The truth in his question warmed my insides. Yes, he would, and Penny would be the look out. My friends were the best, unlike some people. My attention drifted to Dillan just as he reached the exit. As if he felt my gaze, he returned my curiosity with a glare that held a combination of confusion and annoyance, like I disgusted him in some way. The guy really got on my nerves.
Chapter Five
Dillan
Cogito ergo…sort of
By the end of his first day in school, Dillan was ready to punch someone. That wide berth the students had given him didn’t last long. Apparently, eating lunch with the popular kids opened a door he wanted kept tightly shut. Instead of flying under the radar, he was in everyone’s sights. He couldn’t walk down a stupid hallway or pass by an open classroom without being molested with questions. The guys, he chalked up to curiosity, sizing up the competition. But the girls. Jesus. An entire succubus population in one school? They made him feel like fresh meat ready for the taking.
He only went along with the popular hangout at lunch so he could keep an eye on the girl. She baffled the hell out of him. Selena Fallon. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. About the electricity their contact created. Damn Rainer for even suggesting blending in, and he damned himself twice over for impulsively thinking she was more than ordinary. She spent the entire time with her friends. Touching them casually, no electric shocks passed from her to them. Nothing suspicious at all. Still, he stayed until the end of lunch.
It soon reached him that someone had Googled him. All anyone asked him was if he had really dated Taylor Swift. He knew visiting the siren to settle a dispute between her and a current lover would one day bite him on the ass. He fucking hated the Internet and the lies it spread. But the Illumenari loved it that way. Create a lie here to keep the humans from figuring out the truth there. This allowed the Supernaturals to hide in plain sight. Convenient, but still annoying.
One thing he knew for sure, he’d rather get a root canal than spend another day in Newcastle High.
Feeling the hallways closing in on him, he ducked into the nearest bathroom and stumbled to the sink. He stared into the mirror, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. The girl from this morning—blue lips, pale cheeks, wavy hair—reflected back at him. A cold sweat dotted his brow from the effort to stay calm. Shit. He closed his eyes for a count of ten then opened them again.
She was gone.
Great. Just great. To top off his stint in the circle of hell Dante left out of Inferno, a ghost from his past haunted him. Guilt for what had happened already ate at his insides every second he thought of her. He didn’t need to see her, too!
He flicked the tap up, cupped his hands under the stream, and watched them fill up. That was when his stomach twisted violently. He let the water fall back into the sink and ran for the nearest stall.
After losing what little lunch he’d managed swallow, he stumbled his way back to the sink. First he washed out the bitter stomach acid coating his mouth then splashed cold water on his face in a lame attempt to wash away his failure. Suddenly more tired than he’d initially thought, he lifted his shirt and dried himself. With shaking hands, he leaned against the sink. The water swirled clockwise. Ice settled in his chest with every inhale, numbing his insides. He pushed the tap down and punched the wall.
Tile clattered to the floor. The pain was quick, enough to remind him where he was and what he’d done to deserve this. He studied the back of his hand. No blood. No broken knuckles. For a second, he wished he’d broken the skin.
As his hand tingled from the beginnings of bruised knuckles, he turned on his heel and walked out of the bathroom. He needed a distraction, and only one person could give it to him. Down the hall to the right, he strode into Rainer’s classroom, not bothering to knock. Screw manners.
His uncle hunched over his desk, hiding behind paper towers. Dillan stopped and stared, his eyebrow shooting up. Rainer reached for a sheet at the top of one stack, not acknowledging his presence. In the process, he elbowed the column to his right.
He smirked while his uncle scramble to grab at the pile before the whole thing came crashing down, only missing one. It wedged itself between the floor and his boot. How could Rainer leave the Illumenari for a soul-sucking job like teaching?
“I don’t understand why you insist on wearing your hair like that,” he finally said without looking up, busily rearranging his towers. “You look like a reject from the Village People.”
Dillan tilted his head. “The what?”
The pen flew across each page again, making the paper bleed mercilessly. “Figures you wouldn’t know who they are.”
“Figures you would, Granpa. And don’t insult the hair. It’s the only way I know how to keep it out of my face without getting a buzz cut.”
“Do you mind?” His uncle pointed at his boot with the pen.
He bent down and snatched the quiz. A groan left his lips. Think of the devil, and she appears. Couldn’t he get away from her for more than a few minutes?
“You have to tell me who Selena Fallon is,” he said, handing over the sheet.
“Why the sudden interest in her? Finally making friends?”
“Uh, maybe because she shocked me when we shook hands this morning and now there’s this invisible string that’s tying me to her? And hell no to the friends part.”
“That’s stupid.” Rainer tapped the stack he’d finished grading. “You’re imagining things.”
“Don’t go all Area 51 on me.” He stared at his open hand. “I know what I felt. It’s like touching a security fence. Then I started feeling strange shit.”
“Like what kind of strange shit?”
“I don’t know.” He crossed his arms. “At first, I wanted to push her away, like she disgusted me. Then when she looked down at me with those aquamarine…who the hell has aqua eyes anyway? It’s like I need to be where she is, like what’s repelling me from her is pulling me in, too. When she’s not there, thinking of her makes me want to find her. That’s just jacked up!”
“That’s called being a teenager. Hormones. Maybe you just have a crush on her.”
Oh, now he wanted to punch his uncle’s lights out even if it would mean his death afterwards. The satisfaction of giving him a shiner… “This is not love at first sight or some stupid crap like that. I’m telling you, it has something to do with that electric shock contact with her produced.”
“Did you test this out? Touch her again?”
“No.” His face fell. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
“It’s possible this is just a side effect of your demotion. You’re jonesing for your powers, and it’s making you loopy.”
“This damn school is making me loopy.” He tore his fingers through his hair. “Come on, Rainer, if you insist on making me stay here, you have to give me something to do.”
In a quick move, Rainer pushed his chair back and stood up. He stuffed the graded papers into his satchel along with others he hadn’t checked yet. “You want something to do?”
Dillan stepped back and let his uncle out of the room before following. “Are you finally going to tell me about the case?”
Whirling around, Rainer squinted at him. “What makes you ask that?”
Before he could lose his balance, he took a step back. “I clearly need a distraction, and you said you’re going to give me something to do…”
The responding laugh reverberated down the mostly empty hallway. Some stragglers who lingered before going home glanced at them before returning to whatever they were going.
“So you automatically assume this is about the case?” Rainer asked between chuckles. “Oh, that is precious!”