Chapter Eight

Selena

Among the Stacks

I lay in bed that night confused about Dillan. He’d asked me what I was. What did he mean by that? And the zap happened again. If he hadn’t held on, I would have fallen flat on my face. I couldn’t understand what was going on between us. When I collided with his chest, there wasn’t an ounce of flabby flesh there, just hard, unyielding muscle.

I rolled onto my side at the same time my phone buzzed. I reached for it on my bedside table and cued up the message.

Penny: Heard about Miller’s.

Me: Which version?

Flopping onto my back again, I swung my arm across my eyes, leaving my phone by my side. Grams came home in a snit, having heard about what Bowen did. Well—I should be clear—she heard a version of the story. News traveled weirdly in Newcastle. You only get bits and pieces of it based on eyewitness accounts. Most people filled in the blanks. Of course, that was what Grams did. She’d heard Bowen followed me into Miller’s, which was true. The part where he threw a fit and almost hit me wasn’t. I had to remind Grams that I would never let a guy raise a hand against me, let alone actually hit me. This calmed her down. Thank God Gramps hadn’t come home because we wouldn’t have been able to keep the news from him with Grams threatening to spit in Bowen’s food the next time he was at the diner.

My phone blinked this time, the sheets muffling the vibration.

Penny: He drove U 2 Miller’s. Argument. Then he left.

Me: Where do U get UR 411? Best version yet.

Penny: Secret.

I giggled. Penny had always been good at getting all the right information. For as long as I’d been friends with her, she hadn’t gotten anything wrong yet.

Before I could reply, my phone buzzed again.

Penny: True or False. U rode home with hot teach.

Of course she knew about that, too, so no use lying.

Me: True. :)

Penny: U lucky b*tch.

I rolled onto my stomach and kicked my feet in the air. Yeah, I was one lucky bitch. To get a ride from Mr. Sloan was definitely the highlight of my week. Then my stupid brain went back to Dillan.

Me: Have 411 on Dillan.

Penny: WHAT!?!

Me: 2morrow. Lunch. ;)

Penny: Tease.

Penny: 411 on PT job.

Me: REALLY!!!

Penny: 2morrow. ;P

Me: H8 U!

Penny: <3

…

After school the next day, I stood in front of a brick building with a window display featuring recommended books and bestsellers. The store was conveniently only a couple of blocks from Maggie’s Diner. I stared up at the Gothic-lettered sign proudly announcing Ormand Books in gold. Two black lions with snakes for tails bookended the store’s name.

When I fell asleep after my texting marathon with Penny, I’d dreamt of the exact same sign and of standing in this very spot. With Kyle off helping the yearbook committee, I had Penny to myself at lunch. As promised, she filled me in on the details of the job, and I told her about Dillan and what he’d asked me. She said it might have been a slip of the tongue. Maybe. I really didn’t know. What if he knew about my visions? Penny quickly called bullshit. She was right, how could Dillan know anything about that?

Finding no answers, we promised to meet in front of the bookstore since Penny had a couple of things to take care of after school. Now that I waited, staring at the sign, I felt funny. Off in some way that I couldn’t put my finger on.

Below the Open sign, a white bond paper was taped. It read: ‘Help Wanted. Inquire Inside.’ Of course the newly opened bookstore would need some sort of help. How Penny knew this place needed help was like magic. But with her network of “sources” I shouldn’t have been surprised.

I took a second to decide if I wanted to enter the store or to continue to wait for Penny outside. The unease that simmered at a corner of my mind grew. A small voice in my head urged me to run away. I took a step back before I stopped myself, breathing in deep. I needed the job.

But it didn’t feel right.

“Hey, bitch!” Penny bounced to my side and threw her arms around my neck in an impromptu hug, knocking me off balance.

I screeched as I took the full impact of her enthusiasm. My jeans kissed pavement, and it hurt.

“Oops.” Her eyes sparkled as she helped me up. I rubbed my bruised backside. “Soooorry. Why were you zoned out anyway?”

Dusting off my shirt, I stared back at the sign above the door. “I don’t know.”

“Are you still thinking about Dillan?”

“No!”

“My, that gets you all riled up, doesn’t it? To be honest, I really don’t think it’s anything. Plus, those electrical surges? I’ll check it out if you want. There’s got to be something on the Net about it.”

