Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (8 page)

Adrien was looking at me. He was sitting comfortably in the metal chair, letting his chin rest on this hand. I could tell that he was pretending to listen to what his companions were saying, but his eyes gave him away. He didn’t look away from me like he would normally do.

In a matter of seconds, he did something I would never have imagined him
doing
, knowing that I was looking
right
at him. He laughed.

I felt my cheeks blow up in flames. Oh. My. God! Adrien saw that. He actually saw me make a fool of myself by ravishing that poor apple within minutes. No, seconds maybe. I felt like I could be mistaken for a tomato
with
how much I flushed right now. Oh, God. Please let an earthquake come now, leave a big crater, and let me fall into it. I would really love
to
welcome the idea of
falling
into an abyss right
at
this instant.

My friends must have noticed me all flustered up, because the conversation at our table suddenly stopped. I sighed. “I just remembered something,” I
explain
ed.
They seem to buy it and continued on with their talking. I turned the core of the apple and stabbed my fork
through
it. Traitor
.

I glanced back at Adrien. He was now talking with his companions, but it was clear that he still held some contained laughter within him. I clenched my hands into fists.
This is
so a
nnoying! I
desperately
wanted to pun
ish myself for exposing myself like that in front of him
.

Afternoon classes started. We only had two more classes left before we were done for the day. I had Calculus with Anne
,
so we made our way to M
s
. Solis’ room together. Not many people were there yet. We chose the seats in the middle of the room and headed over to get settled for class.

I was busy fumbling through my things when I felt that strong aura again. Oh, go away! I commanded it and continued on searching inside my bag, looking for my pen.

I heard someone clear their throat beside me. I looked up and was shocked to see Adrien there. He
still had that entertained expression on his face, and his eyes still shone of laughter.
I blus
h
ed and
again
got irritated with myself that he was able to see me like that.
He flaunted a crooked smile, which was enough to set my heart into one of its marathons
once
again.

“This seat taken?” he asked, his deep voice almost
forming a melody
. Wait, what? He was referring to the seat on my side.
Stu
pid. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I literally shook my head to wake me up. “Nope
,
” I said, turning back to
look through
my things for that thing I was looking for earlier. Great. I even forgot what I was looking for. Suddenly, a black pen shot out in front of my face. I turned to him and he just raised his eyebrows at me, cocking his head to the side. He placed the pen on my desk.

“Err… thanks,” I
mumbled
.
I watched him distrustfully.
How did he know? Is he psychic?

Just then I felt Anne lean in
closer
to me as she moved her desk
nearer
mine. She brought her hand down on my desk. “Hi! Anne Perry,” she said, smiling as he shook her hand.

“Hey! Adrien Fields,” he replied.

“We haven’t been formally introduced,” Anne said, a teasing tone in her voice. My jaw dropped open. “So I took the liberty to introduce myself,” she continued on. I groaned.
That’s just g
reat
,
Anne. Thanks.

Adrien just laughed at her. “Actually, Skylar and I didn’t know each other,” he said in his smooth voice. Geez!
Even his voice is
beautiful
.
I flushed at that observation. “We just met on my first day here,” he
clarified
.

Only
then did Ms
. Solis enter the room, making both of them stop with their friendly chat.

Oh. There is a God! I shot Anne a hateful look and she just wagged her eyebrows at me.

Calculus class seemed to run by so slowly that I felt like time was playing a trick on me. I couldn’t really focus much on Ms. Solis’ lecture. I was too preoccupied
with
the boy
sitting
next to me.
I couldn’t really understand him, let alone keep up with him. Maybe
that’s the reason why
I was so bothered with hi
s presence
, because he was unlike anyone I’ve ever met. His mood swings are out of this world, and he has the ability to change them as if he was just flicking a light switch
, which drives me crazy
.
I wish he would just make up his mind and stick to one
,
so I could
decide if I was going to
stay angry
with
him.

What’s bothering me more was how drawn I was to him. It wasn’t because of his looks, but how he acted towards me.
No one’s acted the way he acts around me. He was completely ruining my life since he came here. It’s like he turned me into another person. I used to be civil
with
everyone in this school. Now my clean record was ruined the moment he stepped foot on Masonville High.
It’s weird, and I’m having a hard time figuring it out. That may be the exact reason why he appeared so… appealing.
There’s just something about him that I can’
t quite piece together.

