Midnight Rose by Shelby Reed

“Ever tried geometry?” “Yeah.”
    “Aced it?”
    A smile crept across his mouth. “Sorta.”
    “How about trigonometry? Or calculus?”
    “Dad says I could do both if I tried. But none of my other teachers thought anything about it.”
    “How many other teachers came before me?” she asked, watching him carefully.
    He shrugged. “Maybe eight or nine.”
    Eight or nine?
    The look on her face must have betrayed her astonishment, because he smiled a little. “You probably wonder what I did to scare them off.”
    She gave a helpless laugh. “I have to admit I’m curious.”
    “I get sick too often to keep a teacher. Dad ends up having to let them go.” His dark gaze darted to hers. “But will you stay, even if I can’t study sometimes? Even if I get too sick to have lessons? Because I always get well again. So you’ll stay, right?” Kate paused, lost for an answer. “I don’t know the future, Jude. If you get sick again and your dad decides I’m not needed, then I’ll have to go. But not for three months,” she added quickly when disappointment darkened his face. “I can guarantee three months of my special brand of torture, and some nightmarish trigonometry assignments with your name on them.” The humor returned to his features and the tension left his thin shoulders. “I’m ready for some good math,” he said, pushing away the eighth-grade text with a discriminate finger. “Not this easy stuff.” “Then your wish is granted.” She scrawled a reminder across the back of her notebook to search for a more advanced text for him. He was, undeniably, gifted. “I don’t have a math skills test that suits your level, so let’s move on to reading comprehension, and I’ll make a run into Christiansburg to see what I can find this weekend.” Jude perked up. “Dad’ll let you borrow his car when he gets back from the convention tomorrow night.” The thought of slipping behind the sleek sedan’s steering wheel dampened Kate’s palms. “Or maybe Mrs. Shelton will let me use hers.” “Dad’s is cooler.”
    “No doubt,” she said dryly.
    Rubbing at a smudge on the gold inlaid table, Jude sighed. “I wish I could go to Christiansburg.
    Just…walk outside and get in the car and drive away.”
    Kate watched him with a carefully blank expression, while inside, her heart thudded with sympathy and a strange relief. With very little effort on her part, he opened up more with each passing hour. He was obviously lonely, tired of being so singular and isolated. “If we went after dark, do you think your dad would let you come with me?” The light faded from his eyes. “He’d say no. I’ve been too sick lately.” She offered him a sad smile. “You can go with me another time, Jude. And if you just feel like getting out of here sometime, maybe we can take an evening drive.” “There’s nothing to see in the dark.”
    She didn’t bother to argue. He was right; this far out in the country, their activities were sorely limited.
    “Do you like to swim?” she asked. “You’ve got that great big pool all to yourself.” He shrugged. “It’s okay. The underwater light hurts my eyes so I have to swim in the dark, and last time I jammed my finger against the side of the pool. But sometimes I do play tennis with my dad. We use glow-in-the-dark balls.” “Good for you,” she said, making a mental note to dig out her racket. “I play, too, but I could definitely use some practice.” She slid aside the book and propped her chin in her hand, treading carefully. The growing intimacy between them was fragile, and she knew Jude wanted to trust her. “What other kind of sports do you like?” He rolled his eyes in speculation. “I like soccer. Basketball’s okay. And definitely football.” “Of course.”
    “Miami rules.”
    She blocked the statement with a raised palm. “I beg to differ, hailing from the Pittsburgh area originally.
    And I’m not about to tell you what team I root