by W. J. May
“So it’s just easier to date someone normal? Is that what you’re telling me?” Could her whole world actually be crumbling around her?
“NO!” Devon, obviously frustrated and desperate to make her understand ran his hands through his hair, tugging on it as if trying to pull the words out of his head that would fix the situation. Rae watched him, still angry, really angry; but also dying for him to find those magic words that would make the hurt stop.
He turned away from her, took a deep breath, let it out slowly and then turned back. “Our entire society is against us. They have been from the beginning. Despite that, we fell for each other. I fell for you, Rae! I fell hard! And I don’t regret that. I don’t want to give it up or lose it! But if anyone finds out, we won’t have a choice! You’ll be ripped away from me, and I’ll never see you again. They’d probably lock me away.” Devon reached for her hands again. This time, she let him hold them. The outpouring of emotion was overwhelming and drowning out her anger. “I do what the PC asks me to do because if I couldn’t ever see you again, or be here to protect you, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“I don’t want you to get into trouble,” she whispered, unsure if she meant the danger from his work or getting caught being with her.
“I won’t. We won’t. We’ll make this work, okay? We’ll show them, and ourselves too, that our relationship isn’t a negative, or evil thing.” He pulled her close. “I’m so sorry.”
Rae closed her eyes and inhaled his musky scent. “Sorry, too,” she mumbled against his chest. She had missed him so much over the summer, and the thought of him kissing another girl—
“Don’t apologize. There’s no need. I will try to tell you everything I can.” He kissed the top of her head before stepping back. “Let’s just keep us a secret for the year--till you graduate. I can just imagine the mayhem that would erupt if my father found out. I wouldn’t want you to get kicked out of school.” He grinned.
“Kicked out?” She blinked in surprise. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
Devon winked, a huff escaping between his lips. “Trust me, that’d be the least of our worries. We’re not going to get caught.” A growl erupted from his stomach. “Are we good?”
Rae didn’t know what to say. All the emotions that had coursed through her in the past twenty minutes burned her mind and her heart. She knew, instinctively, that he wasn’t telling her everything, and it pained her, but she desperately wanted to believe him. “We’re good – for now.”
“Come on then,” he said grinning and displaying his adorable dimple. “Let’s head back and forget about all this crazy stuff. I’m starving.”
Rae followed. She trusted him, but a little voice in the back of her head asked— Knowing he’s still holding back, that he lied to me once for the Privy Council, can I ever truly trust him again?
The following Friday morning, Rae and Molly headed to the Oratory for the headmaster’s class. Molly covered her mouth, trying to stifle another yawn.
“You look exhausted.”
“I don’t see why seniors have tatù classes in the morning. It’s like two hours of working out. I liked it so much better last year when we finished the day with Lanford.” Molly’s eyes went wide, when she realized what she had said. “Not that I miss Lanford! Carter’s good enough and his freaky woman-hating attitude is gone, thank goodness. It’s just… you know… getting up so early for physical movement is wrong in so many ways.”
“Are you coming down with something?” Rae ignored Molly’s babbling. She reached out to touch her friend’s forehead.
Molly swatted her hand away. “I’m not sick. I stayed up till three last night talking to Reece on Facebook. He’s skiing in Switzerland with his uncle.”
“How’s he doing?” Rae figured talking about Reece would perk Molly up and let her forget any thoughts of Lanford, which suited Rae just fine.
“He’s awesome! Did I tell you we’re dating exclusively now? Last night, he said he’ll come to the school dance next month.”
They headed down the cobblestone path leading to the Oratory. A few other students walked in front of them.
“Are you allowed to invite him? Do you need to ask the dean for permission?”
“Stop being such a goodie-two-shoes. The boys get to see normal girls from Roe Hampton College--we should get the same allowances.” Molly curled her pointy fingers when she said the word normal.
Rae couldn’t hold back the laughter. Only crazy Molly could argue a point like that and make it work. “I’d still double check with Carter or the dean. I’d die of embarrassment if my boyfriend got kicked out.”
