DEDICATION
To my darling children and loving husband. You are my rock through it all. I want to give a shout out to my mother too. You have been the biggest cheerleader for me.
“Love isn’t a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” ~Mr. Rogers
Therecomesadaywhenthesunturnsdarkandtreesshedtheirleaves,thatthevessel with both thepower of theEarth, Sun andSpirit shall usher forth a new age without the corruptionoftheHunters.
FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
Kirsten
I sat in the passenger seat of my twin brother’s Jeep Compass. The leather seats were cold against my jeans as I snuggled deeper into my scarf and leather jacket. My hands rubbed together between my legs. His SUV was parked in a parking spot some distance away from the new school we were supposed to attend. But classes didn’t start for another thirty minutes. I think he just wanted to torture me.
My brother sat in the driver’s seat, his hands still on the wheel. His golden skin was turning white around the knuckles from his grip. He flexed his muscles occasionally, seeming at a loss for words. When he finally spoke, his jaw was clenched in frustration. “Kirsten, please keep your head down and stay out of trouble. We can’t afford to move again. Mom is slowly being drained with all of this.”
I blinked at him. I knew the reason we had been to eleven different schools in the last three years was that I had a self-control problem. At my last school, I was bullied. I had been keeping everything under control until they took my clothes during a P.E. class and dumped them in the toilet. I had a very adverse reaction. My power came out to play, shaking the whole girls’ locker room and sending the girls screaming and scampering away like rats. I had to release the power, or I feared it would consume me. So, I funneled it to the football field, creating a large chasm down the middle. We moved that night and changed our names, well, our last names.
“Kian, I promised I would behave myself this time. There are only six months until we graduate, so I need to finish out the year strong.” My slim fingers went up to my dark hair, twirling a piece unconsciously. It was a nervous tick I couldn’t get rid of. “I promised Mom. I know she can’t handle another sudden move like the last one. I can’t even do it.”
Kian pried his fingers off the wheel and turned to me. “You are going to be one of the most powerful witches in the history of magic, and I would hate to see you killed off by a Witch Hunter. They are despicable and will stop at nothing to hunt down their prey. Right now, you are in the crosshairs of one of the top Witch Hunters. That’s not good. The other witches and I are doing everything in our power to keep him off your tail, but our magic can only do so much. You need your Protectors and your familiar, and you needed them yesterday.” It was an old argument had every time we moved, but it was true nonetheless.
I bowed my head in shame. “I am trying to scry for them, but it keeps coming up blank. Something is blocking them from my second sight. As for my familiar, it will come when it is ready.” Grabbing the door handle, I turned away from him. “I will keep my head down, but can't I do anything about bullies?”
My question seemed to catch him off guard. He stared at me for a moment before finally answering. “Let me know if anyone is
bothering you, and I will stop it. You aren’t subtle at all.”
Letting out a huff, I opened the door and slid out, dropping to the snow, crunching as I landed. I blew my brother a kiss before slamming the door shut. He was right, though; I needed to keep from being noticed, which was hard enough when you are the new kid.
Huddling against the winter chill that was still biting in January, I trudged through the ankle-deep snow towards the brick building on the other side of the parking lot which was filling up fast. I wasn’t paying much attention to my surroundings when I heard a car horn blare, jarring me from my thoughts. Looking up from the grey snow, I saw a Honda SUV stopped two feet from me, the driver laying on the horn again, like I didn’t hear them the first time. I threw the driver the middle finger before stepping, slowly, out of their way.
What a way to start my first day of school. My power came up to defend me, but I was able to shove it down easier than ever, which was a surprise for me, although I wasn’t complaining. I made my way through the snow, trying to avoid the slushy-ice made by the cars driving across the pavement. It was cold enough outside to freeze a tit off an ogre. I chuckled at my turn of phrase but simmered down quickly as I got closer to the swarms of students trying to get inside the warmth of the school. It was utter chaos near the doors, as people tried to find their friends, and others tried to squeeze past the ones huddled in groups chatting up a storm. I was one of the ones to weave my way through the mob.
