Time's Daughter (16 page)

He dusted off white powder from his black pants. “I
think I got what I needed here.”

“
Okay,” I said in a perplexed
voice.

Alex started for the opening in the fence. “What’s
next?”

I gestured in the appropriate directions as the
ideas came to me. “Um, there’s the old asylum a half mile that way
that we’ve already been to and an old mill down by the river. ”

“
Let’s do the mill next,” Alex
said.

I decided I was in no hurry to go home.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

There was a strange tugging sensation on my sleeve seconds
after we’d started walking from the school. I glanced back, finding
Guy’s face instead of the camera. He looked at Alex. “Can you drop
me off at her apartment on the way? We don’t need two cameras on
you at the same time.”

“
Sure,” Alex said with a
half-smile.

I returned my attention forward, stealthily gnawing
on the left edge of my lip. Guy had been a silent buffer. If he
left me I’d be nearly alone with Alex.

To the black Chevy Cobalt we walked, part of the way
in silence. As I was coming to expect, Alex didn’t let us walk
quietly for long.

“
When do you think it will
snow?”

“
Usually around the beginning of
November,” I said while checking the clouds for rain.

“
That soon?”

This was a perfect chance to poke at him. “Yup and
it will continue right through until the end of March.”

An expression of absolute horror filled his face as
he stumbled over his feet. “
Nonstop
?”

I laughed at the reaction. “No. But if we get a good
coating and it stays cold then the snow won’t melt until
spring.”

“
Ugh.” He resumed his walk. “I’m
both dreading it and excited. I’ve never seen snow in
person.”

The idea of never seeing snow in person had never
occurred to me. If he’d never seen it in person then he wouldn’t
know about the
bad
parts. “It’s not as neat as it seems on
television. It gets dirty quick but they never show the brown stuff
on TV.”

“
Will you go sledding with
me?”

I turned in surprise at his seemingly sudden
question. His hopeful expression was so adorable that I couldn’t
help but give a nervous laugh. “I haven’t been sledding since I was
ten. I wouldn’t even know where to go now.”

Alex gave me a soft smile. “We’ll figure it out
together.”

“
We may have to because I can’t
picture you on a sled.” I grinned playfully. “It will be good for a
laugh.”

“
You’d laugh at me?”

“
Oooh, yesssss.” I nodded slowly for
emphasis as I held the words out.

Alex feigned a hurt expression. “That isn’t very
nice.”

“
Never said I was.”

His answer was soft. “I think you are.”

I shot a sidelong look at him, seeing he was
sincere. “You seem to have some weird opinions, Mr. Chattan.”

“
Mr. Chattan.” There was an uneasy
laugh following it. “That’s my dad.”

The reminder of his family made me clamp my mouth
shut. Alex sighed, perhaps understanding why I had. He didn’t speak
again until we were seated in the car. It looked the same as it had
before, still clean and free from wrappers.

After turning down the volume on a song I’d never
heard but thought I might like, he looked at me and asked a dumb
question. “So where do you live?”

I turned in confusion. He knew where I lived. He’d
dropped me off there.

But the cameras were on us. As far as the
documentary was concerned, Alex knew next to nothing about me and I
him.

“
Down on Eagle Drive.” I pointed to
the opposite side of the parking lot. “Take a left onto that road
and I’ll tell you where to go from there.”

He started in the direction I’d pointed. “I bet you
know all of the shortcuts.”

“
For walking, yeah.”

“
Ah, right.” He glanced at me in
between turning onto the street. “Is that why you work at Burning
Idea? Because it’s within walking distance?”

I bobbed my head. “That and Felix was the first one
to offer me a job after I’d interviewed at a few places.”

“
Where else did you
interview?”

“
The pharmacy, Hallmark and the
tuxedo shop that used to be down there.”

“
Tuxedo shop?” His eyebrows lifted.
“I bet that would be boring.”

“
Yeah, I’m glad I took the job at
Burning Idea. I get to do homework there when it’s
dead.”

The Cobalt soon pulled up in front of the apartment
building. Guy grunted several times as he struggled to get out of
the small backseat of the four-door car with his camera.

He waved from the sidewalk. “Bye, Aeon.”

I waved for him. “See you tomorrow, Guy.”

“
Guy?” Alex queried after his
cameraman shut the door and mine started walking toward his rental
car.

“
That’s his name. Guy the camera
guy.”

Alex shook his head and pulled the car forward. “I
don’t even know my camera guy’s name. I didn’t know we were allowed
to speak to them.”

I leaned back in my seat until I could see Alex’s
camera guy. “What’s your name, camera guy?”

“
Peter.”

“
Hi, Peter. I’m Aeon and this is
Alex.” Back to the front I faced but not before casting Alex a
triumphant smile. “See? He talks and even has a name.”

The camera guy chuckled from the back seat.

“
I think it’s funny that you’re shy
at school and yet you made friends with your camera guy before I
even considered it,” Alex said with a shake of his head.

“
Well, we did almost get flattened
by a drunk driver.” I lifted eyebrows knowingly at him. “Then Guy
got knocked to the ground during that attack on my co-worker. He
and I have already been through a lot together. I figured if he was
going to be following me around for six months then we might as
well learn each other’s names.”

Alex’s lips lowered into a frown at the mention of
his “attack”. I hoped he felt bad. There had been no need for it
and Trey was still nursing the wound.

“
Besides, I can be not-shy when I
want to be,” I said.

“
Do you want to be not-shy with me?”
He was watching me when he should be paying attention to the
road.

By the expectant look in his eye, I knew what answer
he wanted. But I couldn’t give it to him yet.

“
I haven’t decided yet.”

The road claimed his attention once again.

I let out the air I hadn’t realized I’d been holding
in when he didn’t growl or slash me with claws.

