Hidden Moon (7 page)

We went upstairs to my bedroom so I could grab my textbook. Adam looked at the chair that I had placed in front of the window. A small smile twitched on his face.

“You like watching the woods.” It seemed more of a comment than a question.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t think I would like you when I saw you the first time.” His voice was a barely audible whisper. He turned back to stare at me again.

The air was getting warmer again, hugging me in a warm heat. I walked over to the window and tried to tug it open. It stuck after a couple inches, leaving me to yank on it with all my strength.

I felt him before I heard him. Adam’s arms circled around me as he put one hand on either side of mine. “Here, let me help.”

The window slid open. A cool breeze hit me full in the face and I took a step back. His chest was solid against me and I could feel his sharp intake of breath as soon as I touched him. It startled me enough that I tried to turn and take a step back toward the window at the same time. I toppled backward and once again his arms were there catching me, steadying me back on my feet. I flushed, feeling like an idiot. A warm hand came up to push back an errant curl that sprang free to spiral next to my cheek.

“Okay, English,” I said, ducking around Adam to grab my textbook off the bed. I held it in front of me like a shield.

“Okay, English,” he repeated, smiling.

I sat down cross-legged on the top of the bed and pointed, indicating I wanted him to sit, too. I opened the textbook as he sat down. Then I put on my best teacher face.

“I think we should start at the beginning,” I said, giving him my most serious look.

He smiled at me. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Nouns,” I started. “What are they?”

He shrugged, and stared at me, waiting for me to answer my own question.

“Nouns are the subject of the sentence,” I explained, “for example, if I were to say, ‘the tree is green,’ then
tree
would be the noun.”

He frowned, and then nodded. The little wrinkle of concentration was back again, crinkling between his eyes as I gave him another sentence and he tried to guess the right noun. I found myself staring into his eyes again, getting lost in their depths. He cleared his throat and I found him staring back at me.

“Well?” he asked.

“Well, what?”

“I asked if that was the right word.”

I looked back down at the book, trying to find the sentence I had given him, “Yes, that’s it.”

I concentrated back to the task at hand and gave him more sentences. I started with the easier ones, then made them harder, as he guessed every one of them right. I stared down into the book, searching for the hardest ones, when I felt him reach up and pull my scrunchie free. My hair cascaded around my shoulders and down my back.

“You are beautiful,” he whispered. He gave me a shy smile as I looked up at him, “
You
would be the noun.”

“Um, yes. I mean no,” I stammered, then looked at the floor. “That’s a pronoun.” My face started to flush, and I started to feel the air begin to snap around us again, even though the breeze still blew through the window.

I heard a car pull up and hopped up off the bed to look out the window.

He was still smiling at me when I turned around. “That’s my mom and my sister. Let’s take a break and go downstairs.”

He nodded and followed me down the staircase.

“Hi, Nikki,” Mom said as I came around the corner of the kitchen. “I didn’t think you would be home yet. Didn’t you have a study date?” She stopped and smiled as she saw Adam come into view, “Hello.”

“Mom, this is Adam,” I introduced him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Adam. I’m sorry the house is such a mess. I thought Nikki was going over to study at your house, or I would have cleaned up more.”

“That’s okay, Mrs. Harmon. We thought it would be easier if I came here instead, so Brian wouldn’t have to wait and Nikki wouldn’t be rushed,” he explained.

Emily came from outside and into the kitchen in her usual full speed, not seeing Adam by the door. He must have heard her coming, and stepped ever so slightly to the side to keep her from running full into him. She stopped in front of him and her eyes widened.

“You’re a real Indian,” she whispered in awe.

He grinned at her. “Yes, I am.”

“Wow.” Emily’s face flushed in excitement. “Did you come from the woods? You know, Nikki thought she saw someone outside her window the first day we were here.”

His smile froze for a second, and then warmed up again. “Yes, I came through the woods. You will have to come visit us sometime. I hear that the school is bringing everyone on a field trip soon.”

“I know. I can’t wait,” she beamed at him.

“Emily, you need to go up and get started on your homework. You can talk to Adam later. Here, take some pizza up with you.” Mom herded Emily to the door, and handed her a paper plate.

“‘Bye, Adam.” Emily waved around our mother’s legs.

“‘Bye, Emily,” he grinned at her.

As she left, Mom turned around and smiled. “Sorry about that. She’s your typical six year-old. She would have pestered you the whole time you were here. I didn’t see your car outside. Do you need us to give you a ride back?”

“No, ma’am. I’ll be okay. I’m used to walking. It won’t take long to make it back home.”

“Make sure you’re careful when you head back. I think they’re calling for rain tonight.” She smiled at him and then turned to me. “I saw Anita today. She was telling me about Brian’s scheme to get you into driving.”

I snorted. “Yeah, it’s a scheme.”

“Well? How did it go?” she prodded.

“Ok.” I shrugged.

“Once you get the hang of it, we’ll have to find you a decent car. I think Brian is sweet to be taking you to school every day, but I’m sure you would like a little freedom of your own. Now, you guys grab some pizza and go study.” She stuck half of the pizza on a plate and shooed us out of the kitchen.

Back upstairs, I nibbled on a slice as I looked through the book. Adam scarfed down two pieces, one after another, as he peered over my shoulder to see what I had planned for him next.

“No cheating.” I pushed his face back over my shoulder.

We worked until dusk. Loose sheets of notebook paper covered the bed with our notes. It would be dark soon. I stretched and rubbed the crick I had gotten in my neck.

“I think we’ve made quite a bit of progress today.”

“I think so, too. Thank you for helping me. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Adam said. His eyes narrowed an instant later.

