Take Me Tomorrow (5 page)

Noah’s green eyes squinted into the same predatory glare he had when I
snatched up his paper in the forest. “I’m not here to be lectured.”

B
oth tensed, and their eyes moved over one another as if they would start fighting at any second.

“
I’m not giving the tomo to you,” Broden said.

Noah’s arm shot down, and his fingers danced
on his leg as if he was contemplating his next move. His movements were faster than they should’ve been. I recognized his stance from my father’s training. This boy, like my father, was also trained for combat.

When he stepped forward, Broden stepped back, but
Noah spread his fingers and laid his palm out. He wanted a simple handshake.

“I
t was good seeing you,” Noah spoke, his watch flashing moonlight into my eyes. Aside from the black color, Broden’s watch was a replica of Noah’s.

Broden was hesitant, but he
forced himself to step forward. I stopped myself from pulling Broden back. I doubted Noah wanted a handshake. If anything, I expected the boy to crush Broden’s face into the ground, but the only thing that crunched was the gravel beneath their feet as they shook hands.

They lock
ed eyes, and then, Broden let go. He spun around and walked toward me without any trouble. When his hand landed on my arm, he nudged me. “Let’s go,” Broden whispered.

We started walking away when I whispered Broden’s name, but I had to grab his arm to get his attention.
I had to tell him about the forest. “Wait.”

Broden
pulled away from me. “Don’t talk yet.” His voice was tight as he continued to walk, but I froze, hearing Noah’s steps behind us.

I spun
around just in time to see Noah. He halted when I met his eyes, but he was only a foot away. I hadn’t even heard him approach.

He smiled.
“It was good seeing you again, Sophie.”

Broden
’s footsteps stopped, but I didn’t dare look behind me. I cleared my throat. “Sophia,” I corrected my name without thinking. It was automatic, and now, I was the one who had broken my father’s rules.

“I like Sophie better,
” he said, clearly remembering my name. I had to remind myself that he also knew where I lived.

Broden
marched to my side, speaking, “You two know one another?”

“No,” I squeaked
. “It’s not like that—”

“Not exactly
, anyway,” Noah completed my sentence like we were the ones with a history.

“Keep her out of this,”
Broden snarled, and his face creased in places I had never seen them crease before. He was angry, and his violent past suddenly seemed like the present. All of the stories that I had heard from Lily had become real in only a flash. He was preparing to attack.

Noah’s smile never faltered
. “You’re the one who brought her.”

“She drove me here,” Broden glowered
.

Noah nodded.

Broden’s face paled. “You,” he spoke, shoving a finger into his friend’s chest. “You planned this.”

“I saw it,” he c
orrected, referring to his tomo-use.

Chills ran
up my spine, and I latched onto Broden’s arm. My nails dug into his skin.

Noah
studied my grasp. “I want my stuff.”

“No.”

Noah looked away from my hold to focus on Broden. “Fine, then,” he spoke as he turned around. His broad shoulders shifted beneath his black t-shirt as he stretched like a lion under the sun instead of a boy under the moonlight. He was wearing the same clothes from the forest. “I’m sure someone else could always help me,” he said, glancing over his shoulder, his green eyes meeting mine.

All I
could think about was my house, my home that no longer seemed safe. My father was rarely in the Topeka Region, and Lyn worked almost every day, leaving me alone. My only protection was Argos and my weapons, and Noah hadn’t been frightened of either one. Not in the slightest. And now, he had a knife. One of my father’s knives.

Broden stepped in front of me, blocking
my vision from Noah. “What do you want?”

“Your help,” he answered.
“I need those drugs,” he sounded borderline apologetic. “I have to get them.”

Broden paused,
but ended his pause with a firm nod. “Leave Sophia alone, and I’ll help you.”

Noah
leaned over to see my reaction. I leaned over to hide from him.

“Meet at the ravens,” Noah instruct
ed. “3:21 a.m.” It was the second time I had heard them use some sort of code that night.

