by Tawny Stokes
I had seen a tiger. I know I did. It wasn’t a hallucination.
Dean Vasilev nodded to Frank, who quickly left the office, then she swiveled the computer screen back around. “I know being at a new school can be difficult. Everything is so different, foreign even in some circumstances. I know how hard it is to make friends. You want to make a good impression. You want others to like you. So I know sometimes you can make a bad decision in a time of stress and anxiety. But drinking on school grounds is not a good way to make friends.”
I sprung forward in my chair. “I was not drinking!”
“Are you sure? Sometimes even a sip of something can impair your judgment.”
I looked at her, pondered my next words, and tried to control my thoughts. I was certain she could hear them like a radio broadcast. To be completely honest, I had taken a sip of whatever it was Leander had poured in my cup. So it wasn’t completely out of the realm of possibility that there had been something in that beer. Although it was highly improbable. Leander wasn’t like that, and I didn’t hear about anyone else having issues. But I tried to fill my head with something else.
“It might not have been anything in the cup. Maybe you were just very tired and very stressed. When we get in a state of mind like that, it’s impossible to know what we will see, what we will experience.”
Too late.
Finally, I leaned back in the chair, defeated. “Yeah, maybe that’s it. I have been a bit stressed.”
Dean Vasilev smiled, and I was surprised her taut, stern face didn’t crack from the effort. “May I suggest an extra stress class, or yoga. I believe Miss Gisele does a yoga class Tuesday nights. Should I inform her you’ll be there?”
I really didn’t want to take another class, least of all yoga. But I had a feeling if I didn’t agree to it, I was going to get another strike on my permanent record. So I nodded.
“Good.” She closed my file. “Then we can move on from this incident without any more…problems.” She gestured to the door with a wave of her bony hand. Her nails were painted a dark red today. It was probably so no one would notice the blood on her talons when she eviscerated the students. “You may go.”
Grabbing my bag, I stood and walked toward the closed door.
“Danielle.”
I stopped and glanced at her over my shoulder.
“If you wish to succeed here, I suggest you keep your focus on your studies and your skills. Not on boys or parties, or traipsing around in the woods. You cannot afford another misstep.”
I didn’t respond, as there was nothing to say to that, and opened the door and left as quickly and quietly as I could muster. The second I was out, I let my shoulders sag. My neck ached, as did my head. It was amazing what a lot of anxiety can do to a person. And Dean Vasilev made me extremely anxious.
After Marta handed me a hall pass, I rushed down the corridors to my dance class. I would only be about ten minutes late, and I needed to dance. I needed to twist and turn and jump the stress away. Thankfully I didn’t have to face Maggie and her nastiness, as she didn’t have dance with me on Mondays. Not until balance class, at least. I could make it through a few hours, couldn’t I? But as I neared the classroom, tears streamed down my face.
I’d survived a few embarrassments, whispered rumors, hateful looks and remarks—I should’ve been tough enough to weather this. But I felt like giving up. What was the point? I wasn’t going to succeed here. Everything and everyone was against me. From day one, I’d been on high alert, battle mode. I prided myself on having thick armor, but in reality it was wearing thin. I could feel every shot taken at me. The bullets didn’t bounce off. They had sunk in, and it wasn’t until this very moment that I felt the gaping holes they left inside.
Before I reached the door to the dance studio, I just stopped walking. I dropped my bag onto the ground and collapsed against the wall, sliding down until my butt hit the gleaming tiled floor. Hugging my knees to my chest, I started to cry. Not little lady-like teardrops, but a full torrential downpour of salty tears and snot.
I was gulping in much-needed air when I spotted a pair of runners in front of me. I looked up at the accompanying legs and body that went with them to see Cai looking down at my crumpled form. Suddenly self-conscious, I wiped at my nose with the sleeve of my hoodie, not even wanting to imagine what had been all over my face.
He reached a hand down toward me. “C’mon.”
I shook my head. “I’m a slobbery, snotty mess. I will contaminate you.”
