SilverMoonLight (SilverMoonSaga Book 1) (5 page)

I
groaned.

»It’s
still open, until 6 p.m. every day. We can drive there in a bit so you can
register. I need to take back some books, so it works well for me, too.«

The
library turned out to be a disappointment—it seemed I would have to think of
another way of sating my hunger for books. I hoped there would be a bookshop
somewhere in the town.

*****

»Amelie,
we’re late.«

I
was at the foot of the stairs, hopping around impatiently on the spot. Even
though school here didn’t start until nine, we always seemed to get to class
with only seconds to spare.

»We’re
waiting for you.«

I
looked at the clock and decided to start breakfast without her.

»I’m
here,« she cried out.

Amelie
came bounding down the stairs, looking totally polished. I couldn’t understand
how she managed it every morning in such a short time. But she was without a
doubt the prettiest girl in our grade. Compared to her, I was plain and mousy.
I shrugged in resignation.

Bree
stood at the stove, frying eggs and bacon. I collapsed onto one of the creaky
chairs.

»Good
morning, you two,« she greeted us.

We
hastily wolfed down the hot eggs.

»You
should get up earlier,« Bree reprimanded us, not for the first time. »Ethan and
Peter left ages ago. You can take Peter’s car.«

We
jumped up and ran to the car.

Mr.
Barkley, our biology teacher, wasn’t to be trifled with. He hated unpunctuality.
We drove into the parking lot, which was wet and slippery from the rain. I kept
my head down so I could see the stone slabs beneath my feet, automatically
trying not to stand on the lines between them. My mother always used to say it
was bad luck. But then again, the worst had already happened. All of a sudden,
I bumped into someone and fell over backwards.

»Damn,«
I muttered, realizing that my jeans were soaked through. Muddy leaves were
clinging to them.

A
hand stretched out towards me. I reached out for it, let myself be pulled to my
feet and found myself staring into Calum’s eyes. Up close, he looked even more
flawless. My heart felt like it was beating in my throat and my mouth went dry.
The blueness of his eyes was disarming. The gaze beneath his furrowed brow, as
expected, was hostile.

I
found myself unable to do anything but stare, like a rabbit caught in the
headlights.

»Emma,«
called Amelie, hurrying towards us. »Hey, Calum,« she said, turning to him. He
didn’t reply, continuing to give me an angry stare.

I
noticed that I was still holding his hand, and, to make my embarrassment even
worse, that I was blushing.

»Sorry,«
I mumbled, letting his hand go. I wiped a few leaves from my jeans.

He
handed me my bag, which had fallen from my hand as I fell, then turned around
and left without a word.

Amelie
shook her head and laughed. »Of all people, you choose to fall over his feet.«

She
was still giggling when we arrived at biology class, quickly sliding onto our
seats. I had no hope of concentrating now. I ignored Tim, the guy who sat next
to me in biology, until he eventually got the message and turned away.

What's
his matter with me? Even though I knew my thoughts wouldn’t lead me anywhere, I
continued brooding. I’d already mulled the question over in my thoughts a
thousand times, and hadn’t yet come to a conclusion. If anything, the day with
the whales should have connected us in some way.

That
afternoon, on the way home, I couldn’t hold back from talking to Amelie about
Calum.

»Amelie,
has Aidan ever told you anything about Calum?« I asked. Aidan was Amelie’s
boyfriend and the captain of our high school’s football team. He wasn’t my
type, but Amelie was in love and I was happy for her, even though my love life
wasn’t going so well. Or, more accurately, even though it was non-existent. I
couldn’t bring myself to even go out on a date with one of my shy admirers at
school.

»Aidan
isn’t exactly talkative. Why don’t you ask Peter about him? He spends much more
time with Calum than Aidan does.«

I
knew that Peter and Calum were in a few of the same classes. I had already
tried to pump him for information, but without any great success.

»If
you ask me, he seems a lot more mature than Peter and his silly friends,« said
Amelie, wrinkling her pretty nose at the thought of the silly friends in
question, of whom Aidan was one.

I
shrugged. »Apparently he’s very clever.« I’d managed to glean that information
from Peter, at least.

Amelie
gave an exaggerated groan.

»He’s
too perfect. No wonder Valerie won’t leave his side.«

I
had noticed that too, and being reminded of it didn’t help to lift my mood any
way.

Amelie
was on a roll now and launched into the latest of the school gossip.

Over
the next few days, I kept a lookout for Calum. He was on my mind more than was
healthy. On a few occasions, he appeared in the cafeteria and sat down at a
table with Peter and his friends. Whenever he did, my heart began to pound, but
he never returned my gaze.

I
resignedly decided to ignore him, but only succeeded in part. The chance that he
would pay any attention to me was zero. I had the impression that there wasn’t
a single girl who didn’t worship him. But despite this, he was aloof and polite
with everyone—everyone except me.

Chapter Four

»Amelie,
we have to go.«

I
made myself comfortable on her bed, settling into a cross-legged position.

»Go
away,« she growled.

»I’m
staying here until you get up.«

She
heaved herself upright with a groan and glared at me.

»Why
do you have to be such a nag?«

With
these words, she got up and flounced into the bathroom.

I
shrugged with a smile and flung open the window.

»Oh
God!« shrieked Amelie as she came back in, »it’s freezing. Have you gone
totally insane?«

»Don’t
be such a baby,« I replied, tossing her clothes at her. »Just be grateful that
it’s I waking you and not your father.«

»That’s
true,« she agreed sulkily.

