Dancing With A Stranger (Londyn Carter Book 1)

by A. L. Martin

  “Sorry, Londyn. I didn’t know you were standing there,” Jules said.

  “Well, I tried knocking but you were too busy blasting your music,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Mom wanted me to let you know breakfast is ready.”

  I turned to go downstairs I didn’t give her a chance to say anything. I had too much on my mind to deal with Jules right now.

  Mom had made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. I needed some comfort food before school. Honestly, I needed more than comfort food, but it would have to do for right now. Mom had my plate and glass of orange juice waiting for me over at the table.

  “Good morning, Mom,” I said, walking past her while she was getting Jules her plate.

  “Morning, Londyn. Did you get any sleep last night?” she asked, walking around the counter.

  “Do I look that bad?” I asked, patting under my eyes with my index finger.

  “You look fine, Londyn. I was just wondering.” She said.

  Jules and I arrived at school fifteen minutes before the first bell was to ring. I parked toward the back of the parking lot. The minute I turned the car off, Jules was out of the car, reaching in the backseat to grab her stuff and head over to Asher’s car, where he was talking with his friends. I envied her right now because she had no idea about us and what that meant for the future. I sat there in my car, watching kids walk up to the school. I found myself feeling jealous of every single kid that passed by my car. They were normal and didn’t have to worry about unintentionally hurting someone. I was scared out of my mind that I would hurt someone or even worse, kill them. I jumped in my seat, screaming, when I heard the passenger side door open. The pounding of my heart echoed in my ears.

  “I’m sorry, Londyn. I thought you saw me walking up to the car,” Wyatt said, sitting down.

  “You scared the shit out of me,” I said, sitting up straight. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t even notice he had walked up to the car. Then, I thought about what could happen if someone accidentally scared me and I did something to that person. I closed my eyes tight at the mere thought of what I could do to someone.

  “Londyn? What’s wrong?” Wyatt asked.

  I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head toward him. “I’m scared that I’m going to accidentally hurt someone or kill them. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened,” I said, lowering my head.

  “Londyn, don’t be scared. We’re going to figure out your powers and work on controlling them,” he said, raising my chin up so he could look me in the eye. I sat there staring into his beautiful blue eyes, and for the first time since yesterday, I felt calm. I knew I could trust Wyatt and what he told me to be the truth.

  He got out of the car and grabbed my things from the backseat, then walked around and opened my driver-side door. He held out his hand for me to take, helping me out of my car and closing the door behind me. “It’s going to be okay. You will be fine,” he whispered, taking my hand in his while we started walking up toward the school. It was easy for him to say because he had control over his powers. Mine were anything but under control. He gave a light squeeze of my hand the closer we got to the school entrance.

  “What happens if Jayde decides to start shit with me? I’m afraid I will do something I will regret later.” I sighed.

  “If she tries to start anything while I’m around, I will handle it. Don’t worry, Londyn. Please.” He let go of my hand to open the door for me and scooped it up again in his once inside.

  We walked straight ahead, turning the right corner, and I saw Gavin at the end of the hall, leaning against my locker like he did every morning. I didn’t know if I would be able to lie to him or if I would just blurt out my secret.

  “Gavin can’t know about you.” I heard Wyatt’s low voice.

  “You know I really wish you would give me a heads up before doing that.” I glared over at him.

  “Sorry. Bad habit.”

  I understood why he did it, but it was going to take some getting used to, hearing his voice inside my head.

  “Remember to act normal.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. My whole life as I knew it changed in the matter of minutes yesterday.”

  “The more you act normal, the less he will become suspicious that something is wrong. Therefore, he won’t hound you about what’s bothering you.”

  I didn’t want to admit it, but Wyatt was right. Gavin would never leave me alone if he knew something was troubling me. He would keep asking me to the point I would give in and tell him.

  “Hey, Sunshine. How are you this morning?” Gavin smile, wrapping his arms around me in a big hug.

