MOON SHADOW

CHAPTER FOUR

Lilah jumped in surprise, looking at Arianelle with confusion. She had slammed her locker shut abruptly, eyes wide as her head snapped towards Lilah.

"Wait, Roman Bancroft?" Arianelle asked, emphasizing his name as she got closer to Lilah.

Lilah merely nodded, grabbing Arianelle's shoulders and pushing her back slightly.

"And why the hell is Roman Bancroft my dance partner? Not that I'm objecting, but Roman Bancroft?"

"Can you stop saying his name like that?" pleaded Lilah, lightly smacking her friend's arm.

"I can't help it!" responded Arianelle closing her locker. "He's just so... so..."

"Mysterious and desirable and accented?" finished Lilah in a drawn out voice when her friend seemed to have forgotten how to speak.

"So you agree?"

"No!" replied Lilah, her face contorting in disgust. "I'm just saying all the things I've heard you say about him. This really isn't a big deal."

Arianelle linked her arm through Lilah's, the two of them walking in the direction of the small gym.

"This is so a big deal!" argued Arianelle. "And out of the blue! I mean, when Jeremiah mentioned seeing you two together this morning, I didn't think too much of it—"

"Jeremiah talked to you about seeing me and Roman together this morning?" Lilah questioned, only to be ignored as Arianelle kept rambling.

"I mean, Roman never talks to any of us despite being on the team with all of our friends, and he's always with Cora Nguyen—"

"You know who Cora is?"

"I know of her. Have you seen her? She's gorgeous," Arianelle said in a breathy tone, a grin on her face.

Lilah chuckled, shaking her head at the fawning Arianelle was doing over Roman and Cora. A day ago, Roman Bancroft was just some basketball player that kept to himself, and Cora Nguyen was someone she didn't even know. Now, one of them was her self-assigned bodyguard, and the other was a part of the same mythical Goddess line as Lilah.

Even in my head that sounds insane, Lilah said to herself, rolling her eyes at the revelation.

"But seriously! When did this friendship even blossom?" Arianelle wondered.

"It's recent," shrugged Lilah.

Yeah, like this morning recent.

"But you trust him enough to ask him to be one of your Roses?" inquired Arianelle.

Lilah paused for a second, thinking about to what extent she trusted Roman with.

"I guess you could say I trust that boy with my life."

≫ ──── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ──── ≪

From just past the open door to the gym, the girls could hear the sound of sneakers squeaking against the floor and the loud thuds of thumping basketballs.

"My cheer practice isn't until six, so I just need to be back at school before then," Arianelle reminded Lilah as they walked inside searching for the dirty blonde Australian.

Some of the players paused, looking at the two girls who just walked into their practice. Jeremiah caught his basketball, holding it under his arm against his hips, sending his best friends a raised eyebrow.

Lilah scanned the group of boys, not even looking for Roman. She wondered if someone else would be there.

"Aw crap," Rafael, one of the boys on her court, groaned at the sight of Lilah, guilt dripping from his voice. "Did we forget that there's practice today? I thought it was just Wednesday."