“C’mon,” he said a little more forcefully.
I took his hand, and he yanked me to my feet. Once I was up, he pulled me down the hallway to the side door. We went to the quad, then he led me onto a pathway into the trees. He guided me down an unmarked trail, but I could tell it was used often as the grass was well worn, along the stream until we came to a small clearing right on the shore that was a perfect secluded place to sit. The sun pierced the thick foliage overhead and bathed the greenery in its warm light.
Cai plopped down on the grass and patted the spot next to him. “Sit.”
I did, like a rag doll. I sat there, with my legs splayed out, my hair hanging in my face, and snot running and tears stinging my eyes. “Thanks for rescuing me,” I said between sniffles.
He didn’t look at me but kept staring out at the water. “You looked like you needed to get out of there.”
I opened my bag, rummaged through it to find the little packet of Kleenex I always carried. I took a few tissues out, wiped my eyes and blew my nose and shoved it all back into my bag.
We sat silently together, and it was nice. Birds chirped from nearby tree branches and a gray squirrel with a fuzzy tail scurried by with a big acorn in its mouth. I watched it scuttle up a tree trunk and twist around it, to what must’ve been his nesting hole. It made me smile, and I tilted my head up to the sun and took in a deep breath of clean, slightly aromatic air.
“Feel better?” He glanced at me then, realizing it was probably safe to do so since I had blown my nose.
I nodded and tucked my hair behind my ears and out of my face. I really didn’t want to look like Cousin It anymore. “Do you ever just get overwhelmed? Like you can’t breathe?”
“Yeah. Sometimes.”
“What do you do to feel better?”
“Go for naked runs.”
I chuckled, my heart fluttering a bit at the fact that he remembered our conversation that night in the woods. Some days I thought I had dreamt it. To go along with all the other dreams I had about Cai.
“Or sit quietly with a friend and commune with nature.” He smiled, and warmth grew inside my chest and spread out all over. My belly did a little flip-flop as well. His smile was devastating.
God, I wanted him to kiss me. Not just an innocent peck on the cheek, but a full on, heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping kiss. Would he freak out if I leaned in closer to him and just did it? Probably.
Although sometimes, in this moment even, I got a sense that maybe he wouldn’t pull away. That maybe, just maybe, he was thinking about it, too. But I didn’t want to ruin the connection we were sharing. It was too precious to me right now.
We sat on the bank of the stream tossing pebbles into the water. It was a beautiful, serene juncture and made me realize how much I missed occasions like these. I used to have them often with my mom. We had a park nearby our house, and when she was still healthy, we used to go for runs together. Then we would sometimes sit on one of the benches and just “be,” as my mom would call it.
“Fall’s my favorite season,” Cai said as he threw another small stone into the stream. “When the leaves turn colors, and animals prepare to hibernate. It’s peaceful. Reminds me of where I come from.”
“Which is where? I haven’t been able to place your accent.”
“Georgia, Russia.”
“Seriously?” I gaped at him.
“Yup. Came to America after my parents were…after they died.”
“And Professor Coppe
rsmith adopted you?”
He nodded, then chuckled. “It’s funny to hear you call him professor. He’s just Frank to me.”
“I wish I came from somewhere exciting like Russia. I’m from Seattle. How boring is that?” I laughed. “I’m probably the most boring person you’ve ever met.”
He looked me in the eyes. “There’s not one thing that’s boring about you, Dani.”
Suddenly self-conscious, I tucked my hair behind my ear again. There was something strangely familiar about the way he regarded me. There was interest there, in his gaze, I was sure of it. God, why did this have to be so hard?!
Maybe this was the perfect time to tell Cai how I felt about him. I was already vulnerable, so what did I have to lose? My dignity I suppose, especially if he didn’t feel the same way. Maybe it was true what Maggie said, and he was just being nice to me.
Time almost stood still until Cai looked up into the sky and announced that we should probably be getting back, as classes would be out and it was lunchtime.
