Midnight Runes (The Bestowed Ones) (21 page)

Emilee leisurely strolled past us, oozing fake concern. “Did you know you were the
only
group that had issues with that area of the river? It was really too bad you were thrown in.”

A chill ran through me at the coldness in her voice.

“That was a bit much, don’t you think?” Landon called after her.

She threw a glance over her shoulder and said, “Oh, everything turned out alright, thanks to you.” She winked at Landon and disappeared through the doors.

“She is
such
a psycho,” Elyse stated.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately. She’s worse than usual,” Zach said.

We boarded the bus and collapsed into our seats.

It was a quiet ride home. It felt good to get up and walk around when we stopped for dinner. I slept just about the whole way back.

It was around midnight when we pulled into the school lot.

I
woke up Monday morning not wanting to move. I had to get up and get ready for school, but my muscles ached, and I just wanted to stay in bed. I’d had a restless night’s sleep despite how exhausted I felt. People say it’s possible to be too exhausted to sleep well, which never made sense until now.

Being tired and sore weren’t good enough reasons to stay home, so I pushed myself out of bed.

The day passed in a haze.

One day over in a new week. A new week of assignments, lessons, and quizzes to get through.

I was glad I didn’t have anything planned for the evening and could spend it alone in my room. I took a sip of warm tea from my favorite oversized mug, placed it on my desk, and settled in for a night of homework.

Halfway through solving a math problem, my attention focused on something beyond myself. The sudden feeling of not being alone was back with a vengeance. It hadn’t happened in so long that its absence had started to convince me I had imagined it, but there was no denying it in this moment.

My head snapped up, and I slowly turned to scan my empty room. The weird part of my brain convinced me I wasn’t alone, despite my eyes showing me I was.

An intense chill started at the nape of my neck and slowly tingled its way to my shoulders, then down my arms, back, and legs. It was the kind of shiver that made me feel each hair rise like tiny rippling waves cascading down my body.

At the risk of looking like an absolute weirdo, I had to acknowledge it.

“I know you’re here. I can feel you, even though I can’t see you.”

Silence answered even as my internal radar sounded the alarm. I huffed a sigh.

The feeling vanished. I felt the vacuum of empty space left behind.

I reached for my cell to text Elyse. She was the one who had suggested I establish contact. My hand hovered over the phone. I questioned if I should include her in this aspect of my life. My hesitation made the decision for me.

I turned my attention to my half-finished math problem, but my mind reached to explain what had just happened. There was no denying what I had felt. I wondered what happened, what changed, to make me feel it so strongly this time. And if it was a person, as Cassandra claimed it was, I couldn’t force whoever it was to admit this secret. I was surrounded by secrets and secretive people. Was this Trevor’s way of checking in on me? Was this another trick of Landon’s?

• • •

The next morning, Mr. Lewton started the hour with an in-class creative writing assignment. He asked us to pick an ability we wished we possessed and write a one- to two-page essay about the pros and cons having it would bring.

The good thing about in-class assignments was no homework. The bad thing was that I was stuck with whatever I could think of in the fifty-five minutes of class. Last night was fresh in my mind, and I couldn’t think of any other special power.

I handed my paper in just before the bell. Landon fell into stride next to me as I turned into the hallway.

“What did you write about?” he asked lightheartedly.

That threw me for a loop. He’d never asked before. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m curious.”

“You know what curiosity did to the cat.”

“I hardly think telling me is going to kill me,” he said dryly.

“What did
you
pick?”

“Are you trying to distract me by answering my questions with questions? That stuff doesn’t work on me.”

“You should talk about distraction. You didn’t answer my question.”

“And you didn’t answer mine.”

I shrugged. “We’ll probably discuss some of them in class tomorrow anyway. You can wait until then.” I turned on my heel and walked into a bathroom to end the conversation.

