She heard the hurt in his voice. Instant embarrassment shot through her and she realized what a cold bitch she was being. God, maybe she was just like her mom after al .

He started walking. She fol owed. They walked in silence. "Hey," she final y said, unable to hold it back any longer.

"What?" He didn't look at her and kept on moving down the trail.

"I didn't mean to imply that you were some kind of rapist."

"Then what were you trying to imply?" He stil didn't look at her.

She tried to think how to put what she needed to say. She hated reaching for the old cliche but it was al she could come up with on short notice. "I like you, Derek, I do. But I'm thinking we should just be friends."

He laughed but the sound had no humor. "So you're going to deny that you feel anything." His pace picked up. "You're going to deny that you almost kissed me back there. That you wanted to kiss me."

Increasing the pace of her own footsteps, she wanted to deny it, and almost did, but caught herself before she lied. "No, I'm not denying it, but I can't trust how I feel right now."

He swung around. "Because you think I'm messing with your emotions?"

"No. Yes. Okay, maybe that's a part of it, but it's also because you remind me so much of Trey. Look, I have al this other stuff happening to me right now." Emotion tightened her voice. "Things at home are crazy. I'm seeing ghosts. I have people tel ing me I'm not al human, and I'm halfway hoping I find out that I'm just crazy or that I have a brain tumor." She blinked and refused to cry again. "I don't need this, too." She waved a hand between them. "But I real y need a friend."

He sent her a look of resignation. "Okay. If friendship is al you're offering, then I'l take it. Don't like it, but I'l take it."

"Thank you," she said, meaning it.

He nodded and studied her as if reading her emotions again. Heck, maybe he could read them and then tel her what it al meant, because right now she felt like a scrambled mess.

"It's going to be okay," he said.

"Is it?" She paused. "I just don't know where to start to find the answers."

Derek drew a deep breath and then looked around as though he was afraid they might be overheard although there wasn't anyone else in sight. He leaned in closer.

"I don't have al the answers," he said, dropping his voice to just above a whisper. "And I don't even think this is an issue, but ... there's one thing you might try."

Chapter Twenty

"Tel me," Kylie said, eager for any help she could get. "I'm wil ing to try anything at this point."

Wel , almost anything.

"There's a girl here," Derek said. "She's Fae, too. Her name's Helen."

"I met her," Kylie said. "She was in the group with me when Holiday explained why we were here."

"Yeah. Her gift is healing. But when she was tel ing us about herself she said that even before her sister's tumor was found, she could see it. Personal y, I don't think you have a tumor, but if you're concerned about it, maybe Helen can check you out. At least you'd stop worrying about it."

"That's an excel ent idea." Kylie almost hugged him, but decided at the last moment it wasn't wise. She real y didn't want to encourage Derek that they could be more than friends. At least not now, a little voice inside her whispered-the little voice that real y liked how it felt to be close to him, the same little voice that had wanted her to kiss him earlier. "Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome." He brushed the back of his hand down her cheek and you can bet her little voice liked that, too. "By the way..."

"By the way what?" she asked.

He smiled and the gold in his eyes seemed to glow hotter. "Back there. You weren't the only one who ... I mean, I wanted you to kiss me, too."

"But we're just friends," she said, wishing she could say it with more conviction.

"Yeah." And he didn't say it with a heck of a lot of conviction either.

* * *

When they got back to the camp, it was almost time to meet Holiday. Kylie wanted to cal Sara, so she decided to go behind the office to the little hiding spot she'd discovered yesterday.

She made it around the building when she realized she wasn't the only one who'd discovered the hiding spot. Kylie shifted herself in reverse, but not quickly enough. Lucas and his attached to-the-hip girlfriend swung around. Lucas grimaced and Goth Girl smiled. Then she reached up and made a show of buttoning her blouse.

"Sorry," Kylie muttered, and shot off. But she felt a pair of light blue eyes burning into her back as she went. She made it around the front, only to find Miranda and Del a standing near the office yel ing at each other. Kylie's first thought was to leave them be, but when she spotted Sky, the other camp leader stepping out of the dining hal , Kylie marched over to break the two up before they got in trouble.

"I swear, if you wave that little pinky finger at me one more time, I'm gonna break it." Del a leaned in. "And you know I can do it."

"Stop it," Kylie said, stepping between them. Miranda shuffled back in front of Kylie and bumped noses with Del a.

"You lay one bloodsucking finger on me and I'l hex you with the worse case of pimples you've ever seen."

"You can't hex me," Del a spouted out. "Your hexes are retarded."