Between Lies Read online

  “Everyone clear your desks, please.”

  There was a shuffling as we did as we were told. I was about to close my notebook when Harper leaned over and studied my drawing.

  “Is that Cam?”

  Startled, I looked down at the paper. Oh my God. “Um, well…”

  “Do you have a thing for him?”

  “What? No! I have a boyfriend.”

  She arched an eyebrow at me. “You can have a boyfriend and still be attracted to someone else.”

  “I don’t do that.” But my voice didn’t sound as strong as I’d meant it to.

  “But you can. It’s allowed.”

  “Okay, well… do you have a boyfriend?” I could hear the sharp crack in my voice, but I couldn’t help it, and in all honesty, I didn’t want to help it. Admitting that I might find Cam attractive would be admitting that something was wrong with my relationship with Kade. And even though I was bothered by his lack of aid in Molly’s time of need, I still didn’t want to think we had any serious problems.

  Her voice sank low, to nearly a whisper. “No. I don’t.”

  Guilt swirled through me. She sounded so unhappy. “Harper… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. It’s not you. It’s issues I have in my own life. Please accept my apology.”

  She half smiled at me. “It’s okay. I mean, what are friends for, right? If not to be a sounding board when you need them to be.”

  Relieved, but still feeling guilty, I returned the smile and finished clearing my desk. When the girl in front of me handed me the stack of quizzes, I took one and lost myself in trying to solve for x.

  Thirty minutes later, I had turned in my quiz and was waiting for the bell to ring. Harper had finished long before me and was reading a book. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. She was intent, focused, like nothing else in the world mattered more than what she was reading. I’d noticed she made me feel that way any time we were together. Whenever she was near, I sensed an inexplicable pull toward her. It was odd but comforting. As it was with my family, Molly, and Kade, she and I were completely different—from appearance to personality. Yet instead of feeling like more of an outsider around her, I felt… connected.

  The room became a little louder as the clock’s second hand ticked toward freedom. When the bell rang, kids raced from the room, some whooping as they left. I was beginning to love the after school-buzz every day.

  “Hey, I gotta go home early today, or we could hang out for a while. Maybe tomorrow?” She scribbled her phone number on a scrap of notebook paper and handed it to me. “Here’s my number. Call or text anytime.”

  Pleased at the invitation and this new level of our friendship, I nodded. “Yeah, tomorrow would be great. I have to meet with my History partner on our project today, anyway.”

  “Who is your partner?”

  I paused, knowing what was coming next. “Um… it’s Cam.” I waited for the jab, but none came. Instead, she looked at me with an unidentifiable expression.

  Finally, she gave me a tiny smile. “Good luck.”

  Before I could say anything, she was gliding out of the room. I thought about calling out to her, to stop her and ask for an explanation. But I didn’t.

  “Good luck.” What does that mean?

  Chapter Five

  Cam was waiting for me like he said he would. I’d half-expected him not to show, and I wouldn’t have blamed him for it. I’d made an awful assumption about him based solely on appearance. It was something I’d experienced myself and I knew how horrible it was. I was eager to show him I was sorry.

  I secretly celebrated his sweatshirt as I approached him. The irony of it was hilarious. If only I could let him in on the joke so we could both laugh about it.

  “Hey,” I said as I came to a stop in front of him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  His expression didn’t look glad at all and I sighed inwardly. He was going to make me work for this.

  “Do you want to sit down?” I gestured to one of the empty picnic tables.

  He shrugged but wandered over to one and settled in. I followed suit.

  There was a moment of silence between us as I thought about how to start. “Cam…” He raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about this morning. I didn’t mean it the way it came out.” His deep, brown-eyed stare was relentless, and I started to get jittery. “Well, that’s not exactly true. I did mean to imply… you know, with what I’ve seen of you so far… that…” I faltered and took another breath. “I guess I sort of jabbed at you.”

  A few heartbeats passed before he finally spoke. “Yeah, you did.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’ve said that.”

