Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One (7 page)

Homecoming

After school, Isaac and
Phoebe begged another ride to their mom’s shop from Ruthie, and once again, I found myself smashed up next to Isaac in the backseat.

Ruthie decided to drop me off first. As we pulled into my driveway, I noticed Dad’s truck was missing, and I remembered that he would be working late a lot this week.

Phoebe stepped out and helped to extract me from the backseat. With surprising strength, she whisked me out and onto the driveway.

“Geez! You guys are turning my cute car into a sideshow!” Ruthie declared.

“It’s like a clown car.” I chuckled.

We were still cracking clown jokes as I pulled out my backpack. Suddenly, Phoebe and Isaac froze and gave each other one of their twin looks.

“Oh for pork’s sake, what’s wrong now?” exclaimed Ruthie impatiently. She glanced at her car clock, obviously worried about getting home on time. I knew she didn’t want to risk the sweet deal she had with her parents, who were threatening to take her car away if she didn’t get home on time.

“Tru, can I use your bathroom before I go?” asked Phoebe. “I hate using the restroom at the store.”

“Seriously?” complained Ruthie.

“Uh…sure,” I said, grateful that Dad and I had cleaned over the weekend.

As we walked through the front door, we heard Isaac say, “I don’t think I can take this car anymore.”

I looked back to see him shimmying out of the car and grabbing for the backpacks.

“Phew!” he huffed. “I think I’d prefer to walk. We’ll hoof it the rest of the way, Ruthie, and you can get home in time.”

I looked at Phoebe. “You okay with walking the rest of the way?” I asked, continuing inside.

She waved away my concern. “We hike all the time. Not a big deal.” She glanced around the living room, her nostrils flaring. I could have sworn she was sniffing the air. She noticed my bewilderment.

“So…nice place! Smells good in here. Is that the kitchen?” She walked ahead of me. I was trying to smell something, but it just smelled like “vacant house” to me. I made a mental note to buy some room spray.

Make yourself right at home
, I thought, following her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the backyard.

“Hey! Someone’s in the backyard.” My heart racing, I rushed over to the kitchen window.

“Oh, that’s just Isaac,” Phoebe said. “He’s probably checking out your yard.”

What the heck? I was starting to feel a little invaded by the twins.

“What’s he doing out there?” I headed to the back door. Phoebe tried to head me off. This was getting too weird, and I quickly moved around her and out the door.

“Isaac!” I yelled, exasperated. “What are you doing?”

He whirled around, startled. He flashed a smile.

“Man! You caught me! I was going to surprise Phoebe when she walked by,” he explained. “I love to mess with her!”

“Yeah,” she shot back. “Nice try, brother!”

Isaac’s lips tightened as he glanced around. I looked, too. Our backyard wasn’t very pretty these days.

“How can you stand such close neighbors?” complained Isaac, looking toward the back fence.

“What? Who doesn’t have neighbors? Anyway, it’s not like you get to pick them,” I said.

“Actually,” inserted Phoebe, “we live way out in the woods for that very reason. We’re surrounded by trees and—no neighbors.”

“Really? That sounds pretty cool. But doesn’t it get creepy with all the fog we get?” I wasn’t sure if I’d like it in the woods on a foggy day, which we had in abundance this close to the coast, but otherwise, the privacy would be refreshing. One of our neighbors had a live mariachi band playing at least once a month. Enough said.

“Nah,” denied Isaac. “We love it out there. Lots of space to run around…”

“Yeah, I bet capture the flag would be awesome at your place!” I agreed.

“Absolutely! You should come out there some time,” he said. Phoebe was looking at the house and I remembered that she needed to use the restroom.

“Oh, Phoebe. Bathroom is at the end of the hall. Can’t miss it.”

“What?” she said. “Oh yeah, thanks.” She headed back into the house.

Isaac and I sat down at the patio table to wait. He overwhelmed our small patio table. It was a wonder he could even fit in the chair.

“So, why aren’t you playing football this year?” I asked. His sheer size would be an asset to the team.

He frowned. “Believe it or not, my parents won’t let me.”

“Are you serious? Why?”

“Um, they’re afraid I’m going to break something?” He looked amused now.

That sent me into a laughing fit. “Wow. And I thought my parents were overprotective! That’s just ridiculous.”

“I know. It’s pretty annoying sometimes.” He smiled down at me, and I blushed at the warmth in his brown eyes.

