Connection (Le Garde) (27 page)

He huffed, annoyed with me. He didn’t understand why I had such a problem with white lies to hide this. “Don’t you think this is bigger than that, like Drew said? More important?” he asked.

“
I don’t like lying,” I said firmly.

Aaron fell silent. He thought I was being difficult. I was being sensible and honest. “Okay,” he said, “what if we just go? We just leave without telling anyone.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “My mom would kill me.”

“
When you get back, yeah.
 
.
 
.but we could go to San Francisco for a whole day and talk to Joseph Harwood, get answers.”

“
She wouldn’t trust us alone again after that.” I didn’t want that, and I knew Aaron didn’t, either.

He leaned his head back, hitting it against the wall. “We gotta think of something.”

I took out my phone and texted Kristina, asking if Joseph would be in town anytime soon. I wanted to meet Joseph, too, but how was I supposed to get around my mom? I turned his idea over in my mind: just leave town for the day and deal with the consequences when I got back. How would I get out of the house in the first place?

“
Well, I need to get home,” I said. “Want to give me a ride?”

“
Sure.”

We drove in silence. Aaron was upset and kind of annoyed, but I was annoyed with him for expecting me to lie to everyone after I’d told him I didn’t want to do it. When we pulled up to my house, I hesitated before getting out. “Aaron, we’ll think of something, okay?”

“
Okay,” he said, meeting my eyes. He even believed me, the tiniest bit.

“
I’ll talk to you later.”

The next day in Composition, Jordan turned to face me once I sat down. “What do you think of Aaron’s new girlfriend?” he asked.

“
She’s nice,” I said fairly. I hadn’t known they were an official couple now, but I had seen them holding hands in the hallway on my way to class.

“
Yeah, I hooked them up,” Jordan said, shrugging a shoulder. “I thought he could use some help getting over you.”

“
I guess I owe you one, then.”

He grinned. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I rolled my eyes. “I take it back.”

“
Ah, can’t do that, sorry.”

Mrs. Hart cleared her throat and started to take role. She reminded us about the reaction paper about
The Great Gatsby
was due that Thursday because the school had teacher inservice on Friday. I’d completely forgot about it. Three day weekend.

As I left the class, I wondered if Ginger and Allie had school off, too. I stopped at Mrs. Hart’s desk. “Mrs. Hart, is it a district-wide teacher inservice?” I asked.

“
Nope, it’s just the high school,” Mrs. Hart said.

“
Oh, cool, thanks.” In the hallway, I bit my lip. I couldn’t believe I was really considering this. My mom would be working. My sisters would be at school. Aaron and I could go to San Francisco. We could probably be back before Ginger or Allie got home from school.

I saw Aaron at his locker. He glanced over his shoulder at me, and he knew what I was thinking. He grinned and held up his hand. I stared at it, raising an eyebrow.

“
Air five?” he suggested.

I laughed, high-fiving the air.

17. le tour (the trip)

Anna

That week, I helped Steven around school as much as I could. We both felt bad about the crash, blaming ourselves. His mom was still upset with me, but Steven answered the phone when I called now. We didn’t get many chances for those hot make-out sessions, but we talked on the phone a lot.

Aaron and I found that the distance before we lost each other was growing greater. At the beginning of the year, it was maybe fifteen feet. That Monday after we did our homework, we actually measured it in steps. Sixty of mine, and forty-two of Aaron’s. When we measured that out, it was almost two hundred and fifty feet.
It was really distracting during third period, when he had Trig and I had Spanish 3 across the hall.

Aaron and Wendy went from dating buddies to an official couple. As far as I knew, they didn’t have any classes together, so they spent lunch together. Wendy was really nice. She was in my math class last year. It made it hard to dislike her. But you know what, Aaron was being nice to Steven for my sake, so I made an effort to be nice to Wendy.

I didn’t even
like
Aaron. I had to keep reminding myself that.

Come Friday morning, my mom took Allie and Ginger to school. Aaron picked me up at seven-thirty. He yawned as I got into the car. “Morning,” I said, pulling on my seatbelt. Being in a car still made me anxious.

“
Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll drive like an old lady.”

“
Thanks,” I said, wiping my sweaty palms on my pants. I’d had my stitches removed already, and the cut in my forehead was a soft scar now.

I took out my iPod. “You have an auxiliary jack in here? I made a road trip playlist to keep you awake.”

“
No, this car is not that high-tech. But I do have an FM transmitter,” Aaron said. He motioned to his glove compartment. “You just plug it into your iPod and set it to a radio station, then I set the stereo.”

I had to peel off the masking tape of the glove compartment to get inside. “How much would it cost to just get this fixed?”

“
I don’t know, it’s not my car,” Aaron said, grinning.

I hooked up the transmitter and started the playlist. “What did you tell your parents?”

“
I said we were going to San Francisco for the day,” Aaron said with a shrug. “My mom was just surprised we were leaving so early, but I told her we had a ton of plans.”

We’d contacted Kristina and Drew, and they told us to come to Stanford, then call them. Stanford was an extra forty minutes past San Francisco, but we had until about three o’clock to get home. I was sure something would go wrong. Allie would be sent home sick, and I wouldn’t be there. Mom would run home for lunch and call me to see where I was. I prayed everything would go fine—no car wrecks, no surprises about who Kristina and Drew actually were.

