Gravity - By Abigail Boyd Page 0,65

the instant I got a chance. Thanks to Theo, nothing was harmed. For the first time in my life, I was convinced Corinne had no psychic ability.

Claire noticed the bump on my head as soon as we got back in the house, despite my attempts to hide it with my hair.

"How did you get that?" she asked with concern.

"Bumped my head on one of the cupboard doors," I lied. It was a good lie, because I was always leaving the cupboards open when I unloaded the dishwasher.

"You have got to stop doing that," she said, pushing my hair back. "You really got yourself. Ouch." I had tried putting a bandage over it, but the cut was in a terrible spot due to my hair. It looked like the skin split open. I hoped it wouldn't scar too much.

I wore long sleeves, since it was harder to explain the scuffs on my arm. And the burnt mark I had found on my neck on examining it in the mirror.

Even though I hadn't been in contact with anything in the house, and no answers came to me for my trouble, calm settled over me. There was no way Jenna was there. Nothing could make me voluntarily go back to that creepy house, anyway. And whatever had been tormenting me before, now left me alone. At least for now.

Henry's father dropped him off at my house for our now-weekly tutoring session. Henry had gone to a doctor's appointment that day, and since he had been busy last week, too, we had catching up to do.

I'd never actually been introduced to Phillip Rhodes or talked to him. He remained the shadowy figure behind the wheel of his Lexus. Occasionally I would feel him looking at me through the tinted windows.

Though I was loathe to admit it, I treasured having Henry all to myself. Whenever I was around him, I felt a thousand things at once. My dull brain awoke from the slumber that captured it for months. It was often agony being in the same room with him without being able to touch him. But I didn't want to be away from him, either.

I answered the door and Henry stood there in a long sleeved shirt with his books held at his hip. He leaned with the palm of his hand against the siding.

"Hello, doll," he said, lifting his eyebrows at me like he often did. "You're mine now."

I felt giddy. He affected my brain like depression medication.

"Are you ready to learn?" he asked as I let him in.

"Ready as always," I said, and we went to the den, which had become our tutoring room.

"How are you doing?" he asked more cautiously after I had shut the door and we sat down. His cautious brown eyes went to the mark on my head.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I asked, rubbing my temples. "I'm sick to death of saying I'm fine. My head is healing up, so is my arm, and I didn't have a seizure."

"I've never seen anyone have a seizure before," he admitted. "But that's what it looked like to me." He inspected my arm for himself. "Your cuts look better, though. You're lucky you didn't get tetanus."

We pulled out our books and followed the normal routine, wading knee-deep in numbers. He seemed surprised by how much better I was doing.

"You don't even need me anymore," he said.

"I need you," I said quickly, and then blushed at how I had blurted the words. He chuckled.

"Well, alright then. I'll stay."

We finished early and started chatting about the rest of school.

"I wish there was a way to make Ms. Fellows more interesting," Henry said, echoing my sentiments. "I almost fall asleep in her class every day."

I laughed, agreeing. "She almost makes me hate reading. And I thought that was near impossible. English is my favorite."

"I told you mine is physics, right?" he asked.

"I vaguely remember that," I said, nodding. "When you offered to start tutoring me. What do you like so much about it?"

"Everything is physics," he said simply. "Like gravity, the attraction of one body to another. Why we stay on earth instead of floating. Or between you and me, for example," he teased with one of his token smiles.

"Yes, gravity is what keeps us together," I said, rolling my eyes. "Or just my terrible skill at math."

"If you don't stop saying that, I'm going to stop helping you," he said, but I could tell he was only vaguely irritated. "You need