Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition Read online

  Luna laughed out loud. “Yeah, that’s what some people think when they first meet them. I promise they’re really pretty cool once you get to know them. The two tallest ones are identical twins, Joshua and James. And the one you body slammed … he’s my twin, Joseph. He was just joking around with me. Probably trying to show off in front of you.”

  “Oh—Luna I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s all right. I promise they really are nice though. They’re just kind of shy until they get to know you." Luna grabbed up her book. "Tardy bell’s about to ring. We better get to class.”

  I guess she didn’t hate me because she stopped outside her classroom door and said we would meet at lunch.

  The minutes ticked away slowly in English class. I knew that from the constant watch I kept on the clock hanging over the chalkboard. Mr. Donovan was—in short—personality-challenged. I tried to focus on what he was saying but it came out sounding like the teacher’s muffled voice in the old Charlie Brown cartoons. You know, wawa-wa wawa wa. Wa wa-wa. I giggled quietly at the thought and Mr. Donovan looked up from his notes, pointing his nose downward so I would get the full effect of him scowling at me from over the top of his reading glasses.

  ***

  I instantly came awake when the annoying buzz rang at the end of class. I slipped the Cosmopolitan magazine from inside my English workbook and dropped it into my backpack. Luna was waiting for me outside class. I was still a little wigged out from what had happened with her brother and hoped she wouldn’t rag on me for the entire lunch period.

  We inched our way through the line and I knew she wanted to say something about earlier. To avoid it I started asking her questions about the different groups of kids.

  “See that table by the window? That’s the preps. Dads are oil tycoons and stuff. They check your parents' bank balance before they decide if they’re going to grace you with their shallow conversation.” We snickered in unison. “And I’m sure you can tell that the table in the back by the garbage cans is full of chess club nerds and computer geeks. I don’t think a single one of them has an IQ less than one-ninety.”

  Luna got up on her tiptoes, looking around the room. “Let’s see … the two long tables in the middle are for hardcore jocks only. If you don’t play, you don’t sit.” She turned, peering around the girl behind us, trying to see who she might have missed.

  I looked across to the other side of the room and saw her brothers at their usual table but they weren’t alone this time. My heart immediately thumped with excitement and I couldn’t breathe. He was with them. The guy I had seen the day before. “Oh my God, he is so beautiful,” I said, under my breath.

  If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn I screamed it out loud. No sooner than I had that thought he turned, looked right at me, and smiled crookedly. I didn’t smile back. I didn’t breathe. My face suddenly got so hot I was sure it was bright red and glowing. I wanted to duck down behind the line of students and crawl out of the lunchroom.

  Luna turned around and saw my face. Her expression quickly contorted into one of confusion, but I think she took me for being sick or something.

  “Gen?” Luna cocked her head to one side. “Are you all right? You don’t look well.” She grabbed my tray from me even though I kept telling her I was good, and had me follow her to a table. She just happened to pick the table closest to her brothers.

  I tried to convince her to sit where we sat the day before, but because she thought I was sick she parked our trays and made me sit. She left me sitting alone while she went to her brothers’ table. I tried not to let them see that I was watching. I had no idea what she had said, but a minute later the three brothers stood and followed her back to our table.

  “Gen,” she smiled. “These goofy guys are my brothers, Joshua and James.”

  “What’s up?” The twin guys said at the exact same time.

  “Hi,” I said, as Joseph came from behind one of the taller boys.

  “And you’ve already met Joseph.” I was almost sure he snarled, but later when I told Luna, she laughed and said it must have been my imagination. The other guy didn’t join the brothers. Maybe he had a girlfriend, or maybe he just didn’t find me interesting enough to introduce himself.

  “We’re all going to a bonfire after school. Wanna go?” Joshua and James asked, again in unison.

  “I don’t know. I’m supposed to go … never mind.” I smiled “Sure, count me in.” Aunt Bev would just have to get over it. After all, I was seventeen.

