Safe Landing (5 page)

He glanced at his watch. “Why, it’s not even eight o’clock, and I’ve had my first caveman debate of the morning.” There were two little lines creasing the side of his crooked smile. “I’m Seth.”

“I half expected you to tell me your first name was Count.” I glanced in the direction the blonde ape had lumbered.

“Hank thinks my family is a group of Satan worshipping vampires.”

“Are they?”

Seth shrugged. The tips of his long black hair curled up on his shoulders. “I’m not really that crazy about blood,” he said. “And the whole goat sacrifice thing sort of turns my stomach.”

I smiled. “My name’s Brazil.”

“I know.”

“Don’t tell me I look like a Brazil.”

“No, I saw it on your schedule. Actually, you look more like a Monaco. Must be kind of tough starting a new school this late in the year.”

“I tried to convince my mom of that, but at the moment she’s only interested in her life.”

A bell startled me. “Is that the tardy bell?” The throng of teenage bodies was beginning to move in scattered directions.

“No. You’ve got three minutes.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Seth. Room 24?” I asked.

“First hall on the left,” he said.

I headed in the direction he pointed. Then I glanced back over my shoulder. He was still watching me. “Why Monaco?” I asked.

“A classy adventurer with a princess edge,” he called back. In my mental catalogue of guys, he was going straight to my S page for Smooth.

Chapter 5

The outside eating area at Pelican Bay High was much smaller than the one at my old school. But the dynamics were basically the same. The poopulars, as I liked to call them, were all sitting together, as were the stoners, the bookworms, and the let’s start a band type people. The teachers I’d had for the first four periods were similar to my old school too. It seemed that every principal had the same two pools of people to choose from for their teaching staffs. There were the normal, easy to talk to, occasionally even cool teachers, and then there were the control freak, wacko, straight out of hell teachers. Apparently every principal was mandated by law to choose half their staff from the second group.

I had spent the entire morning trying to fade into the wobbly desk in each classroom. Obviously, people noticed me because I was a different face in the crowd and at such a small school, it was easy to spot the new person. Julie, the girl with the falling wallet, was in my chemistry class. She sat near me and started filling me in on some of the school trivia, which I had no interest in but pretended to listen. She was big into gossiping, it seemed. But since I didn’t know any of the people she gossiped about, my mind wandered as she talked.

Making new friends in Pelican Bay seemed like a tedious and impossible chore. It took years to create the group of friends I’d had in Boston, and I didn’t have the energy or the urge to start the stressful process over again. Mom acted like it was no big deal to start my teenage existence from scratch but she was wrong. Plus I was still seething about my best friend’s betrayal. Although admittedly, the more I thought about Blake, the more I decided Jenny got the raw end of the deal. It made the burn cool a bit, but I wasn’t ready to talk to Jen yet.

Seth, the one face I’d hoped to see, wandered into the eating area. He searched around for someone then sat on the wall and ripped open a bag of chips. I’d found an empty corner in the shade of a big tree. I sat munching my grapes and watching the entire lunch scene.

Seth popped a chip into his mouth then spotted me across the yard. He waved. I waved back and watched as a skinny girl with a punk meets vampire look of solid black hair and heavy make-up sat next to him. The way she nearly sat in his lap made it obvious that she was his girlfriend.

Terrific. Not that it really mattered. The last thing I needed right now was a guy to stress me out. As I finished my yogurt, I felt something tap my back. It happened again, but this time it was followed by loud male laughter. I twisted around. It was Hank holding an open bag of cheese puffs in his hand. Calling me fresh meat and throwing orange snack food at my back was a sure way to warm my heart. His friends waited anxiously for my reaction, so I decided not to have one. I left the table with my crumpled up lunch bag.

“I’d sure like a taste of that tender
loin
,” Hank sneered continuing with the romantic meat analogies. I walked to the trash and tossed my bag. I totally hated this guy already.

As I crossed the quad I could sense Seth watching me. I peeked over my shoulder at him. The girl had her chin on his shoulder, staring at the side of his face, while she fingered his earring. Like a gothic gecko, she stretched her pierced tongue toward his ear and licked it. He didn’t flinch. Oddly enough, his eyes kept watching me even as the girl nibbled on his neck. I hurried out of the lunch area. At this point, it looked like I was heading toward another solid two, but at least I still had all my toes.

Crouching down to my shitty locker was even tougher with two big books in my hand. I needed my math book for homework. It was wedged at the bottom layer of the stack, so I nearly fell backwards on my butt wrenching it free.

“Take your time, sweetheart. I’m enjoying the whole scene from up here,” Hank said.

Standing abruptly, I kicked the door shut, swaying on my feet for a second from the head rush of standing so quickly. Seth was at his locker too. Of all the lockers in the sea of lockers that ran the length of the hallway, I had to end up with this one.

Hank rested his hand against the metal doors, his arm right next to my head. He leaned closer. His eyes shifted over to Seth’s locker. “Every time I turn around, Freak, you’re standing there.”

Seth looked around at the front of his door and pointed to the number. “Must be a fucking coincidence, or maybe, this is where my locker happens to be.” He glanced at me with those brown eyes then refocused on getting books from his locker. It was amazing how cool he remained with the way this jerk spoke to him.

Hank turned his thick forehead back to me. “I think you would grow to like me if you gave me a chance.”

He leaned closer and I fought the urge to knee him in the groin. “I don’t think so,” I said.

“How do you know?”

 “See, I have this funny habit of cataloguing guys in my head, and you went straight to the N page.”

“The N page? Is that for naughty or nice?” he asked trying to sound suave. This guy was so not my type it was laughable.