Broden
read his watch and agreed. As soon as he confirmed it, Broden grabbed my arm. He dragged me behind him as he marched up the trail. Stones crunched, and powders from the gravel floated up like a fog. My heart pounded in my ears, and we reached the top of the trail in seconds, but I turned back to look. I half-expected the stranger to follow us, but Noah was standing on the path. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes flashed yellow through the blackness. Intense as it was, he was frozen, and his lips settled neither into a frown or a smile. It wasn’t until his cat-eyes disappeared that he lifted his hand in a slight wave. I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming at him.

“Sophia,” Broden grumbled, shaking my arm as if he had sensed
my stare.

“I’m okay—”

“Stay away from him,” he continued as he led us over the concrete. The cuts above his brow seemed to bleed beneath his stressed stitches.

When I didn’t respond, he stopped us and spun around to face me. He grabbed both of my shoulders, forcing me to look at him.
“Promise me that you’ll stay away from him – and from me.”

M
y jaw dropped. “From you?”

“H
e can’t find you then,” he said, oblivious to the fact that Noah knew exactly where I lived. “Promise me.”

My eyes traced over
Broden’s injuries, wondering how Noah had known about them. Tomo didn’t show the past. It only revealed the future. Obviously, he was watching, but we had no way of knowing what he had seen. I still didn’t know who had even hurt Broden, and he was my best friend, but even I didn’t know my best friend had been involved with someone like Noah.

In the two years I had known Broden,
I hadn’t seen his anger, but he had snapped in seconds under Noah’s presence. On top of that, they had both used tomo, a drug I hadn’t even seen.

But
I did know one thing. Noah wouldn’t stop himself from talking to me. He had my address for a reason, and whether Broden told him to leave me alone or not, I doubted that Noah would keep his word. If anything, I needed to know who Noah was in order to protect myself from him, but Broden wouldn’t tell me. If Broden hadn’t told me anything, he wouldn’t start now. I would have to learn it on my own.

“I promise,” I spoke, knowing I wouldn’t be able to
keep any promise at all.

I Know You’re Trouble

“Thanks for taking care
of these for me,” Lily thanked me as she shoved the pink Homecoming fliers into my hands before sprinting off. She was volunteering at the girls’ correctional institute again, so I had the responsibility of taping the posters around campus. “Just to remind everyone of this Friday,”
Lily explained it as if anyone could forget. The school was revolving around the Homecoming dance, yet Lily somehow managed to convince herself that students would forget. I would never understand her intensity.

I
held the last flyer in between my lips as I tied my long, brown hair into a ponytail. It was hot as usual, and I felt as if I were mentally asleep somewhere else. By this time, I would’ve already been home, checking the acres, but my dad was home. He had to take over the task, and Argos would accept him as a temporary fill-in while I was absent.

I
let my ponytail fall against my neck, and I breathed as the wind blew by, cooling my heated skin. It had been a long day, and I had a feeling it was about to get much longer.

Closing my eyes
, I listened to the familiar sounds of the town, hoping to feel normal, but I couldn’t forget the night before. Broden was involved with tomo. On top of that, Miles was somehow involved, and I wondered if Lily was, too − if everyone in my life was. The question made me nauseous.

I shook my head, kicking my backpack lightly. I
desperately ignored my memories as I lifted my hands to grab the last flyer, but the flyer was gone.

The wind pulled it out of my grasp,
and it flipped into the air, twirling and spiraling. The glossy color glowed like pink fire as it soared and swooped to the ground, smacking into the leg of a tall man dressed in a sage uniform. I rushed after it, apologizing as the military student leaned down to grab it from the ground.

“Do you need this?” he asked as he straightened up. H
is voice was as deep and calm as his eyes. When I looked into them, I froze.

The man was a boy
close to my age, and his stare haunted me. At first glance, his eyes appeared as a deep, brown color, but the sage color of his uniform brought out the green color that hid behind colored contacts. His skin was tanned, burnt at the cheeks, and his dark hair matched the color of his eyes too perfectly.

Hair dye.

I squinted at his familiar features as I stepped back without the flyer. This boy had brown hair, brown eyes, and a sage uniform. Not blond hair, green eyes, or a black t-shirt. But I was positive. Absolutely positive.

“Noah?”