“You don’t have to do that.” I watched clouds glide by before looking back at Penny. “You’re right. I don’t even know why I’m letting him get to me. Besides sharing two classes, I don’t know anything about him.”

“That’s the spirit!”

“You’re not gonna slap me in the ass are you?” I grinned.

As if I’d dared her, Penny’s palm made contact with my still smarting butt. I yelped and danced away. She pulled me back to her and gave me a comforting hug. I loved her tons. I honestly wouldn’t know what to do with myself without her.

“So what’s got you zoning out?”

“This doesn’t feel right.” I gestured toward the bookstore. “The place gives me the creepy crawlies, you know?”

“Oh, don’t be such a baby!” She patted the center of my back a little too hard. I felt it all the way through to my chest. “Unless Nancy fires one of the waitresses at the diner, you don’t have anywhere else that’s walking distance from school and the diner.” She turned me around and pushed me toward the store. Digging in my heels didn’t help.

A soft you’ll regret this from somewhere in my head and a couple of deep breaths later, I pushed through the entrance. The bell attached to the top of the door tinkled its welcome as I stumbled in with Penny right on my heels.

An unusually cold blast of air greeted us.

The chill bumps on my arms made me long for the hoodie I’d left in my backpack with Grams at the diner. “Don’t you think it’s a little cold in here?”

“Not at all.” My best friend hopped closer to my side. “Why are we whispering?”

“Shut up.” I stuffed my hands inside my pockets. The AC didn’t help the creep factor much, no matter how normal everything looked.

The counter had a cash register at one end and a pyramid of books for the featured author of the month on the other. A glass-doored bookcase filled with leather and cloth-bound books stood behind the counter. Each title was a different color with gold lettering along the spine.

“Isn’t this great? Well, not as great as the stores in NYC, but it certainly has its charm.” Penny shrugged.

“Sure.” I nodded absentmindedly. “Don’t you feel like this place is…I don’t know?”

“Like?”

“Spooky.”

“You’re wigging me out.” She poked my arm.

The place had two built-in shelves on each wall while three shelves divided the rest of the floor space in between, stretching from the front to the rear. My sneakers squeaked on the gleaming hardwood floors as I stepped forward. The sconces that decorated the walls reflected the gothic theme of the sign outside, spaced evenly between shelves. A lemony wax smell permeated the air.

“I’m sorry for the frigid conditions. I’m still struggling with the air conditioner controls.”

I jumped as Mr. Glasses, partially hidden behind the book pyramid, poked his head out. He had shaggy hair the same color as the hardwood floors. I couldn’t quite see his eyes from behind the grayish tint of his glasses.

“Did I startle you? By the looks of it, I did, didn’t I?” He spread both hands on the counter.

How did he get there without us noticing? Was he there the whole time? My first instinct was to bolt, but the way he asked a question then answered it by asking another question made me smile, lifting some of my initial unease. Just the jitters. Maybe.

Penny skipped to the counter. “Mr. Ormand…I hope you remember me.” She reached out and they shook hands. “Penny Collins. I was in here the other day telling you about my friend.”

“This must be Selena.” Ormand smiled. “Marcell Ormand, I’m pleased to meet you.”

I took his offered hand in a light grip. His touch was gentle, albeit clammy. Not surprising considering the arctic freeze. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I hear from Miss Collins here that you might be in need of a job.”

Penny answered before I could inhale. “Yup, she really does.”

“If it’s still available, sir.” I elbowed my overenthusiastic friend.

“Please, call me Ormand.” His smile showed a set of uneven front teeth.

“I think my job here is done.” Penny spun with a flourish to face me. “I’ll text you tonight.” She winked and sashayed out of the store.

I stared after my retreating friend. “I’m sorry about that, Ormand.”

“Miss Collins is always like that, isn’t she?”

“Pretty much.” I shrugged. An uncertain pause then, “Uh…about the job…do I need a resume?”

“Not at all. I just need someone to mind the counter in the afternoons, help with inventory, dust the shelves, and arrange the books. You think you’re up to it?”

The job seemed easy enough. We agreed on my wage and hours and decided that I could start the next day. Paranoia wouldn’t pay for college. Ormand seemed nice enough despite the warning bells.

