by ID Johnson
“Do you know him? I mean, outside of class?” Emma asked. I thought I saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes, but I didn’t want to bring any more panic up to the surface. I chose my response carefully.
“Uh, he knows my parents, I guess,” I replied like I had just figure that out myself.
“Cool,” Lucy said under her breath as she took a few notes on our project. “He seems like a lot of fun.”
“Totally,” I confirmed, thinking back to the day of Jack’s funeral. While the funeral itself was just awful, Elliott had cheered me up afterward, taking me to McDonald’s for ice cream and driving around in my mom’s minivan with Lionel Richie blaring. Christmas had been a hoot, too, thanks to him.
“Hey, did you get a new ring?” Emma asked, looking at my hand, but not touching it. I guess the fact that she was usually pretty careful not to touch other people if she could help it hadn’t changed completely.
“Yeah, I got it for Christmas.” My eyes flittered to Elliott, who was on the other side of the room talking to a group of guys who seemed more interested in the story the substitute was telling than their project.
“It’s really pretty.” Lucy didn’t hesitate to pick my hand up off the desk and hold it to her face for a better look. “It kinda looks old.”
“I think it’s an antique,” I replied. Once she let go of my hand, I glanced at it again, and then noticed Elliott smiling at me. I was sure he was glad I was wearing it since he’d been the one to give it to me, after all. “I like it.”
“Your parents have good taste,” Lucy commented, and I didn’t blame her for assuming they’re the ones who gifted the piece of jewelry.
Going with that, I said, “They sure do.” I couldn’t hardly tell her that the man pretending to be the sub was also the one who gave me the ring, that he’d been spying on me since I was a baby, and that sometimes he hung out on my roof and slipped through the bedroom windows to have long conversations about vampires—or not have them, as the case may be. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Class was almost over, and while I would be sad to leave, I was glad Elliott would have a chance to infiltrate more young minds with his message that life is good, and we should all be happy to live it.
In anticipation of the bell, I gathered up my stuff, thinking about my next class, which thankfully was choir, nothing too hard, and said, “Guess I’ll see you guys at lunch.”
“Yep,” Emma nodded, getting her books together as well.
“Can’t wait,” Lucy said with a smile. “Hope you have a good morning until then.”
The sound of the bell muffled my, “You, too.”
Dr. Sanderson jumped up off the table he’d been sitting on and made his way toward the door, being followed by a brood of kids. “Okay, y’all have an awesome day!” he proclaimed, fist bumping or high fiving every kid who stepped past him. One of the girls hugged him, and I saw a slight pinkening of his cheeks, like he hadn’t been expecting that. When it was my turn, I thought about doing the same but settled for a fist bump instead. “Blow it up, Cass!” he insisted, and I found myself making the exaggerated sound of a bomb going off despite how silly I’d always thought that was before.
I headed back to my locker to drop off my books before rushing to the music room. I really would like just two more minutes to get from class to class, but everyone was so cheerful in the hallway, it was hard to be disagreeable about anything. I slammed my locker and noticed kids passing each other with high fives and fist bumps of their own. Even the kids no one ever talked to were making hand contact with the kids who normally would shove them into the lockers. Having Dr. Sanderson around was turning out to be a good thing for sure.
Chapter 7
The cafeteria was so loud with kids laughing and carrying on, it was hard to hear the pop music station the teachers allowed us to listen to as it played in the background. I couldn’t help but glance at the stage off in the distance and remember it wasn’t too long ago my sister was standing up there giving a speech about Jack Cook’s life and untimely death. Though I couldn’t see the doors that led outside at the moment because the partition to the gym was closed, I remembered glancing behind me and seeing Cadence’s new friends sitting in a row, seeing Aaron walking in like he couldn’t get to my sister fast enough, only to dump her on Christmas Eve for some irritating woman with purple hair. I was sure my pleasant disposition was beginning to melt off of my face.
“You okay, Cass?” Emma asked, unwrapping her ham and cheese sandwich.