  They went back to their seats, and Luna and I sat quietly in ours. I was hoping she’d tell me something about the other guy at her brothers’ table. Just thinking about him made my heart flutter, which was weird because I’d had a few boyfriends when I lived in Cali, but none of them made me feel like this guy did.

  Out of the blue, Luna peered at me and whispered his name. “What?” I asked, wondering who she was talking about.

  “His name is William Novak,” she said, smiling. “I saw you checking him out.” She nodded her head toward him. “He’s new, too, and he doesn’t talk much. Sort of like you, huh?” She giggled, and I assumed it had something to do with my face feeling hot again.

  As soon as school let out I rushed to my locker, grabbed my bubble wrap, and hurried for the door. When the sidewalk cleared enough to see the parking lot I spotted him standing with Luna, her brothers, and a few kids she’d introduced me to at lunch. My heart rate climbed rapidly. With each nervous step I took toward him, my heartbeat grew faster until I thought I was going to have a heart attack. What was it about him that made me feel so weird?

  When I got to the parking lot, Luna grabbed my hand. She was just about to take me to meet William until I heard Aunt Bev’s voice behind me. I cringed. My smile had already changed to a frown before I even turned around and saw her walking toward me.

  “Luna, this is my aunt. Aunt Bev, Luna.” I tried not to act too pissed in front of my new friends.

  “Hello Luna,” my aunt said, and smiled at her, but my aunt’s smile quickly faded when she glanced back at me. “Are you ready to go?” she asked.

  “I was going to go—”

  She cut me off. “We’ve got to take the Jeep for a tune up and new tires. That is—if you plan to drive it every day.”

  Luna forced a quick smile. “Uh … I’ll see you tomorrow, Gen. It was nice to meet you,” she called out to my aunt from over her shoulder and rejoined the group of kids. All of whom were staring at me with strange expressions.

  My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at Aunt Bev with narrowed eyes. “I can’t believe you came here,” I whispered with a clenched jaw, not wanting anyone to hear. “You just made me look like a little kid in front of my friends,” I fumed.

  “I’m sorry, Gen. But if you would have read the note I left you this morning you would already know I specifically said for you to come straight home after school.”

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm, guiding her back to her truck. “I was coming home,” I lied and somehow got the impression that she knew it. “We were just going to hang out for a few minutes first.” She closed her door, and rolled down her window when I stomped away.

  “I’ll wait so you can follow me,” she said loud enough for everyone to hear. I cringed, balling my fists before I saw Luna trotting toward me.

  “Gen, wait up,” she called out, waving a small piece of paper and smiling. It seemed like she was always smiling. “Here,” she handed me the piece of folded up notebook paper. “It’s my cell number. Call or text me later.”

  “Sorry I couldn’t go with you guys, Luna. But I’ll definitely go next time.” I narrowed my eyes at my aunt, who was blocking traffic while she waited for me to back out. “This is the last time she’s going to treat me like a child.”

  Chapter 3

  When we got back to Aunt Bev’s house, I mean our house—whether I liked it or not this would now be my permanent place of residence—I ran up the stairs and slammed my be
droom door. With balled fists, I paced the floor like a caged animal looking for a way to escape. Tears of frustration ran down my face. Staring down at the floor, tiny red dots suddenly appeared, scattered here and there. The more I paced the bigger the dots grew, until I finally stopped and took a good look.

  When I opened up my hand, my palm was red with blood. I quickly opened the other and it was the same way. I jumped to my feet and hurried into the bathroom and turned on the cold water. I didn’t have to look too closely to see the slits in the palms of both hands. In the midst of my anger I had unknowingly dug my fingernails into my palms. I so need to trim my nails.

  I took a wet washcloth to my room and cleaned up the floor then went downstairs to borrow some nail clippers. I almost had a heart attack when I rounded the corner and saw William with his back leaned against the kitchen counter. Aunt Bev was talking with someone, but it wasn’t him.

