Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) (11 page)

“How much do you know?” I asked, voicing my thoughts
out loud.

“That you were with the people who set the fire on Elm.
And since you won’t tell the police who did it, you were arrested and have to
do community service.”

“No one really knows for sure who you’re covering for,
but most of us can guess,” Lily said, avoiding my eyes, picking at the ivory
duvet under her.

“So, are you going to tell us who did it?” Allison
narrowed her eyes at me.

I stood up, feeling restless and began to wander
around Lauren’s room, looking at the pictures on her dresser. “I can’t. If I
tell you, they could put you through the same thing I’m going through. First my
tires got slashed and now this.” I picked up a picture of Lauren and a boy that
was about eight. He must have been her brother, but there was something about
him. His hair was blond, a shade lighter than Lauren’s, but while Lauren’s eyes
were hazel, his were a piercing blue. There was something about those eyes that
were so familiar. It was strange since I had never seen her brother before. I
held the photo up close, trying to figure out what it was that I recognized
about him.

“Megan,” Lauren called sharply.

“What,” I asked, startled, dropping the picture back
onto the dresser with a
thud
.

“Uh…come on; forget about the fire and what happened
tonight. Let’s watch a movie. I’ll make popcorn and we can watch something
scary and squeal like little girls.”

“That sounds fun.” Forgetting the picture, I grew
excited about the evening. It had been so long since I spent time with real
friends.

“Do you do this with Mandy and Jenny?” Lily asked once
we had all settled onto the sofa with the popcorn between us and a plush duvet
covering our laps.

I leaned back against the cushions, stretching my feet
on the coffee table next to Lauren’s. “With Mandy, yeah. But Jenny isn’t really
the slumber party type.”

“I never understood why you hung out with her. She’s
kind of a witch,” Lauren remarked as she reached her hand inside the bowl, pulling
out a handful of heavily buttered popcorn. Her fingers were greasy as she
popped the popcorn into her mouth.

We all laughed. Even though I didn’t know Lauren all
that well, I knew she was usually more impartial when it came to others. She
didn’t judge people for their actions or their circumstances. Apparently even
saintly Lauren had her limits when it came to Jenny.

“I’ve been friends with Mandy for a long time and for
some reason she likes Jenny, so I tolerated her for Mandy’s sake. But now that
doesn’t matter. I don’t think any of them were ever truly my friend.” It was
obvious that their curiosity was piqued, but since I didn’t elaborate, none of
my new friends pushed any further.

“Oh hey, do you want to go to Manic with us tomorrow
night?” Lauren asked, opening her can of soda. Bubbles foamed up on top of the
can.

“What’s Manic?”

She took a sip of her drink and swallowed before
answering. “It’s a club in Montaview Heights. It’s so awesome. It’s where all
of the high school bands play. I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it.”
Lauren stared at me in surprise.

“Lauren, she’s not like you. No offense,” Allison
added with a quick glance in my direction. “I doubt any of her crowd would step
foot in Montaview.” She rolled her soft blue eyes.

Lauren gazed down at her legs, picking at her jean
skirt with her free hand, suddenly uncomfortable. “Ally,” she warned.

“No, it’s okay, she’s right. I let my friends dictate
what I did and who I hung out with. Not because I agreed with them, just
because I didn’t know any better.” I glanced at Allison and Lily, a warm smile
playing at my lips. “I’m sorry.”

Lily grinned. “You’re forgiven. I’ve always known you
weren’t evil like Jenny. You might not have spoken to me, but at least you
smiled.” I was beginning to realize that Lily wasn’t one to hold a grudge. Her
bubbly attitude was almost contagious. “So are you coming tomorrow night or
what?”

I thought about it. I had never been to Montaview
Heights. Not quite in the east side, which was where most of the people who
were underprivileged lived and where Eddie grew up. It was more in the
middle-class area, where people made a comfortable living, but weren’t rich. I
remembered Mona’s words when she said I needed to branch out and get to know
normal people and stay away from my old friends. “I’m in,” I answered, suddenly
excited.

