Believe

Chapter Four: The Warning

The bell rang to end fourth hour and I jumped a little in my seat, in my old school the bells had been old and rusty so they hadn’t been so loud. Jean, Melissa, McKenna, Blaire, and I all got up out of our seats and left the American History classroom and started toward Locker Hall. We were going to drop our books off then go to the cafeteria for lunch.


         I was absolutely ecstatic. My first day couldn’t have been more perfect. I had found friends, had got to all of my classes on time thanks to Matt’s tour of the school, and hadn’t had to deal with Euan at all except for our awkward conversation before school.  I even liked all of my teachers. Mr. Nummer was a little crazy, but I was sure I would get use to him.


         “Gabby?” I heard a voice ask and almost jumped again, I had totally forgotten that I was at school for a little bit. “Gabby? Did you hear a word I just said?”


         “No, I’m sorry Blaire. I was thinking,” I smiled at Blaire sheepishly. I looked around for the rest of the girls. I saw them about fifty yards ahead of us turning down the corridor that held all the lockers. I wondered why we had lagged so far behind.


         “What did you say?”


         “Well… there is some more to that whole Siduous slash McCready story. I didn’t want to tell everybody because they will probably think I am weird. Well weirder then they already think I am because of the story I just told you guys.” Blaire’s eyes darted around to make sure that no one was going to be listening.


         “Why are you telling me?” I was starting to get confused. Why was Blaire telling me all these things about Euan and Matt that she would not tell her friends?


         “Because you live with the McCready’s and this may be really important. I’m willing to risk you thinking I’m crazy.” Blaire and I had turned down Locker Hall and were walking as close together as we could get. I did like Blaire a lot. She seemed to understand everything that I tried to tell her. She was sincere and straightforward as well, they were two qualities I admired. She was possibly one of the greatest people I had ever met. She and I clicked immediately.


         “Um…okay, shoot,” I was starting to get a little excited. I did not really care about what she had said about me getting hurt, I was almost positive that the McCready’s were harmless. I mean, seriously, what was going to happen? Was I going to getting turned into a vampire or werewolf or something? Everything about Deadstone Creek was absolutely harmless.


         “My grandmother says that both of the families are under some sort of curse. She says that the families are forced to fight until something comes and breaks it. I don’t know what the certain something is, but she says that is why Matt and Euan are so odd and want to basically kill each other.


         “She says she believes they are trying to break the curse, she also says that it has to do with some long kept family secret. She claims to know what their family secret but won’t tell me because she thinks she’ll end up like the Deadstone’s. She is the oldest person of the Deadstone community so I am inclined to believe her. She is seriously almost one hundred and ten. Please…be careful around them. I think they might be dangerous.” Blaire said this all really fast. I barely caught all of what she said. I got most of the message and I wanted to believe what she was saying, but I found I just couldn’t. It was too outrageous.


         “I’ll…keep it in mind Blaire, thank you for telling me.” I didn’t want her to feel like I was going to make fun of her or not believe her. Some of what she said was what I already thought, but it was all coming to easy…there had to be a catch. Things weren’t solved so easily, but I supposed the mystery wasn’t really solved.


         Blaire smiled, “I knew telling you was the right choice, something was just nagging at me to tell you.”


         Blaire and I put our books away and caught up to the other girls who were waiting for us just outside Locker Hall.


         “Wow, you guys walk slow enough?” Melissa stated as she pulled a mirror out of her purse and checked her reflection.  We started walking down the hallway, talking about our worst school lunches.


         McKenna was in the midst of what had to be the worst lunch experience ever, involving a band-aid and a piece of pizza, when we all heard Melissa’s mirror click shut quickly and saw her toss her hair over her shoulder.


         “Don’t look now girls, but both Matt and Euan are walking this way,” she whispered and started walking slower then she already was.


         Euan breezed past us quickly with the barest glance at me and a nod of his head at the other girls while Matt stopped right next to us still staring at Euan’s retreating back.


