by April Marcom
“But The Baring Springs can read your emotions and the fog creates an entire person reflecting that. Nothing like that exists yet.”
“But it just sits there.”
“Whatever, we’ll see which school wins.”
“Can I see your medals? I’ve only seen Titus’s, since they won the Snow Riders’ competition last year.”
“Sure.” I had to dig around my neck to grab a ribbon and pull it off. “What’s his look like?”
“The ribbon’s black, instead of white like this one, and a gold flame hangs on it.”
“You would think they’d both be gold. But I guess Headmaster does seem to have a thing for white and silver.”
“Too bad, since gold’s your favorite color.”
“I’m surprised you remember.”
“How could I forget? You haven’t forgotten my favorite color, have you?”
“No, it’s purple...I see what you mean. It’s hard to forget even the little things about your favorite person.”
His pace slowed. He smiled over at me and handed me my medal back.
“Oh—” I stopped and grabbed his arm. “I wanted to ask you something. Were you recruited two and a half weeks ago, on a Tuesday night?”
Luke thought about it as we began walking again. “Yeah, I think it was a Tuesday. Why?”
“We were recruited the same night. When we were leaving the hospital we ran into some Cinders. A guy named Bane was there. He and Roman got into a fight. They said they were there to recruit someone, too.”
“Bane did come get me. I must have been that recruit.”
“That’s crazy. Out of all the people and places in the world, we both get recruited on the same night.”
“Like it was meant to be...” Luke tilted his head as he smiled at me. Then he looked really embarrassed. I felt bad, because I wanted him to keep going.
“Can I ask you something?” he said.
“Anything.”
“After you won the fifty yard dash, was the favorite guy you thanked Roman?”
“No.” I laughed at how ridiculous that was. “I can hardly stand the guy. I was talking about you. When I was on the field, terrified, I tried thinking about your twelfth birthday and I felt better. It got me through the whole night.”
“The year of the skateboard. The last good birthday I ever had. I’ve still got that thing stashed under my bed. It’s missing a wheel and it’s cracked, but it’s there.”
We walked in silence for a few minutes and I began to wonder if Luke planned to go back in through the front doors or through some other mysterious hidden door. I was beginning to get cold, and I did not want to circle the whole thing.
“If you can’t stand the guy, why are you with him?” Luke asked unexpectedly.
“I’m not. It’s complicated. Roman’s been obsessed with me since the night I got recruited. He hangs all over me and calls me his girlfriend and he never even asked what I wanted.”
“What do you want?”
“I want it to end. He’s possessive and mean and it gets worse by the day. I never liked him in the first place. But I’m too big a coward to tell him so. I keep hoping he’ll get the hint, but it’s not working. It’s like the more distant I become the harder he pushes it. Isn’t there some way to make a guy not like you anymore?”
“You’re gonna have to tell him. And I’d be straight if I were you. Sugar coating it and dragging it out’ll only make it worse for you and for him...I could do it for you, if you want, but I probably won’t be as nice as you will.”
“No, I should do it. I’m just—scared. He kind of hurt my arm when he found out you spent the night in my bed.”
“He hurt you?” Without even being there, Roman ignited fire in Luke’s eyes.
“He just grabbed my arm too hard. He was really mad.”
“Kristine, he hurt you. I have half a mind to go hurt him right now.”
“No! It’ll hurt him bad enough if I tell him how I feel. I’ll just avoid him for as long as I can. Maybe he’ll figure it out, eventually.” I could see the faint light of the front of Southland Cinder High.
“Why? You could be free and single. Why put it off?”
“Because I am free and single. Roman’s built this whole thing up in his head. I’m not his girlfriend; he’s just convinced himself I am.”
“Come on, Kristine. You don’t belong with that jerk.”
“I know...” The front drew slowly closer. The still night sent a shiver down my spine. “I’ll talk to him after you two compete. I don’t want to ruin his first big game.”
“Good.” Luke stopped and turned to me, taking both of my hands in his. I wished there wasn’t so much padding between us. “Now that that’s settled, who’re you gonna be cheering for? Me or your boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend, and it wouldn’t matter. I’d cheer for you no matter what, Luke.”
“You’re shivering,” he said, looking down at my hands.
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not. You need to get inside.” He took the Cyclone out of his pocket and threw it down, stepping onto it the second it had opened.
“Not that again.”
“It’ll be quick.” He reached out and pulled me on. Then we were zooming back the way we came. We stopped as quickly as we’d started.
“How do you know where we are?” I asked as I got off. Everything looked the same to me.
“Practice.” He picked up the Cyclone and put it back in his pocket. “I put a lot of time into mentally mapping out this place.”
Luke pressed a spot on the wall and it sunk in. The doorway opened. It was much warmer inside with the burning torch he picked up and carried between us.
“There’s something I wanted to give you,” he said as we walked. He pulled a thick bundle out of his pocket and handed it to me.
I held it up and let the black fabric fall until I was holding a suit. “Is this a Cinder shadow suit?”
“Yeah, I thought it might make it easier for us to see each other.”
