----------- Chapter 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“-a seriously loud scream. Obviously I ran in. And she’s on the bed, my bedside lamp in hand, quivering,” Haden murmurs quietly.
I stiffen as I realise he’s talking about me.
“So you go up to her...and she warns you about someone?” Matt asks uncertainly.
“Yeah. She went totally psychotic. It was as if she thought there was someone going to harm her. I suppose that’s why she grabbed my lamp, broke the crystal too,” Haden continues, his voice a little glum.
“No shit! The crystal is broken?!” Alex exclaims in agitation.
“Shh! You’ll wake her up,” Matt admonishes as footsteps approach the bed. I pretend to be a sleep, and feel a warm hand brush my hair out of my face.
“Still asleep,” Haden announces, his voice close to me. I hear the footsteps again, and the next time he speaks, his voice is softer and from further away, probably the couch at the end of his room. “Thing is, now that the crystal is completely destroyed, I can’t even communicate with dad,” Haden mumbles. I can almost imagine him running his hand through his hair.
What? He must be kidding...using a crystal to communicate? Damn it, I must still be asleep!
“Good thing you barely ever talk to your dad though, huh?” Alex teases, a smile in his voice.
Wait! Haden’s parents died a long time ago, when he was barely 10! Why are the guys talking about his father then? I mean...you can’t talk to the dead...
“That’s the thing though! Remember I told you she came up here in the middle of the night, seriously freaked out? It was about her nightmare. Apparently something changed,” Haden murmurs, his voice so low I can barely make out what he’s saying.
“Okay, I may be stoking the flame here...but do you think its coincidence that all of this is happening immediately after Carter shows up?” Alex asks, his voice betraying an emotion I can’t quite describe.
“There’s no such thing as coincidence,” Haden mumbles cryptically.
The three of them suddenly sink into silence, and I’m afraid to so much as twitch in case they figure out I’m listening.
“Guess we should wake her up, right?” Matt suggests, getting off the couch. “Jessy?” he murmurs softly, shaking my shoulders.
I open my eyes slowly, pretending to be disoriented. “Mmm?” I mumble. Yeah, yeah, I’m a wannabe actress!
“Time to get up, Jessy. You need to start getting ready for school,” Matt continues, smiling down at me.
I nod my head and stretch, but make sure not to make eye contact with any of the guys. I’m very disconcerted with what I just heard. Haden’s father...this mysterious crystal...Carter.
I rush out of the room and back down the elegant staircase to my room. I grab my thick, black sweater and skinny jeans and head into the bathroom.
As per usual, Andy comes in, I have my breakfast and in about 45 minutes, I’m in the dining room with the guys. They are going out of their way pretending everything is perfectly fine; a little too cheerful in fact.
“We should be heading off,” Haden announces abruptly, tossing a fruit loop at me. I grimace at him but grab my bag anyway.
The ride to school was uneventful, or maybe it was eventful...I wasn’t really paying attention. I can’t help but shake the feeling that I’m being watched!
“Jess? You okay, girl?” Matt asks, shaking me roughly.
“Yeah, of course! What would possibly make you think I wasn’t?” I ask him, mustering all the cheerfulness I can.
“We’ve been in the parking lot for five minutes, and you haven’t moved. You...wanna talk about it?” he asks uncertainly.
“There’s nothing to talk about! Okay?” I snap, shrugging him off. I grab my backpack and hop out of the car. I head down the parking lot and walk straight into Alex.
“No effin way!” he murmurs under his breath, barely noticing that I knocked into him.
I stand on my tip toes to get a look at what caused both Haden and Alex to stop dead in their tracks. At first I think they are merely ogling the gorgeous black Benz parked right outside the steps into the school. The moment the door swings open though, I realise it isn’t the car that’s caught their eye, it’s the driver.
Carter steps out of the car, his hair smoothened back, wearing a blue shirt, slacks and a tie.
“What is he doing here?” Haden demands, clearly dumbfounded.
“Guys, it’s a free country!” I murmur, pushing past them, all the while my heart races. The mere sight of Carter has me blushing, but more than that, here was the guy I absolutely needed to see! He could tell me what exactly he meant about Haden yesterday.
I didn’t even have time to call out his name before his eyes lock in on mine. His stare keeps me rooted in place. He breaks off the intense connection by giving me a wolf wink and strutting through the double doors into the school.
I shake my head to clear it before following him into the school building. I need to find him! He may be the only way I’ll get the truth!
And just as luck would have it, the bell rings signalling the beginning of classes. I cuss silently to myself and walk towards the gym, first class of the day. Oh joy! Not!
***
“Umm hey, you’re the new girl, right?” a pretty red head asks from the desk beside me. Maths is the last class of the day, and I’m dying of boredom here!
No duh, Sherlock, I think to myself, before plastering a smile on my face. “Yeah, that’s me. I’m Jessy,” I introduce sweetly.
“Kathrine,” the girl answers, smiling bright. “You know...I mean, your brothers...they all look so different,” she begins, her cheeks heating up a bit.
I knew it! Why would a random girl be so nice if she wasn’t interested in my ‘brothers’?! “They aren’t my brothers and they aren’t brothers either, that’s why they look so different,” I murmur in a bored whisper.
“Oh. Sorry. I just assumed...I mean you do come to school with them and leave with them...” she trails off, obviously hoping for the down low. Heh...couldn’t hurt, right?
“Yep, that’s right. We live together. Just the four of us,” I murmur smugly, enjoying the look of shock on her face. Living in sin, bla bla bla...
“Hey Kathrine? What happened to Reid?” I ask curiously, I hadn’t seen him all day.
“Who?” she asks curiously.
“Reid? He has maths with us? Pretty tall, kinda cute, has the whole mysterious thing down pat?” I describe, my curiosity intensifying.
“Err...I don’t know anyone like that...” she murmurs, staring at me like I’m loco.
Weird!
***
I asked every random stranger I passed in the corridors if they knew a Reid, but nobody does! It’s like he suddenly disappeared. Or never existed in the first place, the little voice in my head whispers, sending a shiver down my spine.
I walk down the long hallways, wrapped up in my own thoughts. The door at end of the hallway suddenly opens, and a whole group of students pile out. They look older than most, they must be the A-level kids.
And then Carter walks out of the room, completely shocking me!
“Carter?” I ask quietly as he walks towards me.
“Correct. And you’re Jessica, from Haden’s place yesterday,” he recalls, smiling slightly.
“I didn’t know you schooled here,” I mumble, my tongue not able to form the questions I eagerly needed to know.
“I don’t. I lecture here,” he corrects, smirking.
Just then, my three boys walk out of the room, their faces tensed with frustration. They stop dead in their tracks when they see me talking to Carter. And in a blink of the eye, they’re by my side.
“Was there anything else, Jessica?” he asks, nonchalantly.
“No,” I mumble. I obviously can’t ask him to spill the beans with the guys right here!
“Alright then, maybe I’ll see you tomorrow? And boys; don’t forget the assignments,” he reminds. As he walks the opposite way he brushes against me, and whispers in my ear, “check your back pocket.”
I stare at him perplexed as he disappears down the corridor. My back pocket? The boys lead me back towards the car park and I follow them numbly.
Once we’re home and I’m safely in my room, I slip my hand in my jeans pocket and my mouth goes dry when I feel a piece of paper in there.
My number is programmed in your phone. Carter.
I stare at the paper a few times uncomprehendingly. No way!
With shaking fingers, I slide my phone open and check through my contacts.
Oh
My
God!
His number is in my phone!
I didn’t lend him my phone! How did the number get in there?! It can’t just appear like that...can it?