Read Online Pulse of Heroes by A.Jacob Sweeny - Free Book Online Page A

tons of makeup with
her hair painfully pulled up into a tight bun so her crown could
fit on her head. Yes, she was being paranoid after all. There was
no possible way he could have identified her.
    Michelle heard her name being called, and it
startled her so badly that she physically jumped out of her seat.
This time she did knock her cup over, but luckily it was empty. Her
mother was motioning her to hurry up, pointing at her wristwatch
for added urgency. It was close to 1:30 PM and neither one of them
had eaten any lunch. Michelle wasn’t hungry after having her sugary
drink, and she was still sick and couldn’t taste much anyway. But
her mom was hungry and wanted to get something to go before driving
back to Willow’s Creek. Michelle tried to think up any excuse to
tell her mom not to go to the central court where all the food
vendors were, but she couldn’t come up with anything. She reminded
herself that even if Xander were there, he obviously wouldn’t
recognize her now if he hadn’t just a few minutes earlier.
     
    Michelle and her mother were standing in line
at the Gyromaniac; generic Greek food at it’s best. While her mom
was ordering, Michelle scanned the busy room for Xander. And just
as she feared, there he was in the far left corner close to the
shoe repair kiosk. But what really shocked Michelle more than
seeing Xander again was who he was with.
    Xander was standing and talking to a group of
young guys. Some were casually seated on the bench sipping their
drinks, obviously the ones he had purchased from Sweetnothings
Café. Michelle squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at
them. What was Xander doing with a bunch of young guys, she thought
to herself, and who are they? She’d never seen any of them around
before. She could almost make out a few of the faces from where she
was standing, but passersby kept walking into her line of view.
Something wasn’t quite right about the picture, but Michelle
couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Her mom finished paying for
her order and started heading in the direction where Xander was
standing. Michelle followed her, but everything in her body wanted
to run in the opposite direction. Why did they park on that side of
the mall? Could she convince her mom to leave from another exit?
What kind of reason could she come up with, and quick? It was too
late. In a few seconds she would pass by Xander; her only hope was
that he wouldn’t turn around and recognize her. As she got closer
to the group, her eyes widened in amazement.
     
    Xander was surrounded by the most drop-dead
gorgeous guys she had ever seen. There were six of them and each
was uniquely handsome; no, not handsome she thought. Absolutely
beautiful. They looked to be in their early or mid twenties, maybe
their late teens; it was hard to tell. As she passed them by,
Michelle couldn’t help but turn her head back to get one more look,
especially to see the person Xander was talking to, because her
view had been obstructed earlier. And just as she placed her eyes
on him, the most beautiful guy of all was suddenly looking right
back at her, as if he somehow knew the exact moment to meet her
gaze. Did she stop walking? Was she even breathing? Michelle
couldn’t tell what was happening to her. Every inch of her body was
trembling. Not the kind of trembling that is seen visually; it was
different. More like a soundless murmur or a hum running through
her body. Look away, she kept thinking. Look away. But her eyes
were locked on his. His eyes were deep and blue, dark blue,
unusually so. They were unlike any blue eyes she had ever seen
before. Michelle wondered how it was that she could see them so
clearly from so far away. And what was that scent? It was so
familiar, right at the tip of her tongue. Xander turned to see what
his companion was staring at, and by doing so blocked her view of
the guy she was so fixated on. Somehow everything clicked back into
place, and she was back to her old normal