Her jaw dropped. Was he asking her out to read some stuffy old play together? Could her instincts about him have been wrong? He radiated the puppy-dog innocence of a nerd, not the driven intensity of an academic competitor. Maybe she owed him a chance. Why shouldn’t she go out with someone smart and hard-working?
What harm could it do?
3
Elisa
ELISA WAS RUNNING LATE for lunch with her friends. She zipped back and forth through the crowded corridors, imagining she was a ping-pong ball bouncing her way around knots of chattering students. As she rounded a corner near the courtyard exit, she missed a bounce and crashed into someone.
Her books scattered to the floor. A reek of mingled sweat and cologne washed over her. “I’m so sorry!” she said by reflex.
Ron Hundley’s glare pierced her from beneath stringy black hair. “Watch where the fuck you going, bitch!” He kicked her binder and books, hard, and stomped away. The binder crunched open on the floor, homework spraying out a trail of lined paper. Her Econ textbook soared in a high, wide arc before slamming into the wall and fluttering limply to the floor in three pieces.
“It was an accident, and I said I was sorry!” she shouted at his back. The textbook had been kicked so hard its binding had split. She was going to have to tape it back together. She hoped the school wouldn’t charge her for it.
Why did she always crash into people? Elisa, the human bumper car. Ben had called her that in middle school; luckily, he’d never told anyone.
It was the day she’d first noticed him. She’d been scuttling along the hallway, hunched over her binder, hugging the dark brown walls, hoping to remain invisible in her faded, too-tight clothes.
Up ahead, some boys from the football team were hanging out by their lockers. One of them muttered something about “ugly” as Elisa slunk past, pretending to ignore them.
“Why can’t that freak stop wearing purple flowers and orange polyester?”
“Maybe she thinks she’s sexy.” The boys guffawed.
Her cheeks burned and she scurried faster.
One of the football players shouted, “Stop it, freak!” He elbowed her and knocked her books to the floor. “Oops!” he cried, and all his friends laughed.
She tried to pick everything up, only to trip over a leg stuck casually in her way, sending her sprawling to the floor.
There was a commotion behind her, and then Ben Lancaster, scowling, charged past. Pale and freckled, wiry arms pumping, a full head shorter than any of her tormentors, he didn’t say a word, just planted his fist straight into the tallest one’s grinning face.
Elisa shrank back from the disconnected shouts and sounds of fists landing on flesh with odd, hollow slaps, and pressed herself against the wall. One of the football players grabbed Ben from behind while another kicked his legs out from under him. He hit the ground hard, but bounced up in a moment, blocking and punching. Soon, one of the football players was curled up on the floor, then another.
When the biggest boy lay on the floor groaning, the rest of them slunk away, nursing their injuries.
“You okay?” Ben asked, the frown still creasing his forehead.
She wasn’t used to people talking to her so gently. Unable to speak, she stared into his pale blue eyes. She noticed his eyelashes, so long, so close to her face…
She shook her head. It had been from crash to crush, but now it was time to get over him already, because no matter how different Ben was from guys like Ron Hundley, he was never going to be interested in her the way she wanted. She gathered up the dirty, torn remains of her homework, jammed them into her binder, and walked into the courtyard.
The late fall air tasted crisp and dry on the back of her throat. The leaves on the oak trees glowed bright yellow edged with brown. Darker leaves crunched underfoot on the asphalt, filling the air with their spicy scent.
She plumped down on the metal seat next to Sumiko and Chloe and rubbed her shin where a bruise was forming. Sumiko frowned. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She brushed her hair out of her face. “But Ron Hundley is a jerk!”
Sumiko’s face darkened. “Elisa, you should watch out. He’s got a really bad reputation.”
“It was an accident!”
“You should be careful,” Chloe said. “Haven’t you heard? He’s a member of Tenebras.”
“A member of what?” Elisa asked, rooting in her disheveled backpack for her lunch. Of course she knew who they were. How could she not have heard about the biggest gang in the school? But it made her friends happy to think they could educate her.