  “Morning, Gavin. I’m doing okay.” I smiled, glancing at Wyatt, then turning back to Gavin. “Want to come over after school today?”

  “Sure. Want me to bring anything over?” Gavin asked, looking down at his phone.

  “I can’t think of anything you need to bring. I will text Mom later to let her know that you will be coming over after school. Maybe I can talk her into making spaghetti and meatballs.” I winked.

  Gavin went back to looking at his phone while I opened my locker. In the back of my locker, hanging up, was a necklace. It was a silver crescent moon with a circle dangling from the top of the moon. I leaned back away from my locker, peeking around my locker door at Gavin who was still scrolling through videos on his phone.

  “Did you put this in my locker?” I questioned.

  “Put what in your locker?” he asked, not taking his eyes off his phone.

  I reached in my locker, unhooking the necklace from a hook that wasn’t there before either. “This necklace.” I said as I closed my locker door.

  “Where did that come from? I didn’t put it in there. It’s cool looking.” Gavin took the necklace from my hand to get a better look at it.

  “What are you two looking at?” Wyatt asked, moving closer to me. “Where did that come from?” His eyes fixated on the necklace in Gavin’s hand.

  “Londyn, found it in her locker.” Gavin said, holding the necklace up.

  Wyatt moved me over a couple of steps closer to Gavin, then slowly opened my locker door and stared inside. I had no idea what he was looking for, and I couldn’t ask him with Gavin standing right next to me.

  “Where did you find it?” Wyatt asked, moving things around in my locker.

  “It was hanging up in the back on that hanger.” I said, walking around to the other side of him. I leaned in closer to him and whispered. “What’s going on, Wyatt?”

  Wyatt leaned back, glancing at Gavin to make sure he was still looking at the necklace. He put his mouth right next to my ear. “It’s a witch’s necklace.”

  I leaned away from him, staring into his emotionless eyes. He backed away from the front of my locker, his eyes shifting from side to side.

  “Can I see the necklace, Gavin?” Wyatt asked.

  “Sure. Did you give it to, Londyn?” Gavin asked, handing the necklace over to him.

  “Yeah,” Wyatt said, giving me a quick nod. He unhooked the clasp, then walked behind me, lifting the necklace over my head. As he closed the clasp, he whispered in my ear, instructing me to play along. I lifted the necklace up, as I looked down to get a better look at it. I noticed that the circle had two tiny crescent moons facing the opposite direction.

  “It looks good on you,” Gavin said, putting his phone in his pocket.

  I lowered the necklace back down. “Thanks.”

  “If Sam is here, we have to invite her too,” Gavin said, closing my locker door for

  me.

  “Wyatt you have to come over too.”

  “Huh?” I said, tilting my head to the right.

  “Going to your house today after school, Londyn. Remember? Are you okay?” Gavin questioned.

  “Yeah.” I forced a smile.

  “I am definitely coming over for spaghetti and meatballs. I need to get going to class. I’ll see you both at lunch.” Wyatt smiled gently, squeezing my hand before let
ting go of it.

  Everything is going to be all right. Don’t worry. You aren’t going to do anything to hurt anyone. Remember to act natural. Remember if anyone asks, I got you the necklace.

  Wyatt looked over his shoulder, smiling back at me. Gavin grabbed my arm, turning me around to face the opposite direction before we were late to class. I was so busy trying to act natural, I overlooked Gavin’s look for the day.

  “Jeans? Are you feeling okay?” I giggled.

  “I didn’t feel like wearing khakis today. Do I look ridiculous?” he questioned, looking down at his jeans.

  “I think you look great. I think you should wear them more often.” I winked at him. “You got to show off your ass.”

  He twisted his waist to look down at his ass. “You’re right. It does look pretty good in jeans.” He laughed.

  “We’re going to be late for class.” I tugged on his arm to keep walking with me.

