Intrinsical (33 page)

“
Yes, it is,” he answered over his shoulder vanishing behind a row of trees.

“
Letting him get away with it?” I tried to say but the words tangled in my throat.

“
It’s the safest—”

“
I don’t care about tha—”

“
I know you’ve got a lot of passion and courage, but you’re not using your head.”

I stopped dead in my tracks. “Really? Calling me stupid is your way to get me to agree with you?”

“
No, I’m just hoping you’ll stop for a moment and understand that I don’t want you to risk dying again. If he gets even the smallest inkling of you not trusting him, he’ll act.”

“
You really think he’s going to just leave me alone?”

“
No,” Brent finally admitted, yanking at his collar, trying to loosen it. “That doesn’t mean you should put yourself in harm’s way, though.”

“
Brent,” I started, trying to sound reasonable. “How can you expect me to just leave things? He’s going to keep coming after us and we’re going to have to keep fighting him off. Haven’t you heard the best defense is a good offense?”

“
Yara, please remember, for the last few months I’ve watched you die before my eyes every single night and I was powerless to do anything about it.” He laced his fingers together behind his head, his Adam’s apple wobbling as he cleared his throat. “Please don’t risk letting that happen again. You said you were willing to die for me,” Brent reminded me, his voice barely a whisper. “Why shouldn’t I be allowed to make the same sacrifice for you?”

“
The circumstances are totally different,” I argued. “I was already dead.”

“
So am I,” Brent threw back at me.

“
No, you’re just bodily challenged.”

Brent snickered for a second, his shoulders shaking. “Make it as PC as you want, but I’m dead. I will not let you do anything that would put you in danger.”

“
Is that so?” My eyebrows drew together and my eyes narrowed at him. “You can’t stop me.”

He held up his finger telling me to be quiet. “I’m warning you, if you try something stupid—”

“
Are you threatening me?” I asked, throwing my hands in the air. “If you think you can tell me what to do—”

He gave me a menacing look. “I
will
stop you by
any
means necessary.”

I collected my anger, hugging it tight to me, pretending it was gone. “You’re right,” I said opening my eyes wide, trying to appear and sound innocent. “It’s stupid of me to mess with this. I’ll let it go.”

“
Yeah right” Brent said, eyeing me suspiciously. “I don’t trust you for a second.”

“
What? Why?” I sputtered, my anger unfurling around me.

He rolled his eyes at my question like it wasn’t worth the air to answer it. “I don’t trust you because I know you.” Brent brought his fingers to his lips and shushed me. “Someone’s coming.”

The soft fall of footsteps drawing near to us had me holding my breath, my heart beating rapidly. The tension melted quickly when a vaguely familiar boy with strawberry blond hair and big gray eyes turned the corner. I was pretty sure I had a class with him, but I couldn’t remember which one.

“
Hey, Yara,” he said with a slight southern drawl. “You gave me start. I thought I was alone.”

“
Hey . . .” I trailed off lamely, not having any idea of his name.

His cheeks grew two red spots. “Dallin.”

“
Right, Dallin,” I gushed, hoping my enthusiasm would make up for my name ignorance.

He dropped his gaze to study his shoes. “We have Calculus together.”

“
Oh right. How did you do on that test?”

“
I failed it.” He sighed. “Rumor has it you got the highest grade.”

I nodded, kicking the dirt. “Yeah.”

Dallin took off the school uniform’s pullover sweater and tossed it over his arm. Brent sighed in envy.

“
I was actually hoping you might be willing to tutor me.”

“
Oh man, this is painful to watch.” Brent broke out in laughter. “You do realize he’s trying to ask you out, right?”

I glared at Brent before answering. “Sure.”

“
You better warn him about your habit of using that book as a weapon,” Brent said.

“
Only on you,” I said under my breath.

“
Only me what?” Dallin asked, not catching all of my words.

“
I don’t usually tutor people but I’ll make an exception only for you,” I lied easily.

Brent openly gaped at me. “Do you have any idea how that just sounded?”

Dallin drew himself up taller. “Great. Maybe tomorrow, right after school?”

“
Sure? In the commons building?”

“
Yep,” he said. He took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out. “Are you seeing Brent?”

I coughed back a laugh but my eyes still danced as I looked at Brent. “Not in the way you’re thinking.”

“
I figured,” Dallin said. “You know, with him not into the long term dating thing.”

“
Really?” My eyebrows raised under my bangs.

Brent’s face had gone pale and he was shaking his head furiously. A strong wind picked up and lifted the russet colored curls off Dallin’s face. “Yeah, something of a reputation.”

“
Huh.”

“
Anyway, since you aren’t dating him, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the homecoming dance next weekend.”

My eyeballs threatened to pop from their sockets. “Sure.”

The air started whipping around us, lifting leaves and pebbles that were directed at Dallin, pelting him. My skirt and hair waved in the gusts and I shielded my eyes as small rock a bounced off of Dallin and flew toward me.

“
Great.” Dallin smiled broadly, lifting his forearm to protect his face. “I better go. See you in math.”

As Dallin got further away from me, the air settled to a soft breeze that whispered along my skin. Rocks, leaves, and twigs dropped to the ground, and I sneezed as the excess dust tickled

my nose.

“
He just asked you out right in front of me,” Brent complained.

I bit my tongue until it hurt, trying to stay the laughter threatening to stampede out of my mouth. Finally I said, “You do know he couldn’t see you, right?”

