The Gathering

TWENTY-FOUR

WE DECIDED TO VISIT the Braun place after dark. As we reached town, the truck bounced from the dirt road to the pavement, and something underneath made an ugly cracking sound.

“It’s been doing that,” Daniel said. “Just ignore it. Corey says he’ll take a look on the weekend.”

“Well, no matter how dire the situation, if my dad offers you a new truck, don’t do it. There’s a serious string attached.”

“Huh?” he said.

I told him what my dad had said. That got him laughing and as we pulled into the school parking lot, even the sight of Rafe waiting for me only made him roll his eyes.

We got out. I glanced at Daniel.

He sighed. “Go on.”

“You sound like you’re giving a five-year-old permission to play with an unsuitable friend.”

“If the shoe fits …”

I flipped him off.

“Watch it or I won’t marry you,” he said. “Truck or no truck.”

I laughed and jogged over to Rafe.

“Did he just say …?” Rafe began.

“Yes. And don’t ask. How’s Annie?”

“She’s fine,” he said as we walked along the forest’s edge, skirting school property. “I tried to convince her to stay indoors for a few days. She doesn’t get it. A couple of years ago, she was the one always telling me … Well, you know.”

I didn’t have any experience with brothers or sisters, but I suppose it would be as if Daniel got into an accident and stopped watching out for me. It’d be like losing the Daniel I knew.

“If you can’t get her to stay out of the woods, I’ve got something that should help. A present from my dad.” I swung my backpack off my shoulder and rummaged. “One for you and one for Annie. He makes me carry it all the time. You guys should, too.”

He took the cans of pepper spray. “Good idea. Thank him for me.”

“I will. If you need to use it, aim for the face—not just the eyes but the nose. Oh, here—and my dad threw in a pamphlet on animal encounters, even though I told him you seem to know how to handle yourself in the woods.”

“Make lots of noise so you don’t surprise them. Make more noise if you meet one. Try to be as big and intimidating as possible. Don’t drop eye contact. Don’t turn away.”

“You got it.”

As we walked, he’d been looking around. I asked what he was looking for.

“Someplace private,” he said.

“So we can talk more? That’s so sweet.”

He laughed. “Talking’s good, but the bell’s going to ring. Not much time for deep conversation.”

“Not much time for anything else, either.”

A wicked grin. “There’s enough.”

He scanned the building and the forest. I knew he’d never officially dated any of the girls at school, but I’d figured that didn’t mean he hadn’t slipped off to a quiet spot with one. Obviously not.

“There’s a nook around back,” I said. “It’s an emergency exit, so no one ever uses it.”

“I thought you didn’t date guys from school?”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t know the make-out spots.”

“Make-out? I thought we were talking. But if you insist …”

I tugged him into the nook, wrapped my hand around the front of his shirt, pulled him to me, and kissed him. He chuckled, the vibration buzzing through our kiss. I’m bold, but I’d never been this bold. With Rafe, I could be. He liked bold. If his return kiss was any indication, he liked it a whole lot.

We kissed until the bell rang, then he pulled back but only to glower in the direction of the bell.

I laughed.

He stayed put, hands resting on my hips.

“You’re okay, then?” he said. “After last night?”

“Better than I should be.”

“What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “I feel like … like I’m holding up too well. I mean, I feel awful about it, but I’m not having any trouble coping.”

“Because you’re tough.”

“It feels insensitive.”

He shook his head, fingers sliding into my belt loops, leaning toward me until we were eye to eye. “I was there last night, Maya. What I saw was strength. You were upset, but you knew what had to be done and you did it. I was impressed. Seriously impressed.”

He kissed me again and my arms went around his neck and I didn’t care about the bell, didn’t care if I ever got to class.

A throat-clearing behind Rafe made us both jump.

“I believe that was the bell, Rafael.”

I couldn’t see the speaker but recognized the voice as Ms. Tate’s, the primary grades teacher.

