Page 167 of Ominous: Part 1
“Is he usually not so… peaceful?” The word seems strange, to describe him that way.
Janelle laughs, and I love the sound. It’s light and beautiful. Nothing like Eli’s cold bite of laughter, or my own caustic huffs of amusement. “Eli is…” Janelle trails off, and I realize I’m gripping my steering wheel so tight my hands start to ache as I wait for her to finish her sentence.Tell me everything.“He’s like the ocean, you know. The surface always looks so calm, most nights,” I don’t miss the fact she usesnightinstead ofday,“but underneath, it could be hell, and no one would ever know, unless they dive in deep.”
My pulse is rabid in my throat. “And have you? Dived deep?” I slow my speed, knowing Eli and Janelle’s subdivision is coming up, and I don’t want to finish this conversation just yet.
“No,” she answers without hesitation. There’s no amusement now in her words, only a solemn sort of wonder, and I can feel her eyes on me as the looming mansions high up on the hill come into view. “You have to hold your breath a long time to go that far under.”
I think about Eli keeping me pinned down inside of his pool, my stomach twisting into knots.
My fingers are shaky as I flick on my turn signal. I press the brakes, dragging out the turn.
“Eli likes to pretend he doesn’t give a fuck about anything,” Janelle continues.
I hold my breath, taking the turn into her neighborhood. The clink of the turn signal cuts off, but the same song still plays in the background, on a loop. Janelle hasn’t once complained.
“Sharks shed blood in the ocean all the time, and we sit on the beach watching the waves without thinking twice about it. It’s only when they get too close we panic.”
Come closer.
Tell me when to stop.
I keep driving on the dark street, and I’m no longer pulled in by the opulence, the shimmering pools visible as I drive, the luxury vehicles, the four car garages. I don’t even know where I’m going, but I don’t care. I just want Janelle to keep talking about my boy.
“I think he knows what goes on inside his head…” Janelle drifts off and I tense, my shoulders hunched around my ears as I drive. “It isn’t exactly normal. And he doesn’t want anyone to panic.”
My mouth goes dry, and I come to a stop sign in the neighborhood. It’s a four-way stop, and she doesn’t give me a direction, so I press the gas, shooting straight across the intersection, not wanting to break this moment to talk.
“Or maybe he’s just learned how to mimic everything, and he shows us what we want to see.” Janelle is whispering, but her voice has a far-off quality, like she’s sitting right beside me, but she’s not reallyhere.Like she’s talking about someone else.
I don’t dare look at her. I’m a little nervous about what I might see.
Then she just laughs, like it’s all a joke. “Anyway, he’s really into you.”
I feel her eyes on me and I can’t help but ask, “Has he been like this? Before? He never talks about exes.” I want to ask about Winslet specifically, but it feels a little too much.
Janelle is quiet a moment, then she says, “No one can keep that boy’s interest for long.”
* * *
Somehow,I get roped into going inside Janelle’s house after we exchanged numbers in my car. She had something for me, she said. I sent Mom a quick text I’d be a little late, and she told me to be home within the hour, so I don’t get far inside Janelle’s mansion. It’s dark, and kind of dreary, with a gray chandelier hanging in the foyer. But she sprinted upstairs when I told her I couldn’t stay and came back with a stack of books, thick, well-worn volumes she thrusts into my hands now.
I take them, glancing down, thanks on the tip of my tongue, when I catch the title of the one on top.
An Introduction to Teleportation.
Shocked, but smiling, I lift my eyes to hers as she adjusts her ponytail, then places her hands on her hips, shrugging. “Eli said you liked magic.”
My chest warms, and I think of his texts, meant to make me nervous. But now, this. He’s talking about me, and not about my body, or how he wants to fuck me—although maybe he’s talking about that, too, in which case, great—but aboutme.
“Wow,” I say, shaking my head, feeling a little off balance as I take a step back, toward the towering double doors behind me. “Thank you. Are you sure you want to part with—”
“Yes, definitely.” Janelle nods once, but I see the crease between her brows. She pulls her lower lip between her teeth, staring at the books in my hands, my palms on the bottom and top of the stack, five tomes in total. “They’re just collecting dust. You’ll enjoy them more than I would.” She brings her dark gaze to mine. “I have trouble believing.”
I accept that without argument. You can’t talk people into belief. “Well, thank you,” I say again. “I really appreciate it.”
She smiles, and we hear thunder rumble outside, shaking her entire house, which is a feat. She glances over my head, at the panes of glass above the doors as rain slams into them, making me jump. “You could stay the night here, you know.” She glances around her silent house. “It’s nasty outside—”
“I’ll be okay.” I don’t have any of my things, and I know she’s just being nice. I’d feel like an inconvenience, and she’s already done a lot for me tonight. I turn from her, swiping at my bangs, tucking them behind my ear. “Thank you again, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
