by Wendy Knight
"Hey stranger," she said with an arched brow.
"Sorry. I've been stuck in classes," he lied, and then wasn’t sure why he hadn’t just told her the truth.
She smiled. "I told you I didn't need help finding my classes, Shane. I only got lost once, and that was because I stopped to tie my shoe and the halls changed places on me."
Livi, who was standing next to her, giggled. "You're wearing boots, Ari."
"Yeah. I decided those laces had to go." Ari smirked as she moved forward to get her food.
"Did you really get lost?" Shane frowned. Her lips turned up as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't answer.
As they walked to their table and toward a scowling Hunter, she asked, her voice low, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Sure. Why?" He glanced at her, surprised, as he navigated around tables and the crowds of students without spilling his tray.
"You're just acting kinda… down. I haven't heard one lame joke since you walked up." Her face broke into a teasing grin, but he could see it. Underneath it all, she might actually care.
He perked up, just a little, his eyes brightening. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Hunter," Ari said, dropping her tray on the table next to him.
"Ari." And that was it.
Nev and Livi started chattering, and the rest of them didn't have a chance to get a word in edgewise. He caught Ari watching him, once, with what he would swear was concern. But then she looked away.
****
It was way too hot to be playing football. The game was rougher than normal, which said a lot since a whole bunch of testosterone-charged high school boys playing football wasn’t a tame thing to begin with. Shane and Hunter were on opposite teams, taking their aggression from the past week out on each other whenever possible. Unfortunately, Hunter was a lot bigger than Shane, and Shane was getting the worst of it. Conner hauled him off the ground for the umpteenth time, Shane rubbing his backside where he had just landed and grinding his teeth in frustration. He was determined to stop Hunter from making another play, no matter what.
But Hunter didn't go for a long pass like Shane expected. Instead he handed it off to Rueben, their running back. Shane went after him, couldn’t quite reach him, and dove. They both went down, with Rueben on the bottom.
Shane jumped up as the team ran over, everyone yelling.
"What’s going on, Shane? We're not playing tackle!" Hunter bellowed.
Shane’s team jumped to his defense as Shane pulled Rueben up. "You okay, man?" he asked, ignoring all the yelling.
"Kinda winded." Rueben doubled over and put his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"You guys are playing way too rough. Somebody's gonna get hurt!" Nev jogged over from the sidelines, black braids dancing, a scowl crinkling her chocolate eyes.
"Come here, Rueben. We'll take care of you." She shoved boys out of the way and took Rueben's arm. Liv and Charity were on his other side, helping him off the field. He glanced back with a wide grin, rearranging his face into a grimace of pain when Charity looked up at him.
"Great. I just lost my running game." Hunter threw the football at the ground, glaring at it as it rolled away.
"What running game? You didn't have one to begin with," Shane retorted.
"Yeah, and you're just rackin’ up the points, aren't ya?" Hunter threw back at him.
"Well yeah, Hunter, we are. You guys are barely even on the board!"
"Guys! Can we just play, please?" Conner interrupted, moving from one foot to the other. No one was used to Hunter and Shane fighting. They weren’t even used to them being on opposite teams.
"Where's the ball?" Hunter shoved past Conner to search the field. Hunter had spiked it at the ground but somehow it had gotten away from them and was nowhere to be seen.
"Did you say you need someone to run the ball?" As if in slow motion, they all looked in unison at Ari, standing several feet away, long hair pulled back into a loose braid. She was holding the football in her hands.
"Yeah. So?" Hunter asked. His voice was menacing, his scowl even more so. Several of the guys backed away, leaving Hunter and Shane facing Ari alone.
"I can run," she said.
Several of the guys snickered from behind them as Conner stepped forward. "No offense, Ari, but we're playin’ a pretty rough game. Girls don't play." He was trying to keep a straight face.
"Yeah. I noticed." Her eyes met Shane's, and then flickered over to Hunter. "Tell you what. One play. If you take me out as easily as you just did him," —she jerked her chin over at Rueben, being pampered on the sidelines — "I'll leave with my tail between my legs. If not, I get to play."
