Eclipsed Star

Chapter Seven

ROMAN POV

Sophia bounced in the seat next to me on the bus. "So are you going to tell me? What's going on? Are we going to the beach? The beach. Like the ocean?"

Her voice was dreamy at the idea of it and I couldn't blame her. The idea of submerging myself in the water had me half distracted all day. The other half of me kept remembering the way Jake had leaned in when I'd almost kissed him. The end result? All of me was no where near Forks High.

"I don't know Soph, can we just get back into the sector?" I jerked open my backpack and tried to stuff my sketchpad in but Drake snatched it from over the back of his seat.

"Did I hear something about the ocean?"

Teri craned her neck from the seat in front of him. "Are we allowed out there?"

I sighed, resigned to sharing the invitation. I wanted to be selfish, keep the water to myself. Keep Jake to myself. But the chance to be in the water, to completely submerse in the open sea was more than I could keep from them.

"Gloria got the okay for us to go straight to the reservation and straight back at curfew. We're allowed in the water, but no further out than the second sand bar. There'll be four armed guards on the bus, waiting at the parking lot."

"Four?" Drake's eyes bulged.

"They don't want us making a break for open sea I bet." Teri scoffed.

"But it's worth it. A chance to get to know the humans a little better and swim. I can't imagine anything better." Sophia looked like she might swoon.

"Well, if you guys want to go, the bus leaves the sector at 5. They're planning a bonfire and potlatch dinner with some kids from Fork's High and La Push. Now can I have my notebook back?" I reached out a hand toward Drake expectantly, but he just raised an eyebrow.

"Are you drawing more than trees now Roman?" Teri asked, grabbing the notebook from Drake and flipping it open to find my sketch of Jake's profile.

For the second time in one day the blood rushed to my cheeks in a blush. "Give that back."

"Ohhh he's hot. This is the kid from gym class right? The Indian?"

"I think they like being called Indian about as much as we like being called a Tattie." I lunged over Drake's seat and tried to make a grab for the book.

"Sit down." The guard at the front, on the other side of the cage door separating us from them, called out.

"Give it to me." I hissed.

"I might want to keep it." She stuffed the notebook into her bag. "Maybe I'll hang it on my wall. Or ask him out. You know these humans are a little more binary, he's probably into girls."

"Teri..."

"Just let her have it." Sophia put a hand on my arm and pulled me back into our seat. "She's just trying to get to you, you know that."

I ignored her and stared out the window, watching the outside world go by. I wanted to jump out the window and run straight for the sea, straight for Jake. The idea of seeing him again tonight tied me up in knots and as much as I knew I needed to play down how I felt, I just wanted to grab him and ask if he felt the same way.

I'd drawn him in class because he was the only thing I could think about all day. The lines of his face, the contour of his cheekbones and the fullness of his lowerlip. I'd drawn him so I could look at him without worrying about him noticing and getting uncomfortable. I wanted to stare into the depth of his eyes and lose myself, but now Teri had taken that away. One more reason I didn't want to deal with her at school or especially tonight.