Peter leaned closer to Ava. “So did anyone give you a hard time for hanging out with me this summer?” he whispered. She knew he was asking about Thomas.
“No.”
“You know I’d still like to hang out. I hope that doesn’t change.”
“Of course not. I like hanging out with you.”
He nodded and grinned.
Ava read her new Poe book and watched the clock slowly count down to lunch.
Once the bell rang, Peter walked with her to her locker. “Hey, you wanna eat with my friends today? They haven’t met you.”
She wanted to say yes. “I should probably eat with my friends. Might look a little odd if I sat with you. Thomas would get the wrong idea.”
“But we’re just friends.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So it’s okay for him to flirt with every female in this school?” His eyes veered past her. “But you can’t be friends with anyone else?”
Ava followed Peter’s gaze and found Thomas talking to and touching some brunette on her arm. The girl was in awe of him, just like every other female in this place. Ava wouldn’t be surprised if Thomas had started to have flings on the side since she had turned him down. She suppressed an irritated sigh and looked away from him.
“Why do you put up with that? I could never do that to my girlfriend.”
“You get used to it.”
“Uh huh. Is clenching your teeth a way of getting used to it?”
Ava let out a small laugh.
“I’ll talk to you later. Call me,” he said and then turned on his heel. He disappeared into the crowded hallway.
“Who was that?” Thomas asked as he came up from behind. He kissed her cheek and they followed a large group entering the lunchroom.
“Peter.”
“Who?”
“Remember, I told you about him. We hung out during the summer.”
“That was him?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought he was some retarded kid you were helping out.”
“Why would you think that?” She had to raise her voice as they came into the large cafeteria. With a high ceiling, the voices reverberated off the cement walls. Little rectangular windows at the top of the wall broke the monotony of the gray.
Thomas shrugged. “What did you do with him then?”
“I told you. Watched baseball with Dad.”
“He’s younger than us, isn’t he? Like you’re just being nice because he has no friends, right?”
“What? No, we’re the same age. He’s only a friend.” She could see the muscles in his jaw clench. They walked to their usual table in the back, and Thomas dropped off his bag then went to the line to get their lunch.
“Did you hear? We’re getting a new kid at school.” Melissa sat at the lunch table next to Ava. She looked more awake now. Gillian took the seat across from her and didn’t look the smallest bit hung-over.
“No. Who cares?” Ava shrugged and pulled Jack Kerouac’s On the Road from her backpack.
“This girl in my English class told me he’s really creepy. Like, when he looks at you all you can do is shudder and look away. But I think she’s a wimp.”
“You think everyone’s a wimp,” Ava said.
“Well, most of them are. Anyway, I’m curious to see the new kid. I wonder if he’s in here.” She looked up, searching the lunchroom for the mysterious new guy. “His name is Xavier Holstone.”
Ava shook her head and opened the book, ignoring her constant babble about the new kid. She was almost done with the book, since that’s how she spent her Sunday night after watching the game with her dad. That and daydreaming about Peter.
She read a couple of pages and then Jeremy sat down next to Gillian. “How do you like it?” he asked.
“It’s good,” Ava said. “I like his writing style. The story is so real.”
“I know. It definitely—.”
“What is all the commotion?” Thomas interrupted him as he sat down with his and Ava’s trays of food. Lance joined them and squeezed in next to Melissa, who still searched for this new kid.
“What commotion?” Ava marked her place with a scrap of paper and shoved the book in her bag. She grabbed the packet of salad dressing, poured it over her salad, and began to eat.
“This new guy. I swear everyone’s talking about him.”
“Aww, Thomas, are you sad that he’s stolen your spotlight?” Melissa teased.
“No.”
Ava suppressed a laugh.
“Well, he could surpass you as the hottest guy here. Girls may not swoon over you anymore. They’re already talking about how hot he is.”
“Melissa, stop,” he demanded.
She shrugged and bit off a piece of a carrot and crunched it loudly.
“I heard he already knows more than his classmates. I heard he was really smart.” Gillian’s tiny voice barely made it over the hundreds of echoed conversations in the room.
“We’ll see. Ooh, I think that’s him.” Melissa was agape as she looked toward the doors. Ava followed her gaze.
It was as if her voice bounced off the walls, broadcasting his arrival, because all eyes were on the dark, mysterious young man. The conversations seemed to have hushed, and Ava imagined several girls’ hearts skipping beats.
Xavier Holstone elegantly glided across the white tiled floor with a crooked smile as if he liked that everyone stared at his tanned skin and ash blond hair. His oval face was severe with high cheekbones and a perfectly straight nose. His muscular, but thin, build made a few girls blush, though his dark eyes saw no one as he made his way to an empty table in the back. Ava didn’t really think he was attractive, but there was something dangerous about him.
Lance crumbled his milk carton and cocked an eyebrow. “Do I need to worry about your new fascination?”
“He is hot,” she said.
“Wow. Thanks for boosting my self-esteem,” he said with a playful smile.
Melissa winked at him.
“I don’t see what the fuss is about. He’s got no muscles. He’s got nothing. I’m taller than him,” Thomas said. “And a lot bigger.”
