When I looked back to Carrie I saw her nose was bleeding.
Damn it.
Chapter 6
“All righty. What is one of the ways the government can regulate Interest groups?”
I groaned. “Why are we doing this, Jenna? I have no intention of taking the AP test. Besides, the only reason I even signed up for the class is because I thought it would turn you on.”
Jenna laughed. “You’re disgusting.”
“And completely correct in stating that the little AP class on my schedule makes you happy. Admit it, you find it sexy. I could say words like federal bureaucracy or gerrymandering and you’d be ready to go.”
“Who says I’m not ready to go right now?” Jenna asked, slightly raising her eyebrow. She tossed aside her government notebook and moved so she was straddling me.
“Well, hell. Now I won’t be able to concentrate at all,” I grinned.
“I can move if you like,” she asked, smiling.
“Don’t you dare,” I laughed, holding her in place by grabbing on to her waist. “Besides, how much studying did you really intend to get done here? You suggested we study on your bed. I don’t think your intentions were quite so scholarly.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replied, feigning innocence.
This was the life I needed, wanted, would do anything to save.
***
When I awakened back in my English class my old world resumed as if nothing had ever happened—no strange man throwing out seemingly genuine offers of help, no destroyed buildings, no idiotic, cosmic pairings with girls I made fun of, and no flesh-eating sickness killing my girlfriend. What was left in my world? Me. Laying on the floor. Like an idiot.
My teacher admonished me, assuming I was trying to cause a distraction. Then she noticed the blood smudged on my face, another reminder of where I had just been, a supposed symptom of whatever the hell shifting was. Apparently while I was gone, no time had been lost in this present. Not that I really understood what that meant.
I asked to use the restroom. With a curt nod, the teacher allowed it. I picked up my stuff and practically ran into the bathroom, scrubbing the blood off me until my skin felt raw.
I didn’t want any evidence of where I had been to be left on me. Somehow back in the world where I thrived, I wanted to forget everything I'd seen. I was back to trying to convince myself I had been drugged—the whole thing just a really messed up trip. When the last bell of the day rang, I ran to Jenna as she waited for me by her locker. I pulled her into my arms, and pressed my nose into her hair. She didn’t smell like death. I could feel her giggle underneath me.
She was still here.
Thank God.
I knew I wouldn’t be able to push down the truth for long. I just needed the weekend. One last weekend with Jenna and the idea of normalcy. I didn’t think my life would ever be the same after I fully gave into whatever I had been chosen for. I just needed this weekend.
I grabbed Jenna’s hand and urged her out of the building. I didn’t want to stop and talk to friends. I just wanted time alone with her. I wanted to roam the Maples’ house and purge my mind of the images of decay.
I spotted Carrie on the way out. As I approached, she pulled her hood all the way off her face. There was still a smudge of blood across her pale skin. Her hair fell wildly. She looked at me as if expecting something, maybe recognition, maybe some time to talk about what we both had just experienced, but I couldn’t give it to her then. I tightened my grip on Jenna’s hand and kept walking. When I looked back, Carrie had pulled her hoodie back over her face. I couldn’t help but feel like I let her down. I wondered why I cared.
***
“Hey. Where you at?” Jenna asked, tapping me on the chin. I had wasted time I could be spending with her thinking on all the crappiness of the day. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I needed to live in my present.
I placed my hand against her smooth, flushed cheek. “I’m right here,” I whispered. I was where I wished I could be forever.
Jenna rocked forward so she was up on her knees. She bit on her lip. “You gonna make me do all the work here?”
I couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t want anyone to say I’m controlling. Though I do have to comment on our lack of creativity. We have the whole house to ourselves. We could do this on the couch, or on top of the dinning room table...”
Jenna covered my mouth with her hand. “On the table that came with my great-grandmother from Germany?”
I laughed. “You’re right. Don’t want to get too crazy.”
There was something comforting about being with a girl who knew you. I know by most of my friends’ standards losing my virginity at seventeen was considered pathetic. I was QB1, and my so very supportive friends often reminded me that I could easily have lost the v-card anytime I wanted to lose it. But I had wanted it to be with Jenna. The whole idea of sex while alluring, and damn was it alluring, was kinda scary. There was no way I would be good at it at first. That wasn’t possible. I liked the fact we stumbled through it together. We were probably both bad, but with each other it felt good. Really good. I didn’t worry about making a mistake. I just wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with me.