Caitlin grinned and wiggled her eyebrows as she put her arm around Eren’s shoulder. “They won’t know what hit them.”
Through the breaks in their laughter, Eren heard Aunt Sylvia coming up the stairs. Her aunt’s face lit up the moment she laid eyes on them. Once her feet stilled, Eren heard why she’d come to get them. The boys were here. She felt the press of their energy from downstairs. They were exchanging greetings with Uncle Alin and Zolin, their voices echoing up into the loft.
“You both look so beautiful!” Aunt Sylvia said in a voice that caught.
Before Eren and Caitlin could finish saying thank you, she went on. “You know I have no problems with you breaking tradition. I’m actually proud of you for it. But a lot of people won’t like it. They might even try to keep you from going to the dance. If that happens remember, it’s only a dance, it’s not worth fighting over.”
Feeling the distress radiating from her aunt, Eren grabbed her hand. She didn’t want to cause her any more stress than she already was, especially over a dance. “Take a breath, Aunt Sylvia. We’ll be fine.”
Sylvia sighed and almost looked relaxed for a moment then her eyes lit back up with determination. She reached into her pocket and handed something to both her and Caitlin. Eren flinched and nearly dropped it when she realized her aunt had placed a condom on her palm. Caitlin made a noise between a laugh and a gasp. When Eren looked over at her she was smiling and shaking her head.
“Aunt Sylvia! You put me on the pill, remember?” Eren whispered.
“Of course I do. But this is in case you haven’t been taking it. You both have very long lives ahead of you, now is not the time for accidents. And Caitlin dear, I’m very fond of you but I don’t want grandchildren for at least another several years, or decades,” Sylvia insisted as she reached out to touch Caitlin’s cheek.
Caitlin smiled at her and blushed. Eren kind of wished the guys could have seen that, Caitlin never blushed!
Putting an arm around both of them, Aunt Sylvia led them from the room and down the stairs, chatting all the while about responsibility and how she wasn’t condoning sex and hoped they never actually had it. Halfway down, Caitlin turned to Eren and mouthed the words, ‘birth control, really?’ Groaning, Eren hung her head and wished her hair was down so she could hide behind it. A sharp intake of breath made her raise her head and look into the living room.
At the bottom of the stairs Aiden and Fane awaited them, flanked by Uncle Alin and Eren’s grandfather. Only a glimpse of Fane’s crème shirt and black pants caught Eren’s attention before her eyes were drawn to Aiden. His tousled brown and black hair had been tamed a bit and he wore a luxuriously soft looking brown shirt and sleek black pants. If he walked around like that very often, GQ would come knocking on his door, along with every girl in the neighborhood. She suddenly felt tremendously relieved that he had asked her to the dance. If he had gone with Bridget, Eren would have wanted to die.
“Wow,” Aiden murmured.
At that moment he looked like he would fight through legions to get to her. Maybe the heels weren’t over the top after all. Not caring about the blush that was working its way to her cheeks, she smiled at him. It was a good thing she’d walked in heels a lot before she’d come to Spruce Knoll because she never looked down at the stairs. Her eyes had locked onto Aiden’s and she couldn’t look away. When he reached out and took her hand, his energy tingled over her fingers and raced up her arm.
They endured several minutes of advice and talk about curfew before the adults would let them out the door. Eren gulped down a huge lungful of fresh air and laughed when she heard the others do the same. The gravel drive wasn’t easy to manipulate in heels, but it gave her a good excuse to cling to Aiden’s arm. The feel of his taut bicep beneath her hand was very distracting, in a good way.
“I didn’t think we were ever going to get out of there.” Aiden said.
“I know. The way they lectured us, you’d think we’re teenagers,” Fane said with a raised eyebrow.
Caitlin faked a sarcastic laugh and rolled her eyes to the star-filled sky. It made Eren look up and take in the beauty of the night. Without a cloud in the sky, she could see more stars than she could ever hope to count. The temperature was so comfortable that she didn’t regret not putting on a wrap. It had the makings of a perfect night.