I wasn’t as careful as I thought I was; I ran into someone’s back while trying to avoid someone else backing up into me. My heart nearly leapt out of my throat as I hit an icy patch and started tipping backwards. I would have landed hard if someone didn’t sweep in to wrap me in their arms and lift me, bridal style. My heart turned over from the sudden altitude change, causing my head to spin. My arms automatically reached around my rescuer’s neck and held on tight. When everything stopped spinning, I looked into his face. And what
a handsome face he had. His eyes alone were mesmerizing with the swirl of amber and green mixing within his pupils like I had never seen before. They were topped by shapely eyebrows and below were cheekbones to die for. I wanted to touch them, but I interlocked my fingers to keep them away from his face.
“Well, hello, gorgeous.” A wicked smile crossed his features making his eyes twinkle in mischief.
Suddenly I didn’t want to be in this stranger’s arms. Wiggling around until he released my legs so I could stand on my own two feet, I stepped away from him. “Thank you for stopping my fall.” I could at least be polite, even if everything in me wanted to give him some sarcastic response. I swallowed my pride and turned away before he could respond. It wasn’t running away… per se. My brother would be proud that I walked away. Maybe staying unnoticed would be easy, after all.
I pulled the front door open with some effort and stepped through the doors to a whole new hell hole my mother was putting me through: new school, new faces, but the same smells. I was overwhelmed with the scent of unwashed teenagers, overly sprayed perfumes, and cleaners the school used to try to keep up with the demands of health codes.
Standing on my tiptoes, I looked over the heads of the students milling around in the front, doing the same as the students outside. But the noise in here was more confined, so the sounds were louder, echoing through the hallways. I winced at the change in the volume level but quickly shook it off. The school’s office was just on the other side of the crowd of young people. Instead of going through them as I did outside, I made my way around the outside and along the wall, keeping myself away from the people moving like a swarm of flies buzzing around each other. It took me too long to get around them, but I finally did, sneaking through the open door of the office. The ladies behind the desks were busy moving around each other, never running into another, but coming close. It was almost like they
knew where they each were without looking up from their work. I stood there watching them, in awe of the scene before me.
When one of the secretaries finally looked up from a stack of papers and spied me, I gave a small little wave. She blinked owlishly at me. “Can I help you, dear?” I don’t know why she was calling me dear when she was maybe twenty or twenty-one. She was young.
“Yeah, I’m new. My mom signed me up. I am here to pick up my class schedule and anything else I need.” Might as well be polite with her too. She was faculty after all, although it's not like that stopped my smart-ass mouth from blurting out things before. I stepped up to the counter that blocked the front of the office from the back area where the secretaries worked, and where the higher up staff had offices.
The woman pulled her glasses off to hang around her neck because, of course, she wore glasses… what a cliché. “And your name, child?”
Now I really wanted to correct her. Instead, I took a deep breath and pushed the comments down deep. “Kirsten Willow. I'm a senior.”
The woman put her spectacles back on, muttering my name as she turned to her computer. Her blonde hair was impeccably styled into a loose ponytail at the base of her skull, and her smart dress suit looked out of place here at a small-town high school. Her fingers tapped away at her keyboard as she continued to say my name under her breath. If I didn’t already know my new name, I would now. I had to roll my eyes at the way the secretary, Bethany Turnbul —as stated by her nameplate sitting on her desk—was going about finding me in the system. “Eureka!” She clapped her hands and started clicking on the mouse and keyboard even faster. “I see you are in the system, so I am just printing out your schedule, and then I will get you a locker assignment. You can get your textbooks from your teachers.” The excitement in her voice was a little overkill for finding someone on her computer. I assumed she must be new. She
didn’t have the worn look about her that every secretary I’d ever known had, and I’ve known a lot.
When she got up and went to the printer in the back, I leaned against the counter, waiting for her to bring me the schedule so I could escape the confines of the stale office room. Slowly, I pulled my leather gloves off, the ones with the velvety rabbit fur inside. Smoothing them out on the countertop, I moved to my scarf next. The black material was soft but kept my neck warm like no other. But that could be because my mom also spelled it. Is that considered cheating? I’d like to think not.
