I decided to keep the bizarre events from the coffee shop to myself. "It was fine. What's for dinner?"
She still didn't seem like her usual eccentric self. She answered my question, but she did so with complete distraction in her tone.
"We're having pot roast." Worry riddled her aged face and her tone displayed the same signs apprehension as it had before. "Are you sure you're okay? Did anything happen today that might have scared you in any way. Did you feel… I don't know… threatened at any point this afternoon?"
Her questions made me squirm uncomfortably. I wasn't sure why she was asking me that, and it started to worry me a bit.
"No. I never felt the least bit threatened. I just had a meeting with my economics partner and then we left. Should I be worried about something?"
Her face relaxed, as did her tone. "No, dear. I'm an old lady. Sometimes I overanalyze things. It's hard for me to just let you roam and do as you please. I worry. That's my job as your temporary guardian." She patted my back.
My body relaxed, finally, and I made my way into the kitchen to grab a plate. I wanted so badly to go see Tallis and find out the truth about what was going on.
Honestly, I just felt the uncontrollable yearning to be with him again. He was like a craving that could never be sated. Since the moment I met him, he was all I could even think about. I'd never been addicted to anything, but I was sure that this is what it felt like.
The next day at school was slightly awkward, but I was determined to find out what happened. I was new to the whole American teenage ways; however, I wasn't into playing games.
Before first period, I saw Tallis standing at his locker. He was alone, so I quickly approached him to seize my opportunity to get some answers. I could hear my nervousness as I confronted him.
"Hey, will you please tell me what happened yesterday?"
He just smiled confidently as he leaned back on the lockers before speaking in a much too casual tone. "I'm sorry, Aria. That guy we saw yesterday is a bit of a creep. I wanted him to think we were together. I've seen him around town, hassling girls your age. I didn't want him doing you that way."
Everything he said seemed slightly rehearsed, and he seemed very confident in his clarification as well. It all seemed too... conveniently effortless, when the day before he had been far too distressed to tell me such a thing.
I knew I couldn't have just been imagining the absurdity of his reaction. I nodded slightly as I spoke in a disbelieving tone.
"I see. Why didn't you just tell me that yesterday instead of acting so weird?"
He laughed lightly before responding. "I may have overreacted a tad. I was just in a hurry to get you out of there before he got any ideas. I don't know why I didn't tell you that yesterday to be honest. Some girls like danger. Let's say I wanted to make sure you didn't get any ideas." He winked at me as he finished his sentence.
I blushed slightly, but then suddenly I was off balance. A large guy had bumped into me, nearly knocking me down. Fire coursed through me as it had so many times before. Tallis's arms were wrapped around me, steadying me, drawing me into his delicious web of intoxication.
Yet again, he had caught me before I fell. Then his eyes shifted toward the brawny guy who had run over me. "Watch where you're going."
The guy stared at Tallis in an intimidating manner. Tallis didn't back down though. I’m not sure why, but suddenly the guy who had seemed so fierce at first cowered down from Tallis. He stuttered as he addressed me.
"Sorry, my bad." Then he turned and walked away quickly. It was as if Tallis had said something else, but he never spoke.
I found that incredibly odd - per the usual around him. The bell rang, warning us to go to class. McKee walked up and pulled me away from Tallis. I looked back to see Mr. Mysterious was already gone.
McKee pulled me into calculus just in time. I couldn't stop thinking about all the weird things that had happened in the past couple days. Ever since I had gotten to Grayford, things had all been... screwed up.
It was certainly different than my old village. Everything there made perfect sense, but here, nothing seemed to. I was starting to feel like a jumbled up jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, unable to see the entire picture.
I just kept feeling like there was something I was missing, but I was completely oblivious as to what it might be.
Tallis and I had several laughs during economics class while discussing our project. He seemed to be over whatever it truly was that had upset him the day before. Elaina had watched us the entire time. I could feel her eyes burning through me all throughout class.
It had been raining fiercely outside, but I could hear it starting to slack up. As we entered gym class, we were told boys and girls would be sharing the gym again. The last time that had happened, things had gotten heated between Tallis and McKee.
I could see out of the corner of my eye that Elaina and her pack of hyenas were approaching me while I was stretching.
Before they reached me, McKee ran up to me with a smile on his face. "Hey, Aria. I know that it is last-minute, but I was going to see if you wanted to maybe go out this weekend. I know a great restaurant in Salem. It's a bit of a drive, but I swear it's worth it."
He kind of caught me off guard. I stuttered for a moment as I frantically tried to think of a reason not to go out with him without hurting his feelings. "I… uh … I-"
Fortunately, the coach interrupted us with a severely scolding tone. "McKee! Get over here. Get in line. You haven't climbed the rope yet. This isn't a time to play with the girls."