Taken (3 page)

He nods sheepishly. “Yeah,” he says. “But I’ve seen those MRI machines on TV. You have to get in this little tunnel and then they – ”

“I’m not talking about the MRI,” I say. “I’m talking about everything. What the hell is wrong with you lately? I’m worried.”

He just laughs. “I swear I’m fine.”

We get in my car and start the drive home. “You don’t seem fine to me.”

“I just really like Adrianna. I don’t want anybody messing with her.”

“And so that means you had to get into a fight? One that involved you getting hit with a fireplace poker? Come on, man.”

“They were looking at her.”

I snort. “Looking at her. Jesus.”

“Don’t make fun of me, dude. Not with the shit you’ve gotten into over Natalia.”

He has a point there. I sigh. “You just need to tone it down. Adrianna’s a nice girl and she seems pretty smart. I think she can take care of herself.”

“Yeah, well, you should take your own advice,” he says.

Another point for Aidan. I shut up and drive for a while. When we finally pull onto our street I’m exhausted. Aidan starts to get out and then turns to me. “I really appreciate you taking me to the hospital. Sorry I’m such a pain in your ass.”

“I just don’t want to see you get in trouble,” I tell him.

He grins, but it’s his old grin, the goofy one. “I know I’m not Vin Diesel. I just really like this girl. I want her to know I’ll protect her. Like you do for Natalia.”

My stomach twists into knots at the thought of her. “I know what you mean. But we both need to be careful. I might need to realize that Nat take care of herself,” I tell him, thinking about how she handled the Triad tonight. “And Adrianna probably can too.”

He nods thoughtfully, like he’s actually taken in what I said. “You around tomorrow? Maybe we can hang.”

“Swing by my house before lunch. I’ve got practice later on.”

He gets out and walks up to his door as I pull the car over to my driveway and park. My house looks dark and silent. At least everyone I care about is safe for right now, I think. That’s something, isn’t it?

Chapter Three

Natalia

As soon as I open my eyes on Saturday morning, everything that happened last night comes rushing back to me. Stealing Raine’s necklace. Getting into a fight with her. Cam driving me back to the party. Brody taking me home.

My hand slides under my pillow, feeling around for Raine’s necklace. My fingers close around the metal links of the chain, and I breath a sigh of relief. I thought about sleeping with the necklace on, but I was afraid I’d spend the whole night stuck in dreams that belonged to Raine.

The clock on my nightstand says it’s nine o’clock, and I sit up and look out the window. The sky is overcast and cloudy. It’s cold in my room, one of the first mornings that’s been really cold instead of just cool, and I pad over to my dresser and pull out heavy socks and a hooded sweatshirt.

From downstairs, I can hear the sound of my mom in the kitchen, making coffee.

She was waiting up for me last night, sitting in front of the television watching some late night talk show. When I came in she acted like her being awake was no big deal, like she would have been up anyway, but I knew it wasn’t true. My mom never stays up late unless she’s working.

I pull my socks on and get ready to go downstairs, hoping she hasn’t made breakfast for us. The last thing I want is to be stuck at the table with my mom, rehashing the party. What would I say?
“Yes, Mom, it was great, Mom, me and Brody danced all
night, Mom.”

And then I hear the sound of male laughter coming from the kitchen. Older male laughter.

I open my bedroom door and stand at the top of the stairs, listening.

“Jerry!” my mom’s saying. She sounds very… giggly. And who the hell is Jerry? She can’t possibly mean our next door neighbor Jerry, the one who let her borrow his car, can she? Although. I guess that would make sense. You don’t just let your neighbor drive your car unless you want to get into her pants. The thought that Jerry might want to get into my mom’s pants puts me on alert. What are his motives, this Jerry?

“Natalia!” my mom calls, her footsteps moving down the hallway toward the stairs. “Are you awake yet, honey?”

She catches me peering down at her before I can slide back into my room. “Oh, good,” she says. “There you are!” If she realizes I was spying on her, she doesn’t show it. “Come downstairs and have a scone before I go to work.”

“A scone?” Since when does she eat scones?

“Yes,” she says. “They’re lemon raspberry.”

“Okay.” She starts to go back to the kitchen, but I stop her. “Um, Mom?” I ask.

