Nightstruck - Jenna Black Page 0,36

a reason I had such a crush on Luke, and it wasn’t just because he was hot.

“You have your own supply of Milk-Bones now?” I asked.

Luke smiled. “Your dad gave me a box so I could always be prepared.”

I tried to think of something else to say, some way to make conversation, but I sucked at small talk, and the knots in my stomach were making it hard to think.

What if Luke didn’t see what I saw? That would have to mean I was going crazy, right? I knew without a doubt that I was totally going to freak out if he didn’t see it, but even if I was bound for the loony bin tomorrow I didn’t want to have a meltdown in front of Luke. I could just imagine trying to explain that I’d asked him to come with me to the store to show him the penis-shaped thing on the railing but that, oops, I seemed to be the only one who could see it. I would never be able to look him in the face again. Assuming they ever let me out of the padded cell.

Remember, it could be a brain tumor, I reminded myself. Because that prospect was so much more appealing than being insane.

My palms were sweating inside my gloves, and I was gnawing on my lip. I risked a quick glance at Luke, wondering what he was thinking. Did he think my lack of conversation was rude, or just awkward? And could he tell just by looking at me that I was a bundle of raw nerves?

Of course he caught me looking, which sent a flush of embarrassment to my face. I wished I had Piper’s self-confidence, her gift for making easy conversation. Not to mention her looks. If I were anything like Piper, I would laugh it off if a guy caught me staring at him, instead of blushing beet red and wishing the sidewalk would open up and swallow me.

“Why aren’t you out with Piper tonight?” I found myself blurting. Because I had all the subtlety and tact of a charging rhino.

His jaw clenched, and he looked straight ahead. “She’s been acting weird lately. Really pushy, even for her.”

I hadn’t talked to her much since she’d been suspended, but I had to admit something had felt a bit off each time I had. Like I only had about a third of her attention. And she’d more than once suggested I skip school to spend the day with her, something she had to know I would never do. She kept trying to convince me it wouldn’t be that big a deal. This from the girl who’d tried to switch shirts with me not that long ago because she understood that getting a detention was a big deal to me. I just didn’t get it.

“Should I ask what she was pushing you to do, or do I not want to know?” I asked. Or is it none of my business, I added silently.

“She’s at a rave tonight. I’m okay with sneaking into bars once in a while, but I’m not into the rave scene.”

I wouldn’t have thought Piper was, either. I mean, sure, she was a little wild, and she obviously loved to drink. I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn she’d tried pot, or maybe even X, in a controlled environment. Still, she’d always seemed to have a spirit of self-preservation—for instance, making sure she had a conscientious guy like Luke around to do the driving when she was totally shitfaced.

We walked in silence for a few moments. We were nearing the corner, and soon we would be turning it and the railing would come into view. My pulse rose a notch.

“Should I have gone with her?” Luke asked softly. “Just to watch over her, I mean?”

I had to pull my head out of my own butt to make sense of what Luke was asking me. I blinked at him in surprise, seeing that he really wanted to know my opinion. I guess he felt bad about putting his foot down.

I had to admit to being a little worried about Piper, worried about what might happen to her if she was out at some drug-riddled party with no one to rein her in. But Luke was supposed to be her boyfriend, not her bodyguard.

I shook my head. “She wouldn’t have let you watch over her,” I said, and knew immediately that I was right. “I saw what she was like once she