  Damn.

  “Will you accept my apology?” I held my breath.

  His response was slow in coming. “Are you done making assumptions about me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I accept.”

  I whooshed out the breath I’d been holding. “Thank you. Truly.”

  His mouth quirked. “You were really worried about this.”

  I looked down at the table and traced a swirl in the wood with my finger. “Well, yeah. I was. I regretted it the instant it came out of my mouth.”

  This time he grinned hugely. “In that case… there’s something you can do to make it completely up to me.”

  I eyed him warily. “What?” There was a knot in my stomach as I waited for him to answer.

  He continued to grin. “You can do the oral presentation part of the project.”

  On cue, my stomach clenched tightly. “W-what are you going to do, then?”

  “I’ll do the research.”

  I thought about it. The idea of getting up and doing a fifteen minute presentation by myself terrified me. I couldn’t bear the thought of being everyone’s center of attention for so long. Yet I also knew it would probably be best to do it, if for no other reason than to prove to Cam I meant my apology. I sighed gustily. “All right, I’ll do it.”

  “Cool. Then I suggest we read over the material right now, together, so if we have any questions about what to do, we can ask tomorrow.”

  I was surprised at how organized and… gung-ho… he was. I was more of a person who liked to wait until the last minute and then stress out about getting my work done. Maybe this relationship would be good for me.

  He dug through his backpack until he found the instruction paper and handed it to me. I noticed he’d underlined several things and had made notes in the margins. I read over it quickly and found I agreed with the comments he’d already made. I pulled my own copy out and noted the items we needed to clarify.

  Handing his paper back to him, I couldn’t keep the admiration out of my voice. “You’re very thorough. I guess we need to have Mrs. Moody verify our thought process tomorrow.”

  “Yep, I agree. After we talk to her, I suggest we meet tomorrow after school to get started. We can go to the library. It’s open until four thirty. That’ll give us a good hour to work on it.”

  I thought about my plans to hang out with Harper tomorrow afternoon. I didn’t want to miss that. We could be good friends, and blowing her off right when we were getting started didn’t seem like a good idea. Hopefully Cam would understand.

  “Could we maybe do it Thursday? I already have plans tomorrow afternoon.” I gave him a pleading look, hoping maybe I could charm him.

  “What, you have a date or something?” His sarcasm was thick, but I thought I detected a hint of jealousy, too. Oh, stop it, Sadie. There’s no way he’s into you. Besides, you have Kade. Why would you want Cam’s interest?

  “No, it’s not a date exactly. I promised Harper we could hang out tomorrow.”

  “Ahh, Harper.” He didn’t say anything else, and a thousand questions popped into my mind.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “By what?”

  “Ahh, Harper,” I repeated. “What does that mean?”

>   “It doesn’t mean anything.” Not believing him, I used his own trick and bored my eyes into his. He averted his gaze a moment but finally said, “I just find it interesting that you two are friends.”

  “Why?”

  He sighed as if annoyed that he had to explain himself to me. “Because she’s a little different from most of the girls, and I wouldn’t have immediately pegged you as her type.”

  “Now who’s judging who?” I waggled my eyebrows at him and he laughed.

  “Yeah, okay, I get it. Shutting up. We’ll meet Thursday.”

  “Thanks.”

  He hesitated a second. “But do you have to go home now?”

  I was surprised. At first, he’d wanted nothing to do with me, and now he was asking if I could stay longer? I thought about it for a minute. Molly and Kade were undoubtedly still asleep and all that was waiting for me was a stupid cat and homework. I didn’t feel any urge to hurry home to that. “No, I don’t have to leave now. What did you have in mind?”

  “I dunno. Maybe we could go to the park and hang out?”

  The park. That was where Kade and I normally went to talk before he headed to University. How would he feel if he knew I went there with someone else? Someone else who was also a guy. Would he be mad? Or was he so confident in us it wouldn’t bother him? Our shortened time together was making me feel more distant from him. Not as important. Add to that what Molly told me this morning, and I was feeling more uneasy and confused than lovey-dovey.

