by Inara Scott
My heart did that little flip-flop Cam always inspired. Everyone seemed to want to get on the Silver Bullet at once, so I hung back and let them find their places. I joined the line at the very end. Esther and Hennie waved from the front. There was no sign of Jack.
When I passed Cam, he looked up from a list in his hand. His mouth was tight. He ran his fingers through his hair and said, “Hey, Dancia, you haven’t seen Landry, have you?”
It was the first time I’d seen Cam in days. I was freezing in my pink hoodie and my hair was down, and all he could do was ask about Jack?
“No. Haven’t seen him.”
From the way he shook his head, I could tell he was irritated. He pressed his lips together, then shook his head and gave me one of those blindingly adorable smiles. “I guess some people have to learn the hard way,” he said. “Trevor wasn’t kidding about them being pissed if you miss the bus.”
“Yeah, well, I guess I’d better get on, then.”
Cam nodded, still scanning the parking lot for signs of Jack. Esther and Hennie were sitting together at the back of the bus, but all the seats near them were full. I took the first empty spot near the front, and slid over to the window.
Cam jumped on and nodded to the driver, who tugged on the handle to close the doors. As we pulled away, I caught sight of a black car crossing the parking lot. I was pretty sure it was someone dropping off Jack.
I felt horrible, watching that car speed across the lot. I thought about how mad Mr. Judan had been when Jack missed his adviser appointment a couple of weeks ago, and how he’d told Jack something needed to change.
This was not the kind of change Mr. Judan had in mind.
The bus made a slow circle around the lot and stopped at the gate. Cam and the driver were looking at each other and laughing about something as the driver opened his window and held out his security card. I didn’t mean to do it, I swear, but I had this feeling, this crazy feeling that Jack needed me. It was just like when I saw him being chased by Sunglasses Guy. I had no choice. I had to do something.
I stared at the card and pictured it flying into the air even as the whoosh filled my head. The strange thing was, instead of the card doing just what I pictured, it only moved a couple of inches. And then, as I watched, it shimmered and seemed to lengthen. I’d never seen anything like it—the whole thing turned pale and foggy, almost as if the card were made of smoke. The edges that had once fit squarely in the guard’s hand curled like a snake several inches above and below.
And then it disappeared.
I sucked in my breath. I hadn’t pictured that. I’d never made anything disappear before.
Cam flinched, then spun around in the aisle as if looking for something. His eyes found mine, and then moved past, searching. He whipped his head around and looked behind him, out the door, toward the parking lot.
The driver swore under his breath. “What the—that damn thing jumped right out of my hand!” He peered out the window, then pulled his head in and swore again.
Cam stepped back. “I’ll get it,” he said grimly.
“No, it’s my fault. It must have fallen under the bus.” The driver stomped off the bus, leaving the doors open. The black car flew past my window toward the exit, kicking up gravel as it went. The minute it disappeared, Jack’s black hair appeared in the doorway.
“I hope I’m not late,” he said to Cam.
Cam stared at him, his eyes slowly narrowing from surprise to suspicion. “When did you get here?”
“Just now.”
Jack and Cam faced off. They were almost the same height, but Cam had a good twenty pounds of muscle on Jack.
“That means you’re late. Next time there won’t be a convenient accident to slow us down.” Cam spoke quietly, his eyes locked on Jack. The rest of the bus was filled with laughter and the rumble of thirty conversations all happening at the same time. I doubted if the others even noticed we had stopped.
Jack shrugged and tried to push past. Cam put one hand on either seat and blocked the aisle. “I mean it, Landry.”
“Sure, whatever.” Jack turned his shoulder and barreled into Cam’s arm. Cam lifted it, shaking his head as he watched Jack make his way down the aisle.
I sank deeper in my seat, hoping Jack wouldn’t look at me. He scowled and slipped into a seat next to Allie.
Still swearing under his breath, the driver took the steps two at a time and slammed into his seat. “Had to crawl under the damn bus,” he muttered. “And now I’m off schedule.”