I was brought out of my musings as Bethany brought the paper over. She set it down and bent down to retrieve something underneath the counter. After a few muttered comments about organization problems, she pulled out a thick, black binder with gold writing across it. The words were starting to fade, but I could still read LockerAssignmentsacross the front. It was dropped down with a resounding smackas it hit the surface. I winced at the sudden sound that startled the older women who were still buzzing around like little worker bees. I grimaced at the archaic method of assigning lockers. Thismustbeaverylowkeyschoolwithlittlefunding.I thought to myself.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to drop that, but it’s heavier than it looks.” She huffed as she opened the front cover, scanning down the page before turning it, perusing that one too. “Just need to find you a locker, dear.” She muttered to me. I didn’t mind since I wasn’t really paying attention anyway. I just wanted to get my shit and get out. I hated school offices. They reminded me too much of my bullied past, and it all getting blamed on me. “Here we go.” The secretary pulled a piece of paper off a stack of scrap papers and folded it in half. Her writing was very flowery as she wrote out my combination and locker number. When she passed it to me, she smiled. “Here is your locker information. And now for your schedule.” That was the next page she handed me, but I barely looked at it before she was reaching under the overhanging ledge and pulled out yet another
sheet, handing that over as well. “This is a map of the school. I hear that new students find it very helpful in finding their way through this maze of a school.” Her smile was sincere, but I just rolled my eyes.
“Thanks, secretary,” I mumbled.
Her smile grew wider. “You can call me Miss Turnbul.” She leaned forward. “Let me tell you something.” Her voice went lower, “I am new here too. My first year.”
I gave her a fake smile before turning away, swiping up my stuff off the counter as I did so, and heading back into the hall that was getting less crowded as the students flowed in with their friends and went deeper into the school. I didn’t even bother to look for my brother. He would find his own way. I just hoped we didn’t share any classes, but that was likely since it was a small school and we were the same age. With only a ten-minute gap between our births, it made it so that I was born on the following day and the Summer Solstice. Twins we may be, but we were so far from being similar.
Shaking him out of my head, I followed the flow of traffic, keeping my eye out for lockers, while keeping my other eye on the map. It would be just my luck to get lost on the first day of school, so I tried to make sure I didn’t. I was jostled a lot as I walked, but I ignored them. They weren’t worth my attention at the moment.
When I finally found my locker, I marked it on the map and pulled my combination out of the stack of papers I was handed. “Seven, thirty-two, eleven.” I had a bad habit of muttering my numbers out loud like that, but it helped me remember them in my head. The locker opened on the first try. I was so excited, I opened it up wide, not paying attention to my surroundings.
A hand reached out and grabbed it before it could hit the locker next to me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. My heart was beating way too fast as I looked to my right, seeing a boy standing there. His deep hazel eyes bored into mine, stealing the breath from
my lungs. His hair framed his face in long, wavy, chestnut hair. I wasn’t the type of girl who liked shoulder-length hair on a guy, especially when they can put it up in that awful man-bun. But this guy was rocking it.
“Can I help you?” I asked, sarcasm dripping from my voice like honey.
“You are the new girl.” The voice had me whipping my head in the opposite direction. Another guy was casually leaning against the lockers, his powerful looking arms crossed, and one leg kicked back with his foot, clad in leather boots, planted against the lower locker. His dark brown hair was styled up in quiff with the low fade at the sides. His eyes—oh, the things I could say about his eyes—were a deep, chocolate color and full of trouble. My instincts begged me to stay away from him, but I never really listened to them anyway.
My glare did turn deadly with the newcomer. “What a great observation. You must be the douchebag who likes to sneak up on women.” I always shot to sarcasm when I felt cornered, or in this case, sandwiched.
A smirk graced his handsome features. “Must be. We don’t get many new people here in little ole Greenville. What brought you to our small town in the middle of nowhere, Maine?”
I turned away from him and hung up my scarf on the hooks provided. My gloves went to the bottom, laid out nice and flat. I took my time putting those few things in before grabbing my locker door. The guy holding it wouldn’t let go though, so my glare turned on him.
“Woah, easy girl. No harm. Just wanted to get to know you.” He held his hands up in surrender before taking one small step back. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
I slammed my locker closed then looked down at my map, trying to figure out where my homeroom was located.
I felt someone leaning over me, but when I looked up, I had the two guys standing in front of me, rather closely, I might add. So, who was the person behind me? Slowly, turning around, I looked up, and up, and up, into the eyes of my savior from earlier.
