“I didn’t, I swear!”
“You know, Skye, I’m boy crazy. I can accept that. But I would never put one of them ahead of you.”
“Uh,” Dan said, coming up behind her with a long instrument that looked like a deconstructed hanger. “Standing right here.”
“Not you, Dan,” Cassie said. “The other ones.”
“What other ones?”
Cassie turned to him pointedly. “The ones who came before.” She raised an eyebrow. “Catch my drift?”
“It’s rare that I do,” Dan said.
“Aunt Jo may have bought the whole ‘I was scared’ line,” she continued, wheeling back around. “But I know you better than that. You really want to stand there and tell me that’s why you left?”
No, I thought desperately. I don’t.
“You weren’t even shaken up after that avalanche almost killed you,” Dan added.
“Well played, babes,” she said to him, holding out her hand so he could slap it five. “So are you going to tell us the truth?”
My throat went dry. Every fiber of my being fought against telling her. There were Guardians everywhere. And the last thing I needed was to put my friends in danger. Most of the time, they were all that was keeping me sane.
“You’re right,” I said. The words were out of my mouth before I could think about what I was going to say next. “The night of your gig—of the party—Asher told me that he wanted to, um . . .” I paused. How could I explain this? “Be my boyfriend. He said with all the drama at home and him and Devin fighting and everything, he wanted to take me away. There’s this cabin in the woods not far from here. We went there for a couple of days.” I paused again. “Just spent some time away from everything. I spent most of it worried about you,” I added, glancing at her. Cassie was frowning at me, listening intently.
“Skye, that is the”—she propped a hand on her hip—“best story ever! How romantic! Now I get why you couldn’t tell Aunt Jo. She’d flip, right? Wow. Are you grounded? In the name of love? Did you drive here? Where’s Asher?”
I grinned. I should have realized the way to distract Cassie sooner.
“I really was scared, though,” I said quietly. “That part was true.”
“Eh, I know.” Cassie sighed. “I was scared when I woke up and saw myself in the mirror.” She pointed at her eye. “Purple is not a good color on redheads!”
“I was scared, too,” said Dan. “My first and only girlfriend almost didn’t wake up. Can you imagine any other girl wanting me after that?”
“Aw,” Cassie cooed. “Of course they would. If I had died, you’d be all wounded and mysterious and nursing your broken heart. Girls love that crap. They’d want to put you back together.”
“Really?” Dan asked hopefully. Cassie hobbled over and put her arm around him.
“You bet,” she said. “But let’s not test the theory, okay?” Dan leaned in really quickly for a surprise kiss, and Cassie lost her balance. She toppled over her crutches, fell to the ground. “Dan!” she yelled. “Ow?”
“Sorry, sorry,” he said, rushing to help her up again.
“You know what, on second thought, those girls can have you.”
“You love it,” Dan said.
“Not as much as you do,” she crowed. They were kissing again.
“Guys?” I said. “I’m back now, remember?”
“Mm? Oh, right, Skye. Sorry,” Cassie said, breaking away sheepishly.
“Come on,” I said. “I’m driving. I don’t want to be late my first day back.”
Cassie leaned on Dan’s shoulder, and we made our way to the car.
“So,” she said as I pulled out of the driveway, “you may have left just in time. I heard that Devin has a new girlfriend.”
“What?” I wheeled around involuntarily.
“Oh my god, watch the road!” Cassie and Dan shouted at the same time.
“God, sorry,” I said. I glanced casually in the rearview mirror as we turned on to the main road. “What do you mean?”
“Well.” Cassie took a deep breath, her eyes glinting mischievously.
“Um, have you been gossip starved or something?”
“I’m only getting started. There was a chemical contamination at River Springs High, right? And they had to shut it down, for like a month or so. They merged with us until it’s safe to reopen.” She met my eye in the mirror. “Some cuties, Skye,” she whispered. “That’s all I’m gonna say.”
“Again, sitting right here,” muttered Dan.
“I’m in a relationship, not blind, okay?” She gasped. “And now Skye is, too! We can double-date!”
