Intertwined

CHAPTER 11

Inside his bedroom, Aden couldn’t stop yawning. He glanced at his bed with longing. He had to sleep soon or he was likely to pass out somewhere in public. But there was no time to rest. He’d stayed out so long he only had a little time before he had to leave for school. His gaze swung to his mirror. His eyes were red and burning, his eyelids heavy. Didn’t help that one was blackened from his fight with Ozzie.

At least his lip was healed. Victoria’s touch had worked wonders.

He grinned, remembering. He wanted her mouth on him again. Only this time he wanted her to linger. Wanted her to wind her arms around his neck, to shift her head so that her tongue flicked inside rather than outside.

What are you thinking about? Eve asked. I can feel our blood pressure rising.

“Nothing,” he muttered, embarrassed.

He showered and dressed and gave himself a once-over. Thankfully, after a few washings, the writing on his T-shirts had faded. That didn’t lessen his pleasure over punching Ozzie for it.

When he entered the hall, Ozzie was waiting for him. One of his eyes was swollen shut, his lip was cut and a lump the size of a golf ball jutted from the side of his jaw.

“Say a word about what happened,” he hissed. “I dare you.”

Victoria had kept her promise, then, and returned his memory. Well, probably not about her or what she’d done to Casey. “I’m not afraid of you.” He grinned and leaned down as if he had a secret to share. “You couldn’t win a fight against a sleeping toddler.”

Ozzie’s mouth floundered open and closed.

“And anyway, we’ll have to tell Dan we fought. There’s no way around that.” Because there was no way Dan would miss their wounds. “We just won’t tell him why, when or where it happened.”

“And the…stuff?” Ozzie spoke from the side of his mouth, gaze zooming down the hall to ensure the bedroom doors were closed and no one could hear. “About Casey?”

“I don’t plan to say anything.” Ozzie relaxed—until he added, “Unless you mess with me again. Then I have a feeling every little detail will come spilling out. Understand?” Aden didn’t mind blackmailing the dreg. He was tired of being pushed around, abused, and being unable to do anything about it for fear of being sent away.

Ozzie cursed under his breath. “You even think about narcing and I swear to God, you’ll regret it.” He whipped a steak knife from his back pocket, one he’d obviously stolen from Dan’s kitchen, and waved it in front of Aden’s nose. “Do you understand?”

Aden rolled his eyes, bent down and withdrew one of his daggers. It was bigger and sharper, specks of corpse blood staining the silver. “What I understand is that I could slice you to ribbons. You have no idea how mental I can actually be.”

Speechless once again, Ozzie backtracked into his room and slammed the door shut.

Oh, I’m so proud. Eve sounded like a beaming mother. You stood up for yourself without endangering your circumstances.

Way to go, Ad! Caleb said. We need to celebrate. With girls!

I wish you could have at least punched him again, Julian said. I hate that kid.

Don’t encourage him, Elijah replied. We don’t want him in jail. Believe me.

Did Elijah remember being in jail in a past life or had he seen Aden in jail and knew how terrible it would be for them?

There was no time to ask. Shannon peeked his head out of his door, probably wondering what the noise was about. He surprised Aden by entering the hallway.

“H-here.” He handed him a stack of papers. “Ozzie came in l-last night and told me he was going to t-take these. I snuck in first and took them myself.”

His English paper, which was due today. Aden hadn’t even realized it was gone. All the work he’d put into it…if Ozzie had succeeded, he would have received an F. He popped his jaw, wishing he had punched the dreg again.

“Thanks.”

Shannon nodded. “Owed you. For—” His gaze fell to Aden’s shirt. “Y-you know.”

When he turned, intending to head off, Aden grabbed his arm. “Wait. You’ve hardly spoken to me all week, but you just saved me from being kicked out of school. What gives?”

A muscle ticked in Shannon’s jaw. He ripped free of Aden’s grip, but he didn’t race off.