         “He isn’t the most hospitable, is he?” He looked at me and winked. Okay, I was starting to get just a little bit creeped out. I felt a weird sensation in the pit of my stomach, like something was wrong. I couldn’t figure out what made me feel that way. I noticed that everyone was staring at me, waiting to see what I would do.


         “Not exactly,” I smiled nervously back at him. “Matt, I assume you know my new friends?”


         “Yes, McKenna Morrison, Blaire Scotchstin, Melissa Etheral, and Jean McKean.” Matthew smiled at each of them in turn. As soon as his smile hit them I saw them visibly melt. I rolled my eyes, and they had said they liked Euan better. The only one that didn’t respond was Blaire. She barely met his gaze and dropped back to walk behind us. “I believe that I’ll eat lunch with you ladies today.”


         “Why?” Asked Melissa quickly, she tossed her hair over her shoulder again and smiled sweetly.


         “Well, all of you ladies are pretty…and I want to make sure our newest student is at home in her new school.” Matt smiled down at me and all my new friends giggled. Blaire shot a dark look at Matt. “Shall we?”


         We all headed toward the door I assumed lead to the cafeteria and I soon noticed that our group was talking less and staring more. I really couldn’t see what was so great about him that made all the girls go gaga. I mean he was charming and handsome, but there was something that wasn’t entirely right about him. Blaire seemed to get the same feeling as I did because she didn’t talk to him once. She had just told me she didn’t entirely trust him, I was dumb to believe that she would act any way different then what she felt, she was not that kind of person.


          However, I had to admit I didn’t mind all the attention I was getting from Matt. Guys at my old school never paid much attention to me and Matt seemed to be making me his prime person to talk to. I could tell the rest of my friends were starting to get a little angry that Matt was paying more attention to me then to them, but I wanted to revel in the attention just a little longer.


         “Well, this is our usual table Gabby,” I heard Jean say as she sat at the table closest to the cafeteria windows. She looked at Matt as he took the seat next to me. Probably thinking how glad she was that she had decided to talk to me during first hour.


          The Deadstone High School cafeteria was beautiful. The architects hadn’t spent too much time decorating the hallways or classroom, but the cafeteria was absolutely magnificent.


         One whole wall was made up of windows that looked out upon the Deadstone High’s sport complex then a forest of birch, oak, and redbud trees. I knew that we were sitting on the second story of the cafeteria because I was looking down on the baseball field, track, and outdoor volleyball net rather than across at it.


         The rest of the cafeteria was made of brick and had a high vaulted ceiling, with stairs that climbed to a second story. The line for the food was located on the opposite side of the windows, it was all kept very clean and orderly. What I was amazed at was the number of tables that the cafeteria sat. Upstairs, were we were sitting, there were at least forty tables and downstairs there had to be at least seventy to eighty.


         “This cafeteria is huge!” I exclaimed as I took a seat opposite of Jean and next to McKenna, Matt took the space next me. The tables were circular at this school, at my old school the tables had been more like elongated picnic tables and it had been very inconvenient to try and talk to people farther down or up the table then yourself. Needless to say I like this set up much better.


         “Well, architects thought we needed an extremely large place to eat and run around in,” Matt said taking a bite of his sandwich.


         I looked around at the people at my table, Matt seemed to be completely in his element talking about this and that, trying to get the other girls to laugh. The girls were taking the smallest bites possible out of their lunch and trying to be flirty and funny. Melissa turned into a complete idiot and Blaire just kept quiet. Boys make girls act dumb, well at least Matt made them act that way.


         “Gabby, is D.C.H.S to your liking so far?” Matt looked at me and finished off the last of his sandwich.


         “So far I like it about one thousand times better than my old school.” I smiled around at everybody. It was primarily thanks to the sudden attention I was getting from the boys at Deadstone.