“Yay,” said Dan with mock enthusiasm.
“Cass, what about Devin? Finish the story.”
“Right. Anyway, he has a new girlfriend, or maybe they were even already dating. She came in with the RSH students. Her name is weird. Some hippie name. Sparrow or something.”
The wind grew suddenly colder as it whipped through the open windows.
“Raven?”
“Yes! That’s it. Anyway, she must have been really popular at RSH because she doesn’t talk to anyone at Northwood. Just Devin and some kids from her school.”
Guardians.
“Whoa, Skye, you okay? You look like you’ve just seen . . .” But Cassie’s voice faded out, along with the houses and the swings and the tall evergreen trees ticking past. My grip on the steering wheel loosened. The wind around us picked up, lifting dead leaves into the air and surrounding us in a tunnel of wind and leaves. Suddenly I was in a dark room, with thousands of tiny lights illuminating my way. Someone’s hands were on my waist, and out of the darkness, a face took shape. First I saw the ice-blond hair. Then the blue eyes. And then I realized I was staring up at Devin. I drew him closer.
“Have you thought any more about what I said?” I asked. His hands on my waist guided me to the right, and then again to the right, and I realized we were dancing in a slow circle. There were lights flashing around me. Was it lightning? As we danced, I grew aware that we were being watched.
“Yes,” he said quietly. His voice was low in my ear. “I have.” The music was faint, and I struggled to place the song but I couldn’t.
He looked down at me, but he was already fading, and the darkness was fading, and the lights were growing dim. I opened my eyes to Cassie screaming and Dan leaning across me, grasping the steering wheel.
“Are you okay?” Cassie’s voice rang out, and her reddish hair wisped into my vision. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh my god.” I exhaled, grabbing the wheel and righting it. We swerved momentarily before straightening out again on the road.
“Skye, pull over,” Cassie said stonily. “Dan, you’re driving.”
“I’m fine,” I muttered, pulling the car to the side of the road. “The change in altitude coming back here just hit me hard, that’s all.”
But as I switched seats with Dan, I couldn’t stop my mind from racing. That wasn’t one of the dreams I’d been having. Those dreams always ended with Devin stabbing me. Those dreams ended with blood staining my vision red and my life flashing before my eyes.
In this one, we seemed to be having a normal conversation. We were dancing. We were—
It wasn’t a dream at all. It was . . . a vision. Some manifestation of powers in my mind’s eye. Like the vision of walking on the beach in my beautiful dress, of finding the dead body—it couldn’t have been real. But what were they visions of? What did they mean?
As I sat up, a white feather smacked into the windshield before it tumbled off and was sucked away by the wind.
In the blink of an eye, two things were suddenly clear to me:
The first was that I had to figure out what part of me was causing these strange visions. What if I was alone in the car the next time one of them overtook me? If Dan hadn’t grabbed the steering wheel, I’d have wrapped my car around a tree. I had to figure out how to control them. If they were in any way related to my po
wers, maybe I could teach myself how.
And the second thing I realized? Devin and I were going to have a reunion.
Chapter 10
Standing in the parking lot staring up at school felt both the same and like being in another world. I had been away only for a little more than a week, but it felt like a lifetime had gone by. The big stone arches had always felt vaguely gothic to me, and now, as I anticipated what might be waiting on the other side, they felt downright foreboding.
“Are you ready for this?” Cassie asked. “First day back?”
“No,” I said. “But that’s never stopped me before.”
We pushed through the big front doors, and the typical din hit us hard as we walked in. I kept my head up and my eyes straight ahead, trying to feel confident with Cassie and Dan by my side. A few unfamiliar faces turned from their lockers to watch me as I made my way through the hall. Their blond hair flashed in the harsh lighting. My heart beat fast. There were so many of them. Ardith turned from her own locker to nod at me reassuringly as I passed.