  I got to Math class right as the final bell rang for classes to start. Now, I just had to keep my movements to a minimum until I could figure out what powers I had and how to control them. On top of everything else, I had to figure out a way to pry the information out of Wyatt about my new necklace and how it got into my locker. While everyone was somewhat paying attention in class, I casually grabbed my necklace, and tucked it down inside my sweatshirt. I wasn’t ready to answer questions about it. I didn’t have the strength to keep my lies straight today.

  I looked straight ahead while Mrs. Webster talked about the lesson she was going over, but I couldn’t have told you what she just said. I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened yesterday with Jayde and the events that led up to me freezing the entire hall. I was angry at her, and even more so when she went to slap Gavin. Anger must set it off right, which means I need to try and stay calm. I texted Wyatt and told him about how I thought anger must have triggered my powers. He quickly texted back that anger is usually what triggers our powers at first.

  “Londyn, can I see you for a second?” Mrs. Webster said, walking around to the front of her desk, sitting on it and crossing her arms.

  “Is there a problem, Mrs. Webster?” I asked, trying to sound convincing.

  “I was about to ask you the same question. You seemed rather preoccupied in class today. Is everything alright? If there is something you need to talk about, you know you can come to me.”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Webster. I didn’t get much sleep last night. I promise I will pay better attention in class tomorrow.” I turned to walk out the door.

  “Londyn, I’m not worried about you paying attention in class. You are one of my smartest students. But it isn’t like you to slack off the entire class. So I know something must be troubling you. I can’t make you tell me what it is, but just know that I’m here if you need to talk.” She stood up straightening the wrinkles on her slacks.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Webster. I’m okay. I appreciate you letting me know I can come to you if I ever need someone to talk to. I should head to English.”

  “Wait, I will get you a pass for your next class.” She grabbed a hall pass and wrote her name on it, then handed it to me. “I meant what I said, Londyn. Anytime.”

  “Thanks.” I took the hall pass and walk out the door. I walked halfway down the hall before stopping to text Wyatt again, then made my way around the corner.

  “Wyatt? How did you do that? I just sent you the text a few minutes ago.” I looked down the hall, then over my shoulder behind me to make sure no one had heard me.

  Hyper Speed it is one of my many powers.

  “I got worried when you sent the other text, so I had to come see if you were okay. I told you I was going to stay close to you. I’m not going anywhere, Londyn. I will always be here for you.” He caressed my cheek.

  “Mrs. Webster stopped me on my way out of Math class, asking me if I was okay. It was all I could do to keep myself together. She told me I could talk to her anytime.” I lowered my head.

  “Londyn, it will get easier once you get more used to everything. You trust me right?” He lifted my chin up with his thumb.

  “Yes.”

  Funny thing was, I trusted him more than anyone else right now. He could have told me the sky was purple and I would’ve believed him, no questions asked.

  “Where’s the necklace?” he asked, lowering his eyes down to my neck.

  I grabbed the chain, pulling the necklace out from under my sweatshirt. “I didn’t want people asking me about it, so I tucked it down my shirt. You know who put it in my locker don’t you?” I slipped the moon down my sweatshirt again, then quickly raised up to see the expression on Wyatt’s face. The minute my eyes caught his gaze, his eyes shot a quick glance to the left.

  “I have a good idea who left the necklace for you.” He pressed his lips together, then was gone as fast as he appeared.

  I walked into English class almost ten minutes late. Mr. Adams had to point out that I was late to class, which I never did understand because the class could see someone was late and didn’t if they were late or not. I handed him my hall pass and he quickly stopped trying to humiliate me. I took my seat next to Sam, who looked a little better than yesterday. I mouthed if she was feeling better and she gave a quick nod yes. I got my book and notebook out, so I could at least try to pretend I was paying more attention in this class. I was trying to keep myself focused so I wouldn’t think horrible thoughts about Mr. Adams and accidentally have those thoughts come true. Then again, I probably would enjoy him being humiliated in front of the class. I had to hurry up and cover my mouth before he caught me giggling. Then, I would have to share with the class what I had found so funny. I looked up to find Mr. Adams glaring at me from the chalkboard. He turned around to start scribbling the lesson again.