• • •

Mr. Lewton nearly shook with excitement the next morning. He had a few of our papers set aside for discussion. The desks were arranged in a large rectangle. I sat in the middle of one of the long sides. Landon came in and took a seat across the room. I desperately hoped my paper wasn’t in that stack. I felt fairly confident Landon wouldn’t get his answer today, short of stealing the paper out of my hands.

“The set I wanted to discuss today,” Mr. Lewton announced, “is the ability to sense ghosts or to become invisible.” My heart skipped a beat. I heard someone smirk. “These seem like they don’t go together, but let’s see how many parallels we can draw, then we’ll contrast them.”

Zach jumped in, “Ghosts are invisible except for when they want to be seen.”

“Only people with special senses know they’re there,” Landon said in a clear voice. My eyes darted to him. He stared back, waiting for my reaction.

“They can both travel anywhere in the world without paying airfare or having to waste time getting to the airport early,” Kendra added.

“I would go to Paris!” Jamie said.

“Totally! And Rome!” Lauren added.

“They can spy on others without them knowing about it,” Zach continued.

“Ewww! I don’t want to think about invisible or dead people stalking me!” Jamie answered.

“Well, most likely they’re looking for answers,” Landon said, “You know,
curious
.” He emphasized the word as he spoke it and drew air quotes with his fingers, smirking.

There was other input, but the rushing in my ears prevented it from registering. I was sure the whole class heard my heart take off. “
Only those with special senses know they’re there…curious…
” It clicked into place. It had been him all this time. The feelings of being watched…him caring so much about what I wrote. And I had another revelation: he was mocking me.

“They could both scare people by being
creepy
—like
watching them when they didn’t know it
,” I said with more venom than necessary. I never took my eyes off him.

“Good. Let’s mention some differences,” Mr. Lewton prompted, clearly caught up in our lively discussion. He seemed totally unaware of the growing tension between Landon and me. Or maybe the tension was only on my side. Landon seemed to be enjoying himself.

“One is alive and one isn’t,” Kendra said.

I glared at Landon. “At least ghosts aren’t cowards and show themselves,” I accused.

“Is that what you’d want? Someone to just pop up next to you? Wouldn’t that terrify you?” Landon replied.

“It would be better than thinking I was crazy.” I paused as I realized my tone was harsher than necessary and that all eyes were on me. “Hypothetically speaking, of course,” I said through a nervous laugh.

The class paused as if measuring the likelihood of our debate continuing further. I sat back in my chair as a way of showing I was stepping out of it, and the conversation started up again.

“One is from the past. The other is in the present time,” Zach said.

“Ghosts are thought to be bound to a person, place, or object. An invisible person is free to go wherever,” Kendra said.

“Okay, any other thoughts?” Mr. Lewton asked. The class fell silent. “Good class today. Thank you for your participation. Your papers from yesterday were a joy to read. For homework I’d like you to list three or four of your favorite objects for a project in tomorrow’s class.”

The bell rang, dismissing us, and the classroom emptied quickly. I heaved my backpack onto my desk and felt my stuff shift inside. I reached in to straighten things, and Landon strolled over.

“I guess I know what you wrote about,” he said in a low voice, but his eyes flashed amusement.

“Yeah,” I responded as we walked into the busy hall. “Why would you write about something you can actually do?”

“It was a creative writing assignment. What’s more creative than real life?” he mused.

“This is something we’re actually going to talk about, right?”

“Yes, but not here.”

“Okay. You should know I don’t do well with broken promises,” I warned.

He nodded.

I could wait. A little bit.

• • •

Zach smirked when we joined the lunch table and looked pointedly between Landon and me. “You guys are going to get along, right? I don’t want to see act two of your intense discussion from first hour.”

That opened the floodgates.

“What happened?” Wayne asked.

“What were you guys fighting about?” Samantha asked.

“And you didn’t tell me?” Elyse asked.

I couldn’t help but glare at Zach. He made a face and focused on his lunch. Coward.

I made a dismissive motion with my hand. “He’s making it sound much more exciting than it was. We were just defending our opinions, which happened to differ from each other. Isn’t that right?” I asked Landon.

