UnEnchanted (8 page)

Mina darted out of the door the minute her
mother picked up the phone to call her boss. As it soon started to
sprinkle, she wished she would have checked the forecast.

A tingling sensation on the back of Mina’s
neck alerted her that she was being followed. Picking up her pace,
Mina kept her head up and tried not to make eye contact. She was
preparing to bolt when a car pulled up next to her and rolled down
its window.

Mina wasn’t sure what to expect: robbers,
kidnappers, perhaps someone who was going to ask for directions and
then force her in their car. What she didn’t expect was the polite
way in which the driver asked, “Need a ride?”

“
No, thanks,” Mina shot
back. She picked up her pace, refusing to look at the driver. The
rain started to come down in bigger droplets, making her
squint.

“
Mina…please.”

Mina’s head turned in surprise to see Brody
Carmichael driving alongside her in his SUV. She faltered in her
footsteps but kept moving. How did he find her? How did he know
where she lived? She knew her phone number and address were
unlisted.

“
Mina, I’m so very sorry
about your bike. It was an accident.” Brody looked apologetic. Mina
kept walking. “The least you could do is let me give you a ride to
school. It’s raining.”

It was raining, hard.

Mina blinked the rain out of her eyes and
shivered. Whether it was from the cold or the idea of sitting less
than a foot from Brody Carmichael, she wasn’t sure. But when her
teeth started to chatter, Brody darted out into the rain and ran to
the passenger’s door to open it for her. “Get in, before you get
sick.”

Mina bobbed her head in answer and slid in,
her wet jeans sticking miserably to the leather. Her hair was now
soaking wet, and large drops of water were dripping onto the seats
of his car.

“
I’m sorry.” Mina’s teeth
chattered as Brody ducked back into the car.

His large hand went to the console and
turned on the heat. He twisted in his seat and reached behind him
to pull a clean shirt out of his gym bag. “Here, use this.” He took
the shirt and gently tried to wipe the water from her face.

Mina jumped from the touch, and he held out
the shirt in a peace offering. “Sorry,” she said again.

Brody smiled out of the corner of his mouth.
“You sure do apologize a lot, when it’s not even your fault.”

“
I’m getting your seat all
wet.” She tried to use the shirt to wipe off the pools of water on
the leather, but he reached out and touched her hand, stopping her
efforts.

“
It’s just a car. It’ll
dry.” He looked at Mina, and her heart fluttered. He meant it; he
wasn’t lying or trying to appease her. He didn’t care about the car
at all.

Mina let the heat of the car soak into her
bones—no, wait, those were Brody’s heated seats. She was so
nervous; she didn’t know what to say or where to look. Should she
talk to him, look at him, ask him about his family? She couldn’t
decide, so Mina did none of these things, staring quietly out the
passenger window instead.

Brody cleared his throat. “You know, you’re
one hard person to find.”

Mina turned to look at him. “What do you
mean? You were looking for me?”

Brody cast her a quick glance before
focusing on driving again. “Well, I tried to call you to apologize,
but you were unlisted, and then no one I knew had your cell
number.”

“
I don’t have a cell
phone.” Mina felt her cheeks turn pink; she must be the only girl
in high school without a phone. “I’m also not friends with anyone
you would know.”

Brody shrugged. “I didn’t know. So then I
was going to come to your house, but again…”

“
Unlisted,” Mina finished
for him, glad for once that her mother paid a small fee to keep it
that way. She didn’t know what she would have done had Brody showed
up on her doorstep in the middle of yesterday’s tearful
confession.

“
Brody, it’s okay. What
happened yesterday was an accident. I left it in the middle of the
driveway. It wasn’t as if you ran me over.” Mina played with the
edge of her sleeve. She was doing it again, taking the
blame.

“
Then why did you run from
me?” Brody asked, looking at her. “You didn’t give me a chance to
apologize or explain.”

Mina hadn’t anticipated this question and
now desperately wished she was back outside, walking in the rain.
She lifted her shoulders pathetically in reply. “I don’t know.” A
few minutes of silence filled the car, and then Mina turned on
Brody. “What were you doing on this side of town this morning? I
know for a fact that you live on the other side of town.”