  Making my decision, I nodded. “Sure. We can do that.”

  “Cool. Wanna ride on my bike?”

  “Bike? As in bicycle?”

  He laughed. “No, Home—Sadie. My motorcycle.”

  Me on a motorcycle? “Ah, I don’t know…”

  “C’mon, it’s perfectly safe. At least with me driving. And you’ll have a helmet on.”

  I imagined what it might feel like with the wind blowing on my face as we rode through town. Suddenly feeling adventurous, I stood and stretched. He watched me and I could tell I wasn’t turning him off. What could go wrong? Looking him in the eye, my voice was determined. “Yes. I want to.”

  Grinning like he’d just won a prize, he got up, took my hand, and twirled me around. Breathless, I grinned back at him.

  ***

  The shiny black motorcycle was parked near the bicycle racks. Sitting on the seat was a matching black helmet and attached to the side was another one in white. My stomach knotted when I saw it up close, but I couldn’t deny the small thrill of excitement that ran through me. I’d never done anything like this before and part of me was expecting my parents or Molly to leap out from behind a tree and shake a finger at me. When I realized how idiotic that sounded, I laughed at myself.

  “What’s funny?” Cam’s face was curious, which made me laugh a little harder.

  “It’s just… I…” Caught in a vicious fit of giggles, I struggled to get the words out. “I’ve never… done this before… hiccup… and I keep expecting my parents to… hiccup… appear and scold… hiccup… me.”

  He looked at me with an amused expression while he unhooked the white helmet. Handing it to me, he watched as I struggled to get a grip on myself. When I finally stopped giggling, I took a slow, deep breath, careful not to trigger more hiccups. “Phew. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

  He shrugged. “Looked to me like you were having a good time. And that, Sadie, looks good on you.” I wasn’t sure what to say to that, but it didn’t matter. He was giving me instructions where to sit and what to hold on to. “If it feels weird holding on to the handles by your sides, you can wrap your arms around me. It’ll give you a more stable feeling.” I nodded along, paying close attention. When he was done, he asked, “Are you ready?”

  Feeling unsure, but not wanting him to see that, I pulled my ponytail lower on the nape of my neck and slid the helmet onto my head. I fumbled with the chin strap until Cam reached over and adjusted it to fit snugly. He tweaked my nose when he finished. “Your new nickname is Cueball. Now hang on to my hand as you get on.” I did as he instructed and settled down onto the seat at the rear of the bike. I found the footholds for my feet and rested them there. He looked at me and asked, “You good? Feeling comfortable?”

  I gave him a thumbs-up. “I’m good.”

  He put his own helmet on and threw his leg over the bike, settling into his own seat. When the engine roared to life, I jumped, and without thinking, wrapped my arms tightly around him. I heard the rumble of his laugh through his back and in my chest, but at the moment, I didn’t care.

  He backed up slowly, his feet skimming the ground until we had escaped the parking spot. He gave me one last questioning look in the rearview mirrors attached to the handlebars, and I rapped my knuckles on his helmet to let him know I was good. With that, he started forward and drove slowly through the school parking lot. We passed Bessie as we went, and I hoped I would see her again. I was putting my trust, not to mention my life, in Cam’s hands.

  When we turned onto the main street running in front of the school, he picked up speed, and I squeezed him tighter, my head buried between his shoulder blades. I heard him yell something, and I peeked up and over his shoulder a bit to see what it was. “Don’t hide your face! You’re missing out on the fun!”

  Inhaling deeply, I took his advice and kept my head up. The wind whooshing past us felt wonderful on my face and as I grew bolder, my arms loosened a little bit from around him. I turned my head to watch the trees and houses whiz past us. With the loud roar of the engine, the wind billowing my shirt away from my body, I was free. Like I was flying. Adrenaline raced through my veins as I experienced something no other other vampire could—an afternoon ride with the sun beaming down to warm my skin and the rumble of six hundred pounds of machinery beneath me. I threw my head back and laughed, letting go of Cam and reaching my arms out on each side of me like a bird.

