by W. J. May
“Enough with the ice!” Lily cried. “It’s a new car!”
“Can you just start driving already?” Aria pleaded, wedging both hands firmly between her knees. “I don’t, uh...want to be late.”
James threw her a suspicious glance. “Since when do you care about being tardy?”
“Shut your mouth or I’ll turn you into a frog.”
He paled in spite of himself, but held firm. “You don’t have that kind of ink—no one does.”
She rewarded him with a dangerous smile. “Doesn’t mean I won’t try.”
Lily wisely chose that moment to fire up the engine and ease down the street. Of course, before she did so she glanced up at Aria’s bedroom window with a frown.
“When did you get a dreamcatcher?”
Jason stiffened beside her, as she dropped her head back with a silent groan.
“Just drive the bloody car.”
BETWEEN LILY’S PSYCHOTIC driving and Aria’s continual prodding from the backseat, they actually made it to school with plenty of time before the first bell. Time enough that Aria was able to flee the car and head up to her dorm room for a hot shower to cool her nerves.
It’s just the spores, she told herself, wrapping herself in a towel and standing in front of the mirror. It’s just the mold spores invading my brain. Nothing to worry about.
“Mold spores—what on earth are you talking about?”
Aria whirled around to see a beautiful Hispanic girl sitting on the far bed. She had been so still and quiet, reading her book, Aria hadn’t even noticed her when she came in.
“Geez, Catalina! You scared me!”
“Sorry.” The girl set her book down with a grin. They’d been roommates for two years now, so she was well used to her friend’s theatrics and eccentricities. “What’s this about mold?”
Aria flushed with embarrassment. “...did I say that out loud?”
Now it was Catalina’s turn to flush. “Oh, uh...probably not. Sorry.”
The girl was a telepath like her mother, Maria. She tried to give her friends all the privacy she could, but every now and then she slipped and lost control.
Aria waved it off dismissively and turned to her closet, rifling through the clothes her Aunt Molly had selected for the week. It didn’t matter that she was a covert operative who spent the majority of her time in remote countries around the world, she still somehow managed the time to make weekly runs to Guilder so she could dress the children to her heart’s content.
Aria reached tentatively for a hanger, pulling out a couture blouse with a built-in corset and mini-skirt. At times the woman could be a little extreme...
“Your Aunt Molly strikes again, huh?”
Aria laughed shortly as Catalina came to stand by her side. She was extremely short and slender, just like her mother, with a pretty face and a kind smile.
“Sometimes I think she forgets this is a high school,” she murmured, holding the outfit up to examine it against her body. “She just assumes it’s a runway show or something.”
“I think it’s gorgeous,” Catalina answered. “You should wear it.”
Aria tilted her head, examining it. Surely it broke some kind of dress code. Then again, it really was stunning. And hard to miss. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea after all—
“Holy cow—Jason kissed you?!”
“CATY!”
“I’m sorry!” The girl clapped her hands over her mouth. “I’m trying, I’m sorry, but I haven’t had any coffee and it’s getting away from me today.” She paused for a few seconds, long enough to look appropriately remorseful, then her face melted into an excited grin. “...but he kissed you?”
Aria let out an exasperated sigh, unable to stop grinning. “Yeah, but only on the cheek. And it was nothing. And it was stupid. And I’m not even thinking about it. And it probably had a lot to do with toxic mold.”
Catalina pursed her lips, trying very hard not to laugh. “Well, it’s clear you’re definitely not thinking about it.”
Aria tore her eyes away from the mirror. “Hmm?”
The girl shook her head, gesturing again to the hanger.
“You should definitely wear that today. Trust me.” She picked up her bag and vanished out the door with a wink. “He won’t know what hit him...”
Aria threw the clothes back into the closet, refusing to even entertain the notion, but her eyes kept flitting back to them as she searched for something else. After a few useless minutes, she ended up picking it right back up again and putting it on—racing downstairs just in time for the first bell.
THERE WAS A CHARGE in the air by the time Aria sailed into her first class, a whispered buzz that seemed to jump from seat to seat. It paused a moment when she entered the room. The boys looked appreciatively at her legs, the girls looked longingly at her clothes. Then they continued talking when she slid into her seat.
As usual, one person remained completely oblivious.
“Your hair looks weird. Did you take a shower?”
She pause a moment, then turned to Benji with an affectionate smile. She adored Lily, loved Jason, even tolerated her little brother from time to time. But she and Benji were inseparable.
Twin hearts. Two of a kind.
“Yeah, genius. I took a shower. My hair is damp.”
He kicked back in his chair with a shrug. “Smells good. You should shower more often.”
She threw a pencil at him as Ms. Kentoff walked in and the lesson began.
Math was not a favorite subject. Neither was science. Neither was French—until she mastered Henry’s language tatù and became fluent overnight.
By that line of reasoning, calculus shouldn’t have been difficult either. But she’d yet to figure out how to use the set of ink they all affectionately called ‘MacGyver’.
“We’re going to start with some logarithms,” Kentoff said with a wave of her hand, trying to be cheerful. “Who’s with me?”
