True Colors (14 page)

I grinned.

“Hello! Earth to Caitlyn!” Stella waved her hand in my face.

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “My cellphone was out of range.”

“How?”

“I went hiking.” I shrugged.

“Did Toby drive up from San Diego?”

It was a good assumption. Whenever my PE teacher brother came up he always forced me into surfing or hiking. I liked to complain, but secretly loved it. Stella would spaz out if she knew I’d been with Eric, so I went for casual.

“I didn’t go hiking with Toby. It was just a family friend.”

Not a 100 percent lie. I could live with that.

It was enough to appease Stella who I could read didn’t give a rat’s ass about my family friend. She was too annoyed and hurt that I hadn’t made her the central focus of my weekend. I should probably feel bad about that, but for some reason it just pissed me off, which totally helped stunt my guilt over the whole Eric situation. On Saturday night while I was trying, and failing, to fall asleep, I had toyed with the idea of cancelling with Eric, not wanting to cause waves with Stella. I'd started to freak out that Stella would somehow find out and go ballistic on me.

So glad I'd gotten over that brain fart!

Even so, I hated conflict, so I buried my anger and put on a smile, deciding that turning the attention back to her would put an end to our friction as well as ensure that she wouldn't probe into my weekend any further. I was just about to ask her what she got up to when Indie walked up.

“Hey guys.” For the first time ever I saw her soft voice as something other than sweetness. I pulled her mask off with ease and saw a battered girl. Not physically, but there may as well have been bruises all over her face. She looked wrung out, emotionally beaten...defeated.

“Hi Indie.” I pushed as much warmth into my smile as I possibly could. “How’s it going?”

“Good.” With her mask back in place, I could see the sweet smile again. She nodded and started telling us about how much fun she'd had at the party. “Did you guys enjoy it?”

“Those of us who were there did.” Stella shot me a baleful glare.

I was tempted to roll my eyes, but chose to ignore her scorn.

Indie looked really awkward, glancing between us. I could tell she didn’t want to get involved. I pulled back a layer and saw the idea of open conflict was too much for her.

Grabbing Stella’s arm, I swiveled her in the opposite direction. “Could you excuse us?”

“Sure.” The speed with which Indie took off was a testament to her relief.

“Let go of me!” Stella shook her arm free.

I met her glare with a stern look of my own.

“Would you stop, please? I said sorry about the party and it’s not like I didn’t come back and get you. Plus I tried calling you a bunch of times on Saturday and I know you were ignoring me.”

She lifted her nose with a haughty scowl. “I’m your best friend. I shouldn’t have to chase after you all weekend and I certainly shouldn’t have you ditch me at a party.”

“You looked pretty entertained when I left.”

Her cheeks flushed scarlet. “That’s not the point, Caitlyn. You should have been there for me.”

I knew this argument was getting us nowhere. I hated fighting with Stella. I always lost. From the fiery expression on her face, I knew I’d lose this round too.

With a soft sigh, I relented. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you needed a wingman so badly.”

Appeased by my servility, she gave me a nod of forgiveness. “What were you doing with Libby anyway? Is she working for you or something?”

“No. What does that mean?”

Stella blanched, her shoulders pinging back. “Nothing. I just meant I know she sometimes helps kids with homework and stuff. She’s a tutor.” Stella was lying. I didn’t need to pull anything away to see that.

“Tutoring on a Friday night, really?”

Stella couldn’t respond to my sarcastic reply. Shame washed over her features like dirty water.

I crossed my arms wanting to question her, to strip away her secrets until I could figure out what the hell she was talking about. But behind that layer of shame was a fragile insecurity I didn’t have the heart to mess with. I put her mask back in place and was met with a haughty, nose in the air, scowl.

I knew the only response to it was the truth, but I didn’t want to get Libby in hot water or say anything that would annoy Carter. I still had three months in this school to go as well.

Ruffling my curls, I flicked them off my face and went for a half-truth. “I bumped into Libby in the kitchen. She was really upset because some kids had been mean to her. I just offered her a ride home.” I didn’t want to go into detail about our awesome chats on the beach and how I actually felt closer to her than I did to Stella at this moment.

Stella’s lips dipped. She wasn’t overly friendly with Libby, but she’d never be openly cruel. I liked that her expression sunk slightly. “You should have come and got me. We could have driven her home together.”

Yeah, like that would have gone over well.

“I didn’t want to mess up whatever you had going with that cute guy.” I wiggled my eyebrows, needing to bring humor into this conversation.

Stella’s grin was instant, followed by a blush.

“Who was he?”

She winced, not looking ashamed in the least. Putting her arm through mine, she turned me in the direction of class and confessed. “I have no idea what his name is. We just drank and made out until he said he had to go. I didn’t even notice you were gone until then.” At least she looked a little abashed by that one. She shook her head, her perfect blonde hair rustling. “Just promise me you won’t ditch me at a party again.”

I wanted to tell her that I hadn’t, because I’d come back and got her, but I guessed that was just a technicality. In Stella’s mind, I should have been there for her, standing by her side even while she made out with her mystery man.

It really stung to say it, but I mumbled, “I promise.”

Squeezing my arm with a charming smile, she air kissed my cheek and strutted off. “See ya later, sweets.”

As I watched her flounce past the blue lockers, I thought back to my day with Eric and how enjoyable it had been. Not because it was Eric, although that was huge, but also because I had spent the day hanging out with someone who was just as interested in me and my thoughts as I was in his. He had kept asking me what I wanted to do, not demanding that I follow him everywhere. In fact he hadn't made any demands of me at all. It was a refreshing change.

