“Mrs. Wilson,” Chen raised her other hand to be noticed.
Even when her nose is gushing blood, she is still polite, Paige thought in exasperation.
“What is it?” Mrs. Wilson asked as if she irked that she was interrupted.
“Her nose is bleeding,” Paige replied so Chen wouldn’t have to bother. The blood was everywhere by now.
Naturally, all heads turned in their direction in fascination, and Paige suppressed a groan. She wished they were in one of those TV dramas where one of her friends would yell, “I’m a doctor,” and would rush to help. But this was a reality, so they all remained silent and seated.
Usually, Paige wouldn’t interfere at all, but Chen looked beyond scary and like someone who needed some medical attention. STAT.
“Go to the nurse’s office, Chen,” Mrs. Wilson ordered.
Sending a grateful look at Paige, Chen grabbed her backpack with her somewhat clean hand and got to her feet and made a beeline toward the door. In her hurry, she didn’t seem to notice that she’d left a clear trail of blood from her seat to the exit.
She fumbled with the door but managed to get it open and went through it quickly. The heavy doors slammed closed behind her.
Still, in a daze, Paige looked at the blood that stained the floor and could only think how the whole place suddenly looked like a freaking crime scene.
Even the smell of blood, so strange and metallic, tickled her nose, completing the scene. And by the looks of her classmates, they were thinking the exact same thing.
I really need to get out of this place. Thankfully, a few seconds, later the bell rang. Mathematical Statistics class was finally over.
All the students tried to leave the classroom at once while avoiding the blood. A line formed in front of the door, and she understood the sentiment completely.
“Chen looked pretty sick.” River, her best friend, said as she approached.
River had very famous parents. They were both singers and they named her after their most famous duet.
Artists were so weird, especially when naming their children.
Paige, on the other hand, was simply Paige. There was no greater meaning to it but she liked it that way. It was up to her to give the name greatness, not the other way round.
Remembering what River had said, Paige nodded. “Yeah,” she replied. “I hope she’s okay.” She actually meant it, too.
“She was dripping blood everywhere,” River continued, clearly not done with this topic. Her voice and expression held some strange kind of fascination.
“Yeah,” Paige replied simply, not quite sharing her enthusiasm.
River linked her tanned arm with Paige’s, making her look even paler than usual as they walked back outside and toward the tracks. They were both part of a track team. The scholarship went towards the costs of the school, with Paige’s grades and money from her parents. Oh, yes, and bank loans. Her grandchildren would end up paying off her loans unless she was able to land a top-paying job. That was what she hoped for.
“So, did you speak to AJ while I was away?” River asked sweetly even though she already knew the answer to that question.
Which was a big, fat no.
Paige simply shrugged, not bothering with vocals. She already felt quite uncomfortable with the simple question and where it could lead them.
Knowing River, there were no innocent questions, only traps you could fall into.
“Paige,” she yelled at her, nudging her a little. “You promised. AJ!” she shouted, spotting the boy in question in front of them, making Paige panic.
“River,” she snapped back, moving away from her.
AJ turned and looked back at them, and as always, time slowed while Paige watched him. He stared at her. AJ had a very distinct grin on his face and a twinkle in his eyes that got her every freaking time.
She waved at him with two hands, without thinking. Then wanted to smack herself across the forehead with that same hand.
What is wrong with me? she wondered, and not for the first time.
He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned, clearly confused by her reaction. She wanted to die then and there.
What on earth possessed me to do that? Why am I acting like a school girl anytime he is near me?
Because I’m an idiot, Paige screamed at herself. You’re swearing off boys, remember? She continued with her inner dialogue. But that was easier said than done when AJ stood so close to her.
Heat rose instantly to her cheeks, and she was positive she looked like a street light with all that red glow across her pale skin.
I really, really need a tan, she reminded herself.
Feeling embarrassed and angry, she turned toward her best friend.
“River, why don’t you worry about your own love life and leave mine to me?” Paige demanded in a tone that was almost a hiss, not wanting her voice to carry.
“You don’t have one.” River deadpanned, and Paige wanted to strangle her.
“Thanks for the reminder.” She headed off quickly on her own.
“Wait!” River yelled after her, but she ignored her, still pretty pissed.
Paige always did stupid things when AJ was around. But on the scale of remembering scenes, this was maybe a two?
Once, she’d tripped on the perfectly level floor in the cafeteria and practically fell into his lap while he was eating with his friends.
One of them even chuckled and remarked how dessert was served as well.
Now that was embarrassing, she reminded herself.
So, maybe this is progress? Paige groaned inwardly, not liking any of it.
* * *
Paige had waved at him, and AJ found that endearing. It effectively took his mind off the odd—to say the least—morning. The normal class routine had helped him to put the weird hearing voices thing down to staying up way too late on his computer.
He’d been about to wave in response, maybe even give her his award-winning smile—his mother actually had an award for it from when he was a baby.
But something else happened which stopped him in his tracks.