His face was still handsome, so it wasn’t the adrenaline running through me at the time that caused me to hallucinate. “Are these two dumbasses bothering you?” His voice was like silk across skin, soothing and melodic, almost hypnotizing. Humor laced his words as he glanced up at the two idiots in question.
I shrugged, “Nah, I can handle two hormone-fueled teenage boys. Do you care to make it three?” My hand with my schedule and map went to my hip as I cocked it to the side, wrinkling the paper, the sound of the paper crackling was lost amongst the sounds of students slamming lockers and talking, but we seemed to have our own little bubble right here in front of my locker. “Are you three an item or something, just run in the same circles, what? I am mildly curious since you all decided to gang up on me before school’s even started. I think this is a record.” I shoved my way past them before they answered me, bringing my map up again to figure out where to go. When I had a general idea, I took off, leaving the dumbfounded men behind. My brother always called me a whirlwind, leaving people in my wake with looks of confusion or anger. I am just good like that.
NEW GIRL
Rhydian
First, I caught her as she was falling, and her scent invaded my nose, strawberries mixed with spearmint. And the way she spoke to me—like she wasn’t afraid like her body wasn’t telling her there was a predator nearby… she was a firecracker in the best way possible. I had to get to know her. The gang would want to get to know her. She was unlike anything I had ever encountered in my long life.
Her black hair was braided back from her face and long enough to tickle her lower back. I wanted to grip that braid, pull her to me, and devour her in the middle of the hallway. When she glared at me, with her blue eyes—blue like the ocean on a stormy day—it was like she could see through me and shoot sparks through my body all with just a look. I was hooked solid on her. Kyler and Keegan will want to know about her too. I couldn’t keep her to myself, not with Dylan and Branden right here with me.
Oh, I did enjoy watching her walk away though. Her tight jeans hugged her curves and embraced that ass like I wanted to do. And those legs, they just kept on going.
When she finally turned a corner, and I could no longer see her, it felt like the spell was broken. “What the fuck?” I stammered out. If my heart could beat, it would be racing. I turned to my brothers, not by blood, but by a solid friendship. They seemed to be trying to blink out of the same spell I was stuck in. We were all enthralled by the beautiful enchantress with a sassy mouth I wouldn’t mind fucking. I could envision her plump lips wrapped around my cock, bobbing away, taking me all in, going all the way to the base. AndnowI haveafuckingboner .
Dylan was the next one to come out, but I don’t think his wits were fully caught up yet. When he turned to me with a sappy grin on his face, I couldn’t help the groan that escaped from my lips. “Rhy, that girl is something else.”
All I could do was smirk, right before slapping them both upside the head, turning my smirk into a full-blown grin. “Snap out of it, you two. She is just a girl… a really hot girl who won’t give us the time of day. It’s the classic ‘you want what you can’t have’ episode. So, let’s go find Keegan and Kyler before classes start.”
I turned away from the direction the girl went and started off. If only it were as easy as that to get her out of my mind.
Kirsten
As I stepped into my homeroom class, the bell rang overhead, causing me to jump. I looked around to see if anyone noticed, and saw that every single person in that room was staring at me. My heart started beating an irregular rhythm in my chest, causing me to feel slightly woozy. I hated being the center of attention.
“Might want to step inside the classroom.” The husky voice behind me did not help with the startlement I was feeling.
I turned my head to look at the stranger, and my heart stopped. What was with all the sexy, hunky men at this school? His almondshaped eyes were a light brown color, almost a hazel mixed with chocolate. My eyes moved down to his lips. His top lip was slightly slimmer than his bottom, but it looked good with his face. His dark hair verged on black, tied back behind his head somewhere. He was sex on a stick. My mouth opened before my brain fully kicked in, obviously, since I apparently must reboot my brain. “What if I like the attention of standing in the doorway?”
He moved to my side; his arm went around my shoulders. “Then let me bask in your glow with you. I can tell why they would stare, though. There is something about you.” He shot me a wink.
I slipped out from under his arm and moved to one of the empty desks in the back. To my dismay and pleasure—not that I would admit that out loud—he followed me and sat in the desk beside me.
