Midnight Ruling (6 page)

“You know, Aidan…”

Before I could say another word, Aidan kissed me.

I hadn’t seen it coming and panicked. I jerked away the moment our lips touched. His were surprisingly warm compared to mine, and the
zap
prickled sensitive flesh.

Taking my sudden jolt as disapproval, Aidan flushed and awkwardly began to mutter something.

Fluttering my hands like a butterfly to stop him, I said, “You just…I mean, the timing…”

Aw, crap.

Both of us blushed before Aidan saved the day. “It was a weird moment.” He half laughed, half sighed.

“Timing,” I repeated in agreement, feeling stupid.

Announcement: Nora Fuller can make any situation uncomfortable
. I blew an imaginary strand of hair out of my face in a long breath.

Aidan turned to leave, still blushing. “You still want to meet before the storm?”

“No,” I squeaked, my nerves jangling. “I mean, yes.”

Aidan paused, straightening his back to gauge me for a moment.

“Aidan,” I said, preparing myself. “I wasn’t ready for that.” I kind of wanted him to try again, I realized. “Don’t leave just yet.” My eyes darted up and down the hallway.

The corner of Aidan’s mouth twitched a little.

Stepping away from the locker, I slipped one hand behind his neck and pulled him closer. He dropped his head to meet me.

It was all happening so fast, but I needed it to be fast. No questions, no second guesses, no ‘Nora-moments’ where I over-thought things.

I’d barely touched his mouth when a sharp bark of a laugh shattered the moment to pieces.

Bam!

We jumped apart, and I hit the locker with a resounding clatter of metal.

Aidan grimaced as we both turned to see four guys rounding the corner. Their toothy smiles sobered the instant my locker-gong went off and they saw us.

All averted their eyes, except one. The tall blonde was familiar, but I couldn’t remember his name. He nodded to us both before the four stepped past and quickened their pace to leave us behind.

“Timing,” Aidan said apologetically.

Damn the luck!

I wanted to try again, but it seemed the second thwarted attempt was enough.

Aidan waved as he started to walk away. “I’ll be late for Bachman’s exam. I’ll catch you later, okay?”

I nodded mutely, feeling the heat in my face start to recede.

He looked over his shoulder before disappearing, and the corner of his mouth pulled up in a crooked smile. He must’ve known I’d be watching. Aidan was a bit skinny but somehow came out of it with a cute butt and shoulders that weren’t just jutting bones.

Before he disappeared, I gave him the same shy smile.

It was several seconds of swooning then a bitter internal tirade before I realized I forgot to show him the message.

Well, I guess if I needed a reason to interrupt the next kiss I had it in my back pocket.

My next exam was a disaster.

I kept thinking about the girl instead of the questions in front of me, which spawned a headache.

I wrote down the word from the silken note over and over again, as if it would magically reveal its meaning.

Elfelejt.

I finished the exam too fast. I’m quite certain I flunked. But that didn’t even whisper a worry in my head.

My concentration went straight back to the word.

I tried switching the letters around, hoping to find some anagram. All that I managed to come up with was:
feet jell
.

I don’t see that being the big, bad message from the Demon’s Grave.

Frustrated with myself, I handed in my test. It was almost noon and Mom’s class wasn’t over until one. Maybe Aidan was in the cafeteria and I could talk to him. I kept the silken envelope in my back pocket in case I ran into him earlier, but no such luck.

I wanted to run into him earlier, I realized, and thought of his warm mouth. The memory snapped shut when I thought of Damien.
Wow
, I thought,
a dry spell for over a year and next thing I know, I’m surrounded
. The thought was sarcastic, but at the same time I was secretly giddy. I wasn’t a complete cast off. I admit, I’d started to wonder. School took up a lot of my time, but even classmates avoided me. It seemed the only people I could be close to were from my small circle of friends.

Maybe I belonged in the asylum with Nell. Seemed safer there. I kicked myself for that thought.

Keeping my head down but eyes up, I wove through the stream of bodies around lunch time. It wasn’t the usual crowded battle because of finals, but that only amplified the whispers that trailed behind me to my locker.