         “Good, good,” Matt said distractedly. I looked in the direction that his head was turned and saw one of the most gorgeous girls I had ever seen.


         The girl was staring right at our table. She had long black hair that was glossy and straight. She had piercing blue eyes that seemed to be analyzing everybody at the table. Her clothes looked expensive and complemented her shape and her skin tone. I was afraid to even look at her. As she got up and started walking towards the table we all looked down at our meals and ate quietly.


         “Matthew Siduous…we need to talk,” the girl said as she reached her table. I looked around at my friends as Matthew nodded once and followed the girl out the door.


         “Who was that?” I asked taking a sip of the drink I had gotten for lunch. All the others girls started eating as well. They seemed to have touched very little of their food while Matt had been at the table.


         “She was Matt’s last girlfriend,” sighed Melissa. “Her name is Amanda Goodwin. She is the richest girl in school and, needless to say the most popular. She and Matt broke up a few days before the first day of school. They had been dating for almost two years when he broke up with her. I heard that he said that he wanted to be open to other options, not just her.”


         “Oh,” I said as I watched Matt and Amanda as they headed toward the only doors in the cafeteria. 


         “He said that?” Jean asked looking at Melissa.


         “That had to hurt her ego,” snorted Blaire into her salad. “Still…it is weird that they broke up, everyone swore that they were going to be together forever. They never seemed to be interested in anybody but themselves. Matt didn’t even look at any other girls when they were dating, and they practically threw themselves at him.”


         Matt didn’t come back for the rest of the lunch period. I guessed that he and Amanda had some very serious ‘talking’ to do. When the bell rang to end the lunch period I jumped a little in my seat, the rest of the day I didn’t have classes with Jean, Melissa, Blaire, or McKenna. I was on my own.


         Fifth hour I had Gym with Mrs. Wilcocks, sixth hour I had choir with Mr. Druming and seventh hour I had Pre-Calc with Ms. Danarow. All my classes went by without a hitch. I was pretty positive I could handle the last three hours of the day and I thought that right up until I walked into the Pre-Calculus room.


          The room was completely full except for one chair and that chair was right behind Euan and right in front of Matt. I figured that the classroom must have been set up in alphabetical order because I was sure that Matt and Euan would never choose to sit that close together. I took a deep breath and took my seat. Not looking at either boy as I sat down.


         “Class? Class! Pay attention!” The teacher sat at the front of the classroom. She was a short woman with long salt and pepper hair that was pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She smiled as the class was silent and said, “We have a new student joining us this year. Could you stand up for us Ms. Macintosh?”


         I stood slowly and smiled shyly at the class. This had to be the most uncomfortable day in the world for me. I hated it when people stared at me and that was exactly what people had been doing the whole day. After I had stood for a few seconds I sat quickly back into my seat.


         “Thank you Ms. Macintosh. Now as you all know, this is Pre-Calculus this year we will be learning…” the teacher’s voice droned on, but I stopped paying attention when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I leaned back a little against my shoulder to show that I was listening.


         “Sorry I left during lunch, how were your last few hours?” Matt’s voice whispered next to my ear.


         I turned my head a little and answered, “They were fine, but I’ll be glad when it is over.”


         I heard Matt chuckle, the teacher was now passing out books. Euan took one a turned around to give me one. He smiled gently at me, than shot a dirty look at Matt. I gave a book to Matt then turned to the front as if I was paying close attention to what the teacher had to say, but I was lost in thought.


         Blaire hadn’t been kidding when she said Matt and Euan hated each other. If I had thought that his looks could kill the other day in the clearing, the one Euan had given Matt would have burnt him to a crisp on the spot. I wondered if it had to do with the family feud thing that Blaire had been talking about earlier, but it had been an awfully long time ago.


         “What are you thinking about?” Came a voice from behind me. I about jumped out of my chair, I had totally forgotten I was still in class. I looked quickly up at the teacher to see if she had finished talking, she was sitting comfortably at her desk talking to the two students in the front row.


