by C. S Luis
I looked up at her, as if just noticing she'd come back. “Yeah.”
“So, we're cool?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we're cool. But the Pocahontas thing… it was clever.”
She laughed. “Well, it kind of fits you. Now, if we can only find a guy cute enough to fit the image of John Smith…”
“Great,” I uttered.
She smiled. “Are you going to the party this weekend?”
I glanced back at her, feeling like my answer had to be yes. I still couldn't think straight. From behind dark-blue eyes covered with dark eye shadow and mascara, Alex smiled at me. She twisted the pentagram necklace around her long pale finger, pulling at it. A tiny crystal sparkled from beneath the lace wrapped around her slender wrist. She nervously tucked it back in, dropping her hand under the table before I could ask about it. It looked almost like the one Michael had shown me.
“I like your charm,” I managed to say, but she either didn't hear me or decided to ignore me.
“So, are you going?”
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “I think I am.”
“Awesome. You have to let me do your makeup. Red lipstick with dark-purple eye shadow would be best for your eye color and complexion.”
I frowned at her.
“Relax. I promise I'll keep it natural. It's hard work looking the way I do, but it's mine, and you can't have it.” She laughed again.
I couldn't help but smile a little, and Alex fell into the group conversation with the others about the party. I listened to them make plans for the night, and apparently, I was going now, whether I wanted to or not. Surprisingly, Alex volunteered to pick me up. She was the only other senior with a car in our group.
She didn't have many friends; her parents were divorced. She lived with an alcoholic mother. Her father called every other week and rarely visited. Alex was easier to read than the others, because she didn't care and carried her feelings on the outside with her personal style.
I felt like an idiot examining and looking at the others, trying to see what I had seen in Alex—trying to read them too. But for some reason, I couldn't. When they all looked at me at once and glared, I darted my eyes away and tried to seem focused on something else. The only thing I could pick up when I searched them was just a bunch of useless noise.
Then strange sensation hit me like a wave of unbalanced energy unhinged, trying to connect to a receiver. Tina, Ruben, and Sean stared at me again, almost as if they'd felt the same thing. But that was absurd, wasn't it? Then they all looked past me toward something at the far end of the cafeteria.
I glanced at Alex, but she was busy watching something on her phone. She seemed completely oblivious, at least as far as the odd burst of energy I'd felt and how strangely the others were acting at the table. Then I turned to see what had caught everyone else's attention.
John Müller entered the other end of the cafeteria. Immediately, I ducked my head to hide myself behind my friends. Nobody seemed to notice my reaction, no matter how ridiculous I felt.
“Hey, looky-looky at who just walked in,” Alex said. Great. Now she'd noticed too. “Who's the new guy?” She looked back at me and saw me crouching over the table. “Do you know him?”
I blinked at her, feeling guilty as hell. “No.”
“You do know him. Oh, do tell, Pocahontas. Please.”
“He's the new principal's nephew,” I said quickly.
A wide spread over her full, red lips. “Aw, seriously? Wow, he's hot. Like a chiseled god.” She bit her lip and stared at him with wide eyes.
Chiseled god? Only Alex would pull out such a ridiculous term.
“Claudia, you bitch. Why didn't you mention him before?”
“I didn't think it was important…” I muttered, looking up at her from my ridiculous position where I'd tried to bury my face in my arms on the table.
“You serious?” She wrinkled her nose. “So then why are you hiding?”
“Hiding?” I joked, rising a bit. “I'm not hiding.”
She tilted her head. “You like him?” Her grin widened.
“No—what? No.” I felt like an idiot. Of course I didn't like him. John was bad, bad news for someone like me. It was the other way around. If anything, he wouldn't leave me alone.
“You do.” Alex threw her head back and laughed.
“He's not so special,” Tina said. “Looks like trouble, if you ask me.”
“I think you might need to get your eyes checked,” Alex told her. “He's gorgeous.”