  I nudged Sam’s foot and whispered, “Did you just get here because you weren’t in Math?”

  “Yeah. I was at the doctor’s office.” She glanced up toward the front of the class to make sure Mr. Adams wasn’t giving us a death glare.

  “What the hell is his problem?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, then whispered back. “His wife probably wouldn’t give him any last night.” She pretended to cough to cover up her giggling.

  “Ms. Jennings, is there a problem?” Mr. Adams said, sternly, glaring at the both of us.

  “No. I had a tickle. Sorry.”

  He turned back around to keep writing on the chalkboard, when Sam quickly raised up her middle finger to him. I hurried up and bent over to act like I was getting something out of my book bag, covering my mouth with my arm. When I heard him set the chalk down, I raised back up with a pen in my hand.

  Mr. Adams started to talk when the bell rang, saving us from this asshole that had taken over our English teacher’s body. Mr. Adams didn’t use to be such a dick, but here lately, he had been impossible to deal with. Most of the class was up and out the door before he even finished what he was saying about tomorrow’s lesson. He had no one to blame but himself for the class not wanting to listen to him. We were getting tired of his constant humiliating tactics and his lack of respect for us kids in his class. He wanted us to respect him, but he didn’t respect us at all. Sam and I gathered up our things, basically running out of the classroom before he could say anything to us.

  “What the hell has crawled up his ass?” I asked Sam the minute we made it out of his room.

  “I don’t know. I did hear he was having an affair on his wife. Maybe she caught him and kicked his worthless ass out.”

  “He needs to stop taking his problems out on the class. He used to be nice. He’s a complete jerk now. I need to get to Spanish. I will see you at lunch.” I smiled.

  “Great!” Sam said, turning right to head toward her class.

  I turned left, heading to Spanish, hoping the class went better than the last two. I didn’t know how more I could take before something ended up happening.

  Spanish was a lot better than English class. I was able to keep a little bit be
tter focus in the classroom because we were practicing long sentences. Wyatt was waiting for me outside Spanish, which was a welcome surprise. I could get used to this, but I didn’t want to ruin a good thing. He took my hand, pulling me close to his side as we walked through the crowds of kids passing in the hall. Some were heading to their next class, and some were heading to lunch like us.

  “Mr. Adams tried humiliating me in class today when I walked in a few minutes late.” I rolled my eyes.

  “What did he do?”

  “Pointing out to the class that I was late. I don’t know why he does that. It’s not like anyone really cares.” I let out an exasperated sigh.

  “Don’t let him get to you. He’s not worth your time. I heard his mistress dumped him,” Wyatt laughed. “Probably saw him naked and told him to get lost.”

  “Wyatt! I’m being serious. What if he makes me mad and I do something to him? Something that can’t be undone,” I whispered, lowering my head.

  “Londyn, breathe. Everything is going to be all right.” He took my hand in his and led us down the hall in the direction of the cafeteria. The closer we got to it, the more I tightened my grip around his hand. I knew Jayde was going to try and start something with me, and I didn’t know if I would be able to control my temper. Wyatt opened the door for me, taking my hand again. We were about to go sit with Sam when Gavin grabbed me from behind.

  “You didn’t wait for me, snob.” He laughed.

  “I’m sorry, Gavin. I was talking to Wyatt.”

  “It’s okay, Love. I’m not mad; I was just playing. I had to talk to my teacher after Biology. He gave us some ridiculous assignment that is due on Friday. I tried reasoning with his moron ass about how we needed longer if he wanted it done right. After five minutes, he finally agreed to give us until next Tuesday.”

  “Amazing! You should be a lawyer, Gavin. I’m serious. You’re great at arguing and persuading people to see your side. I’m telling you that is your calling in life.” I smiled, nudging him to walk with us over to our table.