“Kat, honey, you didn’t tell me you two knew Dr. Aldrich’s boys,” her mother said, as she grabbed her coffee.
“I guess I forgot.”
Bracing herself against the corner cabinet, Katrina looked down at her feet. She couldn't make eye contact with Cole. After everything that happened between them she felt a bit awkward and unsure how to act. At least with Todd she had been able to shrug it off and move on. With Cole she couldn't do that. There definitely was something about him that called to her.
“So, what does Dr. Aldrich think of life in the country?” her mother asked, sitting at the table with the boys.
“He thinks Colorado is a nice change,” Cole smiled looking at Katrina and she blushed.
“I’ll bet I know some women in town that would just love to be fixed up with a doctor.”
“Mom!” Katrina couldn't believe her mother said that. She wanted to crawl under a rock and hide.
“What? You never know till you ask,” she shrugged.
Leave it to her mother to ask a question like that. That was one of her many talents. Katrina’s mother would say exactly what she was thinking regardless of her surroundings. It was yet another reason Katrina was glad she didn’t have to rely on her mother for transportation, anywhere.
“We should get going,” Cole interrupted. “Mrs. Davenport, thank you.” He rose and extended his hand to her.
“My pleasure,” she smiled and shook it. “You boys are welcome anytime.”
“We might just take you up on that.” Andrew smiled as he glanced over at Katrina who was gripping the strap of her backpack tightly.
Katrina tried to ignore him and turned her attention to her brother. She hadn't spoken to him much and had no idea what to make of him still. She laughed to herself as Jake stopped stuffing his face and followed Andrew into the entryway. She couldn’t remember a time when her brother had looked happier. He was usually an oddity, not fitting in to any one group. With Andrew, the two seemed a perfectly even match.
“After you,” Cole said, breaking the silence.
“Thanks.” Katrina gave him a nervous smile and hoisted her backpack over her shoulder.
“Kat, honey, remember I work late tonight. So, I’ll see you guys sometime tomorrow.”
“Okay. Bye mom,” she answered back as she stepped out the door.
Jake and Andrew were already in the back seat of the car, looking very cozy next to each other. Cole was holding the passenger door open waiting for her. She gave him a nervous smile then climbed inside. Without further hesitation, Cole got in the car and drove off.
The moment they pulled into the school parking lot, Katrina felt a wave of anxiety hit her. Brody had football practice before school and she was sure he was busy spreading his version of what happened around the whole school. As Andrew and Jake got out of the car and headed towards the school Katrina hung back. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face the rumors that were probably already spreading.
“Something wrong?” Cole came and stood next to her.
“Just tired. I didn’t get much sleep last night.” She nervously scanned the parking lot.
“He’s not here.”
“What?”
“Brody. He’s not here.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I don’t hear him anywhere.”
“What do you mean, you don’t hear him?” Katrina stared at him in disbelief.
“We have very sensitive hearing.” He pointed down the street and whispered in her ear, “Watch over there. A blue, no purple car is coming.”
Katrina turned and watched. Sure enough, a purple Volkswagen came from around the corner. She smiled and shook her head. “How did you know the color of the car?”
“I also have excellent vision,” he winked. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait.” She held up her hand to stop him. “I have one more question.”
“And what's that?” His baby blue eyes gleamed back at her.
“When my mother invited you in—is that true what they say about—you know?”
“Yeah, that’s true. We can’t enter a person’s home unless we’re invited in.”
“Then how can you go to school?”
“Public places don't hold to the same restrictions for us and that was two questions.” He lightly teased. “Shall we?” He cocked his head towards the school.
“Yeah,” she nodded.
It didn't take long for them to reach Ms. Stevenson’s class. When Katrina walked in, she found Stacy sitting in the corner. She was tapping her feet like crazy and Katrina knew the curiosity about yesterday was probably killing her. Stacy did a double-take when she caught sight of Katrina and Cole. He was too close to be played off as a mere coincidence. Katrina knew Stacy put the two together and that it must be eating her up inside. For a second, she looked as if she might turn blue from lack of oxygen.
“Take your seats, please,” Ms. Stevenson demanded, right on cue.
Ms. Stevenson handed out the day’s assignment and let the class work independently. Katrina tried, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything. There was too much going on around her. Off in the corner, Stacy was texting wildly, begging for any information out of her. From behind, she could feel Cole watching her every move. She felt like a rabbit, trapped with no way out. It was all too much for her to take. Just when she was about to explode, the bell rang.
While she packed up her stuff, Cole waited patiently next to her. She slung the strap of her backpack over her shoulder and caught Stacy staring at her. She knew that look. It was the we-need-to-talk-now one. It was long overdue and she felt bad, but Cole was right there. She couldn’t just leave without some kind of explanation.
Feeling her phone vibrate Katrina jumped. As soon as she read the caller id she knew what Stacy wanted: Lunch!!!
Katrina texted back a resounding yes, before turning her attention back to Cole.
“Ready?” He smiled and her heart fluttered in response. Every time he looked at her, Katrina's body became an inferno of nerves.
