Burning Hearts (11 page)

“
Where are your
parents?”

“
Dead,” he said with a
pained expression.

“
Oh, I’m sorry.” She felt
bad for being so rude to him earlier.

He gave her a half smile. “It’s okay.”

“
Can you tell me about
them?”

“
Yes, but not
now.”

“
Why not?”

She cringed inwardly at her whiny tone as if
she were a petulant child, who deserved to know everything, feeling
like everyone was keeping secrets from her.

“
It’s a long story,” he
bounced back, sounding like an exasperated, but loving parent,
showing her a smile. “I need to go home, change.” He winked. “I’m
filling in for the quarterback.”

There it was again: super-shocked.

“
You play
football?”

He gave a simple nod. “We didn’t play in
Egypt, but it’s not hard to learn the rules,” he said in a somewhat
arrogant tone.

She didn’t comment on him acting like…well, a
Stuck-Up. “But-but what about Val? Did the principal suspend him
from playing?”

“
Oh, no, she didn’t, but
Coach Hardy was so impressed with my skills, he decided to bench
Val.”

She gasped. “For the rest of the season?” She
made a mental note to call Guinness, claiming to be the world
record holder for receiving the most shocks in one day.

“
I don’t anticipate playing
any more games,” he clarified.

Cancel Guinness.

She furrowed her brow. “I don’t
understand.”

He smiled. “I know you don’t.”

Malcolm King was infuriating.

“
Are you making fun of me?”
she asked crossly.

His smile faded as he separated himself from
the wall. “I’d never do that.” He tucked some loose hair behind her
ear. “Are you mad at me?”

She could still feel the heat of his touch
after he’d removed his fingers. “No. I’m not mad at you,” she said
in a forgiving tone.

He gave her a smile of relief. “Good. After
the game that the Scorpions are sure to win, reversing their losing
streak,”—he winked conspiratorially—“we can talk.”

“
You won’t be
tired?”

She remembered when she’d dated Val. He
didn’t even want to see her, crashing in the backseat of Aidan’s
Bronco as the wide receiver drove Emma and Jenna home.

Malcolm shook his head. “No. I’ll be wide
awake, for you.”

She tried to will her blush away, but it
flushed her cheeks, betraying her. “Well, I’ll be with my friends.”
Then she bit her lip, realizing his plan might not work.

“
What’s wrong?”

“
I won’t be able to see you.
Caleb’s mom is driving us all home. I won’t have a ride if I
stay.”

He gave a proud smile. “I have a car. I can
take you home—with your parents’ permission, of course.”

“
Oh, yeah, uh, they’ll be
fine with it…probably. I just have to tell them.”

“
Great.” His blue eyes
twinkled as he grinned. “I’ll see you tonight.”

She smiled, feeling excited and nervous at
the same time. Was this a date?

“
Great. See you too.” She
had fiery butterflies in her stomach. “And good luck at the
game.”

“
Cheer for me.”

“
I will.”

He leaned in and lightly brushed his lips
against her cheek in a chaste kiss before walking away. It felt
like her whole face was on fire. She closed her eyes, holding her
bandaged hand to her cheek, keeping the memory of his lips against
her skin for as long as she could. She didn’t expect his kiss.
Malcolm King was full of surprises.

And it left her feeling, yes,
super-shocked.

REUNION

When Jenna boarded the bus to go home, she
found Pru and Riddick sitting on opposite seats.

Riddick smiled and patted the unoccupied
space next to him. “Sit with me?”

Unsure, Jenna looked at Pru, who encouraged
her with a smile and a nod. She sat next to Riddick, nervous, but
glad they were on speaking terms again.

“
So…what’ve you been up to?”
she asked, maintaining a tone of casual inquiry.

“
I’m sorry, Jen.” He acted
like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders by apologizing. “I
shouldn’t have fought with you like that. We’re still friends,
right?”

She relaxed, smiling. “Of course. I felt
awful the rest of the day, thinking everything had gone to
hell.”

