Thomas looked out the car window as he and Sarah sat there in the rest area parking lot. It was four o'clock, and they were waiting for Erin and Melody. "So I finally get to meet this friend Erin that you're always talking about when you're not talking about Leah," Sarah smiled.
Thomas gave his younger sister a tolerant glance. "I think you'll like Erin," he told her.
"Do you like her?" she asked.
"That is none of your business," he replied, with more emotion than he realized he felt. "I just broke up with Leah last night and already you're asking such questions?"
"Yes," she replied. "I think Erin must be the reason you broke up with Leah."
Thomas did not answer. In a way, Sarah was right. If he had not been worrying about Erin and the Shadow, Leah never would have found out that he did not trust her with his secret. And there was something more, as well, a feeling that he could not name. It was really weird.
A minivan pulled up next to their car, and Erin got out of the passenger's side. She came to the car as Thomas rolled the window down. "Ready to go?" she asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "Erin, I'd like you to meet my sister Sarah. She's going to be a freshman this year."
"Hi," Sarah said shyly.
"Nice to meet you," Erin replied. She smiled at Thomas, and he felt that nameless emotion appear again. "Let's get on the road." She produced a set of two-way radios, and handed one to Thomas. "This is so we can stay together," she told him.
"All right. We'll keep in touch, then," he told her.
She smiled again, then went back to get in her car. Five seconds later, the radio crackled to life. "Are you leading, or are we?"
"You can," he replied.
"All right. Let's go." The minivan pulled out of the parking lot and onto the on-ramp. Thomas followed, wondering what was going on inside his head that he wasn't allowed to know about.
* * *
Erin looked back at the car following them. "How's everything on your end?" she asked Thomas via radio.
"Just fine. I think we're going to need to stop at this rest stop up here for a potty break, though."
"All right, sounds good," Erin said, looking over at Melody. Melody nodded. "We'll meet you there."
"All right. See you in a few minutes." Thomas fell silent.
Erin turned to Melody. "How are you doing, sis?"
"Fine," Melody said. "If you and Sarah want to trade cars so you and Thomas can talk about Shadowfighter business, I would not mind at all."
"That's very generous of you," Erin said. There was much she needed to discuss with Thomas about last night's feeling, especially since she thought she had figured out the cause.
At the rest stop, Erin presented Melody's suggestion to Thomas. "Do you mind riding with Melody?" Thomas asked Sarah.
"Why? So you can be alone?" Sarah replied with a grin.
Erin found herself blushing, and she realized that Thomas was also turning slightly red. "There's some things about work that we need to discuss," he told her.
"I don't mind at all," Sarah replied. "Have fun!" She went and got in the passenger's side of the minivan.
"Have fun, Melody," Erin said, handing her radio to her older sister. Thomas already had the other one.
Thomas and Erin got into Thomas' car, and followed Melody and Sarah in the other car out onto the freeway. "What time will we be there?" Erin asked.
"About ten tonight, if there's not a freak storm. We can stop for dinner soon, too." He was quiet for a few moments, then he spoke again. "So what did you need to talk to me about?"
"I think that the Shadow has some ideas in mind for Melody. She met a guy named Jimmy Drexel last night at the all-nighter. Something about even his name just doesn't hit me right. It's possible that it's nothing more than an attraction between them, even a potentially dangerous one. But if there's one thing I've learned about the Shadow, it's that they choose very carefully those with whom they associate."
Thomas nodded in agreement. "That is for sure. If a Shadow is associating with Melody, there is more than likely a reason."
"What do you think they could want with her?"
"I don't know."
Erin had a feeling that that was not exactly the truth, but she did not press the issue. "I guess we'll find out soon enough," she said.
"I guess so," he agreed. There was another period of silence. Erin felt uncomfortable. After last night, she did not know what to make of Thomas at all. They had become uneasy friends in the past few months, brought together by their cause and their mutual friends. But after last night, she had to wonder if maybe some of her hidden feelings were returned. "Anyway," he continued after about five minutes. "I bet you're confused by that question I asked you last night. I guess I made things awkward between us by asking that."
"Well, I was wondering what the purpose of it was," she admitted.
"Well, I was thinking about Leah, and how there was nothing real between us. We were in that relationship because we both felt attraction to each other, we were both lonely. I could not trust her with my secret, though. I could not trust her with my life."
Erin just let him talk, knowing that he would get to the point soon enough.
"Anyway, I was wondering what she had seen in me in the first place, and what I could change to maybe attract someone I could trust."
Erin wondered how he could be so blind. She was right here, under his nose!
"I figured that since you don't like me much as a friend, you would be the perfect person to ask about what I could change."
Erin felt mixed emotions. He was looking to attract someone he could trust, and she was right here, but he thought that she hated him! What an incredible dilemma!
"Thomas, whatever gave you the idea that I don't like you?"
"I don't know. You're always kind of distant when I'm around, and you act like you're trying to avoid me sometimes. Then there's the times during training when you get mad at me."
"I haven't been mad at you since you walked in on my water exercise my first day. And that was because you almost saw something I didn't want you to. As for the distant part, well, I lost my parents less than a year ago because of a decision I made. Of course, I'm going to be distant. I'm guessing that's why you're so cold as well."
She saw him jerk up in his seat. So she had hit the nail on the head. That was why he was the way he was. That was why he was so cold and distant. She felt a surge of exhilaration at being right.
"Anyway," she continued. "I do like you, Thomas. You and I could be great friends if we would stop thinking we don't like each other. Because sometimes I get the feeling that you don't like me much, either."
