Descend: Book Three (The Bloodline Trilogy 3)

by J. P.

  Tyler and I sit, and I can feel all eyes on us again.

  “So,” Mr. Post begins, “we were just talking about macroeconomics.” Mr. Post turns to Tyler. “Do you know what that is, young grasshopper?”

  “No clue, Sensei,” Tyler replies with a smirk.

  “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” Mr. Post says as he wipes an invisible tear. He turns back to the rest of the class. “So, macroeconomics…”

  He lectures us for thirty minutes straight before the bell rings. For some reason, I cannot concentrate. My mind keeps wandering off, thinking about my dad, my brothers, Luke, and even Tyler.

  Everyone’s chairs squeak as we stand, and I throw my backpack over my shoulder. I start to walk toward the door when Tyler touches my arm.

  “Did you understand any of that?” he asks.

  “Nope,” I answer, truthfully.

  “Mr. Lombardi. Stay for a minute,” Mr. Post says from the front.

  “Uh oh,” Tyler says with a smirk. “Wait for me?” he asks as he glances at Mr. Post.

  “Sure. I’ll be outside.” I slip out the door before it shuts behind me.

  I press my back against the wall as I try to figure out how I’m going to pass the twelfth grade if I can’t focus on anything besides vampires. The sound of Mr. Post’s voice interrupts my thoughts. He isn’t speaking loudly, but with my hearing ability, I can hear him clearly, as if he were standing next to me.

  “Alright, Mr. Lombardi, spill your guts. Where have you been?”

  “My summer vacation ran a little long,” Tyler says. I can practically see the charming smile he must be giving Mr. Post.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Everything is fine.”

  There’s a short pause. “I’m not saying you’re lying, I just don’t believe you.”

  “What—”

  “You’re not in trouble.” A chair squeaks. “I care about my students. Especially the ones that help me make my class more enjoyable and entertaining for the other students. If you need anything, let me know.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Post. I really appreciate it.”

  “Anytime, Mr. Lombardi.”

  I hear the sound of hands clapping. They’re probably shaking hands.

  Tyler appears at the door a second later. He squints his eyes as he looks at me. “You were listening, weren’t you?”

  “Maybe.” I shrug and smirk at him as I start walking down the hall.

  “He’s a nice man.”

  “He is,” I agree as the bell rings.

  “Crap. We’re late for the second class in a row,” Tyler says as he grabs my hand and starts rushing down the hallway.

  24

  We make it to our pre-calc class five minutes late. Tyler opens the door slowly, and Mrs. Torres’s eyes get wide.

  “You’re late, Mr. Lombardi.”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Torres. Mr. Post needed to speak with me.” Tyler takes a step in, revealing me to Mrs. Torres.

  “And what’s your excuse, Ms. Blair?”

  “Um…” I try to think of an excuse when she holds her hand up.

  “It doesn’t even matter. You two are five minutes late. You will be marked absent for this class. Try to be on time tomorrow.”

  Tyler opens his mouth to argue with her, but she goes back to teaching. He looks back at me and shrugs before we both exit the room.

  “Now what?” I ask him.

  “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise. We can get some of the economics homework done.” He looks down the hall. “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

  “The cafeteria?” I ask with a groan. “There’s probably going to be a lot of people there on their free period.”

  “It’ll be fine. C’mon,” he says as he takes my hand again and leads me to the cafeteria.

  Tyler pushes the door open, and there are a few people scattered around each table. One pair of blue eyes pulls my attention.

  “Yo, am I seeing things?” Danny asks with a look of disbelief on his face. “Is that really Tyler and Nina?”

  “Hey Danny,” Tyler says as we make our way over to him.

  “What the hell, man? The whole team thought you bailed on us,” Danny says as he stands and crushes Tyler into a hug.

  “Nah, just got stuck on vacation,” Tyler says with an easy smile.

  “Nina, it’s a pleasure as always,” Danny says with a wave.

  “Hey,” I say with a tight grin.