         “I was just thinking about what Blaire said to me earlier.” I turned to face Matt. I almost turned around again, he made me nervous. How could he want to associate with a girl like me? I didn’t mind him wanting to talk to me all the time though.


         “And what did she say to make you think so deeply?  I called your name three times and tapped you on the shoulder.” Matt smiled.


         “She told me a few things about the people here and I was just trying to see if it was true. I love to try and solve mysteries, and there is something about it that I love, even if it is just some little rumor.” I added the end quickly. I could tell Matt was going to ask who the people were and I really didn’t want to tell him who it was. I was a bit rusty at my people skills, but I was pretty sure bringing up an ancient family feud that was obviously still affecting the families, was not the way to go.


         “Oh,” Matt smiled again and brushed a little strand of my hair out of my eyes. The movement almost made me jump out of my skin. No one had ever done that to me except for my mom. Luckily, I maintain control of my body and was able to show no outward sign that the move had startled me. Well, except for the blush that I felt creeping up my face. I was not sure exactly what I thought of Matt, there was still a odd feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was a possibility it was just because he was the first boy to really talk to me and try to get to know me.


         “You do like it here, though?”


         “Yes,” I looked down, away from his green eyes. I quickly tucked my hair behind my ears so he wouldn’t have a chance to.  “I think I’ll like it a lot. So far it seems a lot better than my old school. With the exception of Mr. Nummer, I am pretty sure he is the spawn of the Underworld.”


         Matt laughed out loud, he tried to keep his laugh quite, but people on the other side of the room turned and looked at us. The girls all stared at Matt like he was some god then gave me a dirty look before turning around to talk to their friends.


         “Mr. Nummer can act like that he likes to pick on the new kids to see how they’ll stand up. If you stand up well, you’ll be one of his favorite students, if you don’t…well he’ll probably leave you alone. He is a weird guy, but once you get to know him he will be one of your favorite teachers.” Matt looked around the classroom and smiled at one of the many girls starring at him, she fluttered her eyelashes and smiled coyly.


         “I’m sure,” I said sarcastically. “I am pretty sure he hates me, he put me right in the front row.”


         “He did?” Matt turned his green eyes back on me. “That means he liked you, he thought you had spunk. That is what he did to me my freshman year, don’t worry you’ll do fine in his class. So, what are you doing after school today?”


         “Me?” I asked looking up at him quickly.


         “Yes you, who else do you think I am talking to? Your good buddy Euan up there?” He asked and laughed at his own joke, I smiled shyly.


         “Um…I don’t think I am doing anything tonight.” I answered nervously. Why would he want to do something after school with me?  My heart started pounding harder as the thought of being alone with Matt on some kind of date. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Euan had whip around in his seat to face us.


         “Yes, Gabriella will be doing something tonight. I am sorry Matthew, but she will not be available.” Euan said staring down Matt. Matt returned the glare full force.


         “And what will she be doing that she cannot come with me?” Matt slouched in his chair and crossed his arms.


         “She and my grandmother have something to do tonight,” Euan continued to stare at Matt as if he was the scum of the Earth.


         “No we don’t.” I was confused. Why were they arguing over me?


         “Yes you do, check your cell phone.” Euan nodded his head toward my purse.


         I looked at him questionably as I opened my purse and looked at my cell phone, to my surprise I got signal and I had a new text message on my phone. I opened the message and read what was on the screen.


          Gabby, Eleanor wants you to go out to coffee together after school.  Love you. Mom.”


         “I guess I do have something to do after school,” I looked at my phone again. There was something funny about the message, something wasn’t right.


         “Oh,” said Matt disappointedly then smiled at Euan. “I guess it will have to be another time. I’m sure we can make plans. You can’t be busy every day.”


         With that, Matt started toward the group of girls he had smiled at earlier, they moved aside to let him in their group and smiled at me victoriously. I rolled my eyes at them and turned toward Euan.


