CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1)

by McMann, Laney

  "Careful, Sparrow." Cole stood on the step below, holding her upright. "Somebody might think you fell on purpose, just so I'd catch you." He continued around her, leaving a heated trail where his hands had been.

  Sparrow?

  "Told you he was an ass." Giselle peered down from a few steps above, and grinned. "And so conceited.”

  Kade marched up to the second floor and down the hall into first period. Cole sat in his seat in History messing with his phone, eyes downcast, legs stretched out, ankles crossed. The butterfly bandages were still over his eye from when she'd seen him on Monday, but with his jacket on, she wasn't sure if his arm was still wrapped in gauze. She hoped it was better.

  "So, did Jake ask you to the Fall Dance?" Giselle asked, leaning toward Kade’s desk.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Kade saw Cole's feet uncross and pull toward his body, his posture straightening.

  "You mean since Monday?"

  "It's like a, 'Welcome back to school,' thing." Giselle made quotations with her fingers. "Nothing like prom. Someone needs to ask you soon."

  Cole coughed.

  Giselle's gaze shifted toward him and back again. "Anyway...I'm sure Jake will ask you. And you better say yes when he does." She leaned back over in her seat as Mr. Robbins strode into the classroom.

  Regardless of what Giselle was trying to set up, Kade's dad would never allow her to go to a dance with any boy, no matter how nice he might be, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to go to a dance with Jake anyway.

  Since it was the first week of school, Mr. Robbins was apparently doing a “take it slow” approach. Day one, they'd looked over the syllabus. That was it. Not that anyone complained. Giselle said yesterday they’d gone over the textbook and taken notes. For day three he had a slide show prepared. Whistles rang through the classroom as the lights went out and the projection screen lit up the whiteboard. As much as Kade might, or might not, have been interested in what Mr. Robbins was saying about the History unit they would be studying, she didn't hear a word once Cole scooted his desk into the center of the walking aisle and nudged it forward little by little, until it was nuzzled between her desk and Giselle's.

  "Hey." He grinned when Kade stared at him. "I can't see from back there," he said, as if “back there” was a mile away. His attention focused toward the slides as if butting his desk up to hers to watch a movie was something he did every day.

  "Do you mind?" Giselle hopped her desk over a foot, away from his, and into the other aisle.

  "Not at all. Take all the space you need." Cole stretched his legs out and settled back like they were preparing to watch American Horror Story.

  "There will be a quiz on this material," Mr. Robbins said. "I suggest you all pay attention."

  "Um...what are you doing?" Kade whispered, feeling like a pinned butterfly. Granted, a happily pinned one. Not that she would admit that. Ever.

  Cole pointed toward the whiteboard. "Watching. You should watch, too." He yawned.

  "Does your desk need to be so close to mine to watch?"

  He leaned over, closer to her, if that was possible, and a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You know you like it, Sparrow. It's okay to admit it."

  Her lips parted, and his gaze darkened and traveled toward her mouth. A flood of something very wicked and untamed welled through her body. "I..." She cleared her throat with a cough. "Why are you calling me that?"

  "It's your name."

  "Last name." She tried to rein in the heat flooding her face.

  "Still your name. If you could stop flirting with me now..." He pointed toward the slides again. "You're making it hard for me to concentrate."

  Kade's jaw dropped. "I'm not flirting.”

  He cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, putting a finger over his lips. “Shh. We have a quiz on this, remember?” He winked with a smirk. “I, for one, would like to pass it." Shifting toward the screen again, he rested the back of his head against the desk chair, stretched his legs all the way out in front of him, and crossed his ankles.

  Kade followed his gaze and sat back in her desk beside him as if it was the most natural, comfortable thing to do. Which for some reason, it was. "Cole?"

  "Yeah?" He stifled a yawn.

  "Thank you."

  "For?" He glanced at her.

  "Catching me on the stairs…”

  Something knowing sparked in his beautiful eyes. "Anytime," he whispered, without looking away.

  A swell of energy radiated out of her, along with all the tension that had coiled up inside her body since the day she moved to Boulder, and she felt the sudden urge to touch him, hold his hand, lean closer. She'd never felt so safe.

  Cole grinned a sleepy smile, and Kade would've sworn he felt it, too.