I surveyed her lunch before answering, happy to see some things never change. Ham and cheese sandwich, apple, cheese stick, Cheetos, bottle of water. “I’m fine,” I insisted. “Just thinking about… my sister.” She was only part of what I was thinking about, but it wasn’t a lie.
“How is she?” Lucy asked, carefully picking up her cafeteria-made burrito. “Is she back in Kansas City?”
“Yeah. She’s fine.” There was no point in telling them details about people I wasn’t supposed to mention. I’d chosen the chef salad and turned my attention to the food in front of me, hoping to forget about my sister and LIGHTS and all of that for a few moments.
That would be impossible, however, considering the circumstances. “Man, Dr. Sanderson is so cool,” Lucy said between bites. “I wish he could be our teacher every day.”
“No kidding,” Emma agreed. “It’s like he’s put everybody in the whole building in a good mood.”
I looked over to where the teachers with lunchroom duty were monitoring us. They were all laughing and talking, big smiles on their faces. That was never the case. It seemed Elliott had even gotten to them.
“Maybe we should go ask Principal Bell if he can take over for Mr. Horton full-time,” Lucy suggested as she wiped at sauce dripping down her chin. “The worst he could say is no.”
“Uh, I don’t think that Dr. Sanderson… can do that.” So many reasons why filled my head. For one thing, he’s definitely not a teacher—and I’m not completely convinced he’s even a doctor, though I’ve seen badges and registries that claim he is. He doesn’t even live in Iowa. He’s old enough to have been retired for, like, ten years, and he didn’t actually teach us anything. Instead of any of those obvious reasons, I went with, “I don’t think he lives nearby. I think he’s just visiting… for the holidays.”
“Really?” Emma asked. “How did he get to be a sub then? Don’t you have to take some sort of classes or something?”
She may have caught my mistake, but then I had no idea how one typically went about becoming a sub. I just knew how Elliott had done it. And I couldn’t explain that. “I think he knows the superintendent,” I lied.
“Oh.” That seemed like a good enough reason for Em, who popped a Cheeto in her mouth.
I was glad that had worked and began to understand what it must feel like to make up stories and have people bend beneath the weight of them. That sort of power could go to a person’s head if you let it. I wondered if my sister had that power or if she was capable of developing it.
“Look, there he is!” Lucy proclaimed, pointing across the room. A flurry of other kids began to shout his name, and the next few minutes were filled with the sound of hands slapping, cheering, and fist bumps blowing up like it was World War III. I could only shake my head. As much as I liked seeing everyone so nice to each other and happy, this wasn’t reality. We were all going to have face aches by the time we went to bed.
He was headed for our table. I wasn’t surprised, but I was a little nervous, wondering what was up. “Hey, ladies!” Elliott proclaimed, pulling out the empty chair between Emma and I, the one across from Lucy. “How’s it going?”
“Great,” Lucy proclaimed. “Your class was so much fun.”
“Thanks,” he gushed. I wondered what in the world was fun about it. All we’d done was work on our project, but I kept my mouth closed. “How you doin, Emma-Bo-Bemma?”
Emma O’Sullivan actually blushed and giggled. Never have I ever…. “I’m
good,” she nodded. “How are you?”
Normally, I would think she was just asking because she’d been trained to do so, but she genuinely seemed to care about how another person was doing, which was enormous. Elliott’s response was enthusiastic. “Dynamite!” he replied, banging his hands down on the table. “I’m doin’ just dynamite.”
“Are you going to be here tomorrow?” Lucy asked. “You should ask the principal to let you stay full-time. You’re the best teacher ever.”
“’Fraid not,” he said with a heavy sigh. “This is just a side hustle for me. I got real work to do. Not that this hasn’t been fun. But, hey, hopefully I can come back every few weeks and check in on y’all.”
My friends’ faces fell with disappointment, but it didn’t last long before he was back to convincing them of how happy they are. “The world is a wonderful place, ladies. And it is yours for the taking. Just keep smilin’, and everything will turn out great.”
