Hillcrest Academy

by Cassie Pierce

  “NO!” I say, rising swiftly to my feet. My dreams of greasy cheeseburger goodness completely forgotten as anger replaces the hunger churning inside of me.

  “You chose to. There is a difference.”

  Her hand latches out again, catching me around the wrist and refusing to let go. “You...You’re right,” she whispers, refusing to look at me as her grip loosens. “I am such a crap person. I am like a chicken shit sandwich on wheat,” she groans, throwing her head down on the table.

  A laugh tumbles out of me without my permission. That girl and her crazy country references. “You are not a crap person. You just did a crap thing.”

  “You think so?” she sniffles, picking up her head to look at me. I fold myself back into my seat, my anger fading as I look at her. She looks so....broken, and I hate it. C.J. is sunshine with a country twang. Broken is more my style.

  “Yes. I think so,” I laugh, deciding to try harder to listen without my temper getting in the way. “For Talon, right? You did it for the vampire?”

  Her eyes sparkle at the sound of his name, taking on a dreamy stare. A stare that only someone deeply in love could pull off. A smile overtakes her face, washing away all of the pain that she wore so openly moments ago.

  “Yes. I.......I love him Maci. I love him so much that it scares me. I know that I hurt you, but not hurting you meant choosing to hurt him, and I.....”

  “I get it,” I sigh.

  “You....you do?” she asks, propping her cheek on her palm.

  “Yes.” That one word is all that I say in answer to her loaded question. My anger deflates like a punctured balloon as I try to put myself in her shoes. It is hard to be angry when love was her motivation. It is after all one of life’s most powerful motivators.

  I had never been in love before. Never really understood the whole cliché, but Jaxon changed that. He swooped into my life, bringing pain and chaos with him. Was my life easier before Jaxon? Maybe, but not better. Never better. If someone was hurting him, I would do anything to save him. So yeah....I get it. It just sucks being the person tossed aside for someone else.

  In the end, she chose the boy that she loves over a girl that she barely knows. Who wouldn’t?

  I decide in that moment to start over with C.J. Life is full of chances, and C.J. seems like a person deserving of a second one.

  Are we friends? Not yet, but we aren’t enemies either. For now, that will have to be enough.

  We are just two people trying to survive a world that keeps trying to kill us. If that isn’t a foundation for a solid friendship, then I don’t know what is.

  “Awwww hell,” I drawl in my best C.J. voice, pulling her in for a hug.

  She laughs, nudging my arm lightly as she playfully pushes me away. “Was that supposed to be me? Cause I do not sound like that.”

  I grin, and she laughs. “Ok....Maybe I sound like that, but I can’t help it.”

  The bell chimes out above us, signaling an end to our lunch, and by default our conversation. A conversation that is far from over. Rising to my feet, I groan as my mind goes back to the cheeseburger that was not meant to be. At this rate, I am going to starve!

  “What?” C.J. laughs at my super overdramatic groan.

  “So hungry......need food,” I say, using my robot voice that sounds nothing like a robot voice. My hand goes to my growling stomach, and I rub it for visual demonstration. C.J.’s eyes brighten, and then in the most impressive display of angelic magic yet, a huge slice of pizza just appears in her open palm.

  “Holy....”

  I stare at the cheesy goodness dripping with pepperoni, and yep...bacon. My eyes are wide as I turn to her. For once I have no words. Zero. None.

  “What?” she shrugs, like she does not have the coolest super-power IN-THE-WORLD! “I am a conjurer. I conjurer,” she says with a shrug.

  She holds the pizza out to me, and I take it without hesitation. I bite into the still warm slice, moaning as a parade of flavors have a party on my tongue. As far as peace offerings go, this one takes the cake.

  “So cool,” I say around a huge bite, so it comes out more like —Smo cruel.

  I am still munching happily on my pizza as I scoop my bag up and follow a laughing C.J. toward the exit. “Hey wait!” I shout, stopping in my tracks.

  She turns to me, raising a questioning brow as a grin transforms my face. “Do you think that you could conjure me up a Mt. Dew? I would do bad...bad things for a Mt. Dew.”