“That’s right,” he said with a private smile. “And I’m sure you all know how intense she can get.”

I tried really hard to have a humorous expression, but don’t think I looked convincing. It was hard to look indifferent when I wanted to scowl at him for putting this all on me.

A new conversation started, but I didn’t participate.

I wasn’t a particularly patient person by nature, and added to that was the fact that I had no idea
when
we would talk. I caught myself looking over to Landon too many times.

The rest of the day was a big waste of time. I didn’t notice Emilee walking in front of me before sixth hour until the severity of her tone brought me out of my trance. Her harsh words caught my attention.

“I don’t even know why he hangs out with them. It’s sad, really,” Emilee said.

“Maybe he likes them. I think they’re nice.”

“Seriously, Nichole, I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“I just don’t see what you’re so upset about.”

“He’s out of his element. He’s so much better than them.”

“What does it matter?”

“It matters because he’s acting like he wants to date Brynn. I don’t like how much he talks to her. He risks too much being around her. Something has to be done about that. More than I’ve tried.”

I sucked in a loud breath the mention of my name. They were talking about me! And my friends! And…Landon?

They looked behind them quickly, noting I was directly behind them and had heard their every word. Nichole wanted to bolt, but Emilee slowed, forcing me to. Nichole looked everywhere but at me, and Emilee dared me to drop my eye contact. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. My hands squeezed into fists at my sides.

“Yeah, we’re talking about you. In case you didn’t hear everything—don’t even think about going out with him. I know you’re not over Trevor, and it’s wrong to lead Landon on the way you do. Although I can’t imagine what he’d see in you. You’re too different from him.”

She’d touched a nerve. More like all of them. “If he wanted to be with you, he would.”

She narrowed her eyes. “He won’t always be there to save you,” she casually threatened. She turned, and they walked away. I expanded my senses to follow her. She would make me pay for that comment.

I cut down a side hall to take a different route to my next class. Now I was infuriated and anxious. With only two classes to go, I couldn’t wait for the end of the day.

Landon was waiting by my locker after school. My stomach flipped as I met his eyes. This was how it used to be with Trevor, who was fresh in my mind thanks to the guilt trip from Emilee. I was happy to see Landon, but her comments had made me uncomfortable—almost hyperaware. He was propped against the lockers, facing my direction, with one hand holding a book and the other in his pocket. He gave a smile as I approached.

“So, how was the rest of your day?” I asked casually. I spun my combination and popped open my locker.

He held my locker open with one hand. “Nowhere near as fun as the beginning. May I have your number?”

“Oh, it’s on the float sign-in roster that was handed out a while ago. Didn’t you keep your copy?”

“I wanted to
properly
ask you for your number. Getting it that way is kind of cheating.”

“You want to talk about it over the phone?” I hoped I didn’t sound too disappointed. I’d much rather discuss it in person.

“No, I’ve got a plan.” He had his cell out, ready to type it in. “Fire away.”

I gave him my number, and he called my cell. I still had it on silent for school. He waited patiently for it to go to voice mail, then smiled and said, “Talk to you soon,” and hung up.

“Had to make sure I gave you the right number?” I said dryly.

“Yes, and now you have mine. I’d walk with you to your car, but Mr. Newland asked that I stop by his office after school today. He probably wants to make sure I’m adjusting well.”

Emilee walked by and directed obnoxious kissing sounds our way. I couldn’t stop the aggravation from flashing across my face.

“Don’t tell me you’re letting Emilee bother you,” he teased. I was more guarded, but he scrutinized my face as he spoke. “What is it?”

I didn’t want to gossip about her. I didn’t even want to talk about her. It made me feel like I was telling on her. “She gives me a hard time about you. I overheard her in the hall today say that something has to be done about me, more than she’s done, whatever that means. She claimed dibs on you your first day here. I guess she’s still holding a grudge. Not that we’re…you know.”

He looked at me suspiciously. It was the look of calculation. I didn’t like being the object of his intense focus.