by Katie Ashley
Her ponytail swung back and forth as she shook her head emphatically. “No, I’m really excited.”
Great, so much for having an anxiety ridden ally. “Oh, I just thought you seemed upset.”
“Well, I’m not too thrilled with all this free agent business.”
Rafe and I exchanged a confused look.
“Huh?” Rafe asked.
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Um, I’m talking about how you guys are all assigned to someone in the Thomas family. And me? Nothing. Not even a file to alert of me what to expect!”
Sophie sat down beside me and gave Cassie a reassuring smile. “It’s not an insult or an oversight. This is just the way the Dominion does things for new angels. They feel it’s a necessary part of training for you to be able to seek out an assignment simply based on their pain.”
“Ugh, it just seems like a waste of time.”
At Cassie’s remark, Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath. Before he could say anything to her, I cleared my throat. “Now tell me again why we’ve got all these new emotions?”
Sophie exchanged a look with Gabriel before she spoke. “Well, your emotions are keener than ever before because to be convincing to teenagers, you have to experience the same emotions they do.”
Gabriel nodded. “And don’t forget this. As guardian angels, we’re always going to be more human than angelic. For you guys as teenagers, you’re going to be even more human than Sophie and me. But don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll fit in with the others before you know it.”
“Whatever,” Cassie mumbled.
A smile crept upon Gabriel’s lips. “Hey, you’ve certainly got the Drama Queen part down pat!”
“Now that’s not fair,” Cassie protested, but she laughed in spite of herself. I laughed along with the others although I still didn’t feel convinced. Gabriel stood up signaling it was time to leave, so I gathered up my books and followed the others out to the garage.
As we began buckling up, Gabriel turned back to us. “Michael said we should be getting another car. One for you guys to share and one for Sophie and me.”
Rafe snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s some boring old lady car, like a minivan.” When Gabriel shot him a look, Rafe held up his hands. “I’m just saying that I don’t know what it would hurt for us to get a cool car every once in awhile.”
“And what would you suggest?”
“Like a convertible or a souped up Mustang.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes and then turned back around. “Dream on, Rafe,” he muttered.
Rafe sighed. “It can’t hurt.”
We eased out of the driveway and then began the ten minute drive to school. I turned my head to gaze out the window, eying the trees as they became an emerald blur. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen so much green. Everything seemed to be alive and splashed with vibrant colors. There’d been a lot of desolate and grim places in my years, so this was a very welcome change.
As we pulled into the carline at the school, my stomach fluttered again. Oh no, don’t let me lose my cool. Not now. Closing my eyes, I took deep breaths to calm myself. Then I resorted to a pep talk in my mind. You can do this, Elijah. You’re strong. You’ve been up against worse than this, and you survived.
I don’t suppose it worked because when I got out of the car, an amused look twinkled in Rafe’s eyes. “What?”
He grinned. “Man, you gotta chill out.”
“Easy for you to say,” I said.
“Yeah, yeah, I know this ain’t my first time at the rodeo and all, but you’re gonna be fine. Listen, in my forty plus years on earth, I’ve been in and outta every high school imaginable. Schools with metal detectors, gun fights, stabbings in the bathrooms during class changes… You name it, and I’ve been there, done that. So, this,” he said, motioning to the immaculately landscaped campus, “is nothing!”
I sighed. “Fine, you win. Let’s go before I lose my nerve.”
We ambled across the parking lot. Gabriel and Sophie led the way with Rafe sandwiched between Cassie and me. Cassie seemed to have a momentary crack in her veneer when actually faced with school. We pressed so closely against Rafe we looked like Siamese triplets. When we got to the main door, I thought we might all squeeze through at one time, but another angelic power boost gave me the strength to take a deep breath and walk in first.
I kept my gaze on the floor as I followed Gabriel into the main office. A secretary glanced up at us from a mound of paperwork. I raised my eyes long enough to read her nametag. “Yes?” Mrs. Hopkins asked.
