Ruthie had set a new ringtone for me today with a secretive laugh and said it was a surprise. I was so busy thinking about my problems that I shrugged it off. Now I knew why she thought it so hilarious. Her choice of ringtone and her timing couldn’t be more wrong and perfect at the same time.
I stepped into the house, opening the door wide to allow Zander’s entrance. I mumbled, “Sorry!” and walked unsteadily into the kitchen to answer.
“Nice one, Ruthie,” I said a little breathlessly.
“Ha! I thought you’d like it. Why do you sound so weird?” She was suspicious. “Are you all right? Is he there yet?”
“I’m fine.” I laughed uneasily. “Yes. Just studying away right now.” I was very conscious of Zander just a few feet away. Inside, I was reeling. What just happened? I wondered if I should have Ruthie come over after all. I sneaked a quick glance back at him. He was rubbing a hand down his face, looking a little dazed. Okay, I thought. Maybe he was thrown a little, too. But I had to keep my eye on the ball this time. My goal was to get information, not fall for the guy. The grief that always came whenever I thought of my mother snapped me out of my bewilderment.
Zander was in the middle of making an unplanned exit.
“Wait!” I called out to him.
He paused and scowled at me, which caused me to step back. What had I done? I was suddenly angry. Best daydream ever and he was going to take off and make me feel like an idiot. At least we hadn’t really kissed. We hadn’t, right?
“Tru! Tru! Hello!” Ruthie was practically yelling in the phone. I had tuned her out. “You are so not okay. I’m coming over right now.”
“Ruthie, no! Everything is fine.” I made a quick beeline for the front steps, placing myself between Zander and getaway. “Chill out, girl!” I put up my hand and wrapped up my phone call. I never knew I could multitask so well.
“What the heck are you doing?” I demanded, my chest heaving. I didn’t want him to leave, but how were we going to study now? How was I going to get him to talk?
“What do you mean me?” Zander stepped back. “What was all that?” He waved toward the entry hall, where we had “not kissed.” I was never going to be able to look at it again without thinking of him. Did he have the same daydream as me? Was that possible? A bright red blush stole up my cheeks, and deepened the more I thought about the possibility. This was so embarrassing.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” I was being unfair, but he just made me so mad!
His eyebrows shot up, like he couldn’t believe his ears.
“You don’t even know what you’re doing, do you?” he said.
“Huh? Seriously, you aren’t making any sense.” Now he was talking crazy, and I couldn’t even connect it to the other crazy talk he and his brother did yesterday. This was so not going like I planned.
He glanced down at the floor.
“Look. I’m sorry about…whatever.” He waved his hand around. He swung his backpack over his shoulder and brushed past. “I’ve got to go. There’s something important I need to take care of. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
And he was gone.
Jealousy
I don’t know how long Zander had been gone when I heard the doorbell. I was just wandering around the kitchen, speculating about what he could have been talking about, and I was angry, really angry.
Oh no, I thought. Ruthie probably drove over because I didn’t text her. I had turned my cell phone to vibrate until I changed the ringtone.
I rushed to the door as the bell pealed again. But the person standing on my doorstep was not my best friend. Instead, it was a fuming Isaac Efoti. His face purple, shoulders curved up, fists on his hips, and thunder on his face. I backed up.
“Uh. Hi, Isaac. What’s up?” I said, pulling the door closed a little.
I could have sworn I heard a low growl come from his mouth. Really? There had been way too much growling around this house lately, I thought.
“What was he doing here?” Isaac snarled.
“Whoa, there! What’s wrong with you? Are you okay?” It occurred to me that I knew next to nothing about him, mostly what Ruthie had told me since school started.
He stepped forward, forcing the door open and me backward, but he followed me and breathed in deeply.
“You smell like him.” His voice was like gravel.
I tried to move away, stepping back into the kitchen. But he stuck to me like a shadow, scowling, kicking the door shut behind him. When did my own home stop feeling like the safest place on earth?
