Independence (10 page)

The car ride was possibly
one of the most awkward I'd ever e
ndured. It was more awkward than
the time I caught my parents having sex…before church, and we all had to ride together in that strangely hot, too small car to God's house.

But as we walked into Caleb's apartment, and Beck pushed through us without so much as a 'thank you' to Caleb for letting them crash there, I would have relived that awkward moment with my parents any day.

We had to creep. Beck was wearing Caleb's hoodie and Ralph had on Caleb's hat and whoever's sunglasses had been left in the SUV. They went first and waited for us. Caleb and I waited a few minutes before we went, too. Then Caleb unlocked the door, looking around for anything strange, and let them
in
. And there we were.

Ralph looked back at Caleb and me with a sympathetic look. "Sorry
about her
. Thanks for letting us stay here
, man
. I'm still not quite sure what's going
on
though." His questioning eyes glanced to me and back to Caleb.

"We'll….talk later," Caleb promised
and sighed a
s he tossed his keys into a VOLS
cup on the hall table
. "You two can take the last room on the right.
"

Ralph saluted and jogged to catch up to Beck, who was the one who slammed the door, I had no doubt.

As Caleb locked the door behind us, I looked around his walls. I made my way to the fireplace and was impressed with the place. It was nice for a college kid, but the
accommodations
were definitely more along the lines of a bachelor. There was nothing on the walls. In the living room, there was a couch, an end table and a lamp. End of story.

He did have a couple of photos on his mantle. One of Maria and one of their family. Caleb looked so young there. I picked it up and rubbed my thumb over his photo face. No dust. I eyed the mantle and found no dust there either. So
,
Caleb had a maid.

"I do," he answered fr
om behind me. "Her name is Rose
and she comes once a week."

I put the picture back gently, straightening
it
just as I found it before turning to him. He was leaned
with his hip
on the arm of the green couch, watching me. But I noticed his lip as he chewed and sucked on it; his nervous tick.

He was nervous that I was here. It gave me pause, but something else took precedence over that.

I was in Caleb's home. Finally.

I grinned before tackling him, both of us falling back onto the soft, green pillows
of the couch
. He laughed in surprise before I
covered his mouth with mine. My knees were bent and his legs were still dangling over the couch arm, but he didn't mind as he pulled me up his body further with his hands on my sides.

I pulled back and held myself up on my elbows. I was already winded, but managed to say, "I love your apartment."

He smiled. "You've only see one room so far."
I shook my head before he was even finished. "Doesn't matter. It's yours. You live here. It's your home."

"It's
your
home," he countered. He shook his head slowly and reached up to push my hair back. He let his thumb rub my temple as he spoke. "I have wanted to bring you here ever since…the beginning." His mind ran with images of us at the stop light, him talking to his parents about me, picking me up the next day at my Dad's house. "And now you're here. In my space," he said, his voice gravelly and sexy. "Gah…I love it."

"I love it, too."

"And I love you in it." I just smiled
down at him at that
. "
You being here is like a missing puzzle piece finally coming together with the rest of it." I nodded and reveled in the feel of his hands in my hair. He reached up to kiss the corner of my mouth. "Do you want the tour?"

"Not right now I don't," I countered and let my weight fall on him once more.
Our lips met spot-on, as if they knew right where to go. Caleb's hands both went und
er the hem of my tank and gripped the skin of my sides
. It was like, the more skin
he
was touching, the more intense our connection was. My mind pushed right into his and he put up no fight.

But as soon as I started to see the energy ribbons behind my eyelids, I heard a faint knock in the back of my consciousness and then the door opened. I
lifted up to see over the couch
as Kyle and Lynne came in without waiting. I gasped and glared at him as he lifted his arm
s in an annoyed manner
.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" he asked. "
And making out, no less.
Uncle Peter is going nuts worrying about you both." And then he looked to the hallway and paled. "Beck?"

I jumped up and straightened my clothes. "We found them, but couldn’t take them home. I had a vision."

Caleb grunted in annoyance beside me.
"And I called Dad and told him we were fine."

Kyle had to drag his eyes from Beck who stood bored in the hallway entrance, arms crossed. "Well, he's just worried about you. He said you should have called him again by now, so I decided to come and see if you were here, though I never actually expected to find you here."

I saw in mind
exactly
what he'd been expecting. His house was still crowded from
the
meeting
,
and family in
and out. He thought he'd get some alone time in with Lynne. In Caleb's apartment.
Alone
.

Lynne smiled even as the boys stared angrily at each other
, and came to stand next to me
.
She laced her arm through mine. Beck moved further into the room and cocked her head at me. Or Lynne, rather. "So, you've replaced me? And with this blonde cute-as-a-cookie chick at that? Is that w
hy you don't care about being friends with me
anymore?"

Lynne jolted at the implication and looked at me. I said, "No, I didn't replace you.
What are you, five?
Besides, you were the one with the ultimatums and accusations. I saved your life, if you remember."

"Yeah," Beck
sneered, "how could I forget, f
reak."

"Hey!" Kyle yelled, startling us all. "Don't talk to her like that. She's the V-"

"It's OK, Kyle," I waved away his help
and Caleb's as I saw his mouth open to say something, too
. "Beck's just having a hard time."
And she definitely didn't know anything about the Visionary stuff and I wasn't inclined to clue her into it yet.
She was already walking away as I said it. I heard the door slam again.