I fidgeted nervously and rolled my eyes, and Alex laughed again. The others didn't say anything else, but they glared at Alex, as if her behavior only annoyed them.
I looked away, hoping John wouldn't find me. I felt so stupid for avoiding him, but what I'd seen in his mind was a little terrifying. I didn't think I was supposed to have seen any of the images in his head—or for that fact who he was and that his strange watch had somehow failed him. And he seemed just as confused by me as I was by him. I never picked up anything from him that he was here to hurt me, just that he wanted to talk, like he'd said. Either way, I had no intention of giving him that opportunity, despite the fact that neither of us could deny that something drew us toward each other. Until I figured out why—if I ever could—I wanted to say away from him. But when I glanced across the cafeteria again and saw him, my cheeks burned.
“You're blushing,” Alex said in a teasing, singsong voice.
“I am not.”
Did I really want to believe he hadn't stepped into the cafeteria to find me? Of course, he had; my name kept popping up in his mind as he scanned the tables crowded with other students. Then he turned toward me, and his eyes flickered over our table. Shit. I jerked back down again to hide behind my friends, pressing my forehead into my arms and hoping he hadn't seen me. He'd sensed me. Of course he had; he's a hunter. That was what I'd seen in his mind, but I had no idea what that meant. If I could control my power, I would have been able to avoid him. Instead, I was apparently summoning him. Now that was an odd thought.
“Looks like he's looking for somebody,” Alex teased and squinted at me. Heat rushed to my face again.
“You look very nice in that shade of red, Claudia.”
“Ha, ha, very funny,” I said.
John walked to the very front of the cafeteria and stood where the assistant principals normally did. He definitely looked like he was on a mission, still scanning the crowded, noisy room. I felt his frustration; he sensed me clearly, but he couldn't figure out why he couldn't see me. He obviously hadn't thought I'd try to hide from him.
The panic of emotions I knew he'd picked up on made him anxious. Any emotion seemed to do that to him, as if they were hot and cold on his skin instead. I didn't dare sit up to look at him again, but I could still picture him perfectly. Those eyes never left my mind—the way they sparkled and lit with that magical gold in the center. What made them do that? He had to know what his own eyes looked like.
“He can be your John Smith,” Alex said.
“What?” I gasped, and she giggled.
“Pocahontas, and he's John Smith.”
Okay, now I was starting to regret complimenting her on the wittiness of that nickname.
“Well, you're Hispanic, and he's sort of peaches-and-cream American. John Smith and Pocahontas.” She just wouldn't let it go.
“She was Native American,” I corrected.
“What's the difference?” I looked up at her from my arms on the table and widened my eyes in disbelief. “He's white, and you're a nicely bronzed Mexican babe.” Okay, it was starting to sound slightly racist at this point, but Alex was getting a real kick out of the whole thing.
“He's not at all right for her,” Tina said. “He's too arrogant. Besides, Claudia's uncomfortable.”
Yeah, I had to agree with Tina on the arrogant part.
“Uncomfortable?” Alex asked. “She's not uncomfortable. Can't you tell she's in love?”
I was what? I wrinkled
my nose at her. Seriously?
“She doesn't know it yet.” Alex smirked and nudged her elbow into my side. “You guys would look great together… So, what's his name?”
I blinked at her, frustrated by her continuous smile, like we were in on a joke no one else was getting. “Chris—John Müller.”
“Ah! John!” she said with an exhale. “Dreamy Johnny. I wouldn't mind a few minutes with him…” The others spun their heads toward her in disapproval.
“You're disgusting,” Tina uttered.
“Excuse me for being sexually active. I guess we know who the virgin here is,” Alex said, raising her eyebrows with a sarcastic little shake of her head. She took out her compact and reapplied her red lipstick, powdered her face with more white makeup, then put the compact away in her black shoulder bag. “I'm only stating the obvious, right, Claudia?”