There was plenty of laughter and idle chatter as they walked to the Mayan restaurant, but Eren could still sense an underlying tension. Regardless of it, they had a good time at dinner. The people there were kind enough and most of the other patrons refrained from staring too much. Eren laughed at her friends as they tried the spicy dishes she had grown up eating. She was surprised to discover that Aiden actually liked most of the food. He even made her promise to make him some of her mom’s recipes.
As soon as they stepped back out into the night air and started toward the school, the tension returned. It increased with every step. By the time they reached the front doors of the school, they quit talking. Not even the beautiful decorations were enough to ease the mood or provoke a comment. Multi-colored lights lined the stairway and were strung around the trunks and branches of the spruce trees to either side of the school. Pop music cranked a touch too loud, poured out of the open doors.
Eren’s courage began to waver as they walked up the steps and she heard the girls at the ticket desk talking. She began to think that maybe this was a bad idea, but then Aiden’s hand tightened around hers and renewed her courage. Whatever these people said or did didn’t matter in the end, what did was that they had each other.
“Let’s go shake this party up,” Caitlin said when they hesitated at the door.
Smiling at her, Eren took a deep breath, and walked through the door with Aiden. They didn’t have to go very far down the hall to reach the gym. The doors were propped open and alternating colors of light pulsed from the yawning darkness. Music thumped in an enticing beat from within. The two girls sitting at the desk beside the doors stopped talking and looked at the four of them in disbelief.
“Four tickets please,” Aiden asked with a polite smile.
The pretty Tibetan girl holding the tickets turned her wide eyes to the Romanian girl beside her. The Romanian girl’s face was pinched with concern as she leaned forward and gave Aiden a careful look.
“The four of you aren’t together, are you?” she asked.
The question cleared up any illusions Eren may have had about the girl’s intelligence. As if being arm in arm wasn’t enough, the whole school knew they were going out—including these two freshmen girls.
“We are,” Aiden said.
Eren was glad he answered so quickly because she didn’t think she could have been as kind.
Both girls looked like they’d swallowed their tongues. By the subtle feel of their power, Eren could tell neither of them were Rector material. That aside, they looked too nice to be confrontational. Maybe there was a chance this wouldn’t be a hassle after all, still Eren hesitated to hope.
“I suppose we could let Fane and Caitlin in, but our list says Aiden is supposed to arrive with Bridget and Eren should arrive with Felipe,” the Romanian girl said, shooting Caitlin a wary smile.
“Our plans changed,” Aiden said in a carefully controlled voice.
The girl flinched at the flare of his power.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have the authority to approve that. Yung, could you get Mr. McCready please?” the Romanian girl said with a slight smile and only a small quaver in her voice.
Eren sighed as they stepped back from the table and leaned against the far wall to wait. Of all people, Mr. McCready would have been one of her last choices to decide this. To say he didn’t like Eren would have been kind. She barely skimmed by with a C in his class and it wasn’t because her math skills were lacking.
With his jaw set in a hard line and his cheeks flaming bright, Mr. McCready stormed from the dark gym and bore down upon them. Eren and Aiden stepped in front of Fane and Caitlin. Both her and Aiden’
s power flared at the same time. It surged up the back of her throat, warm and invigorating and anxious to be released. She had no doubt that if she let it go it would burn Mr. McCready as surely as scalding water. Remembering her aunt’s words, she held it back. This was not worth fighting over. However, she would not let this man threaten her or her Society.
Even though she and Aiden didn’t release their power, he must have felt it because he pulled back with a surprised look. From the disbelief in his eyes it was pretty obvious he was one of those people that didn’t believe a Society bond could form between channelers of different races. He didn’t look happy to discover he was wrong.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
“We’re here to attend the dance, Sir,” Aiden said.
While Aiden was calm and collected, Eren had to suppress the instinct to blow the disgusted look off Mr. McCready’s face. The way Caitlin’s power pressed against her back, Eren knew she wasn’t the only one restraining violent urges.
“Not together you’re not. Aiden, Eren, you should be attending with the other champions in your own style. I should not have to explain this, its tradition,” Mr. McCready snapped.