  “Sit down, guys. I want to hear all about your summer.” Danny motions to the empty chairs at his table. “But before all that, I wanted to apologize for my behavior last year. It wasn’t cool. I don’t know what came over me.”

  “It’s alright, Danny. We’ve moved past it,” Tyler tells him.

  Danny grins. “Alright, so tell me about this epic summer that you had. You two are still going strong, right?”

  Tyler glances over at me. “Actually, we’re taking a little bit of a break.”

  Danny’s jaw drops. “What? I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Tyler waves his hand in the air.

  The sound of a lunch tray crashing to the ground causes everyone in the cafeteria to turn to the middle of the room. Kaylee is standing there with Sienna and Molly on either side of her, Kaylee’s jaw on the floor.

  Tyler takes my chair and pulls it closer to him.

  “Well, well, well, look who decided to return to school,” Kaylee says as she abandons her tray on the floor and stalks over to us.

  “They just got back from vacation. Isn’t this great, babe?” Danny says to her.

  Babe?

  “Babe?” Tyler says out loud.

  “Yeah, Kaylee and I started going out this summer,” Danny clarifies.

  “Jealous, Tyler?” Kaylee asks with a wicked smile as she sits next to Danny.

  “Um, no?” Tyler looks confused.

  “I totally forgot,” Danny says suddenly. “I’m having a few friends over tonight. You guys should totally come.”

  “A party on a Monday?” Tyler asks with a laugh.

  “It’s not a party.” Danny squints his eyes as he strokes his chin. “It’s more of, like, a get-together.”

  “Okay,” Tyler says with an amused smile as he rolls his eyes. “What do you think, Nina?”

  I feel all eyes on me, and I feel pressured to go, even though I really don’t want to. “Sure, we’ll be there.”

  “Great!” Sienna chirps before Kaylee gives her a dirty look.

  “C’mon, Danny. Walk to me to my locker. I have so much to do now that we’re going to be having extra guests tonight,” Kaylee says as she starts to walk away without him, Sienna and Molly hurrying to keep up with her.

  “See you guys later,” Danny says as he stands.

  “Danny!” Kaylee shrieks.

  “Coming!” he shouts as he rushes to her side.

  Tyler stares after them. “What the hell was that?”

  “I feel like we’re in an alternate universe,” I admit as I pull my knees up to my chest and rest them against the table.

  “You can say that again,” Tyler says with a grin as he looks back at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize everyone we know would be in here.”

  “It’s okay.” I bite my lip. “I don’t want to go to Danny’s tonight.”

  Tyler nods. “I don’t really either, but I kind of feel like we should.”

  “Why?”

  “Because, if we distance ourselves now, everybody will be on our case for the rest of the year. Let’s go to this one thing to appease them, so they don’t think we’re being weird.”

  I study his face. “That’s something my dad would say.” “Your dad’s a smart man,” he says with a smirk.

  I roll my eyes at the thought of being around Kaylee tonight by choice. “I guess we can go for a little.”

  “Plus, it’ll be good to do some normal things.”

  “Maybe,” I say with a shrug. “Have you ever thought that maybe our lives will never be
normal again?”

  “Yes,” he admits. “We just have a new normal now that involves vampires and Chrome and Malum.”

  “True.” I look down at my backpack. “So, where does economics fit in?”

  “I’m not sure,” Tyler says with a shrug. “It might take us a while to find a new balance.” He reaches into his backpack and takes out his notebook. “But we should definitely start the homework now, especially since we have plans tonight.”

  “Ugh, I don’t miss homework,” I groan as I pull my own notebook out.

  For the rest of the period, Tyler and I take turns trying to understand what we’re supposed to be doing. All the other students left the cafeteria, probably since the bell is supposed to ring any minute.

  “Oh crap,” I mumble as I start vigorously erasing my paper.

  “What?” Tyler asks.

  “Do you think this is the answer to number two?” I ask

  as I point to a section of the textbook.

