by Dean Murray
"No! Let's not get into crazy talk. Selene is going to stay right there for the next few minutes while you and I work through that seating issue."
"Of course, Kat."
"So Sandra Conner sits here and her two friends sit three seats ahead in the rows to either side of her?"
Mr. Reynolds was nodding so eagerly it almost looked like his head was going to come off of his neck. I wanted to jump to my feet and run over to the desks in question so as to make sure that there wasn't any question where Sandra and her friends sat, but I'd been ordered to stay put and I wasn't about to make the mistake of displeasing Kat again.
"I notice the three of them aren't sitting together, Mr. Reynolds. Is that because they have been a disruptive influence?"
"Please, call me Frank. As to your question, I don't know that I would go that far. They talk more than they should, but I've never felt like they were actively trying to be bad…"
Kat looked at him with just the right amount of righteous indignation, and I suddenly realized that whatever had made me want to fall down and worship her must be wearing off if I was actually capable of questioning Kat's motives.
She shook her head sadly. "Frank, you're one of those rare men who are just too good for this life. The mere fact that the three of them could talk while you were trying to teach makes me very sad. Forgiving their disrespect makes you the best kind of person, but it still doesn't make what they did right. Do you think it would be helpful to have someone you trusted keeping an eye on Sandra and her friends, Frank? Someone who could make sure that they didn't get out of hand…"
He looked like he'd just seen the Mona Lisa for the first time. "Of course! I can't believe I didn't think of that. I should move your friend Selene over closer to Sandra so that she can make sure there isn't any tomfoolery."
There was no visible indication that Kat wanted to scream in frustration, but I somehow knew she was almost to the end of her rope. "No, Frank, I think Selene is well-positioned to keep an eye on the three of them from back where she sits. I was thinking that maybe you'd like to use me to solve your problem…"
He looked the slightest bit confused, like he wanted her to just come out and tell him exactly what she wanted, but he gamely tried to put the pieces together through the 'worship-me' fog she surrounded him with.
"I could…move one of the other students and assign you a seat."
Kat bestowed an angelic smile on him and nodded. "I think that's a great idea, Frank. Where should I sit though? Somewhere where I could watch them without having to turn in my seat…after all, I wouldn't want to disrupt your class…"
I could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He started towards the seat in front of my assigned spot, and then stopped as though remembering that I was already there and therefore 'keeping an eye on things' from that side of the terrible trio.
He pointed at the outside row, the one on the other side of Sandra's spot from where I would be sitting, but he obviously hadn't settled on a particular seat based on the way that he was watching Kat in an effort to draw some kind of clue out of her as to where she wanted to sit.
She waited until his finger was pointing to the seat just behind Megan's and then she clapped her hand. "Frank, that's the perfect spot. You're a genius. From there I can easily keep an eye on the two friends while Selene watches Sandra."
Mr. Reynolds smiled and relaxed now that he'd successfully passed the test. "I'll make the changes as soon as class starts, Kat."
Kat smiled. "That sounds perfect, Frank. We'll have to be careful though, we won't want Sandra and her friends figuring out what we're planning. If they realize that we've had this little talk it could ruin everything."
His brow furrowed as he tried to process what she was saying. "So you'll come into the class and introduce yourself again?"
"Yes, and I'll call you Mr. Reynolds again rather than using your first name. This will just be our secret."
Mr. Reynolds nodded, obviously relieved that she'd asked for something he was capable of providing and that she hadn't made him come up with the answer entirely on his own.
"We'll be back in a few minutes, Frank. Why don't you make that change to the seating chart and then go sit back down. You'll want to conserve your strength if you're going to have to face this group of ruffians."
I followed Kat out of the classroom and around the corner into another empty hall. "What the crap happened back there, Kat?"
"Well, let me see. First you promised that you would keep your distance while I was talking to Mr. Reynolds and then you broke your promise. It's okay though, I'm sure you feel awful about it."
A tiny part of me did feel awful about it, but I squashed the feeling, drawing on some of the tightly leashed anger that had nearly slipped free earlier that morning. My rage was just barely enough to keep me from giving into the residual effects of her worship-me aura.
"The hell I am! You played him like some kind of musical instrument. Seriously, what is going on?"
"I can't tell you right here and now, Selene, but I promise you that I didn't do that for me, I did that for you. You're going to have to trust me. I promise that I'll tell you just as soon as I can."
"What is it with you and Jace and expecting me to take everything on faith?"
Kat gave me a sad smile that wasn't anything at all like her usual devil-may-care expression. "Would you believe me if I told you that this was as hard, or harder, for us than it is for you?"
"And there you go again. Why do I feel like I know you well enough to know that you're telling me the truth?"
"Maybe because you do."
"That's absurd!"
"Selene, how many high-school kids use the word absurd? One in a thousand? One in ten thousand? You feel like you know me because you do, just like Jace and I know you. I can't explain it right now, but the three of us knew each other better than you can imagine right now."
"No, I refuse to accept that on faith."
