Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Don't own The Covenant!
There I was again tonight,
Forcing laughter, faking smiles...
Your eyes whispered have we met?
Crossed the room, your silhouette
Starts to make its way to me...
-Taylor Swift, "Enchanted"
She knew she was being distant, but she couldn't help it. Every one of her friends had come over trying to get her to join them, and even some people she'd never met had approached her, but Auden could not leave her seat by the bonfire. She was too consumed with her thoughts, with all the questions surrounding Ipswich, the Sons, this Chase character, and Spenser Academy itself.
She wondered what the spiders could possibly mean; she had never seen so many thousands—no, millions—of spiders in one place in her entire life. And then to just suddenly scurry off into thin air? It was just so...surreal. It didn't happen. It shouldn't have been possible. Then again, should visions of the future be possible?
Then there was Chase. Dark, dangerous, very very conceited to the point of great annoyance, yet...somewhat charming. No, no, not charming. But the way smiled then kissed her hand... Stop it. You're desperate. You don't know this guy, you're being stupid and suddenly boy crazy. You've never had a boyfriend, and don't start now. Don't stoop to the first guy who is sweet to you...She couldn't even really see his face it was so dark. Not that appearances matter...
She had to figure out what was up with this Chase guy and push away any other thoughts. Besides, hadn't she deluded herself into thinking she was developing feelings for Caleb earlier that day? Way to be a slut, Auden Rose Jacobson, she told herself. "Falling for" two guys in one day? Tsk, tsk. One of them you dropped the second you found out he has girlfriend, the other you've met once, and barely at that. So. Chase. Was in her vision about the spiders. The entire thing had come back to her, and she remembered how even in her vision he had been familiar. She considered the possibility that the vision was just covering every aspect, that she would remember Chase from the vision itself when it came true, but she didn't think that was it. She tried to think back to any other visions she'd had leading up to her trip to Spenser, and came up blank.
He could be dangerous. Maybe that was what the vision was trying to tell her. But then, she'd had a vision about the Sons, and they were all being nice to her and seemed perfectly normal and not at all dangerous. In fact, she'd sought them out herself. Normally there was more to the people in her visions, and maybe it was too early to tell, but she thought this time was different. Maybe her visions were just helping her make new friends. Even Chase.
Someone sat down beside her, cutting into her thoughts, and handed her a beer. She took it before looking up and seeing Tyler Simms's face in the light of the bonfire. She smiled at him and gestured with the beer by moving it. "Thanks." She stared down into the cup. She didn't really drink...
"Are you okay?" he asked. "You seem kind of... distant." This was the most she had heard out of Tyler since arriving at Spenser. Had it really just been that morning? So much had happened since then, enough to take up at least a week.
Distant. The word she had just used to describe herself.
"Yeah, I just...have a lot on my mind. First day and all."
"Yeah, Reid told me about your room," Tyler said with a frown.
Auden snorted. "The dorm is the least of my worries right now."
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked softly.
Auden looked at him. He was being nice; she'd underestimated him. She always just thought of him as a Reid wannabe, never took the time to stop comparing him to Reid and seeing if there was an actual person named Tyler inside him somewhere. She really did think Tyler could be a good close friend, and she wanted him as one if that were possible; he seemed like he would be more loyal and trustworthy than anyone she'd met at Spencer thus far—even if he was a follower. Or maybe she just didn't understand what he had with Reid yet—now that she was getting a glimpse of the real him. It was worth a shot. And at this point, she was just desperate for a confidant—no matter who it was, no matter if they were male or female—and a close friend.
She let out a choked laugh. "Doesn't matter." She pulled a chunk of grass out of the ground with her free hand—she still hadn't touched the beer—and threw it into the fire. "Whether I want to talk about it or not." She looked at him straight in the eyes. "I'd get locked up. I'm insane. Anyone I talked to would think so. That's why I'm at Spencer"—she looked away—"'cause I'm crazy. Next stop is the loony bin."
"You don't seem crazy," he said quietly.
Auden Rose laughed again. "Seem being the keyword," she mumbled. She looked at him again. "You wouldn't believe me anyway."
His clear blue eyes held a challenge as he said, "Try me."
She held his gaze for a moment longer before breaking it to look just past him where other cliques were seated—very close to them—around the bonfire whispering confidentially to each other.
