My jaw fell open in surprise. For a moment, I was too stunned to react. Despite everything I’d already seen and heard that morning, no one had said anything to my face. Until now. I bit back on my temper as I watched her fade into the throng of moving bodies and disappear down the hall.
“Who was that?” I asked, concentrating on Logan’s face, and trying to resist the urge to run after the blond and take a chunk of that pretty hair out of her head. I balled my hands into fists and squeezed.
“Victoria Lexington,” said Logan in a tight voice. “Her father is on the Board for the school and a member of the Commission. Her mother does charity work for Hunter organizations.”
“Commission?” The words weren’t making sense, maybe because I wanted to take a bite out of Victoria Lexington’s face.
Logan raised an eyebrow underneath his baseball cap. “The Commission of Hunter Affairs and Security.” He spoke slowly, like he was speaking to a toddler. “You’ve seriously never heard of it?”
I shook my head.
“Wow. So you really weren’t told anything?”
“How do you know what I was told?”
Logan ducked his head, looking guilty. “It’s hard not to hear things." He gestured at the bodies around us.
I nodded. I could understand that.
We made our way past the large entrance doors and up the wide set of stairs I’d seen earlier. At the top was another hallway and in front of us, a set of heavy double doors, propped open. Through them I could see a large, open room with tables set in loose rows. Kids talked and laughed, their voices drifting out in a collective boom. Running the length of one wall sat a long counter lined with various food choices and kids browsing the entrée selections as they slid trays along towards the end.
“Come on,” said Logan, stepping through the doors and veering off to the right to join the buffet line.
I followed and fell in line behind him, taking the empty tray he offered. I pushed forward and stopped again, eyeing a steaming bin of chicken Alfredo that smelled as good as it looked. Next to it stood a simmering pot of vegetable soup, with rolls that looked shiny and freshly baked, instead of dull and browned, like my old high school’s version. The smell alone was enough to convince me that it was edible. I hesitated, craning my neck to see what was up ahead. My stomach growled.
A tray bumped into mine and I noticed a tanned arm holding the tray next to mine. My eyes traveled up, following the arm to the body it belonged to. It was the brown haired jock from my Defensive Maneuvers class; the one who’d thrown the rock. He was wearing a dark green jacket that was definitely school issued, for sports, and had that permanent wet-hair look you got from wearing too much gel.
“Hey,” he said, leaning towards me with a too-wide smile.
“Hi.”
“Tara, right? I’m Levi.” He didn’t offer his hand, just leaned in closer and leered at me.
“Nice to meet you,” I mumbled.
“So, listen. My friends over there.” He pointed behind him to a table by the window where a group of look-alike jocks were watching and listening. “We’re a little confused about something and wondering if you could help us out.”
“Okaay,” I said, drawing out the word.
“So, you’re like half-Werewolf right?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t see a point in denying it. Everyone already knew.
He leaned closer. “Well, my friend Dave says that wolves are in the dog family or whatever. So what we want to know is, does that mean you do it doggy style?”
The entire table erupted in hoots and laughter while I stood there, glaring back at jock boy and gripping my tray with white knuckles. I could feel the burn in my cheeks, and I knew he could see it, but he kept playing into it. He gave an overly dramatic shrug, for the benefit of our audience, and then looked back at his friends. Hot tears blurred my vision and I blinked them back. I bit my lip until I tasted blood; I refused to give them a reaction.
“She’s pleading the fifth I guess,” he called.
When it was clear I wasn’t going to be any more fun for him, he picked up his tray and went around me to pay for his food before heading for his table. A few more kids copied and darted around me to get through the line. I didn’t move until a hand fell over my arm; I jolted even though the touch was light and the hand jerked away. I looked up at Logan.
He didn’t say anything, and I was grateful for the silence. We started moving towards the cashier and paid for our meals. I kept my back to the rest of the cafeteria as we inched forward, unsure who else might’ve witnessed the side show I’d become. I managed to get myself composed enough that I was almost sure I wouldn’t have a break down until we found a place to sit, and turned to follow Logan to a table. Some kids at a nearby table stared at me and whispered, but I forced myself to ignore them and scanned for a seat. A body stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the room and cutting me off from Logan. I looked up and focused on an already sickeningly familiar face.
Victoria Lexington stood in my path.
“We don’t serve doggie biscuits so you might as well stop looking,” she said.
Something tenuous snapped inside me and I felt the humiliation give way to anger, hot and liquid in my veins. I was not going down like this, not on my first day.
“You would know. I hear you answer to bitch,” I snapped at her. I gripped my tray with both hands and tried not to shake.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed at my words and she glanced around before focusing even more intently on me. She was clearly unaccustomed to being challenged. “You might be half-Werewolf, but you are not the alpha here,” she said, taking a step closer.
“What is your problem? You don’t even know me.”
“You are the problem. You think a little bit of palm greasing can open any door. As if having money gives you the right to be here. While I can admire that trait, there are limits to where you’re power can reach. ”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb. You think you’re so much better than everyone here, but you’re not. You’re a dirty blood and should be banned from school and from… life.” Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and stalked off – towards the table at the window.