“Isaac,” I said cajolingly, putting my hand up as if to ward him off. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I think you should leave. You’re scaring me, big-time.”
My words must have sunk in, because he paused, visibly making an attempt to calm himself by closing his eyes and letting go of my arm. I didn’t realize until then that he’d grabbed me.
“Ouch!” I said belatedly. I was going to have a bruise.
He looked down at my arm and winced.
“Tru, I’m sorry! I swear I don’t know what happened!” With a disgusted mutter, he put some distance between us by moving further into the kitchen. He hunched over the sink and stared into the backyard.
“You must think I’m an animal,” he said.
“Right now I think you’re a jerk!” My fright had vanished and suddenly I was mad. Who did he think he was? “Are you on drugs or something?” Seriously, nothing else made sense.
Something between a cough and a laugh forced itself out of Isaac’s mouth. “No. Just not myself for a second.” He turned to face me. “Uh, I guess I have a temper problem.”
“No kidding.” I rubbed my sore arm. He watched me with those sad puppy dog eyes. Now I was feeling sorry for him. Man, he was good.
“So, what let the beast out?” I snapped. I was really regretting our Homecoming plans.
This seemed to set him off again, but it sounded like he was truly amused. I decided he was bipolar and resolved to break off our date as soon as he stopped the Jekyll and Hyde act.
“Good one, Parker,” he snorted. “Man, you have no idea. I like your shirt, by the way.”
“Screw you!” I was done with this. “What’s your problem, really? Why are you here? And most importantly, how soon can you leave?”
“Hey! I’m sorry! But I was mad—and I’m still kind of mad.” This anger I could handle. He seemed more like the Isaac I was used to. He rubbed the back of his neck, sighing, and began again. “I missed y—school today and, and thought I would drop by to see you.” He turned back to look out the window. “I saw Zander leaving your house,” he continued in a strained voice, “and well, I just kind of blew a fuse. But I probably jumped to the wrong conclusions, like I seem to be doing all the time these days. Phoebe is always getting on my case about that.”
He was rambling. I could hear the shame in his voice. Now I was ashamed, and could feel the heat creep up my neck. Although I had not planned it, nor did I understand it, something had occurred between Zander and me. And it had been explosive and unforgettable. That attraction I’d felt toward “Hottie Efoti” on the first day of school was just gone, and I realized it had never been more than admiration. That realization was surprising in itself. But, while I didn’t know what was going on between Zander and me, I didn’t discount the idea that I wanted something to be going on. However, I didn’t know if Zander would be around tomorrow, much less be here for Homecoming. He certainly hadn’t left me with any ideas that he wanted anything to be going on between us. He had just left me confused, on many levels. Sadness swept through me.
In the meantime, I had a problem if Isaac thought he and I were together—together, as in a couple.
“Isaac, I think there’s been a misunderstanding—”
“That’s what I thought! I’m so glad!” He beamed and walked up close to me, grabbing for my hand, and for the first time since he arrived, he really looked at me. Man, he is super tall, I thought.
“Hey, are you all right?” he asked. I must have looked traumatized.
Isaac’s big hands cradled my face. I could feel their strength and thought it would only take a second for him to snap my neck. A burst of fear had me backing away.
“Whoa, Tru, I won’t hurt you, I promise,” he pleaded. “Are you okay? Did Zander do something to hurt you?” He was battling the anger again.
“No!” I put up a hand. “No, it’s not that. I-I was just—” What could I say? For once, I brought up my mom. “I was just thinking about my mom, you see, and—”
“Oh. That’s okay, then.” He stopped himself. “I mean it’s not okay that you’re sad and all, just that I’m glad you aren’t hurt; not that you aren’t hurting, just that—”
I laughed as he just kept backpedaling and making it sound worse.
“Isaac. It’s fine. I’m not going to freak out if you mention her.” And I realized I wasn’t going to for the first time in a long time. I smiled at that thought. Yes!
Isaac sighed loudly. “Thank goodness!” He returned my smile. And the next thing I knew he was pulling me closer.
