Shadow Hills (9 page)

His eyes cut like a laser, as if he was gazing through my clothes, my skin, all the way to my bones and organs. My adrenaline surged.
Would it be totally insane for me to run out the front door and lock myself in the town car?

“Get to the point, Trent,” Zach practically growled.

“Zach.” Mr. Redford gave him a cautionary look.

I turned to Adriana; it felt strange to be watching this interaction.

“I came to deliver a message from my father,” Trent said to the older man. “He wants you to back off and leave it alone. His actions are in your best interests, and it would be wise of you to just accept the rewards happily.”

“How noble of my brother to send his son to do his dirty work,” Mr. Redford answered shortly. “If that’s all, we do have some customers we were helping.”

“Of course, Grant.” Trent nodded at Mr. Redford, then held out his hand to Zach, who grasped it so firmly the tips of his fingers glowed red with blood.

All the little hairs on my arms were standing up straight, like the time I touched an electrostatic generator in science class. The two guys looked as if they were engaged in the most intense staring contest ever. Either that or a very disappointing round of arm wrestling. Finally, Trent let go, his expression amused despite his bright pink hand.

“Pretty good. But you gotta keep practicing, cuz.” He winked at Zach and, after giving Adriana and me one last glance, left.

“Sorry. I forgot to introduce you.” Grant smiled, trying to dispel some of the heaviness. “That’s my brother’s son; he’s kind of … curt.”

Zach snorted loudly at this, eliciting a glare from his father.

“That’s okay.” I took Adriana’s arm. “We didn’t realize you were closing so soon. I’ll come back another time.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Adriana agreed, walking backward to the door.

“Well, it was nice meeting the both of you,” Mr. Redford called after us as I pushed the door open.

“See you at school, Zach,” Adriana said before following me out onto the sidewalk.

“What the hell?” Adriana turned to me. “Is it me, or was everyone in that store insane?”

“They were definitely acting strange.” I added silently, “And you don’t know the half of it.”

“They weren’t the only ones acting strange. What was up with your interrogation of Zach?”

“I was just letting him know you were available for the
dance. I thought he might ask you.” I did my best to appear innocent.

“Probably not, after all that. Besides, I can get my own dates, thank you very much.” Adriana motioned to the driver, who held open the back door for us. “I’m glad my uncle doesn’t hate me that much. We have enough drama at home as it is.”

“Yeah,” I agreed as I slid into the car after her. “I wouldn’t want to be at
that
family reunion.”

“That’s about the level of kindness my mom treats her sister with,” Adriana snorted. “She lives in a trailer, so Mom acts likes she’s the devil incarnate.”

“This is
your
aunt?” She didn’t sound like anyone Adriana would admit to being related to.

“Sharon’s pretty much my favorite relative.” Her golden-brown eyes sparkled. “She took me and my little brother to the water park when we were kids. My mom called it ‘white-trash heaven.’” Suddenly the brightness in Adriana’s eyes shut down. “But, you know, we hardly see her anymore—she is only my mom’s half sister, after all.”

The rest of the ride was quiet, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Zach. There was no rational explanation for the things I’d seen him do. Hell, I couldn’t even come up with anything irrational to explain it. And it seemed utterly impossible for him to have dreamed the same dream I had.

But Zach knew more about what was going on than I did. He’d been nervous when I was questioning him, but not confused. I was just going to have to find another way to get information out of him.

When we got back to Kresky Hall, I took out my bracelet and inspected it. Part of the clasp had come loose, so I squeezed it back together with my tweezers. It appeared tight enough, at least until I could find a jeweler and get it fixed. I washed up and crawled into bed with the Devenish handbook.

By the time I reached the last page, I could hardly hold my eyes open. It was barely nine, but I decided to call it an early night. I was almost asleep when my phone beeped, letting me know I had a text from my father.

The dean of admissions informed me you need a laptop. I have ordered you a MacBook that should be arriving soon, so keep an eye out. I don’t want you losing it among your many boxes of clothes
.

As always, my dad was about as affectionate as a parking meter. We were never close, but now we barely spoke to each other. I texted him back.