“Who’s here?”

“Just Jerry,” she says, like it’s nothing. Just Jerry, like he’s some old friend instead of the neighbor next door who she’s never mentioned until just a few days ago when she was somehow allowed to just drive his car all over the place, no questions asked.

I brush my teeth, wash my face, and scrape my hair back into a ponytail. When I get downstairs, my mom is laughing at something Jerry said, and putting her hand on his arm while she does it.

“Hi, Natalia,” she says with a big smile. “Jerry, you remember my daughter, Natalia.”

“Hi,” Jerry says, nodding at me. He’s wearing a white long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of black track pants. “Would you like a scone?”

He pushes the plate over to me, and I reach down and take one. I put it in my mouth and chew, then almost spit it out.

“Delicious, right?” my mom asks. “Jerry makes them with coconut and almond flour, it’s so much better for you!”

It tastes like cardboard, but I just smile and then take a sip of the coffee my mom’s put in front of me.

“Your mother told me about what happened to her car,” he says, shaking his head.

“Such a shame that it got stolen. I don’t know what’s going on with the youth these days.”

“I know,” I say, sighing and hoping I look appropriately concerned about the rising crime rate in young people. “It was pretty upsetting.”

“Yes, well, you’ve been through a lot,” he says, standing up and giving me a sympathetic look. “I’m sure it was very unsettling.”

“Yes,” I say. “It was.” I drop my eyes to the ground.

Jerry jumps up. “Well!” he says. “I should get going. I have to bring Tillie to the groomer.”

“Tillie?” I ask.

“My labradoodle.” He pulls his wallet out of his pocket and flashes a picture of a little golden dog.

“Cute,” I say.

“Bye, Beth,” he says to my mom. “Take care, Natalia.”

As soon as the front door shuts behind him, I raise my eyebrows at my mom.

“Anything you want to tell me?”

“Like what?” She puts the dirty coffee mugs in the sink and then starts wiping the scone crumbs off the counter.

“Like if I’m going to have a new daddy soon.” I drop my uneaten scone into the garbage.

She rolls her eyes. “He’s just a friend,” she says. She smoothes the front of her suit and looks at me. “Are you going to be okay here alone today?”

“Yes.” I take another sip of my coffee and hope she can’t see how happy I am that she’s leaving. I have a plan to go to Raine’s today, to get that iPad back and squash this thing once and for all.

“Are you sure? Because if you need me to –”

“Mom,” I say. “I’m fine.”

“Okay.” She picks up her briefcase and glances at her watch. “I’ll call you in a couple hours,” she says. “Please pick up, okay?”

“Okay.” I shrug like it’s no big deal, even though we both know it means that she’s going to be checking up on me. I see her hesitate one more time, and I can tell she doesn’t really want to leave me. But what can she do? She obviously has important things to take care of, otherwise she wouldn’t be going into the office on a Saturday.

As soon as she’s out the door, I sit down at the breakfast bar and wrap my hands around the warmth of my coffee cup. I’m giving it twenty minutes to make sure she’s really gone, and then I’m going to Raine’s.

***

I call Adrianna to drive me to Raine’s house, telling her that Raine found something of mine at school and I need to go pick it up. Adrianna’s not buying it, but she picks me up anyway because she’s a good friend.

I’m wearing Raine’s necklace already, figuring it’s better to push through her memories before I see her. It’s easier to get clear this time, and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m getting better at it, or because Raine’s getting weaker.

“So you’re really not going to tell me what this is about?” Adrianna asks as we pull into Raine’s driveway.

I glance through the windshield at Raine’s house, remembering the first time I was here, before I knew Cam, before I knew Raine, before I knew Brody, before I knew any of this. It feels like a lifetime ago.

“I told you,” I say. “I left one of my notebooks in a classroom at school, and Raine called me because she found it.”

Adrianna looks at me skeptically, and I know what she’s thinking -- why can’t it just wait until Monday?

“Whatever,” she says. “But we’re going to breakfast after this, right? And you’ll tell me what’s really going on?”

“Sure,” I say, being deliberately vague. Although at this point, if I tell Adrianna what’s really been going on, what difference will it make? I’m here to get the iPad from Raine, and after that, as long as I keep Raine’s necklace, this whole thing will be over.