Turning in my seat to face him, I asked with sarcasm dripping heavily through my voice, “Can I help you?”
The boy lounged down into his desk, not that I knew how that could even be remotely comfortable. “I wanted to see what has my friends all acting weird. I think I know why, possibly, but you still confuse me.”
“How do I confuse you? You don’t know me. And are you even in this class?” I snapped out each question in a rapid-fire motion. “Did you seriously come looking for me?”
He chuckled. “Nah, I actually have this class as my homeroom first thing in the morning. I was actually looking for you in the hallway. But you were nowhere to be found. So, I came to class and low and behold, here you are. It’s like fate.” He crossed his arms over his athletically built chest. I didn’t know how else to describe it. It was like he lifted weights, but he wasn’t one to overdo it and make his chest disproportionate to the rest of his body.
I growled at him. “I don’t believe in fate. And you didn’t answer my question. How do I confuse you?”
Right at that moment, the final bell rang, and the teacher walked in wearing grey slacks and a flowery blouse. Her heels clicked on the linoleum floor, echoing around the room. I turned back around in my seat to face the front. But I could still feel his eyes on the side of my head. Shooting one last glare at him before the teacher got to the front, I felt slightly better.
“Good morning, everyone.” Our teacher set her brown leather bag on her chair before picking up a sheet of paper off her desk. “We have a new student today. Kristen, can you stand up?”
I snorted at her mispronunciation of my name. “Not likely now, nor ever, will I be standing for the class to talk about myself,” I muttered quietly. It must not have been low enough, because several students around me started snickering as they looked my way.
“Kristen, can you stand and tell us where you are from?” She asked again.
“It’s Keer-stin.” I sounded it out like she was stupid. Of course, in my opinion, she was stupid when she didn’t get the fact I was not standing when I didn’t get up at her first call.
“I apologize, Kirsten.” She looked back at her sheet, then at me expectantly.
Snorting again, not very lady-like, I’ll admit, I threw her a bone. “I can’t tell you where I am from.”
“What, then, you’ll have to kill us?” A student shot at me.
An evil grin grew on my face, “Exactly.” Then I threw him a wink. That student immediately turned around, trying to notlook at me again. I could not help smiling at the little fun I was having.
“You are something wicked, aren’t you, Kirsten?” My newfound stalker leaned towards me. “I think you even have Ms. Ross a little flustered. Way to go. No one can seem to do that to her.”
I felt myself start to heat up at his compliment. I was glad I was not pale and that my darker skin tone could hide it. Too bad I decided to braid my hair back, or I would have my hair to hide behind too.
Ms. Ross surely did look a little perturbed by the things I was saying. She tried to brush it off, but I could tell that I threw off her routine. That’s me, the one to push people off their habitual practices. It made life more fun. Well, at least for me it did. I chuckled to myself at my thoughts.
I felt a tickle across the top of my hand as the teacher started pulling things out of her bag. Looking down, my annoying neighbor was trying to pass me a note. I had to admit; I felt a little giddy. This was my first time being passed a note meant for me. Snagging the thing before the teacher could see, I quickly unfolded it.
MynameisKyler.Nicetomeetyou.Lovethesarcasm.Worksfor you.
Hiding a smile, I bent over to grab a pen from my bag. My black hair fell over my shoulder to brush across the ground. Annoyed, I threw it back over my shoulder, where it landed with a thump. I sat back up and got to work on the note.
Kyler,Idonotknowwhatyouaretalkingabout.Plus,younever answeredmyquestion.
Passing it back to him covertly, I stared straight ahead. Ms. Ross was standing at the whiteboard, talking about resumes and cover letters. I already knew how to do that, so I just observed my classmates. They varied in style, looks, and outward personalities as they whispered amongst each other. We weren’t the only ones passing notes either. This was one thing I always did at a new school, observe. You could deduce a lot about a person just by watching them. I could tell I was the topic of many of the students’ conversations. It bothered me since I had no idea what they were saying, and I did not have enough control over my powers to even do a spell to know what they were saying. Shrugging that off was difficult as Kyler passed the note back to me, the page looking less and less crisp with all the unfolding and refolding.
