by Wendi Wilson
“It’s really nothing,” she replied before meeting my eyes. “It’s just…well…Easton has never volunteered to help anyone with anything. He keeps to himself, mostly. And because of his last name, most of the teachers leave him be.” She reached out and placed her warm palm on top of my hand. “December, this is kind of a big deal.”
“But…why?” I asked as confusion spiraled through me. “Who cares if he’s my gym partner?”
“Everyone,” she said, her voice ringing with truth and finality. “Everyone will care. We’re talking about Easton freaking Oberon.”
“Okay,” I responded like I understood, but I really didn’t.
“I don’t want to make you nervous,” she said, leaning in closer to look right into my eyes, “but people are going to talk. There will probably be a lot of staring and whispering, and a few students may even approach you.”
“Great,” I said, sarcasm dripping from the word.
“It’ll be fine,” she said, shaking her head. “Just don’t tell anyone he volunteered.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me,” she said, “that’s not the kind of attention you want. If people find out he has an interest in you, they’ll try to get close to you to find out what’s so special. They’ll use whatever they find against you, to try to discredit and humiliate you. This place is like regular high school on steroids. It’s better if they all think he’s being forced to help you.”
“There’s nothing special about me,” I said, a frown pulling at my lips.
The corners of her mouth turned up, the smile making her green eyes sparkle.
“That’s where you’re wrong, December Thorne,” she said, gripping my shoulders. “You were practically pulled off the street and offered a full scholarship to Oberon Academy, which, by the way, happens like never. You’ve been here for two minutes and, not only has Professor Dobbs taken you under his wing—which is also out of the ordinary—but you’ve managed to intrigue Easton Oberon.” She tilted her head down, staring deep into my eyes. “I’d say you’re pretty damn special.”
Chapter Fourteen
14
Day two of classes started out much the same as the first. Professor Alfred raged against the stupidity of our ancestors in first period history class, and my Earth science professor instructed us to read silently once again. I wondered if she ever planned to actually teach us something. It wasn’t until I reached Rowan’s class that things got interesting.
I spotted Shaela right away, my lips turning upward as she waved me over. I started toward the empty desk beside her, but stumbled to halt when I noticed who sat in the seat directly behind it. I took a couple of calming breaths before making my feet move.
A cool, blue gaze assessed me as I shuffled forward, but Easton’s face was completely devoid of emotion. I had no idea what he was thinking or why he’d decided to change seats. Had he known I’d be sitting beside Shaela and that his desk of choice would put him directly behind me?
As I slid into the seat, I shot Shaela a wide-eyed stare. She grinned back at me, waggling her eyebrows a bit. I scowled at her, but she just continued to grin unrepentantly. She had no qualms about how obvious she was being, or that Easton might see her.
“Did your teachers really refuse to let you have your own opinions?”
I shivered as warm breath fanned against my ear with the whispered words. The deep timbre of Easton’s voice did things to my insides…things I’d never felt and couldn’t really explain. Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded my head without turning around.
He didn’t say anything else. I couldn’t decide whether or not to turn around to gauge his expression. I could feel the blood racing through my veins, my pulse pounding in my extremities. Heat flashed through me, like his electric blue gaze, which I could feel on the back of my head, was somehow burning me from the inside out.
Rowan hobbled in, leaning heavily on his cane. His greeting to the class and the students’ subsequent response snapped me out of the daze I was in. As class began, I felt my body relax into normalcy. My face cooled and my pulse slowed, like someone flipped a breaker to shut off the electricity.
It was weird. Really, really weird.
“Okay, class,” Rowan said, “today we’ll be continuing our discussion from yesterday. Since we all agree that Zephyrs have taken advantage of the human race, using their weakness and dependency against them to essentially control them and take away their free will, who would like to offer up suggestions as to how the people could extricate themselves from the iron grip they find themselves in?”
“They could stop being so weak and stand up for themselves,” a girl called out from across the room.
My head snapped around, confusion furrowing my brow. Why was she using pronouns like they and them? It wasn’t the first time I’d heard the distinction. It was like the people at Oberon Academy held themselves above, or at least separate from the general population.
“What are we supposed to do?” I found myself blurting out. “Tell the Zephyrs we don’t want to eat? They control most of the farmland, thanks to the deal our forefathers made. If we rebel, they’ll starve us. We’ll all die. We’re stuck, and there’s not much we can do about it.”
Rowan opened his mouth to respond, but the deep voice of Easton Oberon rang out before he could speak a word.
“War.”
Rowan tilted his head to the side. “What was that, Mr. Oberon?”
“The humans have to fight for their freedom. Take back what was theirs and make better choices for their future. The only way to regain their independence is war.”
Several heads in my peripheral nodded in agreement. I wasn’t sure if I agreed with him or not, so I kept my mouth shut. Rowan must’ve sensed that I wasn’t in a mood for debate, because he didn’t call me out for a rebuttal like he did the day before.