Lauren and Lily squealed. “You’re going to love it,”
Lauren said, grabbing my leg and squeezing it. I glanced at Allison, expecting
her to be scowling, but she just nodded her head with a slight smile.

“Are we going to watch this horribly revolting movie
or not?” Lily asked, stealing the remote from Lauren. We all agreed and turned
our attention to TV.

The movie was terrifying and probably not the right
choice after what I had been through on my drive here. By the time it was over
there was no way I was driving home alone. I called Mona to tell her that
Lauren had asked me to stay the night. Then I lay down on the couch with a
blanket and pillow, while the other three shared Lauren’s oversized bed. I could
hear the faint whispers and occasional laughter, but since it had been such a
long night, I fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke some time later to the sounds of whispering in
the hallway. I was sure I heard my name, but was too tired to get up and see who
it was. Light poured into the room as the door creaked open. I could hear light
footsteps heading to Lauren’s bed and another set that stopped beside me. Was I
dreaming or was someone watching me as I slept? I felt a presence next to me for
a few seconds and then heard footsteps leading away. The door shut softly,
leaving only the sound of breathing coming from the girls in the bed behind me.
I opened my eyes and saw the shadow of feet walking away from under the crack
of the door. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to forget the feeling of being
watched.

The smell of popcorn drifted into my nose when I woke
the next morning. I opened my eyes to see the bowl sitting on the table in
front of me where we had left it the night before. Dust motes floated in the
strip of light that escaped through Lauren’s red silk curtains. I lifted my
hand and waved it through the light, stopping the beam in my palm.

There was the sound of a gurgle behind me. I sat up
and looked over at the canopy bed. Lauren, who was in the middle, was lying on
her back. Her head was tilted slightly, mouth wide open and a strange gurgling
snore erupted from her. I laughed softly. She didn’t look like the snoring
type.

Lily was lying facing her, curled up against her
shoulder, leaving about two feet of open space behind her. Allison, lay on the
other side, huddled right up to the edge of the bed. If she moved even a
sliver, she would tumble to the floor. Her lips were moving but if she was
saying anything, I couldn’t hear her. As much as I could have sat and laughed
at them all morning, I needed to get to the shelter. I felt guilty about
ditching community service last night, so I wanted to go today. But first I
needed stop at home for a quick shower.

I moved around the room quietly, folding the blanket
and pulling my jeans on. With a quick look in the mirror above Lauren’s dresser
and seeing that my hair was somewhat tame, I snuck out the door.

I was tiptoeing down the stairs when I saw someone
coming out of a room at the end of the hall. He turned around and I saw Nate
staring at me with surprise. He was dressed casually, wearing a white T-shirt
and jeans. His sun streaked hair falling over his forehead.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, taking the last
few steps to the bottom. The smell of pine drifted around us.

“Mr. Riley asked me to come over this morning to talk
about the shelter. Why are you here?”

I repressed the urge to hold back, still hurt and
angry at him. “I came over to hang out with Lauren and her friends.”

“Why didn’t you come to the shelter last night?”

I tried to look indifferent, which wasn’t easy with
him standing in front of me. “I didn’t feel like it. I have to go.” I stepped
around him, heading to the entrance.

“Megan,” he called after I opened the door. Rain from
outside blew in my face.

“What?” I stopped, but didn’t turn around.

“Are you all right?” His voice was so tender and soft.
He seemed so genuinely concerned. I wanted to jump in his arms and tell him all
the gory details of my dramatic drive over here. And yet, I couldn’t. If I did
he would be sweet, caring and helpful and when I was just about to be
comfortable with our new friendship, he would pull away.

“I’m fine, now I need to go.” Before I gave in to my
urges.

“Mr. Riley told me there was some kind of problem on
your way here.”