Youareconfusingtomebecauseofthewayyouactaround peopleversusactingwhileyouthinknooneiswatching.Onegives theimpressionthatyoudon’tgiveaflyingrat’sasswhatissaid aboutyou,andtheothertellsmethatyoucatalogeverythingtobe laterusedasammotoprotectyourself.Youhavethisarmoraround you.Doyoueverletanyonein?
That was a deeply personal insight into my psyche that I didn’t need anyone else noticing. I did have armor; it was called sarcasm and a strong bullshit meter. It was my best defense against bullies. But occasionally they do get under my skin and dig in deep. That’s when my power comes out to play.
Nicetry.Doyoudothiswithall thenewgirls?Isthisyourwayto trytogetinmypants?Becauseletmetellyou.It’snotworking.
When I passed it back, the student that I had threatened was watching me. One corner of my mouth lifted in my trademark ‘don’t fuck with me’ smirk. He turned back around quickly, keeping his head down and started writing furiously in his notebook. I couldn’t
help the snicker that slipped past my lips. I did have to admit; it was boring to wait for the note to come back. Patience was not one of my virtues… well, I don’t think I had anyvirtues, honestly. Turning my attention to Ms. Ross, I zoned out until the brush of a piece of paper being slipped under my hand snapped me out of it.
Firstofall,youarethefirstnewpersonwehavehadinacouple ofyears.So,no,Idon’tdothiswiththenewgirls.Youareafirst. Secondly,Iamnottryingtogetinyourpants.Iamnotahit-it-andquit-itkindofguy.Youdon’treallyknowmeeither.ButIfound somethingelseaboutyouthatyouuseforarmor.Youarerather quicktojumptoconclusionsandmakeupyourownassumptions.I finditratherentertaining.
My pen moved quickly over the page. Idonotmakeup assumptions,noramIentertaining.Notintheleast.Now I found myself flirting a little with the banter going on between us, and I actually found that I was enjoying myself. Ifanyoneisentertaining, it’syouwithyourpsycho-babble.It’smeaninglessandunfounded.
I placed the note back on his desk just as the bell rang.
“Remember, class; I want a rough draft of your resume by tomorrow.” Ms. Ross’s words washed over me as I picked up my bag and headed out the door.
3
STALKED
Kirsten
I could tell I was the new kid in school. Wherever I went, I had eyes following me. Guys looked at me with lust while the ladies shot me glares of jealousy. Those looks alone told me I was not going to fly under the radar anytime soon. My brother won’t be happy with me when I get home. He is going to hear all about the new girl who sticks out like a sore thumb. Hopefully, he was getting the same treatment.
He could always blend into the background better than I could. It was a trait I wished I had, now more than ever. As I entered the lunchroom, the buzz of chatter died down. A shiver of unease passed through me. My name was on everyone’s lips. I was the hot topic for lunchroom discussions today, and it made me feel even more uncomfortable.
I could feel my brother come up behind me. “Way to stay low, sis.” He whispered in my ear. Something must have made his day already
since he seemed to be in good spirits, at least. “Kir, you turn heads just by walking in a room. There is no sneaking anywhere for you.” I felt a shove against my lower back as he entered. He wanted me to continue in and not make an even bigger scene. Not like it was my fault to begin with.
I made my way to an empty table with my favorite book and bagged lunch. Keeping an eye on my brother, so he didn’t join me, I watched him join the jocks' table. Becauseofcourse,hehasalready madefriends, I thought to myself as I sat down at my lonely table. I was the only one ever to be warned to keep my head down. I was the one told to not draw attention to myself. No one ever said he couldn’t make friends. Of course, he had full control of his magic. He was able to use it to his advantage during sports, with his gift for all things air. It made him great at anything that flies, basketball, football, baseball… anything with balls, really. I snorted at my little joke. Those jocks were going to be in for an awakening when they realized he only played sports so he could see the guys changing in the locker room. My brother was as gay as they come without flaunting it. I guess you could call him a masculine gay guy.
Brushing my brother and his inclinations from my thoughts, I pulled out my carrots, munching away as I opened my book to the last place I put my marker. This story always drew me in, what with the romance and the guy saving the girl. I was a total sucker for that, even if I thought it was sappy too. Sometimes you needed a badass heroine.