The rest of the discussion swirled around me, never quite penetrating my brain. Too many questions ran through my mind, making my head spin. When class finally ended and Shaela stood next me, I didn’t hold back.
“Why does everyone around here talk like they are better than everyone else in the world?”
“What? What do you mean?” she asked as we shuffled toward the door.
“You know what I mean, Shaela,” I said, lowering my voice a notch as we passed Rowan, each of us nodding in goodbye. “Everyone says humans, or them, or they…like we’re, I don’t know, a different species or something.”
“Most of the people here do think they’re above everyone else,” she quipped.
I arched a brow at her, hoping for a more direct answer, but she just shrugged and gave me a little wave before she headed down the hall toward her next class. I watched her go with narrowed eyes. Why the hell was she being so evasive?
There was something strange about Oberon Academy. Something I was determined to get to the bottom of.
By the time the bell rang for lunch, I’d pretty much convinced myself I was being paranoid. My fourth period math class was about as boring and predictable as any other math course I’d ever taken. No weird discussions. No talk of “the humans” or anything else that had been setting off warning bells in my head.
Maybe Shaela was right. Maybe the hoity-toity students at the academy considered themselves far above normal people, so they referred to them as a separate entity. It wasn’t really that outlandish.
As I entered the dining hall, my eyes scanned the tables, looking for my roommate. I found her at the same table as before, sitting by herself once again. I shook my head and walked toward her. I just didn’t understand how she could possibly have no friends.
“Hey,” I said, sliding into to the chair across the table from Shaela.
“Hey,” she echoed, her face lighting up at the sight of me. “How was math?”
“Eh,” I groaned. “I’ve always hated it. It’s no different here.”
“Hey, Puck. You should tell your new bestie to watch who she’s messing with.”
“Leave us alone, Tiana,” Shaela said, a frown pulling at her lips.
“Leave us alone, Tiana,” Aubrey mimicked in a whiny, high-pitched voice.
“I’ll make you deal, Puck,” Tiana said, ignoring her lackey. “If you shun this freak, I’ll let you hang out with me and Aubrey.”
Aubrey’s face screwed up with annoyance until Tiana added, “For one week.”
I looked back at Shaela. Her face was red and her eyes looked a little glassy. I wasn’t sure if she was pissed or about to cry. Or both.
But I did know one thing. I needed to back her up.
I didn’t have much experience at the whole “friend” thing, but I knew that much, at least. My chair flew back with a screech as I stood and whirled on the two girls.
“Leave us alone,” I said, copying Shaela’s earlier words.
“What’s the matter, freak? You think she’s gonna take me up on my offer?” Her eyes darted to Shaela and she smiled. “Of course, she is. She’d be a fool not to.”
I heard Shaela inhale behind me, and I held up a hand to silence her. I was not going to have her alienate herself further on my account. I needed to keep those bitches’ ire pointed in my direction. I could take it, and I had a feeling that despite her brave face, Shaela was more sensitive about her solitude than she let on and didn’t need a target on her back.
“You’re the fool, Tiana,” I said, spitting her name out like a curse. “You think you’re so much better than everyone else, sitting up on your pedestal. But you know what they say about people in high places, right?”
“What,” she growled.
“They higher they are, the harder they fall.”
Tiana’s eyes narrowed and her lips thinned out, turning nearly white.
“Are you threatening me, freak?” she hissed.
I shrugged, making it as nonchalant as I could manage. Then, knowing it would be the ultimate insult, I turned my back on her and pulled my chair back toward the table as I slipped into it. I heard her sharp intake of breath, and one side of my mouth turned up as I met Shaela’s wide eyes.
Shaela’s lips twitched as she tried not to smile. I knew then that I’d done something good. I had a feeling she’d never really had anyone stick up for her, particularly against the mean girls at the academy.
The next instant, Shaela’s eyes darted up to a spot behind me. Her face twisted with fear and she opened her mouth, shouting something.
I didn’t hear it.
I was already moving, some buried instinct deciding to rise to the surface in that exact moment. I turned and threw up an arm to block the strike I somehow knew was coming. My forearm crashed against Tiana’s, stopping her open palm a few mere inches from connecting with my head.
The instant our arms touched, Tiana flew back several feet. She stumbled into Aubrey, who grabbed her to keep her upright. I saw Tiana’s blonde hair fly forward into Aubrey’s face while, at the same time, her skirt flew up to reveal her hot pink panties. It was like a gale force wind blew her away from me and into her minion.
But that didn’t make any sense. We were inside the dining hall. There weren’t any open windows.
And I didn’t feel any wind at my back.
“Hey, can I talk to you?”
I jumped as a hand landed on my shoulder with those words. My head snapped up and my gaze collided with the icy blue eyes of Easton Oberon. Electricity zinged through me, and all I could do was nod mechanically and accept his hand as he offered it to help me up.
Once I was on my feet, I expected Easton to drop my hand, but he didn’t. He rushed across the room, pulling me along behind him until we were out in the hall.