“Is that all I can do for you? Are you sure you aren’t interested in a book? Employees get a twenty percent discount.”

A tempting offer. “Do you have books on dreams?”

“Dream interpretation, I see. Fascinating. I have some in the Divination section. Feel free to look around.” He pointed at the third row of shelves to the left.

With time to spare before Grams’s shift ended, I followed his directions and made my way between the shelves. Rounding a corner, I spotted a lone figure sitting on a cushioned seat by the wall, reading with shoulders squared.

Crap. Dillan.

Everything in me screamed, “Turn and run!” But if I left, I might as well stamp CHICKEN across my forehead. If I stayed, I had no idea what would happen.

He wore a dark, long-sleeved shirt and jeans. I bit my lip, frowning at him. Memories of the ride home from Miller’s and what happened afterward had my face roasting despite the cold the store. My body still remembered what slamming against his chest felt like. And how did he lift me out of the way? I had some weight on me. He didn’t have bulging muscles the way Bowen did, but hell, Dillan was strong. And those zingers his touch caused? Might not be static. At least, I thought so. Maybe I should have agreed to Penny researching it.

Dillan balanced a book in his hands with his elbows on the chair’s armrests, seeming not to notice my arrival. Just as I started to retreat, my phone dinged. Crap! I’d forgotten I’d removed it from vibrate at the diner. I fished it out.

Kyle: How’s the job-hunting going?

The book snapped closed. I flinched, almost dropping my phone. Ignoring Kyle’s text, I met Dillan’s gaze head-on.

“You stalking me?” he asked, his voice full of his usual annoyance.

“Well good afternoon to you, too.” My shoulders slumped when he snorted. His stare was like bullets straight to my chest. “I’m just looking for a book.”

“Oh, so you mean this isn’t the supermarket?” He glanced around with mock wonder. “That explains the lack of canned goods and the abundance of paperbacks.”

I pretended to laugh. Stupid jerk. He repaid my efforts to keep cool with an obnoxious, raised eyebrow. I paid no attention to the urge to grab tweezers and pluck until said eyebrow was completely gone.

“And you’re laughing because?”

“Oh my gawd! You mean that wasn’t a joke? That was you being a jerk?” I crossed my arms and cocked a hip. “Sorry, I didn’t catch it sooner.”

He smiled at me for the first time since we’d met. I didn’t count the magical laugh after asking him about dating Taylor Swift. Loser move, by the way. I panicked, so sue me.

Just when I had him pegged, he did something completely opposite. Gah! And they said girls were complicated. I squirmed at the warmth of his smile. Why was he smiling?

“I like it when you bite back,” he said.

A scowl pulled my eyebrows together. “That’s just rude. You don’t know me.”

“I don’t think I should get to know you.”

The ice in his tone took me by surprise again. A complete one-eighty from his earlier smile. “Excuse me?”

“You’re trouble, and I don’t do trouble.” He opened the book again and continued reading like I’d been dismissed. Well, his highness had another thing coming.

“Hey!” I snapped. “We’re not finished here.”

Like a lion eyeing its prey, he glanced up at me. My heart somersaulted.

“Well? I’m waiting with bated breath.” He managed to sound bored and sexy at the same time.

“W-what…uh…” I tried to gather thoughts that slipped out of my head like paper falling from a binder. I blinked. “Why do you think I’m trouble?”

He suppressed a laugh by bowing his head. As if that helped hide his shaking shoulders.

“What’s so funny?”

“You’re a people pleaser, aren’t you? You’re the type that can’t stand someone not liking you and showing it.” Raising his head, he laughed openly now.

“That’s just…” I wanted to take a book from the shelf beside me and throw it at him. “I don’t even have a word—”

“Then I suggest you read a little more so you can find the word you’re looking for.” He hid his chuckle behind a fist.

Anger and defeat tasted bitter in my mouth. I wished I could stop the heat creeping up from my neck to my face. Before I could blow a gasket and ruin books I couldn’t afford by throwing them at someone with a concrete head, I turned on my heel and walked stiffly out of the bookstore.

With my phone still in my hand, I quickly replied to Kyle.

Me: Dillan, 1. Me, 0.

Kyle: Huh?

Me: TKO.

Kyle: Lost me.

Me: 411 L8r.