  Tyler leans over and looks at my book. “Yeah, that’s definitely it.” He starts to erase his paper too before we both start writing down the right answer. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him glance over at me, and he starts to laugh. “How’d you manage to get eraser shavings in your hair?”

  I inspect my hair, and sure enough, white shavings are sprinkled on the ends. Using my fingers, I brush them all out and then look back to Tyler. “Better?”

  The right side of his face pulls up into a slow grin. He moves closer to me as he reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear. His fingers trace from behind my ear, down the side of my neck, and down my arm before he takes my hand and interlaces our fingers. He leads our hands to his lips, where he kisses the back of mine. Still only inches away from me, he drops our hands, and his eyes lock on mine. He leans in very slowly, and my breathing gets shallow. Tyler gently presses his lips to mine before he pulls away.

  The bell rings, causing me to jump up from my chair.

  “Whoa, you okay?” Tyler asks as he stands up next to me.

  “Yeah. We should go.” I literally throw everything into my backpack and yank the zipper shut before I throw my backpack over my shoulder and practically run out of the cafeteria.

  “Nina, wait!” Tyler calls after me. He catches up with me as I try to navigate the crowded hallway. “I’m sorry if I crossed a line. I thought you wanted me to, I shouldn’t have assumed—”

  “No, you didn’t cross a line,” I admit. “I wanted you to.”

  “So then why did you literally run away from me?” he asks, trying to catch my eye as I continue to walk as fast as I can to the next classroom.

  “Um…” Finally, I see the room up ahead. “I’ll tell you later.”

  “Later?” Tyler asks, and I can hear the hurt in his voice.

  We walk into the classroom, and the teacher is standing at the front, telling each student where their assigned seat is.

  Tyler sighs. “Okay, fine. Later.”

  The teacher tells me where my seat is, and luckily, it’s across the room from Tyler.

  “Oh shit, this class is about to be lit!” I hear a familiar voice say from the front. I glance up and see Sean’s friendly smile.

  “Excuse me, young man, that kind of language is not allowed inside the classroom,” the teacher scolds him.

  “Ma’am, I’m so sorry. I thought you were a student, you look so young,” Sean apologizes.

  The teacher rolls her eyes as a smile creeps up on her lips. “Hysterical. What’s your last name?”

  “Adams,” Sean tells her.

  “Your seat is,” she scans her seating chart, “next to Ms. Blair.”

  Sean looks at me, smiling with his mouth wide open as he practically races over to me. “Is this great, or is this great?” he asks as he places his stuff down next to me.

  “You have no idea. I need you and your amazing advice,” I say with a grin. I glance over at Tyler and frown. His head is cocked to the side as he keeps his eyes on the whiteboard at the front of the room. He’s totally listening.

  “How can I help you today, Ms. Blair?” Sean gives me an extra-wide smile.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and start typing.

  “You’re really going to start texting in the middle of our conversation? I thought your manners were better—” Sean stops speaking when his phone vibrates in his pocket. “Something insane just happened,” he reads out loud.

  “Shh!” I move closer to him. “Obviously, I’m texting you because I don’t want someone to hear me.”

  Sean glances around, and his eyes find Tyler.

  “Okay, class.” The teacher claps her hands twice to get our attention. “Firstly, I’m going to hand out these syllabuses. While I pass them around, take a minute to look them over. I’m also going to give you a few minutes to get to know the person sitting next to you. They will be your lab partner for the whole year.”

  Immediately, everyone starts talking. Sean turns back to me and gives me a thumbs up. “Okay, I doubt he’ll be able to concentrate while also keeping up with a conversation. What happened?”

  I let out a deep breath and rub my hand down my face. “I did something stupid.”

  “What?” Sean presses.

  “I let Tyler kiss me.”

  Sean raises an eyebrow. “Okay…I’m not really seeing the problem here. You guys used to date, and you’re not dating anyone else right now.”

  “No, Sean, you don’t understand.” I shake my head at how stupid I am. “Back in the mansion, I kissed Luke. A lot.”

