April waggled her eyebrows at me.
“It’s not like that …,” I said. “Besides, I don’t want Chris to get into trouble for ditching out.”
“You’re a terrible liar. I can see those splotch marks on your neck.”
I rubbed my neck. “I’m just hot.”
“I’ll bet you are.”
“April, seriously. It’s not like that. Talbot’s just a new friend. You know how I feel about Daniel.” I meant what I said, but my neck still felt all hot and itchy. I pulled a water bottle out of my backpack and took a sip.
“Yeah, but how is Daniel going to feel about this? Any boy is going to have a problem with his girlfriend being all one-on-one with a hot guy—especially if you’re getting all hot and sweaty. Don’t you think Daniel will be jealous that he’s not the one doing it with you?”
I choked and almost spat water at her.
“I meant doing it as in Daniel wanting to kick bad-guy butt with you … not … you know … not you two ‘getting it on.’ ” She made a weird gesture with her hands that I assumed had something to do with “getting it on.” “Unless, you and Daniel are. You know … Um, you’re not, right? Because I heard—”
I coughed and cleared my throat. “No, Daniel and I aren’t ‘getting it on.’ No matter what anyone says.”
Thanks to my superhearing and all those lovely rumors Lynn Bishop spread last school year, I knew there were plenty of people who thought Daniel and I were “getting it on.” But we most definitely weren’t. Not that we didn’t think about it or want to—just the sight of Daniel most days made my heart race and my legs ache with anticipation.
It was just that, to me, sex was a big deal.
I mean, it was a running joke at HTA that if my dad substitute taught one of the religion classes, it was no doubt going to be a lesson on chastity. And let me tell you, having to sit through your dad’s lecturing all of your friends about abstinence—not the funfest you’d think it would be. But even though Dad’s spiels always made me want to bang my head on my desk, I couldn’t help believing the things he was telling us about waiting for marriage. It just seemed to go with the whole package, you know? That if I believed in Jesus, and believed in all those parables he taught, and believed in forgiving people, then what the Bible had to say about sex being sacred and special had to be right, too.
And as much as I wanted it—and I knew Daniel was the one I wanted it with—I also wanted to wait. Even if it was one of the hardest choices I’ve ever had to make.
I’d worried my decision would be a problem for Daniel. We’d lived very different lives during the three years he’d been gone, and he’d, um, gotten it on, so to speak, more than once. But one of the things I loved about Daniel was that he’d completely understood.
“You’re different from those other girls,” Daniel once told me. “We’re different. I love you. And I want things to be right with us.”
But now with all the lying and fighting and secrets that were suddenly happening between Daniel and me—it almost felt like nothing was quite right with us anymore.
“So are you going to tell him?” April asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Tell who what?”
“Are you going to tell Daniel about Talbot and you?”
“I told you, there is no Talbot and me.”
“But there could be,” she crooned.
“Okay, I’m not telling you anything anymore.”
“Oh, come on, you know I’m just teasing. I meant, are you going to tell Daniel about Talbot being your driver? You know he’s going to be all jealous that he was stuck doing inventory at Day’s with Katie Summers instead of being out there fighting side by side with you in the city.”
I might have told April way too much lately, but I still hadn’t told her the reason I’d been avoiding Daniel all day. As far as she knew, Daniel was just as gung ho about training me to become a superhero. She didn’t know how he’d turned his back on me and on the plan that he’d come up with in the first place.
“Yeah. I think I will tell him.”
My body tingled with the hope of a new idea: when Daniel heard how I took that guy down in the alley, he’d realize that I really could take care of myself out there. He’d change his mind about agreeing with Gabriel. When he heard how I helped save that woman, he’d have to believe in me again.
And then maybe he’d finally tell me whatever secret he was keeping from me.
BACK AT THE SCHOOL
I didn’t have to wait long to see Daniel. He was hanging out in the school parking lot when I got off the bus. He leaned against the seat of his red-and-black motorcycle, his hands tucked in the pockets of his hoodie.
“Gotta go,” I said to April, and practically skipped over to Daniel through the mostly deserted lot. I was about to throw my arms around his neck and tell him all about what had happened in the alley with the Gelal and Talbot, until I saw the stony look on his face.
It reminded me of Jude. All stoic and cold.
“Hey,” I said, stopping short of hugging him. “What’re you doing here?”
“Your dad wanted to make sure you had a ride home. I thought you guys were going to be back a while ago, though. I was starting to get concerned.”
“Sorry.” I gave him an apologetic smile.
Daniel picked up his helmet from the back of the bike and handed it to me. I always thought it was funny that he insisted I be the one who wore it—considering that I had superhuman healing abilities and he didn’t. Then again, according to my reading, it seemed like a catastrophic head injury was one of the few things that could kill an Urbat—besides silver and certain demon venom (including werewolf)—if not healed quickly enough. That was probably why when Daniel’s monster of a father attacked him when he was only thirteen, he’d tried to smash Daniel’s head open with a broken easel.
His father had wanted Daniel dead.
Daniel got on the bike, and I climbed on behind him. He was so quiet and distant I didn’t know how he’d feel if I wrapped my arms around his waist like I usually did. I placed my hands lightly on his sides instead. Daniel started the bike, and we pulled out onto Crescent Street. He didn’t glance back at me at all while he drove; he just stared straight ahead.