I just kept staring at her. “I … don’t think so? But it was fun to listen to you talk. I just thought you should know that.”
Trish rolled her eyes and parked. We got out of the truck to head to first period—as usual, I sat on Trish’s left and Ben sat on her right. He was a foot taller than both of us, with short brown hair, huge arms and shoulders, and the kind of face that would look stern if it wasn’t constantly lit up with a smile. When I’d met him that first day of school, he’d looked kind of caveman-ish. As I was observing him discreetly, he reached out and took Trish’s hand in his own; neither of them looking at each other, intent on the lecture Mr. Warren was giving. They were absolutely adorable, and I felt a strange surge of happiness.
“Miss Holte?”
I jerked and looked at Mr. Warren. “Uh—transcendentalism?”
He smiled dryly. “Try ‘manifest destiny.’”
I nodded, embarrassed, and promised to pay attention the rest of class.
*
After that one night at Adrian’s house, I never dreamed of my dad again, although my mother was a frequent visitor in her various forms of decay. Adrian told me neither Mariana nor Dominic had ever heard of something like this, but if it was connected to their father, it must mean two things: He had, at some point, touched me, and he was currently nearby. The only thing I could think of that made sense was that the shopper dude at the mall that I’d bumped into had been him—which scared the shit out of me, because he’d seemed so normal. With the nightmares coming night after night, and with me unable to fall asleep again afterward, the lack of sleep became a consistent exhaustion that rode around with me like a second skin. Adrian couldn’t stop them, I couldn’t stop them, and there was no way to avoid them besides not sleeping in the first place, which, well, really wasn’t an option.
It was the last day of school before Christmas vacation. I jerked awake when my boots slipped off the bookshelf in the school library and I just about fell off my chair. Adrian automatically reached out a hand to catch me, and I grabbed it, heart racing, startled from the abrupt end to my nap.
He cleared his throat and released my hand. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I felt the fatigue wash over me all over again as I laid my head on the table to stare blankly at the wall. “Just tired.”
On the opposite side of our ridiculously tiny table, Adrian lay down so he could be eye level with me. We lay in silence for almost a full minute before he finally said, “Hey.”
I responded with a monotone “yo.”
We both smiled.
He traced a scar in the table for a moment before letting his hand drop to his side. “I guess now would be a good time to tell you we’ve come up with a temporary solution, to help with the nightmares.”
I blinked at him, unable to dredge up the energy to show more enthusiasm than a sleepy “yay.” At least I smiled while I said it.
He was beginning to blush a little, so I perked up. It was always adorable when Adrian got flustered. It also usually meant something really awkward was about to happen.
“So—when you stayed at our place, I couldn’t stop the nightmare,” he began. “But you slept fine the rest of the night?”
I nodded horizontally at him, since my cheek was still glued to the table.
“We think that physical proximity to us helps sever, or at least interrupt, the connection between you and the source of the nightmares. The Council has decreed that one of us should, uh … stay with you, at night. In your room.”
I couldn’t help but let a short burst of laughter escape. Then I realized he was serious. “Wait—really?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking amazingly uncomfortable. “As far as the Council is concerned, it could be any one of my family. I convinced them I was the best choice.” He looked at me quickly. “I mean, I thought Mariana or Dominic wouldn’t exactly promote peaceful sleeping. But if you want one of them instead, or Julian, that can be arranged.”
“No,” I shook my head vigorously at him. “But how will you get in?”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Getting in isn’t a problem. Although theoretically I could be outside the house and still be effective.”
“That’s dumb—you’re not sitting outside the house.”
Adrian smiled at me softly, and it lit up his face in a way that was entirely too endearing.
“Well,” I continued, “this sounds like a recipe for amazing levels of awkwardness, but a full night’s sleep sounds fantastic.”
“Should we try tonight?”
I nodded, heart suddenly jumping into overdrive. Adrian sat up, as though he could hear it—which, I remembered, he could. I buried my face in my arm, embarrassed, but within moments I fell back asleep.
*