The two hour drive flew by. We stopped by McDonald’s to get breakfast, then I introduced Aaron to all the hip hop artists I thought he’d like. Artists who sang about something other than drugs, sex, and violence. He actually started to enjoy the music, even though he might deny it if asked about it. Halfway there, we switched to his music. We theorized about what we thought might happen at Stanford, what Joseph Harwood might be like. We made up this persona for him—this smart, nerdy guy who had never done well with women and had devoted his life to Le Garde after his parents died. He loved Star Wars and had three cats and ate lots of tofu. The real Joseph Harwood would probably be the farthest thing from our imaginary one.

When we passed through San Francisco, Aaron said we should stop at the pier on the way back. “If we have time,” he added.

Kristina called me when we were close to Stanford. “Hey, Anna, where are you?”

I looked at the directions I’d printed off. “Um, ten minutes from Stanford.
 
.
 
.I think.
 
.
 
.”

“
Okay, cool. Park in a visitor’s spot by the admissions building. Drew and I will meet you.”

I got even more nervous as we got closer. Aaron was more excited than anxious, but I could tell he wasn’t sure what to expect.

The campus was huge and beautiful, especially with the trees turning as Spring came. The buildings were pristine and well-maintained. Even the students walking by were gorgeous. It reminded me this school was completely out of my league.

We nearly got lost, but we finally found the admissions building. We pulled into a visitor’s parking spot and got out of the car. It was a warm day for April. The sky had only a few clouds and was shockingly blue beyond that.

I saw Kristina and Drew approaching from a cluster of benches. Kristina waved, and they joined us by Aaron’s car. “Hey,” Kristina said. “We’re going to meet Joseph at his house.”

“
Oh.
 
.
 
.not here?” I asked.

“
Nah, it’s not exactly conspicuous,” Kristina said. “If Drew sits in the front seat, he can give you directions.”

Aaron and I exchanged glances. I thought of what my mom had said about them. We hardly knew them, and yet they wanted us to get in a car with them and drive to some unknown destination? Aaron trusted them more than I did, but he was still wary.

“
Why can’t we meet in a public place?” Aaron asked.

“
Because you don’t talk about Le Garde in a public place, that’s why,” Kristina said. She motioned to the car. “Let’s go.”

“
We’re not getting in a car and driving who-knows-where with two people we hardly know,” I said, crossing my arms.

Drew and Kristina looked at each other, Kristina rolling her eyes. “Do you want to meet Joseph or not?” Kristina asked.

“
Of course we do, but—” I began.

“
We’ve known you guys for a couple weeks now, and we haven’t sent you to a psych hospital. We’ve just met for coffee,” she said. “Besides, if we do something, you can just electrocute us.”

My mouth fell open. Aaron actually thought this was some kind of insurance, but we had to be touching for something like that to happen, and Drew and Kristina could easily keep us apart. I shook my head and spoke to Aaron in French. “We have to be touching to do that.”

“
Oh, they have their own language,” Drew said, raising his eyebrows at Kristina in amusement.

“
It’s called French,” I snapped at him.

“
I trust them,” Aaron replied in French, but I could feel his uncertainty.

“
Can we get in the car and talk about it?” Drew asked. “I think that janitor is staring at us.”

I thought it was just an excuse to talk us into it, but we got in the car. I sat behind Aaron, and Drew took the front seat.

“
I have a gun in my jacket,” Drew said, “and I’m going to pull it out.”

My heart slammed against my chest. “What?”

“
I’m just going to empty the magazine.” Then he actually pulled a handgun out of his leather jacket—it was a solid black thing that made me tense all over.

“
Holy shit,” Aaron whispered.

Drew did as he said he would and emptied the magazine. He placed the unloaded gun in Aaron’s hand. “Just chill out. We’re not here to hurt you. We want to bring you guys to Joseph and Amelia.”

I put my hand over my chest. I could feel my heartbeat. “Oh, my gosh!” I said breathlessly. “Why do you have that?”

“
Why not? I have a license.” He turned to look at me. “Would you like to see it?”

I pursed my lips. “No.”

“
Come on, Joseph lives about twenty minutes away,” Kristina said.

Aaron glanced over the seat at me. I didn’t know if Drew giving up the gun made me trust them more or less. I swallowed. We had to do this. We were already in San Francisco.

Aaron met my eyes, mentally assuring me we’d fight with our powers if they tried anything.

I nodded. “Okay, let’s go.” 

We drove fifteen miles east to a tiny town called La Honda. Drew led Aaron to a windy, wooded road with large houses hidden among countless trees. Aaron turned left, bringing the car down a steep driveway and to a gate. Drew told him the key code, and the gate opened for us.

Past the gate was a two-story cabin. The windows along the front of the house were long and wide. A porch ran along the front side of the house, long wooden beams connecting it to the house. A stone chimney rose up in the middle. A two car garage stood off to the side, a garden nestled between the two buildings. Not quite the hermit’s apartment we’d thought up during our drive.

“
Just park in front of the garage,” Drew said.

Aaron did, then he asked, “What should I do with this thing?” He held the gun up, making a face.

“
Leave it in the car,” Drew said.

We got out of the car. It was quiet here, only the birds and wind making much noise. Tall trees surrounded the area, closing us in on the sides. I glanced back at the car, where the gun lay on Aaron’s seat. He shot me a look, trying to reassure me of something. I hooked my arm around his and followed Kristina and Drew to the house.

Drew knocked, and a moment later, the door opened. A woman stood across the threshold. She had long, wavy brown hair, and her dark eyes swept over us quickly. She wore a cream-colored button-up shirt, a black pencil skirt, and heels, making her nearly as tall as Drew’s six foot frame. “Morning,” she said, smiling tightly. She turned and walked inside, leaving us to follow.