Sumiko rolled her eyes. “You really are an innocent. Don’t you know about them?” She lowered her voice. “They control most of the drug sales around the neighborhood. And who knows what else they’re into.”
“At my aunt’s shop,” Chloe said, “she has to pay them protection money every month so she doesn’t get robbed.” She bent her head, eyes gleaming with the anticipation of sharing a particularly juicy piece of gossip. “And they say that all the top gang members have tattoos somewhere on their body showing their rank.”
“What?” Elisa had never heard that bit. “Creepy.”
“Yeah,” Chloe continued, her eyes bright with excitement. “Watch the next time Hundley opens his mouth. You’ll see his gang marking on his tongue.”
“Gross.” Elisa wrinkled her nose.
Sumiko shook her head. “Stop it, Chloe.”
Undeterred, Chloe whispered, “Membership is supposed to be secret, but some of these guys like to brag. That’s why Hundley has his gang tattoo on his tongue, so he can show off.” She leaned closer. “But no one knows who their leader is.”
“Chloe, shut up with the rumors. You’re making it up.”
“It’s all absolutely true, I swear. I knew a girl who dated one of their members. She said not to tell anyone on pain of death!” Chloe whispered in a dramatic voice.
Sumiko rolled her eyes, but Elisa was fascinated.
“They call their leader ‘the Captain,’” Chloe said, “and they say he’s been running the gang since he was twelve. They say that even though he’s only a high school student, he’s already lost count of the number of people he’s had killed.” She narrowed her eyes as she imparted this bit of scandal.
“And this is a student in our high school?” Elisa shivered.
“Lots of the kids in this school are members. You’d be surprised.”
Both girls raised their heads as someone approached. Sumiko dropped one eyelid in a brief wink. Elisa twisted in her seat. It was Adrian, backpack slung over one shoulder, black polo shirt tucked into tight jeans. “Hey, Elisa.”
“H-hi, Adrian.” She hoped the heat in her cheeks was not obviously visible. She forced herself to glance away from the smooth skin outlining his collarbones above the open neck of his shirt.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten drama club this afternoon.”
“I never forget my lines,” she said. “Plus, I made a surprise.”
He grinned, and it transformed his face. She wanted to keep doing things that made him smile. “See you then.” He walked away, his long legs filling out those close-fitting designer jeans.
Sumiko waved her hand in front of Elisa’s eyes, breaking her gaze. She grinned. “So you do like him after all.”
Elisa shrugged, ignoring the flush rising in her cheeks. She took another bite of her forgotten sandwich. Sumiko scrutinized her face. “Don’t you think he’s hot?” she asked.
Chloe sniffed, her nose in the air.
Elisa smiled, glancing down at her hands. “Well,” she said softly, “yeah.”
Room 325 was a small, empty third-floor classroom toward the back of the school, overlooking a gas station and a row of auto body shops. The final bell rang, and Elisa sat down at one of the desks to wait for Adrian.
Three shadows fell on the pebbled glass pane and two faded away. A moment later, Adrian came in. His clothes were crisp and perfectly
arrayed as always, but his hair was a little messy, bangs falling over his forehead. Elisa remembered Chloe’s comments and wondered what it would be like to brush it back from his face, to run her fingers through those dark curls, to feel their warmth against her skin.
“I hope I’m not late.” He touched her shoulder casually. A tingle spread from his fingers all the way down her arm.
She had to think of something clever to say. “Yup, I already ate up all the Shakespeare. It was delicious. Tasted like brownies.” She patted her stomach. “See? All gone.” Oops. Not really clever.
But Adrian laughed and sat next to her, sliding the two desks closer together. Their shoulders brushed and her heart raced. She peeked out of the corner of her eye at his profile. “Is Shakespeare as tasty as brownies?” he said, his hands paging gracefully through the book.