“Speaking of football,” he continued, “I can’t believe Homecoming is coming up already.”

“Oh, yeah. Bizarre, huh?” Where was this going? Alarm bells were going off. Was he going to ask me out? Part of me wanted him to ask me. I had never gone to Homecoming, and it would go a long way to reviving me from my zombie reputation, especially if I went with him. I imagined him in a tux, and it was mouth-watering. Still, when I looked deep down in that secret place, I couldn’t help but imagine another boy in a tux.

Isaac fidgeted with his leather bracelet before looking back at me.

“I guess it’s still early, but, uh, are you going with anyone yet?” he said.

“No.” My heart was pounding.

He smiled that dental commercial smile again. I remembered his milky kiss. “How about coming with me, then?”

“Okay,” I said, lost in the brilliance of the moment. I was giddy. Someone asked me to Homecoming—on the second week of school! I couldn’t wait to tell Ruthie.

“Awesome!” He wrapped his hand in mine, a wide smile splitting his face. He leaned in closer.

All I could think was
Wait just a minute! What’s happening?
But then he suddenly pulled back with a slight scowl. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, guess I should get going, then.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder.

“What about Phoebe?” I asked. But before I even finished my question, she was stepping out the back door, as if on cue.

“Yeah, we’ll just head out your side gate, Tru.” Phoebe took off with Isaac, and I just waved good-bye, absently.

Making eye contact one last time, a new eagerness in his gaze, Isaac dipped his head in good-bye. “See you at lunch tomorrow!”

Then they were gone. It felt—I don’t know—a little orchestrated. But I smiled at my silliness. Isaac was so sweet. Why did I feel slightly ill?

I looked around our backyard again. There was just a small patch of grass next to Mom’s garden. Dad was barely keeping it alive. I wondered how long it would last. Mom had been raised in the farming belt of California. Even though the coastal town of Scotts Valley was wooded and covered in fog so much, she still managed to produce a flourishing garden. Dad had planted one this summer in her memory. By some miracle, the tomatoes were still growing. I walked closer to pick some of the ripe ones. That’s when I noticed the footprints—from a dog, I thought. But, they were huge! I followed them around the dirt. They were all over the backyard. Although it seemed ages ago, I recalled the wolf I’d seen on the way to school. What was going on? Shivering, I hurried into the house and locked the doors.

That night I finally dreamed about my mom. Dad and Uncle Ira were in it, too. It had that nostalgic quality, like a filter on a camera lens.

Uncle Ira sat on the couch, in my living room. Only all the furniture was the old stuff we got rid of years and years ago. He looked sad, but my parents gazed at a little three-year-old who was hugging Uncle Ira’s leg, fiercely. They were enraptured.

I was viewing the scene from a distance, but I knew the little kid was me—I had photos. I must have been about three years old. Mom seemed to be coaxing the girl toward her.

“Come here, honey. We’re going to be great friends.” She had that sweet schoolteacher voice going. All the kids had loved her as their teacher. And the voice worked on the child, who finally relinquished her anchor and let Mom pull her into her lap. Little me gazed up at her, tears still in her eyes.

“My, you look just like my baby pictures, don’t you,” Mom said with wonder.

“That’s what Caroline always said. She really wanted you two to meet,” said Uncle Ira. “But, well, there never seemed to be a good time.”

Now Mom started tearing up. “Oh, Caroline! What were you up to?” She hugged the kid to her chest gently, and the kid squeezed back.

Then everything went blurry before clearing up again.

It was dark and wet. A sour-faced teenager was waiting outside a house.
I knew why she was mad.
She’d snuck out to go to a party and her parents found out. Her mom had called to say she was on her way to pick her up. The party had just started, and the girl had argued with her about staying longer and catching a ride back with friends. But she’d been ordered to wait for her mother in the front of the house, on the sidewalk, and the girl was still fuming. All her friends had given her sympathetic looks as she muttered that she had to go.

Her mother’s car pulled up and she got in, slamming the door.

Again, I was watching from afar, and I cringed inside. I turned away from the girl’s bratty behavior, appalled, because I remembered this very night, the last night I saw my mother alive.

“Thanks a lot,” the girl said, folding her arms across her chest.

My gaze was on another car as I listened uncomfortably to the petulant voice.

