A wide, stunning smile appeared on his face. And there were two dimples. Impossible as it was, my cheeks grew warmer. “You should do that more often,” he said.
“Do what?”
“Laugh.”
I pressed my lips together and managed a weak nod. As soon as we crossed the entrance, the familiar smell of aftershave and too much perfume choked me. All around, people talked, laughed, greeted one another. Girls giggled with boys, and a few threw insults around. No one really paid any attention to me.
“I’ve got math in the other wing.” He leaned over my shoulder, studying my schedule. “Your English class is down the hall and then to your right. It’s room 104. Come on.”
The old habit of staring at the floor was hard to overcome, but I managed to keep my head held high as I carefully navigated the crowded hallways.
“Here you go.” Hayden propped himself against a locker. “I have lunch with you and bio in the afternoon.”
“Okay.” I swallowed, suddenly wondering how Olivia was doing. Then I thought of Adam. My throat closed up.
He leaned forward. “I’ll see you at lunch, okay? You’ll do fine.”
Then he was gone.
Somehow, I found my way into the classroom. Taking a seat in the back, I discreetly studied everyone while I scribbled in my notebook and pretended I wasn’t the new girl.
A clapping sound drew my attention. “All right kiddos, turn around. Time to get back to good old Holden Caulfield,” announced a youngish teacher from the front of the classroom. “I know you guys have missed him over the weekend.”
One of the guys up front snorted. “I wouldn’t say we actually missed him.”
A couple of kids laughed.
The teacher’s smile was easy and friendly. “Now, come on. Everyone wants to catch kids as they fall off a cliff.” His dark eyes drifted over the classroom, stopping on me, and his easy smile faltered. “Oh, we have a new student today.”
With all those eyes on me, I slid down in my seat.
“Oh, yes. Ember McWilliams. My name is Theodore Greensburg. Please don’t call me Theodore. I hate that. Also, the principal frowns on the first-name thing. So you can call me Mr. Theo.” He winked. “Come on, class; let’s give her a big old welcome.”
Oh, no.
“Hello, Ember,” said the class. Most of them said “Amber” instead.
Mortified, I mumbled thanks and shifted further in my seat while Mr. Theo rolled up his sleeves. Popping up on the edge of the desk, his gaze held mine a second longer before he cracked open a book and started reading from it. I found myself oddly enthralled with how passionate he sounded while reading—probably explained the infatuated looks many of the female students wore.
About forty minutes later, the bell rang and Mr. Theo slid off the desk, talking over the books slamming shut and feet hitting the floor. “All right, don’t forget to read chapter four tonight.” His gaze fell across the room, settling on me. “Miss McWilliams, can you hang out for a moment?”
As the other kids hurried from class, I was left standing in front of this Mr. Theo with no clue why he wanted to talk to me.
He dropped the book on the desk and folded his arms. “I always like to check in with my new students. I know changing schools—even at the beginning of the school year—can be hard. This is a new school for me, too.” He smiled. “I just wanted to let you know that, if you need anything, you can always come to me or any member of the faculty.”
A dozen or so snarky comments formed and they all disappeared the moment I met his eyes. My brain seemed to empty. I stared at the man like an idiot.
Mr. Theo smiled as if he was accustomed to such things. “I see on your transcripts that you transferred from William Allen High School. Your grades were outstanding.”
I blinked a bit, relaxing in the familiar territory. My grades had been awesome—since I kind of had nothing else to do but study when I only had one friend. “Thank you.”
“Got to give credit when it’s earned. Especially if you see the grades I typically do.”
Leaning against a desk behind me, I smiled.
“I hope you don’t let those grades slip with the move and everything,” he said. “It was an easy move, I assume?”
“It was…” Not an easy move, of course. And there was just something about his smile and the genuine warmth in his brownish-green eyes that I didn’t have to second-guess. I wanted to tell him the truth.
“Was…?” he asked.
But I couldn’t. What would Mr. Theo do if I told him the truth? He’d call the authorities like any good teacher would. I suddenly felt dizzy. “It… was very easy.”
“Great. Well, I don’t want to keep you from your next class.” He turned back to his desk and sat. “See you tomorrow, Miss McWilliams.”
I stood there for a moment, unwilling to leave. “All right, thanks… for the grade compliment thing.”
Mr. Theo smiled. “Have a nice day, Ember.”
Practically pulling myself out of his classroom, I hurried to find my next class.
In trig, I would have fallen asleep if it wasn’t for the boy in front of me. Whenever the teacher turned to the chalkboard, he’d flip around and ask me a question. I was half-sure his name was Cory. He reminded me of Dustin—big and brawny, a square jaw and a charming smile, although without the doucheness. He didn’t call me a freak, either. Bonus points there.
Toward the end, he grabbed my crumpled schedule. “Cool. We have bio together. Last period.”