“There’s a lot of drama around chocolate these days.” Elisa pulled a foil-wrapped package out of her backpack, keeping her eyes away from his face. Otherwise, she was going to turn altogether too red. “Stage brownies,” she announced, folding back the foil.
“Tasty,” he said, popping a morsel in his mouth. He picked up another piece and held it to her lips. She opened her mouth, and her tongue brushed across his fingertips. They were sweet and smooth and warm. Her face got so hot she couldn’t think straight.
“Uh-oh.” Was Adrian staring at her lips?
“What?”
He reached out slowly, touched a finger to her mouth, ran it delicately over her lower lip. She sat, unable to move. Without taking his eyes from hers, he held up his finger, paused, and then, very deliberately, licked it.
His tongue circled his lips.
“Wha—”
“You had chocolate on your mouth. I just wanted to make sure it didn’t interfere with your reading your part.”
Elisa closed her eyes and swallowed, trying to get her heartbeat under control. She was not ready for this. She sucked at flirting, as her friends were always eager to inform her.
Behind her closed lids, Carlos frowned at her. “Boys only want one thing. You need to be a good girl.”
Her mother’s voice echoed in her head. “Men don’t like women who are too forward.” Elisa squeezed her eyes further shut.
Adrian cleared his throat. “We should get started on Othello.”
She opened her eyes. He paged through the book, his expression serious and brisk.
Of course. She must have been imagining all the innuendos. He just thought the brownies were tasty, that was it. Not flirting after all.
“You and your friends looked like you were having a fairly intense conversation at lunch.” He found the page he was searching for and pressed the book open at the binding. His fingers were long and slender, tipped by the long, clean ovals of his nails. Elisa focused on the pages.
“Not really,” she said. “They were just talking about gangs in our high school.”
He arched one eyebrow. It drew attention to his thickly-lashed brown eyes. She shook herself. Concentrate on what he’s saying, not his eyebrows for goodness’ sake.
He rested his cheek on his knuckles. “That’s kind of a strange topic, isn’t it?”
“I crashed into Ron Hundley and they were warning me about him.”
“Ah, the notorious Hundley. I hope he didn’t give you any trouble.”
“Adrian, do you think there’s gangs here at Rockton?”
He ran a hand through his hair and considered her, eyes intent behind his glasses. “I’m pretty sure there’s some in every high school.”
“Do you know anyone who’s a gang member? Are they really as dangerous as people say?”
He scoffed. “I doubt it. Gangs are just a reaction to society’s rules. Let’s face it, teenagers are basically powerless; we don’t have the rights adults take for granted.” His voice was soft and deep as velvet. “We’re supposed to be legal adults at eighteen, but we can’t enter bars; we can’t even rent cars until we’re twenty-five. We’re essentially second-class citizens.”
“But Hundley—” She shuddered. “He looks like he’d be capable of anything.”
He shrugged. “He just wants to scare people with that tough-guy act.”
“But what they say about gangs is kind of scary.”
“Adults are threatened by kids. We’re stronger and better looking.” Adrian’s gaze dropped briefly below her neckline and returned to her eyes. “We’re full of energy and we’re in their faces.” His smile widened. “Of course they focus on the negative. They want us to be afraid of each other.”
“That almost sounds like you’re in favor of gangs.”
“Of course not—they’re illegal.” His expression grew stern. “But I don’t think they’re as bad as the press they get.” He shifted in his seat. “Now, should we get to work?”
They read Desdemona’s and Othello’s lines for a while and Elisa managed—mostly—to keep her mind on the play. When Adrian announced they’d done enough for the day, she blinked at the time.
“I didn’t realize you knew so much about Shakespeare.”
He gave her a neutral glance. “I find his work intellectually stimulating.”
She stifled a giggle at his comment. She couldn’t tell if he was putting her on. “Is English your favorite subject?”
He shook his head, and a lock of hair fell in his eyes. “No, chemistry.”
