to."
"That
won't get you what you want, Alec, and it will just back Dad into a
corner. He doesn't do very well with changing his position once he's
made up his mind. Look, I've got to go. Hopefully I'll get a chance
to talk to you again."
He
hung up on me before I could get anything out, and the sound of dead
air ripped away the last of my control. My transformation shredded my
clothes and then I cut through a large chunk of the wall with my
claws before Adri's scent hit me. I'd somehow become accustomed to it
even during just the few minutes I'd been there, but my hybrid form
had sharper senses than my human body.
I
collapsed onto the floor, surrounded by the smell of Adri and the
destruction I'd just wreaked on the one link I still had to her.
Chapter 5
Adriana Paige
Brathingford High School
Manhattan, New York
Things
with Mom were still strained, but it hardly mattered because I still
only saw her a couple of times a week. If that had been the only
problem in my life, things actually would have been pretty good.
Isaac
had made even more of a ripple at Brathingford than I'd expected him
to. He was undeniably good-looking and the definite scent of Alec's
money had to help, but at least part of his
appeal was the way that he'd kept himself so aloof from the girls who
were slowly lining up to throw themselves at him.
It
would have been humorous if not for the fact that I knew some of the
girls really were interested in him. Isaac was unfailingly polite,
but he never initiated a conversation with anyone but me, and he
generally made an excuse about needing to study a few minutes after
any girl approached him.
Isaac
spent way more time with his nose in one of his books than he did
talking to me, but the grapevine seemed convinced that the two of us
were dating. Rather than making the rest of the girls just throw
their hands up, that information actually seemed to anger some of
them. I knew that Isaac was shooting them down because of Jess, but there
didn't seem to be any way to get Lexus and her friends to believe
that it wasn't me that was stopping them from completing their latest
conquest.
Honestly,
I was starting to get tired of it all. These girls had everything:
money, looks, popularity, you name it. I knew I wasn't in their
league, but that didn't mean I particularly liked being reminded of
how much they outclassed me. Mom was making more money in a month
than Dad had made in a year, but we still couldn't compete
financially with Lexus and her friends. I knew that trying to compete
was stupid, but I'd recognized one of the sweaters that Rachel had
sent in her care package. It was the kind of thing I'd never have
worn six months ago, designer and decadent in a way that almost
defied reason. I'd done a quick check online and confirmed my
suspicion. Rachel had bought me a two-thousand-dollar article of
clothing.
When
we'd had our school pictures a few days ago I hadn't been able to
resist wearing the sweater. I told myself I was wearing it because I wanted to look
really, really nice for my picture, but a small part of me had known
that Lexus would probably recognize my little piece of near haute
couture, and I'd taken just the tiniest bit of satisfaction over the
fact that it would bother her.
Today
I was wearing my own boring, old clothes, which had never impressed
anyone, but they'd never occasioned amused glances like I was getting
right now. It took me a couple of hours before I noticed the hot pink
flyer making its way from one girl to another. I wouldn't have
thought anything of it, but the giggling and nasty looks seemed to
follow the flyer.
I
finally got up and moved away from my usual study spot. Isaac
faithfully followed along behind me as I headed towards the stairs.
We were nearly there when I suddenly realized that there wasn't any
reason for me to guess at what was being said. I had my own personal
super spy.
"Isaac,
what were those girls saying?"
"I'm
not sure you really want to know.
"That
won't get you what you want, Alec, and it will just back Dad into a
corner. He doesn't do very well with changing his position once he's
made up his mind. Look, I've got to go. Hopefully I'll get a chance
to talk to you again."
He
hung up on me before I could get anything out, and the sound of dead
air ripped away the last of my control. My transformation shredded my
clothes and then I cut through a large chunk of the wall with my
claws before Adri's scent hit me. I'd somehow become accustomed to it
even during just the few minutes I'd been there, but my hybrid form
had sharper senses than my human body.
I
collapsed onto the floor, surrounded by the smell of Adri and the
destruction I'd just wreaked on the one link I still had to her.
Chapter 5
Adriana Paige
Brathingford High School
Manhattan, New York
Things
with Mom were still strained, but it hardly mattered because I still
only saw her a couple of times a week. If that had been the only
problem in my life, things actually would have been pretty good.
Isaac
had made even more of a ripple at Brathingford than I'd expected him
to. He was undeniably good-looking and the definite scent of Alec's
money had to help, but at least part of his
appeal was the way that he'd kept himself so aloof from the girls who
were slowly lining up to throw themselves at him.
It
would have been humorous if not for the fact that I knew some of the
girls really were interested in him. Isaac was unfailingly polite,
but he never initiated a conversation with anyone but me, and he
generally made an excuse about needing to study a few minutes after
any girl approached him.
Isaac
spent way more time with his nose in one of his books than he did
talking to me, but the grapevine seemed convinced that the two of us
were dating. Rather than making the rest of the girls just throw
their hands up, that information actually seemed to anger some of
them. I knew that Isaac was shooting them down because of Jess, but there
didn't seem to be any way to get Lexus and her friends to believe
that it wasn't me that was stopping them from completing their latest
conquest.
Honestly,
I was starting to get tired of it all. These girls had everything:
money, looks, popularity, you name it. I knew I wasn't in their
league, but that didn't mean I particularly liked being reminded of
how much they outclassed me. Mom was making more money in a month
than Dad had made in a year, but we still couldn't compete
financially with Lexus and her friends. I knew that trying to compete
was stupid, but I'd recognized one of the sweaters that Rachel had
sent in her care package. It was the kind of thing I'd never have
worn six months ago, designer and decadent in a way that almost
defied reason. I'd done a quick check online and confirmed my
suspicion. Rachel had bought me a two-thousand-dollar article of
clothing.
When
we'd had our school pictures a few days ago I hadn't been able to
resist wearing the sweater. I told myself I was wearing it because I wanted to look
really, really nice for my picture, but a small part of me had known
that Lexus would probably recognize my little piece of near haute
couture, and I'd taken just the tiniest bit of satisfaction over the
fact that it would bother her.
Today
I was wearing my own boring, old clothes, which had never impressed
anyone, but they'd never occasioned amused glances like I was getting
right now. It took me a couple of hours before I noticed the hot pink
flyer making its way from one girl to another. I wouldn't have
thought anything of it, but the giggling and nasty looks seemed to
follow the flyer.
I
finally got up and moved away from my usual study spot. Isaac
faithfully followed along behind me as I headed towards the stairs.
We were nearly there when I suddenly realized that there wasn't any
reason for me to guess at what was being said. I had my own personal
super spy.
"Isaac,
what were those girls saying?"
"I'm
not sure you really want to know.
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