“No problem. You know we always look out for you.” Cassie smiled, squeezing Bree’s shoulder before moving her attention to me. “I haven’t seen you around before.” There wasn’t a question in there so I didn’t answer. Besides, the three hulking boys to my side had my full attention even though I wasn’t looking at them. Could I outrun them if needed? I wiggled my toes, cursing myself for wearing flip flops instead of sneakers.
“Who are you?” Cade demanded, this time directing his question at me. I turned to face him and knew that was a mistake. Up close the boy was hardly a boy. His features were in sharp relief and I found I couldn’t look away from his deep brown eyes. There was something about those eyes that made me catch my breath. What a hottie! The other two boys shuffled on either side of him which finally woke me up enough so I could stumble out a reply.
“Kendra. I just moved here.”
“From where?” He asked, a little less forcefully this time. His eyes held mine steadily and threw me off balance. Who looked that intensely at someone they just met?
“Other side of the state.” I replied shortly. I looked around at the group and noticed all of them were studying me, closely, like they were trying to figure out some hidden fact about me. Well, I wasn’t one to stick around unnecessarily. I cleared my throat and nodded at no one in particular then turned to leave.
“Wait!” Cassie said from behind me. I turned back to her and noticed that she had taken a few steps toward me.
“Sorry if we seemed a little…protective. We look after our own.” She said, nodding at the group around her. I figured she meant their close group of friends so I nodded. I’d seen that enough over the years, even if I was never in one of those groups. “Will you be going to school next week?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
“What year are you?”
“Senior.” I replied and she smiled in response.
“So are we. Maybe we will have some classes together.” She sounded almost hopeful. I, however, was skeptical.
“Maybe.” I replied noncommittally and shrugged.
“Where do you live?” Cade asked, his gaze intent on me. I made it a point not to squirm.
“Edge of town.” I hedged.
“Are your parents in the store?” He asked, nodding toward the window I was looking in earlier.
“No.” I replied, confused. What did my “parents” have to do with anything?
“Are they close by?”
“Why are you asking?” I countered and squared up to him. Cade seemed like one of those boys who always got his way. Not something I was interested in doing. Not in the least.
“You shouldn’t be walking around alone.” He took a few steps toward me, which made me back up. I inwardly cursed my retreat. He noticed and stopped his advance as he gave me a quizzical look.
“Why?” I asked to cover my retreat.
“This may be a small town but bad things can still happen.” He stated. He glanced around at the group before adding, “We will walk you home.”
“Uh, thanks but no thanks.” I replied shaking my head. “It’s too far to walk and I have a ride picking me up.”
“You’re refusing my offer?” He asked incredulously, like it was something that had never happened to him before. Anyways, from my viewpoint it wasn’t an offer, more like a demand.
“Yeah, I’m refusing it.” I replied sarcastically. “I don’t need your help. I can take care of myself.” His eyes narrow at my response.
“Cade, let her go.” Cassie said quietly as she pulled gently on his arm. I don’t know why, but a surge of jealously spiked through me as Cassie touched Cade’s arm. Weird, why would I care? I shook off the feeling and returned my attention to Cade. He looked back at Cassie before his gaze shifted to me. He still seemed undecided so I made it easy on him. I turned around and walked away. I wanted it to be a statement, like a “thank you but no thank you, I don’t need you” kind of act. But my curiosity got the better of me and as soon as I heard them start discussing something amongst themselves, I glanced over my shoulder. Right into the eyes of Cade who was following my progress down the street, eyes focused on me. I quickly turned back around and went into the nearest shop. Whew! Talk about intense!
I glanced around the store and realized I’d ducked into a flower shop. Well, there were worst places to be hiding. I glanced around for a little bit and finally decided I could buy a bouquet of wildflowers for the kitchen. They would brighten up the room and smell nice, at least. I made my purchase and slowly walked to the door. Before I opened it, I tried to look down the street but I couldn’t tell if they were still out there or not. I took a fortifying breath and stepped out. I purposely did not glance back the way I had come but I didn’t hear any voices. I turned and continued down the street as I perused the stores.