“It’s stupid, and say what you mean. You think they should be attending with their own race. Fane and I aren’t champions but you won’t let us in either will you?” Caitlin snapped.
Reaching back to touch her hand, Eren sent a wave of calming power pouring over Caitlin. She heard her sigh and felt her relax beneath her fingers. It wasn’t that Eren didn’t want to create a scene—she didn’t really care about that—what she didn’t want was to give Mr. McCready the satisfaction of knowing he’d upset them.
Mr. McCready spared a moment to throw a vicious glare at Caitlin, then turned his attention back to Aiden.
“Eren’s participation in this competition is only tolerated because her grandfather is such a respected elder in this community. And as for you Aiden, you were beginning to show promise before this girl came into town. You should really reevaluate who you keep company with,” Mr. McCready said through gritted teeth.
He turned his back on them and stepped back toward the gym, pausing only to glance at the two freshmen and say, “none of them are allowed in.”
“That son of a bitch. Just give me five minutes, I’ll change his mind,” Caitlin said.
Eren shook her head and patted Caitlin’s arm, sending out more calming energy as she did so. It pushed back the pressure of Caitlin’s anger, but only a little.
“What you’d change is his face,” Fane said with a dark laugh.
“Maybe,” Caitlin mumbled.
“Let’s go, guys. This isn’t worth it,” Aiden said as he turned Eren towards the exit.
“I’m really sorry,” the Romanian girl at the ticket table said in a small voice.
When Eren’s eyes met hers she was surprised to see that the girl actually was sorry. Eren gave her a weak smile and shook her head as they walked away. In her eyes, people who tolerated prejudice were almost as bad as the ones who dished it out. The world couldn’t change if people ignored its problems. She knew it really wasn’t fair to judge this fourteen year old girl for not standing up to her teacher, but it was still hard not to.
The second they turned down the hallway, Eren felt Aiden’s simmering anger explode into a boil. It poured over her in a scalding wave that took her breath away and raised the hair on her arms. Green power flared and he punched the front door as they walked past, denting it so badly it probably wouldn’t shut right.
“Aiden!” Eren said as she grabbed his hand. She knew it would be totally unscathed but she had to look anyway. “Don’t let them get to you.”
Her power leaped up in response to his anger, but rather than allow it to fuel his and make matters worse, she concentrated on calming him down. It worked better than a sedative. The crease in his brow disappeared and tension drained from his muscles. It stunned Eren; she hadn’t known she could affect Aiden’s energy so powerfully.
Instead of going down the stairs, he pulled her off into the grass and led them over to a copse of light-adorned trees around the left side of the school. Looking up into the lighted boughs reminded Eren of the star-filled sky they’d been gazing at earlier and helped remind her of what really mattered. Her heels sank into the lush grass, making her walk on her toes, but she didn’t care. It was kind of secluded here behind the trees, and right now she wanted to be away from prying eyes.
“I’m really sorry, Aiden. I was afraid this might happen,” she sighed.
“No E, don’t be. I’m not mad that we didn’t get in. I’m mad about what that jerk said. You coming to this town was the best thing that ever happened to me, but people like him will never understand that,” Aiden said as he cradled her face in both his hands.
Leaning her forehead against his, Eren let her body sink against him.
“McCready is just afraid of change and I think that’s what he sees when he looks at us, his world changing,” she said.
Arms snaking around her, he pulled her close. Eren’s breath caught as she realized she could feel every plane of his body through the material of her dress. The realization washed away all her stress and any remaining thoughts of Mr. McCready. Her power tried to rise and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to hold it back, but then Caitlin’s voice reminded her they weren’t alone.
“Come on, let’s dance,” Caitlin told Fane as she took her heels off and tossed them aside.
Only then did Eren realize she could hear the music out here almost as good as she had in the hallway. It didn’t really come as a big surprise considering they were right beside the gym and the top of the building was lined with windows that had been opened for the event.
Caitlin pulled Fane into the grassy clearing in the center of the grove of trees and began to sway in time to the music.