“Whoops,” he said. “Guess we’d better get inside, then.”

When Ms. Tate saw me, she gave a little “oh” of surprise. “Maya …”

“Sorry,” I said. “We were just going in.”

I could feel her gaze on my back as we walked away. When we got around the corner, Rafe whispered, “I think she’s disappointed in you.”

“She’ll get over it.”

He grinned and we headed inside.

If I’d felt insensitive earlier, it wasn’t long before I was feeling downright callous. Everyone kept telling me they’d heard what had happened and how horrible it must have been. But inside, I was still buzzing, my pulse racing, as giddy as the time Serena and I sneaked champagne at her cousin’s wedding.

Rafe didn’t make it easy, either. During first period, he found an excuse to walk past my desk and drop off a note. It read, “Not dating classmates means you’ve missed out on an important part of fifth grade. Time to catch up.” Below that, he’d drawn a heart with our initials in it. I’d laughed, added “2 be + 2-gether = 4-ever” and passed it back.

And so it went, all morning, the page getting filled up with doodles as it went back and forth. It was completely fifth grade and completely silly and I loved it, because he wasn’t afraid to be silly. It was like kissing him first—I could do whatever I wanted, and not have to worry what he’d think of me.

Five minutes before lunch, he dropped off another note marked “Open at the bell,” then excused himself to use the washroom … and didn’t return. When the bell went, I unfolded it to find a rough sketch of the school, with a dotted line from our class to an X by the principal’s office.

I stuffed the note in my pocket and took off. At the office, I found an X in marker on the floor beside the trash can. I moved it and found another note. Another dotted line, this one leading outside to another X. That one ended just inside the forest, where I found a third note under a pebble.… It was blank.

I looked up.

Rafe’s laugh floated down from the trees. “Can’t fool you, huh?”

I scaled the tree. When I reached his branch, he was sitting there, legs dangling.

“Will that branch hold two?” I said, looking at it.

“Maybe. The question is whether you’re willing to risk it.”

I swung onto the branch and started sidling out.

He grinned. “Dumb question, wasn’t it?”

“It was.”

“You can’t resist me.”

“No, I can’t resist a dare.”

I stopped. He looked at the distance between us and lifted his brows.

“This seems close enough,” I said. “For safety’s sake.”

“Safe from the branch breaking? Or from me?”

He swung his leg over and reached for me, pulling me into a kiss. He started slow, shifting, checking my balance. I backed up a little and swung my leg over, so we were both straddling.

“Better?” I said.

“Much.”

He gave me a real kiss then, deep and hungry, and I think the branch could have snapped and I wouldn’t have noticed until I hit the ground. Maybe not even then.

We kissed, barely coming up for air, until a giggle sounded below us. Then a singsong voice.

“Rafe and Maya sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g.”

“Annie …” Rafe peered down at his sister, beaming up at us. “I thought I asked you to stay inside today.”

“I was careful.” She grabbed the lowest branch and swung up. “I wanted to see Maya. I wanted to make sure she was coming over for dinner.”

“I haven’t invited her yet.”

Annie grabbed our branch.

“Whoa, no!” Rafe said as it dipped. “She can’t come over if she falls and breaks both her legs.”

“She won’t do that, silly. She’ll land on her feet. Just like me.”

“Rather not test that theory,” he said and leaned over me to unwrap her fingers from the branch.

I slid down onto the one below us.

“That’s cheating,” Annie said. “This is how you do it.”

She crouched and jumped. My heart rammed into my throat, but she hit the ground as easily as if it had been two feet down instead of ten. I flashed back to the night of my party, when I’d leaped off the roof, Rafe following.

Rafe swung onto the branch beside me. “Ignore her. She’s showing off ten years of gymnastics.”

We climbed the rest of the way down as Annie bounced on the ground, impatient.

“So, are you coming over, Maya? Rafe has something he wants to tell you.” She grinned. “A secret.”

