by Amanda Ashby
“He also said that unless he was happy with my progress he would expel me,” Emma said in what she hoped was an even voice. “There probably would’ve been more, but Barney came in and they had some top-secret talk and the next thing I knew Kessler put the whole I’m-disappointed speech on hold and couldn’t wait to get rid of me.”
“What?” Loni yelped. “I can’t believe he threatened to expel you.”
“Only if he’s not happy with my progress in the next two weeks. Which he will be.”
“What else did he say?” Tyler leaned forward. “With particular reference to this invisible fairy of yours.”
Sorry, Loni mouthed to her, and Emma guessed that Tyler had used what Loni liked to call his Leo persistence (and what Tyler called his Leo charm) to find out what had happened yesterday. Emma sighed.
“He hadn’t heard of it, which I’m pretty sure is what led him to decide to give me a detention in the first place.”
“So we still don’t know anything about this darkhel thing?” Tyler looked surprised, but Emma merely shook her head.
“Nope, and I don’t care. From now on my mission is to prove to Kessler that I’m a normal, sane Burtonwood student and not some nutcase who manages to get caught in exploding food courts and sees invisible fairies. I doubt it will be enough to get him to change his mind about Induction, but maybe by the time I graduate he might start to trust me again.”
“It won’t take that long,” Loni assured her. “And besides, as soon as someone accidentally stabs themselves with their sword, sets their tutor on fire, or worse, everyone will forget all about you. Especially now that you’re not wearing your eye patch.”
Before Emma could comment, Professor Meyers stood up from the computer monitors at the back and clapped her hands. “Okay, class, sorry about the delay, but everything’s ready to go. Now remember, I’m going to be focusing on your endurance, agility, and stamina.”
Everyone spread out across the floor so that they were each standing in one of the specially marked circles that would help record all their vital statistics as the simulation fight took place. Emma pushed her goggles back over her nose and checked that her gloves were properly strapped just as a red light flashed in front of her eyes to let her know her test was about to start. Then she lifted her hands in a defense stance as a virtual cassock dragon made the first move. It was a predictable one, and Emma nimbly danced out of its way before sending in an uppercut. The fight was under way.
Twenty minutes later the red light blinked in her goggles to let her know it was over. She pushed them back on top of her head just as the bell rang.
“Okay, no class tomorrow,” Professor Meyers announced, “but on Friday, as part of the Alternative Slaying Practices assignment Principal Kessler has given you, you’re going to have a simulation battle with your assignment partners, and we’re going to concentrate on strength and speed.” Most of the class made a groaning noise as they put away their equipment and headed for the change rooms, where they had a quick shower.
“So you and Curtis will have to do a simulation battle on Friday.” Loni raised an eyebrow as she rubbed her short spiked hair dry with a towel. “Interesting.”
“Not as interesting as the fact that you’ll have to fight Brenda.” Emma grinned back at her friend as she stepped into her slightly crumpled skirt and pulled on her white shirt.
“Don’t remind me.” Loni made a groaning noise as they finished getting changed. Emma was just attempting to do something constructive with her hair when Loni asked, “Since we’ve got a free period, do you want to go to the library or study hall?”
“Library,” Emma immediately said as she thought of all the course work she had been ignoring lately. If she wanted to show Kessler a new and improved her, she would really need to get it all done.
As they continued down the hall, she caught sight of Curtis leaning against a wall, his crutches propped up next to him, his dark eyes serious and brooding. The instant he saw her, he straightened his spine in a way that let her know he had been waiting for her. Suddenly Emma felt guilty for snubbing him in the cafeteria earlier. She probably owed him an apology.
“Actually, Lon, do you mind if I talk to Curtis first?”
“Oh, interesting.” Loni widened her eyes. “Is this part of the whole I-don’t-have-a-crush-on-him thing?” she wanted to know.
“Actually, it’s part of the whole he-went-to-see-Kessler-to-try-and-convince-him-that-I-was-telling-the-truth thing,” Emma confessed.
“He tried to save your butt? I think I might love him myself.” Loni let out a dreamy sigh before she caught sight of Brenda emerging from the locker room. “So, er, while you go and talk to him, I’ll just wait for you around the corner. Possibly behind a very large book so Brenda doesn’t corner me and make me do extra work.”
“Nice disguise,” Emma retorted as Loni scuttled away. She ran a hand through her long smooth hair, which was pulled back into a plain ponytail. Then she walked over to where Curtis was waiting for her.
“Hey, Jones. Hope you don’t think I’m stalking you or anything. I was just worried about your meeting with Kessler.” Curtis blew a stray curl off his brow, his face full of concern. “So how did it go?”
“Don’t worry, I’m still here, so if you were hoping to get a new assignment partner, I’m sorry to disappoint,” she said as she caught sight of the hand he had burned yesterday when he’d tried to zap the fairies with his laser. It had a fresh dressing on it, and for an idle moment she wondered who had changed it for him.
“It’s okay.” Curtis gave a mild shrug of his shoulders as he started to fiddle with the handle of his crutches before he finally looked up. “I’m sort of getting used to my current one. Even if she is a little prickly.”