My eyes began to blur and I blinked back tears, mortified that they were there in the first place. I was not that girl; the girl that cried in the lunch room in front of the whole school. I blinked faster. I didn’t even have to look around to know that every single face in the room was fastened on me.
A tense few seconds passed with no sound, and then gradually the background noise returned and people went back to their conversations. The faces closest to me looked disappointed that nothing more had happened than words exchanged.
“Rough day?”
The tears cleared, and my eyes focused on a girl. She had midnight black hair that was all swept up in a messy-but-chic bun except for her bangs which hung down on one side of her face, completely covering one eye. The exposed eye was darkly lined and had a thin splash of glitter underneath. She wore the strappiest heels I’d ever seen that laced all the way up to just below her knees, and her arms were covered in some sort of lacy material that stopped a few inches above her elbow. The whole thing should have been Goth, but on her it was exotic–and hip. Sam would’ve loved it.
“Um, you could say that,” I said, realizing she was still waiting for an answer. I probably should’ve been suspicious that she was even talking to me, but I was too exhausted to be on my guard right now. It would’ve been the perfect time to finish taking me down.
The dark haired girl nodded and eyed me. She brought a hand up and swept her long bangs out of her eyes in a careless gesture that made me think she’d done it a million times. Within seconds her bangs had reverted right back, concealing her forehead and almost all of one eye. She ignored it and nodded for me join her.
“Come on. You can sit with me,” she said.
“Oh, uh, thanks, but I think
I’m sitting with Logan,” I said. I gestured to Logan, who’d all but disappeared into the background during my face off with Victoria and was now inching his way back to this side of the salad bar.
“Hey Logan. You wanna break bread together with new girl?”
Logan shrugged. “Sure.”
The girl beamed at me. “I vote for a picnic. You?”
“Sounds amazing,” I agreed. I readjusted my backpack higher on my shoulder and followed her out the door.
We were halfway to the stairs when, without warning, she stopped and turned to face me. I tensed at her sudden movement, but her expression was friendly and easy. “Geez, how rude am I? Not even intro’ing myself properly. I’m Cambria.”
“I’m–”
“Tara, I know. Oh, sorry I interrupted. I’m horrible about that. But I know who you are. Everyone knows who you are. Dude, you killed like a hundred Werewolves AND that Leo guy.”
I shifted my tray, unsure how to respond, especially after all of the comments I’d heard so far. “I’m sure I didn’t kill a hundred–”
“Okay, maybe it was like twenty, but that’s what kids are saying. Doesn’t matter. Still badass. Especially since you’ve never trained. Which, by the way, is lucky. I mean, do you know how early we have to get up?”
When she stopped, I wasn’t sure if it was to let me answer her question or to take a breath. Before I could figure her out, she cocked her head to the side, letting her bangs fall away from her face, and stared at me quizzically.
“You should eat,” she said firmly, like that was her official diagnosis.
We headed down the stairs and out the front door, ending up in the courtyard I’d come through that morning with Alex. There were a few groups of kids scattered around, eating and hanging out. I got stares and dirty looks but not all of them were aimed at me. Some were aimed at Cambria and Logan.
We sat on the grass, under the cover of a hedge trimmed to look like a bear, and I popped the top on my soda. The ground was cold, but not uncomfortable, and the grass was dry, at least. Either way, it was a million times better than eating in the cafeteria.
“You’re not eating?” Logan asked Cambria.
“Hmm? Of course I am.” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a bag of peanut M&M’s and a soda and held it up. “See? Lunch is served.”
Logan shook his head. “You’re going to clog your arteries and die.”
“But not today,” she said. “And by then, you’ll be some famous scientist and discover a cure to heal me.”
“You can’t heal gluttony.”
Cambria stared at an M&M and sighed. “Too bad I can’t charm the chocolate into not attaching itself to my hips. That would make a great weight loss plan. I’d be rich.” She popped the candy into her mouth and chewed.
“Charm the candy?” I repeated, raising my eyebrows.
“Oh, yeah,” said Logan, and then stopped. He looked at Cambria nervously like they’d spilled something important.
“No worries. Tara and I are going to be besties so she has a right to know. Besides, it’s not a secret around here,” Cambria said, rolling her eyes.
Logan didn’t look as convinced. I wasn’t sure if it had something to do with a lack of trust in me or something else.
“So, you’ve heard that some of our kind have extra abilities, right?” Cambria asked.
I thought of Fee, with her healing ability, but she was a Werewolf. I thought of Vera instead, with her ability to locate people, and I nodded.
“Well, I have the ability to charm,” she said.
“Charm,” I repeated.
Cambria nodded but didn’t elaborate; like that one word was enough of an explanation.
“And how does that work exactly?” I asked.
“Cambria can convince people to do whatever she wants,” explained Logan.
“Like compel them? Against their will?” I probably sounded more horrified than impressed, but I couldn’t help it. For the past few weeks, I’d seen way more evil than good, and I could only imagine what sort of destruction and mayhem you could cause with a power like that.