Brody chuckled and smiled at Mina. “Looking
for you.”

“
For me? Why?” Mina was
numb with disbelief.

“
I felt bad about what
happened and wanted to find you. So I had one of our employees do
some digging, and found out you lived in the international
district. So I decided to head over here to find you. I mean, I did
destroy your only mode of transportation. The least I could do was
drive you to school.”

“
And lock me in the car so
I have to listen to your apology, right?” Mina pursed her lips in
anger. She couldn’t believe him. He had someone do a background
check on them? “You had no right!” she said.

“
I had every right.” Brody
pulled the car into the school parking lot. He put the car in Park
and turned toward her, the windshield wipers still moving back and
forth in rhythm with the rain. “I knew that if I didn’t find you
outside of school, I might never get to apologize.”

Mina scoffed. “Oh, I understand. I mean,
after all, you’re Brody Carmichael, and you have a certain social
standing to uphold. I’m just Mina Grimm, a nobody.” Mina realized
she’d let her real name slip, but he didn’t seem to notice. He
opened his mouth to argue, but Mina cut him off. “It’s okay. You’ve
apologized, see? Apology accepted. You’ve done your civic duty, and
now you’re off the hook. Don’t worry—we aren’t going to sue or
anything.” Mina grabbed for the door handle and exited the car,
fuming at his nerve.

Doing everything she could
to keep from running into school, Mina marched as quickly as
possible toward the girl’s bathroom and locked herself in a lone
bathroom stall. She couldn’t believe she just had a fight with
Brody. Tears burned in her eyes from embarrassment and
anger.
How could he?
she fumed. Why would he go to all the trouble to search her
out, to apologize, when he could have just done it at school? It’s
because she was right—he was embarrassed by her. Too bad that she,
boring old Mina, had saved his life, and not some more exciting
girl. If only he knew.

Mina wiped away her tears and walked to the
sink to compose herself. The rain had added a slight wave to her
brown hair, which was not unattractive. It fell past her shoulders
and was mostly dry, thanks to the awesome heaters in Brody’s car.
She suddenly felt queasy as she remembered what she’d said to him
in anger. She hoped that it would all blow over and he would forget
her.

The first warning bell rang, and three girls
rushed into the bathroom to apply a final layer of makeup before
class.

“
Did you see Brody out
there?” one girl whispered. “He looks angry. I wonder what Savannah
said to tick him off.” She pulled a giant can of aerosol hairspray
out of her backpack and began to spray it all over her
head.

Mina started to cough and back up from the
sink.

“
Didn’t you hear?” a
brunette commented between mascara swipes. “They are officially
over.”

“
Since when?” the chunky
one asked.

“
Since that day when he
almost died.”

“
But I thought they got
back together?” Aerosol Girl commented.

“
Only for a few hours. I
heard he broke it off after school.”

“
Excuse me,” Mina
interrupted, and all three heads snapped in her direction. Each of
them appraised her, and the chunky one frowned in disapproval. “Did
you say that Brody is outside these doors?”

“
What’s it to you?
Thinking you’re going to move in now that he’s single? I can tell
you right now, you’re not his type.” The dark-haired girl and the
heavier girl laughed.

“
Actually, I’m trying to
avoid him.”

The dark-haired girl appraised her once more
before she answered, “Not anymore. He was pacing outside for a few
minutes, but I saw him head toward his first class.”

Mina sighed. “Thanks.” She rushed out of the
bathroom and made it to her first-hour class just in time for the
second bell. Mina slid into her desk, and Nan immediately leaned
over and whispered,

“
Is it true?”

“
Is what true?” Mina
whispered back, pulling out her history textbook.

“
That Brody drove you to
school. Are you two an item?”

Mina couldn’t believe how fast things spread
in this school. “No! He gave me a ride, and that’s it.”

“
But I saw…” Nan
started.

“
Please, Nan, I will tell
you at lunch. I promise.”

