Monday was chilly, the dense gray clouds obscuring any sign of the sun's warming rays. I could taste the bitterness with each breath that I took and glared at the fun-loving students around me. How dare they be so happy? I felt like crap. It had been a long weekend and now, I was fighting a cold.
I pulled down my toque and stepped out of my car, stopping on the sidewalk to gaze at the front of the school with resentment. Maible texted me this morning to say she'd caught her brother's cold and asked if I would pick up her assignments. Right, well, thanks for sharing. Grimas felt less oppressive with her here, and I could already feel her absence as I made my lonely descent into the school.
The entire weekend had been dedicated to reading my mother's book, soaking up every detail that she'd felt was important enough to hide. I patted my bag at the thought to ensure that it was still secure, safe at the bottom of the large pocket. After reading it so much, the connection was almost tangible, and I couldn't leave it at the Manor.
I was so on edge that I'd bypassed the caffeine my body demanded in fear of being too jittery. My mother had been able to do things that nobody else could. I was worried that meant that I could, too. Never mind guessing—I knew I could. She'd told me that, and the fact that I would be more powerful than her and Devland. The depths of what she'd meant flooded me with trepidation, and I knew I had barely touched the surface. If I'd accepted my abilities before her death, perhaps I may have found the answers I was seeking now instead of fearing what was to come, alone and without guidance.
My. Life. Sucked.
Seriously, I'd even welcome Zachariah's help right now.
"Hey, Noreena!"
I pulled the collar of my jacket up, shrinking within so that the wind didn't blast me when I turned. I squinted across the parking lot and blew out a sigh of agitation as Calin approached. I wasn't sure whether his attention or the accelerated beat of my heart at seeing him irritated me more.
"Hey, wait up." He smiled, slowing his pace to match mine as I continued walking.
He was too good looking for his own good in dark jeans and a plain white t-shirt underneath a black fitted leather jacket, casually dressed in a way that looked like it would take hours to put together. I felt like a peasant in leggings and messy up-do peaking out of a dreary grey toque walking beside him. My red nose must have made me look like a Christmas cartoon and yet, he made no comment on my appearance.
I couldn't bring myself to look at him for fear that my true feelings might be evident. The last thing I wanted to do was give Duvessa extra ammunition to use against me in her vendetta. Even knowing this, my attraction towards him didn't falter. She couldn't fault me for wanting to make friends—and we were just friends.
"You look like you ate the worm." Okay, so maybe he had noticed. But did he have to verbalize it?
"What?" I stopped.
"The worm at the bottom of the bottle? Tequila? Never mind." Half his mouth lifted in humor that reached into and lit his eyes.
"Oh," I said and resumed walking. "I don't drink."
"You don't like me, do you?"
"Why would you think that?" I held my breath. I didn't not like him, which was the problem.
"You are always going out of your way to avoid me, you won't talk to me when I do catch you, and you look at me like I just kicked your family pet," he said, ticking off his fingers and staring towards the sky in mock indifference. "Why is that?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"Oh, yes, you do," he said, running ahead and then bending to make eye contact, and I had to stop mid-stride to avoid colliding with him.
"What do you want, Calin? We're going to be late." I tried to step around him, but he sidestepped to block me.
"We have a half hour until homeroom. What are you doing tonight?"
"Pardon me?" I asked, sure I'd heard him wrong.
"What are you doing tonight?"
"Why?"
"We should hang out."
"You can't be serious." I laughed. "You just told me that I don't like you. Why would you think that means we should hang out?"
"The first was an observation and the second is a suggestion." He shrugged with a smile. "You can't not like me if you don't know me. I deserve a chance, at least."
"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean you'll get one. I've reserved tonight for alone time. Just movies and vegging."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. I want to be alone," I said. "No offense."
"Well, I think that we should hang out before and after supper, and maybe even during, if you're feeling generous," he said. "It would be fun."
"I don't know." That was a plan, not a suggestion.
"Just think about it, okay?"
"Fine," I said with the hopes of ending the conversation. "I will... think about it."
"Okay, then." He smiled again, throwing his hand through his shaggy hair. "I will find you later for your answer."
"Bye," I said, ducking into homeroom. I couldn't shake the feeling that he had an ulterior motive for wanting to hang out with me. I was by no means his type if Duvessa was any indication. I was pretty sure that vindictive and bitch wasn't my style, though lately, I couldn't really tell who I was.