As the gates retracted, Cam sat down next to me. I should have been thrilled, but I couldn’t stop picturing that card rising like a curl of smoke out of the guard’s hand. The whoosh and the power had left me. It had come and gone so quickly, I never really had time to get worked up about it. But what had happened? Had I done that to the card? Had Jack? What kind of power did he have, anyway?
Needless to say, however confused I had been earlier that morning, I was infinitely more so now.
Cam sighed and pushed his hair away from his eyes. His brows were drawn together in a look of concern, or maybe sadness. I couldn’t tell. “Hey, Dancia,” he said.
All the noise in my brain stopped as I lost myself in Cam’s nearness. “Hey.”
“You okay?” The concern deepened. Those incredible eyes connected with mine, and he turned his body so his shoulders blocked the rest of the bus from my sight. “You look freaked out. Not because of that, I hope.” He jerked one thumb in Jack’s direction but kept his gaze pinned on me.
It was amazing, but somehow as he spoke, my nerves started to dissolve. “No, I’m okay,” I said. “Just out of it. It is Monday, after all.”
The worried line between his eyes eased, and he gave me a slow smile. “Good. I wouldn’t want you worrying about Landry.”
Landry? I thought fuzzily, my brain turning to goop as Cam’s smile radiated through my body. Who was that? “How was your Halloween?”
He leaned closer and knocked his shoulder against mine. “It was okay. But I missed you. You should have stayed for the party.”
Was he trying to send me into heart failure? I looked out the window, hoping to catch my breath. The sun was just starting to break over the trees, and the gray-green lawns rushed past as the red brick of the school drew closer.
“Did you get in a workout this weekend?” I asked, once I’d regained enough composure to look at him again.
“Yeah, I went to the gym and lifted, and then played a few games of soccer with Trevor and the guys. We played pickup against Anna and her girls. They almost crushed us—but they really need a new forward. I can’t wait for you to start playing soccer this spring. They’ll be psyched to have you.”
I stifled the surge of jealousy and forced myself to sound casual. “I guess I’ll have to see how things go. I’m getting nervous about report cards. Grandma won’t let me play unless I get at least B’s. I got an English paper back last week, and I swear, there was more red ink than black.”
“You and me both. I turned in a physics lab Monday, and I don’t think I got a single thing right. Not even my name.”
I giggled. “I don’t believe it.”
“I’m not kidding.” He shook his head solemnly. “If Trevor didn’t let me copy his homework, I’d never make it to soccer practice.”
We chatted for a few more minutes before the bus rolled to a stop. Cam slid out of his seat. “You should find me at lunch today,” he said. “I keep inviting you and you keep ignoring me. I’m starting to think you don’t like me.”
A huge grin spread across my face. “Right. As if.”
“Well then…?”
“Okay, okay, I will!”
“Good.”
The driver opened the door and said good-bye to Cam as he jumped down the steps. I let the crowd fill the aisle and flow out of the bus.
I stared at the green back of the seat. Cam really seemed to want to eat lunch with me. He wasn’t just saying it to be nice. He truly wanted it.
This could not be explained by the fact that he was my recruiter. I’d been downplaying things for weeks, but the fact was, he kept seeking me out. He was definitely paying more attention to me than to anyone else, and now he was going to introduce me to his friends? Could Esther be right? Could he really be interested in me? Was it possible that something could go so absolutely, wondrously, perfectly right in my life?
A sense of terror mixed with my initial jolt of delight. What in the world would I have to say to a bunch of juniors? What if I said something stupid, and he changed his mind and decided I was a complete loser and he never wanted to speak to me again?
Esther grabbed my arm and practically hauled me out of my seat. “What did he say to you? Does he like the new hairdo? You have five minutes to spill the beans, or else.”
“Esther’s being a bit dramatic,” Hennie breathed, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “We’ll let you tell us over lunch, if you prefer.”
