Hidden Moon (10 page)

“I’ll take her to the nurse,” Ronnie’s voice came from behind my head as she ducked under Ed’s arm.

“Thank you, Ronnie. Okay, boys, back to your side of the court, everything is fine. The rest of you girls, keep working,” Ms Jenkins said in an effort to get everyone moving.

None of the boys acknowledged her. They stayed still until Adam gave them a barely perceptible nod. His eyes were still on me. As the others started back across the court, he helped me up to my feet.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just a scrape. I’ll meet you after school.” I said as Ronnie started tugging my good arm.

“Come on. You’re bleeding all over the floor.”

I let her lead me out of the gym and toward the nurse’s station.

“Those guys were fast. I don’t think you had been on the ground but a half-second when they came over. I saw you fall and I swear they were like a blur. Then all of a sudden, they were surrounding you,” she giggled. “I didn’t think they were going to let Ms. Jenkins in to see about you.”

“Yeah, that was kinda weird,” I admitted.

“So are you and Adam an item?” she asked, taking me off guard. “He seems protective of you.”

“N-no,” I said, feeling my cheeks start to burn.

Ronnie laughed. “You don’t sound so sure, Nikki.”

“I’m not sure of anything right now. I’m not sure I’m cut out for this cheerleading thing.” My elbow was starting to throb as it bled, leaving tiny splats of blood to follow us down the hall as if we were Hansel and Gretel with breadcrumbs.

“What are you talking about? You’re a natural, you heard Ms. Jenkins. You did great until you lost your footing and fell.”

We made it to the nurse, who cleaned up the scrape and put clean gauze around it. She put my other hand on top, told me to keep pressure on it and sit there until it quit bleeding. Then she told Ronnie to head back to class. Ronnie gave me a sympathetic smile and left.

I sat on the table in the sick room for the next twenty minutes, keeping the gauze on my arm. Various posters on the walls informed me that cleanliness depended upon me while others warned me of the dangers of STDs. I memorized every letter on the eye chart and thought I was about to go nuts with boredom, when the nurse came back to check on me. When she seemed satisfied that I wasn’t going to leave a trail of blood all over the school, she let me go.

I had just opened the door when I saw Adam leaning against the wall across the hall, his arms folded across his chest as he stared at the door, as if standing guard.

“I thought you were supposed to be in class,” I said, trying not to look happy to see him.

“After you fell, no one felt like playing ball anymore, so they dismissed us early. I was worried, so I came to wait for you.” He shrugged, then touched my arm, inspecting the bandage. “I think we should go skin Tiffany for that little stunt she pulled. Does it hurt much?”

“It’s getting sore, but I’ll live. How did you know she did anything? I could have just gotten clumsy and fell.”

“She moved her leg just as you stepped on it. And anyone that can fall on that hard floor and not get hurt worse than a scraped elbow, is not clumsy,” he retorted. His golden eyes blazed as he swung his long hair back over his shoulder. “I saw her. She was jealous after the teacher gave you a compliment.”

“How did you see and hear all of that? You were on the other side of the gym.”

The fire in his eyes dampened, and he gave me a weak smile. “I pay attention. Let’s go get your things and get out of here. I’ve had enough of this place for one day.”

“But school isn’t over yet, the bell hasn’t…” I was cut off by the shrilling bell as Adam took my hand and pushed through the other students, leading me to the lockers and then out the door.

Ed, Michael and Tommy were standing around the Jeep. Penny was behind Erik on the motorcycle. Her arms were wrapped around his waist and her cheek rested against his shoulder. She smiled as she saw us walking hand in hand toward them.

“How’s the arm?” she asked.

“It’s okay.” I smiled at her.

“Tiffany shouldn’t be allowed to be on the squad, if she’s going to act like that,” Ed said, shooting a murderous glance at the back of a blonde ponytail that was getting into a little blue car near the front of the school.

“We saw her move, we know she’s the reason you fell,” Tommy informed me.

“All of you saw her move?”

The four dark heads in front of me nodded in unison, leaving me speechless.

“Let’s go,” Adam said, opening the passenger door for me. Ed, Michael and Tommy piled in the back, backpacks and books flew over the seat into the cargo space as everyone buckled in.