Another car hummed at a distance from Mom’s, its lights off. A woman sat behind the wheel, watching the teenager and her mother. She was familiar, but I couldn’t place her. I saw her face as she listened to the girl—don’t ask me how I knew she could hear from so far away, I just did. The woman’s chin came down, her eyes narrowing, eyebrows drawn together in a menacing scowl. It was frightening. There was a growling sound, but I couldn’t figure out where it came from. Both cars were heading down the street, and my senses floated above them. I was there in thought, but had no corporeal form. I recognized that this was a dream, yet it felt too real for me to watch without dreading the next few moments, knowing what was ahead, my heart pounding in sick anticipation.

Mom’s car pulled up across the street from a newspaper machine. The news was old, but my mother was collecting newspapers for the class she was teaching tomorrow. Although she had long since stopped working in order to take care of me, she occasionally subbed for other teachers in the school district. I remembered that she was teaching sixth graders that week, and she was bringing newspapers for her unit on writing eyewitness articles.

She had no idea that she would be in them the next day.

A painful sob woke me. It was my sob. Here I was again, waking up crying. I prayed that I hadn’t woken Dad. My door was still closed and I heard no sounds outside my door.
Thank you, God
, I thought.

It was awhile before I fell asleep again; I kept seeing the strange woman’s scowl and the deadly look in her eyes. But when I finally did sleep, it was dreamless.

Minions

“
So, throw me a
bone, would you?” pleaded Ruthie. She was asking about Isaac, and about what had happened when she’d dropped me off after school yesterday. It was fun making her wait. She got so worked up. But I couldn’t keep her in suspense any longer. The thing was, I just couldn’t work up the excitement I had felt yesterday when Isaac asked me to the dance. Today, it was overshadowed by a sense of apprehension. I didn’t understand it. Part of me wondered if I should have said no.

“Well, what if I said nothing happened?” I dragged it out a little longer.

Ruthie finally relented. “Well, I guess I read the situation differently,” she mused. We were driving to school, and cutting it close to bell time. “My skills are seriously slacking. I could have sworn I saw some
situation manipulation
happening there in the backseat. Plus that whole kissing chase the other day. I mean, geez! And what was up with you two in the backseat, anyway? He’s been hitting on you for days!”

“What?” Should I have figured that out? I wondered. “I thought Phoebe called
shotgun
again?”

“Oh, please! Shotgun? The guy’s as big as Sasquatch! Phoebe would not have made him sit in the back if he didn’t
want
to.”

So much for being the smart kid in class. I sighed. “Well, what if I said your skills are right on?”

We were just pulling into the school parking lot. Ruthie gasped and whipped into a parking place so quickly I braced myself for impact.
Note to self: Don’t surprise Ruthie while she’s driving!

“What the freak is wrong with you!” she practically screamed at me, but with no real anger. She smiled smugly. “I knew it. Come on, give up the goods. Right now, or I’ll keep you here until you do.” The door locks clicked. I rolled my eyes. She was so over the top sometimes!

“Okay, okay. He asked me to Homecoming.” The words rushed out of my mouth. “And I said yes. Now can we get to class? I don’t want to be late!”

“Homecoming? Wow, that boy works fast. I should have seen it coming. I mean, dang, girl, you are fine this year, and the wolves were totally circling yesterday.” I laughed, but she continued, “Isaac is a smart boy. Realized he’d have to jump on it to beat the others.”

“Ha! Others! Whatever!” I smacked her on the shoulder. “Let’s go!”

She unlocked the doors and we hurried off to class with her peppering me with comments like “So, how did he ask?” “You are so lucky!” “Val better ask me!” “We can go dress shopping together!” and on and on. But I wasn’t into it—couldn’t think about it right now.

I was still freaking out inside about last night’s dreams. They had felt so real, yet, of course, they couldn’t be. And that woman’s face haunted me. So familiar, but… Who was she? Or was she really someone at all? Could she be some random face from last year? Because, I didn’t remember it very well at all. Was I finally losing my mind just when everything seemed to be getting better? All these thoughts flitted through my mind, and I barely heard Ruthie as she rattled on.

Our lunch table was crowded. Isaac, Phoebe, and Ruthie were the usual. But now Val’s football buddy, Jake, had joined us. Jake was so blatant in his attempts at flirting with Phoebe, I was ready to throw up right then and there. If he said how beautiful she was one more time, I was going to join Bobby’s table again. And if Zander showed up to join the Phoebe adoration club, I was really leaving.