“That’s mine too!” She bounced in her seat. “Well, actually, biochemistry. There’s got to be a ton of interesting discoveries just waiting to be made about the human body.” She was babbling again, like Sumiko and Chloe always warned her.
Adrian smiled. “Yes, there’s plenty of money to be made in pharmaceuticals. I’m not going to stay poor all my life like most of the kids around here.” His cell phone beeped. “I’m sorry—I need to get to my internship.”
“You’re an intern?” she blurted.
“I’m a lab assistant. Nothing special. But it helps my family pay the bills.”
After he left, she sat for a moment in the empty classroom as it got darker outside. Adrian was definitely flirting. But why did he stop? Was it because she didn’t know how to flirt back?
She heard her mother’s voice again. “Don’t get a swelled head, a plain girl like you.” Elisa wrinkled her nose. The last time she went on a date with someone her friends suggested it didn’t turn out well.
She traced circles with her finger on the desk. When Sumiko had first launched her at Adrian, she’d frankly thought he was boring. Even though she couldn’t seem to stop herself from following rules didn’t mean she wanted to date someone who felt the same way. Ben was exciting because she never knew what he might do next.
Except ask her out.
Now Adrian was unpredictable in a completely different way. Elisa rubbed her lips slowly. What had he meant with those brownies? Was he really interested in her? And there had been something in their conversation about gangs that bothered her, some kind of odd light in his eyes as they talked.
A shiver went over her entire body. She wanted to see him again.
Adrian
Multiple alarms blared, strobes flashed, and bars slammed into place when Adrian walked through the security gate at Schwartz Pharmaceuticals.
“Oops! Sorry about that.” The security guard jumped up and ran to one of the terminals. “The alarm company was running a few tests this afternoon and forgot to turn off analysis mode. Just let me fix it for you.”
Adrian waited patiently for the system to be reset. Schwartz Pharmaceuticals was housed in a dilapidated whitewashed building at the edge of town near the bypass. The monthly charge for security monitoring was higher than the property lease.
When the opening for the internship had first been posted, Adrian had gone all out to get the job. It was an opportunity rarely offered to students from their neighborhood. Rockton High had a decades-long rep as “low-performing,” and companies usually didn’t want to waste time and resources on the illiterate delinquents t
hey imagined filled the school.
But when he actually arrived to start his internship, nothing had turned out the way he hoped. He had been called into his boss’s office and told his concepts were “too far out,” and that he would do better to focus on not making everyone else look bad.
It didn’t matter. The company had turned out to serve other purposes for him.
Adrian carefully adjusted his heavy black glasses as the high-resolution camera over the door scanned his face. He didn’t need glasses, but they helped solidify his image as a nonthreatening, bookish nerd as well as serving as a constant reminder to stay in character. He smoothed his face into a bland expression, tinged with just a hint of puppy-dog eagerness, and waited for the door to click open.
Inside, ventilation fans whirred but the lab was still permeated by the smell of acetone and sulfuric acid. Adrian rounded a corner and heard a racket in one of the side corridors. Another student intern, the chief scientist’s diminutive nephew, Jim, waved a broom around wildly. He was supposed to be sweeping the office, but he’d left piles of dust and rubbish untouched in every corner.
Jim lifted the broom and banged it against the wall like he was beating a drum set. “Here’s the quadruple platinum rapper Jimmy Big dropping another shit-rattling mixtape.”
His equally tiny sister, Mira, came around the corner and wagged her dark pigtails, frowning. “Jim, Uncle Eric’s gonna get mad you’re not sweeping up.”
Jim had been hired as a lab assistant by his uncle. However, after several accidents and a pile of broken glassware, the CEO had demoted him to errand boy and janitor.
“I’m too important to sweep.” He struck a pose, tipping a pair of mirrored sunglasses down onto his nose. “C-c-c-cause I’m the king of bling, we might just get hit with a RICO or anything...”
Mira snorted. “Don’t quit your day job. You don’t even scan.”
Play at Soul's Edge Page 3