Destroyed (10 page)

He was right. Before, our kisses reeked of Guardian energy, all sunshine and warmth. Now they tasted like Destroyers, dark and seductive.

The different colors of roses always fascinated me. Especially flowers that would change color as they bloomed. One of my favorites is the Fighting Temeraire. It starts as a bright orange bud but then blooms yellow, with only the tips of the petals retaining the orange color.

The football game was loud and crazy. Tiff was down in the field with the other cheerleaders so I sat with Kai about halfway up the middle of the bleachers. I found myself not watching the game as much as watching the students around us.

I’d gone to school with all of them for years, but none were my friends. My mother’s oppressive upbringing made that impossible. A lot of these kids I knew before things changed in my house. I wondered what their reaction was now that I was back, but different once again.

I’d stuck pretty close to Kai, so I didn’t have much of a chance to interact with others. Tiff was a nice but mostly superficial friend. I suspected her friendliness had more to do with Kai than me.

“You cold?” asked Kai.

“Not really, but you can put your arm around me anyway.” I grinned up at him. He smiled and pulled me close to him. He hadn’t let go of me all night. This was exactly what we needed to make this work. He trusted me now. I’d ride this train all the way back to the Guardians if I had to. He wouldn’t be stuck here forever. I was able to suppress most of my guilt and enjoy the ride. For the moment, the world was nice.

Until an annoying ass sat right next to me.

“Seriously, you could sit anywhere and you choose this spot.”

Jason shrugged. “It was easier than climbing over you to sit next to Kai, besides I have a perfect view of Tiff from up here.”

“What is it with you and my friends?”

“You have a good taste in friends, though I can’t say the same for them.”

I looked at Kai. “What do you see in him?”

Jason interjected before Kai could respond. “I was around long before you came. Seriously Kai, you could have any girl in this school. Why are you wasting your time with her?”

I waited for Kai’s reaction. His face revealed nothing.

“Maybe you should go sit somewhere else, Jason, and we’ll catch up tomorrow.”

Jason opened his mouth then closed it again. “Fine. I see where I stand.” He stood up and stomped away. Kai sighed. I decided to change the subject.

“The bonfire tonight should be fun.”

Kai shrugged. “Maybe. I’d rather go home and just watch a movie or something. But you want to go, so we will.”

A twinge of guilt settled in my stomach. “Why don’t you want to go?”

“It’s hard for me to go to these silly things when I have so many other things to worry about. I’m eighteen, but I have the responsibilities of a forty year old.”

I bristled. “Am I just a silly thing?”

“Of course not. You’re the reason I’m doing it all. When it’s over, maybe then I can relax. I wish you and Jason would get along better, though. That would make everything easier.”

“Did you forget what he did to me?”

“You mean Dwayne and your mom?”

“Yeah.” What else?

“You could just let it go. Jason will be nice to you if you are nice to him.”

“Right. He doesn’t like me any more than I like him.”

“That’s understandable.”

I pulled out of his arms. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Look, you turned his girlfriend against him and now you are trying to do the same thing with me. All of which he was willing to overlook, but you’ve been nothing but mean to him. That’s not like you.”

I started to argue but our school scored a touchdown and everyone stood up and cheered. Kai pecked me lightly on the lips. “I’m going to get a coke, you want something?”

“Popcorn would be good.”

“I’ll be back in a sec.”

I looked down at the game. The cheerleaders were right in front of us. Tiff saw me and waved, then returned her focus to her routine.

A rotten fish smell filled my nostrils. I couldn’t tell if it was a legit smell or a Destroyer one. Then a voice I never wanted to hear again whispered in my ear.

“I thought he’d never leave you alone.”

I spun around and recoiled. Dwayne Yerdin sat directly behind me. He wore a sweat stained wife-beater and dirty jeans. His greasy hair went in all directions. He had a coke in one hand and toothpick in his mouth. I wrinkled my nose. Disgusting.

“What are you doing here?”

“I live here. And I enjoy watching football.”

I scooted over into Kai’s spot. The smell subsided a little, but I couldn’t go far.

