“You’re welcome,” she said sourly, but I knew she was pleased.
“Well, they’re waiting. You guys ready?” Lily nearly squealed.
Alexandra looked past me at herself in the mirror, as if for reassurance. The sequins on her silver dress sparkled as she turned on her heel. Unlike mine, hers was loose, but just as flashy. Her black metal pumps clicked as she led the way out.
The sun was setting as night approached, a quiet hush had taken over the campus, and my sisters’ silent anticipation was all but tangible. A wind blew lightly as I walked outside, stirring my hair. Music was coming from Building Eight, the recreation center, and Lily’s smile widened as she hurried to the open doors, which were decorated with black streamers that hid everything behind them.
Lily saw my slight grimace and flashed me a smile, squeezing my shoulder lightly. “Loosen up some.” She disappeared into the black mass, leaving me with Alexandra.
My other sister turned to me. “She’s right, you can take a break once a year and have a little fun. It’s never killed anyone,” she offered jokingly, but it had a very different effect on me.
“It almost did,” I whispered.
Her smile faltered then dropped, and her eyes met mine. “We’re not little kids anymore. And you’re dormant now. You deserve tonight. Don’t waste it.” She squeezed my hand, and with a single step, she was gone.
The wind blew harder, turning my hair into a swirling mass of black. She was right. I’d worked hard to get past that day for eleven years, and my insanity was finally under control thanks to boxing. I did deserve it. Tonight was my night, and I could do this. I took a deep breath and plastered a smile onto my face.
The room was alive. Lights danced across the moving bodies while the stage lit up to welcome my sisters. Off to the side, a few classmates of mine were playing beer pong, and— Was that a keg? Holy shit, Aaron’s ex was holding herself in a handstand as she guzzled god knew what out of it. I turned to see a massive three-tier cake covered in chocolate frosting. Sparklers sat next to it. Were they actually going to use those as candles? Alexandra would burn the building down. I groaned.
I joined Alexandra on the outer edge of the party. As I neared her, she turned and smiled, handing me a fruity-looking iced drink with salt around the rim. Alcoholic, probably. I took a sip and turned to the group. My roommates gaped at me.
“Selena?” Amber asked, a subtle rudeness to her tone.
I dropped my smile into a slight grin. “Hello to you too.”
“You’re absolutely stunnin’,” Tori said in her country twang.
“Thanks,” I said lamely. I didn’t take compliments well. Not that I was insecure—quite the opposite. I knew I was hot. I just didn’t care. Looks fade. People grow old. There are more important things in life.
“So, uh . . . Amber and I are havin’ a movie night tomorrow night. You in?” Tori asked. For a while now, we’d been staying up late to eat snacks and watch comedians on YouTube. We never really did anything as roommates. Maybe it was time to change that.
“Sure.” I nodded. “I’ll make the popcorn.”
Tori smiled brightly, and her eyes slid to something, or more like someone, behind me.
“Happy birthday,” Lucas’s deep voice rumbled next to me.
“Thanks,” I said, turning from the stage to him.
“I’ll let you enjoy your party. See you later,” Tori said, dragging Amber with her to the keg.
I cut my eyes at Lucas to see what he thought of his baby sister joining in that, but his eyes were all for me.
“Does that have alcohol in it?” He motioned to my drink.
“Probably,” I said, gulping the last bit down.
“I’m surprised you drink,” he said.
I snorted. “I have a lot of self-control. I’m not a prude.”
“Fair enough. So how old are you turning?” He flagged down one of the servers. I snatched a mimosa from the tray, and he took a beer. Vile stuff. Such a waste of good alcohol.
“Sixteen.” I coughed. Some of my drink had gone down the wrong way.
“You okay?” He laughed, and tried to take it from me.
I maneuvered it away from him. “Nice try.” I coughed again, but brought it back to my lips. “So, is that a problem?”
“What?”
“Me being sixteen. Is that a problem?” Why was he acting so funny?