We walked off the bus. I made sure Cam was otherwise occupied before I casually said, “Actually, I told Cam I would meet him at lunch.”
Esther squealed. Loudly.
I looked around, desperately hoping he wasn’t within earshot. “Shhh!” I said. “He’s going to think we’re a bunch of idiots.”
“I don’t care!” she said gleefully. “That’s it—you are getting together! I knew it!”
I glared at her. “Keep your voice down.”
She didn’t look the least bit repentant, but she did give me a whispered, “I’m sorry. Now, tell us what’s going on!”
I pulled her and Hennie up the stairs and into the Main Hall. Once we were in a relatively secluded spot next to the office, I sighed with relief. The words spilled out of me like a flood. “I wish I knew. The truth is, I have no idea what’s going on.”
Hennie pursed her lips. “You don’t know what’s going on, or you can’t tell us?”
“I don’t know,” I insisted. “Honestly, I can’t believe he could possibly like me. I mean, I’m just a freshman, right? And hardly a beauty queen.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re tall and you have a great body. And boys love that blond-hair-blue-eyes thing,” Hennie sighed. “I’m just a short little Indian girl. Yashir will never notice me.”
Esther waved a dismissive hand. “That’s ridiculous. You’re gorgeous, and boys go for the sweet, quiet types. It’s a well-known fact.”
“He didn’t even look at me on the bus this morning,” she said.
“That’s because you never talk to him,” Esther said logically. “Which we are planning to change as soon as possible.” She pinned me with her gaze. “Now, Dancia, let’s get real. You’re smart, you’re funny, you’re tough, you don’t let anyone push you around—basically, you’re hot, regardless of whether you’re a freshman, and Cam knows it. He’s been watching you since school started, you guys hang out after school, and now he asks you to have lunch with him…” She let her voice trail off suggestively. “I think it’s obvious what’s going on here.”
“Well, it’s not obvious to me,” I wailed. “Half the time he looks at me like I’m his little sister, and the other half I feel like we’re just friends. And you know he and Anna spend tons of time together. What if they’re going out? I don’t even know!”
That was the truth. I’d never really figured out exactly what his relationship with Anna was. I knew they were close friends, but I didn’t know exactly what that meant.
A bell rang and we all jumped.
“I still need to go to my locker,” Hennie said, looking nervously at the crowds now streaming around us. “We’ll have to catch up later. Tell you what, Dancia. We’ll do some research and get back to you, okay?”
I nodded gratefully. Was high school always so complicated?
Our lockers were in the basement, spread in narrow rows around white support pillars. We weren’t allowed to go to our dorm rooms during the school day, so we had lockers to stow our books in between classes. Hennie and Esther and I had each been assigned a locker in a different area, so after quick hugs, we split up and promised to find each other whenever we had a break that afternoon.
With visions of melting brown eyes dancing in front of me, I blinked furiously and tried to focus on my combination lock. Classes. I did have classes today. But what were they?
“Where’d Prince Charming go?”
I froze at the sound of Jack’s voice floating over my shoulder. I jerked the lock open, grabbed a book from my locker, and threw it into my backpack. The Cam-induced haze abruptly melted away.
What was I supposed to say to him? I was jolted back to my utter confusion of the morning and the terrifying realization that once again, I’d used my powers to protect him. Or at least I’d tried. The scary thing was, Jack inspired some kind of protective instinct in me that I couldn’t ignore. He seemed determined to get into trouble, and I seemed just as determined to get him out.
And then there was the whole scene on my porch the night before, and the maybe-almost kiss. Or had I imagined that too?
I turned around and tried to play it cool and friendly. “Hey, Jack, what’s up? Sleep through the alarm this morning?”
“Forgot to set it.” He had one hand looped around a couple of books, the other deep in his pocket, and he slouched in a lazy, relaxed way against the bank of lockers behind me. He was wearing dark, baggy jeans and a snug black T-shirt.
