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Slowly, I pulled myself away from Nathan. I needed to breathe and having him wrapped around me was too confining in the moment. I put my palms to my eyes, grinding out sleep and then stretched. “I should help,” I said. “And we should do something more besides babysit.”
“We’ll get someone to talk to Theo,” Nathan said. “We don’t have any proof he’s setting fires at all or doing anything wrong.” He reached out from where he lay, and pressed his palm to my back, rubbing along my spine. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you all this. You should know, though, that Theo has his reasons for being the way he is. It is very hard not to do more, but you can only help people willing to be helped. Like my dad. He’s somewhere else now because he can’t control his anger.” He sighed. “I have to watch mine, too.”
I turned slightly, looking down at him. “Yours?”
He moved to the edge of the couch and sat behind me, with his legs on either side of mine, and his arms circled around my waist. He reached up and pulled aside some of my hair and then kissed the back of my neck. It warmed me through. “I had to tell Mr. Blackbourne I kissed you. And he was asking how I felt about you. I had to tell him.”
I sucked in a breath and this time held it for so long, refusing to say anything. I didn’t want to interrupt, or say something wrong.
Nathan kissed my neck again, and then pressed his cheek against me. The rough hair along his jaw scratched, but it was a cozy sort of feeling. “Kota’s been my best friend since we were small. The others don’t feel any different to me. They’re the family that replaced my own, like for a lot of us. But a couple of weeks ago, I was really angry.”
He was talking about the time he’d confessed to wanting to leave them all. When he found out Dr. Green had kissed me, he was angry at him, and then mad about the biting from North and hickeys from Gabriel. “You’re not angry now,” I said quietly.
“No,” he said. His palm rubbed against my side again, and his arms held strong. “I’m not totally over it. Mr. Blackbourne was right: We’ve got things to do here, and I can’t leave them. I don’t really want to, anyway.”
“What do you want?” I asked.
“What do you want?” he asked. “That’s the real question. I never asked before and I should have.”
There were so many angles to that question. “I don’t want anyone to leave,” I said. “I feel like we...like I just got here. I mean, with you all. I still don’t know...”
He chuckled behind me, a rumble that shook me, too. “You don’t feel a part of this yet?”
“I didn’t know about Silas and his mom until just now. There’s a lot of you, and a lot to learn.”
His head moved against my shoulder, a nod. “And I was thinking of pulling you from the only group even I wouldn’t normally have left for anything. I shouldn’t have even thought to do it. I just couldn’t stand the thought of...” His lips twisted and then it turned into a kiss on my neck. “But what do I have to complain about? You’re here with me. Can’t worry about later. Have to focus on right now.”
“Like on Theo?” I asked. I wanted to talk more about different things, how he felt, but I sensed this was something he needed time with. Mr. Blackbourne had talked to him. That was the important part, right?
“Yeah,” he said. “We’ve got to help Silas. Then there’s this job we’re on. This homecoming week is going to be crazy. Hopefully our bomber gets caught at the dance without any issues.”
Nathan sat with me for a few minutes, but he eventually left me to take a shower. I curled up on the couch and dozed off.
Later, he shook me awake to let me know Kota was outside with the car.
“What car?” I asked before we made it outside. “Wasn’t his stolen?”
“One of North’s,” he said. “A temporary replacement. Actually, I’m hoping we don’t find Kota’s car. That old thing needed to die.”
Outside was a black four-door sedan, looking brand new. It had smooth lines and brown leather interior. Kota was in the driver’s seat waiting. Nathan opened the front passenger door for me to get in. He put himself in the back seat with our book bags.
“Keep the car, Kota,” Nathan said. He reached over, tapping at a flat screen display panel between us, pushing buttons at what seemed like random. “Kota, I’m telling you, keep the car.”
“We can’t drive this thing to the school. It’ll get broken into and stolen quicker than mine was.” Kota reached out, patting away Nathan’s hand. “Put your seatbelt on.”
Nathan pulled his hand back, grinning as he put his belt on. “They wouldn’t dare touch it. Not with the alarms on this thing.”
“We’re already in some trouble with it,” Kota said. He pulled the car out of the driveway and nodded his head to the driver in the car that was parked up the road, our escort sent from Mr. Hendricks. “They’re going to wonder where a bunch of kids came up with a car like this.”
“Then why even drive it?” Nathan asked.
“It was North’s idea, but I’m not sure I agree with it. If we make them try to figure out where we get cars from, it’ll distract them as we investigate what they’re up to.”
The idea of going back to school was daunting. For the past couple of weeks, I’d moved through school much like a zombie from one of Nathan’s horror movies: mindlessly doing what I was supposed to.
That state of mind had started after Jade had been taken out of school. I’d heard about it later, and knowing she wasn’t there was probably the only reason I even went back as soon as I did. Once I was in, I threw myself into schoolwork and doing whatever the boys asked me to do. I was excused from gym class for a couple of weeks, but this week I was supposed to return. I buried the thought, telling myself Jade was gone, reminding myself over and over.
Putting off thinking about it eased things. Keeping busy made it easy to not think of it right now.
Walking into the main hallway, though, it was impossible to forget where I was with homework or Academy work. Homecoming was this week, and there were posters and balloons hanging up all over. The hallways were crowded and students were louder than usual.
Nathan stopped on our way to the courtyard and nudged my arm. “Hey, check it out.”
I looked up and Kota turned at the same time so that we almost bumped into each other to see what Nathan was talking about.
Silas’s picture was on a poster of homecoming candidates.
I’d heard before that he was in the running, but because Silas had dismissed it, I didn’t expect a poster. I moved forward, away from the other boys, wanting a closer look.
The picture was of Silas at football practice, and then I noticed another one of him in the hallway. “Who took the pictures?” I asked.
“Probably school photographers,” Kota said. He stood beside me, close enough t
hat the material of his jacket rubbed against my arm. He adjusted his green messenger bag on his shoulder and then pointed at some of the other pictures. “See? The others are similar, either at a sport event or during school.”
“Might be yearbook pictures,” Nathan said. He ran his hand through his reddish hair and rubbed at his head. “Should we do something about it?”
“We may need to find out where the voting stands,” Kota said. “We need to be aware if he does manage to get himself elected, even if he isn’t trying.” He looked down at me. “Feel like being nosy?”
My lips parted. “What? Why?”
“You’re his girlfriend right now,” he said. “You could ask.”
“Would they let her?” Nathan asked. “They might think she’s cheating.”
Kota shrugged and turned down the hall. “Doesn’t hurt to find out. I don’t see how it’s cheating just being informed of who seems to be the most popular candidates.”
My heart started pounding very hard. I wasn’t sure what to say or who to ask. Kota seemed to have an idea though, so I followed him, weaving my way behind him through the crowded hall. Nathan shadowed me.
We ended up in a section of offices I hadn’t been in before. I wasn’t even sure what they did, but I guessed they must have been some sort of administration. The desks faced each other, with nameplates and phones that were already lighting up for the day on each.
We were standing close together just inside the door. Kota scanned the room. There was a bustle of other people around, filing in and sitting at their desks and getting ready for the day.
“Excuse me,” someone said and we all turned toward the voice, surprised to find Mr. Morris standing beside one of the desks. He wore jeans and a polo shirt and his critical eyes landed on me. “What are you doing in here? Students shouldn’t be back here.”
“Sorry,” I said quickly. He seemed to be talking directly to me so I felt obligated to respond.
“We were just looking for someone on the homecoming committee,” Kota said.