         “So is this your cell phone number?” I asked showing him the message that had supposedly come from my mom. I glanced at the teacher to see if she noticed my phone, I did not want a detention on the first day of school.


         “Yes,” Euan looked at the phone quickly then surveyed the classroom.


         “Why?’ I questioned looking at him, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. “And how did you get it?”


         “You should stay away from Matthew Siduous,” he said quickly still looking around the room. “He isn’t…savory.”


         “Nice of you to warn me now,” I lowered my voice so no one could hear me. I didn’t know how much of what Euan said about Matt was true. They hated each other, so he could be skewing the details to make Matt look bad. I didn’t understand what was so wrong with him. Everyone else seemed to like him. “It would have been nice to know before he started talking to me.”


“When was I supposed to tell you? I couldn‘t find you this morning!” Euan’s eyes whipped around to meet mine. I could tell by the way he held his jaw that he was irritated. 


         “I got lost! You fail to remember that I am new here!” I shot back viciously. I kept my voice down, but this boy had to be most infuriating guy on the entire Earth!


         “Okay, okay…settle down, I didn’t mean to offend you,” he started to turn to face front again.


          “Sorry I got so worked up.”  I felt bad for my behavior. I had given Euan nothing but a hard time since I had met him.


         But he has given me a hard time as well.  It was his fault. He was the one who started it all.  He was the one who said that he wanted nothing to do with me.  The teacher was talking but I didn’t pay attention. My mind was thinking about other things. Who was Euan to tell me who I can or cannot talk to? I would talk to Matt all I want, and if it bothered him…all the better!


         The bell for the end of class rang and I hurried out of the classroom, not wanting to talk to either Euan or Matt. I hurried to Locker Hall and quickly put my stuff inside of my locker. I wanted to leave, but then again I didn’t want to leave. I knew I had a five minute ride with Euan all the way back home, I wasn’t looking forward to that.


         “Gabby!” I heard a voice exclaim as I hurried down the hallway. I turned to see Jean, Blaire, McKenna, and Melissa. They all had their keys out and were ready to go.


         “Where are you going so fast?” Melissa pushed her way up from behind Blaire. “Are you all anxious to go ride in the car with Euan?”


         All of the girls laughed and I felt myself start to blush, this made the girls stop laughing completely and stare at me.


         “Guys…I don’t think we should tease…” started Blaire, but McKenna cut in.


         “You don’t like him…do you?”  I shook my head and I heard all the girls exhale.


         “Good, because I have had my eye on him since I came to this school,” Melissa smiled and pulled out some lip gloss to apply to her lips. For some reason this comment made me mad. She had no right to say that about Euan, he was not a piece of property. Plus the thought of Euan being with the Lip Gloss Queen made my blood boil, I told myself to calm down. Euan was not mine to control, I mean, I barely knew him.


         Jean laughed and started toward the door. McKenna and Melissa started talking with Jean, but I fell in step with Blaire. I smiled at her and we started following the other girls silently. We had just reached Melissa and Jean’s cars when we heard a call from behind us.


         “Gabriella? Gabriella!” I turned and faced Euan with what I hoped to be an angry glance. He looked absolutely furious, what had I done now?


         “Gabriella! I have been looking all over the school for you! You should have told me you were leaving!” He grabbed my upper arm and it suddenly started to tingle. It didn’t hurt, it was just a firm pressure, but I didn’t want anyone to drag me away like I was three years old.


         I tried to pull my arm away, but succeeded in only hurting my arm. Euan gave my arm a gently tug. I looked up at him furiously and waved good-bye to my friends. I saw Jean and Melissa whispering and McKenna trying to hear what they were saying. Blaire stood just outside of their circle looking in my direction with her eyes squinted. I wondered what she was doing, Euan gave my arm another tug and I turned to face front.


