Unfaded (33 page)

             
“They’ll be inventing their own language next,” Amber said.

             
“And wearing the same jackets,” Claire said.

             
My friends. How could I ask for anything more?

             
“What courses are you taking?” Claire asked Seito once everyone at the table had enough of their ‘let’s pick on Kian and Mai’ jokes.

             
Seito pulled a piece of wrinkled paper from his pocket. “Let’s see,” he said and he opened it up and placed it on the table. “This afternoon it’s advanced Chemistry followed by Trig.”

             
“Wow,” Amber said. “You’re a brain. It’s just Drama and History for me. Science and I don’t get along. Mai’s the lucky one. She worked her butt off all last semester and she only has English.”

             
“I’m in your afternoon classes,” Claire said as she studied Seito’s timetable. I swear her cheeks turned bright pink. “I can show you where they are if you’d like.”

             
“I would like that,” Seito said with a cocky grin.

             
Great. I could see that this was going to be a nightmare and not a blessing. Both my friends were looking at him like he was the answer to a teenage prayer. This could only lead to no good. I gave Kian a nudge with my foot and he grinned and shrugged. He was right. There wasn’t anything we could do about it. I decided I’d still try and talk to Seito later. Maybe I could find a way to convince him to chase other pray. If he was looking for a quick fling I’m sure there were plenty of other human girls out there who would jump at the chance. Call me possessive but I didn’t want him hurting my friends. I knew Amber. She fell hard and often it took a long time to pick up the pieces. Claire might have been quiet but she’d never met a guy she liked enough to want to date. I could only imagine how she’d deal with getting her heart broken. No, I couldn’t have that. As much as I liked Seito, my friends deserved better.

             
“We should all hit up a movie this weekend,” Amber was saying. “You know, the five of us. There’s that new horror movie that just came out.”

             
I immediately was against the idea. A scary movie hit too close to home in my opinion. They were always the same, people running around blindly to try and save their lives while the killer closes in.

             
“I think that’s a great idea,” Seito said before I could voice my opinion.

             
“Yeah,” Kian said, obviously not paying attention to me or he might have seen the concern on my face. “I’d be up for that.”

             
“Excellent!” Amber was all ready making plans. “We can’t do it tonight because we’re having girl’s night. But tomorrow would work.”

             
“Girl’s night?” Seito said. “Sounds exciting. Perhaps I could put on a wig.”

             
“Not a chance,” I said, laughing.

             
We continued to joke around for the next few minutes. It was nice and I found myself growing less defensive as Seito continued to flirt with my friends. They were enjoying themselves and who was I to try and put an end to that. I needed to stop thinking of my own problems and comparing them to what might happen if Amber was to fall in love. Just because Connor was having trouble getting over me didn’t mean she’d react the same way over Seito. Besides, there was a big difference between four years and what most likely would only end up being a few weeks.

             
I glanced back over at Connor’s table and wasn’t overly surprised to see he wasn’t there. I probably wouldn’t have stuck around either in such a situation. My eyes scanned over the cafeteria, curious to know if he’d changed tables or if he’d actually headed off to the gym.

             
I didn’t see him.

             
I saw Anique.

             
Standing by the cafeteria doors, there was no mistaking the fact she was watching me. Noticing she’d been spotted, she merely nodded her head in my direction. She wanted me to know she was there. I tried very hard to keep a straight face as I inhaled deeply, forcing air into my lungs. I watched her as she walked across the room and sat down at a table not too far away from us. She didn’t do anything except sit there and wait.

             
“Kian?” I spoke his name as softly as I could.

             
“What?”

             
I couldn’t answer him and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her either. Following my gaze, Kian immediately figured it out. His body stiffened and he pressed his leg against mine as if that alone would make me safer. Seito stopped talking in midsentence, his green eyes grew darker. Nostrils flaring, he turned around and joined in on the staring match. Whether or not Claire and Amber noticed something was wrong I didn’t know for I couldn’t take my eyes off Anique long enough to check. But they continued talking to each other as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

             
Seito stood up and Kian grabbed his arm, pulling him back into his seat. “Not here,” he hissed. “She’s not going to do anything. It’s too crowded.”

             
“She’s stalking me,” I whispered. “Letting me know she’s here.”

             
Kian nodded.

             
“So what do you think?” Amber said loudly. “Hello? Mai?”

             
“Huh? What?” It took all my strength to turn my attention to my friends. I couldn’t let them know anything was wrong. No human witnesses.

             
“About tonight?” she said. “My house at seven?”

             
“Yeah, sure,” I said. I picked up my backpack from the floor and gathered my stuff. Standing, I had to work at keeping my trembling legs from collapsing underneath me. “I’ve got to run. I need to get some stuff done before class.”

             
Kian got up beside me and was standing much too close. I was worried that it would look too obvious that he was guarding me.

             
“Ok,” Claire said.

             
“I’ll call you later,” Amber said.

             
The two of us started walking without taking our eyes off of Anique. She stayed at the table, a bemused expression on her face. As we passed, she gave me a little wave. I wondered how on earth the other students didn’t notice her. She was at least ten years too old to be in high school. Maybe they thought she was a teacher.