She didn’t mention the possible date with
Malcolm. That would set Riddick off again. Of course, he was going
to find out eventually. She decided to cross that rickety bridge
later.

“
I was upset too,” he
confided. “I just got mad when you started talking about Val. I
hate him. I hated him before he treated you like crap. And…and I
love you.” He gave a slight smile. “I’d get jealous of any guy you
talked about.”

She couldn’t date Malcolm. It would tear
Riddick apart. And right now his friendship meant more to her than
having a boyfriend. But she needed to clarify what they were and
what they weren’t.

She gently clasped his hand. “I like you
Riddick, but…not in that way. I mean as a friend, I—”

“
No, no, it’s okay.” He
continued to hold onto her hand. “I know you’ve never thought about
me that way, but…” He let go of her hand, reached into his back
pocket, and pulled out a small black book. He hesitated before
handing it to her.

She held it warily. “What’s this?”

“
Don’t read it now but
they’re some of my poems. The ones in that book are all about you.
I’ve been in love with you for a long time, even before we were
friends.” He shook his head. “I know it’s stupid. How can you love
someone you don’t really know? But I did. I still do. You’re
different than the other girls. Unique.”

Unique. Malcolm had said the same thing.

She willed him away from her mind, along with
his fiery kiss. “I’m just like everyone else,” she told Riddick.
“But thanks.” She decided to lessen the drama; it was already hot
enough on the bus. She waved the small black book in the air.
“Should I read this in secret? Any profanity? Naughty words?
Explicit content?”

He chuckled. “It’s perfectly PG.” He wobbled
his hand. “Maybe PG-Thirteen.” Then he held up his hand in a halt
gesture. “No R. You’re safe from prying eyes.”

She pouted. “Ah, I was hoping for some
raunchy material.”

He blushed. “All that’s up here,” he said,
tapping at his temple.

She chuckled, not disturbed at his thoughts
of her naked. It was only normal. She wondered if Malcolm had
thought about her that way too…

She turned to a grinning Pru, who was drawing
a heart shape with her forefingers.