“You might as well tell me now. I’ll just hound you till you cave. In the forest. At school. After school. During chores—”

“Th-that day in the forest,” was the growled response. “You were right behind me, man. Then those k-kids showed up and you took off, leaving me on my own. I know we haven’t always been the b-best of friends, but we had reached a t-truce.”

“So you really were in a fight?”

Another nod, this one stiff.

Shannon wasn’t the werewolf, then. That left…who? Victoria’s bodyguard, maybe? No. Couldn’t be. Victoria thought werewolves were vicious. She wouldn’t want to be guarded by one.

Aden thought of everyone else he knew with green eyes. A lot of names came up. What if, when a human shifted into werewolf form, his eyes changed color? Aden was living proof that eyes could change hues in the blink of, well, an eye. If that was true, anyone could be the werewolf.

“I’m sorry,” he told Shannon, realizing the dreg was waiting for his response. “I didn’t know you were ambushed. I didn’t see the guys. If I had, I would have stayed with you. Maybe. I mean, I heard Mary Ann scream and rushed to see what was wrong.”

“She okay?”

“Now she is.” He hoped. Somehow, some way, he had to corner her today and force her to talk to him. “So what made you decide to forgive me for bailing on you?”

“Hard to be m-mad at the guy who kicked Ozzie’s ass.”

They shared a grin, then gathered their sack lunches from the counter beside the front door where Mrs. Reeves always left them.

Shannon can’t be the werewolf, Julian said. He did you a favor. The wolf would have chewed the paper up, spit it at you and laughed.

Then lit you both on fire, Caleb added.

Since Aden hadn’t spoken his thoughts about this very subject aloud, they couldn’t know that he’d already reasoned this out.

Unless this is a trick to throw you off, Elijah said thoughtfully.

Not a trick, he wanted to say, because he didn’t want to believe it. His life finally seemed to be on the right track. He’d ruin that himself if he allowed suspicions to poison him. After all, suspicions led to paranoia, and paranoia was classic schizophrenic behavior. He’d be gift-wrapping his doctors’ diagnosis when he’d been struggling so valiantly to disprove it.

He has enough to think about, boys, Eve said, probably sensing the intensity of his thoughts. Let’s give him some peace this morning.

Yes, Eve, everyone said at the same time Shannon said, “You need a good story for your f-face or you’ll get kicked out. And maybe don’t bring up Ozzie. Do, and h-he’ll have the others plan a sneak attack.”

Took Aden a moment to sort through the voices and pick out what Shannon had uttered. See? The guy hadn’t been faking his gesture of friendship; he was still trying to make things better.

“I can’t leave Ozzie out of it because Ozzie has the same beat-up face that I do. We deny it, and Dan’ll know we’re lying. We’ll be in worse trouble.”

“Maybe you’ll get to put it off. Maybe he’s gone.” Some mornings Dan was up doing chores, but a few lucky mornings, he slept in or was off running errands.

For the first time since starting school, they headed outside together. The air was cool, the sky overcast. Dan was at the truck, about to open the door when he spotted Aden and froze. As if Aden were cursed, the sun broke through a wall of clouds and spotlighted him, seeming brighter than ever. He had to blink against it, his injured eye burning and tearing. Guess he wouldn’t be putting off the conversation, after all.

“Where’d you get the bruises, Aden?” Dan only used that hard tone when he was fighting his anger.

Here goes. He squared his shoulders, even as his stomach clenched painfully. “Ozzie and I had a little disagreement. We’re over it, and we’re sorry.” Short, sweet and honest.

Dan stomped around the truck, bearing down on him. “You know better than to resort to physical violence, no matter the problem. That’s one of the reasons you’re here, to get a handle on your violent tendencies.”

“This was a one-time thing and won’t happen again.”

“I’ve heard that before.” The big guy scrubbed a hand down his face, some of the stiffness leaving him. “I can’t believe you did this. I get you into public school, I buy you clothes, make sure you’re fed. All I ask is that you get along.”