I didn't say anything, watching the others' eyes burning holes into her.
“Oh, come on. I'm kidding,” she told me. “You guys need to chillax. You're so uptight.”
Mrs. Whitman stepped toward John from where the teachers watched over the cafeteria, maybe wondering if he was lost. He seemed to be very popular; almost every other girl here had her eyes on him, too. He looked like he belonged in a Beverly Hills high school instead of ours.
“What is she doing?” Alex scolded, regarding Mrs. Whitman. The teacher was actually flirting with John now, and I had to look away. I felt John's impatience radiating from him, colored with irritation. He wanted to get away from her and find me, but the woman wouldn't stop talking.
“He's too young for you…” Alex said. I nudged her arm. “What? He is… I swear, she has no shame. I tell you what, that woman's gonna get herself into a lot of legal problems if she keeps this up at a high school.”
The entire topic was now more humiliating that I could handle, but I still didn't want to get up and let John see me.
Finally, he broke free from Mrs. Whitman and walked through the cafeteria again—right toward our table.
“I dare you to talk to him, Pocahontas,” Alex taunted. I knew that if I didn't, she'd do it for me.
“Why would she want to talk to him?” Sean asked, glancing at me.
“Oh, are you jealous?” Alex retorted with a smirk.
“What are you talking about?” He looked instantly uncomfortable.
“Like we can't see the way you look at Claudia. Are you afraid a real man will get her first?”
I blushed. Sean lowered his glasses, his eyes met mine, and he opened his mouth to speak. But he didn't get a chance.
“Do you ever shut up?” Tina roared, rising from her seat.
“Oh, he needs you to defend him, too?” Alex laughed.
Finally, I pushed myself up from the table. “I have to go.” I had to get out of this ridiculous conversation before things got really nasty, and I didn't want to be the center of attention like that. As I headed through the cafeteria, I realized I didn't see John at all.
“Hey! Pocahontas, I'm sorry,” Alex called after me. “Please don't leave. I'm just messing around.”
The only thing I could think about was that John had seemed to disappear. When I reached the cafeteria doors into the hallway, I turned around to find Alex sitting alone now at the table. Her eyes grew wide and darted past me, then I knew he was standing behind me.
“Claudia Belle…” John's voice sent chills down my spine.
Instead of turning to look at him, I just dashed out into the hallway.
“Claudia, stop. I really have to talk to you.” It sounded like a command—powerful, frightening.
What was he going to do, run after me?
I rushed away into the hall and raced into the stairwell. When I glanced back, I couldn't believe he was right there on my heels. I leaped up the steps, and the minute I reached the second floor, a hand wrapped around my arm, pulled me back, and spun me around. My back hit the lockers, and John leaned in close. I challenged his gaze, his warm breath brushing my face as he absorbed me with those eyes. Then he leaned closer, his breath heavy, ignoring everything else but me.
I trembled and exhaled slowly, the curious energy between us exploding with a force I didn't understand. It made those gold hues in the center of his eyes expand so much, his eyes almost glowed.
He seemed completely unable to pull away. I could feel his powerlessness, possessed by my presence, and nothing I could do or say would stop him. Not even the fear I knew he felt rising in me at this closeness. His lips came just a breath away from mine, and he repeated so slowly, “I need to speak with you…” With his next breath, his eyes had lost their green color completely, consumed by the gold that had flared up in them.
I had a feeling something irreversible was about to happen. “Stop,” I begged, trying to jerk my arm out of his crushing grip. “Let me go.”
Somehow, he snapped out of it and looked up to see me staring at him with wide eyes. The gold shrank again in his, returning his irises to that unnatural green. Then the force drawing him to me surged between our beings, as if it wouldn't let him pull away. He frowned just a little, and I knew he'd realized his mistake. John's regret surged over me; he hadn't wanted to frighten me at all.
“I'm sorry…” he muttered, then pressed his lips against mine.
