Jamie McGuire - Providence

His body stiffened and I turned to follow his glare to the bar. One of the older men still loitering in the pub had approached Claire.

The man reached for Claire and Jared’s grip on me tightened, stepping just slightly in front of me in a protective stance.

The man leaned over and patted Claire on the back. He laughed loudly and attempted to whisper into her ear. Claire was staring ahead, her body rigid; seeing just half of her expression it was obvious that she was about to lose her temper. The man lost his balance and used Claire to right himself.

“Claire—,” Jared warned, but it was too late.

In the same second, she knocked the man’s legs out from under him with incredible speed and then stood up on the rung of her bar stool, slamming his head, cheek down, to the bar. The wood made a cracking noise with the force of her blow, and the man wailed in pain. He flailed his arms, reaching above him for Claire’s face, but she quickly reached around with her other hand and grabbed his fingers, wrenching them back. The bones in his fingers snapped and I recoiled, even though I still hadn’t quite processed what was going on. The man’s blood-curdling scream sent the bartender running over to try to separate them.

Claire leaned down and yelled over the music into his ear. “Was that good for you, Baby?” and then slowly licked his cheek. Claire released her grip, and he slithered down to the floor. The entire room seemed frozen in time.

Jared heaved an exasperated sigh. He looked at me with a tired ache in his eyes, and then let me go. He walked over to Claire, grabbed her arm and then ushered her out.

“She broke my damn fingers!” the man howled, cradling his arm to his chest.

Several of the older patrons rushed to his side and helped him up while he moaned in pain. Beth grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the pub. The cab waited for us outside in a cloud of exhaust.

I looked around, but Jared had disappeared.

Beth tugged at my coat frantically. “Get in, Nina, before the cops get here!”

I ducked into the cab and my ears were filled with shrieking and chattering in high tones. I wasn’t listening to any of it; I was too confused about what I had seen. Jared wasn’t surprised at all that his teenaged-sister had broken the hand of a full grown man as if he was made of glass.

I went over it in my head; the memory seemed more like a kung fu movie than something that had unfolded in front of my eyes. Tiny, delicate Claire seemed to have superhuman strength and speed, and Jared’s reaction didn’t make sense. He didn’t act to protect her, and yet he seemed to know that carnage was on the horizon; he even shielded me from it.

“Nina! Are you listening to me? Wasn’t that incredible? The way she just—,” Beth set in motion with a series of karate chops and then jerked her hand forward in the same motion Claire used to slam the man’s head into the bar, grunting with each move. Beth giggled with delight while I shuddered at the recollection.

“I’d hate to meet her on a dark playground, I’ll tell you that,” Kim joked.

Ryan shook his head. “She’s all of ninety-five pounds and when she grabbed my hand, I couldn’t break free. What is she? Sixteen? Seventeen? She isn’t normal.”

“She has to be in high school, still,” Beth said.

“She’s old enough to drive, though. Did you see her car?” Kim added.

I perked up, then. “You saw them leave?”

Beth nodded. “She took off down the street in some kind of sports car; Jared was with her. They looked like they were arguing.”

“It was a Lotus,” Kim said.

“It was a phantom black Lotus Exige S two-sixty. Nice, nice car,” Ryan mused. “It costs over twelve-grand just for the paint.”

“Doesn’t Josh’s dad have one?” Kim asked, elbowing Ryan.

Ryan shook his head with raised eyebrows.

Kim looked at me. “It’s a good thing she wasn’t his date, Nigh. That would have been one short catfight.”

“Hey,” Beth prodded. Her giggling had tapered off. “What’s wrong? You’ll see him again, I’m sure of it. You should have seen the way he looked at you when you were dancing together.”

I couldn’t help but notice Ryan frown at Beth’s words.

My attention was drawn to the passing lights outside my window. Seeing him again was exactly what I wanted, but my sense of self-preservation cried foul. The entire situation was one big red flag, but did I believe Jared was dangerous?

Something about Jared’s eyes assured me that in the short time I’d known him, he was safe. Every piece of me that had been guided by my father to be reasonable and wary was screaming run, but I knew I would intentionally try to cross paths with him at the earliest moment fate allowed. The moment of sadness in his eyes before he left me played out over and over in my head. I had to see him again.

The next study group session, Ryan collapsed in the chair beside me. He teetered his pencil between his fingers while I went over my notes.

“Nina?” Ryan whispered.

“Yes?”

“Who was that guy the other night?”

I feigned a confused expression. “What guy?”

He smirked at me. “You know who I’m talking about. That Jared guy. Are you dating him?”

I shrugged. “No, not really.”

“What does that mean?”

I kept my eyes on my paper. “I’ve gone to lunch with him once, he’s given me a ride home a few times, and I’ve see him around town…,” I was purposefully vague. I didn’t know where the conversation was headed.

“So what was that, at the pub? Why did he show up with his sister to tell you he wasn’t there with her?”

“I haven’t talked to him to get that figured out, yet.”

“But you’re going to talk to him?” His voice was growing impatient with my answers.

“I don’t know, Ryan. Why?” I said, unable to conceal my irritation with his line of questioning.

Ryan squirmed in his seat and then turned to face me. “I wanted to ask you…if…you know… if you wanted to grab dinner sometime.”

“Oh,” I rubbed my forehead, “I’ve got a lot on my plate right now.”

Ryan nodded indifferently. “I just thought I’d ask. I didn’t know if you and that guy were….”

“It’s not about Jared,” I lied.

“Do you think he came there to check up on you?”

I contemplated that for a moment. “I don’t know, maybe. I’ve been running into him a lot, lately.”

“That’s pretty creepy.”

“I like to think of it as fate stepping in,” I mused.

Ryan’s face twisted to petulance. “Sounds like stalking to me.”

“You should talk, trying to fight over a girl you barely know.”

“He had his hands on you,” he grumbled.

“Thank you,” I smiled, nudging him.

“You’re welcome. You know that guy’s got to be bad news, right?”

“I don’t believe that.” Ryan scowled at my words, but I shrugged off his skepticism. “I can’t explain it. There’s something in his eyes.”

Ryan shook his head in disapproval. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. His little sister is insane.”

“I’m with you on that one.”

We both laughed and then Ryan shrugged. “Maybe once you get things all sorted out with your stalker, you’ll reconsider.”

“He’s not a stalker.”

“MmmHmm,” he said, trying to appear interested in his algebra book.

Beth began gathering her plethora of organizational aides and Kim stood up and stretched. The rest of the group disbanded as Kim, Beth, Ryan and I walked out of the library together.

“I’m starving,” Kim said.

“I could eat,” Beth chimed in.

Ryan turned to me. “Is an after study snack out of the question?”

They all eyed me expectantly. “Let’s eat,” I shrugged.