I got to my feet, brushed at my pants, and hefted my bag over my shoulder. Cai did the same. We glanced at each other, the tension settling in around us again.
“This is a good spot to come anytime you feel anxious or need to be alone. Not too many people know about it.”
I nodded, and we started back to the school. When we were on the path to the side door, I said, “So, thanks again for, ah, rescuing me.”
“Hey, when I see someone drowning, I’ll always pull them out.” He gave me an odd look.
“Oh. You must’ve heard what happened to me Friday night.”
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. He seemed nervous all of a sudden.
“I can just imagine what people are saying. Clown Girl trips over her own feet and makes a fool of herself. Again.”
“At least you looked good doing it.” He chuckled a little, then stopped cold like he caught himself doing something wrong.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know? You weren’t there.”
“I saw you. Walking down the path to the aquatic center.”
“With Anna?”
He nodded quickly. “Yeah, with Anna. You looked…”
I arched an eyebrow in question.
He stared deep into my eyes again and said, “Hot. You looked hot.” Then he was walking away to disappear back into the school.
Dumbfounded, I watched him go, my mouth literally open and gaping like a guppy. Then a huge, wide grin nearly broke my face, and I twirled around on one foot with my arms splayed out. The crappiest day ever just turned into the most amazing day in my entire life, thus far.
Cai Coppersmith, sexiest guy in school, thought I was hot.
Chapter Sixteen
Cai
Saturday morning at six a.m., I was jolted awake by the rooster crow of Leander’s iPhone alarm. After several groans of not wanting to get up, I sat in my bed to see Leander already dressed and ready to go. It was the same thing every weekend. I didn’t know where he got his boundless energy from. He was a lion; he was supposed to be lazy.
“Morning, sunshine.”
“Shut up,” I grunted, then stood to stretch out all the kinks of a fitful night’s sleep.
“I got you breakfast.” He tossed a brown paper bag onto my bed. From the smell, I knew it was a bacon and egg sandwich on a whole grain bagel. “I’ll meet you outside in fifteen minutes.”
I dressed, shoved the sandwich into my mouth, and met up with Leander and Frank in the staff parking lot. We were going into town with Frank to get food and vitamin supplements for the cats. It was part of our duties at the school to help Frank take care of Ozzy and Loki. It wasn’t a hardship; it was taking care of family.
The drive to the town of Emerald Valley took no more than fifteen minutes. The veterinarian’s office was on the other side of town from the road we drove in on. It took us another fifteen minutes to get through downtown to the east side. There was virtually no traffic at seven in the morning. Not in this small center of ten thousand.
After the vet’s, we hit the butcher shop for meat for the cats. Fourteen lamb legs, ten whole chickens, and twenty thick chunks of beef later, we were all loaded up. Despite eating that egg sandwich, my stomach growled and gurgled something fierce. It was being around all this meat. My instincts were kicking in. I could tell Leander was suffering through the same thing. It had taken all I had not to shove one of the beef flanks into my mouth instead of into the freezer unit.
When we were back in the truck and driving away from the butcher’s, I couldn’t handle it any longer. “Frank, we need to stop for something to eat. I want steak and eggs pronto.”
Leander raised his hand. “I second that.”
Frank parked the truck downtown in front of an old-timey diner. The floors were black-and-white tiles, and the booths had red vinyl seats. Each table had a little jukebox. It was cool and retro. We all ordered steak and eggs, as well as a side of bacon. I could’ve easily ordered two of that myself, but didn’t think Frank would appreciate it, since he was paying.
Frank smiled a lot at our waitress, whose name was Beth. I think he was trying to flirt with her or something. It was kind of weird and completely uncomfortable to watch.
Leander amused himself by playing with the jukebox as we waited for our food. Frank didn’t look impressed, but he refrained from saying anything, content with going through the local paper that had been left on the table. I alternated between reading over his shoulder and eyeing the song titles that Leander kept flipping through over and over again, until something outside the diner window caught my attention.