Ava patted his hand. “Of course you are.”
“Let’s hope he’s not as egotistical as you,” Melissa said.
Jeremy pushed his glasses up to the top of his nose. “I don’t think anyone could beat Thomas at that.”
“Jeremy!” Gillian smacked his arm.
Melissa roared with laughter, which was contagious around the table but did not reach Thomas. Instead, he fumed as he picked up his tray and stormed off to the trash bin.
“Thomas, it was a joke.” Jeremy called after him.
“Guess I’ll go calm him down.” Ava groaned as she stood. “See you guys later.”
“Good luck.” Melissa laughed.
“Thanks.” She rolled her eyes as she carried her tray to the trash bin.
Glancing at Xavier, she noticed him reading, legs stretched out from him. He held a sense of mystery, and instead of being lustful, like every other female there, Ava felt more wary of him. As if he could sense her, his eyes peeked up from his book. She smiled, but instead of returning the friendliness as she expected, he glared. His steely gaze made her look away. Well, that was rude.
Shrugging it off, she walked toward the front of the cafeteria just as the bell rang. She found Thomas outside in the wide hallway. Ava caught up to him before he emerged through the double doors that led outside.
“Are you really upset?”
He turned around. “No. Mel gets annoying after a while.”
“Yeah, she does.”
“There’s something about that kid that I don’t like. I can’t explain it,” Thomas told her as he stared past her. She turned and saw Xavier coolly stride through the crowd. He seemed so out of place by how sophisticated he acted.
“Yeah, I got that, too.” Ava looked up at Thomas. “When I returned my tray, I smiled at him, and he just glared at me.”
He finally
met her eyes. “Why were you checking him out?”
“I wasn’t.”
“Why were you smiling at him?”
“I was just being friendly.”
“Friendly? You have a boyfriend.”
Ava sighed. “Forget it.” She followed the remaining crowd squeezing through the hallway to the classrooms.
The rest of the day went by like any other. English then psychology. She took notes and groaned when they announced homework. Once the bell rang, she, like all the other students, hurried out of the building to the parking lot. She was the only one in the group who didn’t have any after-school activities so she would go home to work on homework for a couple of hours before her father arrived. Or read on the porch swing. She didn’t mind though. She loved stretching out, inhaling the sweet roses, and feeling the breeze. And she did just that when she got home.
Except when she opened her book, Xavier’s face popped up in her head. What was with the glare? She thought. And Thomas, of course, accusing her of liking the guy. If he got that bent out of shape because she had been friendly with someone, how would he act if he saw her talking to Peter every day?
She remembered Colden and Savina mentioned something about being bound and keeping the circle unbroken. But was she really bound to Thomas? And more important, was she potentially endangering Peter’s life by being his friend?
CHAPTER FOUR
MISSING
A week later, Ava arrived at school under a black sky. Thunder had grumbled all morning. Flashes of lightning streaked across the sky. Just as the clouds released the rain, she made it through the double doors of the brick school and hustled through the disorganized crowd to her locker. Shoes squeaked all around her, and she couldn’t help but notice the somber mood of the students. Rain usually made them quiet and moody, but then she noticed the low whispers of those who gathered around a part of the concrete wall opposite of the lockers.
Ava moved closer as some students walked away. Taped to the painted gray wall, a small yellow sheet of paper read, MISSING KRISTEN MILLER in large bold letters. Under her name, Kristen’s small face, overshadowed by her thick hair, smiled shyly back at Ava. Last seen Monday August 27. Phone numbers were listed. She gawked at the poster. What had happened? She backed away in a daze and then slammed into someone.
“Sorry,” she said automatically. Then she looked up and met the cold black eyes of Xavier Holstone. She shuddered and jumped back.
“You should pay more attention,” he spat. His eyes narrowed. Then he walked away.
Ava exhaled, unaware she had been holding her breath. What was his problem? She meandered to her math class.
“Kristen Miller went missing,” Ava told Melissa as she dumped her books onto the desk and slid into the seat.
“Yeah. They say she never came home from school last Monday. Get a new kid, and one goes missing.” She opened her notebook to an empty page.
“Melissa, this is serious! Did they say who she was with when she was last seen?”
“No one saw her. She went to all her classes and vanished right after school. Her parents came to get her car today.”
Ava’s shoulders slumped. What an unsettling thing for her parents to have to do. “What about her boyfriend, Brett?”
“He’s just as lost as her parents. He was the one posting the pictures up this morning. I think she’s turned to drugs.”
“Drugs?” Ava echoed. “In a week? She was fine that night, with the exception of you and Thomas making fun of her.”
“We’ll see.”
“There’s no way she’s on drugs. She’s too good. This is something else.”
“Maybe she forgot where she lived and got a ride from a stranger.”
“Melissa, stop.”
“I think it’s drugs. Care to make a wager?”
“You can be so insensitive.”
Melissa shrugged. “Twenty bucks says she’s doing drugs.”
“Why do you think that?”
Concern flashed in her green eyes. “Because I’d rather it be drugs than something worse like being kidnapped. Or her lifeless body dumped somewhere. Now, are we placing a bet?”