"I don't think so, Ari," someone else said. Shane didn't notice who, but he saw her chin lift and her eyes narrow.
"Well, that's a problem. You may not have noticed, but I have the ball." She held it up in one hand.
Hunter’s face split in a threatening grin and Shane’s stomach clenched into an uneasy knot. "Fine. You wanna play with the boys? I need a runner. Let's go."
Without a word, Ari tossed him the ball. Everyone else just stared at him in shock.
"Hunter." Shane’s voice was harsh with a low warning. Hunter didn't look at him, so Shane grabbed his shoulder. "I know what you're doing. She's a girl. Don't. Hurt. Her."
"She wants to play. I'll let her play." Hunter jerked his shoulder out of Shane's grasp. Ari jogged over to the huddle.
"This should be fun. I get first dibs at tackling the ice queen." Shane's receiver laughed.
"No way. I've been trying to get my hands on her for a week. This is my chance!" A boy named Damon said. Shane whirled on him, seeing red. He felt the blue flames running through his blood, bursting to life as sparks flickered from his fingertips before he could stop them.
"Knock it off!" he said, teeth clenched so tight his jaw ached. His fists curled, ready to fight.
"Can we just play, please?" Conner asked, glancing from Shane to the other team lining up. Shane didn’t move, his eyes boring into Damon until the other boy dropped his head and turned away. Shane struggled to contain the fire raging through his blood. This was out of character, and he knew it. And he knew why, as his eyes traveled across the field to Ari, who prowled like a lioness behind the line.
At the snap, Hunter ran back and passed it to Ari, as promised. Shane’s team all went after her, except Shane who stood back helplessly, resisting the urge to tackle his own teammates. None of Hunter's team blocked for her, as expected.
And that was where things got crazy. Because although most of the boys on Shane’s team went down, Ari came barreling out of the mix, racing toward the goal. In a mass of confusion, his team untangled themselves and struggled to their feet. She was fast, much faster than they had expected.
They couldn't catch her.
When she crossed the goal, Shane felt like whooping with relief, except that she was on the wrong team and that would be awkward. But at least she was safe. He couldn’t stop a wide grin from splitting his face.
She jogged back with the ball. "So, I get to play?" She looked at Hunter, glancing briefly at Shane. Although it should have been Conner's call since it was Conner's game, they all knew it was Hunter's decision. She would be his runner. Shane looked at Hunter, waiting for his reaction. He was staring at Ari with his eyebrows raised in surprise. "Yeah. Yeah, you can play."
****
As far as Ari was concerned, Hunter was an excellent quarterback. He had a strong arm and quick reflexes, and if the other team blitzed him, he was tough to take down. Ari learned to read his signals and adapt to them. If he needed a receiver, she would get there. If he needed a block, she would do it. She wasn't huge but she was tall and she was tough. She would do whatever she could to make them let her play. And she was in heaven. Yeah, she was getting tackled and knocked around and her head hurt, but she didn't care. She was playing. Hunter wasn't stupid and he wanted to win. He started looking for Ari, because she completed the
plays. They forgot to keep score, and by the time they noticed it was almost dark. They were going to have to quit soon.
Hunter was in trouble, and everyone was covered. Ari ran sideways, ditching the boy who was blocking her without him even knowing, then whirled and sprinted toward the end zone.
"Hunter!" she screamed at him. He spotted her red and black hair clear down the field and threw it as hard as he could just as he went down under a pile of boys. It was a wild throw, but she went after it, running as hard as she dared without looking like she had superpowers. She was so close, but she wasn't going to make it. The ball was too far away. Sucking in a breath, she dove, flying through the air. Her fingers skimmed the ball; she was so close. She stretched out her arm and just snatched it as she fell toward the ground, clutching it to her chest and landing hard on her side. Her head bounced in the dirt. When she forced her eyes open, she was surrounded by both teams, everyone looking down at her in concern.
