ICE (The Benders Series) (7 page)

Kenna rolled her eyes once more. “You have to dance to at least one song. It doesn’t have to be a slow one, just any one,” she countered. “Or I’ll probably cry or something like that.”

“Maybe,” he half agreed as they walked towards where the music was coming from.

In a matter of moments, they had come to the snow week dance. Kenna was quickly swept away by Britney and a few other girls while Jon and several other guys stood casually around the food and the punch bowls. Kenna couldn’t help but smile to herself when she glanced down at the jacket that swallowed up her smaller frame. She liked being claimed, and quite frankly, Jon had been right about the gym being freezing. She was a little chilled despite the jacket and the constant movement that dancing provided.

Though it seemed like only minutes, an hour or two had passed swiftly, and Kenna could say that she had been genuinely enjoying herself. She’d mostly been dancing with Britney and the other girls while making occasional stops to check in on her date.

“So do the guys here just not dance?” she asked Britney as she glanced towards the crowd of party-poopers.

“Nope,” Britney laughed. “Bryce does. Jason and a couple others do. But mostly nope!”

And if one thing in her statement was right, it was that Bryce did dance. He’d been killing the dance floor, and every girl there wanted a piece of him.

“Do you think I’ll be able to get Jon out here for a song?” she asked.

“You can try,” Britney encouraged.

And as she said it, Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ began to sound throughout the gym.

“I’m gonna go get him,” Kenna said as she left her friend and found her way toward Jon.

He was shaking his head no by the time she got there. “C’mon,” she pleaded. “It’s a classic.”

“I don’t think I qualify,” Jon replied with a continuing head shake.

“You know you don’t,” came Bryce’s voice as he moonwalked past the pair. “But you have always been the weaker brother, huh?” he jeered as he left them and made his way toward the center of the gym where several girls formed a circle around him.

Jon’s head shake stopped at his brother’s challenge. “You know, I’d say you should put Bryce in his place, but I don’t think you could. The dude’s been destroying the dance floor all night,” Kenna commented, seeing the competitive glow growing in Jon’s eyes.

“We’ll just see about that,” he retorted quickly as he unfolded his arms and began a steady march to where his younger brother was mimicking a series of Michael’s signature dance moves.

And before anybody knew exactly what was happening, an intense and hilarious dance battle ensued between the two Colewells. Before the second verse even began, everyone at the dance had crowded around them, making it difficult for Kenna to even see the charade. From what she could make of it, Bryce would pull off a few moves then point back at his brother for a challenge. Jon, of course, never failed in his reply. To everyone’s surprise, Jon was twice the dancer that his younger brother was. If Bryce’s moonwalk was as smooth as velvet, then Jon’s was as smooth as silk. 

For someone who claimed to have no dancing ability, the boy certainly had moves. By the end of the song, he’d been hailed victor as every attendant cheered and clapped for his last set of skillful dance moves. In honesty, Kenna found herself a little jealous. Every girl there had their eyes locked on him, including Chelsea, her self-proclaimed nemesis.

As Kenna pushed past the crowd to retrieve her date, she noticed the wicked girl fraternizing with her man. Instead of confronting the situation, she stood back and watched the conversation unfold. She couldn’t tell what they were saying, and the conversation ended quickly as Jon scanned his surroundings to see Kenna waiting.

First, Jon turned around to make some comment to Bryce, but then made his way over to his impatiently waiting date. As he came up to her, a slow song came on. The boy immediately turned on his charm.

“Will you dance with me?” he asked as he stretched out his hand to take hers while an arrogant smirk splashed across his face.

“I don’t know if I qualify,” she defied sarcastically as she took his hand. This was the first time she’d held his hand, his actual hand. It was as icy as she expected. He then led her to the center of the gymnasium where several other couples were slow-dancing as well. “So what did Chelsea want?” Kenna asked, trying not to sound too concerned.

Jon placed his other hand on her waist and pulled her a little closer. “Apparently she wanted a reminder,” he smiled, “a reminder that there is only one girl that I want to dance with.” Kenna smiled with a touch of embarrassment at the response.

