Pebble (Elemental Men #5)

Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE

CLAY

In spite of my worry before, I’m having a good time talking to Aether. He knows way more about plants and animals than I do, but he’s so excited to have someone else to discuss them with that he doesn’t seem to care that I’m not as knowledgeable as he is.

“I’ve been thinking for a while that Perry and I should go to Australia to film some videos,” he’s saying. “It’s important for people to see the impact climate change is having on all different environments, not just the ones they’re familiar with. But there’s so many places we could go to show that, and I can’t decide.”

“You should ask people to vote,” I suggest tentatively. “Or have them send in suggestions—they could nominate one of the impacts they’ve seen in their local area, and you could pick a short list and do a poll to see where you go first. You could all go,” I add, feeling brave when he doesn’t immediately shoot down the idea.

He stares at me, nodding, then shouts, “Storm! Clay just had the best idea!”

Heat climbs my neck. “I don’t know about that,” I protest, but the tall blond man who does all the marketing and videos for the Conservation Kings is already coming our way.

As are all the others. Including George.

Oh, no. I take a hesitant half-step back.

Storm reaches us first, Zephyr at his side, and even though they’re both smiling, I avoid eye contact. What if they think this is a terrible idea? Storm is a professional , for god’s sake. How presumptuous is it for me to make suggestions like this when it’s his actual job?

“What’s the idea?” he asks, and I’m pretty sure he’s looking at me, but I can’t bring myself to check.

Aether nudges me. “Tell them.”

“It’s nothing,” I mutter. “It’s stupid. I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t stupid,” Aether declares. “You can tell Storm. He’s an expert.”

I blink back tears of humiliation. This is the worst thing that could have happened today, even worse than George not wanting people to know we’re friends. I should have stayed home with my magazines.

Suddenly, there’s a warm presence at my side and a heavy, familiar arm slung around my shoulders. Instinctively, I huddle closer to George.

“Clay doesn’t want to share right now,” he says flatly. “So?—”

“That’s okay, I can tell it!” Aether interrupts, seemingly missing the point. “Storm, Clay suggested that we poll our followers to see what places in the world they want us to visit and talk about the impacts of climate change and pollution.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Any second now, Storm will scoff and?—

“That’s awesome,” he says warmly. “We can do a live to announce it, ask people to email suggestions—or what if we got them to send a short video of places near them that have been affected? Then we’ll put up polls to help us pick the locations. We can do a whole series of videos while we’re traveling.”

My eyes slit open. He doesn’t hate the idea?

“Why stop with just videos?” Perry asks. “Could we set up a lecture series or something while we’re overseas? You guys do education sessions here all the time, and you’ve been on talk shows. Other countries have those too, right?”

Storm nods enthusiastically. “Right. We’ll make it a whole PR tour. This is brilliant—thanks, Clay.”

I blink at him. “Y-You’re welc-come.”

“We haven’t met officially. I’m Storm Lattimer.” He extends his hand, and I reach out and numbly shake it.

“C-Clayton Zepic. Clay.” I don’t know why I said Clayton when I really don’t like being called that.

“Clay is a friend of George’s,” the redhead I recognize as Flame says, gesturing to George’s arm around me. “As you can see.”

My face gets hotter. This is so unfair to George—he didn’t agree to introduce me to his friends, and now he’s stuck with it. “Oh, we’re?—”

“Hi, Clay.” Another man comes forward, hand extended. “I’m Bran, Flame’s boyfriend.”

“The firefighter,” I mumble, shaking his hand and hoping he doesn’t notice how sweaty my palm has gotten.

“That’s right. You follow the guys, then? Aren’t they great?”

I nod. I don’t think I can manage more words. I’m too afraid of saying the wrong ones.

“How did you meet George?” He’s being friendly, but I’m not sure what George wants them to know, so I swallow hard and try to think of a good answer.

“Clay’s the plant expert at the garden center attached to the quarry.” George’s deep voice gives me a welcome reprieve. “I was there one day and saw him, and we got to talking. But I’m sure he wants to spend the rest of his day off in peace, so we’ll let him go now.” He looks down at me. “I’ll call you later.”

Probably to tell me he never wants to see me again after I embarrassed him in front of his friends. I muster a smile that doesn’t quite eventuate and nod.

“Ye—”

“Noooo,” Aether whines. “We were talking! Let’s go get ice cream and learn more about Clay. He’s one of us now.”

George goes rock-solid at my side, his muscles so tense that the weight of his arm doubles in a heartbeat. What’s left of my self-esteem shatters, and I’m so busy trying not to cry over the loss of my friend that it takes me a minute to realize how oddly everyone is reacting.

Perry and Flame are smirking at George. Aqua is clapping his hands in… delight? Zephyr, Storm, and River look surprised but pleased. Bran is smiling warmly at me.

“That sounds great,” he declares. “You’re up for ice cream, aren’t you, Clay? Walk with me and Aether and we can talk about trees. George, let go of him.” He pushes George’s arm off me, then hooks his arm around mine the way Perry did before. “Come on, I think it’s this way.”

