Haze Read Online Free PDF Page B

Ez and Zak three times already in the last two days. Most times he’s only gone an hour or so. Most times I don’t provoke him this much before he leaves.
    ‘Maybe they could come here,’ I say. I miss Ez. She’s always so calm and sensible—and she’s the only Rephaite who’s given me straight answers this past week.
    ‘And do what? Hang out at my place?’ Rafa stops in front of the alley between the bookshop and the juice bar. He gives me a once-over and steps closer. ‘Turn around.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘You’ve got dirt on you.’
    Of course I do—I was lying on the concrete at the Imperial not so long ago.
    Rafa holds my shoulder to keep me steady while he dusts me off. ‘All good.’ His hand slides down my arm, falls away. He walks into the laneway. I’m ready for him to shift, for the lane to become empty, but he hesitates.
    ‘What?’ I ask.
    His eyes search my face. A few seconds pass. ‘Nothing.’
    And then he’s gone.
    It’s only when I’m nearly at the Green Bean that it hits me. He was waiting for me to ask him to stay.

TEA…NO SYMPATHY
    Maggie is busy inside when I arrive. I order a coffee and find a chair in the sun, overlooking the water. Let the familiarity of Pandanus Beach ground me: the busy esplanade, the endless ocean, the lush mountain rising up behind the town. Even after everything that’s happened here, it’s still the closest thing I have to a home.
    The surf is rough this morning. Only a few diehards brave the water. A guy in a yellow and black wetsuit climbs a wave, then wipes out spectacularly. His board flips in the air, trailing sunlit water, and disappears back into the surf. He emerges in the wash, laughing, unscathed.
    I chase thoughts of Jude. Again. Tomorrow is the anniversary of his death. Or at least the death I remember. The moment that changed everything: squealing tyres, smashing glass, the car crumpling around us. Blood. Dirt. Petrol. I’ve known for a week it never happened. So why does it still feel so real?
    Of course I want to know if Jude’s alive. Of course I want to find him. How could I not? But Rafa talks about it as though it’s some easy two-step process: search for Jude, find Jude. But what if we don’t find him? What then? Or what if—
    ‘You’re going to get premature wrinkles if you don’t stop that.’ Maggie is at the table with my cappuccino, squinting against the sun. ‘I take it Mick wasn’t in the mood for talking?’
    I dig my fingers into my shoulder, try to make the muscle relax. ‘Oh, Mick was talking. Rafa just didn’t like what he heard.’
    She moves to block out the sun. ‘How bad?’
    ‘Stitches and plaster. Not for Rafa, obviously.’
    Maggie glances back at the cafe and slips into the chair opposite me. ‘Do you think they got the message?’
    ‘They think the hellions are part of a government conspiracy.’
    ‘Who told them that?’
    ‘I sort of let them believe it.’
    Maggie’s eyes drop to my knuckles, which are still red, but she doesn’t say anything. ‘Simon was in earlier.’ She changes the subject.
    ‘How’s he doing?’
    ‘Better.’
    I’ve seen Simon since Tuesday night. Since he saw the freakshow up the mountain and accused me of putting Maggie in harm’s way. Since he found out I’m the bastard offspring of a fallen angel. Since he learned enough to regret kissing me the night Maggie was taken. And since I learned how crappy it feels to kiss a nice guy when you don’t really mean it. I’ve seen Simon—but I haven’t spoken to him. It’s not my fault he won’t make eye contact when I go into Rick’s Bar.
    Maggie studies me. ‘What else is going on?’
    A week ago, she wouldn’t have pushed me. A lot can happen in a week.
    I sigh, sip my coffee. It’s strong and earthy. ‘I had to tell Rafa what Jason’s trying to do.’
    ‘Oh…How did he take it?’
    ‘He was cool.’
    Maggie blinks.
    ‘ Not .’ I dab at cocoa on the rim of the cup. ‘He’s impatient to go to