His companions started screaming inside his head, trying to tell him what to say. Loud as they currently were, he heard only a jumble of indistinguishable words. “We made a mistake. We learned from it. Isn’t that what’s important?” Hopefully, that fit.

Dan worked his jaw. “Doesn’t matter if you learned something or not. Actions have consequences. I have to punish you. You know that, too, right?”

“Punish me?” That, Aden heard. He tossed up his arms, his irritation boiling over with the same potency his rage had boiled over last night. “It’s not like you’re perfect, Dan. It’s not like you haven’t made mistakes.”

His caregiver’s eyes narrowed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Don’t do it, each of his companions shouted in unison. No mistaking their meaning this time.

“You know,” he said anyway. “You and Ms. Killerman.”

Now his companions moaned.

Dan’s mouth fell open. He stared at Aden in silence for several moments, the time ticking away in tune to the crickets’ chirps. Finally, his gaze shot to Shannon. “Get in the truck. I’ll drive you to school.” His tone was no longer hard or upset, but flat. No emotion.

Shannon hesitated only a moment, his expression sympathetic, before obeying.

Dan crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know how you learned about Ms. Killerman or what you think you know, but I assure you, I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of. Because that’s what you’re getting at, isn’t it?”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets and nodded, the action tentative. He’d started this; he would see it through.

“Well, you’re wrong. I flirt with her solely for the sake of you boys, and Meg is very aware of it. Sometimes she’s even in the same room while I’m doing it because it’s the only way I can stomach what I have to say and hear. But I do it because it keeps you boys here when you should be pulled in for violence. Or drugs. Or theft. Or any number of other things. I do it because your requests are processed before anyone else’s. How do you think you got into public school so quickly?”

“I–I—”

Dan wasn’t done. “At first, I couldn’t believe I’d called her and asked her to make it happen. But then I remembered your disappointment when I told you it wasn’t going to happen. So I called her again and asked her to hurry things along. And you know what? She did. Do you think she does that for everyone? She had to get state and school approval. She had to fight the powers that be. I had to fight.”

Guilt, white-hot and laced with acid, swept through him. He’d judged and condemned Dan without all the facts. Something that had been done to him time and time again. Something he’d sworn never to do to others. As honest and forthright as Dan was, he should have known better.

“Dan,” he began, tortured.

“Appearances are often deceiving, Aden,” Dan said softly. “Next time you think poorly of me, I hope you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt. Come to me, talk to me.”

“I will. And I’m sorry I didn’t this time.” He raised his chin and met Dan’s stare. “I just hope you’ll do the same for me. Give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Dan crossed his arms over his chest, another of those long silences taking hold. What was going through his head, Aden didn’t know. Whatever it was, though, caused his expression to change from suspicion to chagrin and finally to acceptance.

“Get in the truck,” Dan said gruffly.

Get in the—what? Did that mean…was he…

“Am I pretending the fight never happened? Yeah. I’ve been where you are, and I know what it’s like to be judged and convicted when you’re innocent. So I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and trusting that you did what you did for a reason. But it better not happen again. Now, don’t just stand there. Move, move, move. You don’t want to be late for first period.”

Aden couldn’t help himself. He threw himself at Dan and gave a quick squeeze. Dan grunted and mussed his hair, and Aden grinned before jumping into the truck.

When they reached the school parking lot, Aden saw that Mary Ann was waiting at the double doors, watching the woods expectantly. For him? He wanted to believe it, but as many times as she’d run from him after school…

The moment the truck reached the drop-off lane, easing forward, that swift, jolting wind cut through him, straight into his chest. The souls groaned, disappearing into their black void. Aden’s guilt returned, although for a different reason. They had helped him get into this school and endured the pain of the darkness so that he could find them a way out, bodies of their own. So far, he hadn’t done anything to keep his part of the bargain.

