But Rachel took a step forward.
“Rachel!” My voice was so tiny.
She stopped and turned her green eyes on me. “What, Rosie?”
“You know what momma said!”
“No cars are coming.” She looked down the way. The road curved some feet to the left, circling behind the neighbor’s massive oak tree in the front of their yard. Momma called it a “blind spot” where people couldn’t see around the corner.
As I looked back from the oak tree, Rachel was still walking towards the edge of the yard. “Rachel!”
She turned and put her hands on her hips as I heard something in the distance. “I’m not going to get hurt, Rosie! You always think I’m going to get hurt!”
The sound in the distance was coming closer. Rachel took a step off the curb.
My heart pounded in my ears, intuition creating a dark heap in my stomach. I felt sickly all of a sudden, like how I felt after snatching too many of momma’s fresh cookies from the kitchen.
“Rachel!” I started to run as she crossed the pavement to retrieve the ball.
And then I saw it. A black sports car came zipping around the bend just as Rachel had plucked the ball out of the road’s center. I was frozen on the edge of the yard as the screeching of tires ripped the sound barrier. In the blink of an eye, Rachel and our magenta ball with the star disappeared below a silver fender.
I heard momma make a horrible high-pitched noise, and flashes of random images covered the scene. Blood on the fender of the black car. A hysterical man from the car calling 911. Daddy trying to pick momma off of the ground while she screamed and sobbed worse than a newborn.
A hospital and a big-nosed doctor with sad eyes.
“She most likely died on impact.” *
I awoke in the tent with a start. Tears were gushing from their ducts and for a second I was drowning; I couldn’t breathe. Sitting up, I coughed a minute, then heard a reassuring snore from Sami and Cassie’s bed across the way. Cheyenne was still out, and I was thankful I hadn’t woke her up. No one needed to see me like this.
I tried to do as dad told me and breathed deeply through my nose. It didn’t really work. My nose was so clogged with tears I barely got half a lung’s worth of air. I laid back, wondering if I’d just undergone an anxiety attack. Can you get those in your sleep? I wouldn’t have believed it until now. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, though it’d been a while. I was hoping that nightmare had finally said permanent goodbyes.
I stared at the top of the tent. There was barely any light reflecting through it, leaving everything pitch-black. I hated utter darkness like this. I hated it so much I still slept with a nightlight.
Finally too claustrophobic to hold still, I rolled off the mattress. Fumbling around on the freezing plastic floor, I searched out my slippers and jacket. I’d barely been out of bed a minute and my teeth were chattering. Somebody had turned the freaking generator off already. The heater was dead. My fingers felt around for a flashlight. The metal was icy to the touch as I found it. I was pretty sure it was Sami’s, but she wouldn’t mind. Heaving the thing up, I quietly snuck out of the tent.
The spacious atmosphere was calming. I took a deep breath of forest air, wondering how I ever survived so many years in the city. The air was fresh and soothing as it passed through my nose. My swollen throat began to return to normal as I looked up to the starry sky. My fingers grazed my sticky cheeks, the skin tight and puffed like it usually is after one cries. I hated that feeling more than the swelled throat.
As I stared beyond dad’s truck, there was a glow coming from behind Todd and Robbie’s campers. There couldn’t have been anyone up this late, could there? The fire should’ve been smoldering by now, invisible to wear I stood. It had to be at least two in the morning if not later.
Slowly, I flicked the flashlight off and made a silent move towards the light. Maybe dad was still up. Sometimes at home he wouldn’t go to bed until early in the morning—of course, that was usually because he was watching some sports or cartoon marathon. Maybe it was Race and Preston, too scared to sleep in the same tent as Hayden again. Or it could’ve been Patty. She didn’t always sleep well when camping. Something about the mattress in their trailer.
But as I came around Robbie’s mega camper, I saw it wasn’t dad, Race, Preston, or Patty that was awake.