“Hey, isn’t that Maggie?”
Everyone turned to look as Maggie stopped in front of the big bay window to either read a text or compose one.
Before anyone could say anything, I spotted an older man come up to Maggie and smile down at her. She put her phone away and hooked her hand around his. He was well-dressed, well-coiffed, a smart groomed mustache over his lip, but he looked frail and carried a cane to help him walk. Another man in a black overcoat followed behind them, his gaze flitting here and there as if on the lookout for someone. A few moments later, the little bell over the diner door chimed, announcing the arrival of the new patrons. Maggie’s gaze instantly landed on us.
Leander waved to her, and she, with the old man, walked over to our table. The other man hovered behind them.
“What are you doing here?” Leander asked.
“Having lunch with my grandfather.” Maggie looked at the old man next to her. “Grandfather, this is Leander and Cai from school. And this is Professor Coppersmith.”
Frank got to his feet and offered his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. West.” They shook hands, but it looked like Frank almost crushed Mr. West’s frail hand in the process.
“The pleasure is mine, certainly. Maggie tells me wonderful things about the school. Especially about you, young Mr. Coppersmith.” He smiled at me, and to be honest it creeped me out a little. It might’ve been because I’d never been around old people before. I didn’t have grandparents, or at least none I knew about.
“Nice to meet you,” I said, not meeting his direct gaze.
“Your generous contribution to the school means a great deal,” Frank said. I nearly laughed. I’d never seen Frank in professional mode before. I had no idea he could kiss ass.
Mr. West smiled, revealing quite perfect teeth for an old man. He probably had veneers. He could definitely afford them. “You can thank Maggie for that. I like to indulge my granddaughter whenever I can.”
Maggie gave him a generous, warm smile that transformed her face. It was obvious she really loved her grandfather.
“Come, Maggie, let’s get a table for ourselves and leave these boys to do their business.” He patted her hand.
“Okay, Grandpa.” When she smiled at us, she seemed like a different person. I’d not seen this girl before. “Have a good day. See you back at school.”
; “Come, Eric,” Mr. West said to the man trailing behind them.
As they passed by the booth, I caught a strong whiff of lavender. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I raised my head and caught Eric’s gaze—it wasn’t friendly at all. Once they were all settled at a table by the window, I grabbed Frank’s arm.
“I think we should go,” I said, my voice low.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s not right.”
He looked at me for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll get our food to go.” He was on his feet and marching over to our waitress.
Leander glanced at me. “What’s up?”
“Can you smell that?”
He lifted his nose subtly into the air and took in a deep breath. His brow furrowed. “Lavender.”
I nodded. “It’s strong, has a certain blend. I’ve scented it before.”
Frank was back with our food in bags. “Let’s go.”
Back in the truck on our way to school, Frank glanced over at me. “Tell me what happened.”
“I smelled lavender on Mr. West, or his crony. It was the same odor as…before.”
“Lots of things smell like lavender, Cai. Perfume, candles, oil,” Leander said.
“Not like this. This odor is different. It’s more potent. It’s concentrated. Like someone had the plant actually stuffed in their pocket.”
Leander went to argue again, but I cut him off. “I know what I smelled, Lee. I won’t ever forget it. It’s the exact same from when my parents…”
Frank grabbed my arm. “I believe you, Cai.”
“Maggie’s grandfather couldn’t possibly be The Wizard,” Leander said. “We would know, wouldn’t we? I mean Marvel and the dean would certainly suspect something.”
“The Wizard is a master of disguise, Leander. To be honest, he could be anyone.” Frank frowned. “We’ll find Marvel and tell him. He can make inquires.”
I nodded but didn’t feel any better. The moment Maggie and her grandfather and his man, Eric, had walked into that diner, I had felt something off. A pit of dread had grown in my gut; my hackles had literally risen. I wasn’t surprised that Leander didn’t feel it. He hadn’t been confronted with pure evil before. When that happened to a person, it became imprinted on the body and the soul.
