Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (20 page)

“
Are you two fighting or something?
”

“
Not really
,”
I said
,
wanting to go into details about everything that had happened over the past month. Instead
,
I fiddled with the remote
,
hoping he didn
’
t push me. I
wanted
to
keep
my friends
out of
my troubles. I still had a nice hole in my leg to remind me that Paige would stop at nothing to get Gia
’
s name. The less Shani
,
Kyle
,
and Erica knew
,
the better.

“
What aren
’
t you telling me
,
Caleb? Hey
,
I
’
m your
most loyal
Naruto
fan.
You know that
,”
Kyle said.

The front door burst open. Mom rushed in with too many bags of grocery in her hands.
“
Ah
,
Caleb and Kyle
. Just who
I needed. Boys come help me out. I
’
m running behind. My yoga girls are on the way. Gah!
”

“They’re coming over on a Saturday, Mom?”
Dread of another type washed over me. I now faced having a hole in the leg and red cheeks after Mom
’
s friends
finished pinching them
.

“We missed two classes this past week, hon. They’re dedicated. What can I say?” Mom answered.
Suddenly
,
the
idea
of being tortured by scenes of Gia and Thorne loving all over one another didn
’
t seem so bad.

Kyle and I headed outside to grab Mom’s groceries and stuck around long enough to help
her
put
them away
.
“
You
’
re such a sweet son
,”
she said and kissed my cheek with Kyle standing there teasing me behind her back. I shoo
k a fist at him
.
“
Kisses for you too
,
Kyle?
”
She turned to face him, smiling.

“
No
,
Mrs. Wood
,
I
’
m good. Thanks
,”
Kyle said
,
stuffing his hands in his pocket
s
.
His face turned about as red as Mom’s
tomatoes lying on the countertop
. Served him right for teasing me.
“
So
,
Caleb
,
about that skateboard competition.
”

“
I
’
m in. You drive this time
,”
I suggested.

“
I
’
ll drive if you round up the
ladies
,”
Kyle said.

“
What girls? Never mind. I already know.
”
He was talking about Shani and Erica.

“
Be careful tonight
,
boys. There
’
s a tornado watch on until 9p.m.
,”
Mom warned.

“
Alright
,
Mrs. Wood
. We won’t do any storm chasing
,”
Kyle said
,
pushing me toward the back door. We rushed outside
,
hopped into his Mustang
,
and headed out to pick up our dates.

* * *

The atmosphere around the park buzzed with energy. There had to be almost a thousand people crammed into the bleachers set up along either side of the
stunt pit
. I had to admit one thing: I was super curious about Gia
’
s s
kateboarding s
kills. Yeah
,
I was pretty su
re she could conjure up a water-
angel spell or something to help her
win the competition
; but I was hooked.
My desperation
made me want to do
stupid
things like go
ing
back in
to
the water even after I agreed not to do so.

Why did Gia get to make all of the rules anyway?

I spotted her standing among the rest of the skateboarders.
Marisa
and Lelo
,
always standoffish and strange
,
helped her gear up. The only glimpse of personality I ever got from them happened when they tackled Paige that night at the Fall Ball game. Besides Gia they were the only other female skateboarders.

Erica found her way to my arm
,
hooked hers inside of it
,
and moved my face
so I now stared in her eyes
.
I hated treating her this way. She deserved to have more than
a
lovesick puppy drooling over a girl who didn
’
t want to hold
on to
his leash.

“
Hey
,
remember me?
”
she said and passed a nervous glance at Gia just before she gave me a big smile.

“
Always
,”
I assured her.

“
Shani and Kyle found some good seats. We should probably head their way.
”

“
You know what? I agree
,”
I said and moved on toward the bleachers without glancing behind me.

* * *

The crowd roared as Gia
,
Raze
,
Marisa
,
and Lelo
shredded the pavement with their skateboarding tricks like I had never seen before.
Even with the sky
’
s gray clouds and the strange chill in the air
,
the island
’
s curious residents all gathered together by the droves. As with every event of this type
,
the police and coast guards patrolled the area in larger numbers.