“No.” He smiled genuinely, shaking his head.
“Good.” I laughed, drained my second cup then sang along to the song playing overhead.
“Is there anything you aren’t good at?” He motioned to me.
I laughed lightly and reached for another red drink. “Nope,” I replied, giddy. Colors flashed by, and my life kicked into fast forward. I stumbled, just a little, and a strong arm looped around my waist.
“I beg to differ,” his deep voice rumbled in my ear.
“I’m on my third drink. Give me a break.” I wasn’t even bothering to go easy. It wasn’t like it would make me sick. I would likely have to be at it again in the next half hour if I wanted to keep the buzz going.
“You want to have some real fun?” He smiled devilishly.
“What did you have in mind?” I grinned.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m sure we can think of something if we put our heads together.” His eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen them.
I would’ve gone anywhere with him.
Chapter 28
The train station was cold tonight. Filled with people from my life. A whistle blew, and I knew what was coming. This couldn’t be happening.
Smiling faces passed me, but no one stayed. First, it was people I used to know, and then others came. My cousins and roommates boarded before the whistle called again. I saw my family boarding. I panicked when I saw Lucas.
I tried to talk to them, to get their attention, to stop them from leaving me, but they slipped past. I screamed and yelled, throwing my hands in the air for the most dramatic temper-tantrum I could come up with. No one stopped.
I tried to run, but my legs were like Jell-O. I needed to move faster. They couldn’t leave me. I had to stop them. But how?
My sisters and parents stood there with Lucas, waiting. They were waving and motioning for me to follow, to not get left behind, but it was a wasted effort. Soon Lily and Alexandra walked away, then my mother, and, finally, my father. Lucas stayed; he stayed right there on the platform, looking at me expectantly. Motioning for me to get up—to keep moving.
I slowly made my legs work. Forcing my body along in a crawl. The train doors slammed, and it started to roll away. But Lucas . . . he stayed.
He stayed.
I ran to him, taking his outstretched hand.
My dream shattered.
I bolted straight up as my eyes flew open. Cold sweat trickled down my back, and my heart raced.
Tori was leaning over me, and her hands were clamped around my shoulders as she shook me. Her sharp green eyes were wide and scared. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, and she slumped back onto my bed.
“Bad dream?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Can you do me favor?”
“What?”
“Don’t tell anybody about tonight. It’ll be our little secret.” My sisters had freaked last time this happened.
“Okay, I promise,” she agreed, and we sat there in silence. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“No.” It came out harsh, but that wasn’t my intention. “It’s just something I have to deal with on my own. Thanks, though,” I added.
“Okay.” She shrugged as she got off the bed. Tori was still dressed in her clothes from the party, so she must’ve just gotten back.
Lucas and I had practically drunk the night away, and talked until three in the morning. How I’d ended up in here was a blank. I’d have to ask him about it later. I was still wearing the dress from the night before, but the shoes were missing. I kicked my legs out of bed to stand up.
&nbs
p; “Ow! What the—”
“Your shoes?” Tori said, reaching down and picking them up.
“Oh,” I muttered, a little baffled.
“You look confused,” she commented as she stripped out of her clothes.
“I am.”
“About?”
“How exactly did I get back to our room last night?”
“Oh. Uh, you fell asleep, and Lucas carried you back. I’m surprised you’re up . . . ”
I cursed under my breath. I had been pushing it toward the end of the night. I couldn’t have told you how many drinks I consumed. My Supernatural heart beat steadily, and any effects were long gone. I was sober.
“What time is it?” I sighed.
“Almost seven,” she said, falling back on her bed.
If I’d stayed up all night, I would want to sleep all day too.
“Selena, I was wonderin’ . . . uh . . . you and Lucas—”
“No, we’re just good friends,” I interrupted. “Why do you ask?”
“When you were screamin’, you said his name and— I was just wonderin’.” She clearly wasn’t saying everything, but I did not want to be having this conversation right now.