  ***

  By the end of first period, flyers were everywhere announcing the Fall Dance. Tables decorated with orange and yellow leaves lined the halls, and tickets were being sold around school. The chatter turned from weekday gripes, to dresses, shoes, hair, and dates.

  "Who has a dance the first week of school?" Kade unlocked the combination on her locker.

  Giselle shrugged. "You didn't have dances in Utah?"

  None that I was ever allowed to go to. "Not so soon in the year." Not that she paid attention.

  "We like to celebrate." Giselle worked her combination lock. "Any reason for a party is a good reason."

  "Jake ask you yet?" Lindsey strolled up.

  Kade groaned.

  Lindsey laughed. "Sorry. You've sort of become 'the talk' of school."

  "Because?" Not that Kade didn't know. It had been that way at every new school. New girl, new toy to look at, pick at, judge, try to figure out. The list went on for miles.

  "'Cause your dad is the new surgeon at the children’s hospital, you live in a badass house, you drive a MINI, Cole is clearly hot for you, and Jake is taking you to the dance."

  "What the hell are you rambling about?" Kade asked. "The only thing you said that's true is the first part—and the house is…just big. Cole is not hot for me. And Jake isn’t taking me anywhere.”

  Lindsey jammed a few books into her locker, scraps of paper and pencils falling out. "It's all true from everyone's perspective, and that's all that counts, really." She didn't bother straightening the contents before slamming the door shut and breaking a pencil that got stuck between the side of the locker and the door. She kicked the broken half down the hall.

  "So, we're going dress shopping after school." Giselle smiled. "And you're coming with us, Kade."

  "I appreciate you guys asking, but even if I had a date—which I don't—my dad will never let me go." She really didn't want to go down the “rules” road with either of them.

  "Why not?" Giselle's eyes widened as if Kade had sprouted feathers out of her ears.

  "I'm not allowed to...date." She cringed, waiting for the backlash.

  "What?" Lindsey's eyebrows lifted in their customary straight line across her forehead.

  "Not allowed?" Giselle's expression matched her friend's. "You're seventeen. What do you mean, not allowed?"

  "Can't. As in...I can't date."

  "Can't?" Giselle repeated the word as if it wasn't sinking in.

  Kade nodded just as the bell rang.

  "You can still go with us after school." Lindsey offered with a pathetic half-smile.

  Giselle continued staring, making no effort, it seemed, to move. Kade took a step and motioned for her to follow like a puppy who needed to be reminded which way to walk.

  "You really can't date anyone?"

  Kade shook her head, and took another small step. Giselle followed. Slowly. "Really not allowed. It's stupid, I know."

  "No wonder you said no, when I asked you if you'd ever had any exes."

  "Yep. No boyfriends. I mean, I've liked guys, you know. I've kissed one before, but once my dad got wind of me liking anyone it always ended there." She wanted to tell her the truth. No close friends either, so this wo
uld be as much info Giselle would ever get. As close to Kade as she would ever get.

  "Well, I'm going to talk to him then." Giselle nodded as if she'd made a mental note to herself.

  "No, you're not."

  She stopped in the middle of the hall. "Yeah, I am. You're seventeen, Kade. It's just not right."

  "You can't, Giselle. Seriously. I'm not kidding."

  "I'm not kidding either. It'll be a group thing. I'll explain that we're all going to the dance together. As a group of friends. That way it doesn't really count as a date."

  "G—"

  She held up a hand.

  "Why are we even talking about this?" Kade said in a hushed voice. "No one has asked me anyway."

  "No one's asked you what?" The sound of Cole's voice rolled over the back of Kade's neck like warm honey. She was so fixated on what Giselle was saying, she didn't even notice him standing against the wall.

  Unsure what to say, she said, "Nothing." But as usual found it impossible to stop staring at him once his gaze penetrated hers. Those eyes did something weird to her brain. Like a magnet that refused to release its iron grip, it just kept pulling her forward.

  "Didn't sound like nothing." Cole typed something with his thumb into his phone. "Stop staring." He grinned without looking up.

  "I wasn't."

  "Keep telling yourself that, Sparrow." He dropped his phone back into his pocket and gazed at her. "We both know it's a lie."

