Chapter 5 #2
Last night. My entire chest feels tight. “With what?”
He shoots me a look, both eyebrows rising above those emerald green eyes. “I don’t know, Izzy, maybe the fucking light show over the park?”
I shake my head. No, that didn’t happen. That can’t have actually happened.
“Maybe I was high,” he mutters.
“You usually are.” I don’t know why I can’t resist nettling him.
He gets out of the car, slamming the door shut.
Feeling my own temper flare, I get out too, slamming his door even harder, and glaring at him.
When he looks at me over the roof of the car, he shoots back, “And you’re so perfect.”
“Usually nobody describes the unwanted foster kid as so perfect, but let’s go with that.” I throw my backpack over my shoulder.
“Izzy,” he says behind me.
I ignore him and keep walking.
He doesn’t run after me, and I hate that I wish he would. But I knew better than to expect that from him. Running after me would show he cared. And if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s showing people he doesn’t give a shit.
When I reach the stairs of the school, Van’s sitting on one of the concrete steps.
There’s a girl in his lap, a cute blond wisp of a thing, and he leans between the thighs of a second girl, who is giving him a shoulder massage.
The three of them are laughing about something--maybe it’s fucking hilarious to be rich and good-looking and have parents who want you, I wouldn’t know--but then Van sees me, and his face changes.
His lips part like he’s going to say something to me, but he doesn’t, and I walk past him. I can feel his gaze follow me, even as the girls tease him, trying to get his attention.
“Hey.” It’s a guy I don’t know who surprises me, standing on my right. He’s tall and cute, and I know him vaguely by sight. I think he plays on the basketball team with Wilder. “How’re you doing, cutie?”
I blink stupidly. Is he talking to me? Uh, he is.
This day really couldn’t get any weirder.
Then it does.
All day long, guys seem to hit on me. I keep finding Wilder or Van or Aiden or Reid staring at me, and their eyes seem to smolder when they see other men talking to me.
It’s freaking weird.
And so oddly nice.
I might be having a good hair day, but no matter how I look, I’m still me. Painfully awkward me. I make small talk with everyone who talks to me and do my best to flee the scene whenever anyone asks me out on a date. Which happens three times.
Which is three more times than anyone has asked me out on a date the other three-and-a-half years of high school, by the way.
But then my last class of the day is Chemistry Lab, and it’s back to reality.
First of all, my lab partner is my former frenemy-turned-straight-enemy Lexi, and second of all, Aiden is in my class, usually ignoring me in the back row while I’m in the front, so my day is about to be book-ended with Aiden.
Aiden, who raises butterflies in my chest and makes me feel stupid just like Lexi does, even though at least Aiden isn’t doing it on purpose like she is.
We’re working with the bunsen burners today, and while we’re waiting for Mr. Crist to come around and light ours, I spot the microfiche slipped between the pages of my notebook. It must have slipped in there. My heart pounds, remembering the dark library and the sounds of hooves.
And remembering that this is the first clue I’ve found to discovering my sister.
“What’s that?” Lexi asks, peering over my shoulder. “Did you steal something from the library, you wild thing?”
Her voice has a note of humor, but she’s so loud. On purpose.
I shake my head, ignoring her. I don’t want to explain it. I slip it back between the pages of my notebook, reminded of the other thing I accidentally kind-of stole from the library. The book is still in there in between my math book and my paperback for Lit.
Oh, and it’s glowing.
I quickly bend beneath the table and zip my backpack shut, hoping that no one notices the eerie glow of golden light seeping out of my backpack.
That whole just-a-dream explanation is deader than my brief dream that I could be cool in high school.
“I heard the funniest thing,” Lexi says slowly.
When I stick my head out from under the desk again, she’s holding the microfilm with her long pink fingernails. She must have taken it out of my notebook.
My jaw sets. “Yeah? What’s that, Lexi?”
“I heard Aiden gave you a ride to school this morning,” she says. “My Aiden.”
You have got to be kidding me. Yes, her Aiden. The two of them have been on-again, off-again, since seventh grade. Since not that long after the Wilder Four started ignoring me.
My Aiden, she calls him. Oh my God. Something unexpected flares inside of me. Anger. Anger that this girl thinks she can talk to me like this. And anger that she thinks she can still call him that after what she did.
“I heard you broke his heart,” I whisper, because I didn’t want him to hear me. “I heard you went to a party with Aiden and then slept with another guy.”
She doesn’t deny it, but she rolls her eyes. “Please. Nobody can break Aiden’s heart. He’s got a hopeless thing for the stupidest, mousiest girl that I just can’t fucking understand.”