"When he touches you it feels like it burns, but in a good way. Your skin feels hyper-sensitive—you feel like you could recreate his exact finger print from memory, just based on one touch."
I took a step back away from her, too shocked to respond. I didn't even manage to take a second step before Kat grabbed ahold of my arm with more strength than anyone her size should have been capable of.
"You can't run away from this, Selene. Not now, not when you only know half of the story. You're going to hear me out right now, and then you're going to come to our house and hear the rest of what Jace and I have to tell you. After that you can cut off all contact with us if that's what you want to do, but not before then."
"What if I refuse?"
My heart was racing, but it was more than just fear, more than just her bruising grip. I somehow knew exactly what she was going to say next.
"Then you'll die, Selene. It won't be Jace or I who kills you, but you'll die all the same. You have to see this through. Everything rides on it."
"How did I know you were going to say that? How did you know how I feel when Jace touches me?"
"Because you told me both of those things a very long time ago. You and I have spent more time than I can even explain talking about Jace and how he makes you feel, and once upon a time our positions were reversed. I asked you what would happen if I didn't hear you out and you told me that I would die."
"I don't understand. How can this all have happened and I don't remember it? Is it some kind of weird time-travel thing?"
Kat's laugh was a sharp, bitter thing, but it was her eyes that sent chills racing down my spine. Physically I couldn't have said what changed, but I suddenly got a feeling of immense age, like Kat had seen more years than I could imagine, like underneath the façade of the rebellious teenager was a world-weary being who had less in common with me than I'd originally thought.
"Time travel. That's good—I haven't heard that one before. No, Selene, it's not time travel. I wish it was, but none of us are that lucky. Are you
going to trust me and come to our house tonight so that Jace and I can explain all of this to you?"
"I'll really die if I don't listen to you?"
"Yeah, you will. Maybe not in the next twenty-four hours or even the next week, but it will just be a matter of time, and out of everything in the world, that is the thing I least want, Selene. You have to believe that I'm telling you the truth. I have nothing but your best interests at heart."
"I do. That probably makes me just as crazy as you, but I do."
"Okay, let's get to class then. You're not going to want to do anything to raise any red flags where your dad is concerned—not with everything else that's about to happen."
Chapter 6
I went back to class reluctantly; if I'd known what was in store that day I would have sprinted back to my seat.
There were only a couple of students in our classroom by the time we went back, but apparently that was all the audience Kat and Mr. Reynolds needed. There was something in the back of Mr. Reynolds eyes that seemed to indicate that everything wasn't quite the way it should have been, but Kat played her role perfectly.
By the time the rest of the class had all arrived and the second bell had rung, Kat was sitting in her new spot, a book open on the desk before her and a pen poised over her notebook, ready to take notes. It made me realize how much I'd underestimated her acting abilities. Every trace of the brash young woman I'd been expecting had vanished.
It made me wonder where exactly the act ended and the real Kat began. Actually, it would have been more accurate to say that it made me feel like I should have been wondering who the real Kat was. The same sleepy part of me that felt like I knew her and Jace, that was convinced I could trust them, was positive that the Kat I'd seen over the last twenty-four hours was the real deal.
Class started much like it had every other time that semester. Once Mr. Reynolds was done taking roll he turned off the first row of lights, turned on his ancient overhead projector, and started lecturing.
It wasn't uncommon for Mr. Reynolds to go ten or fifteen minutes at a time without looking up at the class, but we all behaved anyway because he'd scared us all half to death during the first few days of class.
Today apparently was going to be different. Less than five minutes after the first bank of lights went off, Sandra leaned forward and tapped the girl immediately in front of her on the shoulder.
Patricia Jones was the kind of girl who was constitutionally unable to pass up a good rumor. I was not at all surprised when she leaned back in her desk so that she would be able to hear Sandra.
Even before Sandra started whispering, I had a pretty good idea I was going to be the one being badmouthed. I probably could have predicted the general gist of the rumor too, but as it turned out I didn't have to guess because Sandra was talking just loud enough for me to make out about every third word.
"…slut…new guy…totally…whoring…"
I didn't even realize the anger was back and on the verge of escaping until I heard my pencil snap. I turned toward Sandra, planning on letting loose with a stream of profanity that would take the paint off of her manicured nails, but Kat was shaking her head at me.
I wanted to ignore Jace's sister and start an old-fashioned girl-on-girl brawl, but it was like Kat could read my mind. Just at the exact instant when I'd decided to jump out of my desk, Kat gave me a look that told me I was going to regret it if I went through with my plan.
Instead of exploding in a frothing, screaming mess, I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When that didn't do the trick I started over and counted to fifty.
Sandra of course saw the entire drama play out and I opened my eyes to find her smirking in my direction as she finished whispering the same batch of lies in the ear of the girl behind her. What had Mr. Reynolds been thinking? Surrounding Sandra with girls was like stacking dry wood around a leaky container of gasoline. In fairness if he'd surrounded her with boys he'd have had a different set of problems, but this situation was an accident just looking for a spark and I was the proverbial match.
