Maverick (Maverick Academy Series)

by Layman, Tate

  Before we could come up with anything a horn sounded and a voice came over the loudspeaker. “Game over. All players please report to the nearest safe zone or hold for release. Venomous Vixens win.” Looked like they hadn’t needed to escape after all. There had been less time than they’d realized. The game was over, and they’d won their first match.

  Chapter 29

  After being released from the game area, Whit’s team headed back to the dorm to rest and get cleaned up. It was only 2 in the afternoon, but it felt like they’d been in the arena all day.

  Rory had filled them in on the rest of the game. Basically, no one else had been captured, though she had attempted to use the net again. Lindsey had done a great job holding the Black Frogs’ prisoners, and the other team hadn’t even had a chance to try to break them out. They’d won before they knew it, and now they were one step closer to the finals.

  They’d split up in the dorms to get cleaned up, laughing at their first victory. Whit showered, then changed into yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Her body felt taut, so she decided to go for a quick run to try to relax.

  It was pleasant outside so she hadn’t needed to bother with a coat or hat. She decided to jog along a trail that ran along the perimeter of the school. As she ran, she reviewed everything that had happened during the game, obsessing about her capture and how she needed to do better next time. Which meant she needed to practice using her telekinetic skills, so she wouldn’t get tired so quickly. She also wanted to work on developing her mindbinding skills. Now that she’d realized she could do it, she needed to get good at it.

  After forty-five minutes of running, she finally felt loose. The moment she relaxed, though, her mind flew to that vision and Nolan. It had made her feel so sad, and she was starting to think she might have overreacted about Darby. The other night he’d seemed really sincere. But was that the real Nolan or just an act to keep her interested? Was she over thinking things?

  As she turned the corner toward the gym, a door flew open right in front of her, causing her to stumble and fall when she tried to avoid it. Whit skidded across the packed dirt, scraping her knees and the palms of her hands.

  “You okay?” someone asked as they crouched down beside her.

  Whit knew that voice. Of course it would be him. She had probably conjured him up just thinking about him. She pushed herself up, and felt him grab her arm. Once she was on her feet, she couldn’t avoid looking at him, so she finally peaked in his direction.

  He wasn’t alone. Darby was there.

  Glancing between him and Darby, Whit quickly decided that she didn’t want to be there. She waved and jogged back the way she’d come, ignoring the burning in her hands and knees.

  “Whit! Wait up!”

  She didn’t want to talk to him, but had a feeling he would chase her all the way to the dorms. Her mind was telling her to run and avoid him at all cost, but her heart was reminding her that his family was going through a rough time. But was that enough for her to give him another chance?

  And she couldn’t forget the whole situation with Darby. He claimed there was nothing going on, but they were always together. Shouldn’t he be trying to stay away from her since he knew how much it bothered Whit? All these questions bothered her because she didn’t know the answers. It was time she asked him some questions.

  She slowed her pace and waited for him to catch up. Up ahead next to the trail, she spotted a picnic table. She jogged toward it and sat down on the table top, looking over her knees and palms critically. She tried to dust the rocks and dirt off, but knew water would be best. She finally glanced up at Nolan, who stood watching her.

  “So, I hear congrats are in order,” he smiled.

  “Thanks. It was a long day, that’s for sure,” she said with a sigh.

  “Are you knees and hands okay?”

  “Yeah, they’re fine. So you guys play tomorrow, right?” she asked, knowing this conversation was ridiculous since they weren’t saying the things they really wanted to say, but felt she needed to ease her way in.

  “Yep. I’m nervous.”

  “You’ll do fine.”

  “Are you ever going to forgive me?” he blurted.

  She sighed. “I want to, but every time I turn around, you’re with her. Makes it hard.”

  “But there’s nothing going on with her. We just had practice. We’re just friends.”

  “That’s not what she seems to think,” Whit whispered, casting her eyes back toward Darby. “And it’s hard to believe when every time I see you, you’re together.”

  “We are only around each other at practice. I’m not interested in her at all. And it doesn’t matter what she thinks or wants. It only matters what you want,” Nolan said as he stepped closer to her.

  “I don’t know what I want. You say one thing, but your actions say something else. I don’t know what to believe,” she said in frustration. “I saw her kiss you and you let her. That says a lot to me.”

  “Believe in me,” he whispered. “She kissed me, I didn’t do anything.”

  “Yeah, you didn’t do anything to stop it. And you should have,” she said fiercely. She just couldn’t trust him after everything he had done.

  “It happened before I could do anything,” he pleaded. “I would have stopped her if I’d realized what she was about to do.”

  Whit stared at him in silence. His excuses just weren’t holding water. She didn’t believe him. If it’d really bothered him, he would have made sure Darby understood that he liked her.

  “So, have you explained all this to Darby?”

  “I told her I liked you and she needed to back off,” he frowned, “but she still does stuff.”

  “And you let her, right?” Whit said as she shook her head and continued before he could respond. “So what exactly does she do? Kiss? Hug? Or is it more than that?” Whit provoked.

