The Waking (The Upturned Hourglass) (6 page)

Alden was awake, too.

Carefully, Valie rose and closed her door, locking it securely so Alden could tell himself she was trying to sleep like a normal person.

The window opened easily and, with practiced hands, she pushed off, grabbed the branch closest to her window and swung away from the building. She’d been sneaking out for so long, she didn’t even think about the height.

She grabbed the solid branch with both hands and lowered herself, swinging quietly from the momentum. In the springtime, she would have shaken leaves, but the autumn chills had left the branches barren.

Hand over hand, Valie made her way to the tree trunk, silently swinging into its nearly flat center. She found two branches to hold with either hand, allowing her to lower herself until her feet were dangling above the ground and then she dropped, easily absorbing the shock of the fall. She was out and away.

The Whitworth’s were like Valie’s family; their home was her home. Valie and Luci had been friends for as long as either could remember. There had never been a mutual decision of friendship; it had just happened. Luci had always acted sisterly toward her best friend and withheld nothing from her, even time when she would normally sleep.

Valie grabbed a very small pebble and threw it at Luci’s second story window. In only a few seconds, her light turned on.

As Valie waited for Luci to make her way downstairs—probably drowsy from napping before her friend’s arrival--the wind picked up and violently shook the trees lining the street. The girl shivered and glanced around at the inadequate streetlights. For a moment, she thought she saw a small shadow beneath the lamplight nearest her, but when she blinked, it was gone. In the distance, an unearthly howl shattered the night air, similar to the one she’d heard only the night before in the park. The sound was surpassed, though, by the distinctive bay of Luci’s beagle, Marsha, as she answered the call. All of the sudden, it seemed that every dog in the neighborhood had been aroused and there was barking all around her making the hair stand up on the back of Valie’s neck.

The front door opened and the porch light turned on.

“Marsha! Hush!” Luci hissed. She was waiting at the door in her pajamas, berating her dog who greeted Valie with a sharp, scolding bark. “Sorry,” she said as Valie entered. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

“It’s fine,” Valie whispered back, though, she didn’t know why. Thanks to Marsha, Luci’s parents had to be awake by now.

“What?” Luci asked. She hadn’t heard because of the deafening howls of the dog. Valie just shook her head in reply. “Okay. C’mon upstairs.”

Luci’s house was friendly and familiar and it calmed Valie as she walked up the stairs. She couldn’t even guess how much of her own life she had spent at the Whitworth residence. Luci’s little brother Jimmy thought of Valie as his other older sister, the one that spoiled him instead of yelling at him when all he wanted
was to be included. She tolerated his juvenile antics better than his own family. Luci didn’t know how lucky she was. Though he was only ten, Valie thought he stood a good chance of being a really great guy when he was older.

It was Jimmy, rubbing his eyes, who greeted Valie once she’d ascended the stairs.

“Hi, V.” He yawned. “You guys have plans for tonight?”

“Yes,” Luci replied. “Girly stuff, like painting nails and watching chick flicks.”

Jimmy shook his head tiredly. “Not if V is here.”

Valie laughed. The kid was right.

The two friends shut themselves up in Luci’s room and stretched out on her old-fashioned canopied bed.

“So what’s new in the life of Valentine McRae?”

“Nothing much.”

“No drama whatsoever?”

Valie shook her head. “Not unless you’re interested in the latest Candace sighting.”

Luci smirked, “Candace and her Cougar Cubbies? No, not particularly. How about guys? No cute guys? No secret crushes?”

“Nope.”

“How boring…C’mon, Valie. I’m starting to think
you’re
the hopeless one!”

A thought came to Valie’s mind.

“Well…There was this one guy in the coffee shop this morning…”

Luci perked up.
“Details, details!”

“Ummm.
He was kind of the tall, dark and handsome type, I guess, but a little more…roguish? I don’t know how to describe him right.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Of course not!” Valie paused. “But he had a nice voice. Kind of rough in that soft way, you know? He didn’t sound anything like the idiots at school.”

“Intelligence is always nice.”

“But like I said, I didn’t talk to him. I have no idea who he is. And, besides, I’m pretty sure he’s taken. Some intensely gorgeous blonde met up with him before he left.”

Luci pouted. “No fun.”

“Nope.”

“But he was pretty?”

“
Handsome
. I’m sure guys prefer handsome.”

“Fine.
He was handsome, then?”

Valie remembered those powerful, cobalt eyes that had pierced her, looked at her and through her like glass.

“Yes. He was definitely handsome….”

And so much more.

STRANGER

The sun was shining through the window when Valie awoke with that exhausted feeling of having slept too much and rested too little. She blinked, but had to cover her eyes with both hands against the glare. Wow, it was bright…

Crap.

She jumped up in one fluid motion and looked at the clock. School began in less than half an hour—and she was still in her clothes from yesterday, having crashed the minute she’d arrived home from Luci’s house.

The frantic girl threw on a different top with her sweatshirt over it. Who would notice that she was wearing the same jeans—it’s not like they were a designer brand. She hurried to the bathroom for damage control. Looking in the mirror, she almost laughed out loud at how awful her hair looked. Oh, well. They didn’t call it a messy bun for nothing. Throwing her unmanageable tresses into a knot at the nape of her neck, she rushed to splash cold water on her face and brush her teeth. No time for more. By the time she had run down the three flights of stairs, she had twenty minutes left before the first bell would ring.