“Thanks, Luke.” It looked like it was my size and everything.
We walked silently after that until we reached the exit way. I took off the snowsuit and handed it to Luke. He hung up both of them and threw the dark cloak over me again. “If Roman does anything else to hurt you, I want you to tell me,” he said, tying it under my chin.
“He’s not going to hurt me.”
“Promise me, Kristine.” He put his hands on my shoulders and stared at me with great intensity, making me feel like a child.
“I promise.”
“Good. Keep that on and I’ll take you to your quarters. I don’t want you going anywhere alone.”
I felt such a growing attraction toward him. As he took my hand and we made our way through the small dark space, I wondered if it was possible that he felt it, too.
Chapter Twenty-Three
~ One-Sided? ~
With my new shadow suit, spending time with Luke was a cinch. Finding the time was the hard part. Like Roman, he had practice for the better part of every weekday and weekend evening. When we did get together, we explored the underground castle and took the secret passageway outside. Riding around on Luke’s Cyclone with him wasn’t so bad once I got used to it. Mostly because I got to press against him and feel his arms surround me.
The only bad thing was that every second was an internal battle. I was in seventh heaven being with Luke again, but this unexplainable sensation I felt inside for the first time made me want so much more.
Unfortunately, those Cyclone rides were the closest I ever got to him. He held my hand when we couldn’t see each other in the shadow suits, but we would have lost each other without that. I never knew where I was going. I began wondering if these feelings were one-sided.
Weeknights, I would meet him right inside the door of the dark gym and he would throw a black cloak over me before we made our way to the little snack room with all the two-person chairs. No one eve
r thought it strange when a dark, hooded figure entered the room and took a seat. It was nice to curl up by the fire with Luke and have dinner each night.
Avoiding Roman was an added bonus. Only my roommates knew what I was doing, and they kept telling him I was sick in bed. I just had to remember to tell my con to power down during these times.
Harmony bounced on my bed to wake me up Friday morning. “Your two boyfriends are competing today,” she said quietly.
“Neither of them’re my boyfriend,” I responded sleepily. I rolled over and pulled my pillow over my head.
“Whatever.” She gave it one more good bounce before she got up.
The anticipation began to set in as I climbed out of bed and did my morning thing. I would finally get to watch Winter Competitions from the stands. Last Saturday, the Tracers and I gathered in Rose’s hospital room to celebrate our victories and watch the academic competition on her con, so I missed out on it then.
And by the way, Sassy was right. Academics were definitely the most boring part.
All the way to breakfast, my roommates kept giving me advice about how best to let Roman down:
“Be gentle. Let him down easy.”
“Tell him you don’t want to be in a relationship right now, and you’d be happier as friends...”
Luke’s advice was the only one that mattered, though, because he’s a guy. He knew how their minds worked. Short and simple. That was the plan.
“Roman Armstrong, team captain of the North Haven Snow Riders, will be leading his team today,” Connie was saying as we entered the dining hall. I looked back at the projection and watched him glide with his snowmobile to the top of a hill and ram someone else’s hard enough to send its rider flying on the other side. His picture, which happened to be a really good one, appeared in an upper corner as Connie gave his stats.
I felt sad, as I took my seat, that I would be breaking his heart that night. At least I was giving him his big day first.
The rest of the team was briefly highlighted as we started eating, but Roman had obviously been given the spotlight.
As I was finishing my last piece of bacon, the room darkened. Purple flames glowed against the bottom of the wall and a picture of Luke leaning against a black wall with his arms crossed over his chest appeared. “Leading the Southland Cinder High Snow Riders this year is Knight,” a low voice said.
I set my glass down hallway to my mouth and leaned forward to drool. “Isn’t he gorgeous?” I said, forgetting everything else as I stared at him. Even his picture set me on fire.
A body leaned against mine from behind and Roman kissed my cheek. “Hey, sweetie.”
A totally different fire ignited inside me. “Don’t do that,” I said, leaning away.
He sat down beside me with his back against the table. “Come on, Kristine. I haven’t seen you all week. You look like you’re feeling better.”
I shrugged and turned back to Luke just before another Cinder came on the screen. Darn it. I’d have to sit there and wait for the whole thing to run through and replay to see him again.
The rest of the North Haven Snow Riders came in noisily and sat around their captain. Only one girl was on the team.
Roman reached out for my hand.
“Harmony and I have activities committee in a little bit,” I said, pulling it away as I stood up.
Roman grabbed it anyway and stood up, too. “Why don’t you skip it and spend the morning with me? Mr. Fielding won’t mind—” He used his other hand to pull me close to him. “—not if you’re with today’s head competitor. We’re like North Haven’s couple of the year. Captain of the Tracers and Snow Riders.”
“Roman—there’s something really important I need to talk to you about, and I’d rather do it after your competition. So let’s wait for tonight, okay?” Placing my hands on his chest, I tried to push him away, but he held fast, looking positively elated.
“Tell me now.”
“No, I want to do it after the game.”
“Whatever you say.” He kept his death grip around me as he leaned forward to kiss me and I fought to get away.