He took in a sharp breath, his lips warm and inviting. I blinked, taken completely by surprise, then reacted. In a second, I pulled every inch of strength from my mind to push hard against his. John flew backwards, slammed against the row of lockers on the other side of the hallway, then dropped to the floor.
I gasped, not having expected any of this to happen. Hoping I hadn't hurt him, I took a few steps forward to see if he was all right, despite the fact that my gut told me to flee. Then I knelt beside him and slowly reached out to touch his shoulder. John moved a little with a groan, startling me so much that I fell backward off my knees and scooted away from him across the floor. John's groans stopped, and he rolled over to look at me.
“That was just self-defense,” I said—not exactly an apology, but I didn't feel like I owed him one. He lifted his head, and that dancing gold glittered in his eyes again. The current between pulsed and tightened, drawing us closer. John reached toward me, and I couldn't help it now—I did the same.
When our fingers touched, the hallway disappeared around us, replaced by images I'd never seen before. John stood guard as a huge, looming shadow drifted over us both. His eyes glowed again in the gold now, and I stood behind him, my arms wrapped around his waist, giving him strength. From the shadow standing in front of us, huge, coiling tendrils of darkness reached out to strike. John grabbed them both with a speed and strength I couldn't see but definitely felt through his body. He snapped these violent tendrils in half, but they only grew again to attack us…
I pulled my hand away from his, severing the connection to that odd vision, and John blinked at me. “I'm sorry…” I said, then stood and stumbled down the hall as the class bell rang over my head.
Chapter 17:
Among Friends
I headed toward my locker in the crowded hallways, my heart still pounding with excitement and a little fear after what had just happened.
I didn't notice Alex at all until she caught up to me and fell in right beside me. “Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey.” There was a brief silence between us as we moved through the students swarming between classes. I'd left things kind of tense at the lunch table before trying to run away from John; Tina had been pissed at Alex, the rest of our group had just left Alex alone there in the cafeteria. “Did you talk to Tina again after lunch?”
“Nope.” Alex just tugged on the strap of her backpack. “You?”
“Not yet.” I wasn't sure I wanted to, but I felt like it was something I was supposed to do. “So, what are you gonna do?”
“About what?” She laughed. “Do you think it matters? I seriously could care less what they say or that they're not talking to me. Fuck them!”
&
nbsp; “So, you're not going to the party?”
She looked at me and grinned. “Are you kidding me? Of course I'm going. Who else is going to give you a ride?”
I smiled back. “I can already see the look on Tina's face.”
“Me too.”
I veered out of the student traffic and stopped by my locker for my next class' textbook. A boy stepped up to open the locker next to mine, and I just glanced at him. It was the first time I'd seen the blond-haired guy at Milton, and now that I had, I couldn't stop staring at his beautiful blue eyes.
He seemed to notice me watching him, and he smiled down at me. A camera dangled from a strap over his shoulder, and he quickly grabbed it. “Photography,” he said, glancing down at his camera before retrieving a small black bag from his locker and slipping a camera lens into it. “I'm taking photography.” He blinked, darted his gaze all over, then looked shyly up at me again with an embarrassed smile.
I tried smiling back but felt myself blushing again and hid behind my locker's open door. His thoughts swirled around me; he was incredibly shy but really wanted to talk to me.
God, he was cute. I bit down on my lip as he grinned again. “I'm Jimmy,” he said.
My cheeks were burning. “Oh. I'm—”
“Claudia,” he answered for me. I gaze and had to look down again, embarrassed by being taken so off guard. Of course he knew who I was. I was the principal's granddaughter. Who didn't know me?
“Hi, Jimmy,” Alex said, stepping between us. “Can you excuse us? Thanks…” Jimmy and I both tried to meet each other's gaze again over Alex's shoulder. She slammed my locker closed and grabbed my arm, leading me away from the cutest guy I'd seen in a while.
“See ya,” Jimmy said slowly as we left him behind.