Paige looked different—no, that wasn’t right…it was more that the air around her looked different. It gave her a kind of golden glow as if she had a burnished aura surrounding her.
No one else seemed to have noticed, so he tilted his head and looked more closely, but the glow didn’t go away.
Paige is glowing, and only you can see it. The realization effectively stopped him from making an ass of himself by mentioning it.
“She is your Seedling, AJ,” the voice said, intruding again like the proverbial bad penny. “Take her to the mothership.” By this point, he was beyond freaked out but had to pretend everything was fine. He didn’t want his friends, classmates, and especially Paige to think he’d lost his mind.
AJ still firmly believed Brad was pulling a rather elaborate prank on him. But he hadn’t seen the other guy the whole day.
He is probably hiding somewhere and laughing, knowing I want to kick his ass.
“Take her now,” the voice commanded with so much force, AJ practically took a step forward against his will.
No. He rebelled instinctively.
As the mental protest echoed in his thoughts, he had the weirdest feeling that he had company in his head, and whoever that might be could see through his eyes.
And if that wasn’t a definition of crazy, he didn’t know what was.
Snap out of it, AJ, he yelled at himself, happy to hear his own will for a change.
But the urge to grab Paige was almost overwhelming. She’d taken River by the arm, clearly not happy about something. Relieved, he watched as River led Paige further away from him.
“Do it now, AJ.”
I will not. And get out of my head, he added with conviction while his whole body shook—slightly, but enough to cause concern in case others noticed.
“You must take your Seedling,” the voice insisted. He literally felt a pressure insid
e his body, a weird compulsion to act, but he refused, gritting his teeth.
The hell I will. I will not take her or anyone else. I will not listen to anything you have to say. So leave me alone.
In the next instant, he felt somewhat lighter and the urge disappeared. The voice disappeared along with it.
Thank God. He signed with relief.
Not wanting to take any chances, AJ decided to get away from Paige as quickly as possible.
He ended up in a bathroom, and he locked the door behind him. Still shaking, he leaned against the wall and drew a deep breath. He seriously needed a moment of privacy.
Or a whole year.
“What the hell is happening to you?” he asked his reflection, turning on the faucet, and splashed his face with cold water. It refreshed him and helped to calm him a little, but AJ knew deep inside that this was a problem H20 molecules couldn’t fix.
Still, one thing was perfectly clear to him. He wouldn’t do anything to Paige, no matter what the voices told him to do. At the same time, he accepted that it was time to face the music. Brad didn’t have anything to do with it.
It was all him. Or something in him.
Either way, harming Paige in any way wasn’t an option.
“I will keep her safe,” he vowed. Even if that meant from himself.
CHAPTER THREE
River managed to catch up with Paige on her way toward the locker rooms.
“I’m sorry about before,” she blurted with a sigh. “But I think you two would make a cute couple.” She pouted imploringly, a gesture guaranteed to make her case better than words ever could.
Paige knew she couldn’t stay mad at her, no matter what.
All her previous anger had dissipated, anyway, because River wasn’t the one she was truly mad at. “It’s fine.”
She was angry at herself for not being able to talk to AJ, plain and simple. The locker room wasn’t as full as it should be, but Paige brushed the thought away.
River continued to chat while they changed, talking about her vacation and what she did and Paige wanted to hear everything about it.
“It was only the three of us and the captain.” She beamed, and Paige understood why this was such a big deal.
Her parents, because of their hectic schedules, rarely had the opportunity to travel together as a family. And even when they did, their assistants and an entire hoard of other people joined them as well.
River once joked that they moved around like a carnival, so this was a nice surprise and Paige was really happy for her friend.
“We did the whole Aegean Sea tour, cruising from one island to the next, and it was amazing.”
Paige sighed wistfully, wishing she had been there with them. River had invited her, naturally, like she had every year before that, but this time, she chose to stay close to Willow and study.
But to see some of the ancient cities in person would be a dream come true.
“Mostly, we stayed on the boat, but we visited some of the larger islands as well,” River continued.
“Were there any cute boys?” Paige asked rhetorically because when River was involved, there were usually boys involved as well.
Her answering smile was sly as she brushed imaginary hair off her shoulder. “I did have a hot scuba instructor. He showed me the best reefs.” Her eyes grew misty for a moment as if she remembered something wonderful that had happened to her.
“I bet he did.” Paige couldn’t help but tease her and River squeaked in outrage, throwing her shirt at Paige.
Paige dodged it with ease and threw her towel at River in return.
“So, was George a good kisser?” Paige continued to tease, and River skidded to a halt even though she was in a process of retaliating for the towel.
“How did you know his name was George?” she asked in wonder.
Shrugging, Paige replied. “Lucky guess. It’s the most common name in Greece.”
River rolled her eyes. “Only you would know that, you nerd,” she replied playfully, and she pretended to take offense.
“He was rather good,” River added nonchalantly, and Paige burst out laughing.
