Thrall (11 page)

I could barely look at him as we took our positions. I’d never been a fan of volleyball, but I threw myself into the game, trying to focus on anything but Lucas. He seemed to be trying just as hard to ignore me. Our team won the first game of the set and lost the second. As we started the third game, I noticed the other half of the class gathering; they must have finished their set already.

It was an intense match. After fifteen minutes, we were up one point, with one point left to win.

“Bring it home!” Royal shouted. “The sooner you end this, the sooner we can go and change.” The class laughed, but a few other students started cheering. Ms. Davies watched from the sidelines, smiling at the enthusiasm.

Lucas and I stood at the net while the other team served. One of our teammates bumped the serve forward to Lucas. He crouched, setting the ball perfectly. Without thinking, I leapt up and spiked the ball over the net decisively. Even Ms. Davies looked shocked.

The class erupted in sound. Lucas threw his arms around me. I laughed, startled. He pulled back quickly, but his smile was intoxicating.

“You’re getting stronger,” he said. “Must be all that practice with Hale.”

“At least it’s good for something,” I replied. His grin deepened. For a breathless moment, I let myself look into his eyes. There were so many questions I wanted answers to, so many things I wanted to say. Lucas watched me, waiting, as though he could sense me summoning the nerve to speak. I opened my mouth to say something, but at that moment the bell rang and I lost my nerve. Something like disappointment flickered through his eyes. Lucas nodded a goodbye and walked away, leaving me feeling chilled - like someone had just turned off the sun.

After school I stood at the edge of the parking lot, restless and sad. For a month I’d tried to stay away from Lucas, but that one touch was enough to undo all my self-discipline. I looked around for Royal or Cassie. But instead of seeing them I caught Lucas staring at me. Amber came up behind him and snaked her arms around his chest. I saw his shoulders tense. Amber’s eyes cut toward me, glinting. I wasn’t the only one who’d seen him staring. Amber took Lucas by the hand and pulled him into the parking lot. Lucas let her draw him away, but his face was troubled. At her car, Amber kissed him lightly on the cheek. Lucas barely reacted. Amber glanced back at me, suspicious, before slipping into the driver’s seat. I watched them drive away and let out a long, frustrated sigh.

Cassie put a hand on my shoulder, startling me out of my stormy thoughts.

“Tomorrow will be better,” she said.

“How?” My voice sounded rough, cold.

“It has to be,” Cassie said. “It’s your birthday.” Her words left me breathless. My birthday. I’d completely forgotten.

Tomorrow I would be sixteen years old.

My birthday dawned, unwelcome. I was startled out of a formless dream when Dad knocked sharply on my door.

“Up and at ‘em, kiddo,” he called. “We’ve got a date with the MVD. Don’t want to keep them waiting.”

I mumbled something in reply and tried to open my eyes. Waking was hard, like rising toward the day from a deep pool of dark sleep. By the time I threw the covers back and got out of bed I was well behind schedule. I ran the shower while undressing, then stepped into the warm cloud of steam with my eyes half-lidded. The shower wrapped me in sheets of hot water and I relaxed into the sensation, losing track of time.

“Braedyn,” Dad called outside the bathroom door. “We need to leave in five.”

I turned the water off, feeling a jolt of adrenaline. I quickly toweled off, headed to my room, and pulled a few things out of my closet. I dressed in record time, but as I fastened up my shirt, the fabric started straining against the buttons alarmingly. The shirt must have shrunk in the laundry. I wrestled it off and grabbed another one out of my closet, but found the same problem. I glanced at myself in the mirror, surprised. It wasn’t the shirt.

“Honey?” Dad called outside my bedroom door.

“One second!”

“Okay. I’m going to pull the car out. Come down when you’re ready.”

“Yeah.” I heard him leave. My heart hammered. I tried to convince myself it was just a growth spurt. I fished a white tank top out of my dresser and pulled it on, then buttoned my school shirt up to my sternum. I elbowed my way into the only Coronado Prep v-neck sweater vest I owned and checked my reflection again.

The girl in the mirror could have been a stranger. She had long slender limbs, pale skin, deep blue eyes... and graceful, feminine curves. I stared, breathless. My hair, which had always seemed mousy to me, had developed a rich sheen overnight. I reached up to touch the dark waves. My reflection mimicked the motion with a fluid grace that was uncomfortably familiar. I looked away, unsettled.

A present sat on my dresser; a small square box wrapped in elegant silver paper. There was a tag on the box that read,
Happy Birthday, Braedyn. Love, Dad.
I stared at the signature for a long moment.

As I held the present in my hand, I heard Dad honk the horn out front. I felt like a wolf that had been raised by dogs. I’d grown up thinking I was human. Maybe I didn’t look all that different from them, but they recognized there was something wild and dangerous about me. The Guard was here to control the threat I posed, one way or the other. I let the present drop out of my hand into the trashcan by my dresser. Numbly, I headed downstairs.

As I walked out the front door I froze, unprepared for what greeted me.

Dad’s breathtakingly restored 1968 Pontiac Firebird sat on the driveway. It gleamed with a new coat of sky blue paint. He’d said he was getting it tuned up, not... this. The last time I’d seen the car, rust had been gaining ground over the sun-dulled black paint, making it look like a mottled orange-and-black bruiser of a car. This car looked sleek and retro and gorgeous.