“Me, I suppose?” she laughed.

“No… my mother of course,” he retorted quickly as they both laughed.

“You really are an arrogant asshole,” Kenna laughed. “I really hate this song,” she added upon the cessation of their chuckles.

Jon nodded in agreement, “But I’m your asshole. And yea, it’s too sappy, even for me.”

Upon the shaking of his head, Kenna pulled out her phone from her back pocket, along with a pair of ear buds. “Pick one,” she ordered as she handed him the device along with one of the earphones. Scrolling through her music quickly, he seemed to find a song he recognized and hit the play button. “Not bad,” she complimented as the song came blasting into her left ear.

He smiled and pulled her even closer, so close that their bodies were pressed up against each other in a tight, mobile hug.

And suddenly he began to hum and sang lightly and lowly though he seemed to sigh in pain as he sang.

Kenna snuggled her head into his chest as both of his freezing hands gripped her waist tightly while hers clung around his neck in an effortless fit. She could hear an ache in the way he was singing and even feel one in his body language.

So, the girl sang along as the song progressed, hoping her not-so-great and almost strident singing voice might comfort her date.

And eventually they chimed in together. And in a matter of a few short verses of the Hedley song, they were both belting their voices. Many others gave them awkward stares, but they sang on until a tap came on Jon’s shoulder and interrupted their epic dance of destiny.

“Hey,” said Bryce, his demeanor seeming very agitated. “I gotta get outta here bro. I’m this close to punching Jason. This close!” He then held up his hand to show a tiny gap between his thumb and index finger.

Kenna and Jon parted at the explanation as Jon turned to face his fuming brother. “Okay, we’ll go,” Jon replied without hesitation. “Sorry,” he said turning back to Kenna. He then bent and kissed her lips ever so lightly, their second and impossibly more perfect kiss.

Though she ached to be disappointed with his leaving, she was in the state of pure bliss at the brushing of their lips. Kenna wished she could kiss him again, wished that they were alone and that she could act on the innocent and unadulterated gesture. Every bit of her soul wanted to linger in the faultlessness of that moment with him.

She blinked to release herself from the dream of their kiss. “I understand,” she said as she gave him a swift hug.

And just as abruptly as he showed up, her handsome boyfriend left. Just as she went to find Britney, she realized that Jon had left without his jacket. Kenna jogged toward where the pair had exited the gym, and just in time to hear the tail ends of a very interesting conversation.

“You okay?” It was a very calm and cool Bryce asking the question.

Jon answered in a very pained wince. “Yea but we’ve gotta move.”

She caught a glimpse of the pair from around the corner of the hall. Jon was leaning against his younger brother, almost unable to walk. She wanted to run to him, but something held her back, a something known as her need to eavesdrop.

“Why would you do that?” Bryce asked as the two began to slip out the large glass doors.

“I guess you just do crazy things when you feel this way about someone,” was his reply as they became officially out of earshot and disappeared into the blackness of the night.

Kenna couldn’t fathom that something could have happened in the thirty seconds between their dance and his exit. She recalled that his singing even seemed to cause him pain and wondered if something had happened before the dance. But then why wouldn’t he tell her? And why would he have shown up unexpectedly if he had been in some kind of accident?

He didn’t look or seem damaged when he killed the Michael Jackson song. Nor did his truck appear to have been in any sort of crash. SHE was causing him pain. He literally flinched every time they touched. His mouth seemed burned after their first kiss. And now when they danced, he seemed filled with physical discomfort. But none of it made sense. If there was one thing she learned, it was that trying to understand his quirks was impossible. But then again, what if they weren’t just quirks? What if there was something more, something supernatural, going on.

She shook her head. Maybe it was because of how much she liked him, but she couldn’t help but to once again bury the thoughts within her and deny that he could possibly be a vampire or any other crazy being.

No, she couldn’t really believe the impossible, could she?