Nan must have seen the anguish in her best
friend’s eyes, because she let the subject drop. Sighing, she
leaned back and looked at her brand-new iPhone, a gift from a
friend of the family’s after they learned she dropped it trying to
help Mina and Brody. Nan’s fingers gently tapped a response to the
text message she received moments ago.

Upset. Give time.

Chapter 7

“
Spill,” Nan demanded once
they had taken their trays far away from prying ears. Mina had
selected the table farthest from the one Brody sat at with his
friends.

“
It’s entirely your fault,
Nan. I went to deliver the stupid packet because you wouldn’t do
it. And after totally embarrassing myself in front of Mrs.
Carmichael, who had no clue why I was there, Brody drove up and ran
over my bike.”

“
O-M-G!” Nan spelled
aloud. “What did you do?”

“
I was so embarrassed, I
ran.”

“
You WHAT?” Nan jumped
back and slapped the table.

“
Exactly. And when I got
home, my mom had gone on a packing binge and was ready to move us
to Alaska.”

“
But how does that lead to
this morning?”

“
He stalked me! He got an
employee to find out where I lived and then drove up and down my
streets like a stalker. Supposedly he wanted to give me a ride
because he felt bad for crushing my bike.”

“
Um, Mina,” Nan said
softly.

Mina ignored her, peeling
her orange with a vengeance. “Yeah, and then he had the gall to
tell me he wanted to apologize before we got to school, because he
knew he wouldn’t once we were
in
school. Geez, he is SO stuck up.”

“
Mina—” Nan tried to
interrupt her friend as she attacked her helpless fruit.

“
I’m telling you, Nan, he
is afraid to be seen in public with me. Even after I saved his life
and all.” Mina shoved an orange slice into her mouth and bit
down.

“
Mina, I think someone
wants to talk to you.” Nan smirked.

“
MFFWHA?” Mina said, her
mouth stuffed with orange. She looked around the cafeteria and saw
that Brody’s usual spot with the polo team was empty. He was, in
fact, standing behind her, tray in hand, looking perhaps more
embarrassed than she was.

“
Hi, Mina.” He smiled. “Is
this seat taken?”

Brody dropped his tray on the table without
waiting for her to answer. How much had he heard? Once she had
stopped coughing, she turned on him. “What are you doing?” she
whispered, looking around the room. People were staring at
them.

“
I know you thought our
conversation was over, but it’s not,” Brody said, his blue eyes
twinkling with challenge.

“
All right, you’ve proven
your point. You’re not embarrassed to be seen with me in public. So
you can go now.” Mina made shooing motions with her hands as if
shooing away a fly, but Brody just grinned at her.

“
You see, what you said in
the car made me angry. Until I realized that it’s not true.” Brody
leaned over to get closer to Mina’s ear. “I’m not embarrassed to be
seen with you in public. You are. You don’t want to be seen with
me.” His breath tickled her ear, making her melt until she’d
processed the words he spoke.

“
That’s not true,” she
replied.

“
Then prove it,” he said.
His eyes darkened with meaning. “Prove to me you’re not ashamed of
me.”

Mina looked at Brody fearfully and then over
at Nan, who had wisely kept her mouth shut. Nan nodded
encouragingly at her. Mina hung her head in shame. It wasn’t Brody
she was embarrassed about, it was herself. She was a walking,
talking embarrassment, and why in the world would Brody want to
hang out with her?

“
Why, Brody? Why do this?”
Mina asked, looking up at him. “I don’t understand. We have nothing
in common. I’ve saved your life, but that’s as far as this
friendship needs to go…really.”

Brody looked hurt. Mina wished she could
take back the words as soon as they left her mouth, but she was
only trying to protect herself. He had to be playing with her.

Brody stared at his tray of food for a
minute and then looked up at her. His eyes bored into hers. “Mina,
you did more than save my life, and I’m trying to show you. But you
have to meet me halfway.” He picked up his tray and walked away
from their table, dumping the uneaten contents in the trash.
Students turned to watch him walk out, and they kept turning until
they were looking toward Mina’s table.