She dashed down the stairs like lightening, her bag thumping away at her side. These were the mornings Valie wished she had a car. She was never going to make it in time and she couldn’t afford to be late to Mrs. Ables’ class again. But apparently, there wasn’t much choice.

By the time Valie reached the school her lungs were burning and she panted for air as she slowed to a walk. The first bell rang just as she hurried through the front gate of the school grounds. As she pushed past irritated students and staff alike, who were leisurely making their way to their various classrooms, she jogged to her locker and quickly retrieved the dog-eared copy of
The Scarlet Letter—
thankful that the combination
lock didn’t stick on the first try
.
Again, she picked up her pace and managed to reach the classroom only seconds after the final bell.

Though, Mrs. Ables wasn’t there. They had a substitute.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Valie muttered under her heavy breath. She trudged to her desk nearest the door and plopped down. It was only then that she noticed most of the class was gathered in a small group surrounding the desk one row away from her own. Idly, Valie tried to remember who sat in that seat. She looked around for a clue, not wanting to join the buzzing group, but came up with nothing other than the fact that the majority of the mob were girls.

The sub was slow in getting the class in order. After several attempts, he finally succeeded in getting everyone to their seats. As the crowd dispersed, Valie looked on, curious as to who had commanded so much attention.

When Valie saw him, she froze.

Seated, not more than six feet from her was the dark-haired Adonis from the coffee shop. He was smiling sweetly, flashing his white teeth at none other than Candace Bingham, who still lingered beside the handsome newcomer. The blonde giggled flirtatiously even as she nonchalantly moved toward her seat on the other side of the room. 

Valie sat there dumbfounded. It wasn’t until he glanced in her direction that she realized she was gawking at the boy. As she jerked her hood up and embarrassedly took an interest in the scribbles on her desk, she heard the boy chuckle. A feeling of uncertainty crept into her stomach. Was he laughing at her? She blushed deep red and shrank in the chair. Who did he think he was, anyway, laughing at her?  He didn’t even
know
her.

The substitute was taking role.

“Candace Bingham?”

“More like Candace bang ‘em,” some guy remarked,
snickering from a couple of seats behind Valie. If she hadn’t been so freaked, she would have laughed.

“Francesca Fredericks?”

“Here!”

“Jack Haden?”

That was a name Valie had not heard. Against her own will, she turned slightly to better hear him speak.

“Here,” he replied, his voice more musical than Valie had remembered.

The sub continued to clumsily take roll, checking names and seats. A moment before her name should be called, Valie could feel his eyes upon her again—the beautiful one, Jack—staring unabashedly. Once again, her eyes involuntarily moved to meet his glance—and the azure eyes met hers—but this time he smiled at her.  Her heart beat wildly in her chest.

“Valentine McRae?”

He held her enthralled.  How did he know her name?

“Ms. McRae?”  The teacher was now close enough to her desk to block her view of the boy’s eyes. She shook herself and looked up.  The sub was looking out over the roll sheet in her direction. The girl sitting closest to Valie was helping out the teacher by discreetly pointing her out to him.

“Valentine?”

“Yes? Yes! That’s me. I mean, I’m here.” The words rushed out—too fast, too harsh.

“Please pay attention,” he responded.

“Right. Sorry.”

Once again Valie slumped in her chair and wrapped her arms around her body. Why? Why did he have to show up here? Wasn’t school hard enough for her? As a mantra, she chanted the words to herself,
He’s just another boy; he’s just another boy; he’s just another
boy.
  She refused to turn in either direction except to watch the clock slowly tick by. But even with her body so firmly held in place, her mind wandered, images of the boy pushing into her thoughts.

The sub allowed for anything that day. The class buzzed with the excitement of free time. Once again, the pack of girls managed to surround the boy’s seat, giggling, laughing, and most
of all flirting. Valie could barely see through the wall of hormones. The boys in the class consoled themselves unhappily amongst themselves. Even Valie knew that some of the girls in the group surrounding Jack were their own girlfriends. It was Candace, though, that turned out to be especially enthusiastic to learn about the newcomer.

“Are you new here?” she asked in her high-pitched fake drawl. She was sitting on the top of Jack Haden’s desk, legs crossed revealingly in her cheerleader’s outfit. He had been forced to lean back so he could look at something more than her well-endowed bosom and the blonde seemed somewhat disappointed.

“Yes,” Jack replied. “I moved here a few days ago.”

Okay, so Valie
hadn’t
somehow missed his presence around school for the last month, although she had thought it highly unlikely. This boy was anything but inconspicuous.

“Oh! Where are you from?”

“Pretty far away,” he replied vaguely, but shot Candace and the girls his widest, brightest grin. One could almost hear the panting.

Valie’s brow furrowed. What kind of an answer was ‘far away’? She looked around. No one else seemed to care what he said—the girls were mesmerized and the boys, disgruntled. Now, Valie regretted not speaking to him in the coffee shop when she had the chance. Valie wished she could talk to him now, but he was in Candace’s territory. He was irretrievable.

Unwillingly curious, Valie continued to glean information indirectly through the filtered conversations around her, but all anyone really found out was that Jack had moved here one week ago with the rest of his family—from somewhere ‘far away’—and he was
not
a football fan—a fact which made him instantly suspect to the boys. Candace had asked him, almost
begged
him, to come and watch her cheer at the football game and he had given excuses. He had things to do, didn’t know his way around town yet, had school work to catch up on. Candace was pouting, trying to figure out a way to worm her way into his weekend.