“Only a little prickly?” Emma double-checked and noticed a surprised smile hovering around Curtis’s mouth as he lifted an eyebrow.
“Did you just make a joke?”
“Definitely not,” she assured him. “And sorry I couldn’t wait for you at the cafeteria. I, er, didn’t want to be late for Kessler.”
“Wise move,” he agreed, dropping his head slightly. “So what happened? What did he say?”
“You know, just the usual.” She gave a cavalier shrug, but as Curtis’s dark eyes drilled into hers, she somehow found herself telling him the truth. “Okay, so it wasn’t quite the usual. He hit me with a two-week detention and the promise of expulsion if I didn’t get my act together. So, I can safely say that I won’t be trying to get him to change his mind about your designation.”
“That’s harsh.” Curtis let out a long whistle and then reached out and gently touched her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“You and me both,” Emma replied in a faltering voice, again thrown by his unexpected response, not to mention the unexpected sensation the brief touch of his fingers on her skin was causing her. She pulled her hand away and awkwardly coughed. “And by the way, Kessler told me that you went to see him.”
“Yeah, about that.” Curtis let out a frustrated sigh. “I hope I didn’t make things worse.”
“I think I managed that all on my own,” she confessed as she tentatively peered up at him. “So why did you do it? I mean, I’ve been awful to you for the last six weeks. Why would you put yourself on the line like that?”
“Remember yesterday when you saw the darkhel and you wanted to go and look for it?” Curtis explained in an earnest voice. “Well, you asked me what kind of slayer I was. I guess I’d like to think I’m the kind who is there for his friends.”
“We’re friends?” The words were out of her mouth before she knew it, and Emma groaned at herself in annoyance. She had so not intended to say that.
“I, well... I’d like us to be.” Curtis looked at her, his dark eyes piercing into hers in a way that caused an unfamiliar sensation to go racing through her body. She felt her pulse quicken and suddenly realized that she wasn’t remotely in control of this situation. She coughed to cover her confusion a
nd decided that a change of subject was required. Immediately.
“S-so, anyway, was there something you wanted to talk to me about before?” she stammered.
“Huh?” He blinked as if he were suffering from shortterm memory loss.
“Before. At the cafeteria,” she prompted him. “You were waving at me like you wanted to say something.”
“Oh, right.” He paused for a moment as if trying to understand what she was saying and then he suddenly shifted awkwardly on his broken leg, a guilty expression hovering around his mouth. “Well, this probably isn’t the best timing, but after I went to see Kessler about you, Barney gave me our pass-outs for the next part of our assignment. Since we did fairies yesterday, tomorrow we’re getting to look at some troubadour dragons. Two of them, to be exact. There’s been a pair down by the lake for the last two weeks. But you know, I can just tell Barney that tomorrow isn’t good.”
She cut him off. “It’s fine, Curtis. I’m up for it. Tomorrow night. Troubadour dragons. Should be fun,” she added in what she hoped was a bright voice to match her new and improved attitude.
He looked more than a little confused. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? I mean, I just told you that I was going to show you how to slay a dragon and you didn’t—”
“Bite your head off and read you the riot act?” Emma let out a rueful sigh. “Trust me, I’m riot-acting you on the inside. But the thing is that from now I have to do everything by the book, which means fully cooperating with you on this assignment. In fact, I’m going to put it into my cell phone right now so that I don’t forget,” she said as she made an exaggerated effort to punch the details into the calendar on her cell phone. “There, it’s all done.”
“Yup, there’s definitely something wrong with you,” Curtis said in a serious voice as he leaned forward, his face taking on the exact same expression that Nurse Reynes used when she did an examination. “I mean, I can see your lips moving but the words aren’t making any sense. Do everything by the book? Full cooperation? Are you sure you haven’t been bodysnatched?”
Emma rolled her eyes while trying not to notice how long his sooty lashes were or how they framed his chocolate eyes so perfectly. Or that he had been concerned enough about her to feel bad about the assignment. “I’m serious. My future’s on the line here. I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“I see, so you’re telling me that if I asked you to do anything, you would say yes?” he asked with interest, and Emma felt a reluctant smile sneak up to her mouth.
“Don’t push your luck,” she retorted as she gave him a light punch in the arm. Something she immediately regretted as it suddenly made her realize how close she was to him. And how hard his arm muscles were.
“Why not?” His voice was low and raspy and sent a delicious shudder racing through her. Emma bit the bottom of her lip as she studied the perfect sweep of his jaw, the way his eyelids were hanging heavy over his eyes. Then he tilted his head slightly and moved even closer to her, and it took all of Emma’s self-control not to gasp.
Was Curtis Green going to kiss her?
The blood started to pound at her temples and her hands felt clammy. He was going to kiss her. And more important, she was going to let him. His face drew closer to hers. They were going to cross the invisible boundary that had been lying between them and—
However, before she knew what was happening, a group of juniors came clamoring down the hallway, and the moment they saw her, they made a banging noise to let her know that her food court explosion hadn’t been forgotten yet. The minute they did so Curtis flinched, and instead of feeling his mouth on hers, she felt him gently lift his hands up to her neck and start to tug at her haphazardly knotted tie. She barely dared to breathe as his deft fingers tweaked it into submission.