“What’s going on?” I asked, twisting my wrist to try and free myself from his iron grip.
He didn’t respond, or let go of me, until we rounded another corner and slipped through the doorway of an empty classroom. Easton snatched his hand away from me, shaking it as if he were trying to sling my germs off of his palm. He backtracked to the door, pushing it closed before leaning his back against it.
I watched him, trying not to notice how delicious he looked in his black slacks and white button down shirt. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off muscled forearms. My eyes drifted across his chest, my mouth filling with saliva as I noted the way his shirt stretched across the muscles.
I realized I was staring about the same time he cleared his throat and crossed his arms over the very chest I was ogling. My eyes snapped to his, their crystal depths filled with something that looked like humor. As soon as I defined it, the emotion vanished and his expression took on its normal detached aloofness.
“Are you going to kill me now?” I blurted.
He arched one brow. “Why would you think I want to kill you?”
“Well, you dragged me into a deserted room, and you’re blocking the only exit,” I said.
I didn’t really think he would hurt me, but I needed to say something to break the silence and make him forget that he just busted me checking out his pecs. I just hoped I wasn’t blushing.
“If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead,” he said with a straight face.
I sucked in a sharp breath. “I think I should go,” I said, flinching at the nervous wobble in my voice.
“Relax,” he said, uncrossing his arms and stepping away from the door. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just thought you should get out of there before Tiana regained her senses and attacked you.”
I tilted my head, studying him, and said, “So, you saved me from her, again? You’re making quite the habit of that.”
I had no idea where that brazen attitude came from. I’d always been the silent, shy type, with good reason. But there was something about Easton that put me at ease while simultaneously setting me on edge. It was hard to explain, but I felt like I could just be myself, the me I’d never been with anyone, besides maybe Shaela. But at the same time, I was filled with nervous energy that forced me to spit out the sassiest of comments.
He smirked, saying, “Maybe you’re just a magnet for trouble.”
Maybe he was right. Maybe I was a trouble magnet. It did seem to follow me wherever I went. And so far, Oberon Academy had been no exception.
“I have to go,” Easton said, pulling me from my thoughts.
He was frowning again, his hooded eyes hiding whatever was going through his head. He took a step toward me, then paused before spinning on a heel and jerking the door open. Without another word, he left.
“His mood swings are going to give me whiplash,” I mumbled, shuffling through the door and out into the hall.
As I walked down the corridor toward my locker, I wondered what the school, and its students, had in store for me next.
Chapter Fifteen
15
Easton skipped gym class. Miss Jeannie ordered me to run laps, again, and I scanned the faces of everyone in the gymnasium, but he wasn’t there. Running by myself dragged the class out, giving me plenty of time to think.
I wondered if our encounter at lunch was the cause for his absence. Maybe my mention of his tendency to rescue me annoyed him so much, he stayed away to prove a point. Maybe he wanted me to know I didn’t mean anything to him, and he was leaving me to solve my problems on my own.
At that thought, my mind travelled back to the incident at lunch. The scene played over and over in my mind, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened when I blocked Tiana’s intended strike.
How had I done that? It was like my brain kicked into overdrive, assessing the situation in a fraction of a breath and my body reacted before I could fully realize what was happening. I’d never moved so fast.
And when my arm ca
me into contact with Tiana’s? I didn’t think about it at the time, but looking back, I remembered feeling something strange. Something electric exploded through me at that precise moment. It felt…powerful.
I shook my head, picking up my pace. My jog had decelerated into barely more than a walk and I noticed Ms. Jeannie giving me the stink-eye. I needed to focus. I didn’t want to get kicked out of the academy for failing gym, of all things.
Besides, what I was thinking was utter nonsense. Ridiculous. I wasn’t some kind of super hero, like the ones in the contraband books I’d read. And it wasn’t magic. Humans didn’t have magic inside them like Zephyrs.
My feet tangled up at the thought and I went down like a bag of bricks. I managed to catch myself on my forearms, but gravity assisted my momentum and my forehead bounced against the wood flooring. Giggling tinkled through the gym, and I knew my clumsiness hadn’t gone unnoticed.
“Great,” I grumbled as I rolled onto my back, keeping my eyes squeezed shut as I waited for the pain in my head to subside a little.
I was so stupid. Tiana and Aubrey got into my head, talking about my dark hair. Then something seemingly unexplainable happened at lunch, and my mind went right to the dark side.
The dark side being thoughts that I might actually be one of them. A Zephyr.
I laughed. Laying on the floor, my eyes still closed, I burst into laughter and rolled over onto my side, curling into the fetal position. It was pretty much the craziest thought I’d ever had, and because of it, I’d fallen and embarrassed myself in front of a good portion of the student body.
Zephyrs were freaking faeries. They had black eyes and black wings and possessed a magical connection to the elements.
I had none of those attributes. I was just plain, old human. The only thing I had in common with Zephyrs was the color of my hair and my tall height. I needed to stop letting the mean girls get into my head like that. It’s dangerous to my body.