         When we got to his car he led me around to the other side and opened my door. I slid in trying to give him an angry glare the entire time. When he saw my face he, laughed, and shut the door. This just made me even more furious, this guy was an absolute jerk! He was an insufferable, stupid, insolent asshole!


         When Euan got in the car still chuckling to himself,. I shook my head as I felt my temper flare slightly. I wanted to cross my arms and throw myself against his stupid leather seat, but I decided I had better act mature. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.


         “I don’t appreciate being treated that way!” I said as calmly as I could, trying not to be totally disagreeable.


         “I’m sorry, but I didn’t want you to get away again.” Euan was still smiling like I had said the funniest thing in the world.


         “And just where do you think I would be going?” I stared at him, then at the road. It would be a lot easier to be mad at him if I wasn’t being side-tracked by his looks.


         “How did I know that you weren’t going to go off with Matthew, leave me Gabriella-less and make me explain to your mother were you had gone?” Euan was no longer smiling; he was looking darkly out the front windshield. I swore that he had to have violent mood swings or something. One minute he is happy, the next mad, the next cautious. He was probably just as crazy as his grandparents.


         “I already told you that I wasn’t going to go with him. Did you think I was incapable of making other friends or just a liar?” I looked at him again and he was gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were turning white.


         “Well…” started Euan, but seemed to think better and changed the subject. “How did you meet Matthew?”


         What an excellent subject changed. I rolled my eyes before answering, “After I couldn’t find you in front of the school I tried to make my own way to the office. I ran into him on accident.”


         “I am so sure it was an accident,” Euan said so softly that I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. How couldn’t it be an accident? I didn’t run into him on purpose.


         “What do you mean?”


         “I mean I don’t think that you running into him was an accident,” Euan replied to my question he was traveling along the winding road that lead to our home.


         “Well I certainly didn’t run into him on purpose,” I said indignantly.


         “I didn’t say you did it on purpose,” Euan was still staring out the window like he wanted to murder someone. At that moment we arrived back home. I almost wished the car ride would have been a little longer. Was Euan going to tell me what was up between him and Matt? Maybe he was…just maybe.


         Later that night I was up in my bedroom trying to organize the few things I had brought to personalize my room. I was just putting on the finishing touches when I heard the phone ring downstairs. I didn’t worry about it and continued fussing with the new fuzzy towels my mom had bought me after work.


         “Gabby!” I heard my mom yell. I got up wondering what on Earth she wanted.


         I hurried down my staircase and almost ran into my mom outside my door.


         “Gabby…it’s a boy! He says he would like to talk to you!” My mom smiled ecstatically, practically shoving the phone at me. Back home not one boy had called me. I thought my mom had always been a little sad at that fact, but my dad had thought it was the best thing in the world.


         I took the phone and smiled back at my mom, “Hello?”


         “Hello Gabby,” I heard Matt’s voice on the other side of the line. A small shiver ran though my body, I couldn’t believe he had taken the time to call me! At first I wasn’t sure why he called the McCready’s landline, then I remembered that he didn’t have my cell phone number.


         “Matt? Hi, what are you up to?” I asked a little breathlessly. I was actually talking on the phone to a guy. I realized that I was such a geek. I had better act like I had done this hundreds of times. I didn’t want Matt to think I was a loser.


         I tried to sound as casual as I could, but on the inside I was more excited than my mom was. My mom was hovering around me trying to see what was going on. I gave her a look that said I would tell her later. She motioned that she would be in her room, waiting. I nodded, smiling at her, and turned to go up my stairs.


         “Nothing much, I am just hanging around my house. So I was wondering if you wanted to do something after school next week. It would be sooner, but open gyms for basketball are everyday this week.” Matt’s voice sounded really relaxed. He probably had done this hundreds of times. I reached my bedroom and looked around at it smiling, this was starting to become the best day of my life.


         “Um…I don’t think that I’m doing anything after school on Thursday or Friday.” I replied, I looked out my window and saw something move out of the light from my room.


