by M. H. Soars
“Me, too,” I said.
We stayed like that for a moment, finding strength in each other’s arms, before I leaned back and looked up. “I’m also terrified about how Alexia is going to react when she learns the truth. She'll probably never want to speak to us again. And how can we blame her?”
“There’s also the fact that we're supposed to bring Alexia close to Henry. I feel like a complete douche. Not only have we had to lie to Alexia this whole time, now the mighty Council expects us to keep Ethan and Alexia apart. Sometimes I believe the Council takes pleasure in torturing us.”
“I feel the same too. But what choice do we have? It’s our purpose in life, to make sure the Prophecy is fulfilled.”
Matthew sighed in resignation of our fate, and I held him tighter. I didn’t know what lay ahead of us, but as long as I had Matthew by my side, I knew I could handle anything.
CHAPTER 21
Matthew
Monday came too quickly, and I found myself looking for Henry Castelli, Prophecy boy, among the sea of students crowding the hallways. Gary provided us with his photo, and the goal was for all of us to get more acquainted with him.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about Henry, he looked just like an average teenager. He was Caucasian, with brown, messy hair and brown eyes. When I finally spotted someone who could be him, I was surprised to see that he was in deep conversation with Lucas, of all people.
Alarm bells went off in my head, and I felt my jaw lock in response as I approached them and interrupted their conversation. Lucas tensed when he saw me, and his reaction didn’t make me any less suspicious. However, I didn’t have the time to antagonize him, so I decided to play the diplomacy card.
“Hey, man. Lucas, right?” He nodded and I continued, “I just want to apologize for my sister’s outburst last week. She can get a little paranoid sometimes. No hurt feelings, I hope.” I gave him my most sincere, let’s-be-friends smile and hoped he bought it.
“Sure, no problem. Just keep her away from me,” he replied before he said goodbye to Henry and left. I took that as an opportunity to introduce myself to our Prophecy boy.
“I’m Matt. Sorry if I interrupted anything. First day?” I offered my hand, and Henry took it. He looked at me suspiciously, and I had the feeling he wasn’t used to people noticing him.
“Henry. Nice to meet you.” He had a strong accent, so I used that to keep the conversation going.
“Where are you from?”
“Louisiana,” he answered nervously, without making eye contact. “I gotta go,” he blurted out, and didn’t even wait for my reply. He scurried away like a scared mouse.
I was still looking in the direction he had disappeared when Vanessa, one of the girls from the dance group, stopped in front of me with a big grin on her face. I so did not need this right now.
Vanessa was one of those really pretty girls who seemed to be concerned only about school gossip and flirting. I had to fight really hard not to roll my eyes at her because, for all her prettiness, she was as dull as a door. The whole time she spent talking to me, she kept flipping her hair and laughing really hard at her own stupid jokes. I could only think about Sam and how none of the girls at school compared to her. But I had been raised not to be rude to a girl, so I pretended to be interested in whatever she was saying as I thought of an excuse to escape. Unfortunately, Sam found us before I could get rid of Vanessa. I didn’t even need to look at Sam to know she was pissed.
“Vanessa, Rachel is looking for you.” Sam tried to sugar-coat her annoyance, but I knew her too well. Vanessa scowled at Sam, not appreciating the interruption, but she left nonetheless. But not before she squeezed my arm and said, “I’ll see you later,” in a very flirty voice.
“I hate this,” Sam said through clenched teeth as she watched Vanessa sashay away from us.
“Me too,” I replied honestly, but Sam looked at me like she didn’t believe me. “I’m serious,” I insisted.
“Well, it didn’t look like you were hating Vanessa’s company by the way you were laughing at her jokes.”
I looked at Sam incredulously. Was she jealous, for real? I closed my eyes and brought the heel of my palm against my forehead. When I opened them again she was still glaring at me.
“Let’s not do this now, okay?” I pleaded. Even though I had a better handle of my powers, Sam was still pretty much wild. We couldn’t afford to let things escalate in the middle of the hallway.