Kenna’s smile faded as she recalled the snow week date. Somehow, as amazing as it was, it left an unsettling feeling within her. Even now, she never figured out why Jon had been in so much pain. She rationalized that he had come down with a sudden and severe case of appendicitis, even though he denied any ailment when she slipped a few questions by him after the encounter. Which meant that he was lying… about something. Kenna didn’t know what he was keeping from her and didn’t know how to go about pushing the matter.

He denied being a vampire, but there was still something different about him. But she couldn’t put her finger on it, or on him for that matter. Every time they touched, other than that dance, he managed to come up with an excuse to end the contact. Was she really to believe that he was a germaphobe to that extreme? She just didn’t buy it. And the thoughts of him being deceptive were beginning to overwhelm her. She wanted to let it go, but she couldn’t.

Kenna knew that she’d need to get to the bottom of things. And soon.

With that in mind, the girl finally fell into a comfortable position and into a deep sleep.

CHAPTER SIX

Balto.

It seemed a pastime to name one’s vehicle in these parts, so Kenna decided to name Jon’s truck.

When she saw his vehicle rolling up to her driveway, she couldn’t help but be filled with excitement and anxiety. Every date with him was spontaneous and different. And despite her doubts, she couldn’t help but be happy and enthusiastic when she thought about coming to a seat in his impeccably pathetic truck.

With that in mind, Kenna raced out the door and tore down the front steps as if she was trying to outrun the arctic air itself. Last time she’d checked, it was negative three degrees outside, and that didn’t include the wind-chill. Such a temperature made it the third coldest day of the year, and likewise the third coldest day that Kenna had to endure in her seventeen years of life.

As she sprinted across the yard, she noticed the smoky air that escaped her as she breathed. Seeing her breath condense right before her very eyes had become one of her favorite parts of the winter. Everything about the shifting phases of water was becoming more and more intriguing as her time in Minnesota passed.

She would have loved to take a moment to take deep and long breaths, but alas, negative three degrees was too cold even for her inquisitiveness. Without another thought, the excited girl flung open the passenger door and hopped right into her customarily cold seat. She reached behind her and grabbed the tattered blanket that sat waiting for her. “Good afternoon, Balto,” she said with a giggle as she patted the arm rest after making herself cozy. “And where will you be taking us today?”

Kenna hadn’t noticed yet, but her boyfriend was hardly in the mood for her silly talk. In fact, he hadn’t even spoken since she took a cheerful seat next to him.

“We should go bowling or something. It’s so stinking cold out today,” Kenna started as her chauffer began to pull away.

“No,” he cut her off. “No bowling.”

Kenna immediately knew that something was wrong by the tone of his voice and by his agitated body language.

“What’s up? Did I say something?” she interrogated quickly.

“No, I just don’t want to go bowling,” Jon defended, his head resting on a closed fist propped up by an elbow that rested on his window while the other hand tightly gripped the steering wheel.

She nodded, “Well how about a movie or even…”

“No, I don’t want to see a movie,” he shot again. “This is just stupid. I’m taking you home.”

“No, what’s the deal, Jon? What’s wrong?” she interrogated again, feeling as though he actually wanted to talk about it despite his words. After all, why else would he have come if he didn’t want to spend some kind of time with her?

“Nothing, I’m just not in the mood today,” he said protectively.

“Just a walk in the park then?” Kenna begged, trying to buy more time. She hated the idea of being out in the cold. At least the truck gave her some shelter from the wind. “I don’t see you that often,” she pouted as she took on a face of solemnity. As much as she loathed the idea of a walk, she more detested the idea of going home without having had a serious date.

He sighed in frustration, though she could see that he liked being wanted. “Fine, a quick hike.”

“Perfect,” she smiled with over-exuberance, trying to cast out the shadows of the beginning of the date.

But all was not perfect. Kenna tried to carry out a normal conversation as they began their stroll upon the heavily forested hiking trail, but he wouldn’t budge.

“So you don’t like bowling then? I thought sports were your thing?” she asked fakely as she stepped over a large branch. Judging by the lack of footprints in the snow, it was clear that people didn’t hike these trails in the winter. And Kenna didn’t blame them. Clad in a coat, hat, gloves, and boots, Kenna still felt the sting of that air as it nipped at every inch of her exposed skin- and then some. The bitter air managed to squeeze between the fabrics of her pants and bite every bit of her legs, making them stiffen as she walked.

