Shameless Chapter Ten

Jonah's rusty blue truck pulls to a stop at a curb. "Thanks so much, Jonah," I say with a smile. I meant it. I really needed to get my mind off my mother. Jonah scrunches his nose and looks at me. Again I'm mesmerized by the stunning blue of his eyes.

"I'm not sure about this, Clara. This is a dangerous neighborhood? What are you doing?" His shoulders hunch and he looks at me with concern. I look away quick, "Its um...I'm doing a...project."

"For what? We have almost every class together, Clara. Except for 6th period," Jonah counters. Crap. "I...I know. Its um...I'm doing it by myself," I give him a forced smile. He stares at me for a few more seconds, and then slowly reaches over to me. I suck in a breath. What is he doing?!

As he draws closer I notice that his eyes aren't a deep ocean blue. No. They are an icy blue with dazzling green specks in them. Soon, we are so close I can hear his breathing. Is he going to....

Click! I jump in surprise as my seatbelt comes rolling back into place. Jonah looks at me, slowly backing away, "Couldn't let you leave without releasing your seatbelt," his eyebrows raise and a playful, shy smile lights up his face. I smile back. But inside I'm all jittery inside. My mind scrambles to gain back control.

"I can pick you up when your done, if you want," Jonah says. I smile. "That'd be....nice."

We swap numbers, and I grab my bag, smiling at him as I step out of the truck. He smiles back, and when I'm safely on the sidewalk he drives away.

Snap out of it, Clare. You've got work to do. I roll my eyes at the Voice and start walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ********* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We meet again, Kerewood Road, I think to myself as I stand in the dark alley way next to the crusted KEREWOOD ROAD sign. "Hello?" I whisper. Totally 22nd century horror movie talk, but I can't think of anything else to say. "Um...the note. It said Kerewood Road? Am I at the right place?" Nothing. The dark walls echo eerilly in the still night.

"Okay...I'm leaving then!" I shout. I slowly step back and walk out the alley, when a huge popping sound erupts, and a thousand glittering diamonds fall to the ground in front of me. I look up to see the street lamp toppling over. A small screech escapes me and I run as fast as I can from the exploding ball of fire that was once a lamp. Did someone just try to kill me?!

When I'm a safe distance away from Kerewood Road, I slow down to a walk. I lean my head against the brick wall of the building i stop at. Catching my breath, I look up at the stars, my eyes glued to the black blanket above me.

I push myself off the wall, strands of my hair sticking to the crystalline particles of the brick wall. I wipe away a sheen of sweat from my forehead and take a deep breath.

The hairs on my neck prickle to life. Crap. Not again! I look around, turning to the left, when something pulls me from the right.

I scream, and a hand clamps over my mouth. "Shhh. Clara! Its me!" I look up at my attacker and stare into the eyes of icy blue irises. I pry his hand away and step away.

"Jonah?! What are you doing here?!" I shout. He steps back, his cheeks flushed, his already disheveled black-brown hair, rustled even more. "Me?! What about you?!" he argued.

I jab a finger into my hoodie, "I asked first."

Jonah runs a hand through his hair and lets his hand stop at his neck awkwardly. He stares down at his shoes. "I....I was worried about you," he whispers. "I can take care of myself, Jonah," I say, softer now.

"I know," his voice is back to its shy melody, "I shouldn't have followed you...I just thought you were in trouble." His eyes meet mine and a guilty smile pulls on his lips. I can't help but smile back.

"It doesn't matter now. I'm fine. Let's just get out of here."

He nods, and in complete silence, we head back to his truck.

Thoughts drift back to my mother, her cruel face as she abandoned me in the woods. The sick smile that flooded her face.

As we drive back to the Switched House, I try to hide my tears from Jonah.

My mother told them.

They found me.

They know what I am.

And soon..... Jonah might too.

prev chapter