That would change. Today. He’d already decided to force Mary Ann to talk to him, hoping to learn what was going on inside her head, but now, he’d take it a step further. He would reveal the rest of his abilities—no matter how he feared she would react—and find out how she sent the souls away.

He studied her more closely. She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept in days, and there were shadows under her eyes. A frown pulled at the corners of her lips. Usually she was bubbling over with energy, had a smile for everyone.

Mary Ann’s frown became a scowl as her friend Penny approached. Penny looked worse than Mary Ann, her face swollen as if she’d been crying. Mary Ann said something, head shaking violently. Penny grabbed her hand. Mary Ann ripped it away and disappeared inside the building.

What had that been about?

The truck stopped at the curb. “Behave, boys. And Aden, do not resort to violence again. We clear?”

“Absolutely. And…thank you.”

Dan nodded, offered him a half smile. “See you later.”

Aden and Shannon slid outside and once again walked together as they entered the building. Aden couldn’t deny that he liked having someone at his side. Someone who might also watch his back.

“Y-you wanna have lunch together?” Shannon asked him.

“Aw, how sweet,” a nearby voice sneered. Tucker’s voice. Aden recognized it, hated it. Every time Mary Ann was out of range, Tucker had called him names, tripped him or thrown paper wads at him. “Sounds like Stutter and Crazy are dating now.”

A wave of laughter swept the hall.

Aden ground his teeth. He ignored the jock—no more violence, no more violence, no more freaking violence—and said to Shannon, “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.”

Shannon gave a barely discernible nod, his gaze falling to the floor, his cheeks pinkening, and was off to his first class.

Tucker slammed into Aden’s shoulder as he walked by, knocking his backpack to the floor.

“Watch it,” the jock growled, then stopped and whistled, losing all traces of his anger as he studied Aden’s battered face. “Well, well, well. Someone must have been a naughty boy to have gotten such a spanking.”

How could Mary Ann stand this guy? He was like a pile of manure hidden in a shiny box.

Without a word, Aden picked up his bag and stalked off.

“That’s right. Run away, coward,” Tucker called smugly.

He could feel hundreds of eyes on him, watching, judging, maybe even pitying. They thought he was afraid of Tucker. He hated that, but couldn’t set them straight. Not just because he had to avoid violence of every kind—and that’s what would happen if he challenged Tucker, bloody, gruesome violence—but because of Mary Ann. She might not like it if he ground her boyfriend’s face into powder.

Bottling his anger cost him, though. He barely made it through his first class. For some reason, Mary Ann wasn’t there. He wished he could follow her lead. He almost stomped from the room a thousand times, his nerves too raw to deal with the lecture and the students. The souls were once again chattering in his mind, trying to comfort him but their voices were only growing in intensity, blending with everyone around him and finally culminating into a roar.

Of course, that’s when Mr. Klein pointed to him and asked him a question. He couldn’t decipher the words, much less form a coherent reply, so Mr. Klein decided to make an example of him and his inattention and had him stand beside his desk the entire class.

If one more person snickered at him, he was going to snap.

His second and third classes weren’t much better. The second, geometry, should have been pleasant, since he had that with Mary Ann, as well, but once again she wasn’t there. Had she left? Plus, there was a new kid who’d taken the open desk beside Aden and prattled on the entire hour. New himself, Aden sympathized with the need for a friend—but God, he needed a moment of peace.

“You better stop,” Aden whispered midway through the class. “You’ll get in trouble, and you don’t want to be on Ms. Carrington’s bad side. I hear she bites, and not the good way.”

“No worries, bro. No one cares what I do.” New Kid smiled. He had shaggy blond hair that kept falling into his eyes.

His skin seemed to absorb the room’s light, sparkling. Aden had seen that sparkle before, on someone else. But who—the old lady at the shopping center. That’s right. And just like the old lady, this kid made the fine hairs on Aden’s body stand at attention.

