Dark Nebula (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) (13 page)

“We’d better head back
before someone sends
a search party.”
Devon
gently
traced his thumb over her lips
.

“Search party?” Rae
stared into
Devon
’s
eyes
,
wishing she could read the thoughts behind them
.

“Rae, we’ve been out here for
, like,
fifteen minutes
.
Getting your purse should take maybe
five
.”

That long
?
We barely kissed.
“Oh.”
That’s it? That’s all I can come up with?

“I
really do
have to head out early tomorrow so I’d better try and get some sleep.
After tasting you
r lips
, it’s going to take me a long time to calm down and get some shut-eye. Come on,
s
weetie.”
Devon
dropped his arm around her shoulders as he guided her towards the dorms.

Rae glanced up at the main building as they headed back.
She
could
have
sworn
she saw the shadow of a figure
in
a window.
W
hen she looked again
, only a
ruffling
curtain caught her eye
.
Weird.
Must be the breeze through the window.
She shrugged it off and concentrated on enjoying the warmth of
Devon
’s arm around her.

For
Molly’s birthday, Rae bought
a
marble
cake and loaded it with pink icing, silver
ribbons,
and
a silver lightning bolt in the middle.
Shortly after sunrise
, she banged on Molly’s door
and hollered, “Molly! I know you’re in there!”

Sh
e giggled
when
Molly curse
d
and mumble
d,
“Go away!”

“Come on, Molls
,” she
sang, “
I’
ve
got
pre
-
sents for you
uu
.”

“Presents?”
The door opened instantly.
Molly’s hair
stuck
out everywhere
,
and she had
drool dried on her cheek
.

“H
appy
b
irthday
!
”
Rae walked into
the
room and set the cake on
the
desk.
Laughing, s
he turned and handed
her friend
the Burberry gift bag
she had carefully hidden until now
.

Molly rubbed her hand against her mouth.
Rae watched
her
eyebrows come together as she looked down to see
the dried paste
on her fingers.
“Crap! I dro
o
led again.
I mean, it’s
toothpaste.” She grabbed her toiletry bag and turned to Rae.
“I’ll be right back.
Don’t go anywhere.”
She ran into the bathroom.
“I can’t believe school starts tomorrow!” she hollered down the hall.

Rae
glanced
around Molly’s room.
A
picture pinned to
the
corkboard
above the desk
caught her eye. She
stepped forward to have a closer look.
Molly
.
W
ith a very
handsome
guy.

“He’s nice on the eyes.”
She said to herself.
The photo showed a
distinguished
-looking,
dirty blonde-haired
guy in a
n
expensive
striped suit.

“That’s
Reece
.”
Molly
came back into the room
, face freshly washed, and a few stra
nds of hair wildly waving from the pony-tail that
had escaped
.

“He’s coming tonight to take me to dinner.
” Molly dipped her finger into the cake’s icing and put it in her mouth.
“
Mmm…
Can you c
ut me a piece of
cake? It’s
delicious.
Wait -- Presents!
What’s in the Burberry bag?”
Suck
ing the frosting off
her finger, she
proceeded to pull the plaid tissue out
with
her free hand.

Rae laughed when Molly squealed in delight.

“I
love
, love, LOVE
th
is
raincoat
.
It’s near
ly
impossible to find
the new pink in the
check pattern.
How
’
d you get it?
Wait. Is it a knockoff?” She checked
parts of the coat Rae would never even
have known existed had she not watched.
. Molly
stomped her feet excitedly. “Legit
!
Totally legit
!
”
The coat floated in the air as Molly brought it up to pull her arms through the sleeves
over her pajamas.
“It fits perfect
ly
.
” She checked the gift bag again. “Wait. D
id you get me the matching umbrella?
” More squeals. “
No
way
!
This
is too cool.
My mom’s going to be so jealous.
” The umbrella was pulled out, held against the coat’s material
. But
her fingers froze just before
they pressed
the button. “
I’d open the umbrella to check it out
,
but I don’t want any bad luck following me this year.”