What am I supposed to do? I cast a glance at George, but his face has gone back to being expressionless again. “Maybe I should just go home,” I venture, and Bran stops.

“Do you want to? If you do, that’s fine. We can set up another time to hang out. But if you’ve got time now, why not stay for ice cream?”

I blink at him in confusion. That makes it sound like he wants to be my friend. Maybe… maybe they think because I’m George’s friend, they need to make an effort to be nice to me?

He’s waiting for me to reply, still smiling, and I don’t have time to have a personal crisis over this. Better not to make a fuss. I’ll have ice cream, then make an excuse and leave. Half an hour, tops. George can’t get mad with me about that, right?

“Okay. I l-like ice cream.”

Two hours later, I’m not sure how I ended up in this position, sprawled on the grass, my ice cream long gone, debating with River over the feasibility and functionality of saltwater ponds in gardens. He agrees that they look amazing, but his preference is that ocean plants and fish stay in the ocean. My counterargument is that a lot of people don’t have access to the ocean, and a saltwater pond can introduce them, in a very small way, to the wonders of it.

I’m having fun.

It’s the strangest feeling. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself in a group like this. Penny tried a few times to get me to hang out with some of her other friends, but while they’re all nice to me, when they’re all together, I feel like I don’t belong.

This is different. Here, with these people, I feel as though I’ve known them forever.

The only downside is George. He’s been quieter than usual, and it’s killing me that he’s probably mad. Maybe after this he’s not going to want to be friends. That means I won’t get to hang out with his friends like this again, and that’s what’s keeping me from leaving. I know he’d prefer it if I did, but I’m not ready to give this up yet. If I’m going to lose George, then I’m going to go out with a bang.

It’s the bravest thing I’ve ever done, and I can’t wait to tell Penny. Though she’ll probably get mad at George for getting mad.

“Let’s have a cookout tonight,” Flame suggests. “No whining, Aqua. Clay will come over for a cookout, won’t you?”

I really shouldn’t. “That sounds great,” I hear myself saying, and it surprises me so much that I grin like a fool. “Can I bring anything?” I add. I could race home and make a salad—my summer salad is usually a hit. With Penny and George, anyway.

“Nope, we’ve got it covered,” Perry assures me. “Why don’t you follow us back? We’ll get set up on the deck… or we could take a quick swim. The beach is right across the street from us.”

“Oh. That’s… um.” I’m taken aback. I don’t have a swimsuit with me, and anyway, I’m not sure how comfortable I feel going to their home without even a small gift. I really want to stop by my place first, but I don’t want to sound ungrateful or unenthusiastic.

“Clay has to go home first,” George says. “I’ll ride with him, and we’ll meet you at the house.”

Yes. My shoulders relax. That would work. Except… I’ll need to talk to George. What if he wants me to back out of coming?

“Is that okay with you, Clay?” Bran asks.

Screw it. I’ve been brave all day—I can be brave some more. If George says not to come, I’ll tell him where he can stick his opinion.

I square my shoulders. “Yep. We won’t be far behind you.” I think. They said they’re across the street from the beach, but where, exactly?

We get to our feet and go our separate ways—they parked over in the Gold Gulch parking lot, since they were only planning to visit the Australian Garden. George is a solid but silent presence at my side, and I wait until we’re in my car before I say anything.

“Which do you think would be appreciated more, a salad or a magnolia sapling?”

He frowns and buckles his seat belt. “That would probably depend on who was required to appreciate it and what their needs were.”

I snort. Is he joking? He must be. Maybe he’s not mad after all. But then, why has he been so quiet all afternoon?

“Your housemates, of course. I can’t come over empty-handed, no matter what Perry says. The salad makes sense, since we’re having a cookout, but since he told me not to bring anything, I don’t want to bring a salad and ruin the meal plans. So I thought one of those magnolia saplings I’ve been babying might make a nice gift.” They’re Little Gems and already two feet high. I took the seeds from the stunning mature hedge down the side of Penny’s driveway, and I’ve raised these saplings from seedlings. It was an experiment, but now that I know it works, Penny said she’ll buy the saplings from me at wholesale price and sell them in the garden center. I tried to argue—the seeds came from her hedge—but she wouldn’t hear it; said that I did the hard part, so I deserve to get paid for it. In the end, we agreed that I’d buy her a coffee, which costs about what that number of seeds would have if I’d had to buy them.

“I don’t understand.” George shakes his head. “You’re… coming? To the house?”

Hot anger flares inside me, matched by hurt. “I was invited,” I say stiffly, checking for traffic before I pull out of the parking space.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you’d come.”

I will not cry. I will not cry . How dare he do this to me? He knows how hard I find it to meet new people and talk to them. I had fun today, and he’s ruining it.

I’ve spent a lot of time over the years reading self-help books and listening to podcasts about overcoming shyness. I can’t even count the number of techniques I’ve tried to use to be more assertive or at least to prevent me from running away.

Turns out, all I needed was rage.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”