I hadn’t woken up tasting blood lately, and I was getting stronger every day, in spite of the fact that I wasn’t sleeping well. I had a lot of strange dreams that usually involved birds and blood. They were weird, but I figured they might be kind of normal after my wreck. Just a form of anxiety dream.
Going back to school was a surreal experience. It felt like everyone literally stopped to watch Gwen and I make our way through the hallways. I’d managed to get through eleven years of school without drawing a huge amount of attention to myself. I wasn’t a social pariah, by any means, but I was never the hot topic of anyone’s conversation. Until now. Everywhere we went, kids and teachers were eye-balling me to one degree or another. More than once, conversation stopped completely as we walked by. “Are they expecting me to do a trick or something?” Paranoid? Nah, not me.
Gwen snickered. “Well, you kind of did pull off an awesome trick. Not only did you survive a wreck that should have killed you, but you’re back up and walking around, only a week or so later. That’s pretty cool.”
“Hey, Izzy, I heard you broke your neck! I would say you’re looking pretty good, but, well, I’m not supposed to lie.” That was from Jenny Stevens; Singleton High’s resident queen bee, and all around bitch. She was perfect on paper; the preacher’s daughter, made good grades, reigned over the rest of us peons as head cheerleader. The reality was, Jenny had to make herself feel better by putting down everyone else around her. I had spent most of our time since elementary school ignoring and avoiding her whenever possible.
I didn’t have to answer Jenny, even if I’d felt like it, which I didn’t. Gwen was already way ahead of me. “Hey, Jenny, you aren’t supposed to be a skanky ho, either, but that hasn’t stopped you yet!” Then she gave Jenny the finger as we moved past. That got us some nasty glares from Jenny’s disciples. Three sets of pouty, perfectly glossed lips drew back in sneers. Jenny Stevens shrieked and started after us, but her friends caught her before Gwen had to kick her ass.
I grinned up at Gwen. She had a smart mouth, but she was more than capable of backing it up. Gwen’s mom, Missy, had been sending her to various self-defense classes since we were ten years old. It was probably a good thing. Gwen’s main hobby was offending as many people as possible. She lived for it, in fact. It was a sure bet that eventually her mouth would get her into trouble.
“Was that necessary,” I asked her.
Gwen shrugged and flipped her ponytail off her shoulder. “Probably not, but I enjoyed it.”
“Good enough, then.” We had to fight our way through the crush of underclassmen to get to our lockers. I pressed my forehead up against my locker and savored the feel of cold metal against my feverish skin. Maybe my dad was right, and I was pushing myself too hard. I was getting a little bit of a headache.
“Hey, Maitland, are you ok?”
I jumped back, startled out of my thoughts. I chuckled weakly at my own stupidity. “Um, yeah. I’m fine.” If I kept telling people I was ok, then maybe I would start believing it myself.
I looked up to find Alex Winters watching me closely. Alex, who had left a stuffed turtle in my hospital room while I was still unconscious. He was the closest thing to perfection that our little town had ever produced. He was the captain of the football team, president of the student body, and volunteered at the local soup kitchen at least once a month. If that wasn’t enough, he was remarkably nice to look at, and kind to old people, little kids, and animals. He was also Jenny Steven’s on again/off again boyfriend. I wasn’t sure if they were currently on again, or not; their little drama was just too much for me to keep up with most of the time. Also, I just didn’t give a crap.
Alex and I had been friends in elementary school, but then Junior high came and he got heavily into sports. The popular kids had snapped him up, and that was that. I became a little more anti-social with each passing year, until
Gwen was about the only person I wanted to hang out with.
“You look kind of tired, are you sure you’re ok?” Alex and I hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words to each other since Junior High. The fact that he was acknowledging me now, was beyond weird.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just a little headache. Thanks for asking, though.” I got my locker open and shoved my backpack inside. I grabbed my history book for first period and a couple of notebooks and pens. Mr. Blessing was big on long, boring lectures and he liked it when you had to take notes to keep up.