I couldn’t help notice that other kids I’d known for years eyed me, too, whispering in small groups. I wondered what kind of rumors had been circulating about me while I’d been gone. I could only imagine the pregnancy speculation, the talk of drugs. Running away with my delinquent boyfriend. I wondered if anyone had set them straight or if my reputation had been established as a total badass. I wasn’t sure which I preferred.
Next to me, Cassie stiffened on her crutches. “Let them stare,” she muttered. “Nosy bitches.”
At the stairs, Dan hung a left. “See you guys at lunch,” he called. We turned the corner, and I could see Asher leaning against my locker at the end of the hall, his arms crossed, staring down some freshmen girls who passed him in a giggling cluster. As we walked up, he uncrossed his arms.
“Did you hear I knocked you up?” he asked, his eyes wide. “You already had the baby and gave it up for adoption. Wow. We work fast.”
“That’s me,” I said, tossing my hair over my shoulder and spinning the combination on my lock. “To-tal badass.”
“Hey, Asher.” Cassie grinned, opening the locker next to mine. “Looking good.”
“Cassie,” I whispered.
“You two have a nice mini break?”
Asher laughed. “News really travels fast around here, huh? Did you start that pregnancy rumor?”
“Please,” said Cassie. “That rumor was the work of an amateur. If I had started one, it would have been way more interesting.” She shifted on her crutches. “Hacks.” Someone opened the locker door next to hers, whacking her arm. “Ow!” she said loudly. “Hello! Invalid here!”
The locker door closed, and Cassie was face-to-face with a guy I’d never seen before. He had dark, perfectly messy curls, and was wearing jeans and beat-up sneakers, wire-rimmed glasses, and a faded T-shirt in some kind of stoner-skater-mathlete look. A hot skater-stoner-mathlete. Cassie’s eyes widened involuntarily.
“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “Hi.” She may have been smitten, but my stomach clenched. Was he a Guardian? He didn’t have blond hair. . . .
“Guys,” Asher said. “This is my friend Gideon. He’s one of the RSH transfers.”
“Hey,” said Gideon. He smiled at us. Next to me, I could almost hear Cassie gulp.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Skye.”
“I know,” he said. “Asher’s told me all about you.” His smile seemed genuine, and I felt instantly that I could trust him. But there was a playful quality to his voice that made me think Asher had told him about more than just my powers.
“Oh, really?” I made a face at Asher.
“All good things,” he said.
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” I turned back to Gideon. “I wish I could say the same, but Asher’s been very tight-lipped about you.” Gideon glanced at Asher.
“Oh,” he said as we closed our lockers and began walking down the hall. “Well, we’ll get to know each other soon enough.” He grinned at me knowingly, and I was startled to realize there was something dark in the depths of his eyes. He may have been smiling, but Gideon had something bottled up deep inside him. I knew that look, because I saw it every day in my own mirror. “Later,” he said and peeled off into a classroom on our left.
Cassie, Asher, and I continued to homeroom. As we paused outside the door, all I could think of was the first time that I’d stood between Asher and Devin. The look in their eyes could have cut diamonds as they glared each other down. I’d been so innocent then. I had no idea, standing in that hallway on the first day of the semester, how much that feeling of being caught in the middle would continue to haunt me.
“Come on, Skye. You made it this far,” Cassie said. She nudged me reassuringly with her elbow and hobbled in ahead of me.
“I’m right behind you,” Asher whispered into my ear.
I took a deep breath and walked through the door.
Cassie was making her way to our usual seats by the window. Ardith sat at the front of the room in a floor-grazing skirt and boots, her armful of bangles jingling softly every time she moved. She caught my eye and winked at me in the most imperceptible way. At the front of the room, Ms. Manning eyed me coolly.
“Skye,” she said. “Welcome back. We have some recent additions to the class, so you’ll find your usual seat is currently occupied. You can take a seat in the back, where I’ve brought in extra chairs.”
I cast my eyes toward my usual seat behind Cassie, and my heart lurched. As if in slow motion, a sheet of glossy blond hair swung to one side, and I found myself meeting Raven’s piercing glare. I knew it was just in my head, but I could have sworn I almost saw the shadow of wings beating menacingly behind her. Trying not to shake, I turned toward the back of the room.