She clenched her jaw and avoided my gaze.
“Did you find him?” I didn’t need to read minds to realize she was referring to Henry. I was glad for the change of subject.
“Yes. I managed to introduce myself but didn’t get further than that.”
“We'll make sure to invite him to sit with us during lunch,” Sam replied. By the sound of her voice and her body language I knew that the Vanessa subject was far from over.
“Yeah, I was thinking the same. But guess who else introduced himself to Henry?”
She turned to look at me again. “Lucas.”
“Huh,” Sam replied, like it wasn’t a big deal.
“That's all you have say? ‘Huh’’?” I asked, frowning at her.
“As much as I would love to agree with Melanie’s crazy theories, couldn’t it be possible that Lucas was just trying to be nice to a new student, considering he’s also one?” Sam raised an eyebrow at me. She was defending Lucas to grate on my nerves.
“Whatever, Sam. I'll see you later.” Not wanting to give her the satisfaction, I walked away before I said something regretful.
During lunch break, I was glad when I saw that Sean had already found Henry and invited him to join us for lunch. If anyone could break the ice with Henry, it was him. As we anxiously waited for the moment of truth when Alexia would join our table, we all took turns asking Henry questions. I felt sorry for him. The more questions we drilled him with, the more flustered he became. I was sure that he was most likely thinking we were about to humiliate him in some way. I wouldn’t be surprised to discover he had been a bullying victim at his previous school.
We learned that his dad had been transferred to Santa Barbara with a big promotion, and part of that promotion was Henry’s upgrade from public to private school. He didn’t mention once the fact that he had six older brothers, not even when we asked if he had any siblings. He had just answered “yes” to that question and changed the subject quickly.
“There's Alexia.” Mia pointed toward the buffet line. Alexia and Ethan were acting like the in-love couple they were. I watched Henry closely. As far as I could tell he had no reaction to their antics.
Once Alexia and Ethan joined us at the table we introduced Henry to them, then waited for Alexia and Henry’s reactions to each other. Nothing. Not even a little spark. Henry had shown more excitement in meeting Mia and Melanie than his Promised One.
Later in the day, I received a text message from Zach calling an urgent meeting of the Prodigy. The fact that we were not meeting at the house said this was a meeting that neither Gary nor the Council could know about it.
We met at the Kissing Grove, a place that was turning out to be our spot when we wanted to be secretive. Once we were all together, Zach didn’t waste any time.
“I take it you all noticed there was no mutual recognition between Alexia and Henry, right?”
“It doesn’t make any sense. Shouldn’t there be, like, fireworks, or a magical pull between them? Isn’t that what the Prophecy says?” Sean asked. We all turned to look at Melanie, the only one among us who had read the Prophecy in its entirety.
“That’s what it says, but the Prophecy didn’t mention anything about if one of the Promised Ones was already in love with someone else. Maybe Alexia’s relationship with Ethan is preventing the bond from taking place.”
“Or this Henry guy is a phony. Maybe the Council was getting desperate, and they conveniently produced a Promised boy at the exact time that Alexia’s powers developed. I wouldn’t put
it past them,” I said.
“Don’t say that! I refuse to believe such a thing,” Melanie shouted. We were all surprised by her reaction. Conspiracy theories were her specialty, and she was always the first one to suspect the “establishment.” But since she had returned from Arcadia, her reactions had been erratic, to say the least.
Mia, usually the sensible one, prevented the discussion from escalating by bringing it back to Henry and Alexia’s lack of chemistry. “There’s no way to know for sure what’s going on until Henry and Alexia interact more. It could be that Henry just felt intimidated by Ethan’s presence, and likewise Alexia was distracted by him. She barely glanced in Henry’s direction.”
“We just have to keep Alexia and Ethan apart for now,” Melanie said. We all frowned at her. “What? You were all thinking the same thing, I’m the only one who has the courage to say it out loud. We all had to sacrifice our lives for the Prophecy. Now it's about time Alexia starts sacrificing something.”