  I quietly backed up to the hallway and peered in the mirror. My reflection was enough to scare anyone. My hair had always been extremely kinky in the past just like one of those cheap frizzy-haired wigs, but now the curls had relaxed quite a bit, which I didn’t understand. My face greatly resembled that of a gothic girl turned psycho due to tears and mascara. Mental note: buy waterproof mascara.

  After a quick spit and tissue face wash, I hurried back down the hallway toward the kitchen, but stopped abruptly when I heard my name. Aunt Bev had said, “Genevieve doesn’t know yet.” Who could she be talking to about me? I wanted to stay quiet and keep listening, but as I was inching my way backward, I bumped into an end table and knocked over a lamp.

  “Gen? Is that you?” my aunt called out. Who else could she have possibly thought it was? I mean, we were the only two living there, we didn’t own any dogs or cats—which by the way, was something I intended to change—and as far as I knew we weren’t expecting anyone.

  “Yeah,” I answered reluctantly. My mouth went dry and my heart fluttered at the thought of being in the same room with William, yet I couldn’t understand why. Sure, he was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever laid eyes on, but I had seen plenty of hot guys before, and never had this kind of reaction. Maybe it was the Alaskan air or something.

  “Genevieve,” Aunt Bev called impatiently. “Come in here, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

  “Coming.” I back-stepped to the mirror for one last look. Staring at my reflection I suddenly wondered why I was bothering. A guy as hot as he was would already have a girlfriend … or three.

  “Gen, I’d like you to meet Ezekiel Novak and his son William.” Aunt Bev was leaned against the stove next to a tall dark haired man who looked entirely too young to be William’s dad. His features were as smooth as silk and his skin was a creamy, pearl color. When my eyes met his, a sudden feeling of embarrassment came over me, like he knew my thoughts.

  “N-nice to meet you.” I would have shook his hand, but didn’t want him to see how bad mine was shaking all on its own.

  “Hello, Genevieve. This is my son, William.” When Mr. Novak spoke, his voice was smooth and his tone even, almost melodic and hypnotizing.

  My tongue promptly felt swollen and stuck to the roof of my mouth so I couldn’t speak, all I could do was stare. My body trembled and I grabbed the edge of the counter.

  “Hi, Genevieve.” William smiled, and right away my legs grew weak and shaky.

  “Call m-me …” I floundered, and my voice trailed off. The room grew dark and the last thing I remembered was falling.

  ***

  When I came to, I was on the couch and Aunt Bev was blotting my head with a cold wash cloth. “What happened?”

  “You fainted. I think you have a fever.”

  I pushed the cloth and her away. “I’m not sick. I feel fine.”

  “Gen, your skin is hot. Look how red it is,” Aunt Bev insisted.

  But when I raised my arm my skin was its normal white color. I furrowed my brow. “What are you talking about?” I asked, still utterly confused.

  After she inspected my arm, I watched her expression change from worry to confusion. “But-but, I don’t understand. Gen, your skin was red as fire, and extremely hot to the touch.”

  “Well, I’m fine now, just hungry. I can feel my stomach churning.” I smiled and then it quickly dawned on me that William and his father had been there when I passed out. “Oh my God.” I slapped my hand against my forehead. Aunt Bev came rushing back from the kitchen.

  “What is it? Are you feeling sick again?” She sat down on the edge of the couch.

  “No. Just humiliated. William saw me pass out. That’s it. I’m quitting school.”

  Aunt Bev smiled. “Don’t be silly. He seemed genuinely concerned about you. Here.” She handed me a sticky note. “His cell number. He said for you to call him later if you felt up to it.”

  “I might if I had my cell phone turned back on,” I said dryly.

  “It’s already done, and I charged it for you today.”

  I got excited.“You did? Really?” Smiling, I jumped to my feet, not knowing which direction to go in.

  “It’s in your room.” Aunt Bev pointed toward the stairs.

