Chapter 12 #2
With a nod, I picked up my rental and joined him at the line. I tried to copy the stance he’d demonstrated for me, putting my left foot forward and making sure my shoulders were aligned with the rest of my body. “Like this?” I asked.
“Almost.” Xander pointed at my right leg. “Move that foot back a few inches. Your feet are too close together.”
“Now what?”
“Draw back. Remember you don’t need to have a death grip on the bow. Let your fingers relax.”
I followed his instructions and pulled the string back until my index finger reached the corner of my mouth. Xander moved so he was standing directly behind me, and my pulse jumped when his hand brushed against my hip before reaching up and adjusting my arm.
“Elbow up.” He spoke softly in my ear. “You want it parallel with the ground.”
The feel of his body against mine made it hard to focus. I sucked in a deep breath and stared at the bull’s-eye with all the concentration I could muster, attempting to appear unaffected by his presence.
“Perfect,” he whispered, and the word sent shivers down my spine. “I think you’re ready for an arrow.”
* * *
“I think,” I said, throwing open Stone Creek’s front doors and striding out into the night, “that I’ve found my true calling.”
It was a little over an hour later, and we’d just returned my rental equipment to Carol and said our goodbyes.
A crisp breeze urged us toward the sidewalk, mussing Xander’s wig in the process.
He shoved the platinum hair away from his eyes with a grunt of irritation before cutting me a look.
“You’re a prodigy violinist and kick-ass makeup artist,” he said as we headed for our cars.
“I highly doubt you were born to be a professional archer.”
“Whatever. You’re just jealous of my mad skills,” I replied. In reality, I wasn’t a very good shot, but by the end of our lesson, I was able to hit the target more times than not. Once, I’d even struck the outer ring of the bull’s-eye.
Xander snorted. “Sure, that’s definitely it.”
We came to a stop at a busy intersection, and as we waited for the light to change, I glanced over at him. “Hey,” I said, in a tone more sincere than before. “Thanks for taking me. I had a blast.”
“Yeah?” he responded, his brows popping up in question.
I nodded. “To tell you the truth, I was a bit freaked out when I realized you were taking me shooting.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want to embarrass myself,” I admitted, “but once we were on the range, I stopped caring about how bad I might be. It was a lot of fun. I get why you enjoy it so much.”
The traffic signal switched from green to yellow, and a bus barreled past us in an effort to make the light.
Xander watched it disappear down the street, a contemplative look in his eyes, before turning back to me.
“Would you maybe want to come with me again?” he asked, his words spilling out in a rush.
“It won’t be anytime soon because of the tour, but I might be able to—”
I cut him off before his ramble could pick up speed. “I’d absolutely love that.”
“Really?” He seemed genuinely surprised.
“Really, really,” I told him as the light finally turned red. On the other side of the street, the pedestrian signal flipped from Don’t Walk to Walk.
“All right, cool.” Xander looked both ways before stepping out into the crosswalk. Tossing a smirk over his shoulder at me, he added, “Just so you know, you’ll regret telling me that.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yup. From now on, whenever I want to practice, I’m dragging you along with me.” There was a gleam in his eyes as he said this, like he found the prospect of whisking me away thrilling. “I won’t take no for an answer.”
My heart thumped against my chest, but I ignored it. “We’ll see about that,” I said, faking a scoff, but the truth was that Xander didn’t have to drag me anywhere—I’d happily go wherever he wanted to take me.
When we reached the McDonald’s we’d left our cars at, I gave him Lizzie’s address in case we got separated in traffic.
The driveway was packed by the time we arrived at the party, so I pulled over on the side of the road and parked in the gravel, making sure to leave enough room for Xander to park behind me.
As soon as I killed the engine, the steady thump of music from the party filled the silence left by the radio.
After checking my makeup in the mirror and grabbing my backpack from the passenger seat, I climbed out.
Xander was already standing on the pavement, staring over at the front porch, which was lined with flickering jack-o’-lanterns.
A group of football players were congregated on the steps, red Solo cups in hand, rating costumes as classmates trickled into the party.
I rolled my eyes when a girl in a sexy Hermione Granger costume earned ten points for Gryffindor.
“Big turnout,” Xander said, twirling his key chain around a finger.