  Rolling her eyes, she closes her eyes on a giggle.

  I gasp as an ice-cold bottle of the dew magically appears in my other hand.

  Mt. Dew on demand. Sign me up!

  Best...power.....ever.....

  ∞

  I wish that I could say that Mr. Lopez’s teaching skills vastly improved since the last class, but that would be a lie. He is as boring and monotone as ever. Seriously. I think I need to bring earplugs. It is that bad.

  I doze off a few times, unable to help myself. I jerk awake as the bell thankfully blast throughout the room, putting me out of my misery. I split off from C.J. after class, promising to talk to her about everything some more later. My stomach ties itself into knots as I change direction, heading across campus toward the gym.

  The last time I was in this class that jerk Braxton embarrassed me. Something that I am sure he still smiles about. Here is to hoping that today goes much differently. I mean, we have developed a semi-reluctant friendship since then. I think?

  This time I arrive to class with time to spare, and I push my way inside without hesitation. I will be finding my own uniform today, thank-you-very-much!

  I follow the sound of running water and giggling girls to the locker room that I never noticed my first time here. I make my way inside, holding my head high as I walk. Everything goes deathly quiet when I walk in, and because I am too much of a smartass not to, I throw my hand up in a wave.

  Ahhh....That does the trick. Everyone turns away from me then. Some because they satisfied their curiosity, some because they think I am weird, and some because everyone else does. Either way, my little awkward wave does the trick. It throws them off their game. I love doing that. Something unexpected that no one quite knows how to take.

  I let out a slow breath as I make my way over to a locker on the far wall, laughing when I see my name written across the brass plate. That ass! I had my own locker the entire time! He just wanted to dress me up like slutly-Mc-slut! Just wait until I see pinky again. We are going to have words, and not nice ones!

  Thankfully everyone ignores me as I change into my school uniform. This one a much better fit. It is still a little short, but miles better than last time. I am pleased that everyone continues to ignore me. I have always thought that there is a certain beauty to being invisible. An opinion that not many share with me. I will take no attention over being the center of it any day.

  Popularity is way overrated!

  I am not quite sure what to do when I enter the gym, and for a moment I stand there like a total dweb. I shift from foot to foot nervously as my eyes scan the room for a familiar face. Any familiar face. Hell...at this point I would even take pinky.

  I find one in the shape of Ryker, who waves at me manically from across the room. His long lithe body is stretched out across a mat on the floor, doing some kind of stretch that I have never seen before.

  Impressive. I have never seen a boy bend that way.

  Slowly I make my way over to him, taking a seat on the mat beside him, and throwing my legs out in the universal cheerleader stretch. Hey! Don’t judge! It is the only one that I know.

  My eyes scan the room, a frown redefining my features at the one face that is still missing. Where is he?

  “He isn’t here,” Ryker says, and I suck in a sharp breath.

  “Did you.....Can you?” I ask, pointing to my head.

  Ry laughs, a rich hearty laugh that floats through the room and echoes back to me. Several heads turn in our direction, but I keep my attenti
on on the dark Lux brother. “Hell no,” he laughs, throwing me a grin. “That would be awful.”

  “Ummmm...thanks,” I grimace.

  “No. I just mean, that Jaxon would kill me. You see,” he says, shifting so that we are closer and his voice is much lower. “Only bonded pairs can read and speak to each other that way. Well...that and empaths. Relax cherry,” he winks. “You are safe with me.”

  “I doubt that. Wait....did you call me cherry?” I ask, confused.

  His eyes sparkle as he reaches over and tugs a lock of my hair. “Yep. You smell like cherries to me. The name seems fitting,” he shrugs.

  I ignore him. I have a feeling he is referencing my cherry blossom shampoo. Still, Jaxon’s brother giving me a nickname based on the way that I smell seems way too personal for me. I opt to change the subject, something that I have been doing a lot lately.

  “Well...how did you know that I was looking for Jaxon then?”