“What the hell, Melanie?” I barely recognized my sister anymore.
Sean raised his hands. “Okay, okay. Let’s not get carried away and say stuff we don’t mean. Julian texted me an hour ago inviting all of us to one his infamous parties this Saturday. I say that it’s the perfect opportunity for Henry and Alexia to get to know each other.”
“Yes, but how? It’s likely that Ethan and Alexia will be inseparable at his party,” Sam pointed out. Then I felt a light nudge in my mind from her, like she was whispering inside my brain, and I knew instantly what she was thinking. She wanted to investigate the mysterious drug that had circulated at Julian’s previous party.
“We’ll think of something. Among all of us, we can keep them apart for at least an hour, right?” Sean replied. “If Henry and Alexia are indeed meant for each other, that would be enough time for to them to, I don’t know, fall madly in love. Didn’t it take less than five minutes for Alexia to become infatuated with Ethan?”
I heard Sam’s voice in my head as clear as if she had spoken aloud: “Didn’t it?”
Samantha
After our secret meeting, the rest of the week went by in a flash. But things remained the same in the Henry/Alexia department. On the brief occasions when they interacted, they barely exchanged a few words. I might have noticed a wistful look on Henry’s part when I caught him staring at Alexia, but as far as she was concerned, Henry didn’t exist. She only had eyes for Ethan. They seemed more in love than ever, and I didn’t doubt that their relationship had grown stronger since Alexia’s powers had developed right in front of him.
Tonight there was no theme at Julian’s party, but there were definitely more people. But quantity didn’t mean quality. It hadn’t been hard to find Chloe and her entourage, for instance. But the person I was hoping to find I had yet to see: the mysterious bartender who had given the drug to Johnny.
If it had been up to me I wouldn’t have come, because things between Julian and me were still awkward, and it was mostly my fault. Like the last time, he greeted his guests at the front door, but this time without any help. When I stood face-to-face with him he paused briefly, like he couldn’t believe I was there. Then his gaze swept down quickly toward my throat where I had the rose pendant Alexia had given me. He smiled sadly and greeted me with a chaste kiss on my cheek. My heart constricted a bit, because I did care about Julian and I hadn’t meant to hurt him, even if I thought he was bad news for me. But I still didn’t regret breaking things off with him, because whatever I might have felt for Julian didn’t compare to what Matthew and I shared.
Thinking about Matthew made me all hot and bothered and I flushed remembering our midnight encounters. It was getting harder and harder not to take the plunge in our relationship. I didn't dare ask him if there had been another girl before me, and I really didn’t care to know. I wouldn’t put it past myself to suffer from retroactive jealousy. It was already bad enough that we couldn’t be together in public, and I had to endure watching other girls throwing themselves at him, including that stupid Vanessa.
Matthew and I had decided to split up during the party to look for the bartender more effectively, but so far I hadn’t made much progress because people kept stopping me to chat. I had just disengaged from a group of junior girls who wanted some fashion advice when I felt someone's hand on my arm. I was startled to find Julian grinning openly at me.
“I was hoping we could talk for a little bit.” His voice was smooth as silk.
As much as I wanted things to return to normal between us, there was something off about him right now. I really didn’t want to talk to him alone. But I shrugged my uneasiness off and allowed him to walk me to a secluded area of his garden. It was unlikely he would try something here at his party, and I could defend myself if he did.
“First of all, thanks for coming. It means a lot to me.”
“It’s no big deal. We all came,” I answered matter-of-factly, trying to convey to him that my coming to his party had nothing to do with our previous relationship.
Julian took a step closer, invading my personal space and making me uncomfortable. When I tried to take a step back, my back hit a big palm tree. He had effectively trapped me. “Still, I’m happy that you did.” He reached up and touched a loose strand of my hair.
“Julian, don’t,” I protested. He silenced me by putting a finger to my lips.