"Hey, Nora! What are you doing tonight?" Duvessa sneered from beside me as she made her way to her desk with her drones. "Oh-so-lonely without your new bestie? Don't worry, I'm sure the pound has a replacement frothing at the mouth for you."
"At least I can visit the pound without spreading rabies," I said without thinking. The rest of the early arrivals sucked in a collective breath of anticipation. Too late to back down. "Mind you, I heard that bitches like to stick together, so at least you'd be among friends."
"You little—"
"Good morning, class!" the teacher sang from the doorway.
I smiled at Duvessa in triumph and was the recipient of being flipped off in return.
She and her friends snickered at me before turning their attention to the teacher in front. Everyone but Duvessa, that was. She continued to glare at me. My stomach flipped at the attention. She was probably the reason Calin was asking me to hang out. It seemed too coincidental that he wanted to hang out and then she asked what I was doing minutes afterward. Should I trust him? Or had she overheard us talking and wanted me to think he was an ass so that I wouldn't want to hang out with him?
*****
I avoided Duvessa for the rest of the morning and chose to run laps at lunch. If I was going to be satisfied, I'd have to supplement what Grimas lacked with my own exercise regime. After just one lap around the outside track, I could feel my muscles rejecting the strain. I hadn't realized such a short time would make that much of a difference. My muscles felt like they hadn't been used in years.
I lost track of my thoughts listening to the irregular breath escaping into the cold air as it tried to catch up to my racing heart. All thoughts of my mother, the pranks, and magic dissipated with the sound of my feet against the pavement. Thoughts of Wickenton and the predicament I was in were no longer present.
The gloom of the morning had thickened throughout the day, the air heavy with unreleased condensation. I found myself welcoming the possibility of a thunderstorm. At this point, a storm may be just what I needed to lift my spirits.
"Hey, I've been looking for you." Calin fell into step beside me at the start of my second lap with his trademark grin. He was dressed in a black tracksuit, though if he was looking for me, I was curious to know how he'd found time to change. "I didn't realize that you liked to run."
I nodded and concentrated on putting one step in front of the other, suddenly self-conscious now in my black running pants and matching tank top that displayed my navel, even with a windbreaker to hide my body. I'd kept my hair off my face with a light blue headband, which looked like I'd grabbed it from a bad eighty's music video. After going so long without a strenuous work-out, I knew that the sweat was starting soak through my clothes, and I could barely breathe, let alone speak.
We ran two laps in silence. I was content despite the ability he had to trip me up when he came near. It was even more confusing because he didn't have any of characteristics that I imagined finding in someone who'd been able to date Duvessa. Calin was cocky, yeah, but he wasn't full of himself in the way that made you hate him.
"You do realize that this constitutes stalking, right?" I asked breathlessly.
"You could meet me halfway and I wouldn't have to stalk you," he said.
"Doubtful." I laughed.
"So, anyway," he said and slowed the pace. "Have you come to your senses enough to take me up on my offer?"
"Offer?" I looked at him sideways.
"You said that you would think about tonight?"
"Oh, right. No."
"No? Just like that?"
"No, I haven't thought about it." I slowed the pace more, the strain of talking taking its toll.
"I thought that you meant no, as in you don't want to." His laugh was forced, and for a moment, he looked as though he wasn't confident at all.
"I just haven't thought about it much," I lied. How could I tell him it had been on my mind since we talked this morning? "I really am looking forward to a solitary movie night."
"Maybe you could alter your plans just this once," he persisted. "In fact, maybe you should alter your plans just this once, you know? I think that maybe you need to be with someone this evening and, well, Maible isn't here." He shrugged and looked away.
"Why? Are you psychic or something? You can read my future?" I laughed, but he didn't say a word. I stopped and faced him in irritation, remembering what Maible had told me about his mother having visions. "So what? Your mom saw something about tonight and now you want to hang out?"
He remained silent. It was impossible to read what he was thinking, but it didn't stop me from trying to deduce what he'd meant. It frustrated me to know that something else was going to happen. When was it finally going to be enough?
I turned back to running around the track, slowing my stride into a cool-down until my heart returned to normal and my breathing slowed. I walked the last lap and he never left my side. Again, I was content in his company. He seemed to be able to calm me down just as efficiently as he could trip me up. The contradiction tore at me. He belonged to Duvessa, and if she saw us, her open hostility would escalate. I couldn't willingly pull that trigger, so I started walking off the field towards the change rooms.
"Noreena," Calin said, and his hand landed on my shoulder.
Again, his touch sent a shock of electricity down my body, and I shrugged out of his touch. "I will think about it, Calin. That's all I can promise."