  “Easy. It was written all over that cute little face of yours. I don’t have to be able to read your mind to read you. You are kind of an open book.” He shrugs as he says it, switching his position so that he is stretching his other leg. Then, with sinful precision he brings his arms up over his head, exposing his tight, toned mid-section. I quickly avert my eyes, but not quickly enough.

  Ryker lets out another hearty laugh, but this one is deeper...rougher somehow. “Like what you see? Don’t worry cherry. We are brothers. We are good at sharing.”

  Sharing! There will be absolutely no sharing! You share gum. Maybe food, but people.... Never people! That’s.....

  Disgusting....in an oddly hot kind of way.

  Great! Now my mind has gone to the gutter imagining what it would be like to be sandwiched between all that smooth skin and muscle.

  His laughter snaps me out of it, and my cheeks now match my nickname he gave me as they blaze a cherry red. His eyes tell me that he knows what his words did to me, but I harden my face as I push away all inappropriate thoughts.

  “Where is he?” I ask, focusing on Jaxon. Jaxon is the only brother that should cause my cheeks to change color or heat to swamp my lower abdomen. Damn Ryker!

  A dark lock of hair tumbles into his eyes as his smile turns downright sinful. He shakes his head slightly, and I can tell by the smirk that he is wearing that his words are going to make me angry.

  “Nope. No way am I telling you that.”

  That’s it. No explanation. Just nope. Well....I am sorry, but that is not going to work for me. Agitation lights up my nerve endings as I lean forward, crowding Ryker’s personal space and not caring.

  “And why is that?” I grit out between clenched teeth as I fight to reign in my temper. Hitting Ryker with my shoe will not help my cause, and I doubt it would even hurt him.

  “Because I value my life cherry,” he says rolling his eyes as he drops to some weird butterfly stretch. I tilt my head, but do not try to copy his movements. I am pretty sure I would break a bone if I tried that.

  “You are being a bit over-dramatic. Don’t you think?” I grumble, irritated that he will not tell me what I need to know.

  “Not at all. I think not wanting to die is a great reason for keeping my mouth shut,” he laughs, rising to his feet.

  I roll my eyes, pushing myself up as well. “Jaxon would not hurt you,” I say, a laugh escaping as my attention shifts to a commotion at the front of the room.

  “Are you sure about that? How well do you really know my brother Maci?”

  I know Jaxon! I know...........I freeze, his words hitting me in the already sore heart. I don’t know Jax. Not really. I haven’t known him long enough to truly know him. I just know this version of him, which makes me wonder. Is there another side to Jaxon that I don’t know?

  I want to ask Ryker more. I have a million questions as always, but fate takes that opportunity from me.

  Fate is really a bitch sometimes.

  Mr. Cash strolls into the room, or at least I am assuming the giant before me is my yet to be seen fight and battle training teacher.

  Holy hulk on steroids! Mr. Cash is ripped, stacked, and double dipped in fine! Like if Hercules and Xena had a love child, I am pretty sure Mr. Cash would be the result. He is a little older than me. Mid-thirties maybe. He has longish brown hair that curls on the ends, stopping just under those defined cheek bones of his. His eyes are so blue that they almost glow as they sweep the room in an almost bored way. They linger briefly on me before moving on.

  Ink....glorious ink covers every muscled inch of him. A dragon on one arm and what appears to be a bloody cross on the other. I have never really been a fan of ink, but Mr. Cash makes it look good.

  Great! Now I am lusting after my teacher! What is wrong with me today? Did someone put a slut spell on me?

  Stop it Maci! Stop!

  “UP!” he booms, his voice carrying across the space with ease. Everyone gets up. It takes less than a second for every person...angel...whatever...in the room to rise swiftly to their feet. The talking ceases. Hell.....I can barely hear anyone breathe. Even Ryker has grown deathly still beside me.

  I do the same. I have a feeling that getting in trouble in this class would be level nine suckage.

  “Pair up, or I will pair you up. You know the rules. Keep it clean,” he barks before disappearing back through the side door.

  “What do you say cherry? Want to hit me?” Ryker teases, grabbing my arm and pulling me onto the mat.

