Awry

19

Christmas came and went, and soon enough January was underway and school was back in session. Scarlet walked into Avalon High on Monday morning and tried to forget that she had recently come back from the dead.

As she entered her senior chemistry class, Scarlet found Kristy Stevens waiting for her at their lab table.

Kristy was a popular girl who took great pride in being a cheerleader and wore her uniform to school any and every opportunity she could. Like today.

With her long, blond hair, deep brown eyes, and sugar-sweet voice, she was the epitome of pretty and the definition of nice.

But Scarlet didn’t like her.

“Hi, Scarlet.” Kristy’s cheery voice was fake. “What did you do over winter break?”

Oh, you know. I got shot with an arrow, died on my boyfriend’s kitchen table, and came back to life again five minutes later. The usual.

Scarlet sat down beside Kristy, opened her chemistry book, and shrugged. “Not much. What about you?”

“I went snowboarding in Whistler with my fam.”

Of course.

A moment passed before Kristy cleared her throat. “So are you and Gabriel still, like, together?”

Ever since Gabriel had enrolled at Avalon High, girls had been all over him. Scarlet couldn’t really blame them. He was gorgeous. But sometimes his stunning good looks were inconvenient.

“Uh, yeah,” Scarlet said.

Kristy smiled, but looked disappointed.

She and Gabriel were still together…right? Scarlet frowned.

Aside from their kiss at the cabin—the kiss that had been interrupted by Tristan’s jealousy—Scarlet and Gabriel hadn’t really touched over winter break. And they hadn’t gone on any dates lately either, but that was probably because Scarlet had better things to do. Like not die.

“Hey, Scarlet,” came a male voice from behind her. Scarlet turned to see Aaron Jablonski leaning against the table beside hers. Aaron was a mediocre soccer player and a below-average student. But he also happened to be attractive. Which won him serious points with the female population at Avalon High.

With Scarlet? Not so much.

“How was your winter break?” Aaron asked, his blond hair falling into his eyes.

“Fine.” Scarlet flipped a page in her chemistry book and tried to look interested in valence electrons.

With a loud screeching noise, Aaron dragged his lab stool over to Scarlet’s table and sat down beside her. He leaned into her, his shoulder brushing hers.

“I had a great Christmas. Want to know why?” he asked.

Not really.

He answered himself. “Because I got a new car.”

Scarlet managed not to roll her eyes as she turned from her chemistry book and gave Aaron a forced smile. “From Santa?”

“What kind of car?” Kristy scooted her stool closer to Scarlet and leaned in as well. “A sexy one?”

Kristy was on the left side of Scarlet, clogging her nose with the scent of flowery perfume. And Aaron was on Scarlet’s right, brushing her shoulder with his over-sized bicep.

She was in a Kristy and Aaron sandwich.

Kill me now.

Aaron flashed Kristy a smile that was probably supposed to look charming. It came across as smug. “A Challenger.” His breath drifted across Scarlet’s cheek, smelling like chocolate.

In an attempt to be closer to Aaron, Kristy scooted even closer to Scarlet. “Ooh, that is sexy.” Kristy gave Aaron a flirty smile and leaned even further, her chest pressing up against Scarlet’s arm.

The sandwich was becoming a Panini.

A flower-and-chocolate Panini.

Scarlet started scanning the room for their teacher, Mr. Brady.

“I know,” Aaron responded with a chin nod. He was such a schmuck. “So, Scarlet.” Scarlet could feel his eyes crawling up her neck.

Reluctantly looking up at him, Scarlet noticed how tan his skin looked. Like maybe he’d been surfing all winter. Or applying bronzer.

Probably the latter.

Aaron lifted a cocky eyebrow. “I was hoping I could give you a ride.”

Scarlet blinked. There were just too many ways to respond to this.

You wish.

Not on your life.

Excuse me while I go puke.

Scarlet raised a cocky eyebrow of her own, making sure her body language screamed dream on. “You want to give me a ride?”

“To the town fair next month,” he clarified. “I thought we could go together.” Aaron had the decency to look hopeful.

Kristy shifted uncomfortably on the other side of Scarlet.

“It’s a fair, Aaron. Not a school dance.” Scarlet said as she looked around the classroom. Mr. Brady still was not there.

Kristy explained, “The Avalon Fair is date central, Scarlet. Everyone goes with a date.”

“Whatever,” Scarlet said.

When is this blasted chemistry class going to start?

“So, what do you say? Wanna ride?” Aaron’s smile was cheesy and fake.

Scarlet tried to look bored. “I’m with Gabriel, remember?”

Kristy and Aaron both scoffed at the same time.

“You’re still with that guy?” Aaron made a face. “Lame.”

Way to be articulate, Bronzer Boy.

The bell rang and Mr. Brady rushed into the room. Sure, teachers could be tardy. Just not students. That was fair.

As the class settled down, the bookends of Scarlet’s sandwich retreated back to their assigned seats.

After a long lecture on kinetic energy, the bell rang, releasing Scarlet from both the boring class and the suffocating scent of Kristy’s perfume.

Scarlet hurried into the hall and spent a few minutes at her locker before Gabriel came up and kissed her on the cheek. He always smelled good. Like mint.