  Nolan watched her for a second before he finally answered. “She’s always trying to touch me. She’s asked me to meet her and hang out a couple times. I’ve turned her down every time.”

  “But do you stop her from touching you?” Whit felt so angry and frustrated with Nolan that if she didn’t get out of the conversation soon she was going to punch him in the face.

  “I guess I’m just used to girls flirting with me. It felt normal,” he stared at the ground clearly embarrassed. “I’ve never had to worry about it upsetting someone before.”

  “Doesn’t look like you were worried about it upsetting me?” She glanced away from him at his silence, accepting that she had liked him more than he had liked her. It felt horrible to realize what a fool she had been. She just needed to get away from him.

  “Well, I better go take care of this,” she said, pointing to her injuries. “Good luck tomorrow,” she finished indifferently and turned to leave, but he stopped her once again.

  “Stop, just listen for another minute . . . please.”

  “What?” she snapped. “What else is there to say? That girls just can’t help but flirt with you,” she said sarcastically. Her heart felt beaten down and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep away this horrible conversation.

  “I freaked out, okay? That’s the truth,” he mumbled.

  “Freaked out about what?” she asked confused.

  “About you. I watched my family fall apart. My dad left and it messed up my mom really bad. I didn’t want to be hurt like that,” he said as he shuffled from one foot to the other self-consciously. Glancing up into Whit’s eyes, he continued, “I didn’t stop Darby because I didn’t want you to be that important to me. I didn’t want you to have the power to hurt me. I guess, I thought if you were just like all the other girls, I could stop it from happening.”

  Whit felt stunned because this sounded real. She stared at him looking for the player, the womanizing jerk. But all she saw was hurt and fear. Could he really have done all that just to keep her from getting to close?

  “But I didn’t. I ended up still getting hurt
, but it was my fault. I didn’t realize how much you meant to me until you weren’t there anymore,” he said as he rubbed his eyes. “I guess that saying about not knowing what you have until it’s gone is right. Huh?” he chuckled sadly.

  Whit stood there staring at Nolan, not knowing how to respond. Did she want to take him back? Could she forgive him that quickly? Did she believe him? There were lots of questions and she needed to think. He wouldn’t make eye contact with her, clearly embarrassed by his confession. But she felt confused and didn’t know what to do.

  Whit touched his arm to gain his attention. “I don’t know what to say. I guess I need some time to think about it.”

  “Okay, I understand.”

  He continued to stand there in silence, like he was waiting on Whit to decide. She knew that was impossible. She needed time to consider everything and to that, she needed to be alone.

  “I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you around.” Then with one last look at him, she turned and jogged back to the dorm leaving him standing there alone.

  ****************************

  Dinner turned out to be quite the event. Whit’s team sat together so they could discuss what they needed to do before their next game, which was scheduled for the next week. They’d have seven days to practice and get ready. One game happened every day, so after one more day, they’d even know who they were up against next.

  Whit and Rory had looked over the tournament brackets before heading to the dinner, and they’d play against the Silent Assassins or the Smokin’ Aces next. Knowing her luck, it’d be the Silent Assassins – Nolan’s team. Wouldn’t that just make her life so much better? To be trapped in a huge room for six hours hunting each other. That would just be great for their relationship. If what they had was even called a relationship anymore. Rory squeezed Whit’s arm in sympathy. She knew exactly what Whit had been thinking about.

  Looking down at her plate now, Whit twirled the pasta around her fork as she listened to Rory go over the practice schedule. It took longer than it should have, because students kept interrupting her to congratulate them. After about the tenth student, Rory gave up and focused on eating.

  Whit could tell everyone felt tired but relaxed. She just felt happy to have that first game behind her. Glancing around the cafeteria, she spotted Nolan with, of course, Darby sitting right beside him. Yes, the rest of his team was there, but did he have to sit beside her all the time? It was hard to believe that only a week earlier he’d been sitting with Whit. Kissing her.

  She thought back to their conversation from earlier. He’d seemed really upset, like this whole situation was actually hurting him. And she probably would have forgiven him by now, if he wasn’t with Darby every time she turned around. He said they were just friends, but they touched a lot. Or maybe she just touched him a lot, and he allowed it. Either way, wasn’t it the same thing? And could it really be true what he said about him being afraid of getting hurt?

  She couldn’t seem to look away, and of course he caught her. She averted her eyes but he kept flicking looks in her direction until their eyes met again. He winked at Whit before rolling his eyes in Darby’s direction, like she was an annoyance. Like he was sharing some inside joke with her. She probably would’ve continued to watch him if it hadn’t been for Rory.

  “Earth to Whit,” Rory called, waving a hand in front of Whit’s face. “Stop looking at him, we need to focus.”

  She shook herself. Rory was right. “Okay, what’d I miss?”

  Rory ran through the team’s performance and then complimented each person individually for their skills. Then she started in about what they needed to work on. Whit just shook her head and laughed to herself. Rory was definitely the most competitive person on the team.