  Yes. I do actually. A lot!

  “Ummm.....” Nervousness fills me as I mentally compare Ryker’s size to my own. His left arm contains more muscle than my entire body. Do I want to spar with him? Hell No! Do I want to risk being paired up with someone else? Someone that I don’t semi-know and trust? Double hell no!

  “Let’s do this, but Ry.....” I whisper, using the nickname that I gave him not long after coming here. “Try not to break me. I have been broken enough.”

  Something dark and intense flashes across his face. He clenches and un-clenches his jaw before taking a deep breath. His face is serious and his voice quiet when he whispers his reply.

  “Never.”

  I blink. The way he said it...like just the thought of it hurt him.... confuses me. “What did you say?” I ask, confused now. Really confused.

  He shakes his head, whatever trance he was in fading as he looks at me. “I said I will take it easy on you. You are a half-breed after all.”

  That so wasn’t what he said, but I decide to let it go. For now. It probably isn’t wise to anger the boy who is about to kick your ass.

  Then he moves, and Christ he is fast. I mean really fast. He strikes, taking my legs out in one swift kick that I never see coming. My back slams into the hardness of the mat as Ryker laughs from above me. Hands crossed over his muscular chest, he looks amused.

  Me? I look pissed!

  Coughing, I roll, pushing myself to my knees. Geez! If that was taking it easy on me, I would hate to see him try!

  “Too slow cherry,” Ryker teases, offering me a hand up. I don’t take it. I push myself up, readying myself for round two.

  “Christ! What are you, a ninja?” I grunt out, still trying to catch the breath that he knocked out of me.

  “No. I am a warrior angel. As are...were,” he corrects, shaking his head. “both of my brothers. I have been training from birth to fight. We all have. It was our destiny, and then you came along....”

  “Me? What do I have to do with it?” I demand, not liking where he is going with this.

  “Everything Maci! That is what you don’t get! It has everything to do with you! You stole my sister when she was five! She left us and went to protect you, and that sucked, but I understood it. Then....you took him too!” His voice is shaky, and for the first time I hear real emotion coming from him. Not the mask that he wears to hide from the rest of the world.

  “Jaxon?” I ask softly.

  “Yes! Jaxon! Taking Ashlee wasn’t enough! You took him too! A trained warrior reduced
to a babysitter over a half-breed!” He booms, and every head in the room turns in our direction.

  I swallow the tears and embarrassment that wants to drown me. I try...I really try...to keep my voice steady. I don’t think that I do very well. “I never asked for any of this. I don’t need a babysitter! I can take care of ....”

  My words cut off as his leg sweeps out, faster this time and with more force. I hit the mat, my head missing the cushion and smacking onto the hardwood floor. Stars explode across my vision as a wave of dizziness swirls inside of me. Nausea spikes and I groan as pain stabs behind my closed eyelids.

  “Shit! Cherry...I’m......I didn’t.....”

  “Get away from me!” I cry, just as a shadow falls over us both. Mr. Cash gives Ryker a look that could freeze hell as he gently helps me to my feet. The world sways around me, and Mr. Cash helps me to a bench in the corner of the room.

  Once my vision adjusts.... Ryker is gone.

  ∞

  ~ Chapter 19 ~

  I don’t see Jaxon for the rest of the day. The brothers are noticeably absent as well. Even C.J. is MIA. Leaving me with a hollow, lonely feeling that I have not felt since arriving at Hillcrest.

  I begin to worry when the night falls, bathing the school in an eerie silence. Made more so by the absence of the people around me. I try to study, but after reading the same sentence three times and still not remembering it, I give up.

  It strikes me as I sit in the absolute quietness that I haven’t gone an entire day without talking to Jaxon since arriving here. Well...unless you count my time as a captive. I miss him. A lot actually.

  The quiet gives me too much time to think. What did Ryker mean today? Is he bipolar? Can angels be bipolar? First, he was nice to me. Then he flirted with me. Said some cryptic shit about never hurting me, just to turn around the next second and literally hurt me.

  Uhhhhh.....