  "Why are you such an ass sometimes?"

  "'Cause I can be." He pushed away from the wall and sauntered down the hall.

  Damn, why was he so arrogant one minute and sweet the next? Kade bet he knew how he affected girls. Clearly, he knew.

  ***

  The only thing on Kade's mind as she rounded the door into Pre-Calculus, besides how much Cole got under her skin, which was annoying, was Giselle confronting her dad about the dance.

  So not a good idea.

  He'd probably ban her from ever seeing Giselle again. Not that Kade could explain that to her. She had the feeling Giselle would be crushed if she knew.

  Jake's face lit up when Kade sat in front of him.

  "Hey, Kade."

  "Hey." She didn't mean to sound so unenthused, but her tone was flat.

  "You okay?"

  "Yeah."

  "Good, because I wanted to ask you something."

  Crap. "You did?"

  He rubbed his hands down the front of his jeans, over his thighs. "I know we just met and everything, so it's cool if you say no, I'll totally understand, but..."

  She raised a brow.

  "Do you want to go to the Fall Dance with me?" His face reddened, and Kade couldn't help but wonder why he was so nervous. He clearly had a lot going for him, and she hadn't missed the looks girls gave him the halls.

  It made her hate herself for what she had to say. "Um...see, the thing is..."

  His smile fell.

  "I'd like to go the dance with you." Maybe. "But my dad won't let me date."

  His blond eyebrows lifted and he grinned.

  "Not that it would be a date," she backtracked. "I didn't mean it like that." She knew her face was reddening as much as Jake's. What am I saying? "I know it's just a causal thing, the dance. Not like prom, or…" Please, just shut your mouth, Kade.

  Jake's smile morphed into a lopsided grin. "What if I asked your dad if I could take you? If I got his permission?"

  Like a marriage proposal?

  "Uh...I don't know. No one's ever tried that approach before, and..." And it's a terrible, but awfully sweet, idea.

  "Maybe no one wanted to take you to a dance as much as I do." He glanced toward his hands, and Kade blushed. Hard.

  His gaze found hers again. "Is that a yes?"

  How could she say no? "If my dad agrees, it's a yes."

  "Cool." Jake reached inside his pocket and withdrew his phone. "We should exchange numbers."

  "Okay." Kade retrieved her phone.

  Mr. Thomas came into the classroom, and with a mixture of excitement, and an unexplained sinking in the pit of her stomach, Kade turned around in her seat.

  What was that? Guilt? That's stupid. Why would I feel guilty?

  ***

  Class dragged by with Kade staring at the disarray of numbers on the whiteboard that she had no clue how to decipher. Everyone scribbled away, pencils scratching against paper. She wondered what part of her brain lacked what theirs clearly grasped.

  "So you were sick yesterday?" Jake's voice shook her out of her reverie.

  "Just tired."

  "Why aren't you writing this down?"

  She swiveled to face him, slightly dizzy, the base of her head throbbing. A heavy weight crept over her body, up her spine, and she suddenly felt exhausted.

  "You feel okay?"

  "Just tired." She yawned. A big, mouth-wide, all teeth, kind of yawn.

  Jake chuckled. "Can you do coffee after school? Since we missed yesterday? Looks like you need it.”

  She smiled a little. ”Sure." Her heavy eyelids closed of their own accord as she turned around.

  Warmth enveloped her. The sweet scent of clean cotton and fire swamped her senses, and a voice echoed in her dream, "You're safe now. Sleep."

  ***

  "Miss Sparrow?"

  "Kadence?" A nudge to her shoulder made her arm slip out from under her cheek.

  "Miss Sparrow, are you all right?"

  Kade lifted her head, blurry-eyed, still able to feel the lingering warmth of someone lying next to her in her dream. "Yeah...sorry."

  "Maybe I should take her to the nurse, sir," Jake said.

  "I don't need to see the nurse." Kade yawned. "I just..." Passed out cold in the middle of Pre-Calculus. At a new school. Around a bunch of total strangers. Maybe she did need to see the nurse. She glanced at Jake. "Thanks, though."

  Mr. Thomas gave a stern glare. "I suggest you pay attention, Miss Sparrow. I've seen your previous grades in Geometry."