  “Whit, keep working on those dreams – anything you could give us would help. I guess we also need to work on your mind’s endurance. You said you felt tired after handling the net and going invisible, which by the way is awesome. So you need to practice using your mind skills whenever possible. Ellie you need to …”

  She continued to talk, but Whit zoned out. She was feeling drained. After her run, she had showered and tried to take a nap, but her room had been crowded with Nalini and Darby. The television room had become her sanctuary whenever she wanted to escape the evil twosome, and she really hadn’t felt like dealing with them just then. Nalini wasn’t really evil; she just liked to hang around with the wicked bitch of the west. And Darby was horrible. She’d even tried to get a rise out of Whit by talking about Nolan. Whit didn’t believe the things she said, like how Nolan had made plans with her for the weekend. She guessed Darby didn’t realize that he’d been trying to get her to forgive him. Not that Whit was going to tell her that.

  It surprised Whit how easily she discounted what Darby was saying. She actually did believe in Nolan, so why the heck couldn’t she let it go and just be with him again? She really missed him, but something was still holding her back, keeping her from forgiving him. She put it out of her mind, trying to pay attention to Rory for the rest of dinner.

  Her room was empty when she got back from the cafeteria. Thankfully. Whit changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed with her dream journal. She’d had an idea earlier while she was running, and wanted to try it out. She started to write about what the game floor had looked like, felt like. Once she’d filled a page, she laid down and closed her eyes, concentrating on Dark Conquest.

  Whit stood on top of a crate. Looking down, she saw that she was on a stack of three crates, about 15 feet up. She heard voices in the distance – maybe two or three people. Rory was hanging from a rope about 20 feet away. The voices were getting closer. Her eyes had adapted somewhat to the dark, so the game had been going on for while. Suddenly Whit froze. She was able to think about things while she was in a dream. That was a first. Glancing down, she noticed two shadows huddled next to a crate. The shadows moved silently away from the crate, so that they were now directly below Whit. It was Nolan and Mark. They whispered some more. She overheard something about a trap and fire, but missed the rest. The boys crept forward slowly, eyeing everything around them, but not once glancing up. Whit smiled and looked over Nolan. He looked sexy as hell in his black uniform. As she watched, he bent and wiped his forehead with the bottom of his shirt, exposing his abs. Whit might’ve drooled a little, and her hands started to sweat with the need to touch him. Good grief, she was pathetic. He was the enemy and she needed to remember that. Once the guys were past her position, Rory gave the signal. Whit concentrated on Mark, who was her target. She was just started to push an image at him, when BANG!

  Whit woke with a start. What had made that noise? Looking around her room, she saw that everything seemed okay. She laid there in silence, waiting for the noise to come again, but nothing happened. Glancing at Nalini’s bed, she saw an unmoving lump. Could the sound have been in the dream? Could that actually happen? She sighed and tried to go back to sleep, wishing she’d seen the end of that dream.

  Chapter 30

  It was the last week before holiday break, and Whit couldn’t believe how fast the semester had passed. Practice for Dark Conquest was almost taking over her life, but now on top of that she had exams to prepare for. She only had a few, but that still meant spending time studying. Thank goodness there were a few classes that didn’t have exams.

  History of Specials didn’t have a test, but Whit was interested in the topics without any outside motivation. So far they’d learned about the Redeemers and started some vampire history. However, this week Mrs. Tiller had brought in a newspaper article about a school in Montana that had been destroyed. The details were skimpy, something about a fire. The worst part of the story was the casualties. The remains of over five hundred people had been found in the ruins, some children as young as eight. The story had brought tears to Whit’s eyes and fear to her heart. The authorities were clueless and had no suspects, but everyone in her class knew without saying it that it had been the Redeemers. The
y claimed they were doing these things for the greater good, but how could it be anything but evil to kill an eight year old? To burn people alive? They were absolute monsters.

  Mrs. Tiller tried to change the subject back to vampire history after reading the article, but several students were so upset that she’d dismissed class early. Whit wondered how the Redeemers found the schools. Did they have spies inside the schools? That thought made her feel extremely unsafe, and she looked around in fear. How easy would it be to infiltrate a school like Maverick? Could someone fake abilities to get in, or did you have to have proof of your gifts? Whit thought back to her own experience, but Mona had done all the contacting. Then again, Mona and her mom had attended Maverick, so there was proof enough. She thought about staying after and asking Mrs. Tiller, but the teacher had disappeared right after class was over. It was probably for the best anyway since she needed to hurry so she wouldn’t be late for team practice.

  On most days, Whit’s team practiced immediately following their last classes then went to dinner together. Practice usually meant discussing strategy ideas or trying to improve their skills. Whit felt like she was already being pushed enough during Mind Study, and now she had team practice stretching her mind as well.

  But she was getting better. Since Mind didn’t have an exam, McFaddin spent every minute of class pushing her, and the other students, to improve their skills. McFaddin had been ecstatic when Whit told her about becoming invisible during the game. Their class still discussed their dreams, but now some of them were developing and improving other skills as well. Usually class started with dream circle, followed by group time, and then individual time with McFaddin. Whit had worked with almost everyone in the class trying to improve her gifts, but McFaddin was the one who helped her the most.