CHAPTER FOUR #2
“Henderson,” Manuel finished before my brain registered how to read the name on the slightly worse for wear schedule. “It’s on the far side of the cafeteria. They house it in the hall with the other electives.”
“Okay. Right.” My brow wrinkled. I’d gone to school here from freshman to junior year. Why couldn’t I remember that? Of course, my memories resembled Swiss cheese these days. Apparently this was one of those holes. “Where’s the cafeteria?”
Manuel laughed. “Come on. I’ll walk you. It’s on the way to my next class.”
And be prodded with more questions? My eyes rounded. “Oh, no, that’s okay! I’m sure it won’t be that difficult to find. They must have started lunch already. I’ll just follow the smells.”
“What are you, a bloodhound?” Manuel held the door open, and sound filtered in from the bustling hall. “It’s the least I could do. Besides, I’m basically the unpaid tour guide of the school.”
Shouldering my resolve and the cumbersome laptop bag, I preceded him into the hallway. A chance glance to the right had my gaze centering on Ralph, who was waiting by the other door to Mrs. Reed’s room, watching and greeting the stragglers as they trickled out.
His head twitched in my direction, and I sank backwards into the alcove, bumping Manuel.
“Whoa, hey,” he murmured, resting his hands on my shoulders to help recreate the space between us. “You good?”
“Yeah, uh, I just realized I should let you lead the way.” A quick peek around the corner showed Ralph had moved on, no longer lurking to snag me for a talk. My muscles relaxed for half a second before jolting tense once more.
“Hey, Mrs. Reed!” Ralph’s voice filtered to me from the open doorway behind Manuel.
“Ralph? Again? You had me first period,” was Mrs. Reed’s slightly amused response.
That must have been why we ran into each other. He’d been leaving where I’d been heading.
Panicked, I tugged on Manuel’s arm. “We should go now, though.”
“‘Lead the way,’ she says and then procedes to drag me behind her.” He didn’t budge, but he conceded a couple of steps after arching a brow at me, allowing the second door to close behind him. It clicked shut, cutting off Ralph’s question to Mrs. Reed. “Also, why are you whispering?”
Oh, oops.
My immediate denial slipped free without permission. “I’m not whispering.”
He snorted. “No, not now, you’re not.” His head tilted as his dark eyes studied me.
I gave him another tug. “Seriously, we should go. It’s a walk, right?”
He took his sweet time answering. “Yeah, it’s a walk. Let’s go.”
As we moved into the throng of students, it felt as if I slammed into an icy wall of water.
One second, everything was fine, a normal high school movie playing out in real life, and then the next, the sounds of laughter, shouting, and lockers slamming retreated into muffled muteness. The air thickened, making it an effort to move.
A burning coldness numbed everything.
Then, as if I’d passed through to the other side, time sped up, sound and lights returned, and heat emanated from a central point on my forearm. Curious, I glanced down to see a tawny-colored hand perched there. My eyes followed it up to its owner, Manuel.
“—okay?”
I blinked, my eyelids out of sync with one another. “I’m sorry, what?”
Manuel glanced around before dragging us to the side, tucked in near some drinking fountains. “Willa, you’re freezing.”
“Oh.” I swayed a little when I shifted my head down too fast to glance at the wrist watch, but the wall at my back did me a solid and kept me upright. Come to think of it, maybe that was why Manuel propped me here.
The watch face lit with my temperature. “Oh, that’s chilly.”
Manuel maneuvered beside me at some point, because his voice came from the vicinity of my ear. “Ninety-one? That has to be a weather app.”
“Hmm,” I hummed. Manuel’s chest was brushing my shoulder, and I kept the watch out just to keep him there, my body soaking in his warmth.
Then, his statement registered, and a wash of adrenaline poured through my veins, giving me the clarity and ability to begin my well-versed evasion routine.
“Yep. That’s what it is, a weather app.”
“Wait…” Manuel began, dragging the word out.
I didn’t. Slipping around him, I cut as fast of a pace as my lagging muscles could manage.
It did little good.
Manuel popped up three seconds later, right at my shoulder.
He was like a mushroom.
“You said it was chilly.”
“Sorry, I think I’m just sensitive to the AC.”
He arched a brow. “You said it was chilly when you looked at that temperature. No one in their right minds would argue that ninety-one degrees is chilly.”
I laughed. “You felt my skin. I’m cold-blooded by nature.”
He hummed low in his throat, and despite the distinct sense that he didn’t believe me, he didn’t prod further as he led me across the school.
The more we walked, the more my wariness eased away to allow me to focus on other details, like how much of a hustle it would be to get from one place to the next if I had to stay back and talk to the teacher for any reason.
“So what elective do you have for third period?” I asked when the silence became overwhelming.
He smirked in a knowing way that made my long silent heart give a little thud. “Who said I have an elective?”
Trying to regather my scrambled thoughts, I stated slowly, “You did. You said your class was on the way. This is pretty isolated.”
Once we’d turned down the hallway, it was easy to see this was an isolated wing that dead-ended with double exterior doors.
Through their window, I could see sunlight illuminating the wax on the leaves at the treeline, make them shimmer like scales on a jade dragon when the breeze tickled through them.
What a nice day to be out on the four-wheeler.
“Doesn’t mean I have an elective,” Manuel teased, interrupting my daydream.
“But this is the elective hall.” We’d already passed the rooms for auto-shop, industrial tech, and ag. Elective hall was an apt name.
Manuel laughed. “Ask me what I have for third period.”
I blinked. “Uh, okay. What do you have for third period?”
“History.”
I frowned, looking around. Maybe two doors remained in the hall.
He nudged me with his elbow. “Now ask me who the teacher is.”
My nose scrunched up. “Just tell me.”
“Mister,” he began, drawing out the words, “Watkins.”
I stumbled. “Him? Mr. Watkins, Mr. Watkins?”
“The one and only.”
“How is that on the way?” I yelped. “Oh, you’re going to be late to his class! His class.”
Manuel shrugged. “Eh. Worth it.”