“I’m John O’Conner, by the way. And yeah, I’m highly aware that my name is similar to the guy in Terminator. It was my mom’s favorite movie.”

“Aden Stone.”

“Listen, have you seen Chloe Howard around the halls? A brunette with braces, lots of freckles. Very pretty.”

“No.” He’d been too preoccupied with his own brunettes to notice others. He tried to keep his gaze focused on the head of the class. That didn’t discourage John.

“Oh, man. You are missing out. But that’s okay. You have the rest of the day to hunt her down and—”

“Mr. Stone.” A palm slapped onto the teacher’s desk, rattling the coffee mug resting there. “Would you like to explain vectors yourself or should I continue?”

He sunk low in his seat as everyone spun in their chairs to face him. “You should continue.” Why wasn’t John in trouble?

She held his stare for a moment more before nodding with satisfaction and launching back into her lecture.

“Have lunch with me,” John told him. “I don’t want to sit alone, and I want to tell you about Chloe.”

“Fine,” he whispered, just wanting the conversation to end. And maybe talking to the guy at lunch would lead to a revelation about that glittery skin and those electrical charges that pulsed from his body. “I’ll wait for you by the cafeteria doors.”

“Sweet.”

Finally. Silence.

All through third period he wondered about Mary Ann, where she’d gone, what she was doing. When the bell rang, he grabbed his stuff and headed for the door, unsure of what to do. He was meeting Shannon—and now John—for lunch, so he couldn’t leave and walk to her house to see if she was there.

He’d memorized her number. Maybe the receptionist in the office would let him use the phone and call her. Except…

That now familiar gust of wind hit him in the chest, and he stopped short.

Mary Ann had to be nearby.

He looked down the hall—and there she was, rushing toward him. The intensity of his relief was staggering.

“Aden,” she called.

She halted just in front of him, panting a little, shifting restlessly from one foot to the other. “Aden,” she repeated more quietly. She offered him a hesitant smile, as if she was unsure of her welcome.

“So now you’re talking to me again?” Aden couldn’t help but ask. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

Her smile fell. “What do you mean? I wasn’t avoiding you. At lunch, you avoided me.”

“You kept taking off after school,” he reminded her. “I would approach you and you would run.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…that wasn’t what I…oh, I’m making a mess of this. But I promise you misunderstood my intentions. You’re my friend and, well, I need to talk to you.” Her gaze darted to the kids shuffling around them. “Now isn’t the time to explain, though.”

A misunderstanding. Thank God. He was new at this friend thing and clearly had a lot to learn. “What are you doing here? Why weren’t you in first or second period?”

“To answer your second question, I, well, ditched.” She chewed her bottom lip. “To answer your first, I’m stopping you from running off to wherever it is you usually go at lunch.”

He didn’t tell her he’d already had to change his plans. “Walk me to my locker,” he said, and she nodded. They kept pace beside each other.

“So where do you go at lunch?” she asked, still seeming nervous.

“I sneak off campus and search the forest for the…” His gaze circled the crowd pointedly. “You know.”

Her jaw dropped. “You do? Why? And Aden, that’s not good for you. You need to eat.”

“No worries. Dan’s wife packs me a lunch every morning. I take it with me and eat in the woods.”

“Oh.”

Kids still buzzed around them and lockers slammed shut.

“You don’t need to do that,” she said. “Look for Wolf, I mean. He and I have talked.”

First came surprise. Then anger. Then fear. “I told you to stay away from him, Mary Ann. You’re lucky to be alive. A…friend of mine told me wolves like that are vicious killers.”

The color in her face drained, and her hand fluttered to her throat. “What friend? Someone else knows about what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry. She’s not a…human,” he whispered.

Mary Ann’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? What is she?”

Should he tell her or shouldn’t he? Only a brief struggle was required to reach a decision. He needed her help. Therefore, she needed all the information he could give her, even about Victoria.

