Absolute Zero (2 page)

Georgia looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged. My sister was in bad enough shape she didn’t need that little twit making her feel worse than she already did.

Georgia yanked me passed the girls. “We are freaks, Mandy.”

“But at least we’re freaks together.” Maybe she was finally having the meltdown she’d never had back when she’d stumbled into her powers. Delayed onset mental break or something. I wasn’t sure if anything like that existed out there, but it could be possible.

Especially after the shit we saw this past summer when we took down The Center.

“How have you done it all these years?” she asked.

“What?”

“Shrugged off all those stupid comments?”

“How have you?” I laughed. “Even without powers and a red streak running through your pitch-black hair, you were an artist freak loner with only a couple friends.”

“True.”

“Until I came into the picture. Best friends right away, then hey, let’s be sisters, too. Oh, and twins to boot.”

Darkness shrouded us as we made our way to Scott’s car. I iced my fingers down and twined them through Georgia’s.

She gasped and, immediately, I felt the ice crackle against my skin, then slide away. Warmth replaced the chill. Georgia’s face glowed a soft, subtle pink, like a sunset behind me splashed its setting rays on her.

“You look so pretty when you glow like that.”

“No I don’t.”

“Yes. You do, actually.” I let go of her hand and rested it on her shoulder. “And you know what?”

She leaned against the hood of the car.

“If Dan’s blowing you off, then to hell with him. Go back in there and find that Jason guy.”

“Really?”

“Just don’t get drunk. Okay?” I said.

“I won’t.”

“That’s what you say now, but if you have one drink you’ll be toast. You’re a lightweight, trust me. I know.”

“Oh, my old and wise sister showing me the right path—”

“Don’t pull your literature-loving language on me, girl. I’m serious. Been there, done that, so
not
fun the next morning.” I chuckled. “Plus, you might burn something down if you’re wasted.”

“Never really thought of that.”

“Neither did I.” I shrugged. “But the kids I was with were drunk, too, so they didn’t remember the icicles.”

“Rebel.”

“Whatever. I’ll go. You stay. Have fun.”

“So you have a boyfriend, that means you can’t go to a college party?”

“No. But—”

“You’re coming in with me. That guy you were talking to seemed nice.”

“And a little too cute.”

“What?” Georgia’s eyes nearly popped from their sockets.

Oh crap. I’d said that out loud. “Nothing. You go. I’m going to hang here for a second and catch some fresh air. It smells like gym socks in there.” But the real reason was I didn’t want to bump into Mr. Elbow Jabber. He made my stomach curl in a naughty way, and that was so not fair to Zach.

Then again, if Zach were here… No. I shouldn’t think that way.

“I want to see if Jason is still here.” Georgia turned on her heel and zoomed up the sidewalk.

She primped her hair as she navigated the steps. The door burst open, and three huge guys spilled out. One knocked shoulders with Georgia. She stumbled back and landed on her butt in the gravel yard to the side of the steps.

I darted toward her. Sounds of fists to faces echoed against the darkness.

“You asshole,” a guy yelled.

“Get out of here. She’s mine,” another one bellowed.

More fists to faces rang out.

On my way to Georgia, one guy staggered after a solid crack to the jaw, and his massive body rammed into mine. I rooted my foot to the side and stayed upright, digging my shoulder into his gut.

His booze-tainted breath washed over me as our collision thrust the air out of his lungs. His gigantic hand landed right on my boob. I planted my hands against his chest and pushed.

Unfortunately, my push was a little different than that of a normal human. The guy, easily weighing two hundred pounds, flew through the air at least ten feet and landed on his back. A plume of dust billowed around him.

Oops.

But hey, nobody but Zach touched my boobs.

The other two guys stood frozen. I imagined their glazed, drunk eyelids batting wildly, but couldn’t see them very well through the darkness.

Georgia lay on her side near the base of the stairs. Her skin glowed again.

The door swung open. Mr. Back Stabber hurdled the stairs, landing beside me. “What happened?” He leaned down for Georgia’s hand.

I stole a glance at the two ogres standing in the middle of the dirt lawn, staring at me. The guy I shoved still lay on the ground.

“Some idiot knocked into me while fighting these losers.” Georgia motioned over to the guys.