The boy next to him smirked. “You mean you enjoy watching the cheerleaders.”

Dwayne gave the boy a fist bump. Then he turned back to me, gripped my shoulder, and leaned over. I gagged a little at the smell of fish and onions he had for dinner. I pulled away, but not before I heard what he whispered in my ear.

“I didn’t think you’d come back to me. We have a score to settle. You stole all my power and I want it back.”

I shrugged and tried to pretend like he didn’t scare me, even though my hands were shaking. “It’s all gone. Sorry, Dwayne.”

His face turned a bright red. “What’d you do with it, bitch?”

“None of your business. The only thing that matters now is that it’s gone. You’ll have to settle for a normal life.”

He closed his grip around my bicep. The Bulldogs scored another touchdown and the crowd went wild.  No one noticed what he was doing. The funny thing was, I wasn’t scared. Not now, not after what I’d been through. I could defend myself now. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I thought of the things I could do to make him miserable.

Before I had a chance, Kai was at my side. He saw Dwayne and the fingers that curled around my arm. He dropped the coke and the popcorn and slammed his fist into Dwayne’s face. That would be the second time he broke his nose for me.

This time Dwayne fought back. He swung and missed. Kai shoved his fist into Dwayne’s gut and Dwayne fell backwards into a group of people. Unfortunately for both Kai and Dwayne, he fell right onto the vice-principal’s wife.

First Love blooms all kinds of pink. The base of each petal is deep and dark and it fades to the tip with a soft baby pink. The smell is subtle and sweet. Several flowers will bloom all at once and then die. It’s sad to watch the petals fall. But then, just when you think it’s all over, a new bud appears.

“Naomi, wake up,” Kai whispered into my ear. I smiled and rolled over. I kissed him without opening my eyes. He pulled me close. None of my shields were up and I could let all of my energies flow freely. So did Kai. It was hard to describe the sensation but I imagine it was a little like an out of body experience, I was there but I was somewhere else, too. I finally opened my eyes.

“Good Morning.”

He smiled. “It is a good morning, isn’t it?”

I reached over and touched his eye. “It’s turning green.”

He grimaced. “That one hurt. The things I do for you.”

“Sorry.”

He kissed me lightly. “Anytime.”

The fight hadn’t lasted long. The vice-principal and a few other adults hauled Kai and Dwayne into the locker room. Kai was suspended for a week and Dwayne was banned from school property.

He climbed over me and out of bed. He padded toward the door and as he slipped out, I sighed. I’d never get tired of looking at that boy. And last night. Wow. Not that we did anything too bad, the kissing was just kicked up a notch.

My chest tightened as I replayed the events of the night. If Puck had seen us, he’d pull the plug on this whole thing. If I didn’t enjoy it so much, then I wouldn’t have to feel so bad about what I was doing. I wished I could call Puck and talk to him about what was going on. Then he could reassure me that I was doing the right thing.

A knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” I called, sitting up.

My dad poked his head in the door. “You want to come help me with the animals? I’m turning several over to the shelter today.”

I nodded.

“Sure, give me a few.”

“Okay, I’m heading over now with Kai. I’ll leave you the keys to the four-wheeler.” He creased his eyebrows together. “Do you know how to drive it?”

“Yeah, dad, I know how to drive it. I still had to get around the farm even when you weren’t all here.”

He frowned and retreated.

I dressed quickly, and then found the four-wheeler parked in the garage. I really hadn’t driven it that much, but Mother used to have me fetch Dad from his clinic quite often and it was a long walk.

I found Kai and Dad loading cages onto the truck. Most had dogs and cats, but there were a few rabbits too.

“Where are you taking them?”

“There’s a no-kill shelter that has agreed to find homes for all of them. Since the story broke about what that son of a bitch did, people are begging for them. The shelter agreed to screen potential owners and make sure the animals all get good homes. I still have quite a few that will need long-term care. We’ll take another trip to the shelter next month.”

I climbed into the trailer and took a cage from Kai. It held a terrier of some kind. His left front leg was missing and there were a few scars along his ribs, but he looked far better than when we found him. He licked my fingers through the metals bars.