“Come on,” Aiden said, smiling as he led Eren over to them.
Tossing her own heels aside, Eren sighed at how wonderful the soft grass felt beneath her feet. She hadn’t remembered heels being so uncomfortable, but then almost all shoes felt uncomfortable now. It wasn’t that they hurt, just that they felt unnecessary.
They danced for over an hour, never tiring and never sitting a song out. Their little makeshift dance floor amidst the trees and lights seemed much more wonderful to Eren than any gym. In a way, she was glad they hadn’t been let in. This way the night was just about the four of them and it was free from any further drama they would have had to endure inside. The music slowed again and Aiden put his arms around her. It stretched into one of those wonderful, dream-like moments she wished would never end. Then it was shattered.
“How dare you do this, Aiden,” Bridget’s voice cut through the peaceful night like a swarm of wasps.
Grinding her teeth against a retort, Eren turned to glare at Bridget. She wasn’t alone; she’d brought her blond entourage along with all their dates. They were outnumbered—four to ten—and Eren really didn’t feel like ruining her beautiful dress. If it came to a fight she was afraid she’d take it out on Bridget’s face. Since she was starting to enjoy fighting, that thought kind of appealed to her. But then she remembered her aunt’s advice again. Next month’s tournament was the time for this, not now.
“How dare I what? Go to the dance with the girl I love instead of the one I hate?” Aiden snapped.
Of all the things for him to say, Eren hadn’t expected such a harsh response. Did he hate Bridget because she had tried to scare Eren off, or was there more to it? Had she done something else? Something to just Aiden?
An almost theatrically loud gasp escaped Bridget and she covered her mouth with her hands. Bridget’s date put an arm around her and gave Aiden a nasty look that wilted the moment their eyes met. He quickly looked down and sort of shrank in on himself. He was one of the boys Aiden had already defeated in the tournament. The other four couples stepped up beside him and Bridget and he lifted his head with renewed courage.
Eren felt Fane and Caitlin step up beside her and Aiden in response to the threat.
“We didn’t attend the dance. No one was disgraced, let’s just leave it at that,” Fane said.
“Like hell no one was disgraced,” Bridget snarled at him.
Rather than flinch under the weight of her hate-filled gaze, Fane narrowed his eyes at her and shifted into a fighting stance. Bridget’s date glared back at Fane as he rubbed her shoulders before turning to Aiden with a serious look that almost covered his fear.
“It’s one thing to ruin your own life, Aiden. But by ignoring our traditions you’ve disrespected the whole town,” he said.
Clenching his fists, Aiden took a step forward and Eren saw a glow building around his arms. She stepped up with him, letting her own power build until her hands glowed as well. She hoped showing these idiots what they were up against would deter them from taking this farther. As much as she enjoyed sparring in a controlled environment, she didn’t want to hurt anyone. Well, maybe Bridget, a little.
“And why shouldn’t I? This town does nothing but disrespect us. Take your date and leave or this will not end well for you,” Aiden said.
To help him emphasize his point, Eren splayed her hands open wide and focused her power until a ball of blue energy glowed upon each palm. The four couples with Bridget and her date made sounds of shock and a few of them even drew back. But when Bridget stepped up and got in Aiden’s face they surged forward.
“I can’t believe you would do this. I thought you were a nice guy,” she snapped.
“I would do anything for Eren, so you’d better believe it. And I’ve never really cared what you thought of me,” he said.
Fury contorted Bridget’s overly made up features, and she drew her hand back to slap Aiden. The barriers holding Eren’s power back collapsed and it erupted from her to merge with Aiden’s. Their combined power worked as a magnet, drawing in Fane and Caitlin’s power as it formed an invisible shield before them that Eren could both see and sense. Bridget’s hand collided with the shield, seeming to stop in mid-air a foot from Aiden’s face. The moment she touched their power, it reacted by shoving her back so violently she went flying and crashed into two of her friends. They ended up in a heap on the ground, staring up at the four of them in horror. Those of the entourage who hadn’t been knocked over took several steps back.
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