         “I was hoping we could do something sooner, but Thursday is just as good. How about we go to the small café in town?” Matt asked. I had no idea what café he was talking about, but going on a date anywhere with Matt sounded good to me. The creepy vibe I had been getting form him earlier had vanished entirely.


            “That sounds fine to me. Do you want to take me home or should I find another way home?” I knew that he probably didn’t want to drive me back to the McCready’s because they basically hated each other’s guts, but I guess it never hurts to ask.


         “Oh, I’ll just take you home. I am not worried about it.” I could hear that Matt was smiling. I didn’t understand what he found that amusing, but I didn’t really care I was finally going on my first date!


         “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” I said, I knew my mom was probably waiting impatiently to see what was going on.


         “Bye,” I heard Matt say as I hung up the phone.


         As I turned the phone off I started to jump up and down. My first date, I was actually going to become a normal girl who had actually been on a date. I was really excited. I looked in the mirror and saw that my cheeks were a little flushed. I took a couple deep breaths to calm myself, but the excitement still bubbled in my stomach. I couldn’t wait to tell my mom, no doubt she’d be even more excited then I was.


         I was walking down the hall to my mom’s room thinking about my date on Thursday when I ran into something hard that knocked me back a few steps. The place where my body hit tingled and I knew instantly who I had run into.


         “Leave me alone.” I said, as I tried to walk around Euan.


         “Gabriella, can’t you at least take my advice on this one?” Euan asked. I didn’t know this kid so I wasn’t quite sure why he kept bothering me about my own life. I wasn’t going to blow off the first person to ever ask me out on a date just because Euan didn’t like him.


         “No, and I want to know how you knew who I was talking to.  Hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you actually answer my question this time.” I was trying to walk around Euan, but he successfully blocked my path every time. I stopped and looked at him with mock surprise. “You weren’t eavesdropping were you?”


         “No, I wasn’t eavesdropping, I used deductive reasoning. Your mom told my grandmother that a boy had called for you. Since Matthew was the only other boy you talked to besides me, I knew who it was that called.” Euan darted across the hallway to stop me from going through. “And since I was in the classroom when Matthew asked you to do something after school with him, I knew what he was asking as well.”


         “Euan, you cannot tell me who I can or cannot talk to! I will talk with whoever I want! If it bothers you then all the better because you are seriously starting to get on my nerves!” I tried ducking down and going around him, but I could get past him.


         “I’m just looking out for your welfare. You don’t know Matthew like I do,” Euan grunted as I pushed against his stomach in a form of a football tackle.


         “And you know him so well, do you? I don’t need a bodyguard. I can take care of myself.” I pushed against his stomach once more and I felt him grab my upper arms. My arms start to tingle; then something like electricity shot up and down my arms causing me to have goose bumps. I looked him full in the eyes for the first time since this confrontation started. To my utter disappointment I instantly noticed his eyes. They were a blue-green in color with small gold flecks throughout them.


         “You don’t need a bodyguard?” He asked as he lowered his face down so it was on the same level with me. I could tell by his eyes that he was furious, but I did not shrink away from his gaze. “From what I have seen so far, you should invest in one. I’m just trying to help you. I am doing this for your own good. You have to trust me; do not let Matthew draw you into his trap.”


         “Trust you?” I sputtered, being in this close proximity with him made me a little light headed and the tingles did not help anything. I held my ground, I wasn‘t going to go soft on the guy because I thought he was hot. “How can I trust you, I barely know you. In the few days I have known you, you have, let me see, made me feel bad about myself, sent me a fake text message from my mom, left me to fend for myself at a new school and humiliated me in front of the few friends I have managed to make. And you tell me to trust you? Does that sound like someone I should trust?”


         “You forget to state that in the few days I have known you I have saved you from falling into a ravine, saved you from the middle of the forest when you blacked out, taken you to school, saved you form Matthew Siduous once and also got back home safely.” Euan still held my arms at my side, but I felt his grip loosen a little.


