The Challenge Page 6

  "Wait a minute... stop!" I shouted. Everyone stopped playing and looked at me. "How do you guys do that so well without having practiced it earlier?"

  "Dunno," Henry said, playing around with the strings on the guitar. "Curtis just started playing a song I knew well and I joined in at the right time, I guess."

  "Same," James said.

  Damn, those guys were good. "That was awesome!" I said. "Do it again!" Everyone looked at one another, then Curtis started drumming again, and Henry joined in at the right moment. I went to the microphone and started singing Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar.

  Then it was Curtis and Henry's little solo part. I danced a bit, before realizing we actually had a little crowd forming outside my garage.

  I went over to the girls and joined them in dancing. Damn! I knew Henry could play, but I didn't know he could play like that! I went over to him at the end, and waved my hand over the guitar. The applause made our entire band jump. I guess they hadn't really noticed the size of the crowd forming.

  "Bloody hell! Where'd they come from?" Henry asked.

  "My neighbors," I said.

  "Kristina, when did this start?" one of my neighbors, Mrs. Baker, asked. She was a lady who lived across the street that gave my friends and me cookies when we were younger.

  "Just today, actually," I answered.

  "Oh, I love Pat Benatar!" Mrs. Baker said. "In fact, I'll be right back." She left, and soon the rest of the crowd did too. Then Mrs. Baker came back with some papers. I looked at the sheet she gave me, which was lyrics.

  " Hell Is For Kids ," I said, smiling. "Nice." I looked at everyone to see them all smiling too. Apparently a lot of people liked Pat Benatar. I asked Mrs. Baker, "Do you have the music and lyrics for all her songs?"

  "No, dear," Mrs. Baker said, "just this one and Heartbreaker ."

  "You want us to play this for you, Mrs. Baker?" Amanda asked.

  "If you wouldn't mind," Mrs. Baker politely responded.

  "Of course not," Curtis said. "Not after all those cookies you gave us." Lukas got a chair for Mrs. Baker and we played the song. Then we wound up playing a few songs from Grease as well. That was almost a disaster, but it gave us a few laughs, as well as Mrs. Baker.

  "We are going to be playing more songs from the seventies and eighties, right?" Henry asked.

  "Yeah," I said. "Just gotta find them. I'll search my room."

  Later, as we were bringing everything back upstairs, Henry asked me if I wanted to go to the beach the following weekend. I thought about it for a while and decided I did.

  I should have wondered what was going to happen. I should have been curious about whether it was going to be just us, or our group, but I wasn't. All I could think about was seeing Henry in his board shorts.

  I really am losing my mind.

  CHAPTER TEN

  I STARED AT Uncle Ethan in disbelief. I knew he liked to plan things at the last minute, so it came as a surprise when he was talking about the weekend and it was only Tuesday night. He had been home when I got home, so I couldn't really spend any time with Henry.

  "Wait, so what are we doing this weekend?" I asked.

  "We're going to see your grandmother," Uncle Ethan said.

  "Your mom or Dad's mom?" Megan asked. Uncle Ethan was Mom's brother, which explains why he had a different last name from us-Rochester.

  "Mine," Ethan said.

  Megan and I brightened. We love both our grandmas, but Mom's was always our favorite. My smile faded, though, after a few seconds of thought.

  "Umm...Uncle Ethan...I have plans," I announced.

  "Can you change them?" Ethan asked.

  "I guess," I said. I could go to the beach anytime I wanted with Henry, I reasoned. "I could go to the beach some other time. Grandma is more important."

  "Ooh...who were you going to the beach with?" Megan asked.

  "None of your business."

  "It was Henry, wasn't it," Megan said. I kicked her under the table. "Ow! Uncle Ethan!"

  "Girls, no fighting at dinner," Ethan said. "Who's Henry?"

  "Just a new friend of mine," I said, looking at my dinner.

  "Is he in this group of yours?" Ethan asked.

  "Yeah," I said, slowly.

  "When do I get to meet him?" Ethan asked. There he goes, acting like a father.

  "If you're home tomorrow, then you'll probably meet him. We have band practice."