It’s so nice to hear from you. The school is great so far, and I’m making friends already. Thanks for the encouragement
.

I dropped my phone onto the bedside table, turned my back to it, and closed my eyes.

A very loud knocking awakened me, and I looked at my cell’s clock. Six in the morning. I opened the door, rubbing my blurry eyes.

“Good morning, Phe,” Ms. Moore trilled enthusiastically. I was tempted, momentarily, to stab her with the nail file lying on top of my dresser, but I was way too tired. “The deliveryman is here with your stuff, and I didn’t want it left here blocking the stairway.”

I peered around her out into the hall, where a burly guy stood surrounded by boxes.

“He can bring it in,” I told Ms. Moore, who motioned at the man to come in.

He hauled in the boxes two at a time, and in fewer than five minutes, I was alone with my stuff. Breakfast was in less than an hour, so I didn’t have time to unpack, but I felt better knowing it was here. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth before hurrying back to my room to get dressed, almost knocking over a small Asian girl on my way.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention,” I apologized.

“That’s cool.” She waved away my apology. The girl’s black hair was cut in a short pixie style that complemented her delicate features. “Not everyone’s a morning person.” She squinted her dark brown eyes at me. “You’re new, aren’t you? I’m Toy, by the way.”

“Persephone. But people just call me Phe. And, yes, I am new.”

“Junior?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Cool. Well, I gotta hit the bathroom.” Toy held up her toothbrush. “Maybe we’ll have some classes together today. That is, after you get out of the newbie orientation.”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t exactly looking forward to orientation. After reading the 120-page Devenish handbook, I couldn’t imagine what else they could tell me.

Apparently, nothing
, I thought an hour and a half later, as Headmaster Grimsby droned on and on about curfews and study halls and mandatory meals.

“And for a fun little treat tonight, we are going to have pizza and movies for the boarding students. Mr. Carr, our Student Activities Center director, is here to fill you in on the details.” Mr. Grimsby gestured toward a very familiar-looking man.

It was the guy I had seen in the hospital.

I sat up straighter, my interest finally piqued. Mr. Carr was the man whom I had been able to see during the strange argument I’d overheard.

Mr. Carr gave us all a friendly wave and began his spiel: “Tonight at six we will be having pizza in the SAC instead of the cafeteria, and after that we will be showing
Beetlejuice
and
Edward Scissorhands
upstairs in the student theater. That means no mandatory dorm study, and we are also closing the library so the student aides can join us.”

A few of the Senior Proctor students who were also on the stage clapped excitedly.

“Whoopie,” Adriana muttered, not lifting her eyes from the text she was sending.

“I hope to see you all there.” Mr. Carr finished, and with some forgettable parting words, Mr. Grimsby finally released us.

“God, that was boring,” Adriana complained later as we walked over to the library.

“At least you had your iPhone,” I retorted.

“So? Why didn’t you bring your cell?”

I looked down, feeling slightly embarrassed. “The handbook said not to.”

“Oh, but the handbook encourages drinking in the dorms?” Adriana asked snarkily. “If you did everything that thing told you
to do, you’d be more boring than my teetotaling grandmother.”

I followed the stream of new students through the open door into the cavernous library. Adriana took the lead in line, and since she was picking up
Pride and Prejudice
, I had to wait patiently behind her as the librarian went on and on about the genius of Jane Austen. Finally, Adriana managed to extricate herself by agreeing that the novel was the best piece of literature ever written. As soon as she was free, she ran off to find the Science Building for her first class of the day.

After the librarian handed me my textbooks, I made my way to the fiction section.

As I walked past shelves of books, I felt a warmth on the back of my neck. Turning, I found myself looking straight at Zach Redford. He was standing with Corinne about twenty feet behind me, leaning against the back wall below a huge stained-glass window. Flustered, I turned quickly into the stacks on my left.

I could hear them talking.
About me?

“Get real,” I muttered under my breath. I was just being paranoid. What could they possibly have to say about me? Unless Zach was telling Corinne about my strange interrogation the day before.

They certainly weren’t using their library voices. If I moved a little closer, I could probably make out what they were saying. Curious, I walked quietly to the end of the row, staying hidden behind the shelves.

