Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One by Karen Lynn Bennett Page B

gripped the edge of the table just as an arm curled around my shoulders. I turned to see blue eyes. Zander. And then I felt that wonderful hum.
    “Sorry, Bobby. I feel a little weird. I-I just need to get out of here.” I tried to stand up. Zander supported me and the dizziness passed.
    “Wow. Weird head rush, I guess. I should have eaten more for lunch.” I laughed at myself. Zander still hadn’t said anything, but he scowled at Bobby.
    “Hey, man, I didn’t do anything.”
    Zander walked me toward the closest building, sheltering me from student eyes with an arm around my shoulder. By the time we got to the girls’ restroom, I felt almost normal.
    I pushed away from Zander, laughing hollowly. “Sorry about that. Thanks for keeping me upright.”
    “What just happened?” he asked point blank.
    My eyebrows leaped. He acted like I had done something wrong. “I don’t know. Maybe I ate something bad. Maybe I didn’t eat enough?”
    “Tru!” a voice called down the hall. It was Isaac. Great. By the time he caught up to me, Zander had slipped away. Strange. I tried to shrug off the feeling of disappointment.
    Isaac growled during my explanation, and I felt like laughing at him. Seriously, he could be really funny sometimes. I felt tired but for some reason giddy, despite the whole Isaac/Zander weirdfest. I saw Bobby in the hall later that day, and he gave me a smile and a wave, which made me smile hugely back at him. I hoped that I had made a new friend.

 
     
    Tight Places
     
    After school, I waited for Ruthie to do her flirty good-bye thing with Val before we took off. Isaac walked up to us flashing his commercial smile.
    “Hey, Ruthie,” said Isaac, “can you give Phoebe and me a lift to our mom’s shop?” His mom ran a jewelry counter inside a clothing store that was kind of on the way home for Ruthie.
    “Sure, but it’ll be tight because I’ve got Tru, too.”
    “No prob,” replied Isaac. “And here’s Phoebe, right on time.”
    Phoebe was looking angrily at Isaac, who just stared back. It was like they were having a silent conversation.
    Ruthie leaned over to me and whispered, “It’s a twin thing, I think. They do that all the time. Used to freak me out.”
    Whatever the problem was, they snapped out of it. We looked at them expectantly, but Isaac just smiled and herded us down the hall, saying, “Come on, ladies, let’s go!”
    As we got close to the car, Phoebe yelled, “Shotgun,” unenthusiastically.
    “Oh, come on! I don’t think Isaac is going to fit in the back of a mini by himself, let alone with me!” I snickered.
    Phoebe just raised an eyebrow. “You’d be surprised what he can do when motiva—” Isaac coughed awkwardly. “And since I’m taking the front, he has no choice,” she continued in a monotone voice.
    “Hmmm,” mused Ruthie, looking between the two.
    “What?” I said.
    “Later,” she promised.
    Well, this will be interesting , I thought. We dumped our backpacks in the trunk and Isaac proceeded to squeeze in the backseat—it was like Cirque du Soleil. I heard a chuckle in the distance and saw Zander walking toward a green truck and watching Isaac. Behind the wheel sat the man I thought I’d seen through our classroom window the first day of school. G.I. Joe guy. Guess I didn’t imagine him. Strange, though. He was glaring at Zander. What was up with him? He looked too young to be Zander’s father, maybe twenty-something. He didn’t look anything like him, so I doubted he was a sibling. He sure did not seem to appreciate the humor of our situation like Zander did.
    “Okay. You next, Tru,” said Isaac. I looked in and thought that my jeans alone would have trouble fitting in there. I didn’t know how I was going to manage all of me.
    “Uh...” I said doubtfully.
    “Come on, you can fit,” he urged, holding out his hand.
    I braced one hand on the doorframe and gave him my other. I landed in his lap.
    “Oh!” I gasped. I looked up at him and