I should have just nodded, but instead I said, "But you have friends. Or connections, or whatever. People like Maya. Like whoever found you this house."
Mom frowned slightly. "Those aren't my friends, Izzy, and they're not...civilians. They're people who are already wrapped up in this life. People who know about Prodigium and what we do. It's different."
"I understand that," I replied, but Mom just ducked her head to look into my eyes. "Do you? Do you really?"
I thought of Dex again, and the way it had been kind of...nice sitting with Romy in English class.
But I looked at Mom and said, "Absolutely. A job. Means to an end, all of that. On it."
Mom held my gaze for another beat before sighing. "Okay," she said at last. "Then let me grab my car keys and we'll get you to this game."
CHAPTER 14
The gym was brightly lit, and as I made my way down the hill from the parking lot, I could hear the banging of drums, the squeak of sneakers, and the occasional shout. Inside, it was even louder, and way more packed than I would have expected. Apparently sports are a really big thing around here.
Adam was waiting just inside the door, and I was relieved to see he was wearing more or less the same thing he'd had on at school today. That was one thing I'd gotten right at least. And from the look he gave my hair, I guess that had been right, too. "You look nice," he told me, waving his hand in my general direction.
"Thanks," I said, forcing myself not to shove my hair behind my ears again. "You, um, too."
On Everton and Leslie's first date, he'd taken her to this fancy restaurant that had ended up burning down by the end of the episode. But before that, the date had looked like fun. I didn't remember them standing around awkwardly, struggling for things to say.
Because that's a TV show, dummy, and this is real life, I reminded myself.
Finally, Adam nodded toward the inside of the gym. "I, uh, usually play in the pep band, but I took the night off. Drums."
"Oh," I said, unsure what else to say. "Drums are... loud."
Adam tilted his head to one side, like he couldn't decide if I was being funny or not. Then he just shrugged and said, "Yeah, they are. So do you like basket- ball?"
I peeked around him, watching as boys in satiny-looking outfits raced up and down the court. "I don't know. I've actually never seen a basketball game before."
Adam's eyes widened. "Whoa, seriously?" From the tone of his voice, you'd think I'd said I'd never, I don't know, been outside before. Breathed air. "Like, you've never been to one, or you've never even seen one on TV?"
"Both," I told him. "We never had a TV before, so..."
Now Adam didn't just look surprised, he looked kind of horrified. Maybe that's what made me sound so defensive when I jerked my head toward the court and said, "I've seen stuff like this."
Then I remembered that that had been a "party" this coven of dark witches had been throwing, and it hadn't been a ball they'd tossed between them, but a human head.
That little story didn't seem like one I should share with Adam.
He shook his head. "Okay. Well, then I'm glad I could introduce you to your first real basketball game. I mean, our team sucks, but still, right?" He smiled at me, but it didn't reach his eyes, and I knew I wasn't the only one disappointed by the way this "date" was going.
"We should go in," he said, turning toward the gym. I did the same, and promptly collided with a boy.
"Sorry!" I said, reaching up to steady him without thinking.
But since it was Ben McCrary, and I'd just put my hand directly on the shoulder I'd dislocated, he gave a hiss of pain.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I said again, holding my hands up. Ben just stared at me, pale and wide-eyed, and attempted to put as much space as possible between me and him.
"Just-just stay away from me," he sputtered before darting off.
Adam and I watched him go.
"I...um, I kind of dislocated his shoulder in P.E.," I said.
Adam was still staring after Ben. "Okay," he said slowly. "I heard that, but I thought it was just a rumor. I mean, no offense, but you're kind of tiny, and Ben McCrary is...not."
"I throw a mean dodgeball," was all I could think to say.
Turning back to me, Adam blinked a few times. "So you've never seen a basketball game, you didn't own a TV, and you can dislocate shoulders with dodgeballs?"
I didn't think any of that was meant to be a compliment, but I smiled anyway. "Yup."
Adam took that in. "I'm gonna grab us some Cokes," he finally said, nodding toward the concession booth. "If you want to go on in and grab a seat, I'll find you when I'm done."
"Great," I said, relieved for any suggestion that would put an end to us just standing there.
The game seemed to have just started, but the bleachers were already pretty full. I spotted a few empty spaces in the middle, and was just preparing to wade through the crowd when I glanced up and saw Romy, Anderson, and Dex sitting in the very top row.
They spotted me around the same time, and Romy waved, gesturing for me to come join them. I picked my way up to the very top of the bleachers, trying not to step on anyone's hand.
Once I was there, Anderson scooted closer to Romy, leaving a space between him and Dex. I squeezed into it, and if my hip bumped Dex's, so what? Everybody was practically sitting in each other's laps as it was.
"Look at you," Dex enthused, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Embracing school spirit, supporting school athletics."
"Yeah," I said, "I'm here-"
But before I could say anything about Adam, Romy leaned across Anderson and said, "It's actually awesome that you showed up. This is kind of an impromptu PMS meeting."
Dex rolled his eyes. "By which Romy means she tricked me and Anderson with the promise of manly things like sports only to foist her ghost-hunting agenda on us once we got here."
"I knew it was a PMS meeting," Anderson offered in his deep voice. "I hate sports."
Dex flung his hand out toward the court. "Well, I don't. I have a very vested interest in watching those dudes in blue beat the ever-loving crap out of the Mary Evans High Hedgehogs."