I watched the rumor trickle around the room in slow motion. It was just too good—even the girls who didn't usually get into the gossip game couldn't pass it up. It was creating enough of a quiet ruckus that even some of the boys were noticing and leaning back in an effort to find out what was going on.
In fact, it seemed like the only person in the entire room who wasn't about to be told I was a complete whore was Mr. Reynolds. Now that I had my anger more or less under control I wanted to just crawl under my desk and hide.
Kat had been right to stop me from attacking Sandra. The euphoria of having actual friends—despite the odd stuff that was going on—and the heady feeling of having such a gorgeous boy interested in me had been skewing my world view, but the reality was that I couldn't do anything to Sandra. She held all the cards and this was just a foretaste of what was headed my way.
As if reading my mind, Sandra launched the second phase of her plan. She looked over at me to make sure that I was watching, and then passed a note up to Patricia. Patricia read the name on the outside of the note and made as though to pass it forward, but before she could make the handoff, the note shot across the aisle and into Kat's hand.
It almost seemed like Kat…flickered…for a split second right after the note landed in her hand. My eyes widened as I realized that Kat was using her powers in view of the entire class. I half expected someone to stand up and denounce her as a witch or something, but nobody said anything.
Given all the carefully-orchestrated drama that Sandra had created leading up to that moment, there was certainly no lack of eyes watching that little corner of the classroom, but it was like everyone else had failed to notice anything out of the ordinary.
Kat sat there motionless for several long seconds as almost every eye in the room turned towards her. I had a split second to wonder if my noticing Kat meant I was somehow unique, and then Kat started unfolding the note.
I felt like my heart was going to explode inside my chest. Grabbing the note and disposing of it wouldn't have stopped Sandra from writing more of them, but it would have been preferable to showing the entire class the nasty things she was saying about me. Now that they'd been prepped with the whisper campaign they'd be predisposed to believe whatever she'd written.
I opened my mouth to yell at Kat, and then remembered that I was sitting in Mr. Reynolds' class. Before I could decide whether yelling was worth the extended detention it would earn me, Kat finished unwrapping the note and held it up for everyone to see.
I know I just said that Selene was a skank, but the truth is that I'm the biggest whore in the entire school. Funny, huh? I think I'll sleep with a couple of my teachers next. Then again, maybe some of my dad's friends would be a better choice. They have more money and some of them certainly seem interested…
My lungs were refusing to work. It was impossible. Sandra wouldn't have put something like that in writing. She was all about maintaining deniability, but it was hard to argue with my own eyes. The note was in her handwriting and the entire class had just seen her pass the note to Patricia, who had…dropped it straight into Kat's hand.
The flicker. I didn't know how she'd done it, but Kat had forged a note, put Sandra's name on it, and then switched the original note with her forgery. It was the only explanation for the sickly look on Sandra's face.
"Put that away or I'll destroy you." Sandra's voice came out in a hiss. It was impressive that she could sound that angry even when she was scared out of her mind.
Kat gave Sandra a satisfied look before standing and waving her arms in Mr. Reynolds' direction. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but I'm afraid that one of my classmates is being disruptive."
It was social suicide. The one iron-clad rule of high-school existence seemed to be that you didn't rat out one of the other kids to the teachers. It was stupid, really. The only kids who benefited from everyone keeping quiet were the jerks like Sandra, but that was just the wa
y it was. It was more proof that most high-school kids weren't very bright.
Mr. Reynolds stepped away from the lectern and the overhead projector. "What's going on here?"
"Sandra wrote this note and was passing it to someone in front of her."
"That's a lie!"
I expected Kat to go down in flames as the rest of the kids in the class hurried to defend Sandra. Instead there was a perfectly-cued chorus from the kids closest to Kat, all weighing in to indicate that they'd seen Sandra write the note.
I didn't even realize that I'd joined until the words had already left my mouth. Sandra shot me a dark look, but I was too busy being shocked that Kat had used her worship-me aura to be very worried about Sandra.
Mr. Reynolds took the note from Kat and his expression darkened even further as he read it. Sandra didn't even let him finish.
"I didn't write that note! I wrote a note, but somehow she changed the words when she picked it up."
Mr. Reynolds looked at her with disgust on his face. "You can't really expect me to believe that."
"No, it's true!"
"Fine, what was your note actually about?"
"I…ah…I was telling my friend about a party."
I felt a sudden urge to jump to my feet and yell Sandra down. Apparently Kat had expanded the reach of her aura again because several of the kids between her and I made as though they were going to stand up. They didn't get the chance though because Mr. Reynolds slammed his fist down on the closest desk, silencing Sandra and intimidating everyone else.
"I cannot abide liars, Miss Conner."
"I'm not lying. That's not my note!"
Mr. Reynolds looked around at the rest of us. "How many of you saw Miss Conner write this note and pass it forward?"
More than a third of the class raised their hands—basically everyone who sat behind Sandra—even a couple of kids who couldn't possibly have seen her pass the note raised their hands.
"And how many of you saw Kat pick up the note?"