My Soul to Keep
Page 12
Nash nodded, but his worried look held. Hey, Im sorry I got mad. Ill find out if Scotts tried it yet.
Thanks. I smiled, determined to take him at his word. I didnt understand his change of heart, but Id take it.
You need a ride home? he asked as I opened the car door and hauled my duffel into my lap from the rear floorboard.
Em said shed take me. Ill call you when I get home.
His grin that time looked more natural. Is your dad still working overtime?
Yeah.
Ill bring pizza if you pick up a movie.
Deal.
He leaned in for a kiss, and I kissed him back, trying to believe everything would be okay. Dont worry about Scotts balloon, he said as I got out of the car. Ill take care of it.
I CHANGED INTO my ugly red-and-blue polyester uniform in the bathroom, then pulled my hair into a ponytail and met Emma in the box office, where she was already counting the cash in her drawer. Somehow shed scored us matching shifts selling tickets, which almost never happened. Usually one or the other of us got stuck scooping popcorn or emptying trash cans.
I counted my own drawer in silence, trying to decide whether or not to tell her to stay away from Doug. And what to cite as the reason.
I wasnt sure if she knew what he was taking, and even if she did, I couldnt tell her what frost really was. Not without scaring the crap out of her, anyway. And my policy on Emma and Netherworld stuff was to keep the two as far apart as possible, for as long as possible. How was I supposed to know Netherworld trouble would find her all on its own?
Finally, after two hours, a steady stream of customers, and a snack break during which Id done little more than nod along with her chatter, she went suddenly silent on the stool next to mine, sitting straighter as she aimed a bright smile through the window in front of us. I looked up to find a familiar face halfway down the line across from Emmas register.
Doug Fuller.
I had to nudge Emma into giving change to an elderly lady taking a small child to see a PG-13 comedy. Emma slid the change and receipt under the window, then glanced at me as her next customer ordered two tickets for a Japanese horror flick. Dougs here, she whispered.
I ran a debit card through the scanner, then dropped it into the dip in the counter beneath the pane of glass. I see him. And I didnt like what I saw.
Oh, I understood the attraction. He was tall, and dark, and undeniably hot, and was just edgy enoughhe didnt care what anyone thought of him, including his own friendsto intrigue Emma. But Doug wasnt just shes so drunk she doesnt know what shes doingdangerous. He was spend the rest of your life in a padded cell dangerous. And that was the best-case scenario.
I knew I should have waited to take my break. Emma slid three tickets and a receipt beneath the glass to her next customer, glancing at Doug every chance she got.
Em, what do you see in him? I mean, other than the obvious. Because for a short-term, nontoxic, casual good time, the obvious would have been plenty.
She shrugged and slid two more tickets under the glass. I dont know. Hes hot and hes fun. Why does it have to be deeper than that? Were not all looking for a lifetime commitment at sixteen, Kay.
Im not I started to argue, then gave up. I wasnt sure what I was looking for from Nash, but it definitely wasnt short-term fun. Em, I dont think you should
Shhhh! she hissed as Doug stepped up to the counter, his lopsided grin showing off just one dimple, and I knew Id lost her. She smiled and leaned forward on the counter, and somehow her uniform clung to her curves, where mine only hung from my angles. Hey.
Hey. So, you wanna come over after you close? he said, and the people in line behind him started grumbling.
I slid a debit card beneath the glass on my side of the counter and tried not to groan out loud.
Reason number eighteen that Kaylee should not lie: she never gets away with it.
Em frowned. Im not closingits a school night. I get off in two hours.
But Kaylee said Doug glanced at me, and I stared at the counter, relieved when the customer behind him moved into my line, giving me something to do.
She was wrong. Em was mad. Of course she was mad.
Meet me at five?
Uh, I gotta do something first. His hand jerked on the counter, and my stomach pitched. Ill pick you up at seven.
Okay. Emma smiled for him, but didnt even look at me until hed stepped out of line, already heading down the steps toward the parking lot. She served her next customer in silence while I handed back change, then both lines were empty for the moment.
Emma turned on me while Doug veered toward the rental Id seen in his driveway, now double-parked in two handicapped spots on the front row. What the hell, Kaylee?
I twisted on my stool, brainstorming damage control that would not come. Im sorry. I just I dont think hes good for you.