Alex didn’t leave, like I figured he would; he was still leaning up against the locker next to mine, watching me, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Gwen stood behind him making lewd gestures and silently laughing her ass off. I really didn’t want him catching her behind him making kissy faces, so I had to keep him from turning around.
“Oh, hey, thanks for the turtle. That was nice of you.” I kept my tone even. No sense in coming off as rude, but I really needed to get to class.
“No problem.” Alex shifted from foot to foot. “Listen, Izzy, I was just, um, wondering… how you were doing, is all.” He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and smoothed his perfectly ruffled hair back with his fingers. It was sandy brown, naturally, but years of being outside playing sports had given him perfect, golden highlights that even Jenny Stevens would have killed for.
Gwen was about to pee herself, for some reason. She did that thing where she laughed so hard that no sound came out and she clapped like a drunken seal. I pursed my lips and gave her my best stink eye. Thankfully, Alex didn’t seem to notice. It took her a moment, but she finally took a hint and waved at me over her shoulder as she took off for her first class. I’m pretty sure she was wiping tears as she walked away. It would serve her right if her mascara left streaks.
Alex said something to me, but I was distracted and had to ask him to repeat himself. He wet his lips and cleared his throat. “I asked if you’d like to go out with me this weekend. Only if you feel like it, though.”
Seriously? My nasty, suspicious, little mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out what his angle was. I realized that most girls in our school would have just curled up and died if Alex Winters gave them the time of day, and I was probably just being an ass, but I couldn’t help wondering why he was suddenly being so friendly. “Aren’t you and Jenny still a Thing?”
Alex shook his head. “Nope. Not since last spring. So will you at least think about it?” He looked sincere enough, but Alex had those dark chocolate, puppy dog eyes that always looked sincere.
I nodded. “Ok, let me think about it? I’m still kind of sore—“
“Alex, baby, what do you think you’re doing hanging out with this loser?” Jenny ran her hand up and down his back as she tried to lean in for a quick kiss. Alex flinched away from the contact and took a step back.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Jenny?” He actually looked pissed. Really pissed, like he might hit her. Jenny, however, didn’t look the slightest bit sorry for barging into our conversation. She was either clueless, or dumb as a stump.
Jenny flipped her hair over her shoulder and snapped her bubble gum sharply as she turned her back on me. Clearly, I was a non-issue to her. Fine by me. I did not want in on their drama. “Nothing, baby, I just missed you, and thought I’d save you from hanging out with the wrong people.” I snorted; couldn’t help it. She was such a shallow skank. I wondered how long it would be before she realized that she’d peaked in high school. Once her looks were gone, she was done. She surely couldn’t make it on her personality.
I really didn’t want, or need, to get caught in the middle of this awkward little mess. “I’ll see you later, Alex.” I clutched my books to my chest and started to leave. Jenny’s tiny, slipper-shod foot shot out in time to trip me as I walked past. I heard Jenny giggling her wicked witch giggle as she moved along on down the hallway as I started to sprawl head-long into the floor. Alex’s arm shot out to catch me. He held me for just a moment too long against his chest, so close I felt his heart hammering away
.
I pushed away from him and straightened my clothes back into position. It was embarrassing, but probably not the worst thing that Jenny had ever done to someone. I can’t say that I didn’t have my fantasies about punching her in the face, and watching her teeth go flying, but I absolutely couldn’t get into trouble and ruin my chances at a good college. Especially not for someone like her.
Alex reached to pick my books up. “Thanks, Alex.”
“You’re welcome.” I went to get my books back, but he wouldn’t give them up. “Let me hang onto these. Come on, I’ll walk you to class.” Then he took off towards my first class, leaving me no choice but to follow.
***
My whole day went by in a blur. Every teacher, in every class asked after my health; a couple even looked guilty for assigning me homework. It finally started to wear on my last nerve; I was sick of talking about my stupid wreck. They needed to just let it go. The students weren’t nearly as big a pain as the teachers, and the ones who did stop to ask how I was doing were mostly confused about why I was back in class when I could have had a free pass to stay home. It was every slacker’s dream. I had a legitimate reason to skip school.