I heard the phone ring and my mother answer it, though I couldn’t hear what she said.

“Brian is calling to check to see if I have smudged your reputation,” he said dryly.

“Nikki, phone. It’s Brian,” Mom called up the stairs.

I groaned as Adam smirked at me.

“Tell him I’ll call him back in a few minutes,” I yelled back to her.

“I need to go,” Adam stood, and then walked towards the door. “Thank you again for the help.”

“Wait. Hold on.” I jumped up from the bed, trying to pull my shoes on, half-running, half-stumbling, as I tried to catch up with him. “I’ll walk out with you.”

“You should call Brian back. I know the way out.” His amber eyes seemed to flame with contained rage.

I looked up at him, perplexed. I didn’t know what I had done to bring this sudden tirade on, so I said, “I would like to walk you out, if that’s okay with you. I will call him back later. He can wait.”

He snorted. “You’d better not make him wait for too long, I can hear him pacing all the way up here. He’s trying to decide whether to come up or not.”

“How do you know that?”

“Lucky guess. It’s what I would do,” he shrugged, and then gave me a small, reluctant smile. “Come on then. Walk me out.”

Once we were outside, I didn’t realize that I was leading us to the path that I had found at the edge of the woods.

“We could drive you home,” I said, looking at the shadows that lurked a few feet beyond us. “You’re not going to make it home before it gets dark. It could be dangerous in there.” I stared at the ominous darkness that seeped toward us.

He laughed. It was a short quick burst that lit up his face. “You’re worried about
me
?”

“Yes.”

“I know this forest better than anyone. I’ll be home before full dark and I’ll be fine. I’m not Little Red Riding Hood, you know,” he grinned. His eyes gleamed with humor at some joke that he only knew.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He reached out and gently touched my cheek. “Good night, Nikki.” He turned and walked into the woods out of sight. The darkness enveloped him.

“‘Goodnight,” I whispered into the dark, empty stillness.

I walked back to the house and found Mom sitting in the living room. She grinned at me and tossed the cordless phone into my hand. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as I took the phone upstairs with me.

I flipped to the back of my binder where Brian had sketched his number in bold numbers with a big smiley face in place of the zeroes. I dialed and waited for him to pick up. It didn’t make it through the first ring when I heard him pick up.

“Well?” he demanded.

“Well, hello to you, too.”

“Hello. I’ve been waiting for forever. What happened?”

“We learned nouns.” I yawned into the phone, trying to sound bored.

“Oh.” He seemed mollified. “Well, when is he coming over again?”

“I don’t know, Brian. We didn’t get around to setting another one up. You called, so he went home and I called you back.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry at all. In fact, he seemed to like the idea that he had made Adam go home.

I grinned, trying to keep the amusement out of my voice, “Not a problem. So are you picking me up early again in the morning?”

“You bet. It’s your turn to drive again, you know.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” I groaned. “Listen, I’ll see you in the morning. I think I’m going to head to bed early tonight.”

He laughed. “Okay, good night, Nikki.”

“‘Night, Brian.”

As soon as I clicked the phone off, it rang. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me again,” Brian said. “I’m sorry, but I forgot to ask you something. There’s a group of us going to hike up on the Appalachian Trail this weekend, would you like to go with me?”

That
sounded like a date, I thought.

As if he had read my mind, he continued, “Just as friends, I promise.”

“Sure, it sounds like fun.”

“Okay, great.” There was a smile that came through the receiver in those words. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

The phone clicked off again. As I set it down, I wondered when the next call would come that ended up being a date. Even though he had promised to stay as friends, something told me that he wouldn’t want it to stay that way much longer.

I HAD A plan. I’d spent half the night thinking about it. If there was a group of us hiking, who was to say I couldn’t invite more people? There was only one person that I wanted to see.

“Hi, Adam.” I smiled, as he slid in the seat beside me. English class was almost ready to start, so I had to hurry.

“Hi,” he answered. He seemed preoccupied. This could be harder than I thought.

His long black hair was pulled back into a tight braid that ran down his back, leaving his face open. The lines of his jaw and cheekbones were more pronounced. So far, he seemed to be trying to ignore me, looking around everywhere but at me.

“So, there are some of us going on a hike up the Appalachian trail this weekend,” I began. I stopped when he turned and pinned me with his piercing eyes. I took a breath and went on, “I was wondering if you were going.”

His eyes never wavered from mine as I watched different emotions well beneath their surface. Then, his face became guarded again.

“It isn’t safe,” he said and turned away.

So much for my big plan, I thought, as Ms. Barker came in and started the class.

“Okay guys. You’ve had a couple days to get in your first study date. I want to see if you know the basics. We’re going to start at the beginning. I’m going to write a sentence on the board. I want a volunteer to tell me what the pronoun is.” she walked over and wrote on the chalkboard, then turned and asked, “Who wants to volunteer?”

No one spoke up; everyone’s eyes flitted back and forth, as if they hoped they wouldn’t be called on.

“Come on, people. It’s only a sentence. It won’t hurt you.”

I almost fell over when I felt a hand come up from beside me. I turned and looked at Adam, who gave me a small grin.

Let’s see if I learned anything
, a voice whispered in my head.

“Yes, Adam,” Ms. Barker said, “thank you for volunteering. What is the pronoun?” She pointed up to the black board where she had written
You should have studied
in bold letters.

“You,” he said quietly. “‘You’ is the pronoun.”

“Wonderful.”

As she turned back to her board, Adam whispered under his breath, “I guess I learned something yesterday evening.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.

At the end of class, he shocked me by reaching over and taking my books from me. He shrugged, smiling. “I’m heading towards the lockers, too. Let me take them.”