I turned my head slightly wondering how Laurens father
had known. He wasn’t here the whole time we were up. “It’s not your concern.
You’ve made it clear that you don’t socialize, so there is no need to trouble
yourself.” I walked out and ran to my car. I didn’t know why I was so upset.
He’d never made me any promises, but I had let myself believe that he liked me
and I couldn’t take his rejection again.

The ride home was wet. The rain must have started in
the night. At some point I had to turn the wipers on full blast, but no one
followed me, so it was a step up from the drive over.

Manic

I met Julia in the shelter parking lot, noticing that
Nate had arrived already, but of course, I wasn’t surprised. “Do you need some
help?” she asked, opening her umbrella and holding it over both of us.

“No thanks, I got it.” I picked up the two loaded bags
that I had packed when I went home to shower and change. We walked quickly
together into the back door, out of the rain.

Instead of the usual clanging sounds of the pots and
pans, the buzz of the blender floated out from the kitchen.

“So, where have you been the last few days?” Julia
asked as she hung up her rain coat and then took mine to hang it up next to
hers.

“Oh, I’ve been busy. But I brought DVDs for the kids
to make up for it.”

She glanced inside, fingering a few of the movies.
“Oh, they’ll love it. Thanks, Megan.”

We stepped into the kitchen where Nate and Theresa,
Natalie’s mother, were blending what looked like fruit smoothies. I said hello
to Theresa, but ignored Nate before he could ignore me.

I followed Julia out to her work space. “So what do
you need me to do?” I leaned my arm on her desk and picked up a picture that
must be of her family. She sat in the middle with three kids ranging in ages
from five to fifteen. A man with red hair stood behind her with his arms on her
shoulders.

She took the picture from my hand, placing it back on
the desk. “Uh-uh, you know you need to ask Nate. I don’t know why you’re
ignoring him, but you’re just going to have to suck it up. He’s your
supervisor.” She yanked the bags from my hand. “I’ll hand these out, you go
make nice.” She gestured with her head in the direction of the kitchen.

“But he’s the one who has a problem with me,” I
whined.

She held her hand up. “No, I don’t want to hear it.
Go.”

I stomped my foot. “Fine,” I huffed, storming off back
into the kitchen, knowing I was acting like a child. “So what needs to be
done?” I asked, not looking at anyone in particular.

“Eddie’s cleaning the dining room and Patti’s cleaning
the bedrooms, so you can either clean the bathrooms again, or help me make
lunch,” Nate answered as he unloaded burgers and hotdogs out of the fridge.
Theresa was chopping lettuce and trying to look uninterested in our conversation.

It was obvious what job I was going to pick. I wanted
to be around him as much as possible. And even though the last time wasn’t as
bad as I thought, cleaning the men’s urinals gave me nightmares for days. “I’ll
clean the bathrooms,” I said, surprising myself. I turned around before he
could respond and headed to the supply closet.

“What the heck did they eat last night,
beans
?”
I grumbled to myself as I sprayed about a bottle and a half of air freshener in
the men’s bathroom. After I closed the door behind me I let out the breath I’d
been holding.

“Hey, Megan, where’ve you been?” Natalie asked as she
made her way down the long hall towards me. She was wearing one of my vintage
off-the-shoulder tops.

“Oh, just some personal issues. What have you been up
to?” I moved the cleaner caddy from my right hand to my left, so I could brush
hair out of my eyes.

“Packing. Mom got a job at Riley’s Department Store
and our apartment is finally ready.”

“That’s awesome.” I gave her a one-handed hug. My
heart swelled with happiness for them. “You’re going to come back and see us,
aren’t you?”

“Yes. Part of the deal of staying here is helping out
when you can, even after you leave. But I’m okay with that, I’ll really miss
everybody. Want to help me pack?”

“Sure, just let me stash the cleaning supplies and
I’ll meet you in there.”

About an hour later I found my way back downstairs to
help with lunch. “Where’ve you been? I needed your help.” Nate scowled at me as
soon as I stepped into the kitchen.