“I like to bowl. I just don’t want to today,” he answered crossly without proposing a question about her day or anything else for that matter. He also managed to kick several fallen sticks with an obviously growing frustration. Despite the denseness of the trees, the wind managed to weave in and out of branches so that Kenna could feel its power against her reddened cheeks. She could feel her face growing number with every passing second. Even the snot in her nose had become lifeless and frozen solid at this point.

She took a deep, stinging breath as she decided to take the plunge. “You know you can tell me what’s bothering you. I can take it,” Kenna offered as she came to a halt near a small clearing in the woods.

“Nothing is bothering me!” he snapped. He shot his head down and let out a loud growl.

“What is the deal?!” she hollered back at him.

“You are the deal! Stupid! It’s none of your business what’s bothering me!” Jon practically screamed back in her face, his glowing eyes seeming suddenly very threatening.

“Sorry, but if you want to talk…”

“I don’t want to talk!” he hollered again as he began to throw his fists at a nearby tree.

“Jon…” Kenna whispered in an attempt to sooth the clearly distraught boy.

“Stay here,” Jon warned pointing to a log as he marched into the depths of the woods.

“Jon stop,” Kenna called after him, but her words had no effect. “Jon, stop right now!”

Again her words bounced off him like a rubber ball on concrete. She marched after him for a moment, but when she did, he turned around and gave her the most chilling stare she’d ever seen. All the veins in his eyes had gone white. His once blue eyes took on the appearance of hostile white orbs. Even his pupils seemed to be changing color as he swiftly turned his head away from her.

Kenna, of course, had stopped dead in her tracks at the observation. Although she longed to go after him, she found herself immobile and resentfully obeying her boyfriend’s request. In a matter of a few short seconds, he had disappeared into the ice forest, not even a sound of his presence lingering where she stood in the clearing.

The girl sighed deeply as she decided to take a seat on the log Jon had pointed out. Despite her distaste for the cold, she knew she had to wait for him.

And wait. And continue to wait.

Kenna felt like she had been sitting there for an hour. Her butt had gone numb to the point of pain from sitting on the cold, decrepit log, and she was beginning to wonder if she’d be able to stand again.

Fortunately, there was enough on her mind to distract her from the increasing throbbing in her now-tingling legs.  In all her days spent with Jon, she’d never seen him like that. He’d always been cool, calm, and collected. But this afternoon, he seemed to have morphed into some kind of raging and uncontrollable animal. Though normally she’d have gone after him, the look in his eyes was warning enough to stay away. Far away.

Kenna took a deep breath to distract herself. As she took the inhale, the icy air choked her throat, burning the lining as it went down, forcing her into a bout of dry coughing. And with each cough came a spell of white air that disappeared into the forest just as Jon had.

And what could make him disappear? As Kenna pondered what type of incident could have possibly triggered such a rage, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps crunching their way toward her. And within a minute or two, Jon emerged from behind the band of trees that he had escaped into an hour earlier. His eyes were on the ground, and he drooped as he came closer.

At first, Kenna didn’t say anything, but stood quickly despite the aching in her heinie. In honesty, her instincts didn’t know whether she should run towards him with open arms or run from him with frightful speed. Once she could see that he was calm, she opened her mouth and offered a short, “Are you okay?”

The disheveled boy looked up at her with bloodshot eyes. If they had been white with anger before, now they were red with fatigue.  “I’ll be fine,” he lied as he reached out and apologetically touched her arm. “Sorry,” he continued. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Kenna shook her head. “No, it’s fine,” she replied. “Do you want to talk? Dare I even ask that question again?”

The Colewell took an exhausted seat on the frozen log and collapsed his head in his hands. “You’ve always been right,” he admitted. “There is something different about me.”

Kenna felt a bulge begin to build in her throat for the umpteenth time since moving to Minnesota. Could he really be admitting that he was a vampire or a paranormal figure of sorts? Was this really it? Was she about to learn all the answers to the questions she’d buried within her when she began dating the boy? She swallowed hard though every hair on her body began to stand on end with anxiety.