“Interesting read.” Kyler sat across from me, his sudden appearance startling me enough that I dropped my book, losing my place.
In revenge, I threw my half-eaten carrot at him. “Stop scaring me.” I hissed. His chuckle made my insides squirm. I told them to back down since I only had a small conversation with him, and it wasn’t insightful enough to even break the ice. My heart dropped right down into my core when he picked up the carrot off the table
and started nibbling on it, his delectable lips wrapping around the little orange baby veggie. His long, elegant fingers dwarfed it.
My hero from this morning sat down next to me, taking up my valuable personal space. “What are we laughing about?”
Kyler used the nub of carrot to point at me. “She scares easy. Plus, she threw a carrot at me.”
I was still watching the newcomer warily, so I didn’t see the other guy sit on my other side, nor the one who sat to Kyler’s left, out of my peripheral vision.
“Isn’t that veggie abuse?” My head flipped around to see the bad boy in the leather jacket with the quiff hair. It almost gave me whiplash, but I think I did get a crick. Reaching up to rub my neck, my eyes ping-ponged between the four guys. The one next to Kyler was new. I didn’t meet that one yet, which made me wonder where the fifth was. This new one had the most dazzling blue eyes, like the sky on a summer’s day, framed by thick lashes a girl would kill for. His medium-brown hair, like milk chocolate, hung over his forehead in a messy, curly mass. Just with him sitting there, I could tell he was going to be taller than me by more than a head. But he was also one of the slimmer ones of the guys.
“Um…” RealsmoothKirsten.My eyes couldn’t stop moving from them all. It was hotness overload, so my brain didn’t want to work, and apparently neither did my mouth, which was a first.
The last guy that I had already met with the man bun sat down to Kyler’s right. Him I’d met but didn’t know his name. Come to think of it; I only knew Kyler’s name.
My eyes bounced between the five guys, curiosity battling with the need to be alone. “Can I help you?” I seriously couldn’t help what came out of my mouth. It was a curse, I know.
The guy to my right started laughing. His sharp canines flashing in the fluorescent lighting above us, and his golden-amber eyes flashed. “Kyler, we are keeping this one. She’s funny.”
I had to roll my eyes at that. “I’m not a piece of property to be claimed, asshole,” I muttered. They all must have heard me because there were laughs around the table, loud bursts from my right-hand man, quiet chuckles from Kyler and laughs in between from the other three. “I didn’t think I was that funny either…”
The leather jacket-wearing bad boy on my left was the first to quiet down enough to talk. “I apologize for Rhydian. He has a constant case of foot to mouth disease. He doesn’t always think before he speaks.” Sounded a lot like me, I thought. “I’m Branden. I never caught your name this morning.”
“I never gave it.” I retorted. “But it’s Kirsten.”
Man-bun smiled shyly. “That’s a pretty name.” It seemed like that was all he was going to say to me until I raised my eyebrow at him. “Dylan.” His voice was a little soft.
I turned to the last guy at the table. “And that leaves you the odd man out. You are?”
When he smiled, it was gentle and gave him the most adorable dimples. I was a sucker for dimples. His blue eyes shone brightly and crinkled at the corners. I could tell from the wrinkles around the eyes that he was a smiler. “Keegan, at your service.” Oh, and apparently a joker.
Nodding my head, I turned back to Kyler, the apparent leader of the group. “This doesn’t explain why you are sitting with me.” I lifted my book. “I was a little busy. No time for chit chat.”
Kyler barely gave the book a passing glance before looking at the others. “We decided to be the welcoming committee for the new kid?”
“That sounded more like a question. Are you asking me or telling me? Still doesn’t explain why you are bugging me since my brother also started today as well.”
Rhydian turned in his seat. “Yeah, but that guy had no problems making friends on his first day.”
“I didn’t want to make friends. I like being alone.” Shrugging my shoulder, I reopened my book, flipping through, trying to find the last place I remembered being at.
Rhydian put his face into my line of sight. “But that sounds really lonely. I’d hate to be alone all the time.”
“I’m not alone allthe time. I have my brother and my mom. Probably won’t be here long anyway.” I muttered the last part to myself, hoping they didn’t catch it when it slipped past my lips.