“That’s ridiculous. How could you forget to set your alarm? Are you trying to get yourself in trouble?”
He flipped his hair out of his eyes and walked over to my side. “What are they going to do? Suspend me? I don’t think so. Then Prince Charming and the rest of them couldn’t keep an eye on me.”
I nibbled my lip uneasily. “What do you mean?”
“You know, holding us here—behind those gates—makes it awfully easy to keep an eye on us.” He held up his ID card. “They track our every move, Dancia. Trust me, they’re not going to suspend me.”
I sighed. “We’ve been through this before, Jack. They have to do that. It’s for security.”
“They keep saying that, but what’s the big danger they’re securing us from? Most kids seem to survive just fine without being kept behind a locked iron gate.”
“How should I know? Terrorism? Weird people who try to abduct kids?”
“If you say so.”
“What do you think Cam has to do with it?” I wasn’t sure what “it” might be, but when I talked to Jack, it seemed hard to pretend that things at Delcroix were business as usual.
“Have you seen the way he looks at me? You’d think he’s expecting me to plant a bomb or something.”
I threw my backpack over my shoulders. Truth was, Cam did look at him funny. Cam didn’t trust him. If Jack knew half the things Cam had said to me, he’d be even more convinced that they were plotting against him.
“Whatever. You’re crazy. Can we just go to class, please?”
He shrugged. “Sure. By the way, thanks for dinner. It was nice to have actual food for once. And someone other than my stoner roommate to eat it with.”
I made a face, relieved that he’d accepted the change of subject. “Grandma thinks you’re sweet.”
“Oh no, really? She called me sweet?” He laughed. “After the cold shoulder I get from her granddaughter, I was beginning to think I’d lost my touch.”
I winced. Jack had been trying to kiss me last night. I had hoped we could forget all about that awkward sittingon-the-porch moment. Even if a tiny part of me had been curious as to what that might have been like, the bigger part of me wanted Cam. I couldn’t let Jack think something might develop between us. I steeled myself to be frank.
“Jack, it’s not that I don’t…I mean, it’s not that I don’t like you, it’s just…well, you know Cam and…well…”
He laughed as he shifted his books and put one arm around my shoulders. “What?” he said in a dramatic voice as he pulled me closer. “You mean Cinderella has already f
ound her prince? And it isn’t me? I am crushed. Truly, deeply crushed.”
“Jack!” I shrugged out of his grasp and tried to ignore the fact that he smelled good, like cinnamon and coffee, and that it felt rather nice to have his arm around me. I tried to focus instead on his reaction. What I said didn’t seem to bother him. Maybe I had misinterpreted him after all.
“You don’t really think I’m going to let that pretty boy stand in my way, do you?” He winked at me and kept smiling. “Darling, you and I were meant to be. That’s all there is to it.”
What was that supposed to mean? He sounded like he was kidding, but was he serious? Every word out of his mouth just confused me more.
“Jack—”
“Forget about it, Danny. Don’t worry that curly little head of yours.” He gave me another squeeze and raised his hand at Hector on the stairs.
“Wassup, Jack. Dancia.” Hector nodded at us, raising his eyebrows a little as he passed. I hung my head. Damn! Now Hector was going to think Jack and I were going out.
We started up the stairs together, and my eyes landed on the cover of the book Jack was holding under his arm: Essays in Ethics.
“Oh no!” I whacked myself on the forehead. “I forgot my ethics book in my locker.”
“No problem.” He grinned and handed me his. “You know who’s really got your back around here.”
THE CAFETERIA at Delcroix was similar to my middle school’s. Long tables filled most of the space, and a lunch line with hot and cold food snaked along the back wall. Kids yelled at each other across the room, and irritated-looking teachers who were unlucky enough to be on lunch patrol leaned against the walls, trying to tune them out. Unlike my old cafeteria, though, Delcroix’s had huge windows overlooking green rolling hills and a thick forest in the distance. Of course, no one paid any attention to the view. The wildlife inside was much more interesting.
