Fallen 2. Torment(44)

"Not a word. To anyone. It's for your own protection."

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SEVEN

TWELVE DAYS

"I don't get why you're being so weird," Shelby said to Luce the next morning.

"You've been here, what, six days? And you're Shoreline's biggest hero. Maybe you're

going to live up to your reputation after all."

The Sunday-morning sky was dotted with cumulus clouds. Luce and Shelby were

walking along Shoreline's tiny beach, sharing an orange and a thermos of chai. A strong

wind carried the earthy scent of old redwoods down from the woods. The tide was rough

and high, kicking up long swaths of knotted black seaweed, jellyfish, and rotting

driftwood into the girls' path.

"It was nothing," Luce muttered, which wasn't exactly true. Jumping into that icy

water after Dawn had certainly been something. But Steven--the severity of his tone, the

force of his grip on her arm--had put a fear into Luce about ever speaking of Dawn's

rescue.

She eyed the salty foam left in the wake of a receding wave. She was trying not to

look out at the deep, dark water beyond--so she wouldn't have to think about hands down

in its icy depths. For your own protection. Steven must have meant your in its plural

form. As in, it's for all the students' protection. Otherwise, if he only meant Luce ...

"Dawn's okay," she said. "That's all that matters."

"Um, yeah, because of you, Baywatch."

"Do not start calling me Baywatch."

"You prefer to think of yourself as a jack-of-all-trades kind of savior?" Shelby

had the most deadpan way of teasing. "Frankie says some mystery creep's been lurking

around the school grounds the past two nights. You should give him what for--"

"What?" Luce almost spat out her chai. "Who is it?"

"I repeat: Mystery creep. They dunno." Shelby took a seat on a weathered flat of

limestone, skipping a few stones expertly into the ocean. "Just some dude. I overheard

Frankie talking to Kramer about it on the boat yesterday after all the hoopla."

Luce sat down next to Shelby and began to root around in the sand for stones.

Someone was sneaking around Shoreline. What if it was Daniel?

It would be just like him. So stubborn about keeping his own promise not to see

her, but unable to stay away. The thought of him made her yearn for him that much more.

She could feel herself almost on the brink of tears, which was crazy. Odds were the

mystery creep wasn't even Daniel. It could be Cam. It could be anyone. It could be an

Outcast.

"Did Francesca seem worried?" she asked Shelby.

"Wouldn't you be?"

76

"Wait a minute. Is that why you didn't sneak out last night?" It was the first night

Luce hadn't been woken up by Shelby coming in through the window.

"No." Shelby's skipping arm was toned from all her yoga. Her next stone skipped

six times in a wide arc, coming almost all the way back to them, like a boomerang.

"Where do you go every night, anyway?"

Shelby stuffed her hands in the pockets of her puffy red ski vest. She was staring

at the gray waves so intensely that it was clear she'd either seen something out there--or

she was avoiding the question. Luce followed her gaze, almost relieved to see nothing in

the water but gray-and-white waves all the way to the horizon.

"Shelby."

"What? I don't go anywhere."

Luce started to stand up, annoyed that Shelby felt she couldn't tell her anything.

Luce was brushing damp sand from the backs of her legs when Shelby's hand tugged her

back down onto the rock.

"Okay, I used to go see my sorry-ass boyfriend." Shelby sighed heavily, pitching

a rock artlessly into the water, nearly pelting a fat seagull swooping down for a fish.

"Before he became my sorry-ass ex-boyfriend."

"Oh. Shel, I'm sorry." Luce chewed on her lip. "I didn't even know you had a

boyfriend."

"I had to start keeping him at arm's length. He got way too into the fact that I had

a new roommate. Kept bugging me to let him come over late at night. Wanted to meet

you. I don't know what kind of girl he thinks I am. No offense, but three's a crowd in my

book."

"Who is he?" Luce asked. "Does he go here?"

"Phillip Aves. He's a senior in the main school."

Luce didn't think she knew him.

"That pale kid with the bleached-blond hair?" Shelby said. "Kind of looks like an

albino David Bowie? You can't really miss him." Her mouth twitched. "Unfortunately."

"Why didn't you tell me you broke up?"

"I prefer downloading Vampire Weekend songs that I lip-sync to when you're not

around. Better for my chakras. Besides"--she pointed a stubby finger at Luce--"you're the