Fate's Return (Twisted Fate, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Pasting a smile to my face, I begged Suzie with my eyes for help once Brenan set me down. I was too dizzy from the circles he'd danced me in to ask, though with everyone pausing to stare, it was impossible to speak up without advertising my less-than-welcoming reaction. I had learnt how to ignore the staring—it never lasted. People always watched but never paused on their way to whatever it was they were meant to be doing. But here? Standing in the middle of a crowd like we were the main attraction of a freak show?

Awk-ward.

I couldn't say what I needed to convey to Brenan with so many people tuned in, hanging onto every sound. If his greeting was any indication, he wasn't going to receive it well, but my heart wasn't in it. Pretending anything else wasn't fair, and... Well, I couldn't force it to happen for us. Did Mike, Gabe and Raffy see something I couldn't? Something that made them dislike Brenan so much? Or was it just because he was interested in me and they felt like big brothers who had to protect their little sister?

Whatever it was, their reaction combined with my own hesitancy, kept me from reciprocating. Oh, I thought I had begun to start to feel something for Brenan, but after the hospital? The dreams that couldn't be remembered? Something in my gut told me that it was wrong, and despite feeling like I was losing my mind in every other aspect of my life, I had to trust what that feeling was trying to tell me: Brenan wasn't who I was meant to be with.

Suzie, having stepped to the side to avoid getting kicked as my legs swung, leaned forward and knitted her eyebrows.

Don't you get it? I wanted to scream at her, but either she understood and refused to help, or she was clueless. I hoped it was the latter, but only for the sake of our friendship. In any case, I was on my own, and talking to Brenan would have to wait until we were alone.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice laced with concern. When he stepped forward to open the door for me, it was like someone pressed play to a movie that was set on pause, and everyone began acting their parts again.

"Better." I nodded, pulling my bag back onto my shoulder as I passed. I kept my gaze on the floor and side-stepped to the left when he inched to my side, maintaining a minimum distance of a foot between us as we started walking down the hall to first period.

"How's the party planning going?"

"Stalled until my dad can prove to my mom that it's safe." I held the strap of my bag with both hands to avoid having to hold his or, even worse, refusing to hold it. Just because no one was stopping to stare didn't mean they weren't still watching.

"I'm sure she's just worried," he said. "They were both pretty freaked when they got to the hospital."

I looked up, narrowing my eyes. "You were there when they got there? How?"

Swallowing, I forced myself to look away, not wanting it to seem like I was accusing him of anything. I caught the gaze of the students we passed. I mean, wouldn't my parents have been called first and then, after making sure I was okay, they would tell everyone else? Doctors wouldn't call anyone but family, and my parents definitely hadn't seemed like they were thinking of calling anyone from the few snippets I saw when I was conscious.

"I was visiting someone and ran into your friends on my way out." He looked down at me and forced a smile when we reached the door to our classroom. "They really care about you."

I nodded. After a year working together, of course they cared. "Who were you visiting?"

"My grandfather." He smiled at someone on his left, and then met my gaze. "He's having a knee replacement."

"Having?" I'd been home for a day and had arrived at the hospital four days before that. "Do they admit patients that far ahead of their surgery?"

"He came in the day you did and had the surgery the next day."