“You want to drive?” Adam offered, as he looked over at me and started up the Jeep.

“Huh-uh.” I shook my head. “I’m happy where I am, thanks.”

He grinned and we pulled out of the parking lot. A few minutes later, we pulled onto the gravel road leading us towards the reservation. We pulled up behind Erik’s motorcycle in a driveway beside a little white house that sat beside the woods. Everyone piled out of the Jeep, splitting up in different directions to go home. Erik was leaning against the hood of an old blue Wrangler as he watched everyone go. He grinned as I looked in disbelief at the car.

“I thought we’d stop here first, and then go study at my house,” Adam said. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” I said, and then stared at Erik. “This isn’t the old beat up car you’re getting rid of.”

“Yep, good ol’ Bessie,” Erik patted the hood, and then looked down to speak to the car. “Don’t take it to heart, love. I never said you were beat up.”

“You’ve got to be joking. That’s a nice car.”

“I know, but I can only drive one thing at a time, and the insurance on both the ‘cycle and the car is pretty steep. I wouldn’t dream of getting rid of the motorcycle, unless it was to get a better one, of course.”

“Of course,” I murmured as I took in the Jeep’s flaking powder blue paint, the black rag top, and the big knobby tires.

“You wanna take her for a spin?”

“Sure.”

He tossed me the keys and hopped into the backseat. Adam got into the passenger seat as I looked over the interior. It was clean and well-loved. A tie-die colored peace sign hung from the rearview mirror. I grinned as I looked at the cigarette lighter and saw where he had put a sticker with a slash over the cigarette lighter to suggest that he didn’t allow smoking in his vehicle.

“Ok, so the heater knob sometimes sticks, you have to jiggle it a little. She burns a little oil, but not bad. I just check it once a week. I gave it a tune-up a couple of months ago, but I haven’t driven much since the weather warmed up. The four wheel drive works great, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting out in winter.” He frowned, trying to think of anything else important. “I think that’s about it, start her up and let’s go.”

I turned the ignition, and was thankful that Brian had taught me to drive a manual transmission as I pushed down the clutch and put it in first gear. The Wrangler was easier to drive than the truck. It shifted smoothly as we went back out to the main road. I fell in love with the sound of the tires humming down the road. We went a couple miles and turned around to come back.

“What do you think?” Adam asked. I noticed he had been quiet during the entire exchange.

“It depends on the price, but I think I’m in love.” I smiled as I tried not to get my hopes up.

“If you want it, I’ll work with you,” Erik promised, going into salesman mode. He came up with a low figure and watched my eyes widen in the rearview mirror.

“Are you sure?” I asked, “That doesn’t seem like enough.”

“It’s enough. I got it for a good deal, so I’ll give you a good deal on it, too. Maybe karma will work in my favor and I’ll find the ‘cycle parts I’ve been looking for cheap. She’s all yours, if you want her.”

“Deal. We can stop by the house and I’ll get you the money.”

“Don’t worry about it today. Dad’s got the title locked up so I’ll have to wait until he gets home to get it. When you get back, I’ll get my junk out of here and you can just drive it home tonight. We’ll do the other stuff tomorrow,” he said as I pulled back into his driveway. “Wait. That won’t work. You can’t drive it home by yourself. You haven’t got your driver’s license yet.”

“I’ll ride with her when she goes home if she wants to take it tonight,” Adam offered, as we parked and got out.

“I want it,” I said, giving Erik a huge hug.

“Easy, you’ll make Adam jealous. Maybe Penny, too,” he joked as he watched his girlfriend and another woman come out the front door.

“I told you, Penny. You can’t leave him alone for a minute. Trouble finds him,” the petite little woman said, her dark eyes sparkling.

“Mom, this is Nikki. She’s buying the Wrangler,” he said, sticking his head back in the vehicle to search the glove compartment. His voice came out muffled, “Nikki, that’s my mom.”

“Hi, I’m Jenna,” she said as she held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you.” I shook her hand.

“I hate to break this up, but if we’re going to study…” Adam interrupted.