“Yeah.” She nervously bit her bottom lip and tried to rein in her feelings. It was all so strange and new to her. No one ever made her feel the way he did. Whenever he was near, it was as if she lost all control of herself. Emotions she never knew existed would come crashing to the surface and send her body on edge. She was hoping to have a chance to talk to Stacy about it. Being the much more experienced one in this area, Katrina really needed her expertise. Not to mention Katrina still owed her an explanation for the scene this morning. Lunch couldn't come fast enough today.
Cole walked Katrina to and from every class. Each time, he seemed more and more reluctant to leave her side. It was strange receiving that kind of attention, but truth be told she liked it; he made her feel special.
The rest of her day went like it did every other day. The only difference this time was she had a pale chaperone escorting her around. Every female that passed them in the hall would stop and stare at Cole. They eyed him up and down like he was candy. They never even gave Katrina a second glance. That was just fine by her. The less attention she got, the better. She preferred to blend into her surroundings unnoticed, like a chameleon.
Finally lunchtime came and Katrina couldn't wait. Katrina and Cole were only seated for few minutes, but the strange vibe at the table was obvious. Stacy had wolfed down her lunch and was tapping her fingers anxiously against her tray. Jake had hardly touched his food. He was too busy talking to Andrew to care about eating. And Katrina knew it was now or never to get some alone time with Stacy.
“Stacy and I’ll be right back,” she said to Cole, as she all but yanked Stacy out of her seat. They barely had enough time to hear Cole say, “Okay” before they were across the room and inside the bathroom.
“Finally,” Stacy sighed. Katrina shushed her, before checking under each stall to make sure they had no unwanted eavesdroppers. “Come on! I can’t take it anymore. The suspense is killing me.”
Stacy’s eyes lit up and Katrina knew she was really pissed. “That son of a bitch! I wish Cole would have knocked him on his ass.”
“I’m just glad things stopped where they did.” Katrina shivered, as she thought back to what Cole could have done.
“Me too.” Stacy gave Katrina huge hug. “I'm just glad you're all right. Hopefully he leaves you alone for good this time.”
“I hope so. At least I haven’t had to see him today.” Resting her head against Stacy’s, Katrina was relieved he was a no show at school.
“If we’re lucky, he’ll move to Tibet or somewhere,” Stacy teased. Katrina giggled at the thought. It would be nice for him to freeze his ass off elsewhere. And he definitely wouldn't be able to play football.
That’s when a funny feeling hit her. Brody almost never missed school, but missing football practice was something he never did. Football was his religion, the only thing he even cared about. Maybe I’m overreacting? I should just be glad he’s not here and forget about it. Katrina brushed it aside. Brody was hardly worth wasting her time over anyways.
“There’s the bell,” Stacy said. “I know you’ve got your hands full with lover boy, but maybe after school we can hang out?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
“See you.” Stacy gave her one more tight hug and then left.
Katrina walked back to the table and found it empty except for Cole. He stood leaning against the edge the table with his hands crossed over his chest, waiting for her. They walked to their next class side-by-side and the rest of the day went without any problems.
By the end of her last class, Katrina had grown so used to Cole waiting for her she expected it. He was leaning against the wall and his face lit up when he saw her. “Hey.” He rocked himself off the wall and smiled.
“Hey, yourself.”
“Ready?”
“Definitely.” Katrina started edging towards the parking lot and Cole kept up a steady pace next to her, but his body language was off. He seemed very nervous all of a sudden and she had the feeling something was up.
Her thoughts were pushed aside when they met up with Jake and Andrew. The two boys were in deep conversation, but the moment Katrina and Cole approached they stopped.
“So, where to?” Andrew asked the group as a whole.
“I have to go finish changing light fixtures at Trudy’s,” Jake answered.
“Want some help?” Andrew offered with a smile.
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
“What about you?” Cole asked, turning his attention to Katrina. “Any plans?”
“No, not really. I was just going to head home and study. Why?”
“I thought we might go somewhere and talk.” He hesitated on the last word and Katrina felt that he was debating about something.
“Oh, uh—” Katrina looked back and saw Stacy walking out of the building. “Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” He followed her eyes. “I have the feeling you wanted to be somewhere else.”
“It’s not that. I just promised Stacy maybe we’d hang out later.”
“She did seem rather excited and anxious today.”
“You have no idea,” she mumbled to herself.
“Would you prefer me to take you home, instead?”
“No.” She shook her head. “We can go talk.” Katrina caught Stacy pulling out her phone as she kept walking past her.
“If you’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” Feeling the vibration in her backpack, she pulled out her phone and slowly read the text: Go, but Details L8r! She stared down and smiled. Of course Stacy would understand.
“Come on, Kat. Get in!” Jake shouted.
“Coming.” Katrina smiled to herself and put her phone away before she climbed into the passenger’s seat.
Cole was walking around to his side of the car when his demeanor suddenly changed. His body became very rigid and tense. The muscles in his face grew tight as he ground his jaw together and clenched his fists. His nostrils flared, as his eyes scanned the parking lot.
