Ben was in my third period English class, which was great. If there were any creeps in there, I hadn’t met them yet. Fourth period, I had choir. Raven was with me, but she is an alto, and I’m a soprano, so we couldn’t sit next to each other. One of the Parkers was in there, too. I have no idea which one, but I know he’s a Parker because he looks just like Brice and Billy, just not as old as them, and maybe not as angry at the world. The fact that he was laughing and carrying on with a couple of other guys makes me think they are probably dark wolves, too.
I didn’t know anyone in my math class, and we immediately jumped right into the curriculum, which sucked. I was hoping for at least one day of no work, like in most of the other classes I’d had so far. At least it was something I already knew how to do. I had a feeling this class was going to end up being way easier than the classes I was used to back home. My other academic classes had been. The only class where I’d struggled at all was art and that was probably because I had never taken that class before, and the teacher didn’t give us any instruction.
“It is the first day of school, Miss Nightingale,” Mr. Short, the principal, said, staring at me over the top of his glasses. “I was hoping we could at least make it through one day without any incidents, but clearly, that will not be the case.” He sighed, shaking his head, as he looked at the report the drama teacher, Ms. Piper had sent down with me when she’d sent me to his office about twenty minutes ago. Since “the incident” had happened in last period, there was a good chance I’d be here late. Luckily, my guardian had arrived at the high school within a few moments of the principal calling him and telling him there was a problem--al
I stared down at the large platter of roasted vegetables in front of me for a moment before I looked up into Sam’s eyes, my eyebrows arched.“I am many things, Harlow Nightingale, but a liar is not one of them,” he said to me, fighting a grin. “I promised Mr. Short only vegetables for dinner, so that’s what you’re getting.”
The next day at school, Brice sat by me in art class, but it was clear he’d gotten into a bit of a tiff the night before. He had claw marks on his neck and a big bruise on his face. I stared at him for a moment, and he gave me that cocky smile. I guessed he still hadn’t learned his lesson then.Mrs. Flynn gave us time to work on our drawing again, which I appre
By the time I got to lunch, I’d convinced myself that the whisper I’d heard in my head was just my imagination, not my grandma trying to warn me that Brice Parker actually had feelings for me. I didn’t want to accept that that could be true, that it might be that he actually was starting to have a crush on me or thought there was a way I might be attracted to him. While it might be nice to think he wouldn’t be our enemy anymore if that was the case, Brice struck me as the sort of guy who would definitely turn into one of those crazy, psycho lovers scorned who would kill my pet rabbit if I had one or at least go even further out of his way to annoy me than he wa
Finding time to spend in the forest was difficult with school, but it was important, so I tried to go out at least for a few hours every afternoon and soak up the magic of the woods. With the construction going on in the house until about 7:00 or 8:00 every night, I didn’t mind escaping the hammering and the sound of the power tools, but even at my preferred tree, sitting on my stump, with my eyes closed, I could still hear the thumping and whirring in the distance.
Raven’s words stayed with me for the rest of the night and into the next day. When Brice sat down next to me in art class, it was all I could think about. That, and how Raven had more or less confessed she was crushing on Tony. I tried not to stare too much at him, but I was trying to see exactly what it was she thought was attractive about him--compared to the other guys in the school, many of which were extremely good looking, like Ben and Joshua--and if I’m honest, Brice (insert eye roll here)--and I guess I could see that he was sort of attractive in a way. He just wasn’t the sort of guy I’m usually attracted to.
I was so distracted by Brice’s kindness, I walked into the cafeteria for lunch having left my giant lunchbox in my locker and had to turn around and go back and get it. Then, as I was closing my locker door, I slammed my finger in it. My first instinct was to stop the pain by using my magic, but then I remembered the rule, “No magic at school,” and stuck it in my mouth. It smarted, but I wasn’t going to die. With the heavy lunchbox hanging off of my shoulder, I headed into the cafeteria. By the time I got there, everyone else at our table had their food from the line and were chatting as they ate.