“Does he?”

Rafe shot Annie a look, then glanced at me. He waved Annie aside.

“We just need to talk,” he said in a low voice, once she’d stepped away.

“Are you in trouble?” I said.

“No, nothing like that.”

“Well, I’m not sure about tonight.” Daniel and I had to check the Braun place before it was cleared out. “I have that English essay that I’ve barely started …”

“Can you get an extension? After finding that body, I’m sure they’d understand. I really need to talk to you.”

“How about now?”

He shook his head. “It’s … not that kind of talk.”

I looked into his eyes. They were clouded with worry and something almost like fear.

“You’re freaking me out here,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Nothing. Sorry. Go have your lunch. I’m going to take Annie home. I probably won’t be back, but I’ll meet you in the square after school and walk you to the cabin. You shouldn’t be in the woods alone.”

I could have said the same for him, and this struck me as odd, coming from a guy who hadn’t tried to shield me from stuff because I was a girl.

I agreed, and he made me promise to wait at the town square until he arrived. I made him slip back into school and get that pepper spray. I waited with Annie until he came back, then went to find Daniel and the others.

If the morning had sped by, the afternoon slogged. When it finally ended, I told Daniel I’d catch up with him after having dinner at Rafe’s. Then I took off for the town square.

Rafe wasn’t there. I perched on the base of the monument, a bronze life-size figure of a guy in a lab coat. It isn’t marked with a plaque, and we tell people it’s to honor all scientists. I’ve heard, though, that it’s supposed to be some guy named Samuel Lyle. I looked him up once on the Internet, but couldn’t find any mention of him.

I’d been there about ten minutes when a guy strolled my way. A stranger with dark blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and the vague-eyed look of a drug addict. I could see the top of a badly done tattoo on his collarbone, the rest hidden under a golf shirt buttoned all the way up. A windbreaker topped the golf shirt. He wore white sneakers and jeans that looked like they’d been bought this morning.

As he approached me, he smiled, and if he’d brushed his teeth in the last year, I’d be shocked. I could smell his windbreaker—that stink of new plastic. Smelled his breath, too, as soon as he opened his mouth.

“Hey there, Miss,” he said, stumbling over the Miss a little. “I’m looking for someone, and I was told you could help.”

One look at the guy, and I knew exactly who he was looking for. I glanced to the side, toward the forest, the path I knew Rafe would take. It was empty. Good.

“I will if I can,” I said, giving my best tourist-friendly smile. “Who is it?”

“Kid named Rafael Santiago. No, Martinez. Rafe Martinez. He’s about your age and I just talked to someone who said you’re his girlfriend.”

I managed a laugh. “I wouldn’t go that far, but sure, I know him. You’re a friend?”

“I am. From way back. Lost track of him when he came up to Canada. Then I was in Vancouver, visiting a buddy and he said, ‘Hey, you know who’s over on the island?’ Course, I couldn’t go home without saying hi to my old pal. He’s been tougher to find than I thought, though.”

He laughed. “Hell, this town was tougher to find than I thought. Wasn’t even on the map. Then I get here and find out he’s living with his sister in some cabin in the woods. Out there.” He waved north. “Seems there isn’t even a road to follow. I was hoping you could take me to him.”

“I would, but I’ve never been there myself. I’m waiting for my dad to pick me—” I took out my cell, as if it had been vibrating, and answered. “Dad. Where are you?”

I paused, then sighed. “Fine, I’ll walk home then.”

I hung up and slid off the monument. “Seems I’m not getting a lift and my mom needs me home right away. Why don’t you try Chief Carling’s office? They can give you directions to Rafe’s place.”

There was no way this guy was going to the police station, and the look on his face confirmed it.

“All right then,” he said. “I’ll keep asking. Thanks for your help.”

He couldn’t resist a sarcastic twist on the last word. I hoisted my backpack and headed out.