“Hey, beautiful.”

“Hey.” Scarlet smiled. “How’s your first day back going?”

He shrugged. “Fine, I guess. High school sucks.”

Scarlet nodded, thinking back to her Kristy and Aaron sandwich. “Tell me about it.”

“Nate wants to see you,” Gabriel said.

“About what?” Scarlet opened her locker and started shuffling her things around.

“I’m not sure. He just said he wanted to see you after school.”

“That’s weird, but okay. Wanna drive to your place together after our last class? I could drop my car off at my house.”

Gabriel sighed. “I can’t. I have to stay late today for this history thing.”

“Bummer.”

Gabriel nodded. “See? School sucks.”

Heather came up to them and, upon seeing Gabriel, stopped in her tracks. She smiled broadly.

Oh dear.

“Hello, Gabriel.” Heather examined him unashamedly, her eyes grazing up and down his body like he was a piece of meat and she was a shark.

Gabriel furrowed his brow. “Hello…?”

Heather gingerly poked at his arm, her lips parting in awe.

Gabriel stared down at his arm where Heather’s glossy fingernail had pressed against him. “Heather. Why are you being weird?”

Heather’s eyes brightened as she lowered her voice. “Because I know what you are.” She bounced on her toes for a moment.

Scarlet rolled her eyes.

Gabriel looked even more confused. “You know what—”

“I told her,” Scarlet explained, setting a hand on Gabriel’s arm. “Sorry. I should have told you sooner. But I just couldn’t lie to Heather anymore. So I told her everything.”

Gabriel paused. “You told her…everything?”

Scarlet nodded.

He looked at Scarlet, then Heather, then back to Scarlet. He nodded. “Okay. I guess that’s…fair.” He turned warning eyes to Heather. “But you need to be cool, Heather. You can’t tell other people.”

Heather reached a finger out toward Gabriel again. He caught her hand before it made contact with his arm. “And no more poking me like I’m a hands-on exhibit at the mall. Got it?”

Heather smiled. “Got it.” She winked and whispered, “Immortal boy.”

Gabriel dropped Heather’s hand and pinched his lips.

Heather laughed. “I’m just kidding. I’ll behave.” She stood up straight. “Promise.” Looking at Scarlet’s clothes, Heather sighed. “What happened to the blue shirt?”

“What blue shirt?” Scarlet looked down at her outfit of ripped up jeans and a cream-colored sweater.

Heather cocked her head. “The one I laid out on your bed yesterday and specifically called your ‘first-day-of-school’ shirt.”

“Oh, that one?” Scarlet said innocently. “I think it’s in a crumpled ball at the foot of my bed.”

Heather groaned in frustration. “Do I need to start inspecting your outfits in the morning before you leave for school?”

Scarlet scowled. “The blue shirt was way too tight. And low cut. Pieces of my body were falling out of it.” Scarlet thought about being in a Kristy and Aaron sandwich while wearing the blue shirt and shuddered.

“That’s the point.” Heather tossed her blond hair over her shoulder.

“You’re ridiculous,” Scarlet said.

“Yes,” Heather agreed. “But I’m also from this century. So you should trust me with your outfits. Besides, it would be a shame to let all those great clothes Laura bought you go to waste.”

When Laura first took Scarlet in, she’d bought Scarlet a stylish wardrobe. Much to the chagrin of both Laura and Heather, however, Scarlet preferred to spend her days wearing comfy jeans and T-shirts. She wasn’t a doll.

The thought of Laura reminded Scarlet of the weird suitcase incident.

Scarlet turned to Gabriel. “What do you know about Laura?”

He took a deep breath. “I know she’s a young executive at a European-based company called Corvus Technologies. I think she’s in charge of obtaining the chemicals and equipment needed for their tech products. She’s highly educated and has no criminal record.” He shrugged. “Tristan and I did a pretty thorough background check on her after she took you in. Why?”

Aw…the boys checked out her guardian? That was sweet.

And sort of intrusive.

“I don’t know.” Scarlet bit her lip. “I think something’s up with her. She was acting a little weird when she got home from her trip last week, like looking at my eyes and stuff.”

“Your eyes?” Gabriel asked.

“Yeah, like she was expecting them to flash or something.”

He furrowed his brow. “Are you sure?”

Scarlet nodded. “And this morning I heard her muttering about wrinkles and living forever.”

Heather pulled out a compact and checked her reflection in the small mirror. “Most people complain about aging, Scarlet. That’s normal.”

“Yeah.” Scarlet slowly shook her head as she closed her locker and turned around. “But she was also strange about her suitcase the other day.”

“Strange how?” Gabriel leaned against Scarlet’s closed locker.

“She wouldn’t let me touch it. And she clutched it to her chest when she went upstairs. Like it was valuable or something.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Maybe she bought something expensive while she was in Europe.”

“Or maybe she collects human heads.” Heather smiled, snapping the compact shut.

Scarlet frowned at Heather.

“It’s probably nothing.” Gabriel smiled reassuringly. “But if it will make you feel better, I’ll do some deeper digging on Laura. Sound good?”

Scarlet nodded. “Yeah. That would be good.”

She took a deep breath and waited for her nerves to calm.

They didn’t.