“Dude. She totally knocked Rick on his
ass-s-s-s
.” He glared at me. “How’d you do
t-t-that
?”

“Oh my gosh, you’re so drunk.” I planted my hands on my hips while Georgia accepted mystery friend’s hand to pull her up. “I shoved him, he tripped on the sidewalk and fell.”

The two drunks looked at me, then to their friend on the ground. He wasn’t moving. Probably passed out. The three of them emitted the smells of a brewery the size of the Mega Mall in Minnesota.

Georgia nudged me. I faced her. “Girl. You okay?”

“Feel more stupid than anything.” She patted her backside down and looked at Dreamy Eyes. “Thanks.”

Our new friend strode over to the guys, the third one finally made it to his feet, although not very sturdy.

“What’s going on, guy?”

“Ah, Nate. This sack of shit hit on my girl. He’s—”

“Just go home. You’re all totally wasted. Who’s driving you?”

“But—”

The guy, who may or may not be named Nate, leaned in, grabbed the drunk’s bicep, which I was sure he couldn’t even fit his fingers around all the way, and said, “Just tell me who’s your driver, and I’ll go get him.”

“It’s Steve—um—I can’t remember—”

“I know him. Relax, I’ll be right back.” He whirled around and stomped toward Georgia and me. “They’re just drunk. Hope they didn’t bug you too much.”

“You know them?”

He nodded.

“How? Thought you were a first year, too.”

“Um—I just met them earlier, around campus.” His lips curled up into a smile.

That smile tickled something way deep inside me that shouldn’t be tickled at the moment. I was out of control!

I turned to Georgia. “We staying or going?”

“Let’s just go.”

“Good idea.” I wrapped my hand around hers and tugged her toward me.

Zach might be done with work by now. It was only ten o’clock maybe I could still see him tonight. I
needed
to see him.

“It was nice to meet you, Mandy,” Nate called out.

I cringed when he used my nickname. Georgia might have, too. I steeled myself and turned to tell him that he didn’t get to use that name.

Two huge eyes, the size of silver dollars, I swear, beamed down at me. A wave of Envy cologne cut through the thick brewery smell the three-nimrod-giants emitted and filled my lungs. I think it clogged my brain, because instead of chewing him out for using my nickname that only a very select list of people could, I simply said, “Ah, yeah.”

I so needed to get out of there before I did something stupid.

Chapter 3

“Y
ou better start talking girl,” Georgia said.

“About what?”

The white lines in the single-lane road on our way back to Trifle whizzed by as I sped down the road. They were almost hypnotic. I couldn’t shake the smell of Envy cologne from my nostrils, though. It was like it clung to my nose hairs or something. I hadn’t even drunk any beer and I felt a little tipsy.

So not cool. Guilt slammed into my chest in the form of a pounding heart. Sure, Zach had been a little weird these past few weeks. Always working, family gigs I wasn’t invited to, but he didn’t deserve my wandering eye.

A slap to my shoulder yanked me out of my daze. Probably a good thing, too since I was driving.

“About what?” Georgia ranted. “You’re killing me here, girl!”

The glow of the dashboard lights sent an eerie shadow over her eyes. I knew they were blue because I had the exact same color, but the shadow made them look hollow. Deep. Hooded.

Scary.

Her hair had grown enough that she had cute wisps sticking up in the back, but the bangs, which were mostly red, always fell into her face, covering her beautiful eyes.

“You didn’t correct that Nate guy when he called you
Mandy
.” She nailed me with a stare.

Cue the gut churning in my stomach. Sounded like a freaking freight train roaring toward us. Georgia’s eyes widened, which only made my heart thump faster. I leaned forward and cranked up the radio.

Even Scott’s lame country music was better than hearing the guilt shred my stomach. For the first time since I started dating Zach, someone else had tripped a trigger in me. Big-eyed, nice-smelling, dimple-cheek, strong-guy made me stumble.

“Mandy!”

“Stop yellin’. Jeez.” I checked my rear-view mirror. Man it was dark. A cloud must have covered up the moon. “I know. I froze.”

Georgia laughed. “I know what frozen looks like, and I’d say you were just the opposite.”