Keeping his voice low, he said, “My friend, she’s a vampire. And a princess,” he added. That fact didn’t bother him, not anymore, but it still managed to stun him. He was dating a princess. Well, he hoped they were dating.

Mary Ann didn’t laugh at him. Didn’t tell him he had an overactive imagination and walk away. She gulped and nodded. “You mentioned vampires before but I didn’t, I mean, I didn’t think you actually knew one.” She rubbed her neck, as if she could already feel fangs sinking into her vein. “How did you meet her?”

A group of giggling girls passed him, once again reminding him of their potential audience. “I’ll tell you everything, just not while we’ve got ears all around us. Right now, I need you to promise to stay away from that animal. Besides wanting to kill me, there’s something off about him. I shouldn’t have been able to…you know that day.”

Her brow scrunched as she peered up at him through the thick shield of her lashes. “I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“Possess him.”

“Oh. Why not?”

“When I’m with you my abilities stop working. But that day in the forest, every single one of them worked perfectly. Has to be because of him. He was the only variable.”

“First, I still want to know what those other abilities are. Second, Wolf isn’t dangerous. Not to me, at least. I think he likes me. He’s walked me to school every morning and home every afternoon.” Again she chewed on her bottom lip, and he realized it was a nervous gesture of hers. She drew her arms around her middle. “He’s softening toward you, I just know it.”

So said the girl who had a very good chance of being on the morning news one day, her body mangled and riddled with teeth marks.

He couldn’t believe he’d spent so much time worrying about her, thinking she wanted nothing to do with him, and she’d merely been playing with a wolf as though it was a pet.

“Is he why you’ve run from me every day after school?”

Her cheeks flushed. “Yes, but please don’t be mad,” she said. “I can’t seem to help myself. I’m…drawn to him.”

That, he understood, even as it worried him. Victoria drew him, too.

They reached Aden’s locker and he worked the combination. “I’m sure Tucker will love that you’re crushing on someone else. Especially an animal.”

“Hey!” She slapped his shoulder. “He’s not an animal. Not all the time. Not that he’s shown me his human form,” she muttered. “And besides, it doesn’t matter if Tucker likes it or not. We’re over.”

Aden stilled for a single heartbeat, books frozen midair, unsure he’d heard correctly. “Really? You’re broken up?”

She nodded, the blush in her cheeks deepening. “No question. He slept with Penny.”

“Ah.” He dropped his books inside and slammed the door shut. “That’s what you were so upset about this morning.”

“Wouldn’t you be? They betrayed me, then acted as if nothing had ever happened.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not surprised they kept it quiet, though. No one likes to broadcast their mistakes.”

“Ugh. You sound just like Wo—” She waved a hand through the air, expression pinched. “Never mind.”

Her wolf? Sounding just like a vicious killer was not a compliment. Maybe he needed to, like, get in touch with his feelings or something. Act sensitive. “You’re better off, you know. Tucker is an…”

“Ass?” she said, and they both laughed.

“Yeah. An ass.”

“I agree.” She released a shuddering breath as she tugged him forward. “Come on.” They walked several steps before she picked up the conversation where it had left off. “If all we’ve got to look forward to is disloyalty and treachery, why do we even make friends?”

He hated that her usual optimism was gone. “Again, human nature. Hoping for the best is what drives us.”

“Now you sound like my dad,” she grumbled.

“Well, then, he’s clearly a genius.”

Mary Ann laughed.

The cafeteria doors came into view. Any minute now, they’d be joined by Shannon and John O’Conner. He pulled Mary Ann aside and peered down at her, a sense of urgency overtaking him. “I need to talk to you.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, sobering.

“Please don’t take off after school without me. Find a way to get rid of the wolf. There’s so much I need to tell you. Not just about the vampire, but about me. There’s something I need your help with.”

She reached up and squeezed his forearm. “Whatever it is, I’ll help you any way I can. I hope you know that.”

