The Challenge Page 7

  "Kris, open up," Henry called through the door.

  "No!" I shouted.

  "What's going on?" Lena asked, coming out of the kitchen. Henry rapped on the door again. "You gonna answer that?" she wondered.

  When I refused, Lena walked over to the door and opened it herself. I jumped behind the door as she opened it so I could hear their conversation.

  "Umm... all right, Lena?" I heard Henry say.

  "What happened?" Lena asked.

  "She's right brassed off at me, obviously. Think you can get her to have a word?"

  "I think you should wait a little while...let her cool off," Lena advised, frowning.

  "Can you just tell her something?" Henry asked.

  "I think, if it's about what happened, you should tell her yourself," Lena said. I would have kicked her, if it weren't for the fact that it would give away my hiding spot.

  "Please, just tell Kris that you and Lukas will drive her to school for the rest of the week," he pleaded.

  "Suspended?" Lena asked.

  "Yeah," Henry said. "Things were so much easier back home."

  "You'll get used to it." Lena said. She suddenly went outside and closed the door. I looked outside and could see them talking, but without the door open, I couldn't hear anything. Henry nodded and then headed to his car.

  True to what Henry said, I had to go to school with Lena and Lukas for the rest of the week. It's amazing how things were fine for two weeks and then managed to fall apart after one day. On Friday, I got Lukas to hack into the school database and find out where Henry lived. After class I got him to drive me there. He didn't live that far from me at all. It was maybe a twenty minute walk. I had passed his house hundreds of times before he moved in when I went for jogs and I never gave it a second thought. Then, over the summer, I saw the For Sale sign, but never would have imagined my future boyfriend would move into it.

  I walked up to the door and knocked. A girl who looked to be twenty or twenty-one opened the door.

  "May I help you?" she asked.

  "I'm looking for Henry," I said.

  "Just a moment," she said. She turned around and I saw Henry coming up behind her. She looked at me with a smile.

  "He's all yours, doll." With that, she pushed Henry out the door and closed it.

  "Who was that?" I asked.

  "My stepsister," Henry said. "How'd you find out where I live?"

  "Lukas...has his sources," I explained with a laugh, but followed with a frown. "Is it just me, or do you have more wounds than before?" Henry looked confused. "Look, Henry...I didn't come here to be mad at you. In all honesty, I actually missed you around school. It's easy to deal with Lauren and David with you there, but without you..."

  "Is that all you want me around for?" Henry asked.

  "No, Henry. What are you talking about?" I asked.

  "Don't worry about it," Henry said. "Forget I said anything, alright?"

  "Henry?"

  "Yeah?"

  I opened my mouth to reply, but the sound of a door swinging open cut me off and I turned around to see his stepsister standing in the doorway.

  "Is she staying for dinner?" she asked.

  "You want to stay for dinner, pet?" Henry asked.

  "Umm...sure," I said.

  "Yeah, she is Rach," Henry said.

  "Okay, awesome." The door slammed shut again.

  "Let me guess...her name is Rachel?" I asked.

  "Yeah," Henry said. "Her mom and my dad married over the summer. That's why I moved here."

  "I guess Lauren whined and cried to her parents to get them to agree to move here, too?"

  "Pretty much, they're retired and were already entertaining the idea of moving across the pond," Henry said. "In all honesty, she started acting differently once we got here, so really, the break up wasn't too big of a shock."

  "I...broke up with David around the same time you guys moved here," I admitted.

  "Doubt that it's a coincidence then," he gave me toothy smile. "Want a tour of the house before dinner?"

  "Sure."

  We went inside through the patio door, then up the stairs. Henry pointed to the closed doors and said which room belonged to whom. At the end of the hall was his. It was a very interesting room: dark red walls with posters of different British bands, a desk sat against one wall covered in books and papers, a guitar was leaning against the desk and a very big bed that he said was a water bed. What surprised me was that the walls and lights were like my room, except in reverse. My walls were blue with red lights; his were red with blue lights.

