Evolution (Evolution Series Book 1)

by Kelly Carrero

I never would have thought that I would be glad it was Friday, rather than the weekend, yet today I was. We needed to try to find the person who was lying to the police about Ben. I was sure I knew the person we were looking for, otherwise why would my mother be so determined not to tell me anything about them?

  Aiden and I arrived at school long before classes started. We wanted to be two of the first people there. We sat on a bench just inside the main entry gate, that way we were almost guaranteed to come in contact with everyone who attended All Saints High.

  “Still nothing,” Aiden informed me after twenty minutes of us sitting there. “Everyone’s just speculating whether Ben is a serial killer or if he has been framed. I hope for his sake he stays home from school today. Don’t turn around yet, but we are about to cop it.”

  A couple of seconds later, a voice boomed from behind us. “You two need to go to the office right now.” I turned around to find Mr. Heithcliffe standing there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

  “What for?” I asked, wondering what the hell we had done to put that smirk on his face.

  “Oh, let’s see…” He tapped his finger against the side of his cheek as if deep in thought. “How about the fact that the both of you have not stayed at school past lunchtime for the last few days? Or, Ms. Sommers, how you may or may not be responsible for attacking Chrissy Jeffreys the other day?”

  “Okay, okay,” I said. He seemed to be relishing his chance to finally see me get into shit with the principal. Aiden and I got up from the bench and turned to head for the office, and that’s when I saw her. The moment I laid my eyes on her, I knew she was responsible.

  She must have slipped past us at the gate when Mr. Heithcliffe was giving it to us. But I wasn’t about to let her get away. I took off without saying a word to Aiden.

  “You bitch!” I grabbed Chrissy’s shoulder to yank her around to face me. The second my hand touched her body, I was no longer standing in front of the school.

  I knew instantly I was having another vision. I was at the cinemas with Megan, and it was almost midnight. The movie had just finished, and we were on our way to the loo when I spotted Chelsea arguing with some guy who had his back to us. Chelsea turned to leave, and the guy grabbed her by the arm, turning just enough for me to be able to make out his face. It was Ben.

  Next thing I knew, I was being ripped away from her mind, and I was once again back at school. Aiden had his arms wrapped around me. He must have been the one to yank me from her mind.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Chrissy snapped, rubbing her hand over her shoulder.

  “I…” I couldn’t think of anything to say, not just because I couldn’t explain my reaction, but it was also the shock of seeing the damage I had done when I hit her. The area around her nose and under her eyes was blue and swollen.

  Chrissy scoffed. “And you chose this over me,” she said to Aiden, pointing at me like I was some kind of freak.

  I hadn’t noticed before, but there must have been at least half the school standing around watching, waiting eagerly for it to turn into a fight.

  Aiden laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself. You never had a chance.” He leant down and kissed my forehead. She really couldn’t have chosen a worse time to compare herself to me, what with her smashed-up face and all.

  I watched as Chrissy’s eyes started welling up with tears, and the crowd erupted into laughter. She quickly turned around and fled towards the toilet block.

  “Everyone get to class. There’s nothing more to see here,” Mr. Heithcliffe yelled to the students still surrounding us.

  Mr. Heithcliffe turned his attention back to Aiden and me. “If you keep going at this rate, you’ll both be expelled by the end of the day.” He seemed to be enjoying this all a little too much for my liking, and if I wasn’t too consumed by my own thoughts, I probably would have said something I might have regretted.

  “Come on, let’s get this over with,” Aiden said, ignoring Mr. Heithcliffe’s comments. With one arm still strung over my shoulder, we headed towards the school office.

  With all the new information coming to light, I wasn’t sure I could concentrate enough to wiggle myself out of this situation. We were probably going to end up with after-school detention for the next month.

  Aiden pushed his hand against the door to the office. I looked up at him, wondering why he was stopping me from opening it.

  His eyes were gleaming mischievously. “What do you say about adding another day to the list?”

  For a second, I thought about doing the right thing. But what was the right thing to do? Was it right for me to stay at school, wasting time, when I could be out there looking for a clue that would help us find Chelsea? It didn’t take long for me to rationalise skipping another day of school. “Let’s go.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mr. Heithcliffe attempt to chase us as we headed for the car, but he gave up before we got out of the gate. “He really should lay off all that fried food,” I muttered. “We are going to be in so much trouble.” I laughed as we hopped into the car. “Come Monday, he’ll probably get his wish,” I added, referring to Mr. Heithcliffe’s hope for our expulsion.

  Aiden started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m sure I can charm our way out of that happening,” he said, a gleam in his eye. I think he secretly loved being able to get whatever he wanted.

  “Yeah, it’s awesome,” he agreed, picking up my hand. “But most of all, I love the fact that I can finally share it all with you.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it softly, sending the butterflies in my stomach into full flight. I couldn’t believe that he still had that effect on me, even though we’d been together for so long.

  Aiden’s lips parted into a smile, revealing his perfect teeth. I wanted to lean over and press my lips against his, but I turned away. I had to keep focused. I needed to be thinking about what to do next. If only I could somehow have another vision that would let me see who the hell the kidnapper was.

  Then an idea came to me. The other times that I’d had the visions, I was physically touching the person. And seeing as though Chelsea wasn’t around for me to touch, the next best thing was her possessions. Maybe if I held something of hers, I would be able to have another vision.

  I felt sick in the gut at the thought of what I was about to do.

  Chapter 12