  "Alright, then," Ethan said. "Is this the boy who drives you to school now?"

  "Yes," I admitted, smiling slightly.

  "He has a very nice car," Ethan said. This was good. Uncle Ethan liked cars. He liked David at the beginning because David had a good car, but then he learned faster than I did what a sleaze ball my ex-boyfriend really was.

  Thankfully, the rest of dinnertime was silent. Megan had to do dishes, so I was free to go to my room. I picked up my cell phone and dialed up Henry to deliver the bad news.

  "Hey, pet," Henry answered.

  "How'd you know it was me?" I asked, bemused.

  "Caller I.D., love," Henry explained. "So what's up?"

  "Oh, yeah," my cheek turned hot against the phone, "I'm sorry, but I can't go to the beach with you this weekend," I said. "My uncle just told me that we are going to my grandma's place."

  "Oh..." Henry started. "You like your grandma?"

  "Yeah, she's great."

  "Then it's fine. It would suck to get blown off because you're going to see someone you don't like. Anything else you need?"

  "Well..." I said, caught up in the moment. I don't think it's possible not to play along with him when he's acting like this. "I'm actually not allowed to leave the house tonight..."

  "Say no more, love." Henry said. "Hanging up now."

  "Wait, what?" I sputtered. There was no answer. "Henry?" I flipped the phone shut, tossed it on my bed and cursed him under my breath. Then I heard Megan and Uncle Ethan laughing downstairs. There were only four or five movies and shows that both of them liked. Since they were probably watching something that would last at least an hour, I would be the only one upstairs that whole time.

  I closed my door and locked it. Last week, I had convinced Uncle Ethan to buy a lock for my door so that Megan would quit barging in unannounced. I turned around, leaned against the door and sighed towards the ceiling. Then I noticed something outside the window and jumped. It looked like a foot. It wasn't unusual for Lena to sneak over if she was bored, but that foot was way too big to be Lena's. I grabbed the baseball bat that my uncle made me keep under the bed and crept slowly towards the window, hugging the wall so my stalker wouldn't see me coming. Once there, I took a deep breath, slung the window up and shot my head out to see who had scaled my roof. I jumped again and hit my head on window when I saw Henry sitting next to my window on the roof. He jumped, too, and nearly fell off the roof, but caught himself on the window frame.

  I stared down at him, our faces now only a foot away. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I hissed.

  "Give you a heart attack?" Henry said, wide-eyed. "You came out swinging with a bloody bat and nearly made me fall ten meters to my death!" Henry gave a whispered yell.

  I glared at him. "Exactly how close do you live to me?" I asked, stepping away from my window as Henry calmed down and climbed into my room.

  "Maybe a five minute drive," Henry calculated.

  Something seemed a little off-his eyes were glazed and tired. "Are you drunk?" I asked.

  "Well...maybe a bit," Henry said. I frowned. "What? I'm still capable of doing things. I'm not swaying, am I?"

  "Not yet, but you nearly fell off my roof. How much did you drink?"

  "Ah...but I was able to climb up here in the first place, wasn't I, pet?" he asked, but then recovered upon my glare, "Two or three...just a few." he said, shrugging. He walked over and sat on my bed. "Did you change your clothes?" Henry wondered.

  "Yeah," I responded. I had worn a red t-shirt and jeans to school. Now I was in a mid-thigh length black s
kirt and silver tank top.

  Then I noticed Henry had a weird look in his eyes. I was about to back away, when he suddenly pulled me down on top of him and forced his mouth against mine. Any kind of fight I was thinking of starting instantly faded from my mind. All that mattered was the feel of his lips against mine. I allowed his tongue into my mouth, but it only took him a few seconds to notice something new. He pulled away. I smirked and stuck my tongue out.

  "You got it pierced," Henry observed. "You are bloody amazing." He then grabbed the back of my head and kissed me again. He moved us so that I was lying on the bed and he was on top of me. I really shouldn't have let him do this. But what he was doing felt so good. That was, until his hand moved from my hip to my thigh and I remembered that he was drunk. I pushed at his shoulders, managing to get him to stop what he was doing. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

  "You're drunk!" I said.

