The Gathering

NINE

I WAS RIGHT ABOUT the assembly. It came during last period. Really, you’d think by now, the town could trust us older kids enough to just say, “Hey, there’s one of those fake reporters in town. Here’s her picture. You know the drill.” But apparently, under the age of eighteen, our memories have short expiration periods.

If there’s anything worse than being confined to a small auditorium with everyone in the school, it’s being confined there at the end of the day, when I’m desperate for fresh air and open skies. The crush of bodies, their stifling heat, the smell of them as deodorant began wearing off, even the sound of everyone breathing and coughing …

“Go,” Daniel whispered at the halfway mark. “Anything new, I’ll fill you in.”

As I passed Mrs. Morris, I motioned that I was going out to use the washroom. I’m sure she knew better, but she just smiled and waved me on. We aren’t a school with a truancy problem. Let’s be honest: Where would you go if you skipped class? No mall. No coffee shop. No hangout where the person running the place hasn’t known you from childhood … and knows you should be in class.

The school is on the edge of town. Hell, most of the town is on the edge of town—you can’t walk far in any direction without ending up in the forest. That’s where I went.

As I started along the path, I noticed a young, dark-haired woman. But not Mina Lee. This one was taller than me, with long black hair that curled over her faded denim jacket. Native or Latina. She was watching me and making no effort to hide it. Mina Lee’s partner? If so, she needed lessons in subtlety even more than Mina did.

When I headed her way, she started grinning and rocking on her toes, like she was fighting an urge to run toward me. She looked about nineteen, but her grin belonged on the face of a five-year-old. She was bouncing like a five-year-old, too.

When I got a better look at her face—high cheekbones, sharp nose and chin, and slightly slanted amber eyes—I realized this had to be Rafe’s older sister. I’d never seen her before. Few people in town had. She was supposed to be an artist. Shy and reclusive, Rafe had told everyone. One look at this girl, so eager to say hello she could barely stand still, and I knew that was a lie. Surprise, surprise.

“Hello,” I said.

She launched herself at me so fast I didn’t have time to get out of the way before she had her arms around my neck, hugging me like a long-lost sister.

“Um, hi …” I said, giving her a quick hug back, then stepping away.

“I shouldn’t do that, right? Sorry. I couldn’t help it. I’ve been waiting so long.” She resumed bouncing on her toes. “I’m so happy to meet you.”

“I’m … happy to meet you, too. I’m Maya.”

“I know. I’m Annie.” She bounced there, grinning and staring at me. Her eyes were wide and childlike, and as I looked in them, I had a pretty good idea why Rafe was keeping his sister a secret. She was … I guess mentally challenged is the right term.

“Rafe’s right. You are pretty. I like your hair.” She reached out and stroked a lock hanging over my shoulder. “I wish mine was straight. I used to straighten it, but it never really worked. I don’t think I was doing it right. Rafe tried to help, but—” She giggled. “He’s not a good hairdresser.”

I couldn’t help smiling at that image.

“So you live in the Skylark cottage?” I said. “That must get lonely.”

“Sometimes. But it’s okay. There’s so much forest to run in.” She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun, her smile rapturous. “It’s wonderful.”

“You like the forest?” I asked.

She opened her eyes and they shone with a light that made her beautiful. “I love the forest.”

“Me, too.”

She laughed. “Of course you do, silly. It’s in our blood.”

I guessed she meant Native blood. Like with Rafe, I couldn’t really tell her heritage, but I supposed that answered my question. I was going to ask what tribe she was, when her eyes went wide.

“Uh-oh. I’m in trouble now,” she said.

I followed her gaze to the back door. Rafe was bearing down on us, his expression set somewhere between annoyance and anxiety.

“I’m going to get a stern talking to,” Annie whispered, her tone saying she wasn’t the least bit concerned by the prospect. When Rafe got within ten feet, she launched herself at him the same way she had with me. Instead of hugging him, she grabbed him in a headlock and ruffled his hair.

“I didn’t break the rules,” she said as she danced away. “She came over to me, and she talked to me first.”

“She’s right,” I said.

“Okay, just …” He took her gently by the wrist. “We have to go, Annie. Say good-bye to Maya.”

“She doesn’t need to—” I began.

“Yes, she does.”

He led Annie off before I could argue. I glowered at his retreating back. Was he embarrassed by Annie? All the hair-styling in the world wouldn’t make him a decent brother if he forced her to stay locked in a cabin all day. Maybe that was how he’d been raised, but the next time he came sniffing around, we were definitely having a chat about this.

