Hanging out with Zack wasn’t an option either, since socializing with a shifter would hurt his chance of survival. I’d have to run. Alone. The frustration burned through my throat like fire.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I glared at Zack. “And you didn’t think that having only a few weeks to be safe was a detail I needed to know”
His eyes widened. “It didn’t occur to me. We’ve had a lot going on.”
Although I wanted to be mad at him, I couldn’t be. Suddenly, my energy level dipped and fatigue settled in my muscles. “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.” I rose from the kitchen chair without looking at him and practically sleepwalked to the stairs.
“Goodnight,” he said.
I was too emotionally paralyzed to reply.
† † †
When I awoke some time later, light from the moon peeked through the slit between the curtain panels. My first thought was of Zack. I wanted to tiptoe to the couch, sneak under his blanket and snuggle up with him. He’d be warm and sleepy and, very likely, would give me what I needed. But it probably wasn’t worth the agony I’d feel when he walked away saying, “I warned you I was leaving.”
In a few weeks, he would be on the run and so would I. Not to mention the other ramifications of my situation — I’d have to leave my parents, my friends, my home. What would I do all alone with no one to turn to? Even if by some miracle Zack wanted company on the road, I couldn’t continue with him if he didn’t love me.
But I couldn’t stay away from him either.
To say I was screwed would’ve been like calling my situation unusual or saying Zack was cute. Both were gross understatements.
Huddled in my blanket, my eyes stayed fixed on the ceiling. I should get up, maybe make breakfast. As I lay in bed, it grew lighter outside, the walls of the room visible without super-vision.
A shape formed in the doorway to my room. I turned my head to see Zack.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I guess so,” I answered quietly. Hadn’t I closed the bedroom door before I’d crawled into bed last night? I knew Zack hadn’t opened it just now. He must have done it during the night. “Were you in my room earlier?”
“Why do you ask?”
Why was it such a difficult question to answer? Either he was or he wasn’t. “My door is open.”
“I checked on you a while ago to make sure you were okay.” He averted his gaze.
“Why? Did you hear something? Was someone trying to get in?” I couldn’t imagine not waking up if an intruder had tried to break in.
I rolled over and propped myself up on my elbow.
“No. Last night, you seemed upset, so I was checking on you.” Zack took a step over the threshold, his fingertips wiggling against his thigh.
Just when I thought he didn’t care, he did something nice to make me think I wasn’t just any girl. The longer I watched him, the more his fingers twitched and his eyes roamed the room.
I wanted to pursue it further, but intuition told me it was a bad idea. We’d be kissing shortly or he’d withdraw further, just like before. I couldn’t allow myself to think that his compassion didn’t extend equally to all people. He had no special feelings for me. And if I remembered that without fail, my disillusionment wouldn’t flatten me later.
“Thanks for checking on me.” I flopped down against my pillow and stared at the ceiling. Zack disappeared as quietly as he’d appeared.
Knowing I needed to stop wallowing in misery, I bolted from the bed and headed downstairs. Still in my PJs, I fixed eggs. When we’d finished eating, without a word through our entire meal, I escaped upstairs into my sanctuary. It was getting uncomfortable with Zack. He must have sensed it too.
In my bathroom, I got out all my tools. If I was going to be down in the dumps, no point in feeling unattractive, too. I ironed my hair until it was straight as a pin before hitting the ends with the curling iron. After brushing it out, I flipped it over to make it a little bit messy. I threw on jeans and the same tank top Zack had previously told me not to wear due to it being unsafe. At the last minute, I switched bras, putting on a pushup. After donning a pair of sandals, I surveyed my reflection in the mirror. Not bad. Back to the bathroom, I started my makeup.
“Autumn.” Zack tapped on the hallway doorjamb leading into my bedroom.
“I’m in here,” I called out.
“Are you about ready?” he asked from right outside the bathroom, peering in.
I checked my cell. “You want to leave now?”
He nodded.
“We still have a half hour before we need to go. Either we wait here or we wait at the school. What’s the diff?”