“Yeah, Lizzie always invites the whole school,” I replied, and as if to prove my point, a minivan screeched to a stop on the other side of the road, nearly hitting the curb in the process.
The back doors flew open, and a group of girls dressed as characters from The Wizard of Oz piled out.
One of them shouted a thanks to the driver, and then they made their way up the front lawn without a backward glance.
I jerked my head after them. “Shall we?”
Xander nodded and adjusted the cloak around his shoulders. He was quiet as we crossed the street, and when I looked over at him, I could tell he was deep in thought about something. Just as I was about to ask him what, he spoke. “Hey, what’s the name of your high school?”
“Laguna Beach. Why?”
“I’m working on crafting my cover story,” he said, and there was a hint of mischief in his voice.
“This is what I have so far: I’m a transfer student named Alex who grew up in San Diego and am royally pissed at my dad for getting a new job and making me move.
Also, I play cello and am thinking about joining orchestra, which is how I met you. ”
“Okay… Why Alex?”
“Because,” he said, grinning like he’d just told a particularly clever joke, “it’s what my family calls me.”
“Wait.” I stopped walking to gape at him. “Seriously?”
His mouth quirked at the edges, and I got the feeling he was happy this information caught me off guard. “Yeah, my full name is Alexander.”
Wow, how had I not known this? Obviously, we were still getting to know each other, and there was so much about Xander that was a mystery to me, but not knowing his real name? The name the people closest to him called him? It felt wrong somehow.
“When did you start going by Xander?” I asked and started walking again.
“When we signed our first record deal with Mongo,” he replied. “Management thought Alec and Alex sounded too close, so I took one for the team.”
My head spun, almost as if it were trying to recalibrate after receiving this new, unexpected detail about Xander. “And that didn’t bother you?”
He shrugged, skirting around a cluster of fake headstones stuck in the grass.
“Not really. It was actually harder for Oliver and JJ to get used to since we’ve known each other for so long.
For the first year or so, they kept slipping up, and now there’s this hilarious fan theory that there’s an invisible fifth member of the band called Alex. ”
“It’s funny, my sister had a similar experience.”
“There’s a fan theory about an invisible Immortal Nights cast member?”
I made a face at him but otherwise ignored his smart-ass comment. “No, the name thing,” I clarified. “The show’s producers thought our last name was too hard to pronounce, so Violet took James as her stage name.”
At this, Xander jerked his head back. “I didn’t realize that. What is your last name?”
“Mitchell-Jamiolkowski,” I said, happy I’d managed to surprise him as well.
We’d reached the front porch, but instead of heading up, Xander stopped at the base of the steps and looked at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling in amusement. “Yeah, that’s definitely a mouthful. Kind of sounds like Mike Wazowski. You know, the green monster from—”
“Hey, Xander?” I said, my tone sickly sweet.
“Yeah?”
“If you plan on living to the ripe old age of ninety-five, you shouldn’t finish that sentence.
” I wasn’t actually mad at him, but it was fun pretending to be.
He must have realized this though, because he let out a soft laugh.
“Also,” I added, not giving him the chance to respond, “I hope you realize that cover story or not, someone is totally going to recognize you.”
“You’re probably right,” he said with another shrug, “but while it lasts, I’m going to enjoy every second of posing as Alex No Last Name, the cello-playing senior.”
“Hey, Indie,” one of the football players called.
Glancing up, I spotted Jacob Hernandez, Sofia’s cousin. He grinned, tipping a gold-trimmed bicorne hat at me, and I broke out into a smile when I realized the tallest guy at our school was dressed as Napoleon Bonaparte.
“Hi, Jake,” I replied as Xander and I scaled the stairs. “My ride or die here yet?”
“Yeah, she came with me and Ronnie. They headed straight for the kitchen as soon as we got here. Said something about drinking their weight in margaritas.”
“Whose brilliant idea was that?” I asked, because Sofia was terrible at holding her liquor. Two beers was more than enough to knock her on her petite ass.
He scowled to himself. “My sister’s. We played rock paper scissors to see who’s DD tonight. I lost, so she’s celebrating.”
“Tough break,” I said with a laugh as I pushed open the front door. “Have fun conquering Europe and such.”