Feudlings

by Wendy Knight

  Second period was much like the first, but without Hunter there to grill her and without Nevaeh there to snap out random insanities at anyone caught staring at Ari. Ari slouched in her chair, flipping her pencil across her knuckles as the rest of the class played some name game that she had no interest in participating in.

  After the bell rang, she started down the stairs, trying to decipher Nevaeh’s map. It took a second to figure out that it was useless. “Nevaeh, you didn’t put a legend on this thing.” Ari sighed as she crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash. Unsure what else to do, she wandered for a while. She tried to make sense of the room number system, couldn’t, and stopped in utter confusion in a square corridor with two hallways branching off to either side. Dropping her hands to her hips, she stared at the right hall and then the left, waiting for divine inspiration to light one up and lead the way. It didn’t happen.

  “Ari, right?” She heard a voice behind her and turned slowly, locking gazes with the most incredible blue eyes in the history of blue eyes. They were what Ari could only call metallic, dark as midnight and bright as noon all at the same time and they nearly stopped her heart before she pointed out to herself that they must be contacts. Breathe, she told herself. “Yeah.” Her voice cracked just a little.

  “I’m Shane Delyle.” He stepped toward her, and she tore her gaze from his eyes and took in the rest of him.

  Ahh, now she could see why he had the whole female population wrapped around his finger. Besides the amazing blue eyes, his black wavy hair fell rebelliously across his forehead, and his high cheekbones and full lips could make a supermodel jealous. And his broad shoulders, well, they sure didn’t belong on a high school boy. Plus, he had to be at least four inches taller than her, something she hadn’t encountered since she was in, like, fourth grade.

  “So you would be my other knight in shining armor then,” Ari said.

  “You already met Hunter,” Shane noted, and since it was a statement and not a question, Ari didn’t answer it.

  “Nice kid,” she said instead, and Shane laughed.

  “He’s… a little extreme,” Shane said with an easy grin.

  Ari’s breath caught in her throat. She had heard about devastating smiles before, but never seen one.

  Until now.

  She struggled to focus on something that didn’t make her knees weak, reminding herself that she was the Edren Prodigy. She had faced armies of Carules by herself without so much as flinching. This random boy was not going to make her shake in her boots, no matter how attractive he was.

  Several girls walked by, cooing over Shane. “Hey,” he answered them, but he never took his eyes off Ari. Belatedly she realized he was waiting for her to say something. She grasped at a coherent thought.

  “Ya think?” was all she could come up with.

  Shane’s lips quirked up.

  “He’s not so bad once you get to know him. Sometimes.” He gave an amiable shake of his head, chuckling as he shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.

  “Right.” Ari drew out the word with mild sarcasm. “Well, I would love to sit and debate it with you, but I’ve got a labyrinth to be lost in.” She gestured at the offending halls before turning back to him. “But thanks, for taking me to the nurse. I would never have found her on my own. Especially unconscious and being stuck under a ladder.” She smiled.

  “No problem. Saving damsels in distress is something I try to do at least once a day, and” — he paused with a mischievous smile, — “I haven’t filled my quota for today. Lost?”

  She glanced over at him, felt her knees wobble, and gritted her teeth. “Of course not. The hallways make perfect sense. I’m just enjoying the parallelism of these two particular halls.” She returned her attention to the safety of the corridors, eyeing them in annoyance. Most of the students had found their way to class by now, which left Ari hoping Shane couldn’t hear her pounding heart in the sudden quiet.

  “What class ya heading to?”

  Ari wordlessly handed him her schedule.

  “Hey, me too. And I happen to know the way. Wanna tag along?” he asked, and she sighed at his smirk.

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Shane pointed out all the school landmarks she should know while they walked, but it did about as much good as when Nevaeh attempted it. Ari wasn’t even trying to make sense of it all now. Instead she focused on not focusing on Shane, which was harder than it should have been. She distracted herself by watching for traces of Carules magic.

