Read Online Project Pallid by Christopher Hoskins - Free Book Online Page B

That’s my treat for you.”
    We
smiled and looked at each other, but we said nothing more.   And with my bag slung over one shoulder
instead of the obligatory two, we were on our way.
    And
though the settings around us changed, the silence between us stayed constant.
All the way to the front lobby and out the double doors, we were encapsulated
in a field of it. Not that uncomfortable kind, though, where you feel like
you’ve got to say something, but you worry it’ll come out sounding stupid. It
wasn’t that kind of silence at all. In fact, it was precisely the opposite. It
was a silence that needed no words at all. It was the type that comes with the
comfort of long-term familiarity: one we still hadn’t had time to sufficiently
experience, but that existed, nonetheless.

 
    Late
summer air punched us, and the afternoon sunlight warmed my skin as we stepped
from the front doors and descended the concrete steps to the sidewalk and to
the line of cars that cycled through, retrieving mostly underage underclassmen.
Most barely came to a halt before pulling away again, while others sat
impatiently waiting for kids who still hadn’t broken free from their friends.
    As
soon as we stepped into view, the horn of her dad’s emerald green Mercedes
blared. And again. And again. And Again. And again. We’d barely moved two steps
in its direction before its taillights came on, and it sped in reverse toward
us. I wasn’t sure what to make of the quick overreaction.
    “That’s
my dad,” Catee sighed. “Always the impatient one. Never a second to waste.”
    “I
can see that.” The car had already come to a jarring stop by the time I
finished my sentence; it clanged into park and nestled onto its shocks.
    “So,
I guess I’ll see you on Monday?” she asked.
    “That’s
not really a question anymore, Four, Twenty-Six, Twelve ,” I joked.
    “You
make an excellent point. Then I’ll see you Monday morning, Mr. Lawson.”
    “Can’t
wait.”
    And
without another word, she pulled the heavy door of the vintage car closed
behind her with an iron clang.
    I
couldn’t hear a word they said, but their body language spoke volumes of its
own. The angry energy between them was palpable, even from feet away, and I
wondered what could have spurred such an instantaneous and heated exchange. I
couldn’t imagine the girl I knew—the girl I was falling
for—could’ve been its catalyst, and so, before I’d even spoken my first
word to him, I had her dad pegged for the person he’d prove to be. A person so vile,
that I’ll show no remorse and no reservation when it’s time for me to kill him.

 
 
    Somewhere
in the back of my mind, I knew I’d missed my bus that first afternoon with
Catee. It registered during those first few minutes of our
interaction—right before she dismissed Justin forever—but it never
registered as a major issue. It was the first time I’d ever called my mom for a
ride and, given the circumstances around my tardiness, I knew she’d understand.
In fact, I suspected she might even be happy when she heard the reasoning
behind my carelessness. I called with little apprehension for what she might
say as I lay on the front lawn of the school to bask in my newfound connection
with Catee.
    Turns
out, I was right. Even if she was a little upset when I first told her I needed
to be picked up, she was totally cool with it when I explained the why behind
it. In fact, she actually sounded excited, and said that she couldn’t wait to
get there and to hear all about it.   And a half hour later, Mom had gathered herself and completed the
twenty-minute drive to Madison. I’d barely built a basecoat of September sun
when our beat-up Chevy came to a rumbling stop at the closest curb to where I
lay sprawled-out on the grass.
    Beep!
Beep! Beep! Her honking
stirred me to consciousness and away from the daydream I’d been having of Catee
and of the inherent possibilities in my first Madison High connection.
    I
slid