I stare back at her. There’s a strange, fragile hope in my chest, and I know I can’t trust Lexi. “Can I have my film back, please?”
She holds it up to the fluorescent light above, tilting her head back. “What is this, anyway?”
Mr. Crist stops in front of our table. “Are you two ready for the experiment?”
“Yes.” She smiles at him. She’s a pretty girl, all round-cheeked, soft, and bright-eyed.
She doesn’t look at all like the poisonous bitch I know her to be.
He lights our burner and moves on.
She leans back again, squinting at the film. “Is this you, Iz?”
“Maybe. Can I have it back, please?”
“Science experiment time.” She flashes me a grin as she leans forward, holding the film above the small, steady flame. “Which combusts first--your stupid crush on Aiden, or the stupid film?”
I turn to where Mr. Crist is working his way through the class. His back is to us.
“Uh uh uh,” she sing-songs. “You stole this, didn’t you? You really want to get in trouble for that?”
“What do you want, Lexi?” My voice comes out flat.
“Stay away from Aiden.”
“Sure,” I say. “Whatever.” He usually stays away from me anyway. But I don’t mean it. I just have to get that microfiche back from her before…
“Not convincing,” she says, and the tip of the film hits the flame.
“No!” The word tears from my lips, but I feel frozen, watching my hopes burn.
“What the hell are you doing?” Aiden’s voice is a low, taut growl over my shoulder.
He grabs the microfiche, oblivious to the fact that it’s on fire, and flings it into the sink. I rush to smother the flames, but he’s already yanking his t-shirt over his head and pounding it on top of the film, killing the flames.
Aiden is shirtless in the middle of Chem lab. I’ve seen him shirtless before, long ago, but I didn’t know about his tanned, powerful pecs, or the tattoos across his big shoulders, or the dark happy trail that starts low on his taut, chiseled abs. Holy hell. No wonder Lexi is losing her damn mind.
“Have you always been that big?” I ask, my voice strangely husky.
Aiden winks at me. And I have instant regrets--of course he’s going to find a dirty joke in the middle of this bizarre situation.
Looking into the sink, I feel a wave of relief. She only burned the corner. It’s fine. My clue is fine. Looking to Aiden, my thanks gets stuck on my lips. He really needs to put his damn shirt back on, or I’m not going to be able to form words.
Something darkens his eyes, and I feel a pull between us.
Lexi’s suddenly in my face. “Listen, you little bitch, if you think for one second--”
I shove her back. “I would think very carefully about what you’re going to say, and what it’s going to cost you.”
Where did that come from?
A smirk twists her face. “Oh, look, the kitten has claws…. Too bad you don’t know how to use them.”
I take a step closer, and she takes a step away, smacking into our table. “Playing with fire is a good way to get burned.” My voice doesn’t even sound like me. It’s low, threatening, and with a playful purr I’ve never made before.
Lexi opens her mouth, then closes it. Her eyes widen, and she whirls around. “What did you do to me?” she screams.
I stare in shock. The end of her ponytail is on fire!
“Oh my god, Lexi!” I snatch Aiden’s t-shirt and grab for the end of her ponytail, but she’s flicking it around desperately. Sparks fly from her hair.
Mr. Crist is yelling. Everyone is yelling. And Lexi is the loudest, blaming me like that is her most pressing concern, even though the girl is literally on fire. I finally manage to get the t-shirt wrapped around her ponytail and smother the flames.
She’s fine. Nothing a hairdresser can’t… okay, a hairdresser can’t fix that. But she’s fine.
But now the room is on fire. Everywhere!
Oh, hell, this isn’t good.
Aiden grabs my hand as the alarms start to go off and starts hauling me toward the door. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
My gaze scans over the frightened faces of my classmates. “We’ve got to make sure everyone gets out!”
“Fuck them!” he growls. “The school can burn for all I care, but you need to get to safety. Now!”
Unexpected anger explodes within me. What the hell has gotten into him?
“You’ve never cared about me before.” I yank my hand back from his, my need to rebel stronger than my fear.
“That’s not true.” The look he gives me is wounded.
“It is,” I say, then turn around. “Everyone, remember our fire drills. Leave your stuff. Just head for the nearest exit!”
I swear it’s like my words calm everyone in an instant. They head for the door, racing around Aiden. Smoke billows in the room as Mr. Crist tries to get everyone out.
Reid, Wilder, and Van shoulder past him in the doorway.
“What are you guys doing here?” I demand.
“Heard there was trouble,” Wilder says briefly. “Figured you were in the middle of it.”
Well, the man’s not wrong.