I couldn’t afford to slack off. I’d been planning my escape from my little town since I was a kid. Taking time off from high school would put me off schedule for college. I couldn’t have that. I’d worked too hard, and passed up too many parties and dates, to lose focus in the last few months.
I met back up with Gwen at lunch. I’d just bitten into my stale ham sandwich when I smelled that smell that had been haunting me for the last week. I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise. Someone was watching me. My head came up and I looked around, automatically. For a split second, above the sea of faces, I saw someone standing at the corner of the lunchroom, looking straight at me. He was utterly out of place. Tall, good-looking, too old to be a student. I thought I recognized him. Or imagined him. His gaze was steady, focused on me with stalker-like precision. I caught my breath and for one insane moment I almost got out of my chair and went to him. My heart hammered away in my chest like it should have been earlier, when I had been caught up in Alex Winters’ arms. A tiny, secret smile played around his mouth before he turned away.
I turned back in my seat and dropped my eyes back to my sandwich. Why did I suddenly feel like I’d been caught with my hand in the cookie jar? I had butterflies swarming in my stomach. “Do you see that guy over there? By the gym doors?” I kept my head down, and my voice low, so nobody else would hear me, but Gwen.
“What guy? Rodney, the janitor?” Gwen’s head came up and she started really looking. Practically standing up on her chair, looking. So much for subtle. I wanted to crawl under the table.
“Not him. The blonde guy. Don’t be so obvious,” I hissed at her. Crap, my cheeks were burning. I didn’t want to get caught, but I just had to take one more look. I dropped my napkin in the floor so it landed sort of behind my seat. That way, I’d have an excuse to turn and look again. Really smooth, hunh? When I glanced back up, he was gone. I felt lonely suddenly, and completely foolish.
Gwen looked over my shoulder and took a sip of her tea. Her eyes were crinkled up at the corners like she was about to crack up. “The only blonde guy over there is Sheldon Blake. Didn’t think he was your type.” Sheldon Blake was a known stoner.
“Ewww, he’s not.” I swung around in my plastic seat to face her. “That’s not the guy I saw. This guy was around mid to late twenties, kind of short, blonde hair, high cheekbones, strong jaw; he had on dark clothes, and a leather jacket, I think.”
Gwen wiggled her eyebrows at me. “Sounds like my type. Maybe he’s a substitute or something? Was he tall? I have a height requirement, you know.”
“Yeah. He looked really tall.”
She leaned in closer to me, batted her eyelashes and dropped her voice a few octaves. Her “sexy” voice. “Was he hot?” Her eyebrow arched seductively and I nearly blew green tea out through my nose. Gwen killed me. I snorted and choked till tears started at the corners of my eyes. I finally got a deep breath and sighed as I got my composure back. Not my dignity, maybe, but my composure.
And yes, from what I saw of the guy, he was infinitely hot, but for some reason I didn’t want to share that little tidbit of info. Strange, because I told Gwen pretty much everything. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at her. “Nope, don’t think so. Just kind of creepy the way he was hanging around watching everyone and then ducked into the gym.” Creepy, yet intriguing, and sort of sexy, if you liked the type. Creepy and sexy in the same thought… I was officially cracking up.
“Well, let me know if you see him again. Maybe he was a sub or someone’s brother or something.”
“Yeah. It was probably no big deal.” I dropped the rest of my ham sandwich onto my lunch tray and finished my tea. Lunch wasn’t setting well with me, now. I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, and a nagging feeling that I was missing something important. Oh, well, I could still blame my idiocy on my recent head injury. There was that, at least.
“Now,” Gwen leaned across the table, and rested her chin on the back of her hand, “why don’t we talk about something really important?”
I had a sinking feeling that I knew exactly where this was going. “What’s more important than Rodney, the janitor?”
“Rumor has it that Alex Winters walked you to class this morning, carrying your books, no less. So why don’t you give your long-suffering, not to mention only friend, the exclusive scoop?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “No big deal; he asked me out, and then Jenny took her cloven hoof and tripped me.”