No such luck, of course. Branden heard, sticking his elbow on the table and resting his head on his hand. “Why would you say that?”
Shrugging again, I avoided all their eyes. No need for a pity party. “It’s just been my luck.” Everything was getting too deep for me, so I packed up my lunch and closed my book again. “See you all later.” Getting up, I stalked out of the cafeteria, and of course, turned right into a group of ladies.
Screams echoed through my ears, causing them to ring at the shrillness. When I looked at the one in front, she was waving her hands in the air and about to hyperventilate. Brown liquid covered the front of her skintight, white sweater that hugged her every curve. I reached into my bag and pulled out the cloth, napkin my mother always packed with my lunches. Trying to reach forward to dry her, she swatted at my hand.
“You’ve done enough damage, new girl. Do you realize how much this sweater costs? Probably not since you look to be wearing thrift store finds.” Ouch, I thought but decided against responding. I knew
girls like this. The ones who thought they were so much better than others and preferred to tear them down to feel better about themselves. It was girls like this that had me backed into a corner and made me lash out at my last school.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” Stuffing the napkin back into my bag since she was too good for myhelp, I turned to go.
“You obviously didn’t see me. If you got your head out of the clouds, then maybe you would have before spilling my mocha all over me.” Her voice was even grating on my ears. Well, actually it was a very beautiful voice, like songbirds, but I was choosing to think in my head that she had a screechy voice to make me feel better.
Turning back around on her, I lifted an eyebrow. “Did you just call me an airhead?”
She raised her snooty nose at me and wrinkled it like she smelled something bad. Her blue, hate-filled eyes glaring daggers. “If the shoe fits.”
“If you didn’t have your head so far up your own ass, I might think that was worth a response. But I’d rather walk away now before I say something as hateful and black as your soul.” With a bitchy smile covering my face, I flipped back around, my braid flying out behind me. I pictured it hitting her in the face.
RUNNING AWAY
Kyler
I couldn’t help but watch Kirsten leave. She was definitely something else, and I wanted to find out what. The power coming off her made even my skin sizzle with the intensity. I turned to look at Dylan as he finger-combed through his hair. Only he could get away with hair just past his shoulders and still look good. “Did you feel that?” He was our resident witch in the group and quite powerful. But whatever she was, she topped him by a thousand-fold. I don’t even know if she knew. She certainly didn’t act like she did.
Nodding his head between his arms as he pulled it back into a bun, he looked thoughtful. “She is very powerful. I’d say a witch, but I’ve never heard of a witch that powerful. Even the ones barely above my power level end up frying their brains because it’s too much. I think I am the only one who has made it this far without even a blip on my brain. If she was a witch with that kind of magic, she is lucky she hasn’t fried her whole body yet. But I can ask my
parents. See if they have any more information. If they don’t, they can do some research.”
Rhydian cracked a smile. “She is definitely a witch. I could smell it. As for power level, that I know nothing about except it felt like static electricity was zipping across my skin. It was pleasant.”
Now I understood the grin on his face. He was enjoying himself. “So, are we in agreement? We find out why her family moved here and go from there.” All I got were nods all around.
Kirsten
I couldn't believe how those guys were just acting like they were all nice. Usually, that meant they wanted something. I had too much experience in being used by guys, thinking it was going to get me to be left alone by the mean girls in that school. But all it did was leave them laughing behind my back and mean I lost my virginity at fifteen, way before I was ready. That was a horrible story all on its own. I went to a party with my then-boyfriend, and he had slipped me something. I was taken advantage of, raped while all I could do was lay there, drowsy and unable to stop them. My pleas were barely heard. After he was done, he let his friends come in, one by one. When I came to, I ended up knocking half that house down in one of my magical meltdowns.
Shaking my head to clear the memories from my thoughts, I stormed to my locker and shoved my lunch bag back inside, my appetite gone. Pulling my scarf and mittens from my locker, I slammed it shut and left the school, not caring that I was leaving in the middle of a school day. I didn't notice I had someone following me as I stuffed my fingers inside the gloves, then wrapped the scarf around my neck. My zipper went all the way up to my chin, and I pulled my hat out of my bag, shoving it far down my head. I trudged
