Free King 02 - Breathless by Tawdra Kandle Page B

stop at that, you’re hopelessly naive. For her, this was a beginning. Getting her foot in the door. She spends time with you, somewhere you feel safe, and before long, she’s in your head. And what about your Nell dream? Didn’t it occur to you that maybe that warning was about this very situation?”
    “It was just a dream. You said that yourself. How could it have anything to do with what happened today?”
    Michael snorted. “Stranger things have happened, haven’t they?”
    I chose to ignore that remark. “Michael, it’s not as though I went off looking for an opportunity to spend time with her. This was just something that seemed like an okay idea today when I was talking with Ms. Ross. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was easier to agree. But it’s nothing to worry about now. Tomorrow, I’ll go in and tell her that I’m going to take home ec or whatever, and it’ll be done. So you don’t have to get all over me about it.” I was weary and annoyed and tired of people thinking I wasn’t smart enough to take care of myself.
    There was a note of strain in Michael’s tone, too. “I’m not getting all over you about it. But I’m not there to watch your back this year, and I’m worried about what could happen.”
    “I lived without a bodyguard for seventeen years before I met you.” It wasn’t a kind thing to say, but I wasn’t feeling very kind.
    “You didn’t live in King before you met me. You were never at risk the way you are now.”
    “I can take care of myself. I’m not stupid.”
    “I never said you were!” Michael’s voice rose, and then I heard him blow out a sigh, probably of frustration, I thought. I could just picture him running his hand over his hair, as he did when he was concerned or upset.
    “Look, Tasmyn, it’s late, and we’re tired. We’re going around and around here, and I think we’re both saying things we might not really want to say.” When I was silent, he continued. “Why don’t we just talk about this tomorrow, okay? I’ve got a load of reading to do before I get to sleep, and I’m sure you’ve got homework, too.”
    “Okay.” My voice was low as I struggled to keep the tears out of it.
    “I’ll call you tomorrow night.”
    “Okay,” I repeated softly.
    “Night.”
    I’m not sure I could have responded, but it didn’t matter, for I heard the click on the other end of the line. I dropped the phone on the nightstand and fell across the bed, too confused and uncertain to collapse into the tears that had threatened earlier.
    I pushed myself off the bed and moved restless around my room. My eyes lit upon the half of the sand dollar I’d found on our last trip to Clearwater. It was on top of my jewelry box, and each night I touched it gently with the tip of my finger, remembering.
    Now I carefully picked it up and examined its jagged edge. Our two pieces had fit together so perfectly less than a month ago, before Michael had left. With a pang, I wondered if the fit would be so complete after this year apart had worn at both of us.
     

I deliberately left for school a little earlier the next morning so that I would have time to see Ms. Ross before classes began. I didn’t want to lose my nerve, and I had promised my parents that I would take care of it right away.
    I hadn’t slept well again. No specific nightmares this time, but I was restless and awoke with that vague sense of wrongness that I’d felt before when I was at odds with my parents over something. I knew it was my conversation with Michael that was making me feel so off today. We had never really had a disagreement that we hadn’t resolved almost immediately, and the feeling of being slightly off-kilter lingered with me.
    The school office was much quieter this morning, and when I asked if Ms. Ross was in, the secretary waved me toward her door. The guidance counselor was sitting at her desk, much the way I had left her the previous day. She was absorbed in something on her