I loved my best friend. She was fun and lively. Hanging out with her was always an adventure, but I was starting to see sides of Stella I really didn’t like. This new eyesight was a trip with some really bad repercussions, but there were some good things about it too. As I walked to Algebra, I thought of Libby and what I’d done for her, which then made me think of Indie...and how badly I wanted to save her too.

*****

I decided to start my “Save Indie” campaign in Biology. The cafeteria could have worked, but there were always so many people around and Liam was there. I figured Indie wouldn’t let a soul in if she knew Liam was watching. I still wanted what I saw to be a figment of my imagination, but Indie’s face this morning told me otherwise and made my heart sink. I didn’t just feel duty bound to help her. I wanted to.

I spotted her auburn hair as I walked into the lab. Her head was down as she read over today’s experiment. Class didn’t officially start for another couple of minutes so I paused by her desk.

“Hiya.”

She glanced up, her blue eyes wide and gentle. I noticed how long her straight bangs were getting. They nearly touched her eyelashes now. That would drive me insane, but they looked so good on Indie. She really was gorgeous in a waif like way.

“What’s up?” Her top lip perched over her bottom one and I could see how much she didn’t feel like talking. I didn’t want to hassle her, but I had to know.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out after school today.”

I pulled her mask free as I said the words, wanting to know the truth. A flash of panic scuttled across her features before settling into the ever present fear.

“I’m busy after school. What do you need?”

“Nothing particularly. I just thought it’d be cool to hang out.”

She was trying to figure out what I was up to. Her suspicion was strong and she didn’t trust me at all. “Are you trying to get back at Stella or something? I don’t want to come between you guys.”

“Oh no.” I touched her arm. A tendon in her neck flinched as I did it. I moved my hand away. “It’s not that at all. I...” Licking my lips, I willed my courage not to fail me. “I thought you looked a little worried about something on Friday night and I wanted you to know that if you need to talk to anybody about it, I’m here for you.”

The flash of panic turned into full blown terror. It was an effort not to show her how much I could see. I put her mask back in place to compare and was astounded by her calm chuckle.

“I’m fine, Caitlyn. I’m not sure what you saw, but I’m not worried about anything.” As she shook her head, I whipped the mask away and she looked ready to burst into tears. Her nostrils were flaring and her lips were quivering.

With a gentle hand I patted her back. “Okay, my mistake. Sorry.”

Relief washed over her, but only briefly. I was about to pull another layer off when Libby arrived looking subdued. I gave her a friendly smile, but she just dipped her head and slumped into her chair, totally confusing me.

As I slid into my seat beside Micah, I caught Indie looking at me. As soon as our eyes connected, she spun back in her chair and I couldn’t help wondering if I’d had the chance to talk to Indie for a little longer what I would have seen. The idea that maybe she desperately wanted help wouldn’t leave me alone.

I turned my attention back to Libby wondering how she was coping with her day. She was obviously nervous. Had Carter done something already? He would no doubt be lurking the halls ready to do serious damage. I'd have to keep my eye on that one. I kept my gaze on Libby until she peeked over her shoulder and I smiled again. This time her grin was jittery, but there. Friday night had been good. I’d really enjoyed our chat. I think I’d helped calm Libby down, but it still felt like there was something she wasn’t telling me. She was pretty scared, but she wouldn’t say why. I knew I could crack her more easily than Indie, but Indie’s fear seemed so much more palpable; and therefore more important to me.

I couldn't take my eyes off the back of her long, russet curls as I sighed. This was going to be hard work.

“Hey.” Micah nudged my elbow. “Don’t worry about it. She’s never let me in either.”

Glancing at Micah’s strong, dark face I watched his mask drop away and was surprised by what I saw. Micah Wilson was a tall, muscly African-American kid. He came to the school last year having already been expelled from other schools in the area. Kids were kind of scared of him, but he joined the basketball team and quickly became a super star. I mean he was potential NBA good. His adopted parents were working on getting him a really awesome scholarship and I knew he was studying his ass off. He was in head down, good behavior mode. In spite of this, people still seemed to avoid him. He was pretty quiet and didn’t smile much. Sometimes he just looked plain mean. I wondered if it was a protection thing. He’d always been super nice to me. Maybe he played mean to avoid being pulled into anything that could take him off track.

Maybe I wasn’t that surprised by what I saw on his exposed face. His gaze was on Indie, his dark eyes drinking in every little move she made. He was in love with her. It was so obvious. Not a lusty love, but a real, genuine,
I want to protect that girl and cherish her
kind of love.

My heart melted to putty as I smiled at him.

“What?” He scowled, pulling the experiment sheet towards us. His mask fell back into place and I let it. I felt a little bad for reading him and discovering his secret. Man, I wished people knew what a marshmallow he was. He would be the perfect boyfriend for Indie...a strong knight for a fragile princess.

I kept everyone’s mask in place throughout Biology so I could concentrate on what we were doing. The experiment went smoothly, and Micah and I agreed on all our results. Once it was done, we were supposed to write up a report and that’s when my eyesight began to wander. After fifteen minutes of studying the three people around me, I had my mission set. I needed to figure out what was worrying Libby and help her enjoy the last few months of school. I didn’t feel like that would be too hard. Indie was going to be a much tougher case. I had to work out what was going on between her and Liam and then if I could somehow work it, get Micah an in with the celebrity’s daughter.

Chapter 16

“Hey Libby, wait up!” I ran down the corridor after her.

She reluctantly slowed so I could catch up.

“How’s it going?” I nudged her shoulder with mine.

Putting on a smile, she nodded and told me all was good. She was lying and I decided to be brave and call her on it.

“You’re still worried about what Carter might do, aren’t you?”