“That I don’t know.”
“Then you really didn’t find out much, did you?” Chay snapped. “Any of us could have come up with a name. What we need is a reason.”
“Well, unless you want to take a trip down there and ask him yourself, I think you’re gonna have to settle for a name. We know he wants her dead. We’re gonna have to wait for him to let us in on the reason.”
“So we know the who, but we still don’t know the why,” Jen said.
“Pretty much,” Xavier agreed.
Jen rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. “Do we know if Milayna is the only one on the hit list or are we all?”
They all looked at me. “I haven’t had any visions about anyone. Has anyone else had visions?”
None of them had.
Great. I’m the only one he’s after. That makes me feel so special.
14
Almost
My mother finally let me go to school Friday. I was still feeling tired and a little woozy at times, but I was going stir crazy sitting at home all day. I was excited to see Chay that morning and called him for a ride.
“Hey,” I said when he answered the phone. “I’m going to school today. Wanna ride together?”
“Always. I’ll pick you up.”
“See you in an hour.” I clicked off the call and hurried to get ready.
My mom put a bandage around my waist to hold the wound as still as possible so I wouldn’t break a stitch. I was brushing through my hair when I heard the doorbell ring.
I walked as quickly as I could to the door, dragging my messenger bag behind me. It thudded against each step. “Come in, Chay.”
The door opened, and he stuck his head inside. “Here, give me that.” He opened the door and stepped through, taking my messenger bag from me. “You aren’t supposed to be carrying this. Let me do the heavy lifting today.”
“Sounds good,” I said as we walked outside and got in the car.
“How are you feeling?” Chay maneuvered the car through the neighborhood toward school.
“Good.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “Liar.”
Chay carried my bag into chemistry, hanging it over the back of my seat before pulling the chair out for me to sit. He held on to me as I eased onto the seat. He was babying me so much I half expected him to insist on carrying me from class to class. It was ridiculous and totally unnecessary, but I loved every minute of it. Any reason for him to touch me was a good one. So I let him feel like he was helping and I got to feel the electrifying currents run through my body every time his hands touched me. I got the better deal.
It wasn’t until lunch that I knew something was wrong.
“Milayna, can you hitch a ride home with Muriel or Jen?”
“I guess so, but why?” I looked at him. His face was flushed. I cupped his cheek with my hand. “You’re burning up.”
“Yeah, I’m not feeling too hot. I’m going to go home.” He handed my book bag to Drew, who was walking by us in the hall.
Drew took the bag and looked at Chay. “What?”
“I gotta go. Make sure she doesn’t carry this.”
“Okay. Hey, Milayna, how you feeling?” Drew smiled at me.
“Good.”
“Liar,” he said with a laugh.
I can’t lie to anyone without them knowing… geez. Maybe it’s a demi-angel thing.
Drew carried my bag for me to the cafeteria. He waited while I bought something to eat, and then carried my tray.
“I can carry a tray with a salad on it,” I complained, feeling completely useless.
“Chay said for me to carry your things, and that’s what I’m gonna do. He scares me a little.”
I laughed and then held my side, letting out a slow breath. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
After lunch, Drew and Muriel walked with me to my English class. Making sure I was settled before they left, Muriel told me someone would meet me afterward and under no circumstances was I to pick up my bag.
“I’m not an invalid.”
“I know. But you aren’t supposed to lift anything heavy. So let us do the carrying.”
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll wait.”
Muriel smiled and left, Drew on her heels.
After English, I realized I had a problem. It wasn’t Muriel or Drew that showed up. It wasn’t even Jen. Xavier.
“Hey.” He swung my bag over his shoulder like it was a light as a feather pillow.
“Hi.”
“Drew and Muriel were on their way, but I told them I’d grab your bag since we’re going to the same class.”
“Oh.” I sucked on my bottom lip and nodded.
“So, how are you feeling? And don’t give me any of that fine crap.”
I laughed. “I’ve felt better.”
He slipped a tendril of hair that had fallen from my messy bun behind my ear. “You should have waited until Monday to come back to school.”
“Probably.”
“But I’m glad you came today,” he said quietly.
I looked at him with a raised brow. “Why?”
“I missed you.”
“Oh. Well, I missed everyone here, too.” I had no idea how to respond. I didn’t want to be rude, but I didn’t want give Xavier the wrong idea either.
“Not quite what I meant.”
“Xavier, I—”