  "No, I'm not." Henry lied. I pushed at his shoulders again.

  "Yes...you are." I pushed even harder, which managed to get him off me. Standing up, I looked at him as he propped himself up on his elbows. "I've had enough crap done to me by drunken assholes and I don't need this from you." I realized then that I had said too much. "Uh..."

  Henry frowned, got off the bed and grabbed my arms gently. I refused to look at him and focused on not crying.

  "Love, look at me," Henry said. I shook my head. "Kris?" I still didn't look at him. "Come on, Kristina, just look at me."

  I finally caved and looked into his eyes, which had turned from glazed to sincere. Being called my full name, not just the short form, always made me listen to someone. I suppose I was trained that way growing up. Henry's hands loosened on my arms, but I didn't move.

  "I won't hurt you," Henry whispered.

  I bit my lip and started looking away again, but Henry shook me slightly and my attention shot back towards him. "Don't make promises you can't keep," I said.

  Henry frowned and put a hand on my cheek. I realized that I actually had a few tears running down the one cheek.

  "Who did it to you?" Henry asked.

  I didn't answer.

  "Who hurt you?"

  I just dropped my gaze from his face and stared at the floor.

  "David?"

  I closed my eyes. Why did he have to start doing this? Why couldn't he have just stopped when he saw how uncomfortable this was making me?

  A knock on the door startled both of us. I pushed Henry into the bathroom and tip-toed over to my door. Uncle Ethan was standing on the other side.

  "Just thought I'd say good night," he said, then frowned. "Are you alright?"

  "Yeah...just reading a sad part in my book," I lied and forced a smile.

  "Well, alright then," Ethan said. I saw his eyes look in the direction of the bathroom. "Make sure you close your window. It's going to be cold tonight."

  "I will. Good night," I said. I closed the door and locked it again, then turned around and watched Henry come out of the bathroom.

  "I guess I should be going home," Henry said. I nodded and walked over to the window with him. He put his arms around me and hugged me, which took me by surprise. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

  "Sure," I said. Henry let go of me and climbed out the window.

  Things were a little tense between Henry and me the next morning. Lena noticed it, but didn't say anything. She knew everything about me and all I had to do was give her a look before she understood that the incident with David last year was fresh in my mind once again. Now two people knew my secret-three including David-but there was a lot more to it than any of them could ever guess.

  "So you're going to see your grandma over the weekend?" Lena asked as we walked down the hall. James and Henry were with us. James was holding Lena's hand, and Henry had his arm over my shoulders.

  "Yes, I am," I said. I felt Henry's arm tighten and I looked at where he was looking. David was, for once, without Lauren, but was hanging out with other guys from the football team. Lena must have noticed this, too, because she veered closer to me. I looked at Henry's face to see anger in his brow and restraint in his eyes. His arm tightened a bit more, enough to make me uncomfortable. I made a noise and he looked at me, his face instantly softening apologetically. He loosened his hold on me and I smiled softly at my new protector.

  "We're practicing in the auditorium today," Lena said quickly to distract Henry and I as we passed by David. She knew that we all already knew this, but I appreciated the gesture. Instead of heading to the Drama Room, we took a hard left into the Auditorium.

  I don't know why, but, by the time Friday rolled around, I was worried about leaving for the entire weekend. That week, every time David would grace us with his presence I would instinctively look towards Henry, whose face would become increasingly more aggressive than the last time, and I couldn't help but feel worried that he was going to do something while I was gone. I couldn't stop it, anyway. I hadn't seen my grandmother since Megan's birthday in May and now it was October. I just hoped that Henry was smart enough not to do anything stupid. Either that or hope that the other guys were around. Over the last two weeks or so, Henry had become good friends with the guys in the group. They would stop him from doing something stupid, I hoped.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I RETURNED FROM my grandma's later than expected, so I didn't get to see anyone Sunday night. Henry called to tell me that he wouldn't be able to pick me up in the morning and said that Lukas and Lena would do it.