Next to what was left of the fire, Hayden was sitting in a lawn chair. He was in
his jeans, sneakers, and a thin grey zip-up. His flat-billed hat was still on his head,
dreadlocks pulled through the back and flowing over his shoulders. He looked
like he was ready to start another day instead of sleep. His eyes were focused on
the thing propped in his lap: a book.
I stood paralyzed in the shadows. Oh no. If he was to look up, he could spot
me through the dark. It didn’t help that my jacket was white. Ok, you are so not
staying here, Rose! I stepped back, ready to run. Under the back of my slipper, a
branch cracked.
Hayden snapped his head up and I held my breath. He looked around, first
at Robbie’s camper, then at Todd’s. And then he did a double take at the gap between the two. He squinted into the darkness.
Right where I was standing.
I was about to bolt, abort the statue position, when—
“Rose?” He spoke. It was my name but it sounded so odd coming off of his
lips. Had he ever said my name before?
My mouth quivered. What was wiser: reply or say nothing at all? “Rose?” He said it again, setting his book under the chair now. Crap. What to do?
“Yeah?” I said before I could think it through.
He furrowed his eyebrows, lips slightly parted. “What are you doing?” “Da—I—uh.” Say something intelligent for God’s sake! “W—what are you doing? It’s late. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
He sat back in his chair. “Shouldn’t you?”
My mouth hung open, no words coming out. I refused to say anything about
a nightmare, but before I could come up with an excuse he leaned forward, narrowing his eyes. “Hey, are you ok?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Actually, I was in shock now. He knew the emotion of concern? Really? “Why wouldn’t I be?”
He squinted harder. “Your face is kind of red… and puffy.”
“Uh—”
“You’ve been crying.”
I didn’t answer again. Why didn’t you run when you could’ve, Rose? This was not
only an unusual conversation for us—well, conversation period was unusual—
but it was embarrassing. I never let any of dad’s employees see me cry. The only
one who ever came close was Greg and that was the day my mother announced
Lyle bought her an engagement ring.
“So. What’s wrong?” Hayden crossed one leg over the other, like he was settling in for a discussion.
I nearly asked: do you have Multiple Personality Disorder? “Why do you care all of a sudden?” I snapped. “I mean, one minute you hate me, the next you’re asking me why I’m upset?”
He sunk in his seat a little, a tiny frown pulling at his mouth. Then he looked away at the fire and his expression neutralized. I wondered what he was thinking… I wondered why I was still standing here wondering what he was thinking.
After a minute his eyes flicked back to mine. “Are you going to stand there in the shadows all night? Or what?”
My foot took a step back. “I’m not sure I want to be too close,” I stated.
He smirked, a challenge lingering in his eyes. “Alright. Suit yourself.”
I leaned on the side of Robbie’s camper as Hayden picked his book back up. Why wasn’t I dashing away? He had technically just dismissed me, and yet here I was… still standing frightened in the cold. In the shadows.
And yet, despite my lack of trust, my curiosity consumed me—more than my conscience
telling me to scram. This might be my only chance. I snaked around the camper, careful that my back never left the metal. If you’re going to learn anything about dad’s new employee, now might be the time. I stood in the firelight now, observing, waiting for him to pounce on me like a hungry tiger.
He made no attempt to acknowledge my existence.
I stepped forward, leaving the camper. He still refused to look at me, so I took another step. Nothing. Moving at the pace of a sloth, I eventually found myself seated about four chairs over from him.
Now he glanced sideways.
“What are you reading?” I asked before he could speak.
He looked reluctant to answer. “A book.”
“Well, duh. What book?”
“Why does it matter?” He lifted an eyebrow.
“I… I was just curious.” My courage started to fail me. “I can’t be curious?”
He sighed. Closing the book he leaned over, extending it to me.
“Ooh,” I awed as I took in the cover. “Wow, I loved this book.” The cover featured the hands of a girl holding a frosted rose. It was the paperback edition of The Red Queen’s Secret. It was a fantasy suspense novel… with frequent romance.