“Hey now.”

“What’s going on? You and Zach not clicking?”

“We click fine. That was nothing. I was just distracted for a second. You know, with meeting up with your parents soon, moving into an apartment, and starting college. I mean, come on. Cut me some slack.” I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles ached. “And then you drag me to this party. We don’t know anyone—”

“Hold on just a second.
You’re
the rebel sister. Not me. Remember?”

“Oh, please.”

“Kicked out of, like, seven schools in five years? Partying. Messing around with guys—”

I slugged her shoulder.

“What? I’m just sayin’. Seems like something’s off with you and Zach, so this Nate guy, he caught your attention.”

I was such a jerk.

“Look out—,” Georgia screamed.

A massive deer froze in the middle of the road, staring at the car. Antlers shot up from the animal’s head, and lots of them. That meant they were really old if I remembered correctly, and judging by the size of this thing, it had been around for a hundred years if that was possible.

I slammed my foot on the brake, hoping I wouldn’t send it through the floor. A high-pitched screech pierced my ears as the tires locked up. The back end of the car slid to the side. I cranked the wheel to compensate.

I cranked it a little too much.

We fished-tailed the other direction, my stomach slammed against my ribs as gravity yanked us in all directions. The seatbelt dug into my chest like a fire-hot branding iron, and I lurched forward. The car skidded onto the gravel shoulder.

It felt like an hour later, but finally, the car slowed. The blurs subsided, and I looked out the side window. The deer leapt, with the grace of a cat, into the brush on the other side of the road.

“I can’t believe you missed it,” Georgia said, with a hitch in her voice.

She palmed her forehead as she sagged into her seat. Her chest heaved as she sucked in air. I noticed a slight glow to her cheeks. I, myself, had a little chill in my fingers as well.

We still had a ways to go on that control thing, despite the improvements we’d made over the summer.

“Oh my gosh,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper and my heart firmly lodged in my throat.

The car idled, rumbling through my insides like it growled at me for treating it so badly. I rested my forehead on the steering wheel. Thank God I hadn’t hit the deer. Not to mention Scott would never let me drive his precious car again if I’d damaged it.

I probably deserved punishment for mentally flirting with another guy anyway.

After a few minutes, once my heart slowed to an acceptable amount of beats per minute, I glanced at Georgia.

She let out a long breath. “Let’s get out of here.”

I eased my foot off the brake, then pressed the gas.

The engine revved, but we didn’t move.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not sure. Something’s not working.”

I pressed the gas again, with a little more power. The engine soared, and the car lurched but didn’t move forward.

“We must be stuck,” Georgia said. She cranked open her door. “Yep. Back tire. Stuck in some mud or something. Can’t see it real good, though.”

“Great.” I cranked the gear into park, but left the car running. “Slide over. I’ll lift us out. Check the glove box for a flashlight. I think Scott keeps one in there.”

She dug in and pulled one out.

“Sweet.” I grabbed it and clicked the light to life. “Ready?”

She nodded.

I opened my door and stepped out into the black void. Jeez. Not one freaking streetlight? We were only a few miles out of Aspers, but still, a county highway should have some lights.

I flashed my beam of light to the ground, then faced the car. Georgia slid over and positioned herself as the driver.

“I’ll lift and push, you gun it when I tell ya, okay?”

“Got it.”

I slammed the door, then shuffled toward the back end of the car. Crickets serenaded me, but they sounded eerily loud. I hated the dark. I flashed my light over the top of the car. Of course, tall, ominous trees loomed over me. Woods, in particular, freaked me out because they reminded me of escaping from The Center in California before we destroyed it.

I think tall, dark trees should be banished. We lived in a desert, Northern desert albeit, but still, there should
only
be cactus here. A shiver rattled my spine and considering it was the last day of July, I should
not
be shivering.

Damn paranoia just wouldn’t back down.

I shone my light on the passenger side back wheel, and saw it was in a glistening hole. It must have rained recently, because my tire sat in a quicksand-like pit of mud.

Gross.

Resigned to the fact that my white shirt would be no longer, I stepped to the rear of the car, near the hitch connection. I’d lifted Scott’s car tons of times to fix flats, so I knew where to pick up.