“Will you get off it?” Zach said. “I didn’t even say anything about her.”

“You didn’t have to.” Corinne’s voice was also low, but more feminine. “You look like Grodin begging for a Milk-Bone every time that girl is within ten feet of you.”

“What do you want me to say, Corinne? That I think she’s hot? Fine. I do. That doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything about it.”

I tried not to smile. I was completely invading Zach’s privacy; still, I couldn’t make myself walk away.

“You better be damn sure you don’t do anything about it. You could put us all in jeopardy, not to mention what might happen to Little Miss L.A. Sometimes I get so tired of always having to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Zach repeated sarcastically. “It’s more like you’re trying to run my life.”

Corinne sighed, and there was a moment of silence. Then she spoke again, her tone no longer scolding. “All my friends have crushes on you, gross as it is, but you always act like you have no interest. Now all of a sudden, you decide you’re into some girl from California that you have absolutely nothing in common with?”

“How do you know we don’t have stuff in common?” Zach countered. “She knew the band I was listening to at the grocery store—no one from Shadow Hills has even heard of Gogol Bordello.”

“Oh, and that’s a great thing to base a relationship on; she likes some weird, obscure band you’re into.” I could practically hear Corinne roll her eyes. “Trust me, that is not nearly as
important as dating someone you can be honest with. This school is full of beautiful girls.”

“Yeah. Beautiful, preppy, cold East Coast princesses.”

“Let’s see: preppy, privileged, cold—what do you want to bet that is
exactly
what she thinks of you?” Corinne snipped.

“She doesn’t seem like the judgmental type.”

As much as I wished that was true, I had to admit that Corinne was right. Not that I thought it about Zach, but that was basically what I assumed the whole student body here was like.

“Phe’s just … She’s different.”

The way Zach said it lit me up inside.

“What makes her so different? Is it the blond hair? That tiny size-zero Hollywood figure?”

Just because I’m not an Amazon with big breasts like Corinne, she labels me as some anorexic wannabe actress
.

“No. It’s not only about how she looks. She’s … I don’t know, Corinne.” Zach was obviously tired of talking about this. “She seems interesting and unpredictable—it sort of pulls me to her.” He hesitated, then in a slightly lower, oddly charged voice, he said, “I had a dream about her.”

“So?” Corinne snorted. “An adolescent boy’s dreams are hardly an indication of—”

“Before I ever saw her,” he interrupted. “Before we went over to the hospital the other day. I was asleep on the couch, remember, and you woke me up and told me to get ready. I was dreaming. I don’t even know what I was dreaming about at first, but then suddenly I was in the old graveyard. The one
behind the hospital. And she was there. She was wearing the Devenish uniform, and it was all torn and dirty. We were looking at some gravestone.”

If Corinne made any response to this revelation, I didn’t hear it. My blood was pounding through my veins; the sound filled my ears. I had wanted to ignore Zach’s slipup in the bookstore yesterday, to pretend that he hadn’t somehow seen my dream. But clearly he had.

It was bizarre enough that I was having these nightmares that sometimes mirrored my sister’s. But to share a dream with a total stranger? That was
Twilight Zone
material.

With an effort, I turned my attention back to their conversation.

“It doesn’t matter what we want, okay?” Corinne’s voice sounded thin and strained. “Hell, I didn’t
want
to lie to Antonio—to pretend I didn’t care if he stayed. Do you know how much it sucked to not say good-bye when he went back to Italy? But I did what I had to do. We aren’t supposed to be with outsiders. These are the rules we live by, and there’s a reason for them.”

“Enough with the rules, Corinne! Don’t you want to be happy at least once in your life? Or is studying and eating your vegetables and pleasing the Council all the fulfillment you need?” Zach sounded kind of harsh, even to someone who disliked Corinne as much as I did.

“What do you think Mom would say if she found out about this?” I could tell from her tone that Corinne had no doubt that Zach knew what she would say.

“Listen, like I’ve said a million times now, I am not going to slip up. Persephone will never find out about us. She will never find out what we
are
.”