Alex spoke without looking away from the windshield.
“I’ve been wondering something since class. Why did you offer to go
on this photo shoot with me today out of the blue?”

My cheeks flushed a little because I hadn’t expected
to have to explain why I’d done it. “To be perfectly honest, the
twins were yakking about rumors involving you and it made me feel
bad for you.”

Alex let out a breathy laugh—a sound that might have
been incredulous. “This is a pity date?”

“
This is a date?”

His lips slid together as the smile faded. “I guess
not.”

Now I felt bad again. He seemed to be good at
garnering sympathy from me. “I didn’t exactly have time to get all
dolled up or anything,” I said in an effort to soothe any ruffled
feathers.

“
Then I’ll have to try again.” He
sent me a bright smile. “I’m dying to see what you look like
‘dolled up’.”

“
It’s this.” I gestured to myself.
“But I pull a comb through my hair twice.”

Alex’s laugh was lyrical and lovely. It was too nice
a sound in my opinion so I focused my attention on the passing
street.

“
You’ll want to take the next left,”
I said. “Then two blocks after that you’ll turn right.”

With the quick turns in the route to keep him
occupied, I was saved from further discussion of dates. It was
abundantly clear now that Alex did in fact like me. His admission
in the darkroom hadn’t been enough to make me believe it. But the
photo in his locker and his behavior since we’d left school had
backed those words up. And now he was even doing it in
front
of the cameras.

I didn’t know what I was going to do. I’d never
dated anyone in all my sixteen years. I had no idea how that
worked. There had been a few boys who had seemed to like me but had
never had the guts to ask me out. Alex didn’t lack in the guts
department. I liked that about him.

If I allowed myself to think about it, I actually
liked a lot about him. He was intelligent, kind and didn’t seem to
care what anyone thought about him. It helped that he seemed to
share my love of photography and Indie music. Plus, he knew my
darkest secret. He knew I was truly a freak and yet he still liked
me despite it.

Bravely, or foolishly, I hadn’t decided which it
was, Alex waded through the crumbling door of the mill building
minutes later. He was still on his quest to see if more homeless
people were squatting. I stood outside gnawing on my fingernails
with Peter the cameraman, worrying that Alex would fall through a
floor or have a wall collapse on top of him.

He emerged dusty but unharmed five minutes later and
put my fears to rest. It was a little startling to realize that I’d
known him for less than two weeks but already I cared about his
wellbeing.

“
What’s next?” he asked while
tapping the grey from his pants.

I shrugged because I had no idea what was next.
“There really isn’t much else except that soup kitchen.”

“
I went there last week like you
suggested.” Alex started for the car. “It’s just as well that there
isn’t another spot. I’m out of cash.”

My forehead knit in confusion. “Huh?”

“
Er, nothing.” He changed the
subject. “Do you need to get home or can we hang out?”

Hang out?
With Alex? I wasn’t sure I was
ready for that. And I did have a bunch of homework.

“
I probably need to study for my
math test,” I said, avoiding looking at him.

Even out of the corner of my eye I could see his
bright smile. “Maybe I can help. I’m good at math.”

“
Why am I not surprised?”

It was his turn to be confused by something I’d
said. “What?”

“
Nothing.” And mine to change the
subject. “So did you get all of the photos you needed?”

“
I think so.” He shook the camera at
me. “We’ll see when I develop this roll. The inside of that mill
was cool. I’d like to go back some time when there’s more light
from the west.”

Alex spent the time it took us to get back to the
apartment explaining all of the cool things he’d seen inside the
run-down mill. The car came to a stop outside the apartment
building a few short minutes later. I glanced at him awkwardly with
my hand on the door handle.

It hadn’t been a date but I wasn’t sure if I was
supposed to tell him I’d had a good time. I couldn’t really say
that I had. Standing around worrying about his safety hadn’t been
my idea of fun.

He seemed to grin, a toothier version of his usual
smile. “Is it too soon to ask you for that real date?”

“
No.” My answer was breathy from
nervousness.

Alex’s grin faded into a serious expression. “When
is your next day off?”

“
Sunday,” I said. He frowned a
little. “But I’m supposed to finish at five on
Saturdays.”

The grin was back. “Would picking you up at
seven-thirty on Saturday give you enough time to get dolled
up?”

A laugh shook out of me. “I might only have enough
time to run the comb through one and a half times.”

I swear Alex’s eyes twinkled. “Then I guess I’ll
have a reason to ask for another one.”

I opened the door before he’d see my heated cheeks
and think less of me, murmuring, “See you tomorrow.”

His voice softened. “Night, mute girl.”

I was smiling like a weirdo when I walked through
the apartment door.

“
I was just getting worried about
you,” my mother said from the sink.

“
Sorry, I should have left a
note.”

She shrugged her narrow shoulders lightly as she
fiddled with something beneath the water. “I assumed you were at
the library or conned into working more at the store.”

“
I have a date.”

She turned with round eyes, forgetting to turn off
the water. “Really?”

I nodded.

She stared mutely for a pair of seconds. A smile
burst onto her lips. “My little girl has a date?”

“
Yeah.”

“
It’s your first one,
right?”

“
Yes.”

She lifted a hand to her heart, dampening her shirt.
“Phew, I thought I hadn’t missed it but I never know…”

“
I wouldn’t hide something like that
from you, Mom.”

“
Oh, come give me a hug. I’m so
happy for you!” Mom held out her arms. She made grabby gestures
because I hadn’t moved fast enough. She wrapped her damp hands
fully around me. “What’s the name?”

I almost laughed at her tactful question. She wasn’t
even sure if I liked boys. It made me hug her tighter.

“
Alex Chattan, he’s new.”

“
Tell me allll about him over
dinner.”

And I did, but I left out a few key bits.