Hayden rolled his eyes before glaring at the fire. “Yeah.”
I flipped to the page he’d marked. He’d just started chapter seventeen. “Do you like fantasy books?” I had to know.
“Why?”
“Because, I can’t imagine you reading this for anything else.” He definitely wouldn’t read it for the romance. Not one guy I knew had read, would read, or even had a clue what I was talking about if I said, The Red Queen’s Secret. I’d read it last year, and when I’d talked about it in the office, Race told me he didn’t care for Alice in Wonderland—which wasn’t really what the story was about.
The fire’s flames reflected in Hayden’s eyes. My words had clearly aroused his temper, something I should not have been playing with—especially this late at night… when we were alone.
“Enough talk about me,” he said, leaving my question to hang. He shifted in his chair. “Are you going to tell me what you’re doing out here in the middle of the night? Obviously not to harass me about books.”
I shrugged. “Tent made me claustrophobic,” I said, still fascinated that we were having a verbal conversation. He leaned over and I handed the book back. His fingers grazed mine, sending goose bumps up my arm. “So now you have to tell me what you’re doing out here. Obviously you could’ve read in the tent.”
He let out a cruel, slightly amused chuckle. “Trying not to scare your friends. Since they stayed up all last night watching me I figured I could give them a break.”
I stiffened. Hadn’t Race said Hayden didn’t know they’d been watching him? “Oh… were they?”
He shot me an accusing look. “Don’t play dumb with me.” It was a warning. “I’m sure they tell you everything.”
I gaped, back to being too scared to do anything else. I didn’t like the way he said everything.
Suddenly his glacier glare melted. “Sorry.” He sunk in his seat. “I’m not trying to be a jerk, really.”
I swallowed. Wow. He apologized. “That’s ok…”
“So why are you upset?” he resumed, kicking a twig towards the fire.
My mind stung as I set my hands under my thighs. Images from the nightmare kept trying to surface. “That’s… really not your business, is it?”
“Mm. I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Was snatching my application papers and snooping in my legal records your business?”
“… Um.” Oh, God. How did he know about that? Did dad tell him I took them? Or did he see me at the counter that first day? Was he guessing? I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out.
To my surprise, he was smirking while stretching his arms over his head. His muscles flexed through the fabric of his jacket. “Kind of scary that I’m not as oblivious as you thought, huh?”
I stared at his arms, then down at my feet. Very scary. “I didn’t think you oblivious,” I muttered.
“Maybe not. But you thought I was unobservant.”
“Why’d you call me that day?” I decided it was time to turn the tables. “When I was at the mall? I know it was you.”
He pursed his lips, clearly not prepared for that question. He picked at the silver ring on his index finger, gears turning in his head. “I called you,” he started, “To tell you, um… sorry?”
“Sorry for, what?” There were several things he could’ve been implying sorry to.
“Tuesday? About what I said at work?” He said it with a duh sort of tone.
I lowered an eyebrow, disbelieving.
“Don’t do that. I am sorry.”
I lifted both eyebrows. He didn’t even look at me for my expression.
“You do that a lot, too.” A half smile shaped his lips. “I’m not all that frightening, am I?”
What, was my face giving away everything I was thinking? “You… I, uh… Yeah. Yeah you are. But in my defense, you’re not the easiest person to adapt to! Especially when you bite people’s faces off for the simplest questions.”
“Well… Inadaptable is probably a good thing.”
I folded my arms. How is it a good thing?
“You don’t want me here anyway.”
The words came out before I could stop them. “That’s not true.”
He jerked his head around—the same poison from Tuesday weaved back into his features. “Don’t lie to me,” he said, appalled. “Damn, do you think I’m that stupid? Don’t think I don’t know what you say to your little coworkers and to your dad! I know you want me fired more than anything.”
My jaw hung open. I was enduring that cornered-mouse feeling again. Instantly fear-stricken and angry I’d spent so much time on him, I jumped up to leave.