“No, it was . . . just a bad dream.” I turned away and got up to shower.
“And, Selena—”
“What?” This topic wasn’t up for discussion. All I wanted was to take a shower in peace.
“I’ll keep quiet, and if you ever need anythin’, I’m here for you.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond. We’d been friends for a while now, but we never talked about deep things, and I never asked for favors. It was . . . strange. My only real friend here was a guy. That kind of put me at a loss. “I . . . I appreciate it.” The words felt too formal.
She laughed at my lack of conversational skills. “You’re not used to hearin’ that, are you?”
“I’ve never had friends.”
She climbed out of bed and walked to me. I froze when she hugged me. Since the day her grandma died, we hadn’t had any physical contact. I put my arms around her, and tried to relax.
“Where I come from, thank you works just fine,” she joked, pulling away, but still holding me at arm’s length.
“Thank you.” I squeezed her arms, grateful she’d at least tried to understand how bizarre this was for me.
We laughed together, and for the first time in a long time, I felt normal.
Chapter 29
“Hurry up, Selena! We’re already late,” Amber yelled from the other side of the bathroom door.
Movie night had gone great: we’d laughed and talked, and I’d actually had a good time. We’d watched the X-Men movies, which had kept us up until four in the morning. It wouldn’t have mattered, except it was a Sunday night, and Tori had forgotten to set the alarm.
“Tori forgot the alarm, not me!” I yelled back through the door. I’d woken up at 6:23, and ever since then, we’d been in a rush.
There were another few bangs as Amber pounded on the door. I didn’t say anything, just kept blow-drying my hair.
Next thing I knew, there was something in the shower, and hair crap was falling all over the place. Tori walked out of the shower, and I almost screamed.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled at her over my blow-dryer. The door was locked, and two seconds ago, she’d been outside the bathroom with Amber, trying to get in.
“I’m a teleporter,” she said, giving me a look that said, what the hell did you think it was?
“I’m still not done,” I said.
“Well, we need to use the bathroom!” Amber yelled through the door.
Tori reached around me and unlocked it.
Amber instantly pushed me out of the way and claimed the bathroom.
“Excuse you,” I said, grabbing the hair dryer.
“We’re gonna be late to first period,” Tori said.
“Oh shit.” I scrambled out of the bathroom to grab my things.
Tori and Amber bounded after a few seconds later.
“First bell just rang,” Amber swore, and we bolted from the room. We had about two minutes to get to Building One, and it was all the way across campus.
I sped up once we hit the pavement and didn’t stop until I was in the classroom. As we walked in, everyone stared—probably because Tori was gasping for air like she smoked a pack a day. The last bell rang on cue, and we took our seats just as Brighton strolled into class.
“Foster, Headmaster Daizlei wants you immediately,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee.
“Which one?” Alexandra asked.
“Selena,” he responded without looking up.
I got up and headed over to the main building. What could he need me for? Had they learned my secret? Had Alexandra or Lily said something? I highly doubted it was for drinking. It could’ve been for skipping class, but they would’ve said something already. It had to be that they’d found out . . . but how? Alexandra wouldn’t have said anything, would she? No, but neither would Lily. How else—
“Something on your mind?” Lucas said next to me.
“I got called to the Headmaster’s office, but I’m not sure what for,” I mumbled, which was when it hit me. What if he’d found out when I was drunk? He could’ve read my mind; what if he’d told? I looked over at him suspiciously. No, he wouldn’t have told even if he knew. But . . . did he know?
“Me too,” he responded.
It couldn’t be that, then. My secret had nothing to do with him—but boxing did.
“Can I talk to you about something?” I had to know if the alcohol had lowered my senses enough that he’d found out what I was.
“Sure,” he said, a little guarded. He glanced sideways at me with a confused look. Whenever I asked things like that, it usually didn’t go well.