  "Wow, I thought it would be messy," I joked.

  Henry laughed. "Would you like to see something brilliant?"

  "Does it involve the removal of clothing?" I asked slyly.

  Henry shook his head, smiled and closed the door. Then he swaggered over to his window and opened it. I followed him over to it and watched him climb out and disappear above the window. However, when I looked down, I didn't see any kind of ledge.

  "Come on, love," Henry encouraged me. He reached a hand down. "Don't worry. I won't let you fall."

  "It's not the falling I'm worried about. It's the landing," my voice croaked. I reached up and took his hand, letting him pull me up onto the roof, which was flat. Before I could look around, he covered my eyes and I tensed up almost instantly.

  "Don't worry," Henry said. "Just keep your eyes closed."

  His hands dropped from my eyes and moved to my waist. I kept my eyes shut, although I couldn't say I wasn't worried. He was laughing from behind me, while his arms encircled my waist.

  "Okay...open your eyes."

  Very slowly, I did what he said and soon my eyes were wider than the moon at the sight in front of me. His house sat upon a hill and we were staring west over the tops of the surrounding trees and houses. The sun was about to set and the sparkling water of the lake nearby was easily visible amongst the beautiful houses and towering trees. However, the most breath-taking sight was that the red-orange sun appeared to be sinking into the crystal blue lake. From here, there was a view of nearly the whole area we lived in called Swan Valley.

  "Wow..." I remarked.

  "Brilliant, isn't it."

  "Yeah...gorgeous," I answered back, then looked down at Henry's arms and noticed the bruises and scrapes. I needed to take a deep breath to stop myself from spinning around and yelling at him. Lightly running my fingers over one arm and feeling him wince, I turned around to look at him intensely.

  "Kris..." Henry started, but I raised a hand to stop him.

  "Just don't do it again," I said.

  "You're right an awful bunch, you know that?" Henry confessed.

  We sat there in silence until the entirety of the glowing sun was swallowed by the lake, which had now turned dark and glassy. Then, he helped me back into his room and he finished giving me the tour before we were called into the kitchen for dinner.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  AFTER WHAT HAPPENED on Friday, it seemed like things spun into reverse. Sure, Henry and I still hung around each other, but it seemed as if we went from the "hot couple" to "really close friends". It wouldn't have been so bad, if it wasn't for the fact that everyone noticed, especially when I was in the library on Wednesday, alone, and David sat down across the table from me. I stared at him, hoping my glare would make him go away.

  "How are you doing, Krissy?" David asked.

  Right...I forgot...glares had no effect on this asshole.

  "What do you want?" I spit out.

  "Whoa, cool down," David said. "I was just wondering if Prince Henry ever told you what happened," he added in a cheesy British accent.

  "About what?" I caved.

  David gave me a look, pointed at his face and explained about the fight. "He was trying to get back with Lauren in the worse way he could."

  I stiffened. I didn't need him to explain. Slowly, I looked up.

  "The boy just isn't loyal," David admitted.

  "And you were any bette
r?" I asked.

  "Not saying I was," David said. He leaned back. "Just saying you have really bad taste in men, Princess." With that, he stood up and left through the back door. A few seconds later, Henry walked in through the front door of the library. I had been waiting for him because one of his teachers wanted to speak to him after class. At that moment, I didn't really want to be around him, but I had no choice-everyone else had gone home and he was my only transportation.

  "Hey!" Henry said, cheery as ever. "Ready to go?"

  We left the school with no hand-holding, no arms around each other, nothing. The drive to my house was silent, but he kept looking at me, even though I kept my gaze out the window. He pulled into the driveway and grabbed my wrist before I could get out.

  "What's wrong?" he questioned me.

  "Nothing," I lied.

  "You're lying." He called my bluff.

  "Why don't you tell me what you fought David about?" I said, "And I'm not talking about the fight in class."