Amelie
got dressed and gave me a kiss on the cheek. That was one of her best
characteristics; she could never stay angry for long. Then she tried to tame
her curly locks. »It’s no use,« she said in resignation after a while, tying it
up into a ponytail. I was envious of her hair; my long brown hair looked boring
in comparison. Once Amelie had meticulously applied her makeup, she threw her
lip gloss towards me.

I
put some on with a sigh, knowing that it was useless to resist. From the very
first day, Amelie had been indignant that, at seventeen years of age, I still
didn’t wear makeup.

»A
bit of color would really suit you,« she nagged me regularly. »It would show
your eyes off properly.«

»I’d
rather wait until I can get a tan,« I replied. I was hoping the sun would
appear, anyway. Unfortunately, it seemed to have forgotten Scotland so far.

We
rushed down the steps to the kitchen.

»It’s
raining again,« I established grumpily as we left the house to go out to the
car.

»And?«
Amelie poked me in the side. »You’re not made of sugar.«

»How
come the bad weather never puts you in a bad mood?« I poked her back. »Just a
little more sun, surely that’s not asking too much?«

»The
sun will come eventually, and until then let’s try to make the world a better
place.« It was fine for her, she had spent every day of her life on the island.
I was used to something different. I had seen more rain here in the last few
weeks than in my entire life before that. Okay, so Washington wasn’t
California. But here in Portree, I constantly felt deluged and sodden.

Peter
was waiting for us impatiently in the common room, and proffered a pile of
flyers to each of us. The Dolphin Group was organizing an information event with
presentations and workshops on the stranding of the whales. We had made flyers
and, along with other fellow students, helped to organize the event. For two
weeks, we had spent every afternoon on it, and now it was time to distribute
the flyers and patiently answer peoples’ questions.

After
three hours, Amelie came over to me.

»If
I have to stand any longer, my feet are going to drop off. And my mouth has
gone completely dry from all the talking.«

She
pulled a sulky face, but to me, her mouth looked just as immaculate as always.
Even her lip gloss was still in place, while mine had long since worn off.

»Well,
that’s a small price to pay for the wellbeing of the world,« I bantered her.

She
grimaced. »Do you think the world would survive if we stop for a quick break
and a cappuccino?«

»I’m
sure it would cope.«

»That’s
what I thought.«

She
linked arms with me and pulled me over towards the colorfully decorated coffee
stall.

»So
girls, how’s it going?« asked Sophie, Dr. Erickon’s wife, who was manning the
stall. She handed us our cappuccinos.

Sophie
ran the only bookshop in Portree. She was an exotic-looking person, always
clothed in colorful fabrics and furnished with jangling bracelets. There was
hardly anyone I liked more in this place. She had been only too happy to help
when Peter had conscripted her for today.

Amelie
climbed onto one of the bar stools with a sigh.

»I
didn’t think there would be this many people here,« she said as she reached for
a brownie. »Half the island is here.«

»The
last stranding of the whales shocked a lot of people. I often think about how
many of them we lost,« answered Sophie sadly.

At
that moment, Dr. Erickson and Calum came over to the stand. I had recently
found out that Dr. Erickson was, in actual fact, a professor, but everyone here
just called him Doctor. It didn’t seem to bother him.

»Could
you conjure up a delicious cappuccino for your two favorite men?« he asked his
wife with a beaming, loving smile.

He
turned to Amelie and me.

»Girls,
I have to say, you’ve done a great job organizing this.«

I
nodded absentmindedly and stared at the cup in my hand. Calum chatted with
Amelie and didn’t even glance at me. Just like always. Then he and Dr. Erickson
took their coffees and ambled away. I sighed and Amelie turned to me.

»You
should get him out of your head, Emma. I mean, he’s just not in our league.«

I
nodded glumly. »My league, you mean. At least he talks to you. He ignores me.«

»I
know, it’s really strange.« A second brownie disappeared into her mouth. »He’s
polite to everyone. Aloof, but polite. But with you he’s really rude. A hello
surely wouldn’t be asking too much.«

I
rubbed my hand over my forehead with a groan.

»Hello
would be a start, but my imagination is quite capable of figuring out the rest.«

Amelie
snorted loudly with laughter, prompting Sophie to turn round and stare at us. I
gave Amelie a shove.

»What’s
so funny?« asked Sophie. Luckily Amelie was in the process of inhaling a third
brownie, so Sophie made do without an answer.

As
she recovered from her spluttering, I gave her a glare. »Don’t you dare tell
anyone what I said,« I threatened.

»I
have no idea what you’re talking about.« She looked at me innocently. »But
seriously, there are so many boys at school who would love to be with you, and
you’re only interested in the unattainable one.«

It
hurt to hear it, but I knew she was right. I should get him out of my head once
and for all. He clearly found me so uninteresting that he wouldn’t waste even
the smallest fraction of attention on me. I had clearly been too easily impressed.

»Come
on, Amelie, we should hand out another few flyers.« I climbed down from the bar
stool. Being busy was better than moping around. I could do that perfectly well
in the solitude of my bedroom. I could feel really sorry for myself there, and was
even looking forward to wallowing.

Sophie
waved goodbye as we headed back.

The
following days passed at a snail’s pace, and I simmered with excitement as the
swim trials approached. The team needed reinforcements, and I wanted to secure
a place.

I
loved swimming in pools, despite my aquaphobia, as it was referred to by
experts in the field. Someone had once explained to me that my mother’s fear of
water had been passed down to me. I don’t even question the contradiction
anymore. Swimming was something I had been good at before I even began to walk,
something I was
really
good at. In the days leading up to the swim
trials, I trained in the school’s own pool, hoping against all hope that I
would be able to qualify for the team.