Kat placed the rose on the corner of her desk and then glanced over her shoulder at me. I peered up and met her questioning stare, and smiled. She faced the front of the classroom, and throughout class, I caught her several times staring at the rose.
Corny but worth it.
After class, Kat actually packed up her bag and turned to me, waiting for me to rise. Normally, she raced out of the classroom with Lesa and Carissa. She held the rose close to her chest. “Thank you for this,” she said quietly, her gaze flickering to mine and then away. “It was very nice of you.”
I raised a shoulder as I stepped into the aisle. “You like it?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
We walked out of the classroom and she stopped, placing her hand on my arm. She tugged on my shirt, and I followed her over to the rarely used water fountain. “Did you hear about Simon?” she asked, glancing at the crowd of students.
“What?” I frowned. “What about him?”
Her worried gaze met mine. “He’s missing.”
“Missing? Since when?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know the exact timing, but Lesa said since this past weekend…” She lowered her voice as she stepped closer. “I saw him Friday night. He disappeared sometime after that.”
“That’s…weird.” I brushed the hair back from my face, considering it. “It could mean nothing, Kat. It’s hunting season around here. Maybe he took off to go hunting.”
“And forgot to tell his parents?” she questioned.
“Not everyone is responsible.” Though it was hard to believe Simon would roam off without telling his parents, stranger things have been known to happen. I knew what Kat was getting at with this. Reaching between us, I wrapped my hand around hers, careful to not damage the rose, and squeezed gently. “It most likely has nothing to do with you.”
She opened her mouth.
“I mean it, Kitten.” My eyes searched hers. “Statistically, this has nothing to do with anything we’ve got going on. Okay?”
Looking away, she nodded. “Okay.”
I let go of her hand, knowing that no matter what she said, she was afraid that Simon’s disappearance had something to do with what happened Friday night with the windows. Truthfully? I wasn’t so sure it didn’t.
Coincidences nowadays weren’t very likely.
I’d checked in with Matthew later that day to see if he’d heard anything about Simon. Being that he was on staff, I figured he might know more, but all he knew was what we did. Simon’s parents had reported him missing the night before. He hadn’t been seen in over seventy-two hours.
It wasn’t long before the cops showed up. They’d questioned all the students, though Kat was paranoid about the fact that we were in the first wave of students questioned. I wasn’t entirely surprised. It was common knowledge I wasn’t a fan of Simon, but the police didn’t appear too concerned about Simon’s well-being. I could tell they thought he was a runaway.
I filed what was going on with Simon in the back of my mind, because there were other more pressing things to take care of. Like getting Kat’s newfound abilities under control.
And wooing her through lattes, egg-and-bacon breakfast croissants, and glazed doughnuts. Kat seemed to approve of these tactics, because she didn’t complain when I showed up at her house after school whenever she wasn’t with Dee and hung out with her.
During that time, we watched movies. Or she blogged. We grabbed food from Smoke Hole or just ate snacks. I wanted her to relax before I started to work with her. I figured if she was in a good place, it would be easier. So that meant I kept my distance. For the most part. Douche Bag stayed away from her. I knew he texted and called, but there were no more dinner dates, and when I started eating lunch with her in the cafeteria, he wisely kept his mouth shut.
I had a plan for her on Saturday, though, a pretty damn good idea, I thought.
Leaning against the railing with my hands in my pocket, I waited for her out on her front porch. Thanksgiving was a handful of days away, and the air was chilly, so I was relieved to see her step outside with a hoodie on. It wasn’t a jacket, but at least it was better than nothing.
She held the door open for me. I stepped inside, brushing past her. “You look nice today.”
Kat glanced down at herself with a frown and then her hand flew to her hair, smoothing back a wild strand. “So…what’s up?”
“I just wanted to see you,” I replied, which was partly true, because I always liked seeing her.
“Oh.”
I chuckled. “I thought we could take a walk. It’s nice outside.”
Glancing in the direction of her living room, she bit down on her lip, worrying it. I was probably interrupting her book gushing.
“I’ll behave myself,” I said. “I promise.”
She laughed softly at that. “All right, let’s go.”
Grinning, I steered her outside and to my SUV. She stopped in front of it, casting me a long look before asking, “Exactly where are we going to take a walk?”
“Outdoors,” I replied, opening the door for her.
“Well, I think I figured that part out.”
“You ask a lot of questions, you know.”