More Under the Surface

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Nova

Tuesday and Wednesday pass uneventfully. I feel better knowing Greyson was in Oakland at some point, but it's bothering me I can't place him.

Who was he friends with? Did I ever see him in the halls?

Wednesday night after work, a shift Greyson didn't share with me, I can't get my thoughts off of him.

It's irking me. I don't understand my fascination.

He's mean to me and I'm mean right back. We hate each other.

Still, I kind of find myself looking for him. And worse, I find myself oddly disappointed when he doesn't show.

Like in class yesterday, or at work tonight.

I flop onto the daybed, knowing I have a million more things to worry about other than Greyson Mare and his unpleasantness.

I think I enjoy our banter because it's made me feel most at home here, in a weird way.

Roxie and her friends are extremely nice to me, but I can sense their pity for my situation and the silence is deafening when I mention anything about my old life in Oakland or my dead parents.

They mean well. They simply don't know what to say, so instead they let their shifting glances do the talking.

Greyson, on the other hand, doesn't care. He doesn't pity me or try to tiptoe around me.

He's downright mean, and I'm twisted for appreciating it. I'd rather him honestly hate me than pitifully like me.

An incoming call grabs my attention, and I groan seeing its Caleb.

Can't he leave me alone? I was hoping he'd forget about me when I moved here.

Tilly is sound asleep; I can hear her distant snoring. But I don't want to risk her overhearing whatever Caleb wants to talk about tonight, so I step outside.

I go through the screened in deck to the open one, plopping down on the bench seat overlooking the water.

"Hello?"

A few nightlights down the shore illuminate the pitch-black water. Cicadas sing in the trees and a light breeze chills my bare arms.

"Are you going to the bonfire Friday night?"

"What?" How does he know about the bonfire?

"I said..." His voice drops menacingly, but unlike Greyson's, his holds no weird comfort. Caleb's voice is nothing but lethal. A loaded gun ready to shoot me in the head if I make one wrong move. "Are you going to the bonfire?"

"Yes."

"Who invited you?"

I pause a moment, feeling unsettled at his interest in the matter.

"A girl from school." I don't give him Roxie's name.

"A girl?"

"Yes, Caleb. A girl."

"I'll be there."

My heart drops to my stomach.

"Why?"

"Because I don't trust anyone else. Need I remind you that you belong to me?"

I exhale through my nose, closing my eyes to keep the feelings at bay.

"No. No need." How could I ever fucking forget?

"See you Friday night."

Dread pools in my stomach. Even half an hour away, I'm within his grasps.