“No. N for Not in a gazillion years. I prefer my guys to be a little more evolved.” I scooted away from him and decided a dash for the exit would probably be smart. I peeked over at Seth. He was smiling behind his locker door. I grinned in return and trotted down the hallway.

Seth had earned a second page in my mental catalogue. He was my first entry under D for Dangerous smile.

Mom was parked at the back of the school. I threw my backpack in and slid into the front seat. She stared at me with an excited twinkle in her eyes. “How was it?” she finally asked.

I shrugged. “It’s a school. They’re all the same.”

She started the van without another word. Apparently, she’d expected me to come out skipping and whistling a tune of joy.

Mom switched from a news station to some music. “Any cute guys?”

I ripped open the package of the granola bar I had stuffed in the front pocket of my backpack. “One.”

She turned to me. “In that entire school, there is only one cute guy?”

I chewed my bar and nodded. “Yep, just the one. And he has a girlfriend. I figure my future holds either a mental hospital or a monastery.”

Her eyes were back on the road. “I don’t think either will have you.”

And people wondered where I got my dry wit. “Then I guess you’ll be stuck with me.”

“I guess we’ll be stuck with each other.”

I glanced sideways at her profile. I had always been proud of the fact that I had the coolest and the prettiest mom in the neighborhood. I still couldn’t see why Dad had left her. Jenny’s father was still around, and her mom had the figure of a snowman, and she screeched about everything. I know if Mom had just tried a little harder, Dad would have stayed.

We turned up the driveway. A gray mist started to collect out on the horizon behind the ancient house. It was a bit like driving onto the set of a horror movie. “I’ve got macaroni and cheese cooking in the crock pot. It should be ready in a couple of hours.”

The climb to my room was getting easier so my toe must have been healing. I hesitated at my door suddenly remembering the key and the drawer… and the voice. Especially the voice. I stepped in cautiously. I guess I was expecting someone or something to jump out at me, but the place was exactly the way I’d left it. The drawer on the bookcase was shut, and the key was on top.

There was definitely a draft coming through my closed window, so I threw on my hooded sweatshirt and sat down to my computer. Jen’s screen name
Pinkalicious
popped up with a message.

My fingers plunked hard on the keyboard.

I wrote back. And then my throat tightened. All of a sudden I missed her. I’d gone the whole day without a true, best friend conversation. I had so much to talk to her about.

Without warning hot tears gushed down my cheeks. I signed off, stared at my blue desktop, and wiped tears with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. Suddenly, through the blur, I saw a reflection on my computer screen just like in the dirty window. Someone was standing behind me. “Tyler!” I screamed and twisted up out of my chair. But the room was empty. My heart raced as I flew down the hall. “Mom! Where are the boys?” My voice was frantic enough for her to come running.

She was wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Brazil, what’s the matter? You look upset.”

 “Tyler and Raymond are trying to scare me. They keep playing tricks on me. One of them

was hiding in my room just now.”

Mom’s face blanched. “Sweetie, the boys aren’t home yet. They stayed after to play baseball.”

I sat down on the top step and wrapped my arms around my knees. “It’s official. I’m going crazy.” The tears came again.

“Stay down there,” Mom told her pets as she climbed the stairs. She scrunched down next to me and put her arm around my shoulder. “Brazil, it’s hard getting used to a new house and school. But, I promise, it will be fine. I’ve never known anyone as level headed as you, Zilly. You are not going crazy.”

“Mom, there was someone standing in my room. I saw them.”

She stood and offered me a hand up. “Let’s go see.” She opened doors and looked under the bed. I felt like I was five again and she had to prove to me that there was no boogeyman in my room so I’d go to sleep.

A brief inspection of my vacant room only confirmed my suspicions. I was losing it. Mom took hold of my hand. “I think it’s just the stress of moving, Brazil. Why don’t you sleep with me in my room until you stop having these—”

“What? Hallucinations? See, you think I’m crazy too.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy, Zilly. Just stressed. We’ve been through a lot this last year.”

“Fine, I’m stressed.” Having her think I was just imagining things made me feel worse about everything, my sanity, this house, and my new life. “Then you won’t mind if I start drinking wine to take the edge off.”

She smiled. “Wine? That stuff is for wimps. I say you head straight for the whiskey.” She released my hand and turned to leave. I followed close at her heels like I did the night when we’d both stayed up to watch
Silence of the Lambs
. I did crawl into bed with her that night, but I didn’t think I’d take her up on her invitation this time. Although, I was seriously considering leaving the light on in my bedroom all night.

 The rest of the evening was uneventful. Mom had topped the macaroni and cheese with heaps of bread crumbs which was a bonus. The boys rattled on about their new school. From the sound of it, they had been instantly catapulted to their usual rock star status.

Bed sounded inviting and I was tired enough to slip into a dreamless sleep without leaving the light on. Of course, I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that crazy people don’t dream.

Chapter 6

We hadn’t hung any curtains on the upstairs windows yet, and irritating, early morning sunlight crept into my bedroom before the alarm rang. I slid out of bed and walked to my dresser. Even though I’d unpacked and organized my drawers only a few days ago, I couldn’t find a thing in them. As I rifled through my shorts searching for my favorite khaki ones, I could hear the boys race down the hall to the bathroom.

I ran to the door and shouted after them. “You have five minutes!” They slammed shut the door. Great. And Mom was convinced the one bathroom thing would work. I checked my hair in the mirror to see if I could avoid washing it, and the old key caught my eye. I had shut the drawer without looking inside. Now I had the urge to see what it held. A couple of yanks and it opened. I could have sworn I smelled the faint scent of roses as I bent down to look inside.