Jenna just rolled her eyes.

~~~

They were dropped off at Caleb’s and soon,
Kylie joined them.

“
I’m so excited! And can you
believe it?! Val’s been benched! Malcolm’s gonna be quarterbacking
tonight!”

Riddick punched his fist in the air. “Yeah!
We might actually have a chance at winning!” He shrugged and
dropped his hand. “Not that I care.”

Kylie pinched his cheek. “Oh, Riddick! Always
pretending to be a sourpuss.”

“
Yeah, that’s right.
Pretending
.” He held up
both hands, snapped his fingers, and pointed two guns at her,
smiling. “You got me!”

She rolled her eyes. “Just get in the damn
van.”

Everyone crowded inside. Jenna sat in the
rear with her backpack on her lap, devoid of all school material.
Pru sat with Kylie in the middle while Caleb sat up front. Mrs.
Dasher turned the radio up loud to country music. Riddick plugged
in his ear buds and turned up his heavy metal mix. “Death is My
Friend” by The Bloody Knuckles blasted out.

While he gazed out the window, Jenna took the
opportunity to read his poems. It would take a car accident or a
kiss from Jenna to get him to stop listening to his
eardrum-rupturing music.

She noticed pages had been torn out,
especially at the beginning, where the oldest poems would be. The
later poems, the last one dated yesterday, dealt with his love for
her.

Riddick wasn’t a bad poet, but he was
repetitive.

One poem was particularly sad:

DREAMS OF JENNA

During the darkest
nights

My mind takes flight

Rising into that lit
place

Where I can behold her
face

Laughing in glee

As she flees from me

I chase her, call out her
name

But to her it’s just a
game

My hopes, her playthings

My cries, her gains

She stops, giving me
hope

But I’m just a dope

Letting her cut my wings

Watching me fall and break as she
sings

A song of joy for my
death

Yet I love her still as I take my
final breath

She nudged him. He turned to her and pulled
out his ear buds. “Yeah?”

She held up the book. “Why are so many pages
torn out?”

He turned off his iPod. “I don’t want you to
read those.”

“
Why not?”

“
That was from before we
were friends.”

“
I don’t understand. You
said you loved me then.”

“
I did. But I also hated
you. The poems I tore out reflected that. My words about you were
cruel, but I always ended with tortured affection.”

“
Tortured?”

“
It’s torture when you love
someone, and you know they’ll never love you back.”

She held his hand, gentle in care. “Oh,
Riddick.” She sighed. “I dunno what to say.”

He squeezed her hand, and then interlaced his
fingers with hers. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to say nothing.” He
smiled. “Of course, if you suddenly declared your love for me, I
wouldn’t question it, but I’m not gonna hate you ’cause you don’t
feel the same way. I’ll always be your friend, and I’ll always love
you.”

She fought back tears—tears of joy at being
loved—and tears of sadness at not being able to return his
sentiment.

“
If…if we were to start
dating and things didn’t work out, you know what that would mean,
right?”

He nodded and gestured with his free hand to
the passengers up front, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.
“The band would break up. The Misfits would be no more.” He leaned
in, close to her ear. “But after graduation, do you really think
we’ll stay in contact?”

She whispered back. “Pru said you were gonna
go to Texas, to be with your mom.”

“
That’s a plan, but
nothing’s definite. If…if I knew we had a chance—”

“
Riddick, don’t change your
life for me. Don’t wait around for me.” She freed her hand from his
hold, went into her backpack, and pulled out the journal, unopened.
“I’m not the Jenna you befriended three months ago. I go into
trances, imagining myself killing people.” She held up her bandaged
hand briefly. “I miraculously heal.” She gave a slight smile. “Not
to mention, I could crush every bone in your body if I got mad or
lost control.” She sighed. “I dunno what my future is gonna be, but
whatever it is and wherever I’m at,”—she held up the journal—“it’ll
be because of the contents of this book. Remember, I have a knife
in my room. My grandpa didn’t leave it for me because I was
destined to be a chef.”

“
If you don’t wanna do this,
you don’t have to. You don’t have to accept this pre-planned life.
There’s something called Free Will, Jen.”

“
But I can’t ignore it,
Riddick. How am I supposed to live my life when I go into trances,
or when I’ve gotta be careful shaking someone’s hand? I’ve changed.
Yes, I am unique. I am…different.” She nodded toward Caleb, who
along with Pru and Kylie, still seemed oblivious to Jenna and
Riddick’s tête-à-tête; thank goodness for Mrs. Dasher’s love of
loud, boot-stomping bluegrass. “In art, Caleb painted a picture of
himself as a silhouette with legs, standing among a group of people
in color.”

Riddick furrowed his brow. “What does that
have to do with anything?”

“
That’s me too,” she
clarified. “I’m among everyone else, alike in some ways, but very
different in one big way. I’m with the crowd, but not one of them.
You know what I mean?”

“
You’re an outsider,” he
concluded.

“
Yep.”

“
So am I.” He waved his hand
at their friends. “So are all of us.”

“
You’re an outsider because
you choose to be,” she distinguished. “I didn’t have a choice to be
or not to be a Mage…whatever that is.”

“
You see? You don’t even
know what this destiny is.”

She looked down at her grandpa’s journal and
pressed her palm against the black worn leather. “I’m about
to.”

SHAKY GROUND

There are certainly more appropriate and
quieter venues to read about your destiny: a library, the bathroom,
a glade in the forest. Yes, these would be better places for Jenna
to learn the truth about her life, but no, she opted to find all
this out at a high school football game.

“
It’s louder than I
expected,” Pru commented.

“
What?!” Caleb yelled, and
then smiled, exposing his dimples. “Yeah, it’s loud.” He turned to
Jenna. “Are you sure you wanna read the journal here?”