Andrew hissed from the back seat and Katrina turned to see the same strained look on his face. Jake sat still next to him and even though he didn't say anything, she picked up on his apprehension through the bond. A bad case of deja vu suddenly hit her and Andrew looked just as scary as he had the night before. Whatever he and Cole were sensing out there wasn't good.
The slamming of the car door caught her attention. “Is something wrong?” she asked Cole.
“No. We should hurry though.” It was obvious Cole was hiding something from her. He was too quick to answer her, but this wouldn't be the end of it. Katrina was too stubborn to let it go and she'd get it out of him later. He gave Andrew a slight nod and turned the ignition. The two both seemed to be aware of the same secret, and they weren’t sharing.
As the car backed out, something shiny caught the corner of Katrina’s eye. It looked like a white car hidden behind a row of trees, but when she did a double-take it was gone. She frowned. Must have been nothing. Her over-active imagination was probably causing her to hallucinate, again.
The further away from school they drove, the more Cole and Andrew relaxed. Katrina laid her head back against the seat and did the same. Things were pretty strange the past couple of days and she wondered if it was only the beginning of more to come.
Katrina felt a sudden chill and slightly jumped. When she looked down she saw Cole's hand wrapped around hers. She chewed on her bottom lip and suppressed a smile.
His pale skin was a beautiful contrast against her own fair skin. Even the feel of his skin was different. It was smooth and cool to the touch, much like a porcelain doll. Tracing her eyes up his arm, she enjoyed the scenery. When her eyes made it up to his face they stopped. The view was breathtaking. She wanted to enjoy it a while longer, but the car was already slowing down. They made it to Trudy’s much sooner than she expected.
As they pulled into the narrow driveway, Jake was fumbling with his things. Before Cole could come to a complete stop, he was already pushing on the back of her seat to get out. For some reason he was more anxious than usual to go inside and get to work.
As soon as the car stopped, Katrina jumped. She didn't want to chance being smashed up against the dash when Jake shoved her seat forward. He hopped out and waited for Andrew with his hands in his pockets. Andrew followed out behind him and gave Katrina an odd stare. It was like he wanted to say something, but shook his head and thought better of it.
Then Andrew bent down and turned his attention to Cole. His jaw went taut and his body language was closed off. Neither he nor Cole spoke out loud, but Katrina couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing out on an important conversation.
The silence that followed became uncomfortable. Andrew stood frozen, like a statue glaring back at his cousin. It made every hair on Katrina’s body stand on end. She was about to move away, when Andrew snapped back to reality. He gave her one last glance over and then walked towards Jake.
What the hell just happened! was what she wanted to scream out loud, but kept it to herself.
Instead, she let it roll off her back and focused her attention back on her brother. Jake’s long legs took larger than normal strides towards the shop. His agitation was coming through loud and clear, but she couldn’t understand what had him feeling that way. Then Andrew followed right behind, leaving no space in between and realization dawned on her. After Andrew followed him inside Trudy’s, the entire town would know about the two of them. That was inevitable, since her shop was the main artery of the town gossip. As happy as he was to be with Andrew, his body language spoke volumes of his uncertainty about the whole town fin
ding out.
“Bye Kat. I’ll see you at home!” Jake shouted over his shoulder, without looking her in the eye.
“Yeah, see you at home.”
Katrina turned back to Cole and found him staring at Andrew. He nodded to him in agreement about something. She shot her head back in Andrew's direction in time to catch him grinning at her. He didn't speak much so far, but the looks he gave were sure odd. Then he grabbed Jake’s hand and the two of them disappeared into Trudy’s.
Once the door shut behind them, Katrina stared back at it. Through the bond she reached out to Jake and sent him reassurance that whatever happened she had his back.
“You ready?” Cole asked.
“Yeah.”
Pulling onto the highway, Cole turned away from town. Katrina tapped her foot against the leather seat and wondered where he was taking her. Every place she could think of was the other direction. He was heading out of town and towards the forest. Being someplace isolated and so far away from civilization with just him, made her feel a bit uncomfortable; Katrina's inner voice warned her to be careful.
The car turned and Katrina realized Cole was heading into the Morgan Springs Cemetery. She hadn’t been back there since her father’s funeral. That was a day she wished she could forget. The pain was of his loss was slowly starting to heal, but she knew it would leave a horrible scar on her forever.
She shivered as they passed through the big iron gates. Cole kept going till he came to the parking lot. He pulled into a space and turned off the ignition then paused. As he played with his keys, he seemed to be struggling with something. Tension was emanating off of him in large waves. He opened his mouth to speak a few times, but stopped himself. Then, without a word, he climbed out of the car. Seconds after he shut his door, Katrina was startled by the opening of hers.
“Where are we going?” she managed to ask.
“I want to show you something,” Cole said. His voice carried a somber edge to it.
“Way out here?” Katrina felt a bit uneasy, but Cole simply nodded and held his hand out to her. Without hesitation she took it.
He gently tugged on her arm to follow him. Katrina stared at the newer headstones they passed and grew sad. With their monotonous rectangular shapes it was hard to mistake them for anything else. Barely visible in the sea of grass, they were meant to blend and go unnoticed from the everyday eye of onlookers. Death, it seemed, had become a mass production of the same conclusion.
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