“Wait!” His voice called.
I swiveled back, standing beside the fire now.
He stared after me like a lost child. His eyes were wide and nervous, almost more so than mine. He was sitting straight up in his chair, arms poised like he was getting ready to spring after me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t—I wasn’t trying to—… That came off harsher than it should’ve.”
“Do you have like, split personality syndrome or something?” I blurted at last.
“No.” He almost laughed. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
I sighed, standing there awkwardly. Stay? Leave? Of course I should’ve left. I should’ve been back in the tent minutes ago and I’d been given a couple opportunities already, yet I still hadn’t taken any of them.
And, somehow, something drew me away from this chance, too. For some reason, something pulled me back to him. Heck, I even settled a little closer, two chairs away this time—a bold move. I tried not to think of the sudden phrase,
curiosity killed the cat. Hayden’s fingers interlocked behind his head, under his dreadlocks. He stared up towards the stars, looking perplexed as I resettled. “Are you ok?” I frowned. “Or should I go seek some medical assistance?”
He laughed. “I’m not crazy, Rose.”
I pursed my lips, thinking of his records.
“I’m not.” He tilted towards me.
I flinched. Gazing into his eyes, I realized his irises had gone… silver. There
wasn’t any trace that blue ever existed, and even while I’d seen people with grey eyes before, I most certainly didn’t see them vary between colors.
Just like the creepy Myspace picture. So it wasn’t a computer fluke after all.
“What?” he asked.
I automatically looked away. “Nothing. It’s just… Never mind. Hayden, about what I’ve been—”
“Shh!” He shushed me suddenly, cocking his head.
“What?” My ears strained to listen. The crackling of the fire remained the only sound I heard, but his abrupt tone still caused goose bumps to jump out of my skin. I thought of the feather in the woods…
the girl in the trees.
“Oh.” He settled down after a second. “Cheyenne’s looking for you.”
I threw him a funny look. “How do you know?”
He inhaled, chin inclined towards Robbie’s camper.
“Hayden, how—”
“Rose?”
I twisted around at the sound of my name. Cheyenne appeared in her baggy sweats and a Hello Kitty beanie a few feet behind the fire. “Cheyenne!” I didn’t suppress my shock. I hadn’t even heard her coming. “What are you doing out of bed?”
“What are you doing?” She looked between Hayden and me, owl-eyed. Her head was probably swarming with PG13 conclusions.
“I… couldn’t sleep.” That was plain enough. “I was just heading back to the tent.”
She took in Hayden’s whole figure, crossing her arms as she gave a sarcastic, “Uh-huh.”
“I was! In fact—… come on!”
“Hey!” She squeaked as I pushed her back towards the crack between the campers. Before turning into the shadows after her, I gave Hayden one last glance over my shoulder.
He was smiling, his eyes blue again. Had it just been me? Maybe I was becoming the loon. Seeing silver eyes, people in the woods. And I didn’t know if it was the way he was slouching in his seat with his hands behind his head, or how his muscles had flexed under his jacket, or how he mysteriously seemed to know everything…
But for a split second I found there was something very seductive about him. The worst part was when I realized—for a nanosecond—I actually liked it.
10) Shadows
The next day was spent pretty much the same as the day before, only with three exceptions: one, the group rode the back hills instead of the mountainside. Two, while I didn’t see the barefoot girl in the woods, I had the uncanny feeling of being watched. And three…
There was not one girl in camp that didn’t tease me about Hayden. Cheyenne had clearly spilled the beans about what she’d seen last night, and no matter how much I pleaded that it wasn’t what it looked like, it did nothing for me. They giggled and made little comments like, “Hey, where’s Hayden, Rose?” or “Hayden and Rosie sitting in a tree!” More embarrassing than their words were their stares. Every time Hayden passed, they would stare at him with these quirky, frozen smiles until he was out of sight. I prayed he didn’t notice.
A Taste of Silver Page 10