Shane squatted next to her, out of breath from his race downfield. "Ari, are you okay?" His dark eyebrows clashed together in worry, as he pushed a strand of hair away from her sweaty forehead. She grinned at him and then up at Hunter who stood above him, looking almost as anxious.
She tossed him the football. "Touchdown, right?" she asked breathlessly.
Hunter, for the first time ever, smiled back at her. "Touchdown."
They quit after that and Ari walked back to the dorms with them. Her head hurt, but it was worth it. "I believe you have achieved legendary status," Shane said by her ear, so close she could feel his breath, and she looked up at him with a smile as chills raced down her spine.
Hunter, on her other side, nodded in agreement. "That's hard to do. I mean, I've done it. Shane hasn't yet, but we have high hopes for him."
Shane shoved him good-naturedly. The animosity was gone. She could feel it. She left them and went into the girls' dorms after promising to play again next Monday. She couldn't wait to call Will, but first she had to take some ibuprofen and finish her homework.
****
She was just spreading her homework across her desk when there was a knock at her door. Brittany was in the art room over at the main building, working on some extra project or another. The girl loved art. And she was amazingly talented, much to Ari's surprise. Ari shoved herself away from her desk and went to answer the door.
"Hey Charity," she said, surprised to see Shane’s cousin standing in her doorway. Charity stood with those big silver eyes, staring up at her. Ari had read books with characters that had silver eyes, but she had never actually seen them. Gray eyes, yes. Silver eyes, no. And Charity's eyes were definitely silver.
"Hey… I just wanted to say thank you," Charity said. A couple of girls whose names Ari hadn't bothered to learn were standing in the hall and looked over at them with interest.
Ari sighed and stepped back, motioning Charity to come in. "Thank you for what?"
Charity edged past Brittany’s mess with a suspicious glance at the chaos and sat gingerly on Ari’s tidy bed. “Are you ever worried it might explode and drown you in glitter?” Before Ari could answer, Charity closed her eyes and shook her head. "Shane and Hunter have never been angry at each other before. What you did today… you fixed them. Thank you."
"I fixed them?" Ari glanced away, feigning sudden interest in the zipper on her hoodie. "I don’t know what you mean."
"Yeah you do. Playing football with them today."
"I like football. I never get to play because I'm a girl. It wasn't for them."
"Yeah, I can see that you like football. You're amazing at football.” Charity’s hands waved dismissively through the air. “But I was thinking… you know Shane's got a thing for you. Of everybody on the team why didn’t you ask him to let you play? He can’t say no to you.” Ari felt her face get hot and had to struggle to breathe. Charity continued, oblivious. “And yet, you ask Hunter, who is… umm… a little belligerent toward you. I couldn't figure that out."
"Hunter needed a runner." Ari picked at her nails, unwilling to meet those silver eyes.
"Not really. Rueben was fine. Hunter knew that." Ari just stared at her. "Football is the love of Hunter's life. Shane mentioned that once to you."
"Yeah?"
"Ari, serious? Are you going to make me spell it out?" Without giving Ari a chance to answer, Charity continued. "How could Hunter not like you when you put so much passion into the one thing he loves? So he sees you playing so hard and being so amazing and he's hooked. And if he doesn't hate you, he and Shane have nothing to fight over. They're fixed." Charity sighed. “No offense, but I’m frustrated that you’re still pretending you didn’t play just to make Shane and Hunter friends again.”
"Charity, I can't fix them. If they're fighting about me, they've got bigger problems, and football won't solve them," Ari said.
"Shane has never liked someone like he likes you," Charity looked down at the floor. Ari froze. If Charity was right, and Shane liked her, and she wasn’t coming between him and his best friend… her heart raced.
She could be with Shane.
But she couldn’t. She had another life, one that Shane would never understand. When Charity looked up, it was to meet Ari’s stony glare. "I don't date. I never stay in one place long enough to make friends and dating just gets me hurt. Shane needs to know that."
Charity studied her. "You don't want to date my cousin? You're one of the few girls on campus who doesn't."
