Very suspicious.
“F-fine…I guess.”
“I brought your things from yesterday…your clothes and book bag. You forgot to take them with you last night. I figured I should give ‘em back to you here, not at school.” His eyes gleam mischievously. “We wouldn’t want people to start talking…”
“Heaven forbid,” I say, flatly.
He gives me a half smile. “Well, they’re in my truck. Would you like a ride to school? It’s kinda chilly out to be walking.”
What is going on here? “I don’t want to drive…I want to walk.”
“Okay, we’ll walk together. Just let me grab my stuff.”
As he trots back to his truck, my mind is spinning. Why is he acting so normal? Like everything is fine? Like the insanity of yesterday didn’t happen, and Lucky didn’t show up and ruin everything. This is NOT possible.
No. Something’s definitely up.
He returns with his backpack slung casually over his shoulder and hands me my bag. Then he nods toward the forest.
“Shall we?”
******
Birds chirping and the crunching of leaves and twigs are the only sounds as Kieron and I hike through the woods. I’m waiting for him to say something…anything. But he remains silent, and so do I. He seems perfectly relaxed and at ease, but with every passing second I feel my mind closer and closer to exploding.
Finally, I can’t take it anymore. We’ve reached the forest’s walls; soon we’ll hit the main road. I stop abruptly, set my backpack on the ground, and take a seat on a fallen log.
He turns to me with a quizzical glance. “What’s wrong?”
“I think you and I need to talk.”
“Sure. What’s up?” He drops his bag and sits beside me.
“I need to ask you something and it might seem strange.” I stare straight ahead, unable to meet his penetrating gaze.
“You can ask me anything, Liora. I promise I won’t think it strange.”
Yeah. I highly doubt that.
I take a deep breath and dive in. “What happened with the farmer with the gun last night? I…I must have blocked it out or something because I don’t remember anything after he said he was going to call the police. Did…did anything unusual happen? Did I do or say anything… strange?”
Kieron runs his hands through his dark hair. It’s so cold that his breath makes little puffs in the air.
“Well, after you fainted…”
“Fainted?”
“Must’ve been from all that running and the fright of being held at gunpoint. Anyways, you fainted for a moment. When you came to, you were very nice with the farmer and he let us go.”
“And then what?” I suck in my breath and hold it.
He shrugs. “And then nothing. You wanted to go home, so I took you home. No big deal.”
My eyes narrow. Is he telling me the truth? Lucky despises automobiles, and I’m having a hard time believing she’d agree to go with him. Unless…No. Even if she thought Kieron was gorgeous, she hates human boys. Well, not hates, but she thinks they’re weak and pathetic and totally beneath her. She’d never be interested in one, no matter how handsome he is…
I’m only slightly mollified by his response. Perhaps she decided to play it cool to keep from being found out. But it still doesn’t explain why he’s not at all confused by my erratic behavior…
“Did I…say anything weird after I came to? Anything unusual?”
“Like what?”
“I dunno…just anything silly. I’m taking some prescription medications for insomnia and sometimes I get a little loopy and say things I don’t mean—”
“No, nothing weird. You were just…sorta quiet.”
I put my head down. “Oh, okay.”
How badly I want to believe him, but it seems too good to be true. But maybe, after all the crap I’ve been through lately, the universe decided to do me this small favor. Maybe Lucky really did behave, and maybe Kieron really doesn’t care that I ran away.
Yeah, and maybe pigs can fly and speak Chinese.
I decide not to push it. If Kieron wants to pretend everything’s fine, so will I. Having him want to be my friend is the closest thing to a miracle I’ve had; I don’t want to blow it now.
“Guess we better get going; don’t wanna be late,” I mumble, picking up my bag and slinging it over my shoulder.
“Wonder what school’s gonna be like today,” he muses, falling into step beside me. “I’m sure people are really freaked out.”
“Maybe it won’t even be open. You heard anything new?”
He shakes his head.