Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (30 page)

“
But you are
,”
I interrupted and said
,
“
So don
’
t go there.
”
Visions of the last memories I had of Ethan and Kyle arguing over Shani popped
up
into my head.

“
Ease up
,
Caleb. What
’
s really going on?
”

I sighed deeply
,
trying to decide just ho
w much I needed to spill at one time
. I had the feeling that once I got started then I wouldn
’
t be able to stop. I chose
my words
carefully. My mother told me to keep our
family’s
secret. I promised to honor her request
,
even though the temptation to talk about it burned inside me like somebody dropped a match down my throat.
“
I think I
’
m falling in love with another girl.
”
There that wasn
’
t so bad.

“
Whoa
,
how long was I
knocked out
?
”
Kyle asked.

“
This is serious
,”
I groaned.

“
Well
,
yeah
,
do you think?
Who
’
s the chick?
”

I knew we
’
d get to this question sooner or later
,
and I still wasn
’
t ready to answer it. I considered what I wanted to say carefully
,
but wound up saying
,
“
I can
’
t tell you that
,
right now.
”

An uncomfortable silence drifted
between us. Kyle
pressed
his lips
together
and clenched his jaws.
Damn.
I knew this would hurt his feelings. That was the main reason I wanted to keep my mouth shut. The less he knew about Gia and her strange skateboard gang
,
the better. 

“
Man
,
I need to regroup a sec before I give you my K-9 treatment
,”
he said and ran a hand through his matted hair that had grown longer than mine on the top of his head. Both of us had some serious
manga dude
hairstyles
developing here.
“
This is pretty easy. You
’
re not gonna like what I say
,
though.
”
Right away
,
my muscles relaxed. He accepted my secrecy for the moment
,
anyway.

“
Come on
,
spit it out
,”
I urged.

He hesitated one last time before he said
,
“
You need to choose. I know you
,
Caleb. We
’
ve been friends forever. You
’
ve already ma
de up your mind. I can see that
.
I’m just the messenger. So part of my job is done.
”

A smile crept across my face.
“
You
’
re going to make one hell of a psychologist. You know that
,
right?
”
We both shared a laugh. Shani
’
s shadow moved across the doorway for the fifth time since she left the room.
“
I think your girl has the shakes. What did you do to her?
” I asked. Kyle grinned and wagged his eyebrows.
“
Hold up. I don
’
t wanna know that answer.
”

He leaned over closer to me and said
,
“
I put a special kind of K-9 treatment on her
,”
he
explained
.

“
Too much information
,”
I said and
slumped
against the back of my chair
,
feeling super grateful to have my friend
here with me
.

“
Can I give you one last piece of a K-9 biscuit?
”
Kyle asked.

“
What
the hell are you talking about
?
”

“
That
’
s what I plan to call freebies. You know
,
that one last piece of advice you give to the person who just won
’
t get it no matter how plainly you spell it out? But I
’
m not saying that
’
s your problem
,
though. No sir
-
ee.
”

“
Spit it out
,
McGruff
,”
I ordered.

“
Wait until after the
All Souls
D
ance
. That is if you choose this other girl over Erica
,
which I think you
’
re a nutcase for even considering. But hey
,
every man choose
s his own arrow, even if it winds up poking them in the butt.
”

“
Alr
ight
,
thanks. I think
,”
I said
,
frowning.

“
You
’
re very welcome. Payment will be collected later
,”
he said and
nodded his head as though he were making some kind of mental note on all of this
.
“
That is after you tell me
what else is really bothering you
. There
’
s enough tension in your body for the both of us.
”

“
We’ll get to that later,
”
I
said
.
“
Are you sure you
’
ll be ready for
the dance this weekend
?
”

“
Are you kidding me? I
’
ve had enough rest to l
ast a lifetime. If I stay home over the next
few
days
,
then I
’
ll be all good by
then
. Don
’
t worry about me. You just need to handle the little issue we talked about
,
bro
,”
he said.

“
I know.
”

Shani burst through the doors
,
a wild-eyed look on her face when she glanced at me. Kyle didn
’
t seem to remember
a thing about what happened over the past
weekend; but Shani
’
s brain still functioned normally. The look she gave me asked for an explanation of what we discussed. Sure
,
I liked Shani
, b
ut
she did something to hurt my friend. And she chose a douche like Ethan Thompson to
hurt him
with. She
deserved
to sweat it out for a minute or two.

I needed
to find Uncle M. so I could
go home and
rest.
I
wanted to be at
Ashley George
as soon as the school’s doors opened in the morning. Then I intended to confront
Gia Jones
myself
.

* * *

A million thoughts
battled
inside my head. My brain was a mush of stressful thoughts spinning together. At some point I hoped it would stop swirling
,
come together
,
and make some sense. Until then
,
I was left with that nausea sitting at the pit of my stomach
,
and a rock lodged in between my chest and
my
heart.

“
Oh boy,
I
’
d pay a
m
illion
dollars
to know what
’
s
on your mind
,”
Mel said
as she walked
toward
me sitting on the bench outside the hospital. She was a strange girl
,
somebody I realized that I didn
’
t know much about at all. She sat down beside me and stared at my profile.

“
How about this: I
’
ll pay you that much in cash if you can rip these thoughts out of my head for good. Deal?
”
I asked.

“
You got it. Because honestly
,
Caleb
,
you
’
re a sexy guy and everything; but the angry look doesn
’
t work for you
,”
she said and winced. I couldn
’
t help but to make a light laugh.
“
See
,
that wasn
’
t so bad at all. I got you to smile.
”
She gave me a big grin
,
her curly hair blowin
g in the wind. The way the wavy strands
flowed around her face reminded me of something I couldn
’
t quite
place
.

“
What are you still doing here
,
anyway?
”
I asked.
“
Mashu should be pulling up at any moment.
”

“
Visiting a sick friend
,”
she said
,
shrugging.

“
I
figured you didn’t have
many friends
,”
I stopped talking and sighed.
When will you finish cleaning the rest of the leftover jackass out of your body
,
my man?
“
Wait. That didn
’
t come out right. I
’
m on a roll with my words today.
”

“
It
’
s al
right. I
’
m used to getting insulted regularly.
”
She meant what she just said.
That first weekend we all spent with Uncle M., she was the only person who sat in her room while everyone else rode out on the sail boats.
Her life seemed so sad and lonely
.
One thing about her still bothered me, though. Somebody made her warn me about staying away from Gia. I never got the chance to ask her before, and the question was still fresh in my mind.

”
Who told you to warn me that weekend we spent at Uncle M.
’
s?
”
I asked, feeling uncertain about what she was about to say.

“
A girl in a dream
,”
she muttered and glanced down at her hands folded together.
“
Don
’
t ask me anything else
,
please. That
’
s all I
’
m going to say for now.
”

“
Trust me. I don
’
t want to know.
”
I already knew who she was talking about. The smoke demon had visited her too.

“
Keep sitting out here much longer and you
’
ll get to hear the water angels sing
,”
Mel announced.
“
They know that the dark
guy
s
are here. They
’
re afraid just like the rest of us should be.
”