I opened my locker and lost my breath. The interior was trashed. Books were torn and scattered in disarray. My backpack was emptied and all the notes ripped free. Paper slid into my ankles the moment the door opened.

Gaping at the mess, my mind reeled.

The whispers began behind me, and it launched me into action.

The culprits might be watching
. The panic to fix things overrode what may have been a tear/snot-fest any other day.

I dropped to my haunches, gathering up the papers as fast as I could, even the ones ripped in half. I could organize it later. I had to get out of this place
now
.

Warm fingers wrapped around my bicep, and for a fleeting second—and I hate to sound dramatic—I thought of the decaying men in the swamp. With a hiss, I jumped, almost falling onto my butt. If it weren’t for the hand to steady me, I may have.

Releasing me the moment he’d balanced me, the man who’d grabbed my arm said, “Whoa, sorry.”

Looking back, still holding onto the metal locker, I glowered up at him.

He was a vaguely familiar blonde guy. He raised hands in a truce and flashed a disarmingly charming smile…with dimples. He was tanned and had a square head and small, deep green eyes that I almost thought were brown. He was really handsome. Not like Read Wallace though. He made Read look “pretty”.

I blinked at last.

He nodded to my locker; the disarming smile remained. “Sorry,” he said again, not sounding entirely apologetic. “I didn’t mean to scare you. What happened?”

We were the only ones in the hallway, strangely. I could have sworn I’d heard people a second earlier.

“Pranks?” I offered and started to gather up the papers again. If I ignored the cute guy, maybe he’d walk away.

A few seconds later, a stack of papers tapped me on the shoulder. When I peeked back, I saw it was blondie, still smiling and holding my notes.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“No problem. Name’s Cooper, by the way. Cooper Mesick.”

“Nora Fuller.”

He offered a hand to shake and, mid-shake, helped me to my feet.

Thanking him again, I saw the smile slip as Cooper looked at the contents of the locker. One of the sides was dented, easily visible in the light. It hadn’t been before today. “Stupid assholes, eh? You’d think we were back in high school again.”

I appreciated his outrage because it mirrored mine, but I didn’t want to get into it with him. “Lucky you came along,” I said and looked away, my cheeks burning. Wow, it sounded like I was flirting with him.

Cooper’s white-teeth and dimples returned. “I have a knack for that.”

Reaching into my locker, I grabbed my backpack to pull it free when something caught my eye. Without thinking, I plucked it from embedded papers beneath the bag.

It was a doll, but it wasn’t just any doll. It was wooden, and the body was in the shape of an upside down teardrop. The bottom was flattened as a stand. Egyptian hieroglyphics covered the white body.

But it was the painted face that tightened the muscles in my shoulders and stomach. It had full lips, a sweet smile with hooded, bright green eyes. The shoulder-length chestnut hair had been painted with golden streaks. The features were unmistakably that of Robin Thurston.

My chest convulsed for air, but I still couldn’t breathe.

It was too late. Cooper had leaned over my shoulder and had seen it the same time I did.

I started to shove the doll back into my locker, but he grabbed my shoulder to stop me.

“What is going on here?” Cooper demanded.

“Like you said.” I finally took a breath. I was glad he couldn’t see my expression. “It’s a prank, must be. Just a sick prank.”

“Here.” Cooper reached forward for the doll.

I twitched away, the reaction pure reflex. “No,” I snapped.

He eyed me. “You want to keep it?”

It couldn’t be a prank; I wasn’t going to delude myself into believing that. “Yes.”

Cooper blinked back the surprise. “Someone’s making fun of…”

“Or it’s a sympathy doll.” I choked out the terrible excuse, tasting bile.

Cooper’s green eyes assessed me for several seconds, but before he could say anything else, voices nearby alarmed us both. Neither of us had heard them coming until they were only a few feet away.

Hugging the doll tight, I turned toward the open locker so they wouldn’t see.

My friends’ faces had been plastered all over the newspapers and
Have You Seen?
signs. I doubted this doll would go unrecognized.

Cooper shifted closer to me, blocking their view, and I forced back the instinct to push him away. Plus, he smelled like subtle cologne and spices.