As I stormed back toward the school, I heard running footsteps behind me.

“Maya!” Rafe called. “Hold up a sec.”

Seems we were having that chat sooner than I expected.

“I need to ask you a favor,” he said.

I nodded, too pissed off to open my mouth.

“Don’t tell anyone about Annie, okay? Please? You saw—Well, you saw she’s got some problems, and I’d really appreciate it if—”

“If I let you keep your mentally challenged sister a secret? Kept her from wrecking your street cred? God, you’re a piece of work, Rafael Martinez. I thought Sam was being harsh on you this morning, but she wasn’t nearly harsh enough.”

As I ranted, his face hardened. By the time I finished, it was like granite, his eyes cold chunks of amber.

“Are you done?” he asked, voice as frosty as his eyes.

“No, I haven’t even begun. I was planning to talk to you later, offer to take Annie to lunch, let her meet people, but obviously that’s not going to work, so I’ll move straight to step two. Talk to my parents.”

I walked away before I could see his reaction.

He called after me, “How old am I, Maya?”

I turned. “How the hell should I know? Whatever you’ve told the school, I’m sure it’s a lie anyway.”

“I’m sixteen, just like you. Or like you will be tomorrow, from what I heard. My birthday was last month.”

“Congratulations.” I started walking again. “I’ll send you a card next year, if you hang around that long, which I doubt.”

“You don’t need to doubt it. I’ll be leaving for sure if you tell anyone about Annie.”

I wheeled. “Are you threatening to take her—?”

“Legally, I can’t take her anywhere. I’m sixteen, Maya. Barely sixteen. She’s nineteen. Who’s the guardian here?”

I paused, then said, softly, “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Annie and I never knew our dad. Our mom died last year when Annie was eighteen. Before the accident. So she got custody of me.”

“Accident? It’s brain damage?”

The look in Rafe’s eyes, the grief … It hurt just to see it, and he turned away fast, mumbling, “Yeah. It’s brain damage. Point is that if anyone finds out, I’m off to a foster home and she’s off to an institution. Which neither of us wants.”

I stepped toward him. “I’m sorry. I just …” Jumped to conclusions. Big surprise. “I’m sorry.”

He turned back and ran his hand through his hair. “Yeah, well, I know it looked bad. It is bad. I definitely don’t want her living like this. The school thinks I’m seventeen, with my birthday early next year, so at worst, we’d have to wait that long.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. It was like when he admitted why he pretended to smoke—his honesty threw me. This time, though, he didn’t seem to be trying to win points, which threw me all the more.

He was trusting me with things I hadn’t earned his trust for, which only made me realize he didn’t have anyone he could trust with stuff like that, not in Salmon Creek, and I felt bad for him, which I was sure he wouldn’t want.…

“I meant what I said,” I said finally, “about spending time with Annie. Not in town obviously, but maybe we can go for a walk or whatever. She said she likes the forest. I could show her stuff.”

“She’d like that.” He looked over at me. “Thanks.”

My cheeks heated. I looked away and mumbled, “Sure.” Then I asked, “Are you coming to the party tomorrow?” because it was, at the moment, the only change of subject I could come up with.

“Daniel’s party?” Rafe looked confused, as if he couldn’t imagine why I’d think he was going to the party of a guy who obviously didn’t like him.

“Well, it’s at Daniel’s place, but it’s really—”

“Your birthday party. I know.” He kept giving me that look, and I didn’t blame him—I was as unlikely to invite him as Daniel was.

“Everyone goes,” I said. “The whole class.”

“Yeah, I know. Hayley asked if I was going, but I kind of figured that didn’t exactly count as an invitation. Unless I went with her, which I’d really rather not.”

I had to laugh at his expression. “Don’t blame you. But you can now consider yourself officially invited by the birthday girl. It’s an easier way to meet people than hanging out at the smoking pit. Healthier, too.”

That got a smile from him. Not that lazy grin I’d seen so often, but something as different from his usual self as that ice-cold anger I’d seen him show to Sam and, later, to me. A crooked smile. Hesitant. Not quite shy, but close enough to do more to my insides than that sexy one he tossed around so casually. When I felt that, I felt a faint pang of panic, too—something in my gut that said falling for Rafe Martinez was a bad idea. When he said, “I’ll see,” in a tone that said he wasn’t likely to show up, I was relieved.

“It depends on Annie,” he said. “It’s Saturday, so she’ll expect me to stick around.”

“Understandable,” I said. “Have a good weekend, then, and I’ll see you Monday.”

I hurried off before he could reply.