He danced with Tori while Olivia settled in front of me. Dancing with her was a whole different experience than dancing with Tori. While Tori spun and bounced and let her arms go like a wild little kid, Olivia had her eyes locked on mine as if she used dancing to share another kind of energy. It made me sweat, and it wasn’t because of the jumping around. I turned my back to her, but she grabbed my shoulders, pulled me close, and began moving in rhythm with me.
I really hoped that Kent wasn’t watching.
Suddenly, the music downshifted into a slow song.
Uh-oh.
Olivia spun me until we were facing each other.
“Perfect timing,” she said.
I didn’t agree.
She put her arms around me, pulled me close, and rested her head on my shoulder.
I was trapped, so I loosely put my arms around her, and we started swaying to the music.
Most of the people weren’t coupled up, so the dance area thinned out pretty quickly. There would be no hiding. I glanced over Olivia’s shoulder to see that Kent and Tori were wrapped up in each other. I wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad news.
“I needed this,” Olivia said. “I haven’t had any fun in forever.”
“I know what you mean. Nice job. Seriously.”
“Thank you,” she said and snuggled in closer to me. “Let’s pretend like this is going to last.”
I glanced over to Kent and Tori to see that they were dancing just as close. I decided to stop being so nervous and tightened my hold on Olivia.
She responded with a giggle.
“We rely on you, Tucker, you know that? Even Kent. He acts all alpha, but he always waits to see what you think before making any decisions.”
“I don’t know if that’s so smart,” I said.
“Maybe not, but you take everything in and make your choices without bringing any of your own baggage.”
Olivia had no idea what baggage I was hiding, and that was fine by me.
“You aren’t like Tori,” she added. “She’s trying to prove something.”
“She’s angry about her father,” I said.
“We’re all angry,” Olivia snapped. “That’s no excuse to be dumb. I think we’re right where we belong, and we should stay here for as long as we can. If she wants to leave, let her.”
I didn’t respond. What was the point?
“I like you, Tucker,” she said, holding me closer.
That crossed over the danger line, and I loosened my hold on her.
“I like you too, Olivia. You know that. But you and Kent are—”
“Oh, stop,” she said petulantly. “Kent doesn’t own me.”
“But he really cares about you. I’m not going to get in the middle of that.”
Olivia looked up at me, and with a flirty smile she said, “You may not have a choice.”
“Tucker!”
I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away from Olivia. I expected to turn and see Kent, or Kent’s fist. But it was Tori… and she looked pissed.
“Dance with me,” she commanded.
It wasn’t like I had another option. She put her arms around me, not as tightly as Olivia had done, and I followed her lead. Seconds later, we were swaying together as Olivia melted into the crowd.
I felt the tension in Tori’s body. There was more going on with her than just dancing.
“What’s wrong?” I asked
Her answer was to grow even more rigid.
“Talk to me, Tori,” I pressed.
“He tried to kiss me,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Oh. Oh? Did you kiss him back?”
“No!”
I let out a short, relieved laugh.
“Why is that funny?” she asked angrily.
“It’s not. I’m just relieved. I thought it might be something more, more… I don’t know. You know?”
If I were being honest, I would tell her that I was relieved because she wouldn’t let Kent kiss her. But that might make her even angrier.
“Such a pig,” she said. “He hangs all over Olivia, and then tries to kiss me? Seriously?”
“He probably just got caught up in the moment. It’s not like we’ve had a whole lot of chances to act, you know, normal.”
Tori pulled back and looked me straight in the eye. “There’s nothing normal about Kent Berringer trying to kiss me.”
We looked into each other’s eyes for a moment and then both started to laugh. Getting bent up about who should be kissing who felt like we were paying a visit to our old lives, where things like that mattered. It felt good. I think it did for Tori too. In spite of her anger.
She pulled me back close as the dance continued. I didn’t mind.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“For giving you such a hard time about not going to Nevada. You were right. Being here is good.”
“Does that mean you want to stay?” I asked.
She hesitated for a few seconds, then said, “I don’t know. I don’t want to get comfortable.”
“Why not?”
“Because this can’t last.”
The song changed to another slow tune. Tori and I didn’t miss a beat and kept swaying.
“At least being here gave your shoulder a chance to heal,” I said.
I felt Tori stiffen again, ever so slightly.
“It is better, right?”
“It is,” she said. “But… I don’t know. It’s strange.”
“That you healed up?”
“No, that I healed so quickly. Luna said it would take weeks before I felt better. But after I went to see that knob doctor, the wound started to heal incredibly fast. Like… impossibly fast. It’s nothing more than a small scar now, and I have total movement of my shoulder with no pain. It’s like it never happened. There isn’t even a scar.”
“And you’re complaining?” I asked, incredulous.
“No, I’m totally relieved. But how could that be? I mean, he put some kind of antibiotic on it, but that wouldn’t make me heal, like… instantly. Would it?”
I had no answer for that. It was great news, but another piece in a puzzle that didn’t quite fit.
“What do you want to do, Tucker?” she asked.
“Uh, you mean right now?”
“No, I mean about staying here. You’ve had a chance to think, and I’m better now. Do you want to stay?”
She looked up into my eyes, and for the first time I sensed that Tori Sleeper had doubts. She was always supremely confident in every move she made, whether it was tying a fisherman’s knot or running the gauntlet between two burning warships. Now she was conflicted and looking to me for guidance. It was alien territory for both of us.
I opened my mouth to speak, though I wasn’t sure of what I was going to say when—
“Stop!” she yelled.
“Uh, what?”
Tori eyes had gone from questioning to frightened. “Kill the music!” she shouted for all to hear.
It made everybody jump.
Tori pulled away from me and ran to the table where Jon had the iPods set up.
“Shut it off!” she yelled at him.
Flustered, Jon stopped the music. The marketplace went deathly silent. Nobody moved. All eyes were on the crazy girl who had just pulled the plug on their party.
“What is it, Tori?” Chris Campbell asked as he made his way through the crowd.
Tori threw up her hand to stop him.
“Listen,” she said.
I’d heard that command before.
Every last person trained their ears to try to hear what Tori did. They all feared the same thing. Their focus went to the sky.
“I hear it,” I said softly.
It was faint but unmistakable.
A rumble went through the crowd as everyone picked up on the sound. It was the last thing they ever wanted to hear again.
“There!” Jon shouted, pointing skyward.
High in the night sky, coming from the west, was the first in a long line of shadows.