"So,
anyway
," Kyle continued
in annoyance
, "you need to come back and
l
et Uncle Peter know what's going on."

Caleb sighed and licked his lip
s
before saying, "Well, I'm the Champion now
, not Dad
." Kyle sighed, too. "I'm the Champion and I saw what needed to be done and did it. I
have to do what's best, not worry
about whether Dad will be angry, even if it means he's left in the dark.
"

Kyle twisted his lips. "Yeah. I kind of forgot about that. Sorry."

"It takes some getting used to," Caleb agreed. "Even I forget half the time."

"No you don't," I called him on his bull crap. "You never stop thinking about it." I left Lynne to stand in front of Caleb. He looked so vulnerable and open right then. "But the thing you don
't understand is that no one has
doubts that you can do this, but you."

He took a deep breath. He glanced over at Kyle. Kyle took that as his cue to say something smart
,
in typical Kyle fashion. "Yeah, what she said. But you can keep your bossy pants off when we come visit, 'cause I ain't following orders, bro."

Caleb cracked a wry smile. "Speaking of which," he crossed his arms, which was very distracting for me, "what the heck are you doing marching in my house when the door was locked?"

"So I had Aunt Rachel make a key." He shrugged. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal?" Caleb laughed. "This is my house! And Maggie lives here now, too. What if you had walked in on something?"

Kyle grinned devilishly. "I thought I had."

I bit my lip, but still blushed. Caleb laughed and punched Kyle's arm. "Shut up, man."
He came behind me and put his arms around me.

"Besides," Kyle continued and accepted Lynne into his arms as she came back to him, "I thought I was going to live here once upon a time, remember?"

"You still can," I interjected. Caleb nuzzled the side of my neck and grunted his disagreement of that.

"No offense,
but I'm not interested in bunking
with the leader o
f our race, thank you very much,
"
Kyle spouted and mimicked Caleb's position by wrapping his arms around Lynne from behind. He nipped her neck. "And I think we'd rather live alone anyway."

"Kyle," Lynne complained
and slapped his hand, but she leaned back into him further and slung her arm around his neck.
"
Oh
,
my gosh, you're so crass!"

"You like it, babe, don't lie."

She grinned. "OK." She giggled. "I like it."

"I know," he groaned and bit into her earlobe.

I felt my lips part in shock of their brazenness. Yes, Caleb and I could be accused of being a little clingy
,
and I was never afraid of PDA, but those two were going above and beyond.

Caleb thought so, too, and said, "All right, hit the road." He shooed them with his hand. "We just got here. I want Maggie to myself."

"But we can't stay the night?" Lynne whined. "We wanted to be away from Kyle's house tonight if we could.
No offense
,
Mister C
hampion, but your family is driving me insane."

"What'
s
wrong?" I asked. I loved the Jacobsons and couldn't imagine being annoyed with them.

"That granny won't stop making
inappropriate sex talk
!" Lynne spouted. Caleb, Kyle and I burst with laughter. "What?" she said, vexed. "It's true! She's so nosy and always asking me if I'm being careful. I'll have her know I'm a proud V-card carrying member."

I laughed harder. "Oh, my gosh
, Lynne
! Stop!"
I gripped Caleb's arm for support. "How could you not like Gran?"
"Oh, I like her just fine, but she's a ball buster."

Caleb and Kyle were falling all over each other laughing.

Kyle and Lynne eventually accepted defeat and knew
they couldn't stay there with B
eck and Ralph already taking up the guest room. So they started to leave
. Lynne hugged me hard and said we should do something seriously girly soon, like shopping and coffee. I agreed.

But they were on their way out
when Kyle reached for Lynne's hand to tow her out the door,
and that's as far as they got.

They both gasped, but Lynne was the one who spoke. "What is that? Kyle!" she screeched in fear.

He pulled her close and smiled in adoration, taking her face in his hands. "It
's OK, babe. It's the ascension," he breathed in reverence.
"
Just hang on to me."

I felt Caleb's arm pull me into his chest, but I couldn't look away from the magic of what was going on.
I saw it all as it transformed and realiz
ed their abilities
just as they did. They had some kind of affinities. Lynne's was water and Kyle's was
air. My mind immediately went back to Captain Planet, a show I used to watch when I was a kid.

Lynne was freaked. She had no idea how to go about using it or where to even start. All Kyle could think about was all the pranks he could do with his gift. I started to speak, to think of something brave and inspiring and…leadery to say.

Lynne's eyes met mine right before her gaze jerked to the hall and she gasped. It all happened in a rapid succession that was almost too fast to follow.

Lynne's ability fired without her consent as she panicked
, breaking the fire sprinkler
above her head on the wall, and blasting
Beck
with a downpour of water
, who had chosen the worst moment to mosey into the hall.

I felt in Beck's mind as the water
that
a
scared Lynne dispelled
pelted her skin
. She screamed and fell back into the wall
dramatically, more mad than anything else
.
I lifted my hand to stop the water spraying out, damming
it back. Beck gave me a look of disgust at my act.
I started to rush over, but she screamed for me to stop. I heard her thoughts, but tried to play it off as her being freaked by what happened.