The group of students fell silent when they caught our intense stares over our shoulders. One of the girls appeared annoyed as she glanced between Cooper and me, while another cast a pitying glance as they passed. The rest thankfully averted their eyes.

Once they were far enough down the hallway, Cooper eased away from me. His cologne was still making me heady as I stuffed the doll into my backpack.

Turning, I realized Cooper hadn’t left. He smiled at me after the locker closed, producing those clever dimples again. “Where you headed? I can walk you there. People don’t usually mess with me.”

I frowned. “I’m fine, just want to find my friend.”

“Aidan?” he asked cheerfully.

He may have smelled like heaven, but I was tempted to flail limbs to see where I’d punch.

“I know where he is,” Cooper offered before I could debate my options.

“Where?” I asked, hoping he’d just tell me.

“Guess I’ll be useful after all.”

Nope, he wasn’t going to tell me.

I motioned for him to lead. “Thanks,” I muttered, staring at my feet again. “For the help back there too,” I added after a significant pause.

Cooper shrugged. “So, did you say you and Aidan Birket were just friends?”

Blinking, I tilted my chin up to see Cooper watching me. I narrowed my eyes and didn’t reply. He looked away, reddening those high cheekbones. Something told me he wasn’t used to that reaction. He squared his shoulders and didn’t glance at me again, his face turning from friendly to stony. I must have bruised an ego.

Cooper led me straight to the cafeteria, the exact place I planned on checking first.

As I stepped into the room, I saw our usual table occupied by some rugged-looking guys who’d be able to toss me around like a beach ball. The gorgeous, shapely girls who typically hung out with those guys were also in attendance.

The worst part was that they crowded around a familiar roan-haired person I knew.

Their heads leaned in as they listened to Aidan. I felt a twinge of betrayal. It was deep enough to make me want to bolt. What was he telling them? We weren’t going to talk about our experience—real or made-up—with anyone. Aidan said it would lead to holes in the story and it was best to keep quiet.

Then what else could have captured their attention? I felt my nails bite into my palm.

Cooper draped an arm around my rising shoulders and pointed to the table as if I hadn’t already seen. Annoyed, I started to shrug to remove his arm. Instead, his palm cupped my shoulder blade and guided me toward the table. Eyes wide, I felt my insides churn the moment Aidan’s piercing eyes shot up and saw me. They flickered to Cooper, and I saw his speech pause. This provoked the others to turn, and I went statue still.

Cooper dropped his arm when a girl moved and motioned me to sit next to Aidan. Cooper didn’t sit, not that he could have. The table was stuffed with extra chairs and occupants.

Dropping into the chair, relieved I wouldn’t have to stand and fidget, I recognized a few of them. There was Claire Weatherbe; she had been a cheerleader at my old high school and a friend of Robin’s. Ethan something, he was from a few of my classes; and then there was Heather, the hot girl who’d spoken to Read about baseball.

Heaving a sigh, Claire exaggerated rolling her eyes to look back to Aidan. “So?”

“Well, that is all there is to it,” Aidan said, his gaze locking with everyone except me.

Claire leaned back in her chair, clearly disappointed, then she looked to me. “Why don’t
you
tell us what happened, Nora?”

I looked around the table and twisted the bottom of my shirt.

Raising her expertly painted eyebrows, Claire waited for me to speak. The tension just from the small table seemed to fill the entire cafeteria like ink in water.

I glanced at Aidan, and he shrugged at me.

Great help, buddy. Great help.

I cleared my throat. “We passed out.”

The whole table must have been leaning in, waiting for the epiphany, because they all flopped back with a simultaneous groan.

One of Cooper’s football buddies laughed, his voice so deep it rumbled. “
Hah, hah, hah
. Yeah, and he expects us to believe that too.” He was a muscular guy, shorter than Cooper but broader with a buzz cut. He looked like he spent the majority of his days in the tanning bed and the gym.

I felt the flames igniting, dashing away the nervousness. I was sure Aidan only repeated the same story we told the police. “What do
you
believe?” I challenged.

Without missing a beat, he said, “I think that you two are full of shit.” His eyes were cocky, intending to intimidate.

Ethan, the guy from my class, grinned, and I realized the mob was siding with Muscles.