             
We got into the hallway without incident. Kian immediately took my hand and started walking faster. I had no choice but to jog alongside him. Finally he stopped and put his hand up against a locker. His eyes blazed. I’d never seen him so upset. We stayed there until Seito joined us.

             
“Where’s Sobek?” he asked.

             
“I don’t know,” I said.

             
Kian drew his arm back, slamming his fist into the locker. Crunching metal echoed through the hall and many people stopped to stare at us. There was a huge dent where his fist had been.

             
“I’m not letting them do this,” he hissed. “It’s just a game to them. They can’t play with her life like that!”

             
“I know, man.” Seito placed his hands on Kian’s shoulders and pulled him towards him. Speaking softly so only the three of us could hear he tried to calm Kian down. “We won’t let her do this.”

             
“We have no choice,” Kian said, turning his attention to me. “From now on you’re never alone. Not for a second. Either Seito or I will walk you to class. I’ll drive you to and from school and anywhere else you need to go. No more of this sneaking out of the house to come and see me either. It’s not safe.”

             
I nodded. I couldn’t think of anything to say.

             
“If they want to up the stakes then we’ve got no choice but to play along at their game,” Kian said. “But I’m not taking any chances. You’ve been lucky so far, Mai. But luck runs out.”

             
Some people say luck is just fate in disguise. If that were the case then I was in big trouble.

             
So far fate hadn’t been very good to me.

              Kian refused to let me go spend the night with Amber and Claire.

             
I wanted to argue but I knew he was right and it was a bad idea. I didn’t want to put my friends in danger, especially since I was now the target of an obvious stalking. They had been unsuccessful with the sneak attack so they were taking a new approach. Intimidation became their main priority.

             
In our afternoon English class, Anique walked past the room six times. Kian and I watched her. Ms. Gray always kept the door open and we could hear the clicking of her heels every time she approached. She never did anything on her walkabouts, she didn’t have to. The effect was powerful. By the end of the class I was ready to purchase a one way ticket to the moon and Kian’s jaw was clenched so tightly I began to worry about lockjaw setting in.

             
Outside the class, Kian stayed so close, I kept bumping into him.

             
Sobek waited for us in the parking lot. Sitting in the passenger side of my car with his feet up on the dash, he lowered his sunglasses when Kian and I approached.

             
“Get out!” Kian hissed at him.

             
“No need to be touchy,” Sobek said. “Look around, little man. There are too many people here. Your honey is safe.”

             
Kian yanked open the door and grabbed Sobek by the shirt, dragging him out of the car and bringing him to his knees. A bunch of kids slowed down and stopped to watch. Two of them pulled out their phones and started texting. Someone else snapped a picture. I wanted to scream at them to get lost but didn’t want to draw further attention to what was happening.

             
Sobek got up off the ground and took his time brushing the dirt from his jeans. Someone pushed past me, knocking into my shoulder and spinning me around. It was Anique.

             
“Boo!”

             
I shoved her. She wasn’t expecting it and her eyes widened as she took a few involuntary steps backwards before tripping over her own feet. As she hit the ground she let out an ‘oomph’ sound.

             
Sobek was on me so quickly I never saw him coming. Grabbing hold of my jacket, he threw me sideways. I flew a few feet, hitting the side of the car. Luckily I was wearing my winter coat and that absorbed most of the blow. I was more shocked than hurt.

             
Kian pulled back his fist and hit Sobek square in the nose. He staggered backwards, holding his hand to his face. When he pulled his fingers away, he was smiling, blood dripped from his nostrils, staining his upper lip.

             
The crowd around us was growing bigger by the second. People were catcalling and shouting ‘fight, fight’. Someone close by helped me to my feet, a girl who was in my Algebra class.

             
“Are you all right?” she asked.

             
I didn't answer her.

             
From a distance I could see Seito running towards us. He was moving at an extraordinary speed but I wasn’t sure he’d reach us in time. Meanwhile, Sobek had taken a shot at Kian and I watched his head snap backwards as the fist rammed into the side of his face.

             
Anique was beside me and I hadn’t seen her coming. She took my hand and squeezed. Pain shot up my arm as she grinded my bones in her grip.

             
“Fantastic, isn’t it?” Her eyes were shining brightly.

             
“Call him off,” I demanded.

             
“Now why would I want to do that?”

             
I pulled back and punched her as hard as I could. It was worth it just to see the shock on her face before she went flying several feet and into a crowd of screaming girls. My knuckles popped and pain shot up my arm.

             
Meanwhile the two boys were tossing punches at each other. Sobek managed to hit Kian across the cheek and he stumbled backwards, only to come back by tackling him to the ground. They rolled in the snow, taking shots, blocking punches, trying to pin each other down. Some of the students had their mouths wide open in shock. Others were screaming. The parking lot had become a frenzied stomping ground.

             
“Stop it!” I screamed.

             
Seito appeared at my side, moving past me and grabbing Kian by the shoulders. Pulling him backwards, he managed to separate the two Unfaded before they could inflict any more damage on each other. Standing between them, he held his arms out to make sure they kept their distance.