The Gathering Dark by Christine Johnson
For Asher and Lucy,
with all my love, always
Chapter One
NORMALLY, KEIRA DIDN’T NOTICE the shoppers that trickled through the department store. She just sat, head down, playing the obnoxious, white-lacquered baby grand. But this time was different. The oily-smooth voice cracked her focus like an egg smashing against a windowpane.
“Keeeeira. Still doing the piano thing, huh?”
Keira’s fingers hesitated above the keys, breaking the rhythm of the unobtrusive music that Mr. Seever, the store manager, insisted she play. Live music was never going to make the mall in Sherwin, Maine, a classy place, but Keira didn’t care. She was making money with her music. Good money. Even if the music was horrible, it was still a chance to flex her fingers. To work on her concentration.
Concert pianists have to be able to focus, no matter what else is happening. Come on, Keira. Pay attention.
Two guys, both sporting gelled hair and over-applied body spray, sidled up next to the piano. They weren’t just a couple of popular guys—they were practically famous in Sherwin. People fawned over Jeremy Reynolds and his friends, teachers and girlfriends and high school peons alike. Except Keira. She didn’t care about their parties or their clothes. They used to treat her like a freak, until one guy in Jeremy’s inner circle, Tommy Hutchinson, started dating Keira’s best friend, Susan Kim.
Jeremy’s endless attempts to flirt with her were worse than his snide comments. She ended up fending him off whenever he and Tommy came to the store to visit Susan.
Keira had to shut him down every single time she saw him. It was exhausting. And distracting.
“You’re way too hot to play such boring music.” Jeremy leaned an elbow on the piano. “You should play something that has more feeling.”
Lamest come-on of the week. She watched her right hand stretch, her pinkie reaching for the F-sharp key. Something tickled Keira’s nose, breaking through the cloud of Jeremy’s cologne.
Cigarette smoke.
Startled, she glanced up. Sure enough, a lit cigarette dangled from Jeremy’s fingers. The smoke curled away from it like a gray ribbon.
“There’s a party Friday night. You should come with me. I’ll even take you to dinner or something first.”
Keira didn’t date.
Especially not a smoker.
Extra-especially not a smoker who was also a jerk.
Sometimes when Keira looked at him, she still saw a seventh-grader, standing as far from her as he could at the bus stop. She’d watched him claw his way to the top rung of Sherwin High, in spite of the fact that he came from the wrong side of town.
Keira’s side of town.
Jeremy’d lived one street behind and three doors south of Keira’s house his whole life. He wasn’t rich, but now he was powerful. He knew the right people. Screw silver spoons—the rest of Jeremy’s friends had been born with sets of Mustang keys in their mouths.
Keira glanced around for Tommy, who had headed over to the nearby perfume counter to say hi to Susan. He caught her watching him and held her gaze, his face breaking into an encouraging smile when he saw Jeremy leaning in close.
Keira frowned back at Tommy, but Tommy’s gaze had drifted over to Jeremy.
She watched Jeremy put the cigarette to his lips and take a deliberate drag. Jeremy exhaled a halo of smoke so foul and thick that Keira choked on it, coughing hard enough that she instinctively jerked her fingers off the keyboard and covered her mouth.
With the smell of cigarettes permeating the cosmetics section and the sudden pause in the music, Keira knew Mr. Seever was bound to appear any second. Her fear of losing her job swelled, eclipsing her fear of pissing everyone off.
“You can’t smoke in here! You’ll get me fired!” she growled. She was already on thin ice after a fur-jacketed old woman demanded Keira play some Johnny Mercer, then complained to the manager when Keira had said she didn’t know any of his songs. Don’t make me regret hiring you, Mr. Seever’d warned.
Behind the perfume counter, she could see Susan watching with a worried frown. Susan was the one who’d gotten her the job in the first place. It was supposed to be fun, working right next to each other.
Because this is such a super good time we’re having. Right.
Jeremy clutched his cigarette protectively. “Don’t be like that. We’re just playing around, right?” He fake pouted. It was distinctly un-sexy.
“Jeremy!” Susan said, exasperated. She turned to Tommy. “Can you . . . please?”
Tommy rubbed a hand across his head, messing up his hair. He looked so torn that Keira could practically hear him ripping at the seams. “Come on, Keira,” he wheedled. “Lighten up, okay? There’s no one around, or anything.”
Susan crossed her arms and made an irritated noise. Tommy’s cheeks went blotchy.