“I knew it,” she exclaimed.
Settling down, they changed quickly and headed for the tracks. River hugged her along the way.
“I wish you had been there with me, Paige. The bookworm in you would die, seeing all those ancient sights...”
And she was right. “I know,” she replied, grinning. “I would probably bore you to death with all the facts.”
“You could never bore me. I am too awesome for that,” her friend joked, assuming a diva pose. Anyway, I took a lot of pictures.”
Paige responded with a hug of her own. “And that is why I love you,” she proclaimed.
“We’ll have the whole summer to make up for the lost time.”
And suddenly remembering their talk about summer and their plans, Paige stopped in her tracks. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
River shrugged noncommittally, suddenly very interested in her cuticles. It was all for show. Paige was aware of that. “I don’t know, maybe...”
She grabbed her by the shoulders. “Don’t play with me now, River.”
“But it’s so fun,” she replied, pouting theatrically.
“River,” she snapped but without rancor.
“Yes, I spoke to my dad who spoke with the people who organize his charities, and we’re in.”
Paige literally jumped up and down. This was the best news ever. River joined in. Clearly, the enthusiasm was rubbing off on her.
“Can you imagine,” River continued, still in high spirits. “Just us, for three months. It’ll be epic.”
“River, you do know we’re going to volunteer. It’s going to be a lot of hard work,” she reminded her. Honestly, Paige couldn’t wait to start.
She loved learning but was passionate about practical experiences. Those three months ahead of them during which they would travel around the world and help build houses for people who’d lost theirs during natural catastrophes would provide more than she could imagine. A lot of experience she couldn’t get from a textbook, plus, it was for the noble cause. All in all, it was a win-win kind of a situation.
River waved her hand. “Sure. But we both know that all work and no play make me cranky,” she added and winked, and Paige could only shake her head and smile.
Her heart is in the right place, even if she is a little wild at times.
Paige loved her friend to bits and spending the whole summer with her was truly epic, just as River said.
Out on the track, they could see their coach in the distance blowing her whistle in rapid succession, which meant she wasn’t too happy about something. They rushed over to meet her.
“You’re late, girls,” she snapped at them and they both sobered instantly.
“Sorry, Mrs. O’Brian,” Paige replied immediately, and River echoed the apology. As soon as the coach wasn’t looking at them, though, she made funny faces, and Paige couldn’t help but laugh. She tried not to make a noise, but it was too difficult.
“Settle down,” the coach ordered.
Paige pushed River playfully, trying to make her stop goofing around as they started stretching.
Feeling pumped up after receiving the news about their summer, Paige was really looking forward to a good run.
Glancing around, she noticed that at least half of the squad was missing. She frowned, concerned now. It wasn’t like them to miss practice since they had a very important race that weekend. Besides, there were no slackers at Rosehill, period.
“Mrs. O’Brian?” she decided to speak up.
“Yes, Paige?” She turned to her but was still inspecting her chart, going over the plan for today’s practice.
“Where are the others?” Paige asked, and River nodded next to her, obviously counting heads.
Mrs. O’Brian sighed. “I was about to ask you girls that.” Checking her watch, she blew her whistle onc
e again and all the girls present gathered around, knowing she wanted something to say.
“I’ll try to find out what happened to the rest of my team, but I want you to start the practice,” she warned and they all nodded.
“Once you’re finished warming up, do the laps. Paige, you can lead. And remember, nice and slow, girls. We only want your muscles all warmed up and ready,” she commanded, dismissing them.
They shouted agreement in unison and scattered to do as they were told.
After they had finished working through a specific set of exercises and stretches, they walked toward the tracks and, as instructed, Paige took the lead. They settled into a nice jog and soon, the girls started to chat amongst themselves. With the coach absent, it was a rare opportunity.
Even though Paige was in the front with River, she could still hear the chatter from the back.
“Did you see Mark today?” one girl asked.
“No, why?” the other replied.
“I heard that he completely spaced out during class and that his nose practically exploded,” the first one informed her with noticeable excitement in her voice.
Paige listened intently as they started the second lap.
“I heard one girl passed out in a pool of her own blood,” Stiv said, joining in the conversation.
“Really?” A chorus of girls wanted to know more.
“Yeah, they had to carry her in the infirmary.”
“That is freaky.”
Paige had to agree. She nudged River and gestured behind them.
“Did you hear all that?” she asked, more than a little concerned now. “I thought it was only Chen, but other kids got sick as well.”
River made a noncommittal sound. “I think it’s merely gossip.”
“What do you mean?” Paige asked, confused.
Moving a little closer to her, River explained. “Listen to what they are saying—they all have second-hand information. It was only gossip,” she concluded triumphantly.
But Paige wasn’t convinced.
They continued running laps and when she was satisfied with their progress, Paige decided to up their game a little. She picked up her pace and the rest followed. The only downside was that they couldn’t really talk any longer at a faster speed.
Contamination (Invasion Survivor Book 1) Page 2