“Go ahead, I’ve got to get all of my stuff out of here.” Erik’s hand waved outside the car, shooing us away. “I’ll be done before you’re ready to go.”

“Nice to meet you, Mrs.…”

“White Hawk, but just call me Jenna,” she smiled as Adam led me back to his Jeep. “Come back anytime and visit, Nikki.”

We pulled up in front of a house that sat close to the road. A basketball goal was attached to the back of a shed that served as a garage. Adam parked near it, then hopped out of the Jeep and came around to my side and opened the door.

“Dad must have had to work late,” he murmured.

“Maybe they found a lead on the missing hikers,” I said, trying to fill in the awkward silence with some kind of conversation.

“I hope, but I doubt it,” he said as he took my books from me and led me to the porch.

He opened the front door and held it for me. “Come on in. I’m going to grab us something to drink, then we can go out on the back porch. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” I looked at the pictures that lined a shelf in the living room.

Most of them were of Adam as a little kid. One of them was him with a man I guessed to be his father. A young Adam sat on a red bike with training wheels. His father looked just as happy as the little boy, and looked proud as he smiled down at his son.

I walked to the end of the shelf and found an older picture. His father looked younger in this picture and was hugging a very beautiful, very pregnant woman. A pair of brilliant amber eyes smiled up into the camera, a startling contrast against the mass of dark, long hair that hung over her shoulder.

“So there’s where you got those eyes,” I murmured.

“My mother,” Adam said, startling me, as he came up behind me with two glasses in his hands.

“She is beautiful.” I said, still looking at the picture.

“Yeah, she was. She died when I was born.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to think of what else to say.

“It’s okay. Erik and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember and Jenna is just like a mom to me. She’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to one,” he shrugged and gave me a small smile. “Let’s go out on the porch. We need to get started. I promised I’d have you home by dark.”

Once we studied, we walked back over to pick up the Jeep. True to his word, Erik had his things out of the Wrangler and made me promise if I had problems to bring it back and he’d either fix it or buy it back. I drove us back toward my house. I noticed Brian’s truck was pulled in its usual spot, but the house was dark.

“He must be out with his mom,” Adam said as he saw me staring at the house.

“Must be,” I murmured, making a mental note to call and check on him when Adam went home.

Adam was frowning at the woods that ran along the road, a small wrinkle furrowed between his brows.

“What is it?” I said, slowing down.

“We’re being watched,” he said as he watched the tree line.

“By what?” I asked, straining to see what he saw.

“By whom,” he corrected, using his newly-found knowledge of English grammar. “I don’t know, but it feels like I should know. It feels…familiar.”

I pulled in front of my house, parking next to Mom’s car.

“Would you like to come in?” I asked.

“No, I need to get back. There’s something I need to check on back at home.”

“I can get Mom and we’ll drive you back. If there’s something in the woods you shouldn’t go back that way.”

“There are lots of things in these woods, but I’ll be fine. Walk me out?”

We got out and walked towards the path. We reached the edge of the trees where he picked up my hand and brushed a light kiss against my knuckles.

“Thank you again for the study date,” he whispered, then turned to walk into the shadows of the trees.

“You’re welcome,” I spoke to the empty place where he had stood.

I wish he would quit doing that, I thought, as I walked back to the front porch. He always seemed to melt right into the trees. One minute he was there, the next he was gone.

Mom was on the porch waiting for me when I made it there.

“Did Adam have car problems? We could have taken him home.” She glanced at the blue Wrangler sitting next to her car.

“No, that’s my car,” I grinned. “He was just riding back over with me so I could bring it home. I told him we’d take him back, but he wanted to walk.”

“Your car? It looks nice. I’m impressed.” She smiled and then frowned. “He should have let us drive him back. I didn’t like the sound of all that howling last night. I talked to Anita about it. She said she thought it was wolves. She said we’ll hear them a lot, but that they’ve never bothered anyone.”

“I’ll give him a little time, and then I’ll call over and make sure he got home. What about Brian?” I asked. “Did she say anything about him?”

“No. Should she have?”

“He left school today not feeling well. His car was home when we went by. I need to go call him.” I ran into the house and grabbed the cordless phone, kicking off my shoes before I ran up the steps.