Auracle. Part 18

So where is she now?

Probably in the bathroom putting on more lipstick.

Probably?

Fine. BRB I latch onto Taylor's vibration and follow it to ...

Holy c.r.a.p! The windows of Jason Trent's white Jeep are open on this warm day, and the sounds coming from it are obscenely graphic. I bolt back to Rei's phone and punch in white jeep now.

The instant Rei reads these words, he abandons his stuff and sprints for the door. I beat him to the white Jeep, but not by a very wide margin. Rei reaches into the open window and unsnaps the convertible roof, then moves quickly to the other side and does the same. He yanks the canvas roof back in one fluid motion.

"Get off her now!" His voice is fierce.

Taylor and Jason both look up at him in astonishment. Jason pushes himself up on his hands so he can gawk at Rei from a better angle, and now ...

Uh ... you know ... I would feel a whole lot better about this entire situation if that halter top was still tied around my neck and not all tangled up around my waist. Rei doesn't even seem to notice.

"I said NOW!" He punctuates this with a fist slam against the hood of the Jeep, and the resounding thunk makes Taylor flinch. Jason is still stuck in neutral, so Rei reaches in and grabs him by the front of his neck.

"Son of a..." But Jason's air is cut off and his eyes bulge nearly out of his head as Rei applies more pressure.

Taylor grabs the straps of her halter and struggles to untangle them and sit up at the same time.

"If you're smart, you will get out of there on your own," Rei tells him in a deadly calm voice before he lets go of his neck with a little shove.

Jason rubs his neck as he climbs out of the backseat. "What's your problem, Ellis? She says she doesn't go out with you." He hacks and spits something chunky on the ground.

"She has a concussion, Jason. It affects her memory. And you will respect that and leave her alone. Do you understand?"

Rei doesn't take his eyes off Jason, but he nods curtly toward Taylor. "Fix your shirt and let's go," he says in a brittle voice.

Okay. So he noticed. I wonder if this cancels out the shower invasion.

It looks like Jason is getting his second wind. I imagine he understood exactly what Rei said to him; I just don't think he cares. He seems to be calculating his height and weight advantage. When his right hand b.a.l.l.s into a fist by his side and he draws his elbow back, I yell out to warn Rei, but he can't hear me, of course.

It doesn't matter. Rei turns just in time to catch Jason's fist squarely in his right hand. He yanks him off balance and squeezes, twisting in rapid succession Jason's hand, arm, and shoulder until Jason lies crumpled faceup in a heap on the ground.

Rei looks down at him contemptuously. "Now do you understand?"

He turns to Taylor, who is still stunned but at least she's fully dressed now. "Put your shoes on," he orders. As soon as she fumbles her feet into the high heels, he puts his hands around her waist, lifts her out of the Jeep, and deposits her on the pavement. "Let's go."

Wow! I've never seen this bada.s.s side of Rei before.

He marches her back to the courtyard a step ahead of him the entire way, his fingers gripping the top of her arm, right over the tattoo. He doesn't say a word until he sits her firmly down on a bench.

His face is a block of ice. "What the h.e.l.l was that about?" he demands in a low voice.

Taylor finally seems to be coming out of her stupor. "What the ... what the h.e.l.l was that about! How dare you!"

"Oh, come on! Jason Trent? You can't have hit your head that hard."

"Well, at least he doesn't treat me like a little sister!" she shoots back.

"That was pretty obvious."

Taylor flushes and stands up. "Yeah, and it was pretty obvious you weren't interested, Rei. What did you expect?"

"Not Jason Trent." Rei sighs, and his voice softens. "You were going to come over today."

"What?"

"Yesterday, when I talked to you on the phone, you wanted to come over and I said I had homework. I said for you to come over tomorrow instead. And ... it's tomorrow."

Taylor plants her hands on her hips. "I don't get you, Rei. The last time I came to your house, you couldn't wait to get rid of me."

"I know. And I'm sorry." He smiles hesitantly, and then he reaches over and slowly slides his hand underneath her hair to that spot on the back of her neck and gives her his signature squeeze. I close my eyes and replay the sensation from memory.

He sighs and lets his hand slide down to her shoulder. "And it's not that I'm not interested. I just thought it might be a little weird." He brushes the back of his fingers against the side of her neck, and she looks every bit as fl.u.s.tered by that simple gesture as I feel. "I miss you, Anna. I'll be home all afternoon if you want to come over."

He squeezes her shoulder gently and walks away.

CHAPTER 27.

"I was wrong back there," Rei confesses when he gets home from school. He drops his backpack by the side of his desk and steps on the power strip b.u.t.ton to turn the computer on. "I told Taylor this might be a little weird. It actually will be very weird."

I agree: it will be weird, and sandwiched in with all that weirdness is my knowledge that even though Rei has a great poker face, he's a terrible actor. How much of that performance was the art of deception and how much was fueled by real emotion? When he looks at Taylor, does he see me at all? When I look at Taylor, I barely recognize myself.

"So I know this was your idea, but are you sure you're okay with this?" he asks as the computer finishes powering up. "The good news is I guarantee you we won't be using those condoms."

Are YOU okay with this?

He shrugs and nods indifferently.

I roll my eyes at him. Remember when we were about eight and Seth dared us to touch tongues?

Rei smirks. "Yeah, and then you got mad because you dared Seth and me to touch tongues, too, and we wouldn't."

No, I got mad because you and Seth have double standards, but that's not my point. You thought I had cooties and you couldn't get upstairs to brush your teeth fast enough. What if she wants you to kiss her? Are you sure you want to do this?