“Sorry,” he said in an unsteady voice. “But your tie’s been driving me crazy. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Oh, right. My tie, th-thanks,” she croaked as she bit back her disappointment. How dare those juniors come along and ruin everything. Especially when she had wanted him to kiss her. She had wanted Curtis Green to kiss her. There, she had thought it. She had wanted to kiss her archenemy. Emma blinked at the knowledge, and then, before she could change her mind (or blush), she peered up him. “Y-you know, if you’re not doing anything after dinner, maybe we could go to the practice range. I heard they’ve got some new demons in. We could use the fight training as part of our assignment and then . . . ” She let the rest of the words hang, but instead of agreeing, Curtis took a deep breath and his face suddenly turned into a still mask.
“Actually, you know what?” He gave an awkward cough and studiously peered down at his leg cast. “Tonight isn’t so good for me. I have something going on. And speaking of which, I should probably go, but I will see you tomorrow night at the gate with our pass-outs.”
Then, without another word, he hurried off as fast as his crutches would allow him, and Emma felt a flush of embarrassment wash over her while something deep inside her stomach went plummeting to the ground. He didn’t want to kiss her at all. He really had just wanted to fix her tie. Oh, earth, please swallow her now.
“Oh my gosh.” Loni raced over with an excited expression on her face. “I was peeking around the corner... did he really just go to kiss you? That’s so romantic. If only those stupid juniors hadn’t come along and ruined it. So what happened? What did he say?”
Emma felt her face heat up all over again. “Well, he said he tried to help me with Kessler because we were friends. And then he sort of touched my hand and gave me a few of those hot, steamy looks. And I think there was some flirting, so I took your advice and asked if he wanted to go down to the practice range after dinner.”
“You did not,” Loni squealed in excitement. “I can’t believe you have a date. I mean, this is huge. Emma Jones is going on a date with Curtis Green! I wonder if Barney would give us a pass-out so we could take you shopping at the mall? Because nothing says ‘first date’ like a new outfit, and—”
“Um, Lon.” Emma coughed. “Before you get too carried away and start picking out names for Curtis’s and my children, I should probably tell you that he said no.”
Loni paused for a moment and blinked. “What? What do you mean he said no? Anyone can see he’s crazy about you. I bet you didn’t ask him the right way.”
“I asked him the right way,” Emma assured her as she filled her friend in on exactly what had happened. Then she shrugged to hide her disappointment. “Which means when he said he wanted to be friends, he really meant that he wanted to be friends.”
“Yes, but Sagittarius guys aren’t normally about the friendship, if you know what I’m saying,” Loni persisted in a stubborn voice that Emma was well acquainted with.
“Well, this is one,” Emma said drily.
“I refuse to believe that.” Loni shook her head. “The only reason he pretended to fix your tie—which, for the record, is a complete disgrace—is because those juniors came along. And as for not going to the practice range with you, did it ever occur to you that he was actually telling the truth? Maybe he really does have something else going on tonight.”
“Maybe,” Emma agreed in a diplomatic voice while trying not to think about the frozen expression that had crossed Curtis’s face as he had spoken to her. It had been dark. Like a shadow had fallen over him. And she didn’t care what Loni said, Emma knew that Curtis had ditched her for a reason. Unfortunately, she had the feeling that whatever it was, she wasn’t going to like it when she found out. And with that thought, she and Loni hurried to the library in silence while Emma tried to ignore the fact that, thanks to being brushed off by her archenemy, her life had just hit a new, all-time low.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
By three o’clock Emma realized that the humiliating encounter with Curtis was actually the least of her problems as she discovered that turning over a new leaf was going to be tougher than she thought. She’d lost count of the number of people who asked ab
out her invisible dragons and whether Kessler was going to make a new designation just for her. And considering that it wasn’t funny the first time someone said it, by the time the final bell rang, it was more than a little annoying. In fact, Emma almost missed being teased about the explosion in the food court.
It was actually almost a relief when she finally headed off to the detention room. At least Professor Meyers was supervising today, and she normally just let everyone do their homework.
“Emma,” Professor Meyers called her over to the front desk and held up a piece of paper. “Before you sit down, I just wanted to talk to you about the results of the simulation fight you did this morning.”
Emma groaned since she had been more than a little distracted during the whole test. “Is it bad? Because the thing is that I’ve—”
“No.” Professor Meyers shook her head, and a stray dark curl flopped onto her cheek. “It’s actually the opposite. These results are a marked improvement on the test we did last week.”
“Oh,” Emma said in surprise as she studied the piece of paper.
“Anyway, you’d better take a seat and start on your homework, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m pleased with your efforts.”
“Thanks,” Emma said as she stuffed the results into her pocket and made her way toward the back of the room. As she did so, she glanced around. There were a couple of seniors she vaguely knew, plus a bunch of freshman who had been caught last week sneaking off campus without a pass. A few of them shot her curious looks, but she ignored them as she sat down, opened her laptop, and halfheartedly started working on her assignment for Kessler.