Ari could hear the disbelief in her voice. "I don't. And it isn't because I don't think he's gorgeous. I'd be lying if I said that, and we all know it. I just…” she trailed off, unsure what excuse to give Charity. “He's nice. I need a friend, but I don't need a boyfriend."
"Oh Ari. You've got friends. Haven't you realized that yet?" Charity said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
"Thanks, Charity, but we'll see. No offense, but we'll see."
****
Charity stalked into the commons where Shane and Hunter were both doing their homework. It was a sight to behold, since Charity never stalked. She floated.
They both sat around one of the four pillars that held up the ceiling, books spread out on the stairs around them. The huge room was filled with other kids doing the same, but most of them were trying to study, so the commotion was kept down to a dull roar. Why everyone didn’t just go to the library, Shane had never understood, but the commons was the place to do homework.
"Shane, you need to back off or you'll scare her away," Charity announced. There was no question as to who Charity was talking about, but knowing the who didn’t help with the what that much.
"Huh?" he asked, dropping his pencil. He watched it roll to a stop at her feet but didn’t move to pick it up.
"I just went to thank her. For fixing you two."
"What?" Shane asked. Hunter joined him this time.
"She played you out there. Tell me you realize it," Charity asked, and when they both only blinked at her, she sighed and put a hand to her head. "Never mind. She told me she doesn't date because she always gets hurt. She implied that she up and leaves quite often. So,” —she drew out the word, checking to make sure they were paying attention— “if you want to scare her away, keep it up. But I’ve decided I like her and I don't want her to leave. And Hunter, good job today. I'm proud of you." Charity leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek, then turned and left with an airy wave of her hand as she went.
"I have no idea what that was about," Hunter said gruffly, his face and neck red, shaking his head and turning back to his homework.
Shane watched his cousin leave, his heart pounding. He understood perfectly.
Chapter Seven
History was full of war. Edren or Carules or Normal or ant or spider or anything else, war was what made the world what it was. Of course, that was what they were talking about in history class. Ari was surrounded by war too much, so she doodled pretty pictures of arrows on fire all over her notebook and tried not to listen. “What
are the causes of war?” she heard Mr. Greene ask, and she resisted the urge to plug her ears.
“Religion.”
“Pride.”
Yes, yes. And stupidity. Don’t forget stupidity, Ari thought.
“Love.” Hunter growled next to her. She jerked her head toward him, shocked to hear him speak, let alone hear him speak such a sweet word.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Greene asked from the front of the room.
“Love makes people do stupid things. They don’t think straight,” Hunter said.
“Yes, but love also gives people a reason to fight, something to come home to, to protect,” Shane argued. Ari raised an eyebrow. Shane’s comment, she was not surprised at. Mr. Greene said nothing, but stepped back and let the debate open up.
Hunter shook his head. “People have a choice to fight. If no one picks up a weapon, there’s no war. No loss of life. It is a personal decision, every time.”
“More often than not, Hunter, I think people are fighting to protect or save the ones they love more than any other reason.” Ari was speaking before she realized her mouth was open. She bit her lip as the class all swiveled to stare at her. “I mean, you can’t say soldiers in a war are fighting because they want to fight. They’re fighting to protect those at home, those that can’t protect themselves and if they didn’t pick up their weapons, they’d be slaughtered. They aren’t monsters, Hunter!” She realized, belatedly, that she was almost yelling by the time she shut her mouth.
Mr. Greene cleared his throat, trying to gain the class’s attention. “Ms. Delacour has a good point. More often than not, soldiers fight not to gain, but to protect.”
Ari slumped down in her seat. If you only knew.
****
The next week in History they were assigned a group project and for once, Ari actually had a group. She spent most of her free time with Charity, Hunter, and Shane, pretending to work on their assigned project. At lunch the boys she played football with begged her to sit with them, just because they thought she was cool. Me, cool! Ari thought. Even weirder and yet more exciting, she had all sorts of people saying hi to her in the hall.