Benji slumped lower in his seat, shooting a spark from one hand to the other. Aria tried to slump down herself, then found the corseted ribbons lacing up her back made it impossible.
Great, just great.
As Kentoff turned to the whiteboard, losing herself and her students in the lecture, two girls sitting in front of Aria turned to each other and began whispering.
“Have you seen them yet?”
“Not yet. I think they have Heeb for first period, but we’ll see them at lunch.”
“—totally gorgeous, of course. But then, what did you expect?”
Aria turned to Benji with a frown.
“What are they talking about?”
He glanced at the girls, looking bored, before returning to his sparks.
“New students. Three shifters transferring over from the Abbey.”
She lifted her eyebrows in surprise. They didn’t get transfers very often. Let alone people who already had their ink. “Three of them? And they’re in our year?”
“Looks that way.” He leaned forward with sudden interest. “Hey, do you think Lily would let me borrow her car on Friday? I was thinking of going into the city.”
“Absolutely not,” Aria replied stiffly. “Besides, I’m asking to borrow it on Friday.”
He whipped out his phone, racing to do it first. She reached for hers as well then realized that it was still on the Aldens’ kitchen table, where she’d left it the previous morning.
“Hey, where did you and Jase go yesterday?” he asked suddenly, slipping it back into his pocket with a quiet ding. “I tried texting, but heard nothing back.”
She paused, debating her answer. She didn’t keep secrets from Benji, and he didn’t keep secrets from her. It was a partnership, just like her dad and Julian, or Molly and her mom.
“It was a little personal,” she said edgily. “You should ask him. He’d want to say it himself.”
For the first time, Benji looked at her with a hint of interest. Then he nodded swiftly and continued ignoring the lecture. She tried
to do the same, but found it was surprisingly difficult.
Here’s the problem with corsets...they make it a little tricky to breathe.
At first, it was barely noticeable. She shifted this way and that, hoping the movement itself would loosen the ribbons. When it only served to tighten them instead, her breathing quickened and the motions got more panicked. She tried leaning back into the chair, tried bending forward. Finally, in an act of desperation she started twirling her fingers beneath the desk, loosening them through telekinesis. A few seconds later, the shirt slipped down an inch but was still cinched around her ribs.
Just WORK for sh—
“Are you stripping right here in class?”
She startled in her seat, throwing a guilt-stricken look at Benji. Much to her dismay he’d been watching the entire performance, a look of vague amusement splashed across his face.
“I know you’re concerned with building a legacy but I’m telling you, Wardell, this is not the way to do it.” He paused a moment, considering. “Unless you’re sure, in which case I’ll do it, too.”
She tried to laugh, but found herself too light-headed.
“It’s this bloody shirt,” she whispered. “It’s too tight. I can’t... I can’t breathe.”
He twisted in his chair, noticing it for the first time.
“Hey, you look hot—”
“Ben, I’m going to black out.”
He suppressed a smile, lifting his hand suddenly in the air. “Ms. Kentoff, I feel really sick. Can I go to the infirmary?”
She paused mid-sentence, glancing over her shoulder with a caustic smile.
“As I recall, the same thing happened to you the last time we discussed logarithms.”
He nodded seriously, as if they were conspiring on the same team.
“I’m afraid something about them just doesn’t agree with me.”
She held his gaze for only a moment before waving dismissively. Despite his impressive lack of interest, Benji was one of her top students. He could afford to miss a class or two.
“Fine—come back when you’re done.”
He saluted and got up from his chair, pulling Aria right along with him. They started heading to the door, when she glanced back again and saw them.
“Wait a second, I only gave permission for one. Miss Wardell can take a seat.”
“I can’t go alone.” Benji looked scandalized. “What if I pass out along the way?”
For good measure, he swayed suddenly where he stood—knocking the pencil and notepad off his neighbor’s desk. There was a tittering of laughter from the class, but the teacher knew better than to try to control it. She simply rolled her eyes and waved them both away.
Thanks, Aria told him telepathically.
His lips pursed in a secret smile as they headed out the door.
IRONICALLY ENOUGH, the second they were outside their classroom that ‘passing out’ scenario became an actual possibility and Aria slumped suddenly against the row of lockers. Benji caught her quickly, lowering her to the floor like a doll.
“Geez—you weren’t kidding,” he murmured, frowning as he squinted down at the tiny ribbons lacing up her back. “Why are you even wearing this thing?”
“Lost a bet,” she muttered. “Just hurry and get it off.”
“I’m trying, but you tied it using a tatù. I don’t want to just rip it...”
Casting a quick look both directions to make sure the hallway was empty he flipped her over his knee and attacked it with both hands, tugging on the laces with all his might. There was a quiet cracking sound, followed by a gasping breath as Aria slapped the floor in protest.
“Not like that, you lunatic! You’re killing me!”
“Be quiet,” he commanded under his breath. “I’ve got this.”
A door opened at the far end of the hall and Catalina breezed towards them, carrying a stack of books to deliver to biology on the second floor. She took one look at their silent struggle, pursed her lips, then headed straight back the way she’d come. Leaving a silent message in Aria’s head.