  Sean’s jaw drops. “Okay, I think I see the problem now.” He picks his jaw up from off the floor and clears his throat. “So, who do you chose?”

  “I don’t know—”

  “Bullshit. Yes, you do.”

  “Sean—”

  “Nina.” He gives me a look. “Luke or Tyler. Go.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Yes, it is.” He frowns as he furrows his brow. “Why do you think it’s complicated?”

  “Because Tyler and I were good until I thought he cheated on me. I put it in my mind that I had to move on, and I started acting on what I always kind of felt for Luke.”

  “Okay.” Sean motions for me to keep going.

  “Now Tyler came clean, and he wants to get back to what we had…” I trail off.

  “After you’ve already moved on,” Sean finishes for me.

  “Exactly.” I frown. “But just now with Tyler, things felt like they were finally back to normal.”

  “Do you want normal?” Sean asks.

  I open my mouth to answer and then shut it again. “I don’t know.”

  “Personally, I don’t want a relationship that’s normal. I want craziness and passion and…I don’t know. I want something special.”

  “Yeah,” I nod my head, “I do too.”

  “So, do you have that with Luke or Tyler or neither?” Sean asks.

  I frown as I think of the answer.

  “You know it, in your heart. I know you do.” Sean places his hand on my shoulder. “The one you don’t choose, he’ll be okay.”

  “Thanks, Sean,” I say as I throw my arms around him.

  “Always.”

  “Okay, everybody. Let’s start talking about lab safety,” the teacher announces.

  Sean groans loudly, making me laugh. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I know what I’m going to do and the conversation I need to have.

  25

  The bell rings after the double period of AP physics and the lab. Finally, it’s lunchtime. Tyler meets Sean and me at our lab table.

  “Hey, T-man. Nina and I are probably going to walk around the field during lunch to avoid the cafeteria. Care to join us?” Sean asks.

  “I would, but Coach just texted that I have to meet with him in his office to go over strategies for the game tomorrow.”

  “Ah, I see. That’s exciting,” Sean says.

  “Yeah,” Tyler says with a grin. “I
’ll see you in our next class?” Tyler asks me.

  “Sure.”

  He starts to walk out, and I sigh as I force myself to do the right thing.

  “Hey, Tyler?” I ask.

  He turns around, and his eyes meet mine.

  “Can we talk later?”

  Tyler’s face drops as if he can already tell it’s not about anything good. “Yeah, sure. Why? Is everything okay?”

  “Yes. We just need to talk.”

  “We can talk right now if you want. I can blow off the Coach.” He points behind himself with his thumb.

  “No, go to your meeting. I’ll see you later.” I give him the best smile I can manage, and he nods once before he disappears out the door.

  “So, Luke?” Sean asks as we both stand, a smirk on his lips.

  “Shut up,” I say as I lightly smack his arm.

  “I knew it. I should’ve placed a bet,” Sean says as we walk into the hallway.

  “We don’t know anything yet. He might not want anything to do with me after I tell him I kissed Tyler.”

  “Yeah, right.” Sean rolls his eyes. “He’ll forgive you.”

  I shrug as we make our way to the field. We meet up with Olivia and chat about our classes before the bell rings. Tyler tells me all about his meeting as we walk to our next class. The rest of the afternoon goes by quickly, unfortunately. I’m so nervous about what I’m going to say to Tyler, I feel like I could vomit.

  “I have to go to practice, but as soon as I get home, I’ll come find you, and we can have that talk,” Tyler says as we walk to our lockers after last period.

  “Okay,” I say with a grin.

  Tyler disappears down the hall while I make my way to the parking lot.

  I find Mason’s car in the far corner of the lot, and I climb into the passenger’s seat.

  “Hey! How was it?” Mason asks, a little too enthusiastically.

  “It was alright,” I say with a laugh. “Why are you so amped up?”

  He sighs. “I missed you guys. I was bored all day.”

  “You can try to come to school with us if you want,” I offer, but he shakes his head.