Kenna took a slow seat next to him. “What do you mean?” she asked sympathetically, not wanting to sound too interrogative.  She could hear him begin to choke up a little and rested her hand on his shoulder.

“Do you know what today is?” Jon choked, still avoiding eye contact with the girl.

She nodded. “The seventh?”

He sniffled a little. “March 7
th
. The day my dad died ten years ago,” he acknowledged as he lifted his head from his hands to reveal several tears streaming down his chiseled cheeks.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Kenna replied unable to find any other words to address the matter. “I had no idea.”

“Only he wasn’t my real dad,” Jon said turning his eyes to her. “My brothers are only my half-brothers. He was their dad.” Kenna didn’t know how to respond to the statement but felt her sympathetic expression shifting into one of confusion. “My mom was raped,” Jon continued with each word providing more clarity. “I don’t even know who my dad is.”

Once again Kenna had no idea what to say or do. Comforting people had never really been her forte after all. “Did you just find out?” she asked, hoping that talking about the problem might at least relieve some of his stress.

He shook his head. “No,” he said as he looked off in the distance. “I’ve known for a long time, since before she told me several years ago.”

Kenna nodded, “And the guy got away with it?” She realized after asking that it wasn’t an appropriate question, at least not for this moment.

“Yea, my mom let him,” Jon answered with anger returning to his sullen disposition. “She let him.”

“Jon it wasn’t your mom’s fault that she was raped,” Kenna correct quickly.

“That’s not what I’m saying,” he interrupted. “I’m saying that she knows who he is, she just didn’t prosecute him, won’t prosecute him, or even tell me who he is. Apparently he is too powerful, and she wouldn’t want to smear his image.” Jon picked up a small twig and snapped it in half as he spoke. “And my fake dad just let it go too. He at least pretended to love me like the others I guess.”

Kenna felt a few tears begin to well in her eyes. She didn’t know how to tackle such an emotional affair such as this. “Jon, you know your parents love you,” she said as she rubbed his shoulder. “They love you just the same as your brothers.”

“You don’t get it!” he yelled. “You don’t understand what it’s like to grow up feeling like a mistake. This whole world thinks I should have been frickin’ aborted! Do you even know what abortion is?!”

“None of my business?” Kenna said hesitantly, quoting the typical feminist viewpoint.

He laughed sardonically at her answer. “And by that logic, what Hitler was doing to the Jews was nobody’s business. But I suppose business is right. It’s the business of tearing babies apart limb from limb in their mother’s womb. Or poisoning them. Do you know how sick this world is for trying to make something like that okay?  But I guess no one wants unwanted children, unwanted children like me…”

Kenna was a little taken aback by his strong opinion but supposed he was kind of right. “I’m sorry,” she sympathized. “But trust me, I know what it’s like to feel unwanted.” His eyes were question enough so she quickly clarified. “That’s why I live with my dad. Down in Florida, it was… bad. My mom got remarried and had a perfect little family, except for me. I was loud, rebellious, and politically incorrect. Honestly, my dad is the only person in my family that likes me. None of my grandparents do, not one. I had a cousin down South who would invite me to parties so that I could get wasted but that’s as close to a friend as I had in my family. Or outside my family for that matter. No one had ever legitimately liked or wanted me.”

“I want you,” he corrected quickly.

She smiled though a tear dripped down her chilled cheek. “I know. Things have been good here… for once in my life. I have you and Britney and my dad. I’m actually happy. I’ve realized that maybe the sucky times have been worth it, that even people like me have a purpose after all.”

He sighed and put his arm around her, then pulled her close. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Kenna shook her head as she smothered it into his cold chest. “You are allowed to have feelings,” she said. “I’m glad you could talk to me.”

He held her for another moment then released her from his grasp. “Actually, you are the only person that I’ve ever told about all this,” he confessed. “Everything is just so different with you,” he explained. “In a good way of course.”

Her eyes smiled. “Same,” she agreed.