  ***

  When I pulled into my parking space at school, Luna and her brothers loitered under a tree, and I assumed they were trying to get out of the rain without going inside the building. I saw her looking around anxiously, like she was watching for someone. When she spotted me climbing out from the Jeep, she smiled and waved me over.

  I still didn’t feel any less guilty for what I’d done to her brother. I couldn’t help but smile every time I thought about it. For a guy that looked so muscular, I sure didn’t have a hard time shoving him across the hall. I must have just caught him off guard.

  I looked at the ground while walking and chewed the inside of my lip the whole way. When I got to the spot where Luna was standing, I reluctantly looked up. Joseph smiled as he came to join us.

  “Genevieve?” he smiled crookedly.

  “It’s Gen.” I nervously smiled back.

  “Sorry. Gen.” He held out his hand and I shook it. “Let’s start over. My name’s Joseph.”

  Relief instantly washed over me. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I could tell he was as shy as me by the way he looked down and kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. “I’m really sorry about yesterday,” I said sincerely.

  “Hey, it’s all good. It’s just that when I saw my sister standing with you, I thought she had told you about us already.” He got quiet for a minute then looked up with a huge smile. “How’d you get so strong? Do you lift weights? ‘Cause you don’t look like you do.”

  I could tell he was being totally serious. “Nah, I’m really not strong at all. I guess between the adrenaline and catching you off balance, I just got lucky.”

  The school buzzer rang and he turned to leave, but quickly stopped and looked back. “We’re all going to Wolf Point for a bonfire Friday night. Luna’s going. And some of the kids from school. You wanna come?”

  “Sure … but, I don’t know where it is—I don’t know where anything is.” We smiled simultaneously. Luna must have been listening because she looped her arm through mine and said she would ride with me. I think it was more to make sure I would go.

  When I walked in to English class, I was almost at my desk when I started feeling lightheaded again and was suddenly very hot. My vision tunneled, but I managed to make it to my desk and drop into my seat. I laid my head down for a minute and then heard a familiar voice. Without lifting my head I opened my eyes. William was sitting two seats over and talking with Luna. I had this nervous pit in my stomach and my heart drummed in my head. What is it with this guy and why is he suddenly in here?

  After a few deep breaths I started feeling a little better, but was still weak. For some reason when I got close to him a weakness came over me. “But that can’t be. People don’t have that kind of effect over other people,” I said under my breath. When I glanced back over at him the corner of his
mouth curved up with that same crooked smile of his. Just then, I thought I might actually melt onto the floor.

  Luna whispered, telling me there had been a scheduling change and William had gotten moved to my class. I found it rather odd that he was the only one to change classes.

  All during class I sat with my head propped on my hand and kept catching myself staring at William. You know, one of those open-mouthed stares. Then, the most embarrassing thing of my teenage life happened.

  “Miss Labreck,” Mr. Donovan snapped at the same time as he slammed his pointer stick on someone’s desk in the front row.

  I jerked and sat up straight. “Huh … uh, yeah?”

  “You can worship your Romeo after class. Right now we are talking about Juliet’s Romeo.”

  A burning flush flew over me when the entire class busted out in laughter. I pulled my hoodie further over my head and sunk down into my seat as far as I could go. I would have gotten under my desk if I could have fit.

  For the remainder of the class, I had to fight to keep from looking at him. When the bell rang, I grabbed my backpack and hurried out the door. Even though I already had my book for my next class, I went to my locker anyway. I thought maybe if I kept my face buried inside it, I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone I was just in class with.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Two cheerleaders from class stopped just behind me and purposely talked over the loud voices that filled the hallways between classes.

  “Hey, Gen.”

  I looked briefly over my shoulder, then went back to rearranging my bubble wrap—like there would be more than one way to stuff it into my locker in the first place.

  “You might as well hang it up, new girl—William is mine. You got it? Keep your pasty-white paws off!”