up at her round, brown eyes, I couldn’t help but wonder what her story was. How on Earth did a girl my age end up in a place like this? I knew one thing; I couldn’t be seen talking to her. I was no fool. It wasn’t hard to see our meeting could mean trouble for both of us. She was, without a doubt, trespassing on restricted land. I wanted to take her to a safe place where we could talk without being overheard. With a little more coaxing and a few more promises that I wouldn’t hurt her, she finally agreed to come with me.
As her cool, wet body lifted from mine, I was drawn from my wonderment. The feel of her weight pulling away from me was suddenly replaced by a little spike of heat that exploded deep within my belly. Maybe it was the scent of plumerias, or maybe it was just the new feeling of a girl straddling my hips. The dizzying sensation hit me with surprising force when she grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. I’d never felt a zing like that before. Actually, I’d never really had a girl my age touch me in any way. I was surprised at what it did to my body. I had to think fast and come up with something to say. Something to distract her from the crazy reaction that was happening below my belly.
Feeling relief that I had somehow gotten through to her, I mumbled, “I could tell you were a smart one.”
“Damn straight,” she affirmed. That’s when I felt something sharp poke at the small of my back. Leaning into my ear she warned, “Don’t do anything stupid, and you might live to see tomorrow.” The warmth from her body began to heat my arm as she pulled me in close. Then quickly, she nudged me to the meadow of tall grass. Still feeling the small stabbing pain of whatever she was holding against me, I walked in line with her until she was ready to release her hold.
Moments later we found a small clearing where she pushed me to the ground. Without breaking eye contact, she sat before me. That’s when she revealed the roughly shaped spearhead she had been holding to my back. She had fashioned it into a dagger, and something told me if I made one false move, she wouldn’t be afraid to use it. For what seemed like five minutes, we sat, staring in silence as the dagger tick-tocked in front of me. Finally she said, “You wanted to talk … talk.”
For some reason, the threat of the crude weapon waving in front of me had me tongue-tied. She must have sensed my distress because she eased it onto her lap and said, “Fine, I’ll start. I’m Ava. Ava Grace. Haven’t seen you around here before and I know everyone.”
“I’m Noah,” I held out my hand to shake hers.
As my hand moved toward her, she jumped back, simultaneously thrusting the dagger toward my chest. “What’re you doing?” she demanded.
Holding both hands up, I tried to talk her down. “Look, I’m just trying to shake your hand.”
Her blank stare told me she was confused. If I didn’t know it already, now it was obvious this girl was one of the islanders. Of course she didn’t know what a handshake was. She was uncivilized. My father had told me all about the prisoners and how dangerous it was to cross into the high-security areas on the island. If I ever ran into a prisoner, it would mean certain death. I never dreamed someone my age could be one of them. But if she was a prisoner, what was she doing in a restricted area?
My body began to tremble when I realized the danger of the situation. Lord only knew what she had done to be exiled. Maybe she had killed one of her classmates. Or worse, she could be one of those teens who went crazy and murdered her entire family. I started to back away. In fact, I began to turn so I could bolt in the other direction.
“Wait!” she called out. “Don’t go!”
The desperation in her voice stopped me from racing back to my father. Slowly, I turned around and looked at her pleading eyes.
“You can’t tell on me. They’ll put me back in the holding chamber … just like last time.”