  She was startled when the bell rang, compelling her to point out the obvious. “We’re late. I made you late.”

  “It’s okay. Teachers love me. And no one will blame you for being late. You’re the new kid.” Shane glanced at her and then away as he led her through hallways that all looked alike. His lips quirked in that smile again. “I have to mention… you’re face looks horrible. How ya holdin’ up?”

  “Yeah, thanks for mentioning. I hadn’t realized.” She grimaced “I’m fine. Sore, but fine.” Truthfully she had a headache that wouldn’t quit and her shoulder and ribs still throbbed, especially when she had three floors of stairs to climb up and down. But she was used to headaches. She had them a lot and the Edren healers couldn’t seem to get rid of them. Her brother had told her it was stress. And guilt. If she would quit fighting she’d get rid of the headaches. Like that was even possible.

  A minute later, she watched Shane breeze through the door to their classroom. Ari hesitated outside, sucked in a breath, and followed him.

  “Ari, I saved you a seat,” she heard Charity call. She resisted the urge to ask why and murmured “thank you” as she slid in next to the silver-eyed girl, confused again by the kindness of these people.

  The teacher was calling roll, and other than glaring at them when they walked in, he ignored their tardiness. “Arianna Delacour,” he called. More like announced; Ari could see the retired marine in him. She raised her hand in response.

  “Charity Delyle.”

  “Here,” Charity said, her voice soft and sweet.

  “Shane Delyle.” Shane threw up a lazy hand and Ari could swear every girl in there sighed dreamily. Good grief.

  “I won’t see you two walking in late again, I assume,” the teacher said, peering over his bifocals with stern green eyes.

  Shane nodded.

  Mr. Greene turned his gaze on Ari and she realized he was waiting for her to agree. She sucked down the urge to tell him if the school’s layout made any sense whatsoever she wouldn’t have been late in the first place, but talking like that had gotten her hit by many of her grandfather’s weird curlicue spells. She had learned that for some reason, most adults do not like to be argued with. Baffling. Instead she just nodded, but couldn’t help it when she met his glare. He scowled at her for a minute and then returned to the roll.

  “You again,” Hunter grunted from her other side. She hadn’t even noticed him when she walked in late, but now she spared him a look before glancing away.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” she replied, eyes on the teacher. Shane threw a frustrated glare at Hunter, and Charity looked amused. Hunter pretended not to notice either of them, and Ari did the same.

  They passed out textbooks and dove right in. History was Ari’s favorite subject. Regular Normals history, at least. Edren history, not so much.

  Her textbook was battered; it had seen better days. That’s what happens when you sit at the back of the class — the kids at the front got the good books, Ari told herself.

  Mr. Greene launched into his lecture, and Ari leaned forward to take notes, letting her hair fall forward to block out Charity and Hunter on either side. For the next forty-five minutes she didn’t have to worry about being the new kid or the fact that everyone was staring at her battered face. Instead, she was lost in the world of prehistoric peoples, and that was a much better trade.

  It was a rude awakening when the bell rang and everyone jumped up to leave. Ari sighed, stu
ffed her books in her bag, and dug out her schedule. Next she had a free period, which she was supposed to spend in the library. That would be great, if she had any idea where that was.

  “Were you planning on being enthralled with the hallways parallelism again or can I help you find your next class?” Ari looked over into those blue eyes and had to fight to breathe. Shane squatted next to her desk, peering up at her.

  Ahem. She cleared her throat. And then cleared it again. “Well, since the halls all seem the same it would be pointless, in my opinion, to continue comparing them. You’ve seen one you’ve seen them all, right?” As Hunter appeared at Shane’s side with his usual scowl, Ari said, trying not to sound desperate, “Could you just point me in the right direction? And the right floor would be helpful too.”

  Charity’s silver laugh tinkled behind her, and she leaned around Ari to take her schedule. “The library. It’s on the second floor. Right in the middle of everything.”

  “And right on my way to my next class. I’ll walk you.” Shane rose to his feet.