Isaac seemed to share my sentiments. He was openly glaring at Jake, and I was afraid he was going to punch him or something if I didn’t redirect his attention.

“Uh, Isaac, what exactly did you do this summer, anyway? Phoebe said something about camping, right?” Isaac turned to me. Bingo. Mission accomplished. Danger averted. But suddenly I was remembering my conversation with Ruthie before school. As I looked into his brown eyes, I thought,
He really is one of the most good-looking guys at our school
.
I can’t believe he asked me to Homecoming!

Isaac turned his back on the flirting across from us, leaning his shoulder against the table, an elbow resting on its surface between us. I felt a little mesmerized, and a smile spread across my lips.

“Our family always goes camping deep in the forest, well away from any trails used by hu—uh, hikers. Do you like camping?” he asked.

“Well,” I paused, “I don’t know. My mom didn’t like it, so we never went.” I felt a hitch in my throat, remembering Mom. Isaac must have seen the pain flicker across my face, because he took up the conversation quickly.

“Yeah, we go a lot. Always have. We hit the beach, too. We just love this area, you know. So much of everything close by. Anyway, it’s also a pretty cheap vacation, too, which my parents love.” He laughed.

I wondered if Isaac’s family worried about money. He didn’t seem to be lacking anything. He and Phoebe didn’t wear the most expensive brands, but their clothes always looked nice. Who was I kidding? They would look good in rags.

“It’s more than I did this summer. We stayed home and I got a job at the recreation center,” I said.

“Cool,” he said. “What did you do there?”

“Sometimes I worked at the front desk. But most of the time I lifeguarded and helped with youth basketball.”

“Wow! I didn’t know you were a swimmer.” He looked amazed. I thought I knew why. If most of his impression of me was based on last year, he must have thought I was a boring lump of clay. I looked down shyly at my lap.

“Yeah, I was on a swim team since I was a kid. Actually, I was in a lot of sports before, well, before…” I shrugged, my eyes still in my lap.

“
I’m
not surprised,” said a familiar voice from the base of the maple tree. Somewhere during our lunch, Zander must have snuck in and staked out his old spot by the tree. “You look like an athlete to me,” he continued.

Isaac growled slightly, and the entire lunch table paused to look over at Zander. Phoebe looked especially pleased to see him.

A blush stole over my cheeks at his words. What did he mean? Did I look strong like an ox or fit like an aerobics instructor? Athletic like David Beckham or athletic like Anna Kournikova? I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I just smiled hesitantly at him and said, “Hey. I saw you after school the other day. Who was that giving you a ride out of here?”

“Oh him. That was just my brother.” So they were related. He pulled out an apple and took a bite. He always seemed to have an apple for lunch.

“Always an apple, huh?” I said, for lack of a smarter comment to make. I cringed inwardly at my poor attempt to make conversation. Seeing him again made my mind a little numb.

“You know what they say, apple a day…blah…blah…blah…”

“Tru has never been sick a day in her life,” blurted Ruthie.

Now everyone looked at me. My face heated up again.

“Really?” said Phoebe. “That would be pretty amazing. You probably don’t remember being sick, though,” she rationalized.

“Nope,” said Ruthie. “I’ve known her almost my entire life, and she’s never been sick—not even a cold. It’s so not fair.” My eyes were “shushing” her, but she just wasn’t getting it. “She pretended to be sick a couple times, so we could skip school, but, yeah, pretty awesome.”

Ruthie just didn’t know when to stop.

Everyone was looking at me. I could almost hear what they were thinking: Weirdo! I couldn’t believe my best friend had told everyone something so private—well, private to me. I understood that she didn’t realize I hated that kind of attention. I knew she thought it was cool. But deep down inside I knew it was one more thing that set me apart from normal, like seeing in the dark. I knew I was overreacting, but I couldn’t help it. I was so uncomfortable, I started to gather my things to leave. Only seconds had passed, but they felt like minutes to me—minutes of others staring at me like I was under a microscope.

Ruthie finally caught on to the fact that she had put her foot in her mouth. I could see it in her face. But what could she say now to fix it?

“You think that’s cool?” Isaac’s hands held me in place. “I won the hot dog eating contest in Santa Cruz this year.”