Ms. Manning had indeed brought in extra desks, and the back row was crowded. I spotted an empty seat and made my way toward it, focused only on getting away from Raven. I could feel Asher moving right behind me, shadowing me, focused on another empty seat in the back row. He must have noticed Raven, too, because I heard him take a sharp breath. But after that, I wasn’t concerned about what Asher was doing anymore.
Because in the seat next to mine, sitting stick straight and watching me intently, was Devin.
His eyes, as always, were the bluest blue and so hard to read. I had no idea how he felt to see me, but as I sat in the empty seat and tried not to look over, I was overtaken by a rush of emotions. Fear, panic—and something else. Something harder to define. I felt trapped in my own confusion.
On my right, Asher threw his arm around my shoulders possessively. Devin didn’t even flinch.
It was starting again.
When the bell rang to signal the end of homeroom, Asher stood up with me. Devin stayed seated, avoiding all eye contact with either of us. At the front of the classroom, Ms. Manning held up her hand for me to stop.
“Stay and chat for a minute, Skye,” she said. “I’ll give you a late pass for your next class.”
I hesitated. Asher glanced from Devin, still sitting in the back of the room, to Ms. Manning and back to me. He raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Go ahead,” I said. “I’ll see you later.” Glancing back at Devin again, he clenched his jaw and left. Ms. Manning cleared her throat.
“Devin?” she said. “Would you come up here for a minute?” Devin looked up, carefully avoiding my gaze. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked to the front of the room. I felt something electric thrum in the air between us, but he stared straight ahead. Every fiber of my being wanted to run, to get as far away from him as possible. Ms. Manning sat on her desk, facing us.
“Do we need to talk about this?” she asked. My pulse quickened. It’s like she’s reading my mind.
“What do you mean?” I said slowly.
“Those are some interesting rumors circulating about you. I heard you had Devin’s baby last week.”
“What?” That was a new one. So I guessed pe
ople had noticed that we used to hang out.
I glanced at Devin, but he stayed remote and resolute.
“That is clearly not true,” I said.
“I didn’t think so,” she said. “But at any rate, you need someone to catch you up on the work you missed last week. You two are friends, right? Devin, I thought you could spend study hall with Skye. Fill her in on what we’ve covered.” My heart raced. No. I couldn’t be alone with Devin.
“Devin and I don’t exactly . . .” I struggled for the words.
“We used to be close,” he said suddenly, breaking his silence. It felt like years since I had heard his voice, and its calming effect washed over me immediately. “But we’re not anymore.” He kept his eyes trained straight ahead, never once looking at me. My pulse quickened, but I said nothing.
“Well,” Ms. Manning said, “in that case, all Skye needs is a tutor. Nothing more.” She scribbled down something and handed each of us a late pass.
We left the room one after the other. In the empty hallway, Devin finally looked at me.
Maybe it was the shock of eye contact after all this time. Maybe it was fear. The hallway faded. Oh no, I thought. It’s happening again. I was having a vision.
In a flash, Devin’s body was pressed against mine, backing me into the row of lockers. But it wasn’t cool, smooth metal that I felt behind me. The floor had prickled up into frosted grass, and I was leaning against a tree under a canopy of night. Devin’s blue eyes flashed intensely as he let his hands trail down my arms. His lips were so close to mine. I could feel the feathery touch of his breath as it grazed my neck, leaving a trail of tiny shivers in its wake.
He’s going to kiss me, I thought. I want him to.
Then the hallway came rushing back, and Devin was still standing there, several feet away from me. He gave me one long look. If he had been capable of expressing any kind of emotion, I might have understood. His eyes might have been mournful, or guilty, or apologetic. Instead, his features were still as calm and Zen as ever. Impassive. His face was empty.
Then he turned and walked down the hall away from me.
I realized I’d been holding my breath, and now I struggled to catch it. Behind me, the sound of boots on the linoleum floor drew closer as Devin disappeared around the corner.