The boy squinted back. “Nate,” he corrected, glancing down at the pink flyer. “Nate Harper.”

I was right. It was him.

“Right. Nate,” I breathed, trying to control my nerves. At the sound of his fake identity, my heart pounded, but I could conceal that. “Where’d you get the uniform?”

“Stole it from the lumberyard,” he answered
nonchalantly. He was too focused on the flyer. He was probably memorizing it.

Our situation had completely flipped. In the forest, I had stolen his information. Now, he had mine, and I wanted to attack him just as much as he probably wanted to hurt me. Still, I remained calm. I couldn’t do anything
dramatic with everyone watching, not when Broden was involved, but I could do something.

I
took advantage of his lack of attention, and I sprung forward, snatching the flyer from his hands. He didn’t even budge when I moved back. “What do you want?” I asked, the paper crumbling in my shaking hands.

He glanced up, his fingers still spread out like he was ho
lding it. His eyebrows shot up, and I recognized the expression. For the first time, he was thrown off guard.

“I’m looking for Broden,” he said, pulling at the front of his sage jacket.

“Why?”

Noah lowered his eyes to meet min
e. “Because I am.”

“I would thi
nk he’d be in military school,” I answered, knowing he had obviously been there already. I didn’t know who gave him the uniform, but I did know it was real, down to the sideways stitches and gold buttons.

Noah moved as if he could prevent me from studying his clothes.
“He wasn’t there.”

“Oh, and he didn’t tell y
ou where he’d be? That’s weird,” I mocked. “I really would’ve thought he would be waiting for you.”

“I ho
pe you’re not testing me,” Noah’s voice danced on the edge of intensity, “because I really wouldn’t appreciate that, Ms. Gray.”

My grip tightened from the sound of my last name.
I had never told him my name, first or last, yet he knew both now, and he knew where I went to school. Whether I liked it or not, he knew more about me than I knew about him.

“I don’t h
ave to help you,” I said, hoping he would walk away but knowing he wouldn’t.

“And I don’t need your help,” Noah retorted, lingering at the school’s gate. If he wouldn’t leave, then I would.
Even then, I had to respond.

“I don’t need your trouble.”

“Trouble,” Noah repeated, his mouth cracking open. “You think that I,” he pointed to his chest. “am trouble?”

“I know you’re trouble,” I correct
ed, turning on my heel. If he wouldn’t attack me in the forest, he wouldn’t attack me now. The only safety I had was that his fake identity was all he had.

I grabbed my backpack, so I could head home.
Thinking he would at least have the decency to allow me to walk away was my first mistake. He took one stride and stood right next to me. When I started walking, he walked with me.

“W
hat makes you think that?” he asked, acting as if following a stranger wasn’t taboo in the slightest.

My anger turned to annoyance. “Well, aside from
two nights ago,” I spoke as I contemplated the best way to retrieve my knife from my backpack, “how about you explain why Broden got beat up?”

Noah
’s demeanor fell before he switched to his default emotion − severely stern and indecipherable. “You think that was me?”

“No,” I said it be
fore I realized I felt that way, “but I bet it had to do with you.”

His
fingers tapped against his black watch. “How long have you known Broden, anyway? I’ve never even heard of you.”

I glared at him. “For your information, I haven’t heard of you either.”

His eyes widened, and for once, he looked like the teenager he was. “So, when exactly did Broden and you become such good friends?”

“When did Brod
en and you not?”

He stopped walking with me, and I began leaving him
for the second time. I didn’t dare look back, and my frustration encouraged me to stride forward. I didn’t dare head in the direction of my house. Noah knew where I lived, and the last thing I wanted was for him to meet me there. I would go to the hospital and watch Falo while Lyn worked.

I
concentrated on the sounds of my heels as they tapped across the ground, shifting my backpack to my other shoulder. At least, I had the comfort of my knife. The roads were quiet, and the shops seemed to be emptying for the evening. For a few seconds, I was relieved that it was over, and then, I heard his boots as he ran up behind me. He strode up next to me, perfectly calm. In fact, he smiled.

I rolled my eyes.
Unbelievable.

“You have
no conscience, do you?” I asked.