  Giggles rang out in the otherwise silent room, and Mr. Thomas turned on his heel and strode back up the aisle

  A low vibration shuddered in Kade's core. The pencil on her desk rattled and rolled onto the floor. She clamped down on her tingling jaw, and reached inside her coat pocket. Fingers found hard stone. Grasping the smooth rock into the palm of her right hand, she squeezed, and tried to shut the rising anger down. Losing her temper—especially over something as trivial as being humiliated in front of room full of strangers—wasn't an option. Never expose what you are.

  Jake grabbed her fallen pencil. "Don't listen to him. He's an asshole."

  Kade nodded without a word, and took the pencil from his hand, still able to feel warmth wrapping her body like a protective hug.

  13

  KADE'S HEAD WAS POUNDING by the time lunch arrived. Starving, she piled her tray with salad, tater tots, chocolate milk, and a grilled cheese.

  "Hungry?" Lindsey sat across from her, eyeing the food.

  "Very."

  Giselle took a seat on Kade's right, mumbling something about how the cafeteria could possibly have run out of ketchup. She poked at her hamburger. "How am I supposed to eat without ketchup?"

  "It's one meal, G," Lindsey said. "You can eat one meal without ketchup."

  "No." Giselle stared at the hamburger. "I can't."

  "Maybe they have barbecue sauce," Kade offered.

  "Yuk. That's like thick syrup. I'd rather eat my hamburger off the floor."

  Kade's gaze tracked across the lunchroom toward the Fall Dance posters. Cole's jacket lay over the bench next to him, and his bicep had a large brown bandage on it. She was glad for that. No more gauze meant he was healing. He and Danny seemed to be having a heated conversation. Cole kept thrusting his arms out and running a hand through his hair.

  "Are you going to eat that?" Giselle eyed the cup of ranch dressing next to Kade's salad.

  "Do you want it?"

  She gave a pitiful nod, like she was starving to death and only th
e ranch dressing would save her.

  "I'll get you some ranch if you want ranch," Lindsey said. "You don't have to steal Kade's."

  "I'm not stealing it. She isn't eating it. And they won't give you ranch unless you buy a salad." Giselle pointed to her tray. "I didn't buy a salad."

  "Do you want a salad?" Lindsey asked in too calm a tone.

  "No, I want ketchup, but they don't have ketchup, so ranch is the only other option, but they won't give me any ranch without a salad!”

  Lindsey shoved her tray away and stormed toward the cafeteria line. "I will get you some damn ranch even if I have to buy you a salad to get it."

  Giselle grinned at Kade. "I could've just eaten yours."

  Kade shook her head. Lindsey and Giselle were like...like... She glanced across the cafeteria again. Cole sat with his back against the wall, tracing his finger over his palm. He glanced up and held Kade's gaze. Something in his eyes smoldered and made heat flood through her body. Why were girls always attracted to jerks?

  "Here." Lindsey sat back down. "TWO ranches and a salad. Eat."

  Giselle grinned and opened the ranch, dipping the edge of her hamburger in it before taking a big bite. "Thank you,” she said, with her mouth full of food.

  "You're welcome.”

  Kade veered back toward the wall again. Cole stared at the ceiling. She wondered what he and Danny had been arguing about and why he looked so...upset. Taking another bite of her sandwich, she shifted her eyes away, and opened her chocolate milk.

  “So you're getting coffee with Jake later?" Lindsey asked.

  “Uh…I—”

  Lindsey’s eyes shifted up, over Kade's shoulder. "Can we help you with something?" Her words dripped with sarcasm.

  Heat quivered up Kade's neck, and her gaze traveled to her left toward faded jeans hanging low on slim hips, and the hem of a blue T-shirt. Strong, muscular arms curved around on either side of her head, a hard stomach pressed against her back, and Cole placed his hands on the table in front of her. She sucked in a breath.

  "No, Lindsey, you can't help me," he said with a cocky edge.

  A powerful vibration sung through Kade's core as he leaned closer, his mouth next to her ear.

  "I can't help but notice that you keep staring at me," he whispered. "And although I'm not complaining at all, it makes it very hard for me to ignore you when you do that." She could swear she heard a trace of pain in his tone.