“I’ve already got permission.” Molly rolled her eyes. “You know, you’re turning more and more into Devon Wardell every day. He’s mister-play-it-by-the-rules. Your tutoring sessions are molding you into him.” Molly stepped in front of her and opened the door. “You’re like a ninety-year old couple.”
Rae said nothing but grinned behind Molly’s back as they headed into the Oratory.
“Good morning.” Carter stood at the front of the Grand Room auditorium, shutting a book when Molly and Rae came in. “Let’s get started right away. No more dillydallying. The term is underway and I don’t have the patience to treat you all like beginners. You’re all tatùed and understand your ability. Well, most of you.” He glanced at Kraigan. “We’ve a lot of ground to cover today. This isn’t meant to be all fun and games like before.”
A loud groan erupted from the class as the students gathered in the groups Carter had assigned at the beginning of the week.
Before Molly left Rae’s side, she whispered, “Looks like Carter’s dropped the woman-hating and taken on Madame Elpis’ attitude. Great. What a way to start the weekend.” She rolled her eyes and shuffled to her group.
Rae searched for Nicholas. Spotting him standing by Kraigan, she headed over.
“‘Morning, Rae.” Nicholas smiled.
“Hi, Nic. Kraigan.” She nodded at both of them.
“Happy freakin’ Friday.” Kraigan shook his head at the headmaster. Rae grinned, despite feeling Carter’s eyes bearing down on her.
“You have a group assignment to do over the weekend.” Carter’s voice stopped all student conversation. “Due Monday is a five-page essay on the Privy Council.”
Moans erupted from the class. Carter continued, as if he hadn’t heard a sound. “Right now, one member from each group needs to come up and draw a slip of paper out of this basket. It’s the subject you’re to become experts on. It might be the history of the Privy Council, the relationship between the Council and country, job descriptions, the political aspect, etcetera. You’ll be doing class presentations in two weeks. We’ll do three a day and you won’t know who’s going first so it must be completed on time.”
More groans. Rae shot a glance at Nicholas, who shrugged his shoulders and frowned. Rae tried to act dejected as well, but she actually wanted to find out more about who Devon worked for.
“Go get a slip, Princess Rae,” Kraigan teased. “Use that tatù of yours to get us a good one.”
Nicholas laughed. “I agree, go get us an easy one.”
What the—? Rae stared at him. “Did you just call me ‘princess’?”
Her expression must have been fierce, because Kraigan stepped back, hands raised in surrender. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I was just teasing. I just meant—”
Rae cut him off, “Don’t worry about it.” He probably feels nervous being the new guy. Maybe. Or maybe he’s just trying to show off.
Rae walked to Carter, waited her turn, and pulled a slip out of the bucket. She returned to the group and pushed it towards Kraigan. Hands in his pockets, he nodded to Nicholas, who took the slip and read it.
“Assignment: Number of members of the board--history behind the number.” Nicholas huffed. “Crap. You know all members are secret, right? No one knows who they actually are except the Council members themselves. They’re all sworn to secrec
y.” He crumpled the paper and tossed it into his backpack.
“Why is it a secret?” Kraigan hadn’t moved from his stance leaning against the wall, hands in pockets. “Spill the beans and they kill you for squealing?”
“Protection. It’s an honor to serve on the board. Even when they step down, they still don’t let on that they were a member.” Nicholas shrugged. “It’d be so cool to know who the president is or one who has been. The answer’s probably right under our noses, and we don’t have a clue.”
Rae smiled and gave a little laugh, causing both boys to look at her questioningly. “I was just thinking…I keep thinking of them as ‘secret squirrels’, like that old cartoon? I picture them scampering around, gathering nuts and spying on people from trees like that.” Rae giggled again, not immediately noticing that neither Kraigan, nor Nic seemed to be laughing with her.
“Is this another American culture reference that I have to research to understand?” Nic looked confused. Kraigan just looked blank.
