Taint (Formerly Claimed) Dark Midnight 1

Chapter 35

“Is everything okay?”  

“Fine,” he said quickly.  “It’s nothing.”  

He turned to face her and the corner of his mouth twitched into an expression that could have been a smile. 

But not quite.    

They rode the rest of the way in suffocating silence.  If something really was wrong, he didn't tell her, and she didn’t ask again.  Something told her that it wouldn't do any good, anyway.  

He was all closed up, eyes dark and guarded.  

Still, when she slipped out of the car in front of the school she couldn't shake that feeling that something was...off.  

“Same place after school?” She turned around to find him fishing her backpack from the backseat.  

He didn’t answer, but that semi-smile faded.  A faint shimmer appeared in those red eyes instead, and made butterflies burst to life in her stomach.  When she reached for her backpack, he startled her by grabbing her hand instead.  

The touch was brief; just a swipe of his cool finger across the width of her palm.  Barely a caress.

To Miriam it was everything.  Wherever the pad of that finger touched, sparks burst to life, crackling beneath her skin.   She stared, watching the ivory of his thumb in contrast against the light pink.  

But when she glanced up, into those amber eyes the look in them made her shiver. 

“Eliot?” 

He pulled his hand away and slid her backpack across the seat instead.  

“Have a good day,” he said, as politely as before.  “Try…”  His false smile slipped a little, revealing the emotion lying underneath; sadness.  

“Try to let someone else in,” he urged softly.  “Someone other than me—life is too short to—”

He broke off abruptly and turned to face the road instead.  “Goodbye."

Then, before she could even step back onto the curb, he reached over, yanked the passenger-side door closed and took off.  Standing alone, Miriam watched as that sleek car looped around the crowded parking lot and zipped back onto the main road, feeling alone in the middle of a sea of rushing students. 

______________

Eliot’s words haunted her all through first period.  By second, all she could think about was the feel of his fingers as he’d held her hand.  Third period was dominated by the memory of their kiss, unexpected in the dim glow of the shed.  

Fourth too…

But, by lunch his plea before he left was back in the forefront of her mind.  Let someone else in.

Easy for him to say.   He didn’t seem to lack for mysterious, shadowy friends.  

But… 

He’s right, she realized as she entered into the Cafeteria and wandered into the lunch line.  

Glancing around, she could see that everyone else had someone—someone to eat with.  To talk with.  To sit with.  

A friend. 

An acquaintance—someone.  

Now that she thought about it, she was probably the only one in the entire school who didn’t have anyone.  It wasn't always that way, she realized as a grouchy lunch-lady plopped a steaming pile of mash potatoes onto her tray.