“Cool,” I mumbled, knowing I sounded lame. Cory didn’t seem to mind though. I noticed he had a slight accent. Almost like a southern drawl.
“So what’s up with the gloves?” Cory asked after the bell rang and we were gathering up our stuff.
I felt my cheeks redden. “I was in an accident.”
“Oh.” Cory shouldered his backpack. “Are they messed up or something?”
The question wasn’t asked in a rude way, but I still wanted to run. “Yeah.”
Cory smiled easily. “Well, no big deal. See you later.”
I watched him lope out of the classroom. The gloves were no big deal? Since when?
By the end of fourth period, the muscles in my shoulders ached, but some of the tension edged away when I spotted Hayden. He stood outside my history class, a half-smile appearing when he saw me. “You hanging in there?”
“Yeah.” I fell into step next to him.
We headed into the cafeteria, and I grabbed what I thought was a slice of pizza and a soda. Then I turned toward the crowded room. Several students looked up, mostly girls—all staring at Hayden. He seemed to be oblivious as he pushed the tousled hair off his forehead.
I started forward, but he caught the edge of my backpack. “What?” I asked him.
“We don’t eat lunch in the cafeteria.”
“We don’t?”
Hayden tipped his head to the side and laughed. “Follow me.”
Following him didn’t sound like a bad idea, but I had no idea where we were going. We ended up outside, cutting across the campus, heading toward the rear of the school. “Are we allowed to be out here?”
“No.”
My pace slowed. “Are we gonna get in trouble?”
“Are you worried?”
I thought about that. “No, I guess not.”
That seemed to amuse Hayden. “Don’t worry. Teachers won’t say crap to us.”
“Why?”
He stopped beside the fence guarding the football field and faced me. “It’s not like it was at your old school, Ember. Things are different here.”
Several questions popped up, but I found myself smiling up at him instead. “That… sounds nice.”
Surprise flickered across his face. Glancing away, he stepped back. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.” He started walking away.
For a heartbeat, I stared after him. “You really haven’t been paying attention then.” I had to walk fast to keep up with his long-legged pace.
“I guess not.” He reached down, looping his arm through mine.
I stumbled.
Hayden grinned. “You’re too slow, Ember. You could use some help.”
He was a good foot taller than me, so I had to crane my neck. Right then, I forgot the last two years. Old Ember slipped through. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to hold my hand.”
Hayden opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Then he laughed, and the sun broke free from the clouds, highlighting his hair with a dozen shades of red and gold mixed with the brown.
Laughter bubbled up and would have broken free if we hadn’t rounded the corner. Sitting on an outcropping of several large, sandy-colored rocks were the gruesome twosome. Taking a deep breath, I slipped away from Hayden and ignored the urge to run in the opposite direction.
Gabriel spared Hayden a wave, but when he turned to me, his smile faded. I was sure he was picturing me flying back through the goal post.
Phoebe sat on a rock beside him, her hands balled into tight fists. “Hi,” she managed.
Considering that was the first time she’d said a word to me, I thought she could do better.
Hayden elbowed me.
I exhaled slowly and glanced around. Tall grass covered whatever lay beyond the rocks. I sat down on a relatively flat surface. “Hey.”
“Sometimes we eat out here,” Hayden explained, “when the weather is nice.”
“Or at the diner across the street,” Gabe interjected. “Or wherever. Sometimes we go home for lunch. We don’t always come back. Did you used to eat the cafeteria in your school? Like the rest of the Norms?”
“Norms?”
“Normals,” Hayden sighed.
“Yeah, we weren’t allowed outside.” I placed my plate in my lap, ignoring the fact Hayden chose to sit on my rock.
“Neither are we,” Phoebe said, her voice cold. “But it doesn’t stop us.”
They were talking to me only because they had to, I realized. Hayden had probably made them, but there wasn’t an ounce of civility in their tone.
Hayden took a bite of his pizza. “Things were different at her old school, Phoebe.”
Staring down at her nails, she shrugged. “Whatever.” She nudged Gabe’s arm and whispered something.
I nibbled on my pizza, keeping my eyes on the patchy field grass, trying not to show how uncomfortable I was with them.
“So what’s it like to have the touch-of-death gift?” Gabe rolled up a wrapper and shoved it in a fast food bag.
“She’s not gifted,” Phoebe snapped before I could respond. “Not like us.”
“Phoebe,” Hayden warned.
“What? I’m just stating the truth. She died. We all know that. She wasn’t born with a gift.”
Between Gabe’s question and Phoebe’s obvious bitchiness, I lost the ability to speak.
“She’s just like us, Phoebe. It doesn’t matter how she got her gift,” Hayden said. “Give it a rest.”
Phoebe flicked her hair over her shoulder. “The only reason she’s here is because of his failure. He’s obsessed, like you. Do you think that’s fair to any of us?”