“It’s true,” said Phoebe. “And my parents forced me to stay and watch. I think it’s the first time he’s ever been full!” She chimed with laughter. “Seriously, he could eat a horse!” Her eyes twinkled at Isaac, and something unsaid passed between them.

I settled back down as the attention moved away from me. Isaac’s bragging had set off Val and Jake, who went off about food contests, how much they could eat, and even the grossest things they had consumed—clearly a popular guy topic. I sneaked a look at Zander. He was still looking at me, but he just smiled, not like I was weird, but more conspiratorially as he rolled his eyes at the guys’ nonsensical bragging. The huge knot in my stomach finally started unraveling. Then I looked over at Ruthie. She met my gaze and mouthed the words “I’m sorry!” with a please-don’t-hate-me look. I just pressed my lips together. I wasn’t forgiving her quite yet, but I hadn’t become the freak show that I expected.

School passed more pleasantly after that, and before I knew it, I was walking to English. As was the custom in many California schools, the classrooms opened to the outdoor covered sidewalks, which spread like a web to all the other buildings scattered across campus. I was rounding the corner in a rush because the bell was about to ring when two girls sideswiped me going different directions. This spun me in a circle, sending my books flying, and I threw out my hands to stop my fall. I looked up to catch the mock surprise from my assailants—who just happened to be Zena groupies.

“Oh my gosh! I’m
sooo
sorry.”

“You should really look where you’re going! You could hurt someone.”

Then they hurried off giggling, just as the bell sounded. I caught the words “psycho” and “brain damage.” I gathered up my stuff, and in the process noticed that my hands were bleeding. As I rubbed them on my pants, I noticed a small tear across one knee, ruining one of my new pairs of jeans. A long sigh escaped me and I continued on to class. Maybe Mr. Mac wouldn’t notice me sneaking in.

He was writing on the chalkboard as I walked quietly toward some empty seats in the back.

“Just getting here, Tru?” Zena’s voice was loud and clear, and Mr. Mac turned from the board. Zena smirked. I closed my eyes in defeat.

“Ach, Ms. Parker. You know how I feel about being late, lass. I’m afraid that will have to be a tardy.” He marked his attendance book with a reluctant look. I knew he was making a point for the whole class. I was probably the first tardy of the school year. It was way too soon to start collecting tardies. I had a feeling I would need some later.

By now, my hands were really stinging. I slipped into a seat and took a look at them. Deep and dirty scratches stretched across each palm, blood still oozing. There was nothing I could do for now, unless I asked to go see the nurse. But I didn’t want to, especially in front of Zena. I knew she was responsible for this. I couldn’t give her the satisfaction.

Gratefully, this was the last class of the day. Mr. Mac cleared his throat and announced that he wanted everyone to pick a partner for our first project. He would give us a few minutes to exchange contact information and get to know each other a bit better—we were supposed to team up with someone we didn’t know very well. Kids jumped out of their chairs, racing for their friends. Typical. I didn’t feel like even trying, so I just laid my head on the desk, cradling my sore hands on my lap.

“Here, let me see them.” Zander’s voice drifted over from the empty desk next to me—at least it had been empty when I sat down. I lifted my head with a questioning look.

“See what?”

“Hands. I can tell there’s something wrong with them.”

So he had great powers of observation. Goodie for him. My life sucked.

I felt a hate laser stabbing at me from half the classroom away. I turned my head. Zena was the shooter.
Whatever
, I thought, not understanding what I had done to her this time.

Zander carefully picked up my hands and opened them. A warm hum enveloped my abused appendages. This time we didn’t pull away. He brushed his fingertips across my palms. It didn’t sting, but I was afraid it would and pressed my hands together again, sucking in my breath. So, he just held my hands between his. Waves of heat pulsed across my injuries. I didn’t want him to let go. I felt like drowning in his endless, deep, sea-blue gaze.

“I kinda fell before class,” I whispered, hoping to prolong the contact.

“I thought athletic people weren’t clumsy,” he said, the corner of his mouth turned up. His thumbs rubbed against the backs of my hands.

“Yeah, well, I had some help falling.” That’s all I was going to say. No need to point fingers. I mean, what good would it do? The culprits were part of Zena’s girl gang, which meant there would be no justice. And I really didn’t want to sound like a whiner.

“Seriously?”

“Um, yeah, but if you think
I
look bad, you should see
them
.” I tried to joke.

He smiled. “Them? Seriously? What kind of school is this?”