  We turned left at the next light and zipped down the side street heading toward the park. I was still taking it all in, loving the airy feeling around me. “Wooohooo!” I screamed into the wind. Suddenly, as if karma was telling me I was having a little too much fun, a huge bug flew into my mouth. My scream turned into one of horror as I gagged and spluttered on the wretched insect. I felt it going down my throat and I began coughing, scraping at my tongue, and basically acting like a maniac. I caught a glimpse of Cam in the mirrors and saw that he was laughing his butt off. As the bug went down my windpipe—oh, how I hoped it was dead and not still kickin’!—the bike start to slow and turn into the small parking lot attached to the park. As soon as he parked, I jumped off the bike, still coughing and shrieking.

  “Oh my God! I swallowed a bug! I swallowed a bug, Cam!” I struggled to take the helmet off, and he reached over to help me again. As soon as it was in his hands, I bent over, trying to catch my breath. I kept imagining whatever insect it was alive and crawling down my throat and around my stomach, making me want to vomit and scratch my insides at the same time.

  Cam, being the barbarian he was, merely said, “Calm down. It’s only a bug. Good protein.”

  “Good protein?” I managed to get out. “It’s disgusting!”

  “Hey, you eat tons of insect parts every time you eat chocolate.”

  I stared at him, not comprehending what he was saying. “What.Do.You.Mean?”

  “C’mon, let’s go find a seat under a tree and I’ll tell you all about it.” He walked off, heading for a grove of trees with widespread branches and dense leaves, and I had no choice but to follow.

  I caught up to him as he was making himself at home under the biggest tree. “Chocolate. Explain.”

  “You honestly don’t know? I thought everyone knew this.”

  “Would I be asking if I did?”

  “True that. Okay, so the FDA allows a certain amount of insect parts in most of our foods. Chocolate being the one most people know about.”

  “FDA?”

  He looked at me incredul
ously. “You’re telling me you don’t know what the FDA is?” My blank stare must have convinced him. He sighed. “Man, Sadie, you gotta get out more. The FDA is the Food and Drug Administration. It’s the government agency that regulates what’s allowed in food and stuff.”

  The bug in my stomach tickled. Or, at least my imagination seemed to think it did. I swallowed hard. “So, every time we eat chocolate… there are bug bits in there.”

  “Yup!” he answered cheerfully.

  I thought about my favorite candy bars and immediately decided I was on a diet. “I think it’s time we change the subject. I don’t want to think about this.”

  “Okay,” he said, “then tell me about your family.” He looked truly interested, and I hated to disappoint him, but honestly, what could I tell him that wouldn’t either get him killed or a lifetime sentence of being a human blood bag? And even if those weren’t the consequences, there was a chance—a rather large chance—that he’d run screaming from me. I searched my brain for something I could say that would satisfy his curiosity without putting him in jeopardy.

  “Well, I’m the middle child. I have an older brother and a younger brother and sister. They’re twins.”

  “And they’re brats… am I right?”

  Startled at his observation, I nodded. “Yeah, they are. But nobody believes me because they have this angelic ‘who me?’ thing going on that seems to fool everybody around them.” I touched my head where I’d been stabbed by a flying knife. Joshua had thrown it at Sophia, and, lacking the reflexes the rest of the family had, I’d been in the way. I had missed a week of University while I recuperated. A normal vampire would have healed in seconds. Well, actually, a normal vampire would have been able to dodge the stupid thing.

  He noticed my movement. “You have a small scar there. Twin tomfoolery?”

  “Ha, twin tomfoolery. That’s a new one.” Not wanting to talk about it, I didn’t say anything else. Cam studied the scar and abruptly changed the subject.