I spent the next thirty minutes wandering up and down main street, looking in windows, and checking over my shoulder. Cade and Cassie were definitely different than other kids I knew. They seemed close to each other and Cade was way too protective. I mean, I’d just met the guy and he was insisting that they walk me home? Maybe some would view that as chivalrous, but he didn’t ask. He demanded. Orders never sat well with me. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. No sense in rehashing that encounter. I didn’t buy anything else from the stores, but when my stomach started growling, I decided it was time to eat. On the corner there was a diner and I thought that was as good a place as any.
As soon as I walked in the door, I felt out of place, again. Every head in the joint turned to look at me, scrutinized me, and then dismissed me. Internally I bit back my angry retorts and made my way to the bar stool. Ever since I could remember, people judged me before they knew me. I was always labeled. New kid. Foster kid. Mouthy. Well, that last one was probably true. As I sat down, I set my bag of flowers near my feet and a menu and glass of water was placed in front of me.
“What can I get you?” The waitress was in her mid-forties, smiled, and didn’t seem to judge me like everyone else had. Maybe she just wanted a good tip.
“A burger, fries, and chocolate milk shake please.” I replied without looking at the menu. This place looked like it had all of that.
“Sure. Anything on the burger?”
“Whatever comes with it is fine.”
“Okay, I’ll have that right out.” She smiled before tearing my order off and placing it on the carousel for the cook. I met the cook’s eyes and eyed him just as he was assessing me. Whatever he saw, or didn’t see, made him scowl before he returned to the fryer in front of him. Jesus, this town was crazy. I hadn’t even been in town for 24 hours and people were already making assumptions about me.
“If you smiled more people wouldn’t jump to conclusions.” A familiar feminine voice right beside me made me jump about a foot in my seat.
“Holy Hell!” I yelled before turning to glare at Cassie. Her eyes widened slightly at my outburst before she dissolved into a fit of giggles. I huffed and shook my head before turning away to ignore her.
“Sorry! Sorry,” she took a deep breath before sliding into the seat beside me. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” I rolled my eyes and continued to ignore her. “We didn’t get off to a great start. I’m Cassie McCoy.” She held out her hand. I honestly debated not taking her hand, but so far, she had been nice so… I reached out my hand and shook hers.
“Kendra Jennings.”
“It’s great to meet you.” She smiled warmly and I had to fight my smile in return. I was always on high alert when I was in a new place. You never knew if someone was being genuine or not until you had a chance to observe them for a while. She seemed nice but I didn’t know what her end game was. “So, you just moved here?”
“Yesterday.” I replied.
“Oh wow. You must have so much stuff to sort through. Your family bought the place on the north edge of town, right?”
“News travels fast.”
“Oh, you know. Not many secrets in a town this size.” She
laughed at her own joke. “Do you have any brothers and sisters?”
“No.”
“Oh, so just you and your parents then.” I didn’t respond. When most people found out I was a foster kid, they either assumed I was on the wrong side of the law or needed their pity. Neither applied to me. While I was unruly at times, I never did anything that would jeopardize my future. My future was all that I had to look forward to and I was adamant that nothing would stand in my way of becoming an artist. Loud masculine laughter caught my attention and I looked over her shoulder and met the brown eyes of Cade, again. Both of his buddies sat with him and Bree and joked over something. Cade didn’t seem to be paying attention though. His eyes were fixed on me. I looked away first and unconsciously grabbed my necklace to play with it. Cassie looked over her shoulder and frowned before she looked back at me.
“Oh, don’t mind him. He’s just moody sometimes.”
“Your boyfriend?” I asked and cringed internally that my filter deserted me. Why did I have to show an interest?
“My what?” She laughed. “No, not at all. He’s my brother. Twin if I have to claim him at all.”