Rei considers this. "If I have to kiss her, I'll just pretend it's you. I can handle your cooties," he jokes.

Rei has a hard time handling his own cooties.

I roll my eyes at him some more. Rei, it IS me.

"Anna, you can fill a snail sh.e.l.l with mud, but it doesn't make it escargot."

The doorbell rings at three thirty, and Taylor is waiting expectantly at the door when Rei opens it.

"Okay," she says as she steps into the house, "let's try this again."

What to do, what to do? She doesn't want to go for a walk; she doesn't want to work on homework; she doesn't even want to go to the mall. She wants to talk about Seth's trial. Nope, Rei doesn't want to talk about that.

"We're just going to have to agree to disagree on that," he says diplomatically.

Then she wants Rei to play his guitar for her. She wants to sit next to him on the porch swing while he plays and tickle his bare feet with hers. He stretches his legs out in front of him so her feet no longer reach his.

Rei plays a few of his acoustic stock songs, some of the cla.s.sical and new age music he plays whenever his mom has company over and pesters him to play for them. There are no words to any of these songs, but he plays them so beautifully, I could listen for hours. After about fifteen minutes, Taylor starts to fidget. Five minutes later, she asks if he knows any other songs. Anything with words. He strums up and down fast a few times, as if clearing the music away, and then holds his hand over the strings to stop the vibration.

"I know a lot of songs," Rei says. "I just don't think you'll like any of them."

"Okay," Taylor stands up, takes the guitar away from him and leans it up against the front door. "Then let's do something different."

She comes at him like a barracuda.

I'm kind of torn. Part of me wants to stay here and spy to make sure Taylor doesn't end up accusing Rei of doing anything worse than trying to survive his first kiss, and part of me wants to go upstairs and let him suffer this humiliation privately.

I decide I'd better stay. Considering what I do know about Taylor, he may need witnesses.

Rei is right. It is so very weird watching him kiss me or more specifically, to watch him being kissed by me. I'm not sure what they're doing even qualifies as a kiss, really; it's more like she's attached my mouth to his face and she's slowly sucking out his soul. Well, he hasn't gagged or anything, so she must have at least brushed my teeth.

What must he be thinking right now? He must feel her rise up on one leg and throw her other leg over him like she's mounting a pony. Yeah, he definitely felt her tush land on his lap and now he looks a little panicky as she inches her way forward. He shifts uncomfortably on the hard wooden swing. G.o.d! I feel like such a perverted Peeping Tom!

"Ow!" Rei jerks his head to the side, and her lips trail over to his cheek. "What was ... did you pierce your tongue?" He sounds horrified.

Great! What does this make now, eight holes she's put into my head?

Taylor sticks her tongue out and waggles it playfully to display her new hardware. She makes s.e.xy eyes at him. "I did. Like it?"

"Can you try not to chip my teeth, please?"

She giggles and latches on to his mouth again.

This is just too painful to watch. There are four eggs in the finch's nest up in the planter hanging from the farmer's porch. There's a nearly symmetrical orb spider's web just under the west side of the porch by the spigot, and there is a neatly wrapped bug, maybe a fly, waiting to be consumed by said spider. There's a ...

"Stop it," Rei says against her lips.

Now what is she doing? She's trying to place Rei's hand in a location that would be convenient should he decide he wants to feel up that relatively flat chest of mine, which he does not. Rei pulls his hand out of her grip and settles it safely on her back.

So, where was I? Oh, yes, there's a chipmunk living under the porch. Saya and I have been secretly feeding it sunflower seeds, even though ...

"Stop it!" Rei says, louder this time, and he pulls his hand back for the umpteenth time.

"Rei, you are so no fun." She pouts at him while she reaches back and unties the top of the halter, holding the ties together in one hand. While Rei is still recovering from the shock of that, she giggles and with one swift tug, she has Rei's jeans unb.u.t.toned.

"STOP IT, TAYLOR!"

CHAPTER 28.

"What did you just call me?" She is off the swing in an instant, her fingers fumbling with the halter ties. She backs away from him like he's covered in anthrax.

Rei takes a few seconds to reconfigure his pants before he answers, stalling for time. "I said stop it."

Taylor shakes her head as she reties her halter. "You son of a b.i.t.c.h," she hisses. "How long have you known?"

"Anna, I don't know what you're..."

"Cut the c.r.a.p, Rei. What, did you ask me over here just to keep Jason away from your little friend? Nice try." She spins around and stomps down the steps.

"Wait!" Rei goes after her and puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you touch me," she swats his hand away. "Unless you want to end up in jail with your buddy, Seth."

"Taylor, look, I'm sorry. And I'm sorry you fell, but..."

"I didn't fall, Rei. I was pushed. By your friend."

"He didn't push you, Taylor, and..."

"You don't know that. You weren't there."

"He tried to pull you up."

"Is that what Anna told you? Or is that what Seth told you? They don't care that I'm dead. None of you ever cared about me. You all treated me like a leper in this town."

Rei stops short and stares at her. "n.o.body meant to treat you like a leper, Taylor. You and Seth just had nothing in common. But you know he didn't push you."

"Oh, he pushed me, all right!"

"Why? What do you gain by putting him in jail for something he didn't do?"

"He should have given me a chance! If he had just gotten to know me, maybe he would have liked me. Maybe you would have liked me. But you know what? Jason likes me."

"Well, if you like Jason so much, why didn't you just go out with him before and leave Seth alone?"