“If she wanted to,” Logan said. “But she can’t. Not here, anyway. Wood Point has very strict rules about the use of extra abilities.”
“Yeah, numero uno being don’t use them – ever,” said Cambria. She popped another M&M into her mouth. “And it’s not like I’m evil or something so don’t worry. I’ve never harmed someone with my ability.”
Logan gave her a look and she scowled at him.
“That had nothing to do with my ability, Logan, so stuff it. Besides he was an ass, so I kicked it,” she said.
Logan shook his head and chuckled.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, still contemplating the possibilities of Cambria’s gift.
“Logan hooked me up with his friend Chris last year,” Cambria began.
“Hey, you made me. And he was not my friend,” he argued.
“I made you a deal,” she said. “I’d get him off your back if he was distracted.” Cambria looked at me. “Chris was sort of the ringleader of Logan’s little welcoming committee. Made sure he never had clean, wearable underwear. Anyway, if he had a girlfriend he’d be too busy to torture Logan.”
“And we all know how well that turned out,” Logan muttered.
Cambria shot him a look but otherwise ignored him. “Sadly, it didn’t work out. I found him in bed with his lab partner.” She glanced at Logan.
“His lab partner wasn’t a chic,” Logan finished.
“Oh,” was all I could say.
“I still say you got the better end of that deal,” Cambria told Logan. “Chris got sent home, and you haven’t had to buy new underwear since.”
Logan laughed and stretched out on his side on the grass. Cambria eyed me.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking genuinely concerned. “You look… lost.”
I let out a heavy breath and tried for a smile. “Yeah, I’m okay. I think.”
“Being the new kid sucks,” Cambria said.
It wasn’t a question, but I agreed with a shake of my head.
“Victoria,” Logan explained when I didn’t answer.
She scowled. “Enough said.” Then she cocked her head, and looked at me with one brow raised. “What are you going to do?”
I sighed. “Nothing. Ignore her.”
Logan nodded, as if he agreed this was a wise decision.
Cambria’s eyes widened. “Seriously? Nothing?”
“I can’t,” I said. “I would get into a lot of trouble if I did and not from school. I – well, I – sort of got kicked out of my last school for fighting.”
“You got expelled?” Logan’s eyes were wide in disbelief.
Cambria laughed, eyes dancing in amusement. “I knew we were meant to be best friends. You’re already my kind of girl.”
“And what kind of girl is that? Violent?” Logan asked.
“Not boring,” Cambria shot back. “Go on,” she said, looking at me.
“My mom would kill me. Trust me, she’s waiting for a good reason. And worse, Grandma would be disappointed. And I don’t think I could go home anyway. They’d just ship me off somewhere else.”
Logan and Cambria both nodded in understanding and let the subject drop.
I picked at my food until I was sure I wouldn’t be able to force anything else down. “Can I ask you guys something?”
They nodded.
“Why are you being nice to me? Everyone else here hates me and has no problem letting me know it. And I’ve already seen them looking at you the same way for being with me. I’m not saying I don’t appreciate it, but why bother?”
“You don’t strike me as the type who cares what other people think,” Cambria said.
“I’m not,” I said. “But I’d hate to see you guys getting dumped on for being seen with me. I would understand if you want to walk away.”
Cambria shook her head. “And where would the fun in
that be? Logan?”
“No fun at all,” he agreed, smiling.
Cambria glanced at him and then back at me, smiling. “If you haven’t noticed already, Logan and I are officially what you would call misfits. Logan doesn’t fit in anywhere. He’s too much of a hottie to blend with the geeks and the cool kids all figured out that he’s too smart to sink to their shallow standards. So he’s got nowhere to go. And me, well, I’m too stubborn to conform. Or at least that’s what my transcript says. They don’t know I read that, though.”
She winked at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. It wasn’t loud or long but it was still laughter and it felt good to let it out.
“Don’t let her noble speech fool you,” Logan said. “Cambria likes to stir the pot, and you being here has already kicked it up a notch. Besides, anything that pisses off Victoria is right up her alley.”
Cambria shrugged, neither confirming nor denying Logan’s words, and looked back at me. “And the way it’s looking, you’re no better off than we are, socially speaking. So, you’re stuck with us. Might as well make the best of it.”
Chapter Six
The bell rang, and everyone gathered up their trash and headed for the doors. I noticed not all of the kids were heading for our building.
“Where are they going?” I asked, pointing to two girls walking in the opposite direction we were.
“Sophomores are in Ashton Hall, over there,” said Cambria, pointing. “Freshman are there, and those two are senior buildings. They get so much more room than we do.” She sounded wistful, and I wondered what could possibly make a school building so much nicer by having fewer kids to fill it up.
“So all the junior classes are in this building?” I asked.
Cambria nodded. “Lexington Hall.”
I stopped walking. “Wait, what?” I knew that name. It was Victoria’s name.
“You heard me right. Named after Victoria’s great-great somebody.” Cambria shook her head. “You’d think with all that dough they could get that girl some class – or some sense.”
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