  Monday morning I was worried and tired because I didn't sleep the previous night. Lena and Lukas had no clue why Henry couldn't get me and they were as curious as I was. So was the rest of the group, when they saw me arrive with Lukas and Lena.

  "Where's Henry?" Amanda asked.

  "I don't know," I said. "I thought one of you guys might know."

  "We only saw him for like a minute on Saturday for some song writing," Curtis said.

  "His car is here," Erin said, "but we haven't seen him."

  "This isn't making me feel any better," I said. "I'm going in."

  I went to my locker alone to get my books, but my mind was somewhere else. I shook off the funny feeling I had and went to class to take my seat just as the bell rang. The desk next to me was empty. A few other students trickled in late but everyone was there...everyone but Henry. James gave me a sympathetic look and took a seat at the other empty desk to me.

  "I'm sure he's fine," he reassured me. "Just...a little late is all."

  I nodded hesitantly and feigned a smile for him. After roll call I distracted myself by doing some homework I had missed doing while at grandma's. Then I heard the door open, but didn't look up until I heard a few gasps.

  "Mr. Wilson, so glad you could join us!" said Mr. Blackmore. Then he did a second take and whispered, "Oh my..."

  "Sorry to be late," Henry apologized. My eyes widened as I saw him walk down the aisle to his seat. He had a black eye, a cut on his forehead, a bruise on his cheek and a cut on his lip, which was also swollen. He sat down and winced. I stared at him, speechless, but he didn't look at me.

  "Miss Williams, please turn your attention back to your work and off Mr. Wilson for the time being," Mr. Blackmore ordered, shooting another glance at the grotesque lacerations that covered Henry's face.

  "Sorry," I said, turning my attention back to my notebook.

  "What the hell happened to him?" James whispered. I shook my head. I don't know how I managed to get through the rest of the class, or the next two. I had to wait until lunch, but I couldn't let him dodge me all day. I grabbed Henry's hand and pulled him all the way outside to his car.

  "What... IN THE HELL ...happened to you?" I yelled, except for the last part which had turned into a whimper. But I was able to fight back tears. "God, I go away for a weekend and come back to a beat-up boyfriend?"

  "I'm fine. Don't worry," Henry said.

  "Oh yeah, you're perfectly fine! What the hell did you...?" I stopped, looking over Henry's
shoulder I saw Lauren and David. David looked just as bad, if not worse than Henry, who turned his attention to them as well.

  He looked back at me with wide eyes and whispered, "Sorry..."

  "Oh, my God!" I yelled just loud enough for only Henry to hear me.

  "Kris..." Henry said.

  "What did you do?" I asked, closing my eyes and leaning back on the car.

  "There's a perfectly good reason for what happened," Henry said.

  "Oh yeah? What is it?" I asked, opening my eyes. "Did you do it for me, Henry? Or did you do it for her ?" I gestured my head in the direction of Lauren, who was now standing fifty yards away at David's car. He didn't answer, but just looked at me. I shook my head. "You know what? It doesn't matter-either way I'm pissed at you. I don't want to hear what you have to say!" I pushed past him and stormed back to the school, fighting the urge to encounter David along the way.

  "Honey, are you okay?" Lena asked once I got back to lunch.

  "Did you find out what happened to Henry?" Erin asked.

  "I'm guessing he got in a fight with David, because he's beat up, too," I said.

  "Well, girls, let's just skip class this afternoon and talk about this," Lena said. "You need some time to calm down and seeing them all day will only make things worse. Come on."

  I agreed with her and we went to our lockers to grab our things and left without anyone noticing. Ethan was doing work at his club all day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool and hot tub, talking through almost everything. The girls even tried to distract me from my problems by talking about their own.

  "My dad is such an overprotective freak!" Darla said.

  "My uncle is getting to that stage, too," I said, with another feigned smile. I wasn't in a good mood, but I wanted them to think they were helping. Later, Darla and Amanda went out and came back with ice cream and cake mixes. I had to laugh at that-they knew me too well sometimes.

  We were frosting the first cake when there was a knock on the door. Finally in a better mood now, I danced over to the door to the beat of the music playing. I opened the door...and slammed it shut almost instantly.