Page 20 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
Lickingher suddenly dry lips, Sana shifted in her seat. "No, not really,"she lied weakly. Because in that exact moment, she realized shehadbeenhiding from Zach.
"Sana,"he growled her name so low, letting the sweet summer breeze that blew bycarrying the warning tone to her.
Nowher pulse was beating so fast Sana could hardly sit still in her seat. Lookinglongingly at the boys running across the wide green lawn near the foresttree-line, she longed to simply get up and run away from this spot. Away fromher mother's no-doubt watchful eye from wherever she was in the house and, moreimportantly, run away from the boy with the sharp teeth. Sitting upright in theswing, she could see Zach clearly to her right, but she couldn't bring herselfto look at him directly. Grabbing another piece of machine he had laid out onthe drop cloth, he began screwing it into the unit, but she could feel his gazeon her—waiting.
"I…Ihad to spend time with my family," she explained, keeping her voice softenough that her mother wouldn't overhear and her head pointed to the yardahead. "I'm my brother's only playmate." She could only pray he wouldbelieve the pitiful half-truth.
"Mmm,"he replied, leaving her to wonder what he was thinking before he eventuallyspoke again. "Thankfully, I have a solution for that."
Beforeshe could ask him what he meant by that, Sana heard the floorboard to the porchcreak as he stood up. Grabbing the unit, he hefted it into his arms with easeand carried it through the doorway. "I'm done, Mrs. Bhatt."
Thatday, he left without another word to her, but she knew without a shred of doubtthat Zach would find a way to breach the safety of her self-imposed fortressand drag her back to him. What she did not count on was just how effortless andsimple his plan of attack was. Each day after, he showed up to her house withElijah and sometimes a few others in tow, all around her brother’s age. The slytactic was genius, the instant excitement that beamed from her brother's faceradiated off of him. Her mother, who was already guilty of spoiling heryoungest child, couldn't deny him the opportunity of a day filled with fun andnew playmates, no matter how suspicious she was of Zach. For the first twodays, Sana could only watch as the silent battle between her mother and Zachwaged on. As the children would play, Zach would work on a random project fromaround the house her grandfather had been putting off, whether it be fixing ahinge on a door, replacing a leaking pipe, or even changing the oil in hergrandmother's sedan. And when he finished working on a project, Zach would goout to play with the younger boys, usually teaming against both of them at agame of soccer. At no point did Zach even look Sana's way, much less speak toher. And while each day of indifference passed, allowing her mother to relaxmore and more, Sana only found herself feeling the complete opposite.
Shehad wanted to slow things down between them, to simply catch her breath, butshe did not want to halt things completely. Discreetly, Sana had tried to catchhis gaze a few times from the porch, where she purposely sat under the pretenseof keeping an eye on Kamal, but not once did Zach look at her. Wasn't thissupposed to be a part of hissolution? If so, why was he ignoring her?Dejected, Sana hid her disappointment for the solace of her room. In there, shelet her tears glide freely down her cheeks as she realized what she had done.For the first time, someone had looked at her as more than just the prim andproper Sana Bhatt. Instead of passing her over with glazed disinterest, a pairof golden eyes stopped and looked at her, truly taking the time to see her overthe rest—and she let fear ruin that.
Onhis fourth visit, they were sitting at the dining room table when they heardthe footsteps up the porch stairs. Glancing out the window with excitement,Kamal was already out of his seat and heading for the front door when thedoorbell went off. Shaking his head with a rueful smile, her father, RajeshBhatt, stood up to follow his son. Schooling her face to hide her own hopefulcuriosity, Sana continued eating her eggs as she subtly strained to listen tothe voices in the foyer.
"Well,that seems all right to me," her father said in a low, thoughtful tone.
Notone to ever sit idly by as something took place, Fatima Bhatt gently removedher napkin from her lap and placed it near her empty plate, and stood."What is it?"
Takingthe opportunity, Sana quickly followed her mother to the front door. Standingbehind both of her parents with Kamal in the very front, Sana appeared over allof their shoulders and met Zachariah's golden gaze directly. For one singularmoment that felt like a small eternity, he held her gaze before discreetlydropping it to land on her mother. Standing next to him with just as muchexcitement on his face as Kamal was Elijah, both boys were dressed in obviousswimwear. With towels draped around their necks and plain, ratty-lookingt-shirts over their colorful swim trunks, they looked ready for the water.
"I'msorry to bother you, Mrs. Bhatt," Zach began politely. "I was justexplaining to your husband that me and my family are going to spend a day atthe beach. There will be a barbeque and lots of games for the kids, and Ifigured Kamal would like to come and play."
