Talla grinned, but it was her same competitive grin that grated on my last nerve. Whenever I ran with her, I had the perverse urge to beat her and found myself pushing my legs past their limits and getting annoyed when I lost. On the flip side, my victories didn’t make her too happy either. I’d developed a grudging respect for her, but I wasn’t up for Talla right now. It was because of Talla that for the past week, I’d chosen to run alone.
“Thanks, but I’m good.”
“Okay, we’ll catch you tomorrow.” Talla took one step, then spun back. She stood ramrod straight. “Charley, you’re not good. And neither is Thad. You two need to work out whatever isnotgoing on between you two, because it’s getting to the rest of us.”
“Talla—” Jillian started, her tone warning.
“No,” Talla snapped. “I’m sick of it. It’s not just about them. Andshe needs to hear it.” Talla shot me a look that would’ve frozen Hell. “Work it out, Charley. One way or another.”
Then she strode away.
I felt like a child being reprimanded, and I was furious. Determined to steer clear of Talla, I took the shortcut to the rocks where Thad first showed me the green flash nearly two weeks ago. Thankfully, the spot was deserted. Grateful to be alone, I climbed out onto the largest rock, thoroughly frustrated by both Thad and Talla—one distant, one bitter, neither of which I understood. What did Talla mean,It’s not just about them?
I wish I could ask Em.
And just like that, my fury fizzled.
I missed Em. I missed home. I missed my life—and I was missing it. I was just another Nil visitor, living a surreal time-out from life, losing time I couldn’t get back. If I even got back at all.
“Charley.” Bart’s nasal voice jarred me from my private pity party. Skin sloughing off his shoulders fluttered in the breeze, and I couldn’t help leaning away. “Want some company?”
Hell, no. “No, thanks. Just having some quiet time.”
“Suit yourself.” Today Bart had a bandana tied around his head, like how Rives wore his. Only on Bart it somehow looked like he was playing dress-up, and it looked ridiculous. “If you change your mind, we’re about to play island ball.” He pounded his hairy chest like a pale, peeling gorilla. “It’s hard-core, but mixes things up.”
“Thanks.” With a smile to counter my rudeness, I turned away. Bart always left me with the feeling I needed to take a bath, even if I’d just stepped out of the Cove.
The Cove. Beautiful water as clear as glass, cascading into a black rock pool as cold as ice. Trees with deep green leaves the color of lush magnolias, kissing an Easter egg blue sky, lime green moss clinging to life on damp charcoal rock that will never burn—unless I happento be standing on it when a shimmer rolls through. The Cove was a perfect snapshot of Nil’s beauty. Beauty so intoxicating that if I weren’t careful, I could forget the danger. But the danger was there. Always lurking, and very real.
I closed my eyes, and like it did constantly, my mind wandered to the Man in the Maze. I’d visited the carving earlier this week. No sign of the hyena or anything else dangerous, although I’d startled a camel and managed to freak myself out, and probably the camel, too. But during my latest visit, I’d made a discovery: the number twelve carved at the top, centered directly over the maze. I’d missed the number my first time around, probably because it was packed with dirt. I had no idea what the twelve signified, or, for that matter, the maze itself. Despite my heavy scrutiny, the Man in the Maze had refused to give up his secrets. And no one else was as obsessed by the carving as me.
I returned to my List of All That I Was Missing.
My senior year, although all I really missed was volleyball. I wondered how the team was faring without me and whether my scholarship hopes were already sunk. I missed playing, but I didn’t miss homework or school without Jen.
Instead of sitting in calculus, I sat by the sea, with nowhere to be.
And nowhere to go.
Bart was gone, leaving me alone.
As in all by myself.
My mind ping-ponged between the good and the bad, and I fought to keep the volley alive. I wasn’t sure settling on one side of the Nil net was a good thing.
Ping-Pong. Since Em had left for college, I’d played with my dad. The last time I’d seen him, he was tossing me the keys to his first brand-new car ever, trying to cheer me up. My throat constricted at the memory.Did I even tell Dad good-bye?
“Charley.” Thad’s voice startled me.
“Hey,” I said, turning. He stood behind the rock, looking cover-model gorgeous—until I got to his eyes. They looked haunted.
“You okay?” he asked.
Are you?I thought, watching his ghosts dull the blue.
But I didn’t ask. I might have a few days ago, but not now.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Just thinking.”
