Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 52

The moment we arrived at Grimas the next morning, I began looking for Calin. I couldn't help it. After hanging out, I realized he wasn't all that bad and being with Duvessa hadn't ruined him beyond repair. He had helped me, after all, though how much of that was for him rather than his mother I didn't quite know. I didn't care. He'd come to my defense, scoring major points towards the possibility of us being friends. Even Onyx liked him.

"What's up with you?" Maible asked with a sniffle and stepped up to my side, watching me. She was still sick but insisted she was well enough to come to school. She was too scared to miss homework, though all I'd dropped off to her were her texts and whatever notebooks she'd kept in her locker. Judging from the colossal size of her bag this morning, she'd lugged it all back.

My mom would have approved of her and her obsessive work ethic.

"Noreena?"

"Huh?" I turned to her and quickly back to scouring the crowds. "Oh, right. I'm, uh... I'm just looking for Calin."

"I thought you didn't want to be his friend?" She pulled a Kleenex from her pocket and blew her nose, followed by a gut-wrenching cough that sounded like a barking dog. "Ugh."

"You need to go home and get back into bed." I glanced pointedly to the parking lot and my car, totally willing to skip first period to drive her.

"Don't change the subject."

"Fine." I sighed. "Calin and I hung out last night at the Manor. I guess his mom told him it'd be a good idea to make sure that I had an alibi or something."

"Huh, that's interesting." She eyed me watchfully. "So why are you looking for him now? Are you friends?"

"I just want to know if a prank was pulled."

"I don't think you need Calin to figure that out." She began looking around in search of him. She pointed to the back of the parking lot where he was stepping out of his car, a black Mustang that shone with a recent waxing. "Oh, there he—"

I turned in the direction she was pointing just as Duvessa found Calin, launching herself into his arms. I sighed and twisted back around as he set her down. I didn't want to watch them together but wasn't ready to name the emotions I felt about it. If I was smart, I'd push all thoughts of him from my mind and suppress the feelings he evoked.

"It was dumb. Let's just go inside, okay?"

"But he's—"

"Let's go inside," I repeated and began walking, dismissing her protests and giving her no choice but to follow. With just one hug, my feelings for Calin had reverted to their original form.

"You should give him the benefit of the doubt, you know," she wheezed once she'd caught up.

I slowed my pace so that she wouldn't have to exert herself, hoping we were far enough so Calin couldn't catch up. "I already did, Maible. He's nice enough, but I can't get past the whole Duvessa thing. Last night was a mistake, and I wish it had never happened." I opened the glass door at the front of the school and held it open. "Let's not talk about it anymore and just figure out if a prank was pulled."

She opened her mouth to say something and sneezed again, proving that the conversation was ill-advised—at least as far as I was concerned, it was a sign that we shouldn't talk about it. I mean, there was nothing to talk about. He'd come over, we'd had a decent enough time, and now he was back to being Duvessa's whipping boy. Sure, it'd been fun, and the guy I'd spent the evening with would never have been with the witch in the first place, but what could I do?

I grabbed Maible by the shoulders and steered her away from the cold draft of air swooping in as the doors were opened and closed with students trickling in for class. I turned her into the room just beside the main office, clearly marked 'School Nurse'. It didn't matter what she said—I'd even admit and use my abilities if she fought me—she was too sick to go to class. All she'd accomplish by being as stubborn as me was making everyone else around her sick.