Their smiles were back, and they nodded along. I cleared my throat. “I told my friends that you know my parents.” He raised an eyebrow. “They wanted to know why you wanted to talk to me in the hallway.” He nodded, as if saying he understood I hadn’t given too much away. “Will you be coming by my house this afternoon before you head home?”
“Absolutely,” he replied, nodding his head. “I can’t wait to see your folks.”
“Great.” I exhaled hard enough to blow my paper napkin. I didn’t care if he saw my parents or not, but I did want the opportunity to talk to him alone. I wanted to see how my sister was doing and talk to him about Cabo.
“Can we come over?” Lucy asked, literally clapping her hands together. “Pretty please?”
“Uh, I don’t think my mom….”
“Lucy, you need to go home after school and tell your parents what a great day you’ve had.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Lucy acknowledged. “I need to go home after school and tell my parents what a great day I’ve been having.”
“I need to do that also,” Emma agreed.
I rolled my eyes, thankful that Elliott saw me but the other two didn’t. But before I could open my mouth to say more, I saw Liam approaching our table. My face must’ve drained of color because Elliott turned and looked over his shoulder, and once my eyes fell back to his face, I could tell by his expression he got me. He knew there was something going on with me and Liam—or that I wanted there to be.
“Hey, Dr. Sanderson,” Liam said, stopping by his chair, “great lesson today!”
“Thanks,” Elliott replied, taking the hand Liam offered and doing some weird shake I’d never seen before and imagined Liam had made up and taught him. He had Mr. Horton for chemistry, so I figured Elliott had been his sub, too. “How’s it goin’ Liam? You know my friends here?”
“I do.” Liam seemed to notice us for the first time. “Hi, girls.”
Emma mumbled a greeting but didn’t turn to look at him, Lucy glared, and I said, “Hi, Liam,” in such a sappily sweet voice I hated the sound of it coming out of my mouth. I still hadn’t figured out what was going on with Lucy, but now wasn’t the time to ask.
“It was great talking to you, Liam,” Elliott said, looking him in the eye, “but you have to go back to your table and finishing eating lunch now.”
“It was great seeing all of you,” Liam began, “but I have to go back to my table and finish eating my lunch now.”
“Bye, Liam,” I said as Em mumbled something else, and Lucy continued to glare. I assumed Elliott was getting rid of him because of Lucy’s reaction. Her unhappiness didn’t go with his theme.
“You okay, Lucy?” He was staring at her now.
As soon as Liam was gone and Lucy’s eyes caught Elliott’s, she let go a sigh and said, “I’m fine. I’m great.”
“Good,” he nodded. “You are great. And it’s a great day.”
“It’s a great day!” my blonde-headed friend proclaimed.
“Now, if y’all will excuse me, I have some copies to run.”
“I hope there’s not a line,” Emma said, her way of wishing him luck with the other teachers. Something told me, even if there was, he’d find a way to get to the head of the line, if there even were any copies.
“See you later,” I said.
In as cheesy a voice as I’ve ever heard, he replied, “Not if I see you first,” and winked at me. All three of us began to giggle like idiots as he stood and walked across the cafeteria.
“He’s just the best,” Lucy gushed.
“He really is,” Emma agreed.
“You have no idea,” I said before taking a swig of my chocolate milk. I wished they did, though. I wished I could tell them. But for now, all these secrets would have to stay with me.
Dr. Sanderson was true to his word and actually gave me a ride home from school. If you want to impress your friends and influence people, try getting a ride home in a Lamborghini. That’ll do the trick every time. Even over the roar of the engine, I could hear the crowd’s exclamation of how cool the car was, and the driver, and thusly, me, the passenger.
“You buckled in tight?” Elliott asked as the car shot out of the parking lot. I’d never been in a car like this before, and while part of me wanted to hold on for dear life, the rest of me wanted to enjoy it.
“I am,” I replied. “Why? We’re just going home, aren’t we?”