“Samantha, I’ve missed you. Give me another chance.” His voice had turned huskier. He was so close to me that anyone looking our direction would think we were about to kiss.
I closed my eyes because Julian’s proximity was making my heart beat really fast, and my palms had started to sweat. I hated that my body and my hormones were betraying me. I loved Matthew, but I couldn’t help the effect Julian had on me. He had this strange and powerful sexual magnetism that scrambled my brain and made my body lose control.
“Julian, I can’t.” I practically whispered, and wondered at the same time why I couldn’t be more assertive with him. It took an enormous amount of strength to deny him.
“I don’t believe you. I want you to look at me and say it.”
I was surprised to see the intensity in his eyes. It was so powerful it was scary. I gently pushed him away from me. “Please don’t insist, Julian. I can’t date you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” he asked angrily as his gaze darkened.
“What's the difference? It won’t happen, so just quit it, okay?”
“No.”
That was not the reaction I was hoping for, and it broke the spell he had on me. I put my hands on my hips and glared at him. “No?” I repeated.
“You will give me another chance,” he replied with certainty, like I didn’t have any say in the matter.
Big mistake. Nobody tells me what to do. I flipped my hair out of the way, and I was ready to lay it on him when his gaze zeroed in on the necklace Alexia had given me. “Where did you get that?" he asked. I immediately put a protective hand over the rose pendant, afraid that Julian would be crazy enough to take it from me.
“It was a gift.”
“Who gave it to you?” Julian looked incensed as he took a step closer. I was afraid I would have to use my self-defense skills on him. Then someone approached us.
“Is there a problem here?”
Julian and I turned toward the voice and saw the new kid, Lucas, standing there, ready to jump to my rescue.
The rage on Julian’s face vanished as he stepped away from me. “No problem at all. We were just talking.”
Lucas briefly glanced at me and returned his attention to Julian. “Good. May I have a word with you?”
Julian’s jaw tensed. “Sure. This way.”
Lucas followed Julian inside the house. From the way they had reacted to one another there was no doubt in my mind that they were more than mere acquaintances. I hated to admit it, but maybe Melanie and Matthew had been right after all. Maybe both Lucas and Julian were involved with the new drug Johnny had experimented with. Or at least J
ulian was, and Lucas was the undercover operative sent by Durgin. Tough to know with so little information, and I didn’t want to jump the gun without knowing more. Getting closer to Lucas might prove fruitful.
I wanted to tell Matthew what I had witnessed, sans the part where Julian turned all freaky on me, partly because it would just piss Matthew off and also because I was still feeling guilty about my crazy reaction to Julian.
However, I stumbled upon Melanie first. She looked really cute with her hair high in a ponytail and her bangs swept to the side. She was wearing a mini shift dress with a graphic print, paired with studded peep-toe booties. Melanie favored edgy clothes and accessories, and right now she was the epitome of über-cool. She was attracting a lot of male attention, but seemed oblivious to it. Her body was tense, and her gaze kept searching for something or someone. She looked up when I got near her.
“How's it going?” I asked.
“Not very well, as you can see.” Melanie pointed ahead to the cluster of people dancing to Sean’s crazy beat, and I saw Alexia and Ethan together having a blast.
“So I guess the plan to keep Ethan and Alexia apart isn’t really working, huh?”
“No. And you wanna know why?” She looked pointedly at me, and I gave her a blank stare. “Because you guys are all feeling sorry for Ethan.”
I didn’t want to have a discussion with Melanie right now about why it was hard for us to see Ethan suffer, so I changed the subject.
“I saw something interesting just now.” She seemed a little put-off that I hadn’t taken the bait, but gave me an intrigued look, nonetheless. She was a journalist through and through.
Matthew and I hadn’t told anyone about the conversation we had overheard at the Kissing Grove. The reason was obvious: We couldn’t explain what we had been doing alone there in the middle of the day. But since Melanie already suspected Lucas, she would probably jump at the opportunity to be proven right.