So easy, and so swift. He had to fight the urge to hug her, and it had nothing to do with his ability or her ability but everything to do with her. With how great she was.

With all the people who had cut him loose over the years, part of him had expected her to balk. “All last week I thought you were frightened of me, that you wanted nothing to do with me. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how you’d react today.”

“Oh, Aden. I truly am sorry about that. I should have told you what I was doing, but I was afraid you’d try to protect me and end up hurt.” Those white teeth emerged and she started chewing on her lip again. “And if you’d gotten hurt because of me, well, the guilt would have killed me.”

He smiled slowly, relieved, and she returned the smile with one of her own.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I promised Shannon I’d eat with him,” he said. “Oh, and I told this really talkative new kid that he could join us. I’m supposed to wait by the doors.”

“A new kid?” Her brow puckered. “I hadn’t heard we’d gotten another.”

“Yeah, just today. His name’s John O’Conner and he—”

“Wait. What?” Her nose wrinkled in bewilderment. “Did you say John…O’Conner?”

“Yeah, why?”

Rather than answer, she said, “Describe him to me.”

O-kay. “Blond hair, brown eyes and his skin looks like he slathered himself with glitter. It’s really weird.”

Her frown deepened. “Except for the glitter thing, that sounds like the John I knew. But someone was clearly playing a joke on you, because John died of a drug overdose last year.”

Aden massaged the back of his neck, his muscles knotting in anger. “A joke.”

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to punch the wall as he imagined the laugh everyone was probably having at his expense. “Shannon’s somewhere inside,” he said stiffly.

Mary Ann regarded him with sympathy before leading him to the cafeteria.

A few minutes later, he found himself parked at a table with Mary Ann and Shannon. Though they were the only three in that particular section, kids occupied the tables around them, just as he’d seen in movies.

He was very aware of Penny, staring wistfully at Mary Ann, and Tucker, glaring from Mary Ann to Aden with loathing. Shannon kept his head bowed, and Mary Ann kept up a strained, meaningless chatter. Aden looked for “John,” but never caught sight of him. No one seemed to be laughing at him, either, so he was able to relax. A little.

Overall, it was an uncomfortable ordeal. He much preferred the isolation of the forest, and that surprised him. How many hours had he spent daydreaming about friends and normalcy? But maybe, in the woods, he would have found Victoria. If only.

Finally the bell rang, signaling it was time to head to their next class. Chairs were scooted back, footsteps began to pound.

“W-wait for me after school,” Shannon said to him. “We can all walk home together.”

Aden met Mary Ann’s gaze. She’d been rendered immobile, half sitting, half standing. Panic flittered through her eyes. After school, she was supposed to lose the wolf so they could talk.

Shannon must have caught the tension-filled undercurrents, because he said, “N-never mind,” and tried to shuffle away.

Sensitive as she obviously was to others’ feelings, Mary Ann pasted a grin on her face and grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “Walking home together sounds great. I was just trying to remember if I’d told my dad to pick me up or not.”

“Oh. Okay.” Shannon’s posture relaxed.

“See you then,” Aden said, trying to mask his disappointment, and strode to his next class. Looked like his talk with Mary Ann would have to be postponed. Again. They couldn’t spill secrets with an audience present.

Would they be able to talk in the morning? Or would something stop them then, too? And tomorrow after school was out; Shannon would probably want to walk with them again. At this rate, they’d never have a single moment of privacy. Unless…he could tell her everything without ever having to speak a word.

Determined, he used his next three classes to write. About himself, his past, the things he’d done, the things he’d witnessed and the things he needed from Mary Ann. He didn’t skimp on the details, didn’t try to paint himself in a more favorable light. He wanted her to know the truth.

I have a bad feeling about this, Elijah said when he finished.

Aden groaned. Not another one. But it didn’t matter; he wouldn’t let it matter. He was still giving Mary Ann the note. What happened after that would be up to her.