**
Fifteen minutes later, I was still trying to believe things had gone so well. I'd expected Mom to put her foot down and tell Brandon I'd be riding the bus to school every morning, starting today. Instead, she'd shaken Brandon's hand, smiled way more than usual, and hurried us out the door so we wouldn't be late for school.
"I don't know what kind of magic you just used on my mom, but whatever it was, you should do it again. Heck, use your powers on her every time you stop by. That was amazing!"
Brandon chuckled and reached over to run a finger across my palm. "I didn't do anything special. Your mom seems like a very sensible person."
I almost choked. "I love my mom, but she's the least sensible person ever. She spends half of her time in a different universe entirely, and only occasionally worries about the same kinds of things as other parents."
"Ah, a dreamer, but one who still freaks out when it comes to her daughter and boys. Maybe she was just struck by my obvious good nature."
I shook my head as we pulled into the parking lot. "Please. You're just about everything she's worried about in a guy. Rich, handsome, popular. The only thing you could change to scare her worse would be to join the football team and be the star quarterback."
His smile was so beautiful it made my heart ache. "Well, in that case I'm glad I never tried out for the varsity team. I'd hate to make things any more difficult for you."
Brandon gently captured my arm as we slipped inside the school. "Speaking of stars, I happened to read them last night and they told me a secret."
"Oh, really? Do tell, I always love to hear a good secret."
There was a new twinkle in his eye as he shook his head. "Oh, it wasn't a secret from you, just one you hadn't shared with me. Happy birthday. I've got a multi-part present in the works, but it's taking a bit longer to wrap it all up, so you may have to wait a little."
As quickly as that, he winked and turned to catch up with Cassie, leaving me in a state of near shock. He'd been inside the house, but hadn't been able to see the kitchen, so he hadn't seen the cupcake and candle. I'd done web searches on my name and birth date before and never had it return anything legit, so he couldn't have found it out that way. Even that would've been an unheard-of level of effort coming from a guy, but however he really had learned it was my birthday must have been even harder than that.
I felt like I was floating on a cloud as I hurried off to Biology. The feeling lasted exactly as long as it took me to sit down, listen to Mrs. Sorenson tell us all that she'd finished grading our tests, and then see the big, self-satisfied 'D' sitting at the top of my paper.
For a second it felt as though my heart had stopped beating. I'd never done worse than a 'B' on any assignment or test since I'd finished up Kindergarten. I couldn't take this home and show my mom. Head in the clouds half of the time or not, she'd still freak out. Heck, I was already freaking out enough for the both of us. This was going on my high school transcript. The one colleges would be looking at. The one that might have gotten me a scholarship. Only now I'd be lucky to pull a 'C' out of the class.
I tried to control my breathing. This wasn't the end of the world. I was almost done catching up in Algebra, so I'd have a ton more time. If I really worked hard, maybe I'd be okay. Most teachers would still offer some kind of extra credit if you begged hard enough.
I spent the next hour mapping out exactly how I was going to salvage my college prospects, and had more or less pulled myself together by the time English ended. My newfound dedication to excellence meant I outdid myself in Algebra. I finished up the day's homework, and made it more than halfway through one of my makeup assignments by the time Mrs. Campbell stopped off at my desk.
"Care to run another errand for me, Adriana?"
I didn't really want to. Not when I'd just discovered I had more studying to do than was humanly possible. Still, Mrs. Campbell had always been super nice, if equally stern, and there was only ten more minutes of class left. Besides, I'd been so intrigued by the sight of Alec drawing that I wanted to see him like that again. If he could take such joy in the creation process, maybe he wasn't as bad as he seemed. The only way to know for sure was to see him with all of the masks off again.
"Sure, I'd love to. Mrs. North again?"
I ignored the spate of nasty looks shot my way, gathered my books, accepted the bundle of papers, and hurried off to the stairs. It was later than last time, so unless I was quick the bell was going to ring before I made it back down the stairs. The congestion was bad in the halls, but for some reason it was twice as bad around stairs.
Apparently I was hurrying just a little too fast. I tripped just before I hit the first step, and almost went crashing down the flight that led to the basement. Luckily I was just quick enough to grab the banister and save myself from a broken neck. I didn't quite manage to avoid twisting my ankle though, so I limped all the way up to the second floor.
Trying to be as casual as possible, I looked into the art room as I hobbled by, but they'd rearranged their stations, and someone's easel was in the way now.
The sprained ankle had slowed me down enough that there was no way I was going to make it back to my locker before the bell rang. Still, I tried to be gracious when it went off just as I handed Mrs. North the papers.
Based on the number of classrooms on the second floor, and the narrowness of the stairs, there was no point in trying to wait the crowd out. I gritted my teeth and limped out into the surge of bodies.