Who cares if Adrianna finds out? Of course, she could totally think I’m crazy and decide she doesn’t want to be friends with me. Which would suck.

I unbuckle my seatbelt.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell her to just bring it to school on Monday?”

Adrianna asks hopefully.

I shake my head. “I’ll be right back.”

Raine’s mom answers the door.

“Hello,” she says, looking me up and down. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, Mrs. Marsden,” I say. “Is Raine home?”

“Yes,” she says. “Are you a friend of hers?”

She looks me over again, and I know what she’s thinking. That Raine doesn’t usually hang out with people who look as disheveled as I do right now. No way Becca or Teri would ever show up at Raine’s house wearing yoga pants and a hoodie. And if they did, they would be some kind of designer ones, the kind of thing you see celebrities wearing in US Weekly when they pop out for a coffee with their hair shiny and their make up perfect.

“Mom,” Raine calls, appearing in the hallway behind her mother. “Who is it?

We’re supposed to be –”

When she sees me, she stops. She’s dressed all in white, wearing a white tank top and a pair of white wide-legged velour pants. Her long blonde hair is pushed off her face with a wide white headband, and her skin is clean and glowing except for a few traces of last night’s eyeliner, which makes her eyes look smoky and sexy.

“Natalia,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I just stopped by to pick up my iPad,” I tell her. “Remember?”

She turns to her mother. “Why don’t you go in the kitchen, Mom?” she says.

“I’m just going to talk to Natalia about this project we’re working on together.”

Her mom nods, like this makes sense – the fact that Raine and I got matched up on some school project together, that we’re not actually friends. Then she disappears into the kitchen. I glance at Raine, trying to figure out if she just used mind control on her mom, or if Mrs. Marsden went away of her own accord.

But I can’t tell. Raine turns her head, and I catch sight of the bruise on her face from where I slapped her last night. It’s light, but it’s definitely there.

“Give me the iPad,” I say as soon as her mom’s out of earshot.

Raine opens her eyes wide and shrugs. “Sorry,” she says sweetly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Save it,” I say. “I know you have it. I was in your memory, remember?”

She goes to open her mouth again, but I don’t want to hear it, and so I focus all of my energy on controlling her. “You’re going to get the iPad for me now, Raine,” I tell her. “You’re going to get it and you’re going to give it back.”

I didn’t expect it to be so easy, but since I have her necklace, it is.

Her eyes glaze over and her head droops slightly. “Of course,” she says, sounding sleepy. “It’s up in my room.” She turns and heads up the stairs, and when she comes back, she hands the iPad to me.

“Thank you.” I slide it into my bag. Now all I have to do is convince Adrianna to take me to Brody’s house so I can return it.

“What are you doing here, Natalia?” Raine asks suddenly, snapping out of her trance, obviously not remembering that she just gave me the iPad.

I sigh. “I need to talk to you,” I say.

“Fine,” she says. “But you have to make it quick. And we’re not talking in here, my parents will hear.”

She pushes past me and onto the front porch. I follow her and she shuts the door softly behind us. “I see you brought Adrianna,” she scoffs when she sees the car in the driveway. “Like that was going to help you.”

She starts walking down the driveway.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“If you want to talk to me, we’re going to do it in public.”

Raine leads me to a bench in the middle of the grassy circle that’s on the street in front of her house. It’s the kind of thing that exists in wealthy neighborhoods, the kind of thing that people thinks look nice, but no one actually ever uses. And it’s not exactly “in public,” but whatever.

I hold my index finger up to Adrianna as we pass, letting her know I’ll only be a minute.

“So what do you want?” Raine asks, plopping herself down on the bench and looking annoyed. She obviously still has no idea that she just gave me back the iPad.

I don’t sit down next to her. I just look at her. “Raine,” I say. “It’s over. We need to call a truce.”

She throws her head back and laughs, like this is the funniest thing she’s ever heard. “You want to call a truce?” she says. “Sorry, Natalia, but that’s not up to you.”

“It is up to me,” I say. “And you. We can both stop participating in this whole thing. Without us, they can’t --”

“It’s too late for that,” she says, shaking her head.