“Wait! Not so fast, mister.” I pushed back. He looked wretchedly hopeful and what I wanted to say felt mean. He stared down at me with just the right amount of insecurity in his eyes to make me forget what I was going to say. I certainly didn’t want to hurt him.
I didn’t want to make him mad, either, because that went over so well already. So I took the coward’s path and I tried to distract him. “Why did you guys miss school today, anyway?” He leaned back against the counter again, folding his arms. His face closed in. I got the feeling he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Family thing. My uncle is visiting.”
“Nice. Wish I got to skip school for something like that,” I said, trying to lighten things up. I didn’t think my dad would ever let me skip school to visit with Uncle Ira.
“Actually, Phoebe and I didn’t want to miss school. But, well, our folks are real sticklers about family duty.” He made family duty sound like a chore, which, now that I thought about it, was true for most kids I knew.
“Okay,” I said, hoping he’d forgotten the reason he was in my house in the first place. “My dad should be getting home soon, and you probably shouldn’t be here.”
“What about Zander?” He wasn’t budging until he got an explanation. I sighed, not wanting to have this conversation with him right now. His angry fit had freaked me out. I smiled sheepishly at that thought. Oh, the irony. A week ago I was worried about everyone else thinking I was loony. Had it really only been that long?
Isaac was back to scowling. “Tru.”
“Oh, uh—” The doorbell rang again. That must be Ruthie. For the first time today I was grateful for her interruption.
“Hang on a second,” I said to Isaac, but he followed me like a shadow. Territorial, seriously!
I yanked open the door. Wow. It was now officially a party. Ruthie and Phoebe stood on the porch. They looked anxiously behind me. Phoebe glared at Isaac, and Ruthie stretched to see over us, probably looking for Zander.
I sighed heavily. “Come on in.”
The four of us sat around my living room, sipping the sodas that Ruthie had grabbed for us. The only good thing was Isaac couldn’t bother me about Zander in front of Ruthie and his sister. Phoebe and Ruthie caught up on school gossip, with me throwing in an occasional “yeah” and “no kidding.” Isaac didn’t contribute anything, which just made Ruthie talk faster—she did that when she was nervous. Phoebe was still glaring at Isaac while he sulked in my dad’s leather La-Z-Boy. He stared out the window, but wasn’t as impervious to her as he attempted to demonstrate, because his grip on the arms of the chair made me concerned for my dad’s favorite seat in the house.
Ruthie rambled on about coming over to get help with algebra, and how on the way she had run into Phoebe walking up the street, so she’d brought her along. I rolled my eyes and looked pointedly at her empty hands. She was conspicuously missing said homework. But the other two didn’t seem to notice. I was wondering why Phoebe had been walking up my street in the first place. Had she been with Isaac when he saw Zander? Had they both seen Zander? Why did I even care?
“So,” continued Ruthie with a singsong voice, “I guess Phoebe knew Isaac was coming over and thought she would join you guys, right?” She looked at Phoebe, but she didn’t seem to hear.
“Hel-l-o!” Ruthie waved her hand toward Phoebe to get her attention.
Phoebe finally looked at us, but she still looked mad. “What?” she snapped.
“I-I was just telling Tru why you were with me. Geez, girl!”
Phoebe looked startled for a second, but then calmed. “Oh, yeah. Sorry. What I told you. Yeah. Heard there was an after-school party here or something.” She flipped her glossy hair over her shoulder and leaned back into the sofa. “And if there wasn’t, I thought I could start one.” She grinned conspiratorially. Ruthie and I looked at her blankly.
“O-kay,” she continued. “Looks like I need to get one going.” She pulled out her phone and started flipping through numbers.
“Whoa, there!” I jumped up and grabbed her phone. “I’m not having a party here! My dad would kill me!”
“We’ll keep it small,” Phoebe coaxed. “Just the four of us.”
“Oooh. Make that five. I’ll call Val,” gushed Ruthie, pulling out her phone.
I snatched her phone, too, and just for good measure, knocked her upside the head.
“Ow!”