Gwen’s eyes lit up in a way that could only mean something bad for someone; Jenny, if I were to make an educated guess. “Ok, first things, first. That’s awesome. I always knew he had a major crush on you. It’s about time he grew a set and asked you out.” She started looking around the lunchroom with a predatory glare. She was looking for Jenny. “And second, that little bitch is gonna be bald by the time I get done with her,” she snarled.
“Gwen, calm down, it’s no big deal. She didn’t hurt me; Alex caught me before I went splat. She isn’t worth getting detention.”
Gwen smiled sweetly. “I can make it worth my time.”
“How did you ever get this blood-thirsty? Your parents are perfectly nice people.” I shook my head, and chuckled weakly. “Just let it be. Karma has a way of biting people like Jenny in the ass.”
“Ok, Iz. Whatever you say. I’ll just let it drop.” I didn’t trust Gwen for a minute. She may let it go for now, but one day soon, there would be a detention to be served, and Jenny would probably be bald and sorry that she messed with me. Gwen didn’t let anything go for long.
“Thanks. Are you ready to go?” I stood up and collected my trash on the lunch tray.
“Sure.” She stood up and grabbed her own tray. “By the way, at some point we will be discussing your date with Alex. I haven’t forgotten that part.”
I rolled my eyes. “Never doubted it, but there’s probably not gonna be a date with Alex. So don’t hold your breath.”
She smirked at me, and her eyes danced with delight. Uh. Oh. That look was never good. “We’ll see. Oh, look, there’s Alex. See ya!” With that, she took off for the trash cans at high speed, leaving me alone to fend for myself.
Alex came up to me, smiling easily. He really had a great smile, but then again, his dad was the town’s only dentist, so it wasn’t all that surprising. “Hey, Izzy, about this morning… I don’t want to come off as a creepy stalker, but I really would like to take you out sometime.” I’d gotten to class just as the bell rang, so we never got to finish our earlier conversation, much to my relief. Guess this was as good a time as any to finish it.
I kept walking what was left of my lunch over to the trash cans. Alex slowed down to match my much shorter stride. He nudged my shoulder playfully, trying to get my attention. I was pretty sure every set of eyes in the cafeteria were trai
ned on us in open disbelief. I hated being put on the spot about anything. It made me incredibly uncomfortable.
I don’t know why I was so suspicious of him; I just kept flashing on the book, Carrie, by Stephen King. The prom king just doesn’t up and ask out the nerdy girl for purely simple, good-hearted reasons. There are always dire consequences for the nerdy girl. Alex was a good guy, though, I knew that. I just had a nasty, suspicious mind.
I dumped my trash and set the black plastic tray down on the table next to the trash cans. I turned on Alex. “Maybe,” I said, decisively.
He looked like he’d swallowed a bug; his eyes widened, and his brows lifted towards his hairline. I guessed he thought I’d fall all over myself with gratitude. He thought wrong. “Maybe?” He sort of paled a little bit, which took the golden tan shade, left over from last summer, down a notch. “Why, maybe?”
“Well, it depends on why you want to go out with me, Alex.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” He looked legitimately confused. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but not quite.
I started back towards the lockers. There really was no private place to have this conversation, but I figured if we kept moving, the gossips would only get part of the story. “Why, all of a sudden, half-way through senior year, would you ask me out?”
He chuckled weakly. “Sometimes I forget how blunt you can be.” He turned sad, puppy dog eyes on me, and I kind of felt like a bitch, but it had to be said. “Look, Izzy, I’ve liked you for a really long time.” He drew a deep breath before continuing. “When I heard about your accident, I realized that I might never get the chance to tell you that. So I am, now. And I didn’t tell you before, because I thought you’d shoot me down, and I didn’t want you to tell me ‘no.’”
I almost stopped walking. Now I really felt like a heartless bitch. “You’ve dated a lot of girls, Alex. Lots and lots of girls. What difference does it make if one more says ‘no’?”
Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series Page 4