“You have no filter, do you?”

“I have no fear,” I corrected, hearing the arrogance in my voice. Who was I kidding? In many ways, I was afraid of the stranger walking beside me. “I think there’s a difference.”

“No fear,” Noah repeated, his words dancing with amusement. He looked at me with twinkling eyes, as if to laugh at my lies, but I nodded, and he shrugged it off. “Must be easy when you’re never faced with something you’re afraid of.”

“I’ve had to face things,” I snapped.

“I’m sure you have,” he chuckled.

I glanced over to watch him. He was walking with his arms propped behind his head, relaxing in the summer sun. His childish demeanor was almost impossible to combine with his predatory one. The only times I had seen him he had been serious, yet he was now laughing like an everyday teenager. I was witnessing something impossible. His skin was lighter, happier, and his eyes were alive and awake. I couldn’t believe I was staring at the same boy from the night before. It was as if a different person had replaced him, like Nate Harper had literally taken his place. I had to consciously remind myself that I wasn’t walking with a carefree friend. It was probably one of the reasons he could fall into his fake identity so easily.

T
he buildings spaced out, the road stretched on, and sunlight burned against our skin as it closed in on evening. We were silent for a while, and I wondered how he was walking around so freely without question like Broden had yesterday. Clearly, the two boys understood the system well enough to escape. He obviously understood the border patrol enough to sneak through it.

When
he looked around, his eyes darted about the road, and he looked up at the horizon where enormous, gray buildings sat. “The hospital,” he commented, turning to look at me. Every time he watched me, I felt exposed. “You were with Broden at the hospital.”

Memories from Broden’s injuries
flashed through my mind. “Yeah,” I said, but Noah’s soft expression stopped me from continuing.

His smile seemed genuine as his face tilted
. “I should have recognized that hair,” he mentioned casually.

I turned away to hide my blushing cheeks. “
You weren’t there,” I squeaked.

He couldn’t have been. He was in the forest when I heard the news, and Lyn had to drive me. It would’ve been impossible for Noah to follow on foot or car. The cop
would’ve stopped him just as he stopped us, but he wouldn’t have been let go. We would’ve seen him.

As my mind raced,
Noah leaned over and flipped his palm open toward me the way he had to Broden last night − for another handshake. “I think we got off on the wrong foot, Sophie,” he spoke, continuing to use my nickname he enjoyed. My heart was pounding again, but this time it wasn’t out of fear. “I want to start over.”

I stopped on the sidewalk, and he mirrored my movements.
Under the sunlight, his brown hair darkened, but my memory would not forget how his blond hair had glistened. Even as the sky blackened and his brown eyes deepened, his green eyes were impossible to neglect. He morphed into Nate Harper, but he was still Noah, and Broden’s warning echoed in my ears.

I knew I couldn’t keep my promise, but I hadn’t realized how quickly I would have to break it. If I could help Broden get out of trouble by helping Noah, I would, but
Broden wouldn’t see it that way. He would never see it that way.

Noah
flickered his hand so that the face of his watch flashed. “What do you have to lose?”

I wanted to say
, “Everything.” I had everything to lose. My reputation. My record. My friendship. My family. Probably even parts of my life I hadn’t considered yet. But my gut instinct told me that I could also save everything by shaking his hand. Even though I wanted to scream, smack his hand away, and pretend he never existed, I didn’t.

I smiled back, reached out, and took his hand. When I shook it, his skin was warm and consoling, not cold and ruthless like I had expected it would be. “Nice to meet you
, then,” I said, starting over. Nothing felt wrong, but there had to be something. Broden didn’t want me a part of it − whatever “it” was − but I wanted to be, and now, I would be.

“Nice to meet you
, too,” Noah responded.

I dropped my hand, but his palm remained exposed, and I couldn’t look away.

When I was a child in Albany, a fortuneteller pondered over every line on my palm. The reading was only a game then, but his palm didn’t seem to be. I stared at the tiny lines his skin formed as if I were staring at the future face-to-face, as if I had taken tomo and completely lost my mind.

I forced myself to look away, so I could say,
“I know where Broden is.”