Read Online Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) by Sean Hayden - Free Book Online Page A

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here and solve for Y for me?” He held out his piece of chalk, not allowing
her to back down from his challenge.
    Jessie
stood and walked to the board, taking it from him as she passed. She stared at
the board briefly and let fly. Her arm was almost a blur as she wrote the
complicated answer beneath the initial line. Mr. Johnson looked over at me,
mouth agape. It would appear I wasn’t the only algebra prodigy to spring up in
his class…
    Oh
shit. I fought
down the panic. A few weeks ago, I had done the exact same thing when my Fallen
powers began to manifest. All of a sudden, I could see glowing numbers in the
air in front of me. The problems began to solve themselves. All I had to do was
copy them down. That means she could be changing, or just got really good at
math.
    I
didn’t know what to do. Solving for Y was hardly a reason to panic and call her
father. I looked around the room. Everyone else was staring at Jess. Something
white in the corner of my eye caught my attention. On her seat was a solitary
white feather.
    “Damn,”
I said and didn’t whisper.
    “She’s
good,” someone else said.
    I
knew the change was coming. I didn’t have enough solid proof to tell Mr. James;
I would however, tell him the next time I saw him what had happened.
Hopefully, the change wouldn’t happen quickly. Hopefully, we had time.
Hopefully, she would still love me when she found out what I was…
     
    *
* *
     
    I
slid into the lunch line right behind Jessie. “Hey beautiful, is this spot
taken?”
    “Why
yes it is. By a handsome man who just happens to look like you.”
    “I’ll
kill him!”
    “Dork.
How was PE?”
    “Cold.
You’re lucky you have study hall.”
    “I
am.”
    “Sorry
about before… How much trouble are you in? Johnson give you detention?”
    “No.
He lectured me and let me go. And it wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who needs
how to learn to whisper.”
    “Salad
for the lady and sloppy-joes for me,” I told the lady behind the counter.
    “How
do you know I didn’t want sloppy-joes?” Jessie gave me a wink.
    “Because
you’re smarter than I am? Duh. I thought you knew that