Gabriel cleared his throat and motioned towards Sophie. “We’re here to register our brothers and sister for school.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll get the paperwork for you.” When she came back with a stack of forms, she peered at us. I watched as her curious gaze fell upon Rafe. I sucked in an anxious breath when I saw him fighting the urge to mess with her a little. Silently, I raised my eyes to the heavens. Please don’t let him say anything!
Finally, Rafe sighed dramatically. “I guess there’s no use getting around it. I suppose you noticed I’m black.”
“Well, uh, yes,” Mrs. Hopkins stammered.
He nodded. “They,” he began, gesturing towards us, “don’t like to say anything, but I’m my father’s love child!”
Another secretary in the office gasped, her shock causing her to fumble with an armload of permanent records. I shot Rafe a murderous look while Gabriel apologized to the ladies. “You’ll have to excuse my brother. He has a very vivid imagination.”
“I see,” Mrs. Hopkins replied, throwing Rafe a disapproving look. Her gaze flickered over Sophie and Rafe and then back at us. “And you’re all brothers and sisters?” Mrs. Hopkins questioned.
“Yes ma’am,” Gabriel replied.
“Oh, so you’re one of those families,” she said, disdainfully.
Her tone made it sound like our fictitious parents were the original Brad and Angelina, adopting kids from different countries and continents. I bit my lip to keep from grinning at the look on Gabriel’s face since nothing got him riled faster than someone being intolerant.
“Regardless of color or creed, we’re all God’s children,” Gabriel said.
It amused me when Mrs. Hopkins got flustered at Gabriel’s statement. One of the other secretaries, Mrs. Poletti, was a little friendlier. As she surveyed our paperwork, she smiled. “Your parents sure had a thing for angels.”
Five pairs of eyes snapped in her direction. “What?” Gabriel questioned.
“Sophiel, Cassiel, Gabriel, Rafael, and Elijah. Those are all angel names, are they not?”
I couldn’t breathe. My throat constricted, and I felt my lungs deflate. I swiveled my head towards Gabriel, anticipating his response. When Gabriel smiled, I exhaled in relief and leaned against the counter for support. “Yes ma’am, you’re right. Mom and Dad did have a soft spot for the Angelic Host. I’m impressed you recognized that.”
“Oh, I have a thing for angels, too. You should see my house. It’s wall to wall angels,” she said.
“So is ours!” Rafe snorted. I elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow!”
Mrs. Poletti smiled. “Well, here are your schedules. If you have any problems, just come let me know.”
Sophie turned to us. “I’ll be here if you need me,” she said, with a reassuring smile before heading out the door to her classroom. The Dominion had assigned her to take over the teaching position vacated by Victoria Thomas. It was so reassuring knowing she would be in the building if anything went wrong.
We all stared expectantly at Gabriel. “I’ll drop off the car for you guys in the parking lot, so you can drive home this afternoon.”
“Okay,” Rafe said.
“Good luck,” Gabriel said. He patted me on the back for good measure
I took a deep breath and nodded. The bell rang shrilly over my head, causing me to jump. “Let’s get going,” Rafe suggested.
Cassie and I grabbed up our schedules and followed Rafe out
the door.
Chapter Two: ELIJAH
The instant we started down the hall, all eyes riveted to us. Time crawled by like in a movie when everything went to slow motion. Kids stood at their lockers, gaping with their mouths hanging open.
I averted my gaze to the floor. “Why is everyone staring at us?”
Cassie nodded. “Yeah, I thought Harrison was one of the largest schools in the state. By the way they’re acting, you’d think they’d never seen a new kid before.”
Rafe grinned. “I guess I can’t blame them. It isn’t every day ya see a black kid, a beauty queen, and a giant lumped together in the hallway!”
With plastered smiles on our faces, we continued down the hall. I became uncomfortable not from the stares I was getting, but from the ones Cassie was. Guys sized her up and down like a piece of meat. I didn’t like it, but Rafe was livid. I cringed as his protective vibe shot into overdrive when a guy brushed against Cassie to steal a glance down the front of her shirt.