  "I thought you didn't give a rat's arse."

  "I think I just changed my mind," I said. Wrenching my wrist out of his hold, I got out of the car before he could grab me again. He yelled after me but I hurried to the door. Once inside, I found Uncle Ethan sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

  "Will you be home tomorrow night?" he asked, referring to Halloween.

  "Hmm...I don't think so. We're planning on scaring the little kids again and then we'll probably spend the night at Darla's."

  Next to mine, Darla had the biggest house. Since Uncle Ethan was going to be home and Darla's parents weren't, the Halloween party was going to be there.

  "Will the boys be there too?" Uncle Ethan asked.

  "No," I lied. "They're leaving early because us girls are gonna do girl stuff."

  "Alright, then," Ethan said.

  I went up to my room and looked in my closet for my costume from James's birthday party. Everyone said I should wear it again and I really didn't feel like going shopping for another one. Besides, they all expected the whole vampire thing from Henry and me.

  I looked in the mirror while I brushed my hair, which still had some of that temporary red dye in it. It had turned into a slightly darker version of Megan's strawberry blonde hair. I didn't mind it much, but I actually missed Henry calling me "Goldilocks'.

  At eleven that night I got into my bed a passed out as my head hit the pillow. I woke up to my alarm clock blaring some techno music. I smacked it and rolled onto my stomach to go back to sleep as was routine. But then it felt as if something wasn't right. My eyes snapped open and squinted at my alarm clock which said it was six in the morning. Confused, I sat up and noticed that my room was still dark except for the red string lights I had forgot to turn off before bed-my alarm clock went off early. Then, I nearly screamed when I turned to see Henry leaning against my door frame, a small smile in tow.

  "You, love," he said, "are a heavy sleeper." I groaned and flopped back down.

  "You're early," I moaned, rubbing my eyes.

  "Yeah," Henry admitted. "I'll go downstairs and see you later, alright?"

  "Sure," I said. He left and it was then that I remembered what David had told me. I frowned and glared slightly at where Henry had stood.

  By the time I got downstairs, I could hear Megan talking with Henry about random things. The smell of cinnamon led me to the kitchen to see a plate full of toast.

  "What's on these?" I asked, picking up a piece.

  "Butter, sugar and cinnamon," Megan revealed. "Henry made them, and they're pretty good."

  After eating the toast-which was delicious-all of us left for school. Megan went to catch her bus, while Henry and I got into his car. When we arrived at school, I tried to focus my attention on anything but drama. Whenever I saw David or Lauren, I quickly looked away. They were spending less time together now, but whenever they were together, it was as bad as it had ever been.

  During one class I was wondering why Lauren even bothered moving here if she was just going to start cheating on Henry. Then it hit me-David's friend online. I never found out her name, but it was one of the reasons I dumped him. I had seen an e-mail from her saying that she was happy because she had convinced her parents to move here so that she could be with him. When I asked David about it, he didn't say anything. Finally, considering the countless times he cheated on me and the...incident...that Henry had figured out, I couldn't stand it anymore and broke up with him, knowing he wouldn't care. Was Lauren the girl online? There wasn't much doubt in my mind that she was, especially with how the timing was.

  "Miss Williams! Pay attention," Mr. Burnham, my history teacher, snapped. My head shot up and I muttered an apology. After sleeping through another twenty minutes of a boring history presentation, I heard a voice call my name.

  "Kris...the bell rang," Henry said from right next to me.

  I jumped and got my stuff without a word, before following him out of the class. And it was another silent drive to my place.

  "I'll pick you up at seven, alright?"

  "Yes...seven," I said.

  I couldn't help but smile. I liked the Halloween party, except for the "tradition" parts that I always hoped Lena would forget about. There were actually only a few Halloween traditions, but I really didn't like any of them.

  I got out of the car and went inside. Megan was already home.

  "So what are you doing tonight?" I asked.