When Calculus finally ended, I waved Anne goodbye
and was about to leave the room when I remembered something. I turned
around
to
where
Adrien
sat
to give him his pen back, but he was not in his seat. I instantly scanned the room and found him leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed, whistling to himself.
I went over and gave him his pen back. He just shook his head, sending his long dark brown hair in a mild tossing motion.
My heart stumbled on its beats again. He pushed the pen back to me.

“You still need that for the next class,” he said and started walking.
I was left there standing with a surprised expression on my face.
Ugh! He
i
s so confusing.
“You coming? We’ll be late for Social Studies. Mr. Roberts wouldn’t be happy
,
”
he said, clearly bored and annoyed
about something
.

Oh crap! I hurriedly ran
past
him
and
I
instantly
f
elt happy about that
small victory
.
This is just
childish
. Really, Skylar? You’re that
bothered with him, huh.

“Thanks for the pen, by the way,” I
called out
, staring
straight
ahead
as I was briskly walking to the classroom
.

When
I
reached Mr. Roberts’ room, Nick was already there. He turned around and raised his eyebrows when he spotted
us
walk
ing
in
. Please don’t let the atmosphere turn out the way it did this morning.
I’m not sure how much self-control I had left to keep Nick out of trouble and leave him to do whatever he pleases with
Adrien
.
I
smiled at Nick and went to place my things on the empty
seat beside him. I was
shocked
when I
s
aw
them shak
e
hands.

“
Nick Adams.
”

“Adrien Fields
.
”

“
Yeah,
I know,
”
Nick paused. “Thanks for helping Skylar out at gym
class
this morning,” he said, cocking his head to the side and using it to point at me.

What the—? He knew about the gym incident
,
and
yet
he acted
so
innocent that he didn’t see me play. Another traitor.

“No problem.” Adrien smiled. “I was just lucky to be standing near her.”

“I hope she didn’t bother you much, though,” he joked, immediately shielding his head as I mildly slapped the back of it.

“Pig,” I
declared
.
And they
both
just laughed at me.
I sighed. I’m surrounded with traitors.
First Anne now Nick.

Social Studies was a bore as usual, but I managed to make it through with my eyes wide open, which was a first.
I was still bothered with Adrien’s presence, and that made it hard to focus on anything else.
Despite being
troubled
by him sitting right next to me, I was also
becom
ing
weary
of
him
.
I feel
like
I’m throwing away precious energy at being constantly on my guard around him.

Finally admitting to myself
that I was
that
bothered by hi
s presence
felt like a release for me
, and I
instantly
felt lighter
. I somehow felt normal… much more normal than I actually was before I met him.

The last time I felt like this was when my parents were still alive. Sure, I have Nana and my friends with me. And I always thought that was enough. But when my parents left, I felt that some part of me died along with them, like half of me got disconnected with the rest of the world. Now I could feel that connection again
, despite how unhealthy that bond might be.
I was completely perturbed that the mere appearance of
this
boy could have this much effect on me.

I risked glancing at him from the corner of my eye. He was resting his chin on his hand as he focused on what Mr. Roberts was talking about. I was silently thanking him in my head,
not giving him the satisfaction
of knowing
that he
just
had a great effect on my life
. I was somehow
grateful for his sudden
entrance
into
Rattford Cliffs
…
e
ven if his appearance did bother the hell out of me.

I watched as he drummed the desk with his fingers and stretched his legs out under
it
. When I dragged my eyes back to his face, I noticed a smirk on his lips. I frowned and dragged my eyes higher to his eyes. I felt my eyes widen when I saw that he was looking back at me
, his eyes burning with victory. Ugh! That was his plan all along.
B
other the hell out of
me through his nearness then catch me red
handed.

I felt my blood rush to my cheeks
as anger washed over me.
I forced my eyes back to Mr. Roberts
,
who was now discussing
something about
slope fields.
I cocked my head slightly to
one
side, allowing my hair to fall to the side of my face, thoroughly covering my view of
Adrien
.

Finally
,
the last bell for the day rang. I sighed and stretched my hands in front of me. Mr. Roberts gave out a few more instructions before
finally
dismissing the class.