Surprisingly enough, there were more familiar faces than expected. As I grabbed the handrail on the right, I noticed Isaac several feet ahead of me. Of course, it's hard to miss someone nearly six feet tall and almost as well-muscled as Alec. Even if he was partially hidden by Vincent, who was strutting along a little higher up the stairs with all of his usual arrogance.
If Isaac had been the one close enough to reach out and touch, I probably would've tried to get his attention and said hi. With Vincent, I just stayed quiet and hoped he wouldn't notice me.
I didn't want to risk tripping and making my ankle worse, so I was paying especially close attention to where my feet were going. If I hadn't been looking down, I would have completely missed it. I still almost thought I'd imagined it, but there was no denying that Vincent's foot snaked out and nudged the ankle of the kid in front of him just hard enough to trip the smaller guy.
The result was all out of proportion to what I expected. The smaller boy fell forward, careening towards the banister with so much force he knocked people in front of him out of the way.
Just before I left elementary school someone had read us a newspaper article about some poor guy being pushed over a railing and falling to his death. I'd had nightmares for months. Dreams where the stairs had turned slick and I'd slid all the way down them. Dreams where the banister hadn't even been there and the stairs had become impossibly narrow, and nightmares where I'd somehow stumbled and started to fall over the edge of the railing.
This was like all of those dreams put together, only happening to someone else. A couple of kids reached out, but the only people who could've really stopped him had already been bowled over.
Time slowed down for me as he hit the railing and started over it. His feet came up and his torso was hanging in the void when someone reached over and grabbed his arm. I heard a grunt of effort, saw him stop moving, and only then realized it was Ben who'd nearly died.
In the split second between Ben being gently placed back on the stairs, and everyone starting to breathe again, I followed the arm that'd saved him back to see who the hero was. Isaac met my gaze as he let go of Ben and then he looked up at Vincent with a stare that was somehow both calm and challenging at the same time.
"What are you looking at, freak?" It was hard to believe Vincent could be so nonchalant after having almost killed someone. It'd been an accident obviously, but still that wasn't the kind of thing you just shook off.
All of the kids that'd been rushing forward to congratulate I
saac for his heroic save started backing away. Anxious to avoid the fight, I tried to move with the crowd, but felt a flash of pain as my abused ankle protested.
For a second I couldn't think about anything other than the agony. When I managed to get my eyes to focus again, Vincent was only a couple of inches away from Isaac and hissing something too quiet for me to make out.
Whatever it was, Vincent was all but foaming at the mouth while Isaac was so controlled it was hard to believe a fight was about to break out. As admirable as Isaac's calm was, I was actually wishing he was a little more worked up. I'd seen plenty of fights where the guy who got the first hit in won. Vincent was going to throw the first punch, and then Isaac was going to go down like a house of cards.
Something Vincent said must've been particularly vile. Isaac's expression shifted for just a second. They were circling now, both amazingly graceful considering that they were still on the stairs.
Everyone stepped back a little further. I hobbled up a stair or two in an effort to avoid getting in the way.
I'd heard of tension so thick you could cut it with a knife, but this was the first time I'd ever experienced it. It felt like there was electricity surging back and forth between Vincent and Isaac, making my skin feel too small.
The tension suddenly flickered like a dying light bulb. "Vincent!"
I was disoriented for a second. The yell had come from behind me, and had torn the two apart faster than I'd believed possible.
The crowd, packed so tightly that I'd been worried someone was going to get pushed over the railing, separated as Alec flowed down the stairs. I'd only thought Isaac and Vincent were graceful. Alec made them look like drunken frat boys.
Vincent spun around so fast it almost looked like he was going to fall down and then backed away from both of them like a cornered animal. It was hard to decide whether my excitement at seeing the biggest jerk I'd ever met humbled outweighed my dislike for Alec, who'd pretty much locked up the honor of being the second biggest jerk.
A surge of dread washed through me as Vincent backed closer to the wall in an effort to maintain his distance from Alec.
I half expected for the incredible tension I'd been feeling before to disappear, but instead it morphed slightly. If I hadn't known it was absolutely absurd, I would've said it felt like there was a tingly wind blowing down the stairs, pushing Vincent along before it.
Isaac moved slightly. It was a small change of position, but somehow incredibly menacing. It wasn't until Vincent froze in place that I realized Isaac's shift had kept Vincent squarely between him and Alec. It was like watching a pair of wolves bringing down an elk. I'd seen gangs work together like this before, but it seemed strangely out of place in Sanctuary.
I was positive there was going to be a fight after all, but then Vincent grabbed some poor freshman, shoved him into Isaac, and pushed his way downstairs as Isaac caught the human missile.
As soon as Vincent was safely out of sight, everyone surged forward to congratulate Isaac on having saved Ben, and Ben on having not died.