Ava sighed. “Fine.” She felt completely ashamed of herself.
Things like this were a rarity at their school. The police would find Kristen. Nothing bad had happened to her. But Ava knew she was only trying to make herself feel better. She looked down at the empty page of the notebook on her desk and silently hoped Kristen was okay.
After class, they squeezed through the crowds to Melissa’s locker and found Gillian sobbing.
“What’s wrong?” Melissa asked.
Ava turned Gillian around to face them and she and Melissa blocked the onlookers with their bodies. Mascara ran down Gillian’s smooth face in dark watery lines.
“It’s my fault,” she choked through her tears.
“What is?” Ava asked.
“Kristen. She ran away because we were so mean to her.”
Melissa lifted an eyebrow. “I highly doubt that, G. Why would you think it’s you? They don’t even know if she ran away.”
“Whatever. You told me to use my power on them that night. I tried to change their minds, but it didn’t work.”
“You didn’t do this.”
Her chin quivered, and fresh tears sprang from her eyes.
“Why’d you tell her to do that?” Ava asked Melissa.
Melissa gave an exasperated look. “Come on, G, let’s get you cleaned up.” She put an arm around Gillian and led her to the bathroom.
Ava knew it was a bad idea to use their powers. Not that she believed Gillian had anything to do with Kristen’s disappearance. She took a deep breath and then went to chemistry. She took her seat next to Peter.
His lips curled into that smoldering smile that reached his eyes. “Good morning.”
“Hey.”
“Can you believe that about Kristen?”
“No.”
“She sits in my English class. It’s really weird seeing her seat empty every day. She never misses a single day of school.”
“I can’t believe that no one has a clue,” she said. “There’s a ton of people walking out of these doors to their cars after school. Someone must have seen her.”
“I agree. Some people say she started talking to Xavier the day she went missing.”
“Xavier? Why would Kristen ever talk to someone like him? Are they suspecting that he has anything to do with her disappearance?”
Peter shrugged. “You know how rumors start. People don’t like the guy, so they’re probably trying to make it unbearable for him.”
“I hope they find her.”
“Me, too.”
The bell rang and students settled in their seats. Ava opened her book and notebook. But she thought about Xavier. What could he possibly want with Kristen Miller? Maybe she was overanalyzing. It was a rumor after all.
“Hey, do you wanna hang out Friday night?” Peter whispered.
Ava turned her head and gave an apologetic smile. “I can’t. Football game.”
“Oh, right. First one of the year. I might go.” He turned back to his book.
She wanted to hang out with Peter, though. They hadn’t hung out since he’d gotten back and she hated football games. But there was no way she could be with Peter instead of watching Thomas play.
Chemistry went by just as sluggish as it normally did, where every second seemed to drag. The bell rang, and everyone hurried for the door. Peter walked Ava to her locker, a new tradition, she guessed, but she liked it.
“Wanna sit with me today?” he asked in a hopeful tone.
“I’m sorry. I gotta sit with my friends today.”
“You have to?”
“It’s just, I have to see if Gillian’s okay. That’s all.” She sifted through her locker.
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s just really sad about Kristen.”
“Oh. Were they good friends?”
; “Not exactly, but Gillian is just a very emotional girl. She cries when someone kills a roach.” She closed her locker. It was the truth, but she couldn’t exactly tell Peter the real reason.
Peter chuckled.
Ava bit her lip. “This whole Kristen thing has gotten to me for some reason.”
“I can understand that. It’s not every day someone from our school goes missing.”
Something hard collided into Ava’s back, making her lose balance and stagger forward. Her books slipped to the ground, but she found herself in Peter’s arms instead of sprawled across the concrete floor.
“Hey,” Peter called.
She looked up to see Xavier walking past Peter. “Hey, what gives?” She shouted at him, but he didn’t turn around.
“Are you okay?” Peter asked as she steadied herself.
“Yeah. What the hell was that?”
Peter bent down to pick up her books and then handed them to her. “I don’t know. He just pushed you.”
“Thanks for catching me.”
“You’re welcome. I guess I’ll talk to you later,” Peter said.
Ava knew he saw Thomas nearing. “Okay, see ya.”
Peter left as if on cue.
“Why is he always talking to you?” Thomas wrapped his arm around her and escorted her to the cafeteria.
“We’re friends. We have chemistry together.” She hoped he didn’t read into that statement too much.
His jaw tightened.
“Don’t be jealous.”
Thomas shrugged. “It won’t last long.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I just find it odd that he’s talking to you. Knowing you’re my girlfriend. Doesn’t he realize that’s automatically off-limits?”
“You can’t tell me who I can and can’t talk to.”
Ava struggled against his tight grip on her, but he refused to let go. Getting angrier, she pulled his thick arm away and released herself from him, with ease.
“Damn, have you been lifting weights or something?” He stopped, stunned, searching her eyes.
“No.” But it was strange to be able to pull his arm away so easily. Maybe he just conceded.
How dare he tell her she couldn’t talk to Peter? What was this? 1950? She could be friends with whomever she wanted. But Ava was fooling herself. Thomas could still seriously harm Peter.
Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) Page 4