“Never mind.” Rae shook her head. “I don’t think you guys had the Disney channel growing up.” She sullenly turned her attention back to the assignment at hand. Carter’s up to something. She glanced over to the headmaster who suddenly seemed to be avoiding her gaze. The Privy Council’s private, operating from the shadows, secret. How were they supposed to gain information about an organization that by its very nature, seemed to discourage the sharing of information?
“Should we meet up Sunday night?” Nicholas asked.
“What about tonight?” Rae replied.
“Uh-oh. Sorry, no-can-do,” Kraigan said. “I’ve already got plans. I can swing it sometime next week.”
Seriously? What could you possibly have to do in a boarding school town where you don’t know barely anyone and no one knows you? I am NOT getting a bad grade on this. “I don’t want to leave this until the last minute, if we need more work… I don’t want to be screwed.”
Nicholas groaned. “Fine, let’s meet one night this week at eight in Aumbry House’s library. Both of you check your date books or calendars or whatever and email me. I’ll pick the night, and there’ll be no arguing.”
“Cool,” Kraigan said with a smarmy grin. “Girl’s dorm works for me.”
Rae rolled her eyes. Ugh…he’s such a…guy.
For the rest of the class, Carter had them focus on inner sensations. He wanted them to center on their internal hum. Within their groups, he asked the students to try to detect tatùs from each other. Rae found the skill easy. She had been doing it all summer, and it was how her tatù worked to mimic other tatùs. She had to know they were there in order to copy them. The other students struggled with the concept.
Kraigan stood by Rae, murmuring some of the kid’s abilities and, surprisingly, being right on most of them. She stared at him in amazement.
He must have realized she was listening. He laughed. “In the orphanage, you spend a lot of time watching other people. That, and Carter’s helped me out a bit on noticing others.” Then he teased her. “I’ve heard about what you can do. Can you sense their tatùs as well?” He sounded genuinely impressed, as well as curious.
She grinned and glanced around at her classmates. “I’ve kind of been doing the same thing as you throughout the summer. People watching, that is. I didn’t have much else to do in New York.”
He pointed to Desiree in another group. “She’s got some intense feeling-thing going on. Do you know it?”
Nicholas piped into the conversation. “Oh dude! I don’t have a clue what you guys can detect, but I heard about her tatù. She’s got some sex-drive tatù. It makes people randy.”
Rae punched him in the bicep.
“Nice one.” Kraigan gave Nicholas a high five, then turned and raised an eyebrow at Rae. “What about you? Can you sense someone’s tatù in more detail than that - without knowing what they’re capable of?”
His intense stare irked her for some reason. It’s like he’s trying to see inside me. Shrugging her shoulders, she searched the faces in the room, looking for anyone with a tatù she hadn’t already mimicked. She didn’t find anyone. Fight fire with fire. “Sorry, dingleberry, but I basically know everyone’s tatù. I’d be cheating if I pretended to guess.”
Nic’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “What’s a dingleberry?”
“Butt-fluff.” Rae couldn’t hold back her grin when Kraigan tried scowling at her.
A deep belly laugh erupted from Nicholas. “Nice one! You haven’t seen Kraigan’s tatù in action.”
Kraigan straightened and shot Nicholas a look. A dirty one? He crossed his arms over his chest and exhaled loudly through his nose. “Neither have you Nic. Try me, Kerrigan. Can you see inside me?” He stared at her but didn’t move.
“Do you want me to try?”
“Why not?” Kraigan flicked his gaze upward. “You haven’t touched me to steal my gift. Let’s see if you can figure it out.” He closed his mouth, his lips set in a tight, straight line.
Steal? Rae took a step back. That’s some chip you got there on your shoulder. She closed her eyes to focus on her inner vibrations and allowed herself to sense Nicholas nearby. Once she picked up on the feel of Nic’s tatù, she opened her eyes to focus on Kraigan. The corners of his eyes twitched, and he chewed on his lower lip. She let her vision blur when his nervousness became distracting. She inhaled slowly and began to feel the light sensation of the hum of his tatù. She made contact with the vibrations. They were intense—and extremely confusing.