“No! Seriously, people, no party!” Ruthie was easily distracted, but still! Had she forgotten why she had come over in the first place? I could see that was the case by her look of chagrin. I shook my head, exasperated.
“I’ve got homework. It’s the middle of the week. My dad will be home any minute. Oh, and another: I’m not in the partying mood!” I stomped off to the kitchen and sat at the table, staring at my homework and wondering how much crazier my day could get. I wished they would all leave.
Ruthie pulled up a chair and leaned over to whisper, “Sorry, girl. My ADD again.” She leaned in and bumped my shoulder with her own.
I appreciated the gesture. Setting the phones on the table, I leaned my elbow on my textbook and rested my head in my upraised hand. I whispered back to Ruthie so Phoebe and Isaac wouldn’t hear. “Thanks for coming. Good timing, actually.” I rolled my eyes back toward the living room.
“That must have been close! What happened with Z?” she murmured, barely moving her lips. I cracked a smile at her because she was so obvious. It reminded me of all the old times when we tried to speak secretly in front of our parents. It usually didn’t work. Thank goodness the two in the living room were too far away to hear our not-so-covert conversation. They were sitting quietly, looking away from us. They really were strange sometimes.
Still angled away from the twins, I replied, “Isaac saw Zander leave and was seriously ticked when he came over. What is up with that?!”
“Uh oh! Not good.” Her sneaky whispering just seemed to bring more attention to her. “So what happened with Z? Did you get any new info?”
“I didn’t get a chance.”
“What?” Ruthie raised her voice. “Oh, sorry,” she murmured.
I glanced back at the twins. Their stiff poses made me uncomfortable. If I didn’t know they couldn’t possibly hear me, I would think they were listening. Maybe they were doing that twin thing again.
“What happened then? You seriously didn’t talk about the wolves?” She said the word so lightly, I barely heard her. Isaac and Phoebe stood up suddenly, Phoebe holding Isaac back from rushing over to us. He was back to ferocious boy.
“I’ll have to tell you later,” I said out of the side of my mouth.
“Sorry, Tru.” Phoebe pulled her brother toward the door. “Our dad just texted us. We have to get home.”
I held out her cell phone. “But I have your phone right here.”
“Oh, yeah. Almost for
got that. Uh, Isaac got the text. Can you toss me my phone?” I think Isaac was growling. For some reason, he reminded me of one of my neighbor’s dogs that they had to hold on to every time someone walked by their house.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, you have a good arm. Send it!”
I tossed it to her and she snagged it out of the air like a Frisbee.
“Piece of cake. We will have to get together another time. See you.” Isaac scowled all the way to the door, but just as he passed through, he shot a suspicious look back at me. Despite his strange behavior, guilt weighed heavily in my stomach.
Fake Fuzzies
As soon as the front door slammed, Ruthie whirled around on me.
“Man! I thought they’d never leave!”
“Yeah, I thought they were weirder than normal.”
Ruthie shrugged. “They’ve always been that way. So, now you can tell me what really happened. And I know something happened. My scoop antenna is going crazy!” She rubbed her hands together gleefully.
I shoved away from the table, not in the mood to divulge anything. I really needed to think about this. And I was still kind of angry with her for her immature attitude toward my situation.
“You really need to work on your improv—I mean really! You came over for math help, without your math book?” I grabbed a soda out of the fridge. “And then there was that stupid ringtone! Seriously, that was totally awkward for me!”
I stared out the kitchen window.
A chair scraped across the floor. An arm curved around my shoulders. Strawberry-scented hair tickled my neck as Ruthie brought her other arm around me for a side-hug.
“Hey, girl, I guess I flunk at being your BFF today. I’m such an airhead sometimes.”
I struggled to maintain my disgust with her, but too many years with her zaniness, her constant friendship during the worst time of my life, and the fact that I knew she really did care about me—washed away my irritation and I leaned my cheek down to her head.
“I know. Sorry I’m being the Anti-BFF right now. I’m just so confused.”
Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One Page 13