Because he hit your car? That was an accident, and Im sure hell pay for it.
Yeah. He already got me a loaner.
Thanks. I smiled, determined to take him at his word. I didnt understand his change of heart, but Id take it.
You need a ride home? he asked as I opened the car door and hauled my duffel into my lap from the rear floorboard.
Em said shed take me. Ill call you when I get home.
His grin that time looked more natural. Is your dad still working overtime?
Yeah.
Ill bring pizza if you pick up a movie.
Deal.
He leaned in for a kiss, and I kissed him back, trying to believe everything would be okay. Dont worry about Scotts balloon, he said as I got out of the car. Ill take care of it.
I CHANGED INTO my ugly red-and-blue polyester uniform in the bathroom, then pulled my hair into a ponytail and met Emma in the box office, where she was already counting the cash in her drawer. Somehow shed scored us matching shifts selling tickets, which almost never happened. Usually one or the other of us got stuck scooping popcorn or emptying trash cans.
I counted my own drawer in silence, trying to decide whether or not to tell her to stay away from Doug. And what to cite as the reason.
I wasnt sure if she knew what he was taking, and even if she did, I couldnt tell her what frost really was. Not without scaring the crap out of her, anyway. And my policy on Emma and Netherworld stuff was to keep the two as far apart as possible, for as long as possible. How was I supposed to know Netherworld trouble would find her all on its own?
Finally, after two hours, a steady stream of customers, and a snack break during which Id done little more than nod along with her chatter, she went suddenly silent on the stool next to mine, sitting straighter as she aimed a bright smile through the window in front of us. I looked up to find a familiar face halfway down the line across from Emmas register.
Doug Fuller.
I had to nudge Emma into giving change to an elderly lady taking a small child to see a PG-13 comedy. Emma slid the change and receipt under the window, then glanced at me as her next customer ordered two tickets for a Japanese horror flick. Dougs here, she whispered.
I ran a debit card through the scanner, then dropped it into the dip in the counter beneath the pane of glass. I see him. And I didnt like what I saw.
Oh, I understood the attraction. He was tall, and dark, and undeniably hot, and was just edgy enoughhe didnt care what anyone thought of him, including his own friendsto intrigue Emma. But Doug wasnt just shes so drunk she doesnt know what shes doingdangerous. He was spend the rest of your life in a padded cell dangerous. And that was the best-case scenario.
I knew I should have waited to take my break. Emma slid three tickets and a receipt beneath the glass to her next customer, glancing at Doug every chance she got.
Em, what do you see in him? I mean, other than the obvious. Because for a short-term, nontoxic, casual good time, the obvious would have been plenty.
She shrugged and slid two more tickets under the glass. I dont know. Hes hot and hes fun. Why does it have to be deeper than that? Were not all looking for a lifetime commitment at sixteen, Kay.
Im not I started to argue, then gave up. I wasnt sure what I was looking for from Nash, but it definitely wasnt short-term fun. Em, I dont think you should
Shhhh! she hissed as Doug stepped up to the counter, his lopsided grin showing off just one dimple, and I knew Id lost her. She smiled and leaned forward on the counter, and somehow her uniform clung to her curves, where mine only hung from my angles. Hey.
Hey. So, you wanna come over after you close? he said, and the people in line behind him started grumbling.
I slid a debit card beneath the glass on my side of the counter and tried not to groan out loud.
Reason number eighteen that Kaylee should not lie: she never gets away with it.
Em frowned. Im not closingits a school night. I get off in two hours.
But Kaylee said Doug glanced at me, and I stared at the counter, relieved when the customer behind him moved into my line, giving me something to do.
She was wrong. Em was mad. Of course she was mad.
Meet me at five?
Uh, I gotta do something first. His hand jerked on the counter, and my stomach pitched. Ill pick you up at seven.
Okay. Emma smiled for him, but didnt even look at me until hed stepped out of line, already heading down the steps toward the parking lot. She served her next customer in silence while I handed back change, then both lines were empty for the moment.
Emma turned on me while Doug veered toward the rental Id seen in his driveway, now double-parked in two handicapped spots on the front row. What the hell, Kaylee?
I twisted on my stool, brainstorming damage control that would not come. Im sorry. I just I dont think hes good for you.
Because he hit your car? That was an accident, and Im sure hell pay for it.
Yeah. He already got me a loaner.