“Oh.” Now that I knew, I could see some resemblance between them. “Sorry.”
“Nah, it’s all right. You’re not the first to make that assumption. It happens a lot when we travel out of town.”
“I suppose everyone around here knows you are brother and sister.”
“For sure. We’ve lived here our whole lives. Everyone knows everyone.” Except me, I thought. She must have read my thoughts as she added, “Don’t worry. People just take a little time to get used to change. Not many people move here. Give it a few months and things will seem normal.”
“One order of fries, burger with everything, and a chocolate milk shake.” The waitress plopped my food down in front of me before adding, “Can I get you anything else?”
“No this is good, thanks.” She nodded before going to her next customer.
“You can eat with us.” Cassie offered. I looked over at her, my gaze slid beyond her to the brown ones that still watched us.
“No thanks. I’m not staying long. I have to head home after this.”
She sighed before she asked over her shoulder, “Cade, bring my food over, would you please?” Out of my periphery vision, I saw Cade stand up, grab a plate and drink, and head in our direction. He set the plate and glass down in front of Cassie. I couldn’t help my eyes as they traveled up to meet his.
“Why don’t you sit with us at our table?” He asked me. Cassie answered before I could.
“Because you scared her off that’s why.” Cassie huffed before taking a bite of her sandwich. Cade frowned at her answer and looked at me. My response was automatic.
“I’m not scared.” I could see Cade’s lip twitch in response.
“Then why don’t you sit with us?”
“I’m not staying long.” I replied, and then before I could help it, I added, “I don’t go where I’m not wanted.” His eyes narrowed in response.
“I never said you weren’t wanted.”
“Body language says a lot.” I commented around a mouthful of food.
“Just leave her be, Cade.” Cassie said. He almost turned away before asking another question.
“You still planning to walk around the streets alone before your ride comes?”
“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” I could tell he wasn’t used to people outright telling him no, besides his sister of course. The guy needed a chill pill. He was about to make some comment before Cassie interrupted.
“Let’s compromise.” Cassie said, sitting up straighter in her chair. She looked to me and said, “You let me walk with you. We can get to know each other a little better.” She turned to Cade before I could respond, “And you can pick me up from her house. Deal?”
“Fine.” He growled before stalking off and sitting back down with his friends.
“See? Simple.” Cassie said before digging back into her meal.
“I don’t see how I won out in that at all and you just finagled a ride to my house.”
“One way or another Cade was going to see you home. Did you want to ride with him?” She asked.
“I don’t need anyone giving me a ride home.” I hedged.
“Just as I thought.” She nodded. I knew arguing any more with her would just end with me even more frustrated so I let it drop. Nicole would be ecstatic that I “made a friend” already and would be more than happy to let her ride home with us. We ate the rest of our meal while Cassie tried to pry information from me. She asked about where we used to live, why we moved here, if I liked it here, things like that. She was annoyingly sweet. I found myself almost laughing a couple of times as she told me stories about how the town had legends of werewolves back some two hundred years.
“What? You mean like people turn into werewolves and run through the forest?” I laughed at the absurdity of it. She watched me carefully before laughing along with me.
“Yeah you’re right. Those are for the story books.” She shrugged. “People just like their town legends or something.”
“Or something.” I agreed and shook my head. I looked over, again dang it, to see Cade smiling slightly as he watched us. His eyes met mine and my laughter abruptly cut off. I was ready to leave. I slid out of my seat and paid my bill as I gathered up my flowers.
“Oh, those are pretty,” Cassie said absently, leaning in to sniff lightly.
“Thanks, I figured our kitchen needed a little color and the scent will make it homey.”
“Definitely.” She paused before adding, “You know, there is this really cool place called White River Falls a little ways up the mountain that has a whole bunch of pretty flowers around it. I could take you up there sometime. Make it a day trip.”
“Up the mountain? Aren’t there bears or something?” I asked as we both turned to leave the diner.