Zachhad barely finished before Kamal turned on his heel with alarming speed towardstheir mom. "Mom, can I go?! Please, can I?"
Holdingup her hand, Fatima immediately called a silent halt to her son's pleas.Looking to Zach, she shook her head. "Kamal can't swim very well. I do notthink…"
Zachgave her mom the most sinfully disarming smile, and to Sana's horror, workedjust as intended. With a startled blink, her mother paused, giving Zach theopportunity to smoothly ease her worries.
"Don'tworry, about eight more cousins around his age will be there along with me,Noah, and a few of my other cousins who are all older. There will also be twoof my aunts and uncles. Maybe more if some of the other adults decide to comealong. He will be within distance of a chaperone at all times."
"Comeon, honey. Let the boy go have fun," Rajesh draped an arm over his wife'sshoulder. "Sana will be there with him," he added, "I'm sure aday sitting on the beach keeping an eye on Kamal sounds much better than havingto play with him here."
Nodding,Fatima relented to her husband's cajoling with a heavy sigh. "Fine,"she grumbled before purposely looking back and forth at Zach and Sana."But I want you to keep an eye on him."
Noddingemphatically to her mother's stern eye, Sana rushed to assure her."Yes-"
Cuttingher off, Zach gave her mother another devilish smile that surprisingly made hermother's worried frown melt into a soft smile. "I promise, I will returnboth of your children safe and sound, Mrs. Bhatt."
Sana'sjaw nearly dropped at the piercing remark. Children?! Is that how he saw hernow? Turning away stiffly, she went back to the table and collected her dishes,and brought them to the sink. Sana kissed her grandmother's cheek and forced asmile of goodbye to her grandfather as she woodenly turned to follow herbrother in the direction of their bedrooms.
Withangry, jerky movements, Sana took off her clothes and snatched on her blackone-piece bathing suit. Her thoughts were like a whirlwind of fiery fury. Howdare he relegate her to a child simply because she got nervous. She hardly knewhim, wasn't it only natural to be scared of a boy who never took no for ananswer and who drug her into the woods and behind buildings to kiss her withoutpermission? Although, she knew the answer even as she stuffed her camera andother essentials into her beach bag. It wasn't completely normal, not for allgirls. She could point out a dozen girls right now with little to no effort whowould jump at the chance at Zachariah Waatese's attention. Because that was it,wasn't it? A boy like that probably had loads of encounters with far moreexperienced girls who adored his attention, girls who certainly wouldn't runand hide in their house. With her, Zach had probably come to realize just howdisappointing she was in comparison.
Shoulderingher bag, Sana glanced at herself in the full-length mirror on her door. With ajean skirt pulled over her black one-piece swimsuit and her bright yellow beachbag stuffed with enough colorful towels for her and Kamal, she thought of othergirls her age. They would most likely wear a two-piece with a slinky cutecover-up that did more to tease and entice rather than cover anything up. Sanahad bought this suit with her mom earlier in the year. With a two-piece beingdefinitely out of the question, Sana had chosen the more expensive one-pieceshe had seen in a magazine once, a simple but elegant black suit with goldbuckles on the straps. She had thought the suit looked sophisticated, but nowshe wondered if it didn't just make her seem like a child. Pushing back some ofher long dark hair, Sana turned her gaze away from her reflection.
Wavinggoodbye to her parents from the bottom of the porch steps, Sana trudgedsilently behind her brother and Elijah as they followed Zach to the beach.
Crossingthe two-lane highway and cresting the large sand dune that led to the beach,Sana stopped at the top as she scanned the crowd of people at the bottom. Withumbrellas and canopies dotting the shoreline, mothers sat underneathadministering lotion to their kids while a group of men stood around a grilltalking and laughing. With their familiar dark skin and black hair, Sana knewthat each one was a part of the Waatese clan. This felt more like a familyreunion rather than a simple beach outing like Zach made it seem. With hugesmiles, Elijah and Kamal ran ahead, shucking their shirts and throwing downtheir towels in their full sprint to join the other children playing makeshiftfootball in the surf while Zach slowly followed after them. Alone and feeling alittle like an intruder, Sana made her way down the dune. Finding a spot alittle away from the cluster of family, Sana sat down her bag and began pullingout her towel.
"Sana!"
Turningto the sound of her name, Sana recognized Elijah's young mother, Lana Waatese,waving at her from underneath an empty blue umbrella.
"Comeover here, closer to us," she waved her forward.
Clutchingher towel and her bag, Sana obediently waded forward in the thick sand towardsthe woman.