“I was helping Natalie pack.” I rolled my eyes. “All
you had to do was come up and ask.”

His face unclenched a little. “I’m sorry, but I was a
little shorthanded this morning and after you didn’t show up last night I
thought you weren’t taking this seriously.”

“I didn’t show up last night because of your atti—”

“Nate, where do you want this?” Mia asked,
interrupting me. She stood behind him holding a tray filled with condiments.

He glared at me for a few seconds and then slowly
turned towards Mia. “Out in the dining room. Megan, go help serve,” he ordered,
still facing Mia.

I did what I was told, taking the empty spot in the
middle between Eddie and a new guy, who smelled of mothballs.

When it was time to leave at the end of the day, Nate
stopped me just as I was about to pull out of the parking lot.

“I’m going to follow you home,” he stated as he headed
for his car.

However, I no longer wanted his help. “No thanks, I’m
fine.” He didn’t have a chance to argue before I spun out of the lot. I laughed
to myself at the small victory. I knew I was being petty, but I just didn’t
care.

I was singing along to the radio when I noticed
headlights shine in my rearview mirror. Icy claws of fear gripped ahold of me
and my heart sped up at the idea of Shane in his SUV following me again. I
relaxed a little when I noticed the lights were lower to the ground and the car
kept a safe distance. However, by the third turn and they were still there, I
knew who it was.

I pulled into my driveway extremely ticked off. “Do
you not understand the words ‘I don’t need your help’?” I yelled before Nate
even got out of his car. I was standing against mine waiting, arms folded in
front of me.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” He slammed
his door in frustration.

“Why do you care?” I shouted at him. “You’re nice one
minute and a total ass the next. I don’t know how to take you. So I’m done. I’m
giving up trying with you. If you can’t have a friendship with me without
blowing me off every other day, I definitely don’t want your help.”

He took a deep breath, glancing away from me in the
direction of the woods that bordered our yard. “I’m sorry if I’ve been giving
you mixed messages. It’s not that I don’t want to be around you… it’s just that
I shouldn’t.”

“What does that mean?” I wasn’t sure why I was
yelling, but it felt good.

“Will you tell me what happened last night?” he asked,
ignoring
my
question.

I sighed, giving up and began to replay the events of
the night before in detail. When I finished, he leaned against my car beside
me. His hand brushed mine, but I refused to read anything into it. “Let’s agree
to call a truce. I won’t be an ass and you will let me help you when it’s
needed, okay?”

Nowhere in the compromise was anything about being
more than friends. But I decided it didn’t have to be, as long as I could be
near him. “All right, you can help me. Does that mean I can eat lunch with
you?”

He frowned, a crease forming between his eyes, but the
look quickly faded as he smiled. “That’s fine,” he said eventually, even though
I could tell it wasn’t.

With the agreement made, an awkward silence fell over
us that only ended when he made an excuse to leave, muttering something about
paperwork.

Lauren pulled into my driveway just as I was finished
getting ready for our night out.

“Don’t we need ID?” I asked once I was seated in the
back seat beside Lily, inside Lauren’s compact car.

Lauren pulled out and headed in the direction of
Montaview Heights. Even though I’d never been there, I knew the way. It was a
twenty-minute drive. Nate had told me not to go with Lauren when he asked me my
plans earlier. At first I was shocked at his attitude. He didn’t want to be
with me, but had no problem telling me what to do. After the last two weeks I
had come to expect it. I might have implied that I would do what he said. As
soon as he left though, I changed into my denim miniskirt and black halter top.
I straightened my hair and pulled it up at the sides, leaving some of my bangs
hanging in my eyes, to which I had added black eye liner. I looked in the
mirror, happy with my reflection. I looked dangerous. Since I was going to a
part of town that I was unfamiliar with, I needed to look the part.