“Care to drive?” Dad had been watching me from the porch bench. When I turned to face him, a strange expression flitted over his face - like a mixture of sadness and resignation. But whatever he was feeling, he brushed it aside and stood, holding out a set of car keys wrapped with a big red bow. I took the keys gingerly and walked to the car. Opening the door, I slid into the driver’s seat. He’d even had the car reupholstered in a soft, pale gray fabric. Dad sat in the passenger seat and buckled his seat belt. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said.

I turned the key and the engine jumped to life, humming. I’d logged a bunch of hours in this car, taking practice drives with Dad all over the city. But none of the dozens of times I’d turned the key in the ignition felt quite like this. Now, it was my car. I shifted into reverse and gave it a little gas. The car glided out of the driveway and onto the road. When I depressed the clutch and tapped the gas pedal, the newly tuned engine roared in challenge.

“There’s a sound that takes me back,” Dad said.

I let up on the clutch, curious to see what the Firebird was capable of. The car shot forward and my hair whipped back in the sudden wind gusting through the open window. I battled a sudden urge to gun it out of town and just leave the whole crazy situation behind. Would the Guard come after me? Would they stay behind to try to help Derek? Dad threw a hand on the dashboard reflexively, bringing me back to my senses. I pulled my foot off the gas and the Firebird relaxed, coasting easily down the street.

“I’m changing, aren’t I?” I asked. Dad glanced at me quickly. He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t have to. His silence answered the question for him.

Forty-five minutes later I stood at a chipped Formica counter, watching while a middle-aged bald man checked the results of my written driver’s test. Fluorescent lights thrummed overhead, putting my nerves on edge. Dad sat in the waiting area behind me, but I could feel his eyes on my back. Finally, the bald man looked up.

“Okay, Ms. Murphy,” he said. “Written test, vision test... everything looks good. That just leaves the driving test. Ready to hit the road?”

I felt a flutter of nerves in my stomach but nodded. He picked up a set of car keys and gestured for me to follow him outside.

I’d thought there would be more to the test. After I adjusted the seat and the mirrors, I started the engine and pulled carefully out of the MVD parking lot. At the bald man’s direction I drove around the block. I had to stop at one light. It was the shortest drive I’d ever made. I didn’t even have to parallel park. I just pulled right back into the parking space I’d pulled out of.

Dad was waiting on the curb for our return. He walked over to us as I parked. The bald man gave me a smile and handed over a piece of paper.

“Excellent work, young lady. Passed with flying colors. Just hand this over when they take your photo for your new license. Drive safe and congratulations!”

“Thanks,” I said. Dad opened the car door for me, eager for the verdict. “I passed,” I told him.

“I’m so proud of you, honey,” he said, squeezing my shoulder as I got out of the car.

I shrugged his hand off. “I’ve got to get my picture taken,” I murmured. I was still thinking about the hurt look on his face as the MVD photographer snapped my driver’s license photo.

I made my first solo drive to school after dropping Dad off at home. Pulling into the school parking lot, I found a spot and killed the engine. Students hung out on the quad, savoring their last few moments of free time before the school day started. I spotted Cassie and Royal near the administration building. Cassie saw me and waved. I got out of the car as they headed over.

Royal gave me a shrewd once-over. “Someone’s been drinking her V-8.”

Cassie eyed the Firebird, awed. “Is that your Dad’s old car?” Over her shoulder, I saw Parker and a few other guys from the soccer team approaching. Derek trailed after them with this lost look, like a starving puppy desperate for a scrap of food.

“Yeah.” I ducked back into the car to grab my book bag, hoping Parker would pass us by. No such luck. I heard him give a low wolf-whistle as they got a clear view of the Firebird.

“Damn,” Parker said admiringly. “Get a load of...”

I stood up, book bag in hand, and Parker’s voice trailed off strangely. Wind teased my hair across my face. I shook my head, meaning simply to flip my hair back over my shoulder. In that same moment, a new gust caught my hair, streaming it out behind me as if someone were running their fingers through the strands. Parker and his friends stared.

Parker’s tone grew almost husky. “That.”

Cassie was still admiring the Firebird. “Wow, Braedyn... Wow. Last time I saw that car it was... he must have spent a fortune to restore it!”

I closed the door, eyeing Parker and his friends uneasily, then turned my back on them. “Yeah. I figured I’d have to slum around in some rust bucket through college. Guess not.”

Royal glanced at me. “Honey, when someone gives you a car for your birthday, you get excited. When someone gives you a freshly-painted classic car, you flip the freak out.” I heard the disapproval in his voice and winced.

“I... I know. Things have been...” I decided sticking close to the truth would be easiest. “I’m having some trouble with my Dad.”

“Does that mean he said no to a party at the Raven?” Cassie looked at me, disappointed. She and Royal had been pestering me to get an answer from Dad for weeks. I’d kept telling them he hadn’t made his mind up yet, but the truth was, I’d been so distracted lately I hadn’t pressed him. Considering everything else that was going on, a birthday party was pretty low on my list of things to worry about.

But as I looked at Cassie, I felt a surge of rebellion. If my old life was about to end, this might be my last chance to have a normal birthday. I wanted to celebrate it with my friends.

I smiled at Cassie and lied. “He’s totally up for it. We’re on.”

“Um, next time lead with that,” Royal said, his whole face lighting up. “We have to get the word out. Party at the Raven tonight!”

“I hear that place is the bomb,” Parker said. I turned around. Parker and his friends were still standing there, admiring my car. Cassie finally noticed him, blushing.