Free Landlocked (A water witch novel) by C.S. Moore Page B

letting out her breath and relaxing her shoulders. “I’m sorry, baby.” She pulled me into her arms.
    “How about we go up to the lake today, maybe even spend the whole week up there. Have a little get away,” Dylan said. “What do you say, kid?”
    I wasn’t the least bit surprised that the lake came up, and I wasn’t going to cave to their suggestion when they were keeping strange secrets from me. I flinched at the thought of school. I really did want to get away. But I wanted to see Jaron on Monday and have him talk to me face to face. I wanted him to see that no matter how talented, witty, or gloriously handsome, he couldn’t just treat me like that and pretend nothing had happened. I didn’t care if he liked me. Well I did, but if you don’t like a girl, you tell her like a man, you don’t ditch her in a dark room awaiting candy.
    “I can’t go up to the lake all week. I have a really important test on Wednesday—and I don’t know that my teachers would be happy with me skipping an entire week with spring break right around the corner. It sounds awesome though. Maybe next weekend?”
    “Sure,” Sylvia said, giving me a sideways glance.
    I ha dn’t really lied, I did have a test on Wednesday, but I was sure I could get it rescheduled. The way Sylvia eyed me I felt like she knew I was stretching the truth a hair, but she didn’t say anything. “You know what— I think I’m going to retreat into literature today. Reality is giving me a headache.” I stood to go.
    “Do you want me to make you some tea?” Dylan asked.
    “Sure, that would be great. I’ll be in the library. It’s too early to go outside. If the neighbors spot me reading on the veranda at six in the morning, they might think we’re odd.” I smiled.
    “We wouldn’t want that!” Dylan laughed.
    “Go on. I think perhaps Pride and Prejudice is just what the doctor ordered.” Sylvia kissed my head and I started up to the library.
    I guessed in the old days the smallish dome at the top of our house had been an observatory, but now all you could observe in the round room were tall stacks of books. The glass ceiling had been painted over with haunting scenes from our favorite books. I stepped up from the spiral staircase and took a deep breath. The room smelled of leather, polished wood, and paper. Doris’s easel was set up behind the stair railing, like always. Life made sense in the presence of such unchanging company. The rest of the world was going through a metamorphosis that I didn’t think I could contain. A week ago, no one lurked in shadows, I didn’t win races in record times, and I didn’t go all doe eyed at the sight of a hot guy… and Sylvia and Dylan had seemed much more rooted in reality last week. Now they were talking about Voodoo and dreams and whispering about carting me away. I shook my head to clear it.
    “Yes, Mr. Darcy, I think you’re just what I need.” I walked to one of the many bookshelves and plucked off Pride and Prejudice without having to search for it. I knew where all of my favorite books nestled. I threw myself into the silky upholster lounge chair and the book.
     
    ***
     
    Monday came too fast and all of the spunk I had in my body fled with the weekend. I somehow made it to school on time, though I dragged my feet as much as possible. I opened my locker to pull out my English books and threw my bag inside. I still wanted to face Jaron and get answers, but I knew what those answers were and didn’t really want to hear them. If I asked, “Why did you bail on me?” he’d say something like, “Because you’re lame and your friend is crazy.” Then if I came back with, “Well, you could have just come back and told me you were leaving to go hang out with your friend,” he’d say, “You weren’t worth the trip.”
    Yeah, I wasn’t very excited about that conversation. But I wasn’t just going to let it slide and say nothing. That would be like me saying that what he did was okay,