“No, I know the bouncer. As long as you flash him
something and you’re with me, you’re good.” Allison answered, bringing me back
to the present. I watched her take out her makeup mirror to touch up her
lipstick. The dark purple made her already pale skin almost glow. Her raven
hair, blue eyes and light complexion made her appear mysterious. The short
black lacy dress she wore only added to the look.

“I heard what you did at the shelter, Megan.”

“What did she do?” Allison’s head spun around to look
at Lily.

“She gave away a bunch of new designer clothes to the
girls there. It was a cool thing to do.” Lily gave me an approving smile. I
glanced out the window, uncomfortable with her praise.

“You bought them new clothes?” Allison asked.

“No, my mother gives me clothes instead of attention,
so I put them to good use, since I never wear them.” I continued to gaze out
the window to avoid the looks of pity they might give me. But when I glanced
into the rearview mirror that’s not what I saw. Lauren was peering at me with knowing
smile. I had no idea what it meant, but before I could ask, Lily shrieked, “Oh
my God, I love this song.” She bent over the seats, reaching to turn up the
radio. The song that rang out of the speakers promised that we’d have a good
night. It was the perfect song to start our evening.

Allison turned around in her seat, leaning over the
headrest to stare at me, her lips turned upward into an almost smile.

“What?” I asked, after she sat silently for a few
seconds.

“Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“Have you finally done what no other girl in the last
three years has been able to do?”

“Is she talking in riddles?” I asked, glancing from
Lily to Lauren. They both laughed, but Allison ignored us.

She smirked at me and tilted her head. “You are,
aren’t you?” I shrugged my shoulders and gave her a look of complete confusion.
“You’re dating Nate Green?”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It was such a big deal
in our school. His name was whispered in locker rooms and in most of the girls’
bedrooms. Since he kept to himself and rarely spoke to anyone, he was a mystery
to them. Now that I’d been seen with him, so was I. “Are you serious?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Come on, don’t lie. I’ve
seen you with him. You must be dating.”

“Maybe he’s tutoring me. Did you think of that?”

“It’s a possibility. Except you’re rich and everyone
knows he wouldn’t help you. Besides as far as I know you’re passing all your
classes. So come on, spill it.”

I smiled, wishing I could keep silent. I loved being
linked to the mysterious handsome loner. There were so many crazy stories made
up about him and I wondered if there were any about me yet. But I couldn’t hold
my tongue just to appear mysterious. I wanted these three girls to be my
friends since I was suddenly without any. All eyes were on me. Lily was as
close to me as she could get without sitting on my lap and Lauren was glancing
between me and the road. “No, we’re not dating.”

Three disappointed expressions stared back at me.
Since they couldn’t date him themselves, they’d settle for someone they knew,
as long as they could get a look into his life.

“Then why are you hanging out?” Lily asked, picking up
her purse and looking through it.

“First of all, we’re not hanging out. He’s protecting
me from the people that slashed my tires and I’m volunteering at Riley House.
He works there.”

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Allison mumbled, turning
around to face the front again. “I thought I’d finally get to hear about the
infamous Nate Green.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but he’s told me many times he
doesn’t date, or socialize.”

“I bet you can change that. You just have to try
harder.” Lauren spoke for the first time since I’d gotten in the car.

I looked at her. She was turning on to Kendal Avenue,
the road that led to Montaview Heights. “Yeah, Lauren, you said that before,
but I tried and he turned me down flat.”

“Just keep trying.”

I sighed, tired of her cryptic words. “That’s easy for
you to say, you’re not the one he keeps turning down. There’s only so much
rejection I can take.” She only shrugged her shoulders and shifted her eyes
back to the road ahead.

She stopped at a stop sign and I was pretty sure we
were almost there. We were no longer in the middle-class neighborhood of
Montaview. The houses were smaller here and there seemed to be more garbage on
the lawns. I noticed guys in jeans and leather jackets loitering outside of
houses and businesses. They were staring at cars and people as they went by.
Occasionally, they’d whistle or yell at girls walking along the sidewalk.