“That’s why you take one of us with you,” Cade stated firmly from behind us. I glanced over my shoulder to see him trailing after us, with Bree and the two other boys following as we made our way out the front door.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember you being invited.” I replied with a glare.
“Cassie knows the rules.” He stated like it was obvious. I turned to Cassie to see her biting her lip.
“He’s right. We can’t go up without one of the guys.”
“Ok, so if we went, we’d take one of…” I looked around a pissed off Cade, because he probably guessed my intention, and motioned to the two boys behind him. “Hey, what are your guys’ names?”
“Oh!” Cassie exclaimed. “Sorry, I should have introduced you. The brown haired one is Brody, the blonde is Hunter.” Brody smiled good-naturedly and nodded to me. Hunter, on the other hand, was exactly what his name implied. He was the bulky one from earlier and gave off the vibe of never wanting to be on his bad side.
“So what do you say?” I asked, looking between both of them while I ignored the angry vibes that emanated from Cade. Who knew pissing off one guy could be so much fun? “Would you consider going with Cassie and me up the mountain sometime?” I could see Brody trying to hide a grin as Hunter’s face remained impassive. Brody spoke up first.
“We love the mountain. Any time you ladies need a guide, let us know.”
“Not without letting me know.” Cade bit out. I glanced back to him to see him glare at Brody who smiled broadly back at him.
“What crawled up your ass?” I muttered. Cassie choked and Brody laughed. Bree covered her smile and even Hunter’s lip twitched in amusement. Cade, on the other hand, was not amused.
“I don’t like…people…putting themselves in danger unnecessarily. I take care of my own.” He replied heatedly as he looked down at me. I was confused, that was the second time they had used the phase, “take care of our own”.
“Well, I’ll be sure to remind Cassie to let one of you know if she ever wants to go with me sometime.”
> “That doesn’t just apply to her.” Cade folded his arms across his chest. A small part, very small, may have admired the show of muscle but then his words caught up to my brain. His folded arms were probably an act of intimidation but I was beyond being intimidated by him now. He was just annoying.
“Your rules don’t apply to me.” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You’re an honorary member of our…group.”
“What?” I asked, shocked and confused. How did I go from having no friends, to having five?
“Cassie befriended you. She’s not letting you go, so that makes you a part of our group. Rules apply to you now.”
“How is that even logical?” I questioned, looking around the group. I noticed that none of them were laughing now and everyone had a serious look on their face, like something significant just happened. I didn’t have a clue what was going on. Cassie broke up the somber mood.
“Regardless,” Cassie interjected, “it’s smart to hike in groups. You’re my friend, and now one of us.” She shrugged like it was a given fact. Weirdest day of my life.
“Ok, well, I’m going now.” I turned and started down the sidewalk again. Cassie caught up and I noticed that she was alone. At least something is going the way it is supposed to. We made small talk about school and the town as we looked over the last of the stores. I called Steve and found that they were already in town and soon Cassie and I slid into Nicole’s truck.
“I see you’ve been making friends already, Kendra.” Nicole smiled at Cassie. “I’m Nicole.”
“Cassie. Thanks for the ride. My brother is going to pick me up from your house. It’s on the way to ours.”
“Sounds good. Did you girls have fun today?”
“Yeah. Checked out all the shops.” I replied. Nicole drove the few miles back to our house and I saw that Steve was waiting in the driveway. We jumped out of the truck as Nicole parked and my attention was pulled to the sound of a large engine approaching from down the street. We all turned and my jaw dropped at the monstrosity of a truck that parked by our driveway in the street. It was a Toyota Tundra, black, sleek, but way over the top. I liked nice cars and trucks, but why make them flashy? Seemed like you were just begging for attention. I went for the more classy approach. Power and speed, but subtle. Who would drive something like that? I scoffed as soon as Cade came around the corner of the tailgate. Of course.
HIDDEN (Hidden Trilogy Book 1) Page 2