion. I smiled regretfully.

  “It’s okay. I don’t know what happened to me. It just felt a little like last year with everyone staring. Sorry.”

  “They weren’t really laughing at you, you know. It was just fun. I won’t be surprised if we’ve started something. At the very least, I bet more of them will be buying milk.”

  A laugh forced its way out of me. “Yeah, we could have been a commercial for milk.”

  He hooted, the sound booming down the corridor. “Hey. I’m going to go grab our stuff and be right back, okay? Unless you want to go back to the table?”

  “No, thanks. I’m fine here.”

  “K. Be right back.”

  I heard the cheers as he ran across the quad. Let the rumors begin, I thought. I was grateful for my shady corner, because it kept everyone on the edge of the quad from seeing me.

  So, my first kiss was in front of the whole school, and it was from the milky mouth of hottie Efoti. My conflicting thoughts turned to Zander. What had he thought of this? Was he thinking the same as half the guys out there and considering joining the milky mouth crowd, with Phoebe? Again, why did I care? He was into her and all her graceful beauty, and why shouldn’t he be?

  Seconds later, Isaac skidded over to me and sat down to finish his lunch. He distracted me with the gossip he had heard that morning. The rest of lunch flew by.

  Still feeling snubbed by Zander by the time English arrived, I prepared to write Zander off my list of acquaintances and determined to sit as far from him as possible.

  I pulled into class with time to spare and spotted an empty chair on the far left of class, near the windows. Zander didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight, but as I settled in, I heard Zena’s loud whisper.

  “He’s sooo hot!”

  A bevy of whispers followed.

  No need to look up. It had to be Zander. Please, please don’t sit behind me, I prayed. I buried my face in the textbook and sent up another desperate plea. Footsteps neared me, but I didn’t look up.

  A backpack thudded against the floor.

  “Hey, Tru.” Yes, Zander had picked the seat behind me. Why? There had to be at least eight other seats further away! I tried for a calming breath, but it came out ragged. I couldn’t ignore him. He would guess something was up, and then he would guess that I was into him. And that could NOT happen. Calm. Calm. Act normal, I counseled myself.

  I turned around with a fake smile plastered on my face.

  “Hi Zander!” I cringed at the higher pitch to my voice.

  He stared at me, eyebrows drawn together.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Great. He thought there was something wrong. And if he noticed that, then he’d wonder what it was, and then he’d rewind the day to lunch and realize the looks I gave him were pathetic and stalker-ish.

  “Yeah, sure!” I assured him. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, Zander!” breathed Zena. Speaking of stalkers, I thought. Looks like she’d packed up her backpack and moved closer to Zander. His jaw tightened.

  “Zena,” he said. And that’s all he said. It looked like he was bent on ignoring her the rest of class. I turned toward the front just as Mr. Mac welcomed the class.

  As soon as the bell rang, Zander was overwhelmed by Zena and her groupies. They actually shoved me out of the way as I stood up to collect my things. Wow. Being so irresistible was not what it was cracked up to be. I met Zander’s scowling eyes over the girls’ heads and shook my head at his frustration. Besides, why was he acting like he wanted to hang out all of a sudden? He was hot and cold and most certainly bad for me. I hurried out of class.

  Today it was just Ruthie and me on the way home. We stopped for frozen yogurt and I couldn’t resist telling her about Zander’s fan club attack. She choked on her water.

  I think I actually heard her self-absorbed bubble pop.

  “No way!”

  “Yep!”

  “That’s awesome. About time someone didn’t fall for her.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “he’s obviously into Phoebe, anyway. She could kick Zena’s butt, I think. Should get interesting.”

  “Huh? He likes Phoebe? Where did you hear that?”

  “Well, duh! Didn’t you see them at lunch?”

  “Lunch… Yeah…I was there… How did I miss it? What did you see?”

  “He sat by her, closely.” It sounded lame, but I knew I was right.

  “Oh yeah! Close sitting!” she said sarcastically. “That sure gave it away!” She snickered. “Really. Anyway, it’s not like he was chasing her down and kissing her in front of the whole school!” she sputtered. “That was awesome, by the way!”

  I blushed, fresh embarrassment washing over me.

  “I thought it was weird.”

  “Seriously? Believe me, your reputation score went up about fifty points with that stunt, especially when he went all caveman and dragged you off to a dark corner. Ahhh! Young love.” She sighed loudly.

  “No, really it wasn’t like that. At least not for me.”

  “Girlfriend, you are being handed a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. After last year, you need this kind of cred. Isaac is way up there on the popular scale—big points for you—and he’s bringing you up there with him. This is what I was talking about before! No one is going to remember last year after a few more episodes in the Isaac and Tru series. And the more public, the faster this is going to happen. Seriously, you are so lucky! It’s like you have your own guardian angel/cupid working for you. It’s a beautiful thing. Man! I love this stuff!” She dipped her spoon into her marshmallow-covered chocolate yogurt and licked it clean, ecstasy causing her eyeballs to roll backward.

  I giggled. She was so over the top, I couldn’t stay worried. I pushed that guilty feeling into a corner and ignored it. So, Zander was out and Isaac was in. Moving on. Why did my stomach start to ache?

  New Friends

  I woke Saturday morning exhausted. Another night of dreaming. But I didn’t remember much. Just bits and pieces. Back to the cavemen people. Something about families attacking one a
nother, a woman with seven wolves howling around her, and glowing red eyes. It was just creepy. No wonder I slept poorly.

  I decided to make Dad breakfast for a change, so I hustled into the kitchen in my PJs and took out some bacon and hash browns. I got those started before mixing up the eggs. The tediousness of my actions was soothing and soon erased the eerie feeling from my dreams. It didn’t take long for Dad to smell the food. Waking up to bacon was the best.

  Dad and I spent the day cleaning and sprucing up the place. It was long overdue and we rewarded ourselves with pizza and a movie that night. It felt nice, normal. No school drama, no boy problems, and no strange wolf appearances. For the first time since Mom died, it seemed that our life would, indeed, get better. This was us moving on. It was sad but hopeful. I decided it was a good thing. I thought about Bobby and hoped that he was doing okay. He sure seemed happier at school yesterday.

  I spent the next day completing all my homework and talking to Ruthie on the phone. She filled me in on the latest horrors of having younger brothers and parents who make you do chores for gas money. All I could do was shake my head and listen. She promised chocolate cupcakes for being such a great friend. That was probably the 100th time she’d said that, and no cupcakes had appeared as of yet. Someday, I was going to receive a houseful of them all at the same time, or so I could dream.

  The best part of the weekend was the call I got from Bobby. I don’t know how he got my number, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear his voice. He wanted to thank me for urging him to visit his brother. His brother had just started a different high school and he hated it. He had been super happy to hear from his big brother, and they hung out all weekend. I could have sworn Bobby got choked up talking about it, and it made me all warm inside when I realized I had really helped him.