“When you read someone’s mind, have you ever come across . . . a barrier like mine?” I asked.
“No, unless they were a shield. But if I really wanted to know something, I could break them.” His response was immediate; didn’t even require thinking.
“Could you do that with me?” I asked.
“Is this your way of asking if I tried to invade your privacy, Selena? I thought we were past that.” His voice turned dangerous.
“Just answer me,” I snapped.
He’d avoided my question. I had to know.
He stopped walking and turned to face me completely
My eyes were hard, and my heart was closed. I waited.
“No, I haven’t gotten around your barriers. You’re different. Most of the time it’s silence, but every now and then, out of nowhere, I hear you screaming. I wish I did know what you were thinking, but I haven’t tried to read your mind in months.” His eyes never left my face, and I looked away out of embarrassment, even though it wasn’t my confession.
I ignored what I thought he was hinting at. Of course he would want to read my mind, any Supernatural would. I was an enigma to him. A challenge. We were friends; and more importantly, partners—and he’d kept any curiosity at bay, respecting my boundaries.
“What do you mean, I’m ‘screaming?’” I would address the necessary and leave the rest for another time.
“You’re silent. I can feel your presence, so to speak, but nothing more. But if you’re distracted, and not using any of your Jedi mind tricks, I can only assume I’m actually hearing what it’s like to be inside the mind of Selena Foster. You sound like you’re screaming.” He looked away. There was more he wasn’t saying, but I’d heard enough.
This conversation had taken a way too personal turn, and I needed to backtrack quickly. “Does alcohol change that?” I asked, getting straight to the point. We didn’t have much more time for idle chitchat when we were expected to be there any moment now.
“You’re very . . . different.” His voice sounded a little off, too short. Different? What the hell did that mean? Good or bad? Oh, screw these stupid mind games.
“Define different,” I pushed, ignoring h
ow uncomfortable this had become for both of us. I knew Lucas saw more than he usually let on, and he chose not to double-cross me and keep what he’d learned to himself. It worked for us. Some secrets can’t be kept quiet. They have to be buried.
“You’re just different. It’s like going from silence to overload with you. There were so many thoughts running through your mind, I couldn’t keep up. It was like listening to a hundred people at once. Except it was all you,” he said softly. It was like the calm after the storm with him. We were either in it or not, never in between.
“Did anything . . . stand out?” I asked, trying not to be completely obvious. He knew I still had secrets; he just didn’t know how big they were.
“No, Selena, nothing stood out. I had to drink enough to numb my ability throughout the night, so I couldn’t hear you.” Shit. He was pissed. I’d crossed some sort of invisible line; one I hadn’t even known was there.
Instead of apologizing, or telling him the truth, I let us walk in silence until we reached Headmaster Daizlei’s office. I’d never been here before, and if it weren’t for Lucas, I probably would’ve gotten lost. Not that I was going to tell him that, or thank him.
Inside, everything was made of wood: the floors, the long desk, the bookcases, the couches, even the two chairs. Along the walls, bookcases were piled high with books of every age, color, and size. The long desk sat in front of a huge window overlooking campus, and sitting behind it was the headmaster himself. We weren’t the only ones in the room. Coach Avery was leaning against the desk, while several others from the gym were seated at various spots.
“Take a seat, guys.” Coach motioned to the only remaining couch open.
I sat next to Lucas and waited patiently for the lecture.
“First off, you all did great at the tournament this Friday. We had strong start this season, and Belleview was completely blown away. Especially by you, Selena, but I think we were all surprised by the gore in that match.” He looked away, and I could practically feel the weight of the room shift. The tension between Lucas and me didn’t fade.
“We’ve just received an invitation to Vermont’s School for the Supernaturally Gifted. I’m taking twelve of you, no more, no less. Lucas and Selena, your places are already secured. That means there are ten slots open, and eighteen of you. Aaron, you’d best get your act together or you won’t be on that flight, understood?”
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