  "Helping out at Chelsea's haunted house," Megan said. I looked at her quizzically. "Chelsea is the one with glasses," she reminded me.

  "Oh...right," I said. I still didn't know which one she was talking about, so I just pretended to know. "Tell your friends that I say hi, alright?"

  "Suuurrre," Megan said, sarcastically.

  I rolled my eyes and went upstairs to my room. I peeled myself out of my school clothes and took a long, hot shower. I enjoyed my showers. They helped clear my head and whenever I needed to think something through, a shower always helped-that was probably why they took so long. So, I sat in the steam and the soap and I thought.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  BY THE TIME Henry showed up, I was ready. Instead of the corset I wore last time, I went with a dark red shirt that was solid over my chest and see-through in my midriff area. I had been excited all day, but once we were at Henry's car, I went back to being quiet and moody.

  "You need to talk eventually, love," Henry said once we started driving. "I need directions."

  "I could always just point," I said.

  This must have made Henry angry because he pulled over abruptly and turned off the car. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you? You've been acting strange since yesterday."

  "That's not really a long time," I said.

  "Well it's long enough," Henry replied. "What's the matter?"

  "Nothing...just go," I ordered him.

  "I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me."

  "Let me drive then."

  "Go on, then. Give it a shot," Henry challenged.

  I took off my seatbelt and moved over to sit on him, without even thinking. Switching the gears, I wound up going backwards before I found the right one. I managed to get a few feet before I hit the curb lightly. Cursing, I put the car back into park, slid back into the passenger seat and sat there with a smile. "See...I kept telling you guys that I could drive, but would anyone listen?" I joked.

  The next thing I knew, Henry was pressing his mouth against mine and his hands gripped my hips tightly. I hesitated for a moment before going along with it. The position was slightly uncomfortable, but damn-every time I thought I could hate the man, he changed my mind for me. His hands began moving all over my chest and I swore I even heard him growl. I let out an involuntary moan as his hands seemed to embrace my whole body.

  Someone honked and yelled out a cat call, which made me remember we were in his car on the side of a busy road. I nearly levitated back into my own seat and looked at my skirt, which was riding up my thighs.

/>   "Right..." he said to himself then turned to me. "If you don't mind, I think its best that I drive," Henry offered.

  "Good idea," I said, my face red hot with embarrassment. We joked about what happened on the way to Darla's place and when we got there, the party was already in full swing. There were more people there than at James's birthday, mostly because his birthday party was just the gang and other people who knew James. This group consisted of basically everyone in our grade, plus a few others.

  "Kris! Henry! Hey guys!" Darla came bouncing over in a Playboy Bunny outfit.

  "Hey," Henry and I greeted her.

  "How in the bloody hell did you fit all these people in here?" Henry yelled over the music.

  "Very carefully." Darla winked and we laughed.

  I danced with everyone from the group at one time or another, even though I was around Henry over half the night. Lena made no mention of our little tradition, so as the night wore on, I was becoming more and more confident that it wouldn't happen. But I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. While all of us were outside, things started to go oddly quiet and I knew what was coming.

  "Oh no...come on..." I whined. Everyone laughed as Darla cranked up the disco music.

  "Come on, Krissy!" Lena said.

  "I'll do it if you do it," Henry cajoled me.

  "You know how to dance to this?" I asked.

  Henry nodded extravagantly, in tune with the music. "Uh-huh! Uh-huh!"

  "Oh God...fine!"

  We joined the group and, laughing the whole time, danced to That's the Way by KC and the Sunshine Band. Okay, so I admit it was fun in a crazy way. The disco dance was all Lena's idea. Six years ago, we were going through a bunch of old songs to play at our first Halloween party, and we found That's the Way . So we downloaded the song and spent hours learning to disco dance. I thought she was originally joking when she said we should do it every year, but so far we have.

  A few minutes later, I heard Amanda shout, "Spin The Bottle!"

  "Oh no," I groaned.