One moment she swore she felt Nicholas’ gift, the next a different pull, followed by another and then something else. She scratched her head, letting her eyes refocus on him.
“Any luck?” Nicholas asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never really done this before, to be honest. I’ve always had the tatù inside me to figure out how to use it.”
Kraigan smiled reassuringly. “If you figure anything out, please let me know. It’d save extra tutoring sessions with Carter or whoever he dumps me off on.”
“I can’t get anything clear.” It felt like pulling on guitar strings. “I keep getting different feelings and sensations. I could feel Nic, but I think it’s because I have his ability.” She shrugged, looking at Nicholas.
“Probably based on his camouflage--maybe the tatù hides itself,” Nicholas suggested.
“You’re probably right, Nic.” Kraigan laughed and winked at Rae. “Unless you just need to practice on the skill a bit more, Kerrigan.”
The buzzer signaling the end of class saved Rae from having to come back with a funny reply. Deep down, she didn’t think her skills were lacking. It might have something to do with Kraigan’s tatù.
Chapter 9
Pizza
There’s something…off…about the new guy’s tatù.” Rae paced in Devon’s study. She had vowed never to mimic someone’s tatù without their permission, but the curiosity of trying to figure out how Kraigan’s worked was killing her.
Devon sat behind his desk, his feet resting on the corner. Putting his hands behind his head, he laughed. “Rae, nothing’s wrong. He’s new. He’s some orphan, and he’s trying to impress the super-girl in his class. Stop being so paranoid. He didn’t do anything weird or eee-vil, right?” His voice dropped dramatically on the word evil.
She folded her arms. “I’m not talking about him. I totally get what it’s like being the newbie. What I don’t get, is his tatù.” Staring at Devon, she couldn’t get the image of his “job-girlfriend” out of her head. Pursing her lips, she forced the issue into a mental drawer, to deal with at a later date. She needed to ignore the entire Anna situation and focus on current stuff. Plus, she thought, grinning, I’ll show Devon, in my own way, that I can make him forget about that girl. If he even still thought about her. The girl was like a thorn in Rae’s side. Speaking of thorns—
Reminded again of Kraigan, she stopped pacing to stare directly into Devon’s eyes. Placing her hands on her hips, she let out an exasp
erated breath. “You’re right. He didn’t do anything bad. I’d love to see how his tatù works. He’s trying to figure it out on his own, and I promised not to interfere. The guy isn’t bad -- a bit cockier than I expected, but he’s probably just trying to show off.”
“He’s crushin’ on you.”
“No!” Rae completely missed his teasing tone, until after she had shouted. Great! Now I’m over-reacting. “Maybe his camouflage tatù can hide his ability, but I know he’s not interested in me.”
Devon grinned but said nothing, humoring her. She decided to drop what was obviously an argument she couldn’t win, and change subjects. Definitely safer. Besides, I need his help.
“Hey, can you help me with an Oratory assignment?”
“What’s it about?” Devon dropped his feet from the desk and leaned forward.
“The Privy Council.”
“What do you need to know?”
“The president.”
Devon blinked in surprise. “A professor asked you to find out who the president is?”
“Not exactly. It’s a group assignment from Carter class.”
“Carter?” Devon’s eyebrows went up.
“Yeah. I figure it’s bogus. He’s up to something.” She shrugged, tired of the games people felt they needed to play. “He threw in a bonus point: try and find information on past presidents or anything we might be able to figure out about them. The actual assignment is to determine the importance of numbers within the council.”
“Lanford did something similar last year. Never clued in why but it seems pretty similar.” Devon tapped his thumb against the desk. “The number thing’ll be easy enough. Just think about England’s favorite football player when you’re searching for information with your group. That’ll give you a leg up over evil-Kraigan.” He tried to keep his face serious, but the twitching at the corners of his mouth gave him away. Rae found it cute, but exasperating.