I had to admit
that
our new skate park impressed me. Pits of all sizes were built into the design. It made watching the skaters perform their
stunt
s a worthwhile venture. After several flips
,
back turns
,
and other amazing tricks
,
Gia and the Razors won. Thorne raced over and planted a long kiss on her lips. I clenched my jaw together hard enough to almost shatter my teeth.

She didn’t expect him to do that. I could tell from the
look on her face
. It
rotated betw
een a frown and a forced smile.
My blood boiled inside me. The way I felt matched the
angry
sky as a strong gust
settled over the event.

The announcer
, our class president, Russell Davidson,
grabbed hold of his squeaky microphone and said:
“
How about a round of applause for our junior league boxing star and his champion girlfriend?
”

I wanted to throw up. No
,
even better
,
I wanted to hurt somebody. That surge I had felt at my lacrosse game last week moved its way through me.

Glancing out into the crowd
,
I shouldn
’
t have been surprised when I saw them standing among the people. The men in black. Right. Maybe that wasn
’
t the best name to use for them. Plus
,
it was a touch cliché. To me they looked like some kind of
Dark Agent
s. Tonight it wasn
’
t just a few
dudes
standing off to the
sides.
T
here
were
about
twenty or thirty of them standing among the crowd. I ha
d a sinking
feeling that no one could see
t
he creepy
Walker
s
but me.

“
What
’
s wrong
,
Caleb?
”
Erica
’
s voice forced my attention back to the show on the stage in just enough time for me to see Thorne attempting to plant another kiss on Gia
’
s lips. She turned her head before he made his goal.
Ha! Sucker.
She might not want to admit it
,
but her feelings for me were still there. The smile she gave him
,
those perfect lips that I wanted to feel again even after all of this
,
made me feel murderous.

Russell
strolled
over to them and cleared his throat.
“
Tell us
,
Gia
,
what inspired those moves tonight?
”
He held the microphone up to her mouth. An immediate hush fell over the crowd. I wondered if my heart that was racing inside my chest could be heard from the podium.

She waited a long moment just before she glanced out across the crowd and found the place where I sat with Erica.
“
I
’
ve waited my entire life for this moment. Ever since I was a little girl
,
I understood that I was meant for something more. Something rare. I also knew that if I found it
,
then my old life would never be the same again. There are two parts to a person
’
s soul: the light and the dark. Without one the other can
’
t exist.
”
Our gazes locked, and the world disappeared. Well, not really, but that was how she made me feel.

The stadium was so quiet you would
’
ve thought that Gia and I were the only two inside it. I sensed Erica studying my profile. Thorne
,
the
idiot
,
glanced at Gia
,
grinning
as though her words were meant for him.

“
The place I come from is very similar to your island
. To dream about being somewhere spectacular and following your heart
,
well
,
it
’
s not something that happens every day. I followed my heart here tonight. I don
’
t regret it. Not one bit. That
’
s the secret behind this evening
’
s victory. Oh yeah
,
and a great team. Let me hear what you got for them!
”
She glanced at
Marisa
and
then
Lelo standing beside her
,
grabbed their hands
,
and lifted
their arms in a victory pose
.
Raze stalked over to them and gave the three girls high-fives.
Applause and cheers roared around
the park.

“
Aww
,
that
’
s so sweet for her to dedicate their win to Thorne that way
,”
Shani gushed.

Kyle passed me a quick glance. My best friend didn
’
t need body heat to understand when something upset me. I
had
to get out of these crowds before I charged up on that stage and ripped Thorne apart.

I caught a glimpse of the
Dark Agent
s filing out of the stadium
’s exits
,
one creepy body after the next.

“
Hey
,
I
’
ll be back
,
my man
,”
I said to Kyle.