"Come on," he said, standing up and reaching a hand down as if he had read her mind that there was no way she would talk here anyway.
She looked at his hand, contemplating, before finally taking it and letting him pull her up. She let him lead a her a ways, and they passed right by a clustered group that consisted of Pogue Parry, Caleb Danvers, Reid Garwin, Sarah Wenham, and Kate Tunney. "Was that...?" Kate said, halting the conversation.
Reid grinned. "Get it, Baby Boy!" he yelled.
Was Auden just imagining or did Tyler seriously just blush? She suppressed a grin. Then she realized she might have to make it very clear that she wanted nothing more than to be friends... All of the Sons were admittedly gorgeous, but she did not have those kinds of feelings for Tyler...
He stopped in front of a dark Hummer and opened the passenger's side door for her before walking over to the driver's side. When he saw her hesitation he said, "Hop in."
She slowly climbed in and closed the door. "Where are we going?" she asked finally.
"I figured you needed a break from all this," he said, nodding his head toward the party at the Dells. "We're going to Nicky's."
"Nicky's?" she questioned curiously, but he didn't reply as he started up the car. Auden gave up. "Won't they be wondering where their ride went?" she asked, assuming the boys had all ridden in Tyler's car since Kate had parked hers next to it. Sarah said Caleb had a Mustang, but she hadn't seen it here.
He just smiled. "They can live with it."
The entire ride was completely silent except from the radio that was only a low hum. As Tyler pulled into the parking lot of Nicky's, Auden saw that it was... "A bar?"
Tyler still didn't say anything, just parked the car. She sighed and waited a moment before getting out and following him in. She had to jog to catch up.
People were playing pool, fiddling with the jukebox, or at the bar itself. Tyler led her to a secluded corner booth, and they slid in across from each other. "You want anything?" he asked. She shook her head and he just shrugged.
She realized it was awkwardly silent and she looked up to find him waiting, looking at her expectantly. So it was only awkward for her. She didn't know how to get this out. She'd only ever told her family, and that had just gone so well...
Auden Rose cleared her throat. "Well...where to begin?"
"How about why you're at Spenser? Why the next step is 'the loony bin'?" he prodded.
She shook her head, thinking for a moment. Finally she thought of it. "Remember when I passed out earlier?" she asked.
He laughed. "How could I not?"
"Well...I never really told y'all why I passed out. I was seeing something," she ventured.
"Something like...?" Tyler pressed.
She sucked in a deep breath. "I was having a vision."
He just raised an eyebrow, waiting for further explanation.
"I've been having them ever since I can remember," she continued. "They always come true. Lately they've been pretty...dark. They haven't come true yet though."
"What happened?" he asked.
"I honestly don't remember. There's one about a girl being burned at the stake and then...I don't remember the rest." She shook her head, digging in her brain to find it but coming up blank.
"Wow," he said. "So the one you had today..."
"Wasn't important," Auden finished. For some reason she felt she should not talk about the spiders, about what had happened. "But, I did have one about you guys..." She smiled mysteriously.
"Oh, really? And what happened in that one?"
"Nothing really. Last night, before I came to Spenser, I dreamed about meeting y'all in front of the school on my first day. And, well, if you need proof that that one came true..."
He grinned. "So this makes you crazy?"
She turned somber. "My family thinks so. They thought sending me to Spenser would make it stop. It's only made them worse; before today I never had one while I was awake..."
"You know," Tyler mused, "I still don't think you're crazy. Believe me, I've seen way crazier stuff..."
"Like?" His turn to confess.
He just smiled. "Wouldn't you love to know."
"Okay, I just tell you about my insane ability to see the future and you just...leave me with that?" She shook her head. "I'm gonna go check out the jukebox." She was such a sucker for all things music.
The jukebox was now empty, and Auden Rose began to flip through it. "I Love Rock N' Roll" by Joan Jett was there, of course. She was looking, though, for any Beatles tune. Preferably "She Loves You" or "Eleanor Rigby", but any would do. Or maybe something country. She was suddenly in one of her country moods...
She felt someone staring her, felt eyes boring into her back, and she looked up. Only to find Chase sitting at the bar near the jukebox, watching her, never wavering.
So. I'm not going to, but say I were to put Auden Rose with one of the Sons. Who do you guys, my faithful readers, like her with best: Tyler or Reid? Or Caleb?