         “That may all be true, but…” I started to say when all of the sudden I heard footsteps going up the stairs and I felt Euan pull me into the nearest door.


         “What the…?” I tried to speak again but Euan put one of his hands over my mouth and pulled me as far away from the door as possible, which just so happened to be right against his chest. I felt my whole body start to tingle and my lips pulse with my heart. What was wrong with me?


         The footsteps drew closer to our hiding place; both Euan and I inhaled deeply as the footsteps stopped right outside the closet. I knew that we could both hear the pacing footsteps that hovered right outside the door and neither of us wanted to breath to deeply for fear that we might be found. For some reason I knew if we were found we would be in trouble.


         “Where are those two at?” I heard the gruff voice of Wallace grumble himself before I heard his footsteps carry him away from our hiding spot. 


         Both Euan and I breathed a sigh of relief before I realized the awkward position we were in. I got his hand off of my mouth and my body as far away from his as possible then felt for the string to turn on the closet light. There was no way I was going to stay alone with him in the dark.


         “What was all of that about?” I asked looking at Euan, whose eyes were darting from my face to the door with a nervous expression.


         “It was nothing. I knew that Wallace would think it unseemly if he found us nose to nose in the hallway.” Euan seemed to regain his composure. He looked like he always did when he looked at me, disdainful and disgusted.


         “Oh and he is not going to find it ‘unseemly’ that we are in a closet together?” I said sarcastically. I knew that I hadn’t been the nicest person in the world to him since I got here, but he certainly hadn’t rolled out the welcome mat either.


         “He may. What’s it to you what my parents think? You obviously hold some kind disdain for my family.” Euan’s eyes glowed under the light of the closet.


         “I hold no disdain for any member of you family with the exception of you.” I hissed through gritted teeth.


         “Yet, I am the one who you should be most thankful towards after I saved you.”


         “You were already in the area, you did it not because there was a life in need of saving but because you knew you could use it as a tool over me. I know something strange is going on in your family and the Siduous too for that matter.”I gave him a hard look before saying, “You have two options, Euan McCready. You can either tell me the truth or you can lie to me again and I will most defiantly never trust you about Matthew.”


         I saw several emotions play across Euan’s face. At first he looked angry then he looked thoughtful. Several others ran across his face while he was making the decision and in the end, I felt he had chosen the wrong one.


         “I…I can’t Gabriella. It’s complicated…I just can’t tell you. If you could just understand, just figure out…” Euan looked defeated, as if he had just said something that didn’t agree with what he thought was right.


         “Well then,” I really had nothing to say. “I guess I will leave you. By the way, I will not need a ride home from school on Thursday.”


         With that I left the closet, feeling bad for what I had just done. I fought the urge to look back and see what emotion lay on Euan’s face now.


         Maybe I was being too harsh, maybe I should have listened to Euan’s warning. Nothing made sense anymore, nothing had been right since my dad had died and I had been foolish enough to think things would be better if we moved. Everything was just as confusing as when I had left Illinois. I wanted to cry, but I fought the lump forming in the back of my throat. There was no reason to cry, I needed to suck it up and be a big girl.


          I turned my thoughts from my dad’s death; at least I had learned one thing from yet another argument with Euan. There was defiantly something going on, something was not right in the Deadstone Creek area and I vowed to myself to find out what it was. Maybe then Euan wouldn’t hate me and we could actually be polite to one another.


         It was weird that I had already had a date set up and I was thinking about another guy. I hadn’t been on any dates, but I was pretty sure that was not the way you were supposed to feel. I almost felt like I had made the wrong choice. Almost.


         I sighed, suddenly feeling tired. I had no wish to tell my mother about what Matt had asked me, not anymore. I decided to just go up to bed and get a good night’s rest, maybe in the morning I would feel more like my old self.