Elliott began to laugh, and unlike his normal jovial chuckle, this one sounded slightly more sinister. I turned my head to look at him, and he raised and lowered his shaggy eyebrows at me several times as the car began to pick up speed. He wasn’t headed for my house; he was headed for the interstate.
“Where the crap are we going?” I asked, grabbing that bar above the window and bracing with my other hand against the dashboard. I’d abandoned my backpack, which had been on my lap but was now sliding to the floor.
“We are going for a little drive,” Elliott replied as he merged across three lanes. I couldn’t see the speedometer, but as the car accelerated, I assumed we were approaching a hundred miles per hour already. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. And I’m not kidnapping you, either.”
Normally, I would’ve been terrified, but I could see how expertly he wove between the cars, and there weren’t too many this time of day in this part of the country. We were flying, and it was exhilarating, watching the countryside pass by out my window so quickly, everything was a blur. Thoughts of what it might be like to run away, to join Elliott’s team and disappear from my former life filled my head. He’d said someday I could be like my sister. What if today was that day?
After a few minutes, he slowed the car down and took the next exit, looping around to head back to Shenandoah, back to reality. I tried not to be too disappointed. Even at a normal speed, the car was still amazing. I let go of my grip on the dashboard but kept my hand on the one above the window.
“You okay?” he asked, a small, smug smile on his face. “I didn’t scare you too much, did I?”
“No,” I replied. “It was fun. Do you always drive like that?”
“Most of the time, yeah. Makes the drive from KC a lot quicker.”
“So… is this your car?” I asked, wondering how much he must make to be able to afford it. “Or is it, like, a company car?” Eliza had posted as much on her social media status, the one Emma had found back when she could remember things.
“It belongs to the team,” Elliott replied. “We have them stationed all over, but this one is from headquarters. I drove up this time. Sometimes I fly. Just depends. Sometimes, I take a bike. I usually don’t drive this sucker because it’s so cramped.” He was so tall and broad, I could see what he meant.
Thinking of headquarters, I replied, “Sounds like a pretty cool place.” I wondered if he’d let me go fishing for information.
“It is. I’m sure you’ll see it someday soon, in a year or two, when you’re allowed to know stuff.”
“You know, I’ve done a pretty good job of hanging on to what I
know now. I haven’t told anyone any of the stuff you and Hannah took out of their brains. Maybe I could go visit my sister and check everything out.”
“Uh, no,” he said with little hesitation. “You’re not supposed to know half of what you know. If you came to LIGHTS, you wouldn’t be able to pretend that you don’t know what we do.”
“Which is hunt vampires, right?”
He looked at me out of the side of his eye and took the exit back to town, saying nothing.
“I guess the thing you wanted me to see on the news was Cabo, wasn’t it? That’s a vampire, isn’t it? Are you sure Cadence isn’t going to have to go down there?”
“Boy, you ask a lot of questions for a lil girl,” he muttered, but I could tell I wasn’t annoying him, not yet anyhow. “I’m pretty sure it’s something we might be interested in, but I don’t know that you’re sister will be headed that way. I’m not sure what the plan is yet.”
“But there is a plan, right? And who makes those plans? Is Aaron in charge of that or someone else? Is there, like, a local guy down there who decides?”
He turned the corner and we were now only two streets over from my house. I knew I’d have to zip it soon because even if Dad wasn’t home from work yet, Mom would be home. She’d likely send me upstairs to interrogate Elliott about Cadence. I’m sure she was just as worried about my sister’s non-relationship with Aaron as I was. I also wondered if she knew about Cabo.
“I honestly can’t tell you any of that right now,” Elliott replied, taking the last corner. “But I can tell you not to worry about any of it.” He pulled the car to a stop in front of the house and turned it off, shifting slightly to face me. “Cass, I’m glad you’ve been able to keep all of this from your friends. Those two are good girls, and one day they’ll be able to know all of this stuff, too, but I need you to keep it all to yourself for a while longer, okay? We have a lot going on, important stuff, stuff I can’t tell you about, but you’ll find out eventually.”