“Don’t be silly.
There’
s no such thing as bad luck.”
Rae
grabbed the umbrella from Molly’s hand and
popped
it
open.
She
stood under it, twirling it so the plaid made lines as it spun around.

“You’re crazy.” Molly laughed
and
grabbed a large slice of cake with her fingers.
“Of all of us, you’re the one who doesn’t need any bad luck.”

“
Whatever, silly. There’s no such thing.” Rae stopped twirling. “
You’ll be proud
of me
. I bought on
e
for
myself as well.
”

Molly gasped in mock adoration. “You grow up so fast!” Their composure dissolved into a fit of giggles that became an impromptu pillow fight. Rae thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the morning.

Desiree,
Rae,
and Molly sat outside on the grass, basking in the sun.
The sky
was
azure without a cloud in sight.
It
felt
like summer might stay a little longer.
Their first day of classes had just finished
without a hitch
and the campus
now
teamed with
life.
Rae watched students walking, playing and hanging about.
She checked her watch.
Devon
had
said
he
sh
ould
be back sometime
today
.
She
could not
wait to see him
.
It had
only been a few days, but
it
felt like forever.

“Desiree, you didn’t get a chance to use your tatù in class this morning.
I bet Carter purposely skipped over you.
Can you show us
how it works
?” Molly lay on her back, resting on her elbows.

“Sure,” Desiree sat up and looked around.
She pointed
towards the football bleachers.
“See that guy and girl over there?
I know the girl’s from Roe Hampton. Watch and o
bserve
.”

Rae
, laying on her stomach, had to
lift her head to see the students.
The boy and girl sat about two feet apart, books separating the two of them.
They were both looking down when Rae saw the boy’s head pop up.
He reached his hand towards the girl, who shifted closer to him
,
instinctively.
They sat that way for several moments,
so close to kissing but somehow pausing. It felt like watching a first kiss in a movie.
Desiree’s voice
broke
Rae’s gaze.

“I can’t
force
interest
if there
isn’t any
.
If two people who hate each other are in a room, I can’t get them to start making out
;
but I can play a bit of
a
mind game
with them
. Mainly it just confuses them
,
or they wonder how they ever felt that way later on
.
Those kids over there have pretty fresh feelings so I’m not going to push them.”
Desiree let out a sigh of longing
as she
pulled her gorgeous black hair away from her skin
. “The
downfall, or sometimes good part, is that I get all their
emotions run
ning
through me.
” She stood, using Rae
for
balance. “Gotta clear my head.
Be back in a bit.”

Rae tuned into
the
tatù the minute
Desiree
touched her
.
The intense
heat inside
burned
through her veins
.
S
he
recognized
the feeling
. It w
as the same
when
Devon
reached for her.
She buried her head in her arms, concentrating on the warmth of the sun
on her skin
,
not the
desire inside of her.
No wonder Desiree needs to cool off.
That’s some crazy talent.

Molly’s insistent tap
ping
on her shoulder
brought her out of her daze
.
She
glanced
up to see Nicholas walking towards them with a stranger.

“
It’s
gotta be
the new guy
. The orphan,
” Molly whispered in Rae’s ear.

Rae rolled over and sat up.
She dropped her sung
lasses down over her eyes.
T
he boy was tall with curly brown
hair,
and he
seemed
vaguely familiar
.
P
owerfully athletic
, he
strolled along with Nicholas and seemed completely comfortable in his new surroundings
.
Rae
straightened in surprise
.
I
imagined someone less confident
,
since he live
d
in an orphanage
.
She huffed at herself.
Shouldn’t I be the last one to judge?

“Hello
,
ladies,
”
Nicholas said.
“This is Kraigan.”

“
I’m Molly.” S
he jumped up.

“Hello
.
”
Kraigan’s voice
came out
deep and throaty.
He turned to Rae
and glanced up and down, his face revealing nothing
.
“
Are you
the infamous Kerrigan
?
”