  “It’s not even close to your next class. Your next class is across the hall from here,” Hunter said, still glaring at Ari. She raised an eyebrow. Shane glanced at him, annoyed, and Hunter shook his head and stalked off.

  “I don’t need you to go out of your way. I’ll be able to find it.”

  “It’s not out of his way. Shane’s getting chubby. A little walk will do him good.” Charity smirked, poking her cousin’s flat belly.

  Shane rolled his eyes. “You’re a barrel of laughs, Char.” Then to Ari he said, “Do you think I’m getting chubby?”

  Ari ignored him and picked up her bag.

  “You’re gonna make me late. Again,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for the door. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see Shane cast Charity a triumphant look as he grabbed his bag off the floor and jogged to catch up with Ari.

  "I appreciate you showing me around, I do,” Ari said as she followed Shane through the crowded halls, “but I don't want to get you in trouble."

  "Don't worry about it. My next teacher loves me." Shane glanced over with a dismissive grin. Nearly every person they passed stopped him to talk. Ari heaved a disgruntled sigh. This was going to take forever.

  "I meant with Hunter," she said when they started moving again and she had his attention. Shane stopped so suddenly she ran into the back of him. "Oof!" she gasped. Heat shot through her at his touch. Well, that was new.

  "What do you mean, with Hunter?" Shane asked incredulously, turning around to face her.

  She took a step back. Being that close to him did weird things to her stomach.

  Kids streamed past, bumping and jarring and sending them more agitated glances. She ignored them. "Isn't he kind of your boss? That was the impression I got."

  Shane frowned. "No. He isn't my boss. We've just been friends for a long time. He looks out for me."

  Ari lowered her eyebrows and stepped around him, hoping she was going in the right direction. Stupid nondescript, confusing halls anyway, Ari thought. "And what, he's thinking I'm going to throw you under a ladder or something while he's not looking?"

  After a few steps Shane was at her side. "No, apparently that's Brit's M.O. It's just…" He stopped again. Ari debated on whether or not to just keep walking but curiosity won out and she stopped too, looking at him expectantly.

  He rolled his dark blue eyes and sighed. "It's embarrassing."

  "Then you shouldn't have brought it up," she pointed out, dropping her hands to her hips.

  Shane shook his head, his mouth quirking up at the corners in amusement. "Good point." He ran a hand through his dark hair and looked away, distractedly smiling at a blonde girl whose trill clawed at Ari’s brain. She gritted her teeth. "Okay, so I got my heart broken last year. He listened to me whine about it all summer and doesn't want it to happen again," he said.

  "Oh good grief. That's the lamest thing I've ever heard," Ari turned with a huff and started walking again, still with no clue where she was going, but not caring, either.

  "Hey! Where ya goin?" he called from behind her.

  "To class?" she asked sarcastically without stopping.

  "Your class is way back there… umm… where we stopped," He laughed as he pointed over his shoulder.

  She froze and slowly turned, her boot squeaking on the laminate floor. She locked gazes with him and with as much dignity as she could muster, raised her chin, and stormed toward the library. "Funny," she said through clenched teeth as she passed him. The sound of his laughter followed her.

  She spotted Livi at an empty table near the front as she walked through the library doors. Livi's face lit up and she started bouncing in her seat, waving as soon as Ari came in.

  "Hey there! How's it going so far?" Livi asked, her eyes sparkling. Ari wondered if this was normal for the pint-sized brunette or if she was just having a good day. She spent the next hour trying not to be entertained by her tiny classmate's animated chatter.

  She failed.

  To be fair, Livi was hilarious. It didn't matter what she talked about; it was the way she talked that made it the most fascinating subject ever. She was so animated about everything. The hour flew by, and Ari was amazed to find that she was disappointed when class was over.

  ****

  Three minutes before the bell rang for the last class of the day, Shane leaned back on his chair, watching his AP Biology teacher gather up his papers. He was leaving early to go talk to the principal about some scheduling conflict. The second he walked out, Shane dropped the front legs of his chair to the floor with a thunk and threw his books into his bag.