That’s not exactly what I had in mind...
Aria covered her face in total humiliation.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she panted. “Just kill me.”
“That’s the spirit,” Benji muttered distractedly, shocking the end of one of the ribbons in an attempt to set it on fire. “Keep that chin up.”
The door opened again, but this time Aria didn’t see it. She had finally succeeded in pushing to her feet, right before Benji pressed her up against the lockers—having successfully lit her on fire.
“Perfect!” he exclaimed, watching as it burned through the knot. To be safe, he pinned her flailing wrists above her head. “Thank goodness you have me. Really, Wardell—how could you manage if I wasn’t here?”
She pounded her head into the lockers. “I don’t know, but I’d probably live a lot longer. Let go of my wrists.”
“Hang on, I’m not sure how to put this out...”
“Benji!”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He laughed, patting it quickly with his hands before giving the ribbon a light tug. “There—it’s off.”
It certainly was. Although he might have saved her from asphyxiation, the boy had done his job a little too well. The second he released the ribbon, the entire shirt fell to the floor. Aria’s hands shot out but she was still in a healing tatù, trying to fix her bruised ribs, and she didn’t catch it fast enough. Instead, she clamped her arms across her chest with a little eep as someone caught it for her.
In hindsight, it could have won a record. One of those classic mortifying moments that could only happen in high school, and could only happen to her.
Her eyes lifted slowly, drifting up from an outstretched hand still holding the fallen corset to a handsome face that was staring down at her in complete astonishment.
The face was flanked by two others, frozen with equal disbelief.
“...I think you dropped this.”
Aria’s cheeks burned as she looked down at the shirt in his hand. Unable to grab it herself without exposing her chest she sent a telepathic SOS to Benji, who quickly stepped forward to grab it himself. At the same time, he peeled off his sweater and jammed it over her head.
“Hey,” he said a little awkwardly, flashing a cursory smile, “you guys must be new.”
It was only then that Aria put it together herself—why she didn’t recognize them. She’d been in such a state of horror, she hadn’t seen anything except the handsome face. But yes, they were definitely the new students everyone was talking about. Three shifters, fresh from the Abbey.
The guy standing in the middle—who’d caught her shirt—flashed Benji a brief look before returning his gaze to Aria with a silent nod. The girl angled behind him seemed a bit more friendly, returning his welcoming smile with a shy smile of her own.
“Yep, just transferred in.”
The third guy didn’t say a word. He just stood beside them like some sort of bodyguard, hands folded carefully in front of him, not a shred of expression on his face.
Benji raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say a word.
Aria, on the other hand, felt a pressing need to speak. If for no other reason than the tall man in front of her had yet to break his piercing gaze.
“So, how’s your first day going?”
He paused a moment, then cocked his head with a little smile. “Things are looking up.”
Chapter 11
“I just want to die.”
Aria and Benji were sitting on a shaded bench in the middle of campus, having decided not to return to logarithms after all. The initial shock of embarrassment was starting to fade, and the grim reality was taking hold as she played it back again and again in her mind. Drastic steps would have to be taken. Soon, she’d be looking for someone to blame.
“Come on, Wardell.” Benji was sunning himself beside her, having found the whole thing to be greatly amusing. “You usually don’t say t
hat until second semester.”
Her eyes narrowed as she found her target.
“I’ve got an idea—let’s strip you down in front of a bunch of new students and see if you’re still smiling when it’s all done.”
He chuckled quietly, giving her a sympathetic pat on the head. “The girl wasn’t so bad. The one bloke was kind of a dick.”
A bell rang in the distance and students began flooding onto the lawn.
“It isn’t about the students, Benji!” she cried. “It’s about the fact that you ripped off my clothes in the middle of the hallway!”
“Oh really?” His eyebrows rose sarcastically. “Is that how you’re framing it? If anything, I’d like you to remember how I saved your life by lighting you on fire.”
There was an incredulous pause.
“Do you even listen to the words coming out of your mouth—”
“So it’s true?” Lily skipped lightly across the grass, flashing them both a bright smile. “You put on a little strip show in the middle of calculus?”
Aria’s blood ran cold. “You were in class halfway across campus. How could you possibly have heard about that already?”
“Heard about what?”
Jason swept gracefully beneath the trees, settling on Benji’s other side.
“Aria took her shirt off in front of some guy, now she’s feeling bad about it,” Benji replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.
Jason froze ever so briefly, then flashed a casual smile. “Oh yeah?”
Aria flushed a thousand shades of red, burying her face in the front of Benji’s sweater. “It wasn’t like that. I was attacked by a ginger psychopath.”
Benji frowned, looking slightly offended. “You keep forgetting the part about the fire.”
“Keep your clothes on, sis!” James called from across campus, flashing a wicked smile before disappearing inside.
Aria slammed her hands down on the bench.
“Okay—does EVERYBODY know?”
“Nice sweater, Arie.” Lisette flashed a smile as she joined them beneath the trees, sitting as close to Jason as decency would allow. To make things worse, Oliver was right behind her—having recently been released from the infirmary wing. “Where’d you get it?”