Brent scowled. “Yeah, but how did he know I wasn’t planning on asking you?”

“
It sounds like your reputation preceded you,” I said, my bitterness drizzling over my words. I drew circles in the dirt with the toe of my shoe.

“
I never liked Dallin.” Brent ground his teeth together while levitating a rock in front of him.

“
So, no comment on him saying you get around, huh?”

Brent rubbed the back of his neck, and his lips moved but no sound came out, like he was practicing a speech. “I plead the fifth.” He tried to smile but it didn’t quite work.

My heart seemed to shatter into a thousand pieces in my chest. The broken shards punctured my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. I swallowed hard, the fragments of my heart dusting my toes.

“
Oh . . .” I tried to play it off like it didn’t matter that I was just another bee in his swarm of girls. Every interaction we had shared changed in my mind, now seeming less significant.

Turning a little unsteadily, pretending to get a closer look at the orange trees, I grabbed onto a branch for support from the emotional below the belt blow, peeling off a piece of loose bark. I rested my head against the tree and inhaled the citrusy scent of the blossoms. I rubbed the rough bark between my fingers absentmindedly. A chipmunk scampered along the ground further into the groves and I wanted to join him in his retreat. The life of a chipmunk suddenly seemed oddly enticing.

“
Are you okay?” Brent asked, circling around so he could see me.

I forced a bright smile on my face. “Yep.”

“
About what he said . . .” Brent started, looking into the groves.

“
Nothing I didn’t already guess.” I laughed, pulling a leaf off the tree and twirling it between my fingers.

“
Oh,” Brent said, hurt clouding his eyes, turning then more amber then brown.

An uncomfortable silence separated us as solidly as a brick wall.

“
So about my plan . . .” I started.

“
There is no plan. Let’s get this straight, Yara. I. Forbid. You. To. Do. Anything.” Fury blazed in Brent’s eyes and I almost cowered at its intensity. “Promise me.”

As grade school as it may have been, I crossed my fingers behind my back and promised, “I won’t do anything dangerous or stupid.”

****

That evening when Cherie walked into our room I almost pounced on her. “Come on, we’re hiking to the nearest bus stop, we’re going to town.”

“
Sounds fun,” she responded with a smile. “Why?”

I cast a nervous look around our room. “Can’t talk to you about it here.”

Cherie was a far more trusting soul than I was and she simply shrugged, grabbed her wallet, and strolled into the hallway, telling me to lead the way. We cut through the groves, shaving off a half-mile, until we found the nearest bus stop. Cherie had this escape route drawn up before we ever stepped onto campus in the fall. I didn’t tell her anything until we were sitting in front of the old world inspired fountain by the movie theater at the outdoor mall, drinking our fruit smoothies.

“
So I got my memory back today,” I confessed, gnawing on the end of my straw.

She wheeled toward me, putting her smoothie down on the stone ledge. “It must be something major for you to tell me here,” she commented, her eyebrows arching.

I nodded, grasping the Styrofoam cup tightly. “Yeah.” I bit my lip, trying to figure out the best way to start, and decided just to dive right in. I confided in her about Brent’s ability to astral project, and then filled her in on everything∫from the party, to my death, coming back to life and concluded with my conversation with Brent today. By the time I had finished, Cherie had kicked off her shoes and was lying face up on the lip of the fountain, her hands tucked in the small of her back, her ankles crossed, and her mouth gaping open.

“
I can’t wrap my mind around this. You died?” She questioned numbly.

“
Yeah, but you saved me. I’ve always loved your perfume.” I sat with my legs crossed, making sure my skirt hung over my knees.

“
Brent’s dead? Someone else is walking around in his body?” Cherie shuddered. “I can’t even stand letting people borrow my socks.” Cherie was silent for a minute, letting everything digest.

“
So they can’t get us here . . . off campus.” I shook my head. “You think that he’s collecting souls or whatever so he can be strong enough to leave?”

I lifted my shoulders. “That’s my best guess.”

“
So what’s your plan?” She asked.

“
I’m not exactly sure.”

“
Well, I have some ideas.” She pulled her hands out from under the small of her back and angled her head so she could observe the people milling around the various stores. “We need to get some of that licorice stuff. I’m guessing it’s not like the candy we get from the store?”

“
The stuff Thomas gave me was a purple powder. It probably has some other stuff mixed in.” The pounding of the fountain filled in the calculated silence we had both fallen into. “I can probably get what we need from my sister. And Vovó would know where to get a recipe.”

The door of the ice-cream store swung open, letting out the sound of the happy jingle its employees sang each time they received a tip. Some girls from our old school walked out, carrying their frozen treats. Cherie turned her head and I let my hair veil my face, both of us hiding from our former peers. I wasn’t up to making small talk with people I didn’t really care about.

“
Yeah,” Cherie continued once the girls had passed. “Call in the reinforcements; we’re seriously outclassed right now. Too bad we can’t get Brent’s help, since he’s determined to keep you safe. No worries though. We can work around him.” Cherie was always good at making plans and I could see the gleam in her eye letting me know she had already started to formulate one. “You’ll have to call your sister from here so we can talk without being overheard. We can use the computers at the coffee place to email your grandma. Why is she in another country right now?” Cherie asked rhetorically with a sigh. “Let’s go visit our old friends over there and see if we can use their phones.” She gave a little wave to the girls. “By the way, I think this week Steve and I are going to have a huge fight.”