Read Online Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy by Tracey Lee Campbell - Free Book Online

do it. The volcano, which was in plain sight at all times in the middle of the room, had begun to keel over early in the evening, and Simon had tried to fix it. Perhaps, in his attempt to bend the top back upright again, he'd accidentally pushed the bottle containing the baking soda over so it was aimed sideways. If that were the case, karma had indeed come back to get him.
    At the end of the evening we helped Michael disassemble his display. He pulled the swag of balloons apart and handed them out to the smaller kids attending the event. He seemed happy it was over, but he cast an occasional worried glance at Simon's abandoned disastrous display.
    "You did great tonight." Uncle Tom ruffled his hair. "And I actually learned something! You know you explained it really well if an old man like me could understand it."
    Michael's face was beaming. "It was Aric who explained it all. I couldn't have done it without his help."
    Aric shrugged off the compliment. "You did all the hard work, buddy, and your speech was excellent."
    I shoved the last of the stars into a plastic bag. "He's right," I agreed, "you explained it really well. I wish my science teacher would explain things as simply as you did - I might actually understand and get a decent grade if she did."
    Michael blushed and preened at the same time. "Well, it was Aric who explained it to me."
    Aunt Janet, who had gone to find Luke, arrived back at the table. Luke had scored two of the balloons and was holding them under each armpit, his arms sticking out as though he were about to flap them and fly away.
    "Are we ready to go home then?" Uncle Tom asked.
    "Can I go home with you, Aric?" Michael asked. The expression in his face was now akin to hero worship.
    "If it's okay with your folks."
    It was decided Michael, Aric and I would stay and pack up the last of the display while Uncle Tom took Aunt Janet and Luke home. I heard Aunt Janet telling off Luke after he burst one of the balloons on his way out, frightening an old lady who'd been standing near the door.
    While Michael was taking the plastic bowl away to tip the water out, I helped pull the posters down from the notice board. I was still wondering about Aric's role in Simon's downfall.
    He looked down at me with a mischievous smile, his eyes sparkling.
    "No, I didn't touch the volcano," he said. He pulled out the last of the thumbtacks and began to roll up a poster.
    I looked at him open mouthed for a second. "Did I say you did?"
    He laughed. "No, but that's what you were thinking."
    I shrugged and rolled up another poster. "Well, yeah, it did cross my mind." The poster sprung out from its tight roll as soon as I let it go, and Aric handed me a rubber band. I rerolled the poster and snapped the rubber band around it.
    "So the lava just happened to spew sideways and hit Simon in the face?"
    I supposed, even if Aric had somehow found some time to tamper with the volcano, he had no way of knowing which side Simon would be standing anyway, so it would have been a fifty-fifty chance Simon would be standing in the right place.
    "Like I said," Aric replied, "karma." He shoved the last of the posters in another bag, and gathered the rest of the bags together. "Ready to go?"
    I picked up the backpack I'd brought from school, and as I turned to go, a puzzling thought came to me. I was sure I'd only heard the word 'karma' in my head at the playground. In Aric's voice. I'd imagined it - he hadn't said it out loud. I turned to confront him, but he was frowning, his attention directed at the doorway.
    "Michael should be back by now," he said, dumping the bags. He took off at a fast pace across the auditorium and I followed after him. Michael had only been gone five minutes, surely not long enough to have found somewhere to tip the soapy water and returned to the auditorium, but there was a tense urgency to Aric's stride which was worrying and I was beginning to worry about Michael myself.
    I had to jog to keep up with Aric as I