“What’s the matter?” Cassie asked, oblivious to the guy’s intentions.
Rafe gritted his teeth. “You don’t wanna know.”
I quickly reached out and touched his arm. “Relax, man. Save the aggression for the football field,” I said, with a shy grin.
Rafe raised his eyebrows. “Dude, somebody write it down. Elijah made a funny!”
“Whatever,” I murmured. But it was just what we needed, and our mood changed. We deposited Cassie at her first class. “Meet me after?” she questioned.
Rafe nodded. “And until then, we’re just down the hallway.”
“All right.” She drew in a deep breath and headed inside.
Rafe and I entered our British Literature class just as the tardy bell rang over our heads. We quickly scanned the room for two empty seats. Immediately, the teacher started rattling off names. “Elijah Christenson?”
“Here,” I mumbled.
“Rafael Christenson?”
Giggling resounded in the classroom at the mention of Rafe’s name. I was relieved when Rafe took the laughter good-naturedly. “Actually, I go by Rafe.” He flashed a grin at the sea of faces staring at him. “Yeah, when my parents named me, they kinda had a thing for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
As laughter erupted around us, I couldn’t help but notice the teacher, Mr. Brown, peering disdainfully at Rafe from his podium. “Perhaps your parents had more of an aesthetic appreciation for Renaissance artists such as Raphael,” he said.
“Perhaps,” Rafe said, perfectly mimicking Mr. Brown’s pretentious air.
“Knock it off,” I murmured under my breath.
Rafe shot me a look of pure innocence. I chose to ignore him and focus on Mr. Brown as he droned about the syllabus and class readings. I didn’t know if Sophie still continued filling me with courage, but miraculous, by midday, I actually started enjoying school. It wasn’t necessarily any one thing like my schedule or my teachers. It was more a reassurance pulsing through me that I was where I needed to be. And that felt wonderful.
When lunch rolled around, I followed Rafe and Cassie to the cafeteria. We grabbed trays of culinary delights before heading into the blazing sunshine of the courtyard. Metal picnic tables were lined up along the lush grass, so we picked an empty one and sat down.
After Rafe took a hefty bite of his sandwich, his face contorted with a horrible expression, and he quickly tossed the rest of it back onto the plate. “Man, forty years in and out of schools and the only consistent thing is the cafeteria food sucks!”
I laughed. “At least some things never change.”
“Unfortunately not,” Rafe muttered.
Cassie, however, wrinkled her nose. “The food is the one thing that’s been the hardest getting used to.”
Rafe glanced from Cassie to her purse. “Please tell me you have some manna or at least some honey in there?”
“Was I the only one who thought ahead?” Cassie replied, as she dug in the massive blue bag. She pulled out a zip-lock bag filled with manna and a bottle of our brand of special honey.
Rafe clapped his hands together. “Jackpot! Thanks, Cass.”
Instead of eating, I gazed around the crowded courtyard, surveying the student body. I took in every aspect of the kids—the way some talked and joked with each other while other preferred being alone. Suddenly, the crowd parted, and I saw her.
Abby Thomas—my assignment.
To say she was beautiful would be an understatement. Breathtaking seemed like a better word since she stripped me of my breath, causing my chest to tighten and heave. Abby was everything any guy with a pulse would find attractive. But because I could see through to her core, I knew she was more than just a pretty face with wavy blonde hair cascading down her back. Like everyone else, I would tower over her since she was only a little taller than Sophie.
Although I’d seen her picture in the file the Dominion had given me, it didn’t compare to seeing her in person. I suddenly flushed with mortification when I realized how ridiculous I must’ve looked, frozen like a statue with my jaw hanging open. The rational part of me argued this was what the Dominion had alluded to in the file I’d been given.
Infatuation.
I knew the Dominion sometimes even called angels to fall in love with their assignments in order to have them grow in their powers and abilities. It seemed like the severest form of punishment an angel could possibly go through, and I’d thanked my lucky stars I was always working with children.
But now as I stared across the courtyard at Abby, I wondered if my luck was up, and that this was the true horror of my Gideon test.
