she has the ability to plant ideas in people’s minds and manipulate their thoughts, so there’s no doubting her capability to terrify me by messing with my dreams, but why go to all that effort? It doesn’t make any sense. I mean it’s obvious she’d love to get me out of the way, and she’d run to Eros or Zeus the minute she had any kind of dirt on me, but there’s nothing else she could do. They’d be the ones with the power to decide my fate.
If she wanted me to get more serious with Josh so she ’d actually possess some concrete information to tell them; why try and scare me from ever going near him? I guess she’s just bitter, that or she’s trying to show me exactly what she’s truly capable of.
I sit back on the same stool I sat on when I got home from school. It ’s been hours since then, but I'm more confused than ever. The questions in my head are like the cells of a disease; they are splitting and mutating.
I lean my head against my hands as an uneasy feeling grows in the pit of my stomach. Something terrible is on the way - I just know it.
Romeo, Romeo
~4~
The sun breaks over the hedgerow at the end of the garden blinding me momentarily. I hadn’t realised how late, or actually how early, it had become. I should think about getting ready for class. My lips contort involuntarily into a wide smile. I’ll be at school in less than an hour, and finally I can see Josh. There’s no harm in looking, or is there?
My nightmare could be a warning for something that might be coming if anything happened with Josh. Perhaps I should avoid him? I picture him in my mind and imagine the sensations his touch would evoke. Just thinking about how he would bring me to life more than convinces me getting closer to him is worth any price they set. After yesterday though, I might need to pay some sort of price to get close to him in the first place.
I hear doors open upstairs. Allana must be up. I don’t want to deal with her questioning me this morning, which she inevitably will do when I can’t hide my messed up appearance from her. Jumping off the stool I grab a bottle of elixir off the counter to drain whilst I get ready, this way I can be out of the door before she has any chance to grab me.
I never enjoy the drive to school, mostly because I never want to be there; today though I'm split in half. Whilst showering again to try and get myself into some sort of normal state, the sensible part of my head woke up and gave me a barrage of warnings to stay away from Josh. All of them were countered by the feverish devil inside of me aching for Josh ’s skin to be pressed against mine.
Stopping at the traffic lights as raindrops began to beat down on my hood I sigh. I pull through the lights as they go green and make a right towards the school. The usual crowd is walking along the pavement, probably all now regretting their choice of summery clothes.
I laugh to myself as I recognize some of the celebrity clan trying to huddle under one umbrella. To make things worse for them, the car in front of me swerves into a puddle at the side of the road; the spray drenches them. Their screams pierce the thick morning air before being quickly replaced with abuse towards the car speeding away.
The car turns right into the school, and I slowly pull in behind the super soaker. Out climb four of the guys who were practising with Josh yesterday, all high-fiving each other and laughing at their cruelty. Carrying on down the car park after I checked Josh wasn’t with them, I pull into a space near the back of the lot.
A commotion starts towards the front of the parking lot. I snap my head up as the shrieks and gasps grab my attention. Leaning my head back into my seat, I strain to see down the row of cars to where most of the school has now gathered. I hear the roar of an engine, the kind I ’ve only ever heard on TV. A car emerges into my sight, growling towards
K. Sterling
Jacquie Rogers
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley
Shiloh Walker
Elizabeth Moynihan
Mary Balogh
Tara Fox Hall
Jonathan Maberry
Jane Hunt
James Kakalios