“Someone’s gonna love you,” I told him and set the cage down on the floor.

For the next fifteen minutes Dad and Kai brought up cages for me to arrange inside the trailer. Some of the animals were friendly, but mostly they were scared. So scared. I wanted to take them all out and cuddle with them.

When Kai brought me the final cage, I walked out of the trailer with him.

“I’m going to go with your dad. Do you wanna come?”

I shook my head. It was hard enough for me to load them up after taking care of them for the last couple of weeks.

“I think I’m going to do some weeding and pruning.”

He removed his gloves and leaned against the truck.

“We’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

I kissed him and headed back for the house as their truck went in the opposite direction.

There was a black car in the driveway when I got back to the house. Jason. Ugh. I opened the door and called out.

“Jason?”

No answer. Lovely.

I checked the kitchen and the living room, but he wasn’t there. I looked in the office and noticed my bedroom door was open. What was he doing in there? Man, I didn’t like that boy. I poked my head around the corner to see if I could catch him somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be, but he sat on my bed like he was waiting for me.

“Hello, Naomi, come have a seat. We’ve got some talking to do.” He was holding a bunch of pictures. I ripped them out of his hand.

“What the hell? You had no right.”

He smirked. “Of course I didn’t, but I did it anyway. I’m good at secrets though. I won’t tell anyone.”

I looked down at my pictures. The one on top was the picture of the first time Puck kissed me, after we got back from Arkansas. He’d been so careful, keeping everything light and fun. That night he’d taken me to an improv comedy show and then out for ice cream. I’d playfully offered him a bite of my ice cream but ate it myself instead. He went after it. The picture catches me laughing and pulling away. It was moments later that I told him I loved him. That was the first of many, many kisses, and Kai’s spies caught it on camera. I clenched my fists. I missed Puck, and Jason wasn’t going to make this easy for me.

“It’s not a secret. Kai already knows about these pictures,” I said.

“Yes, but does Kai know you keep them hidden in a drawer?” he asked.

Things were going so well. Why’d Jason have to come in here and stir things up? He wouldn’t understand that Kai had to believe I was in love with him.

“No. You won’t tell him either.”

“Sure thing. If you’ll help me out with something.”

I groaned and sank on the bed next to him. He hunted those pictures down so he could have something to hold over my head. What an ass.

“What do you want?”

“Your friend Tiff.”

I creased my eyebrows. “But she already likes you.”

“Not really, she doesn’t. She really likes Kai and she thinks things are iffy between the two of you. She’s waiting to see if you all fall apart before she commits to anyone else. I want her to commit to me. Encourage her.”

“If I do that, you won’t tell Kai about the pictures?”

“Lips sealed.”

“Until you need something else from me.”

“Naturally.”

“You really are a Destroyer. I don’t know how you managed to fool Puck and the others that you were a Guardian.”

He put his hand over his chest. “I'm hurt that you would think such horrible things of me.” He smirked.

“Get out. I don’t want you here.”

He sauntered out of the room. The door slammed and I heard a car start up.

I flipped through the rest of the pictures in my hand. I remembered all the things I loved about Puck. His honesty and his playfulness. Life with him was fun and easy. This thing with Kai was so complicated. I had to let myself feel things for him, but I loved Puck so much. Every time I kissed Kai it felt like I was betraying Puck. Yet, if Kai found these pictures, he’d think I was betraying him.

I yawned. This had been a long, long week. I put the pictures back in my drawer and headed outside. Roses always made me feel better.

When Kai showed up in the garden a few hours later, guilt still swam thick in my veins. Was I being fair to him? Probably not. But Puck said this was the only way to bring him back.

“It’s Saturday,” Kai said.

“So?”

“Poker night.” Oh, that. For the past couple of Saturdays I hid in my room during poker night. The first night was more than enough for me. Again, not totally doing my job, but for some reason I felt like I had to fake it more around those other Destroyers than I did with just Kai.

“Maybe we should take a trip to the library so I can get a book.”

Kai knelt down next to me and sniffed the rose I was tending. He brushed his finger against my cheek and I smiled.