Shadowed (Unbound, Book 2)

Chapter Thirty Five

           

"So, do I pass?"

Calin caught and held my gaze. A moment passed, and then he smiled, darting his eyes down between us. "Except that you forgot to put it in park."

"Well it's not like I would forget."

"No?"

I rolled my eyes. "Keys don't come out until the car is in park."

"Okay, Smartass," he said and shook his head. "The bell is about to ring. Are you ready to hand the keys back?"

"Yeah, no." I shook my head and put the car in park so I could pull out the keys. Dangling them in his face until he began to reach out, I grasped them in my palm. I laughed and got out, rounding the car to stand in front of the hood.

Calin didn't move, so I leaned forward to dangle the keys in front of me. He looked to his right, watching the other students as they passed through the parking lot, and then to me. Rolling his eyes while shaking his head, he smiled and reached for the handle.

A moment later, he stood at my side, looking down while I craned my head up.

The bell rang and I looked away. We started walking down the steps, and I searched the crowd for a familiar face. Stepping down to the last step, I caught sight of black shiny hair cut in razor-edge layers close enough to reflect off the glass of the main doors.

"Duvessa!" I called out and waved.

She looked up and smiled, but it fell into a frown. Her hand dropped to her side when she glanced beside me. I paused and looked to my right, but had to turn completely in order to see Calin. He'd stopped two steps behind, his eyes narrowed on Duvessa. Slowly, he looked at me, all emotion gone from his face.

"Why are you calling her like she's a friend?" He pointed at Duvessa, once again glaring as he refocused his attention. "Stay away from Nora, Duvessa!"

"What are you doing?" I stepped sideways to block his view. "How dare you!"

"She's not a nice person, Nora."

"How would you know if you only talk to her in order to scare her away?" I shoulder-checked, but knew she was gone. Sighing, I faced Calin. "See? You scared her off."

"You don't know—"

"What? Anything?" I lifted my backpack higher. "That's true. Nobody wants to tell me anything, but I looked it up. Do you know what would help? The truth. Trying to trigger my memory into returning by telling me things, taking me places I used to enjoy."

"What are you talking about? The doctor—"

"—is obviously a quack who needs to retake her exams since I'm pretty sure she doesn't deserve that license," I said in a rush, cutting him off as I tried to stare him down.

Finally, giving in and being the first to break eye contact, I sighed and checked my watch. The students had all made it inside, leaving us to argue alone. But I didn't want to be late. At least, not so I could bicker with Calin.

I looked back at him and shifted my weight, hoping that I appeared less defensive. "Look, she's been nice to me, okay? She drove me home from Dr. Stanzo's and yesterday—when you weren't here—she made sure I wasn't alone."

Calin stepped forward and grabbed my arms. He looked down and held my gaze. "You can't hang out with her, Nora."

"I already have." I shrugged out of his hold. "We went to a library last night and watched a movie. She isn't as bad as you all say."

"No." He nodded. "She's worse."

"How?"

He crossed his arms and glared past me to the closed doors.

"Calin?" I side-stepped into his line of sight, wanting his full attention rather than giving him time to figure out what not to say to me. "Why did you want me to be careful without you here? What was I supposed to be wary of? Because if you can't tell me that, I can't do what you want."

He looked down. "Are you serious about what you found? About how to recover? Because if telling you makes you worse, I'd rather get the cold shoulder."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I want my memory back more than anyone. Why would I lie?"

"You're not going to like it," he said.

"Yeah, well, there are a lot of things I don't like these days. But, if I want to get better, and apparently stay safe, I have to know."

He nodded to the lawn. "Fine. Let's sit and talk."

"Now? We have class—"

"Do you want me to change my mind?"

I turned without another word and sat on the grass.