Rafe waved his hand back and forth in front of my eyes, but I didn’t even blink. “Earth to Jay-Jay!”
“Huh?”
“I assume that’s Abby, right?”
“How did you know?”
“Well, first off, she and Chaz look alike. And second, you look like you’ve just been hit by a thunderbolt.” Rafe shook his head. “Can’t say I blame you. She’s a real knockout.”
“But I’m supposed to be drawn to her pain, not her beauty,” I argued.
“Looks like her beauty’s gonna cause you some pain and suffering.”
I quickly ducked my head and blushed. Leave it to Rafe to make a joke out of what I was feeling. As my chest continued tightening, I found it harder and harder to breathe, and I found my mind whirling with guilt. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, nor was I supposed to be feeling this way. I realized I needed something to take my mind off Abby.
I sighed. “I think I’ll go do some research.”
Rafe nodded. “Hey, if you hear anything from Cassie’s lost soul, take a message so she can get back to him.”
Cassie rolled her eyes. “Very funny, Rafe.”
Ignoring them, I hurried to the center of the courtyard. Research for me meant using my angelic power of emotional divination to connect with the suffering around me—to read the hearts and minds of the student population to see if there was anyone else I could help. We may have had assignments, but we were never meant to be blind to the suffering of others.
Warm rays of sunshine beat against my back. I closed my eyes and tilted my head, silently concentrating on the feelings around me.
First it came as a humming buzz until I could separate the emotions from person to person. The more I took on their pain, the clearer picture of them formed in my mind. Their heartache crashed against me like rolling waves. I had to steady myself, or I would have been bowled over. Each person who passed me had a separate issue.
“I can’t believe I got rejected from Penn State. Where am I going to go now? That’s the only place I applied.”
“Ugh, she is such a bitch! Why does she pretend to be my friend when all she does is talk about me behind my back?”
“I swear, if she looks at that other guy one more time, I’m gonna kill her!”
“88? My dad’s going to kill me. Geez, nothing I ever do is good enough.”
“Not
hing happened with him, so why does everyone look at me like I’m a slut?”
A sudden presence of unadulterated evil caused my eyes to snap open. Gazing wildly across the courtyard, I honed in on someone lounging under a tree. I shivered. No, it couldn’t be. What would a demon be doing here at school, especially one as black-hearted as him? Of course, demons could be in high school just as easily as we were, but it would be hard to imagine it could be him.
Lucius.
My mind went back to how angry he had been when Sophie had saved Hannah’s life, and how we’d infringed on his territory. Could revenge be the reason why he was here? Would he really waste the time just to pay us back? Regardless of the reasons why he could be here, I knew he was only there to hurt and destroy.
Abby’s face flashed before me. Could his mission be one of hurting those we were assigned to? Or would his influence on others affect them?
Protecting her became my only thought. I weaved in and out of the groups of mingling kids to get close to her while fighting to still the racing of my heart. When I felt in a safe enough distance of her, I closed my eyes again and momentarily put Lucius’s image aside.
Not only did I feel the eyes of Abby’s friend bearing on me, but now I was on the fringes of their conversation. “Check out the new guy,” one of Abby’s friends said.
“What a weirdo!” the other girl snorted.
I felt the intensity of Abby’s gaze on me even though my eyes were pinched shut in concentration. “Meditating, maybe?” Abby suggested, with a hint of a smile in her voice.
“He’s kinda cute,” one of the girls said.
“Geez Andrea, you think any guy that moves is cute,” the other girl snickered.
“Oh, get over it, Kim!” Andrea snapped defensively.
“Oh, it’s so true, and you know it!” Kim said.
My eyes snapped open at the sound of Abby’s shriek followed by a guy’s laughter. “Landon, why did you scare me like that?” she exclaimed.
“Aw, I didn’t mean to scare you, babe. I was just walkin’ by with some of the crew, saw you over here lookin’ hot as hell, so I thought I outta say hi.” He planted a kiss on her lips. “Apology accepted?”