The sound of glass breaking filled the air. Everyone turned to stare at a guy sitting at the second Cinder table with two halves of a plate in his hands. In the dark room at the darkest end of the table, it was impossible to see his face.
“Are you crazy? I’ll get you sick,” I said to Roman.
“I don’t care. I want a good luck kiss.” He tried to kiss me again, but I finally broke free.
“I don’t want you to get sick. Just find me after the competition’s over, okay?”
“Sorry, Roman.” Harmony grabbed my hand. “We’ve gotta go.”
Relief. Pure relief. “What took you so long?” I asked, hooking my arm in hers and power walking away.
“You were squirmin’ like a worm back there. He’s so oblivious.”
“I’m glad it’ll all be over tonight.”
A hand shot out and grabbed my arm. The giant shadow that’d broken the plate with his bare hands stood up and leaned close to me. “Lu—Knight!” Seeing his face and feeling his hand on my arm was so much better than a picture on the screen.
“Meet me in the gym at eleven-thirty,” he whispered.
“But you compete at noon.” Competitions started earlier than usual so the Riders would have enough daylight. He’d never have enough time to get dressed and pull his snowmobile out.
“Hey, Knight,” Roman shouted from across the room, still standing where I’d left him. “Hands off.”
The volume in the dinner hall lowered as Luke gave him a wicked grin and let go. “Tonight,” he muttered.
And then Harmony and I were out the door.
* * * *
We didn’t actually have a committee meeting. It was a free day with the early competition. But Harmony and I did work on creating standing armor suits for the dance, using thin cardboard and silver spray paint. That was our weekend project. Different members of the activities committee had different responsibilities. I envied Miss Rivers getting to make the life-size pictures of an evil dragon circling a maiden trapped in a tower.
At eleven-thirty, when Harmony and Sassy started talking about heading to the arena, I realized I was supposed to meet Luke and made my way across the second floor and down to the Cinder gym as quickly as I could. He was already leaning against the wall next to the door inside.
He reached out for my arm when he saw me and let his hand slide down until he was holding mine. “You’re still going through with it tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“Where can I find you when you’re finished with Armstrong?”
“I don’t know. Where do Snow Riders go after the competition?”
“We go to the competitors’ rooms, if we’re still in one piece.”
“Don’t try to scare me.” Somehow, until that moment, I hadn’t thought about the possibility of Luke getting hurt. “You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
“There’s no careful for Snow Riders. I’ll be fine, though.”
“Well...I guess I’ll wait for him outside the boys’ competitors’ room. It’s right next to the girls’.”
“Or you could follow the hallway around. There’s a storage room just after you get on our side. If you tell him in there, no one’ll have to see him cry like a little baby. Then you could wait for me in the hall.”
“What am I supposed to do if he cries?”
“Nothing.” Still, I really hoped he wouldn’t cry. “So, will you wait for me there?”
“Yes.”
I held my wrist up and struggled to read my watch. “It’s eleven-forty, Luke. I don’t want to leave you, but I don’t want you to miss the match either.”
“I know.”
He put his free hand behind my neck and began rubbing it. In that moment, as I rested my hand on his elbow, I felt so close to him. The line between best friends and something more was so fine. I wanted to know. I wanted him.
“Try to be careful—for me—please,” I said. Unable to restrain myself any longer, I turned my head enough to kiss his arm.
His hand became still as he drew in a breath. His eyes looked angry and surprised at the same time. I’d never seen him look that way before.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
His stiff hands drew away as he turned to leave.
“Good luck, Luke,” I said.
He looked back at me. His eyes, somehow darker than usual, were pained. Something was very wrong.
“Did I—”
He turned away and left me all alone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
~ Lucky Break ~
The Winter Competitions arena was all the way at the other end of the place, so I had to run to get there on time. Still, it was a couple of minutes past twelve when I came racing into the stands.
My spirits fell when I saw that the Riders had already ridden out and were being shown from different angles on the screen.
The arena wasn’t like any I’d ever seen before. Curved rows of wide, white padded chairs were set in groups of five unevenly all over the place, a small round table placed in front of each one. It was homey, except for the window in the back between the red and blue sections where you could get stuff like chips and hotdogs. The gigantic screen above center field was lifted high enough that no one would have trouble seeing it.
“Is Luke out there?” I whispered to Harmony as I sat beside her, knowing it was impossible.
“Yeah, that’s him with the purple flames painted on his snowmobile.” The camera was looking down at that moment over two Riders heading for each other.
“How did he make it in time?” I wondered out loud.
The North Havener had a giant rock in one hand and Luke was unarmed.
“What’s he doing?” I asked, desperately clutching Harmony’s arm. I wanted to scream for him to stop. I wanted to run outside and throw myself in between them.
At the last moment, Luke turned his snowmobile sideways and skidded hard enough forward that the snow was forced into a mound directly in the path of the Havener. Surprised, the rider in white jerked slightly to the side and hit the mound’s edge so that his snowmobile turned over mid-air and landed on top of him. Luke sped away.