  "This is getting ridiculous, Shane," Hunter muttered next to him.

  Shane just grinned at him recklessly. “It’s fun though, huh?” he said as he started for the door.

  "Where's he going?" Brittany asked from where she sat in front of them.

  Hunter just glared at the doorway and said nothing.

  Shane winked at her as he walked past. “To find a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

  As he slipped out the door, he heard her yell, “What does that mean?”

  Chapter Five

  "You know, my last roommate was never here. She gave me all the space I wanted," Brittany announced, sitting at her desk while she brushed her hair. She had changed out of her school uniform as soon as they walked in and was now wearing tight jeans and a dark purple tank top. If Ari had to guess, she would bet Brittany was going to find Shane. Brittany had been whining about him for over an hour, first to Ari, until she realized that Ari didn’t care. Then she had called someone on her sparkly little phone and whined some more.

  Ari was trying to smother herself with her pillow, but she pulled it away from her face to answer Brittany. "She's gone. And just so you know, I plan to be in here most of the year." She pulled the pillow against her head again and sighed with relief when she heard Brittany storm out. Finally, some peace. And with the room quiet, she fell asleep.

  It was dark when she woke up, her phone buzzing next to her. Brittany still wasn't back, which was convenient. She rolled over and tried to ignore the pounding in her head as she reached for the tiny dark red annoyance. The caller ID made her cringe, but she sucked in a breath and answered anyway. "Hello Richard," she said to her grandfather.

  "Arianna. I've heard there has been an accident. Why didn't you inform us sooner?" Richard’s deep baritone rumbled through the connection.

  Ari tried hard to sound nonchalant when she answered. "The nurse informed me that she couldn’t reach you. Anyway, I got knocked off a ladder. There was nothing to tell."

  His temper flared, like always. "How do you know there was no Carules magic involved?"

  "Because there wasn't any. I can see it, remember?" she snapped back. Bad idea, but she was four hundred miles away from him. Let's see you hit me with that little zinger now, Grandpa, she thought.

  "They can use shrouds to hide it. Just like you
do. The gods sent us a Prodigy with no common sense in her useless brain!" he yelled into the phone.

  Ari was silent. She was pretty sure she would rather be hit physically with one of those weird little spells he made up than have him say that, but she shoved the pain his words brought way down deep with all the other emotions she wanted nothing to do with. "Shrouds don’t hide magic traces," she said with a calmness she didn't feel, “they only hide the wearer.”

  He started to bellow, but she interrupted him. "Did you have a reason for calling? Because I've got work to do here." She could picture him in her head, his face going a dark burgundy and his eyes so wide they threatened to bug out of his head. Maybe she would make him so mad this time that his hands would shake with the effort not to strangle her. She massaged her throbbing temples.

  "If you were my daughter—" he exploded.

  Ari cut him off. "But I'm not. If I were, I'd end up timid and terrified like my mother." The words were out before she could stop herself.

  "You little…" Ari pulled the phone away from her ear before she could hear the rest of his sentence. No need. He'd called her that before. Several times. She didn't need to hear it again to know it would still hurt. As she hung up, she prayed that he wouldn't take his anger toward her out on her mother.

  After that, sleep was pointless. Despite her still-pounding head, she got up and unpacked her homework, spreading it all over her desk, ready to throw herself into history papers that didn’t give her time to think.

  The door flew open, banging on the inside wall as Brittany breezed in. "They're serving dinner. We wear normal clothes to dinner." She raised a thinly-plucked eyebrow at Ari, still in her uniform.

  "I'm not hungry," Ari responded without looking up. Brittany dragged out half her closet and tried most of it on, throwing the rest into a heap. Ari turned with a frown, sitting backward on her chair. "That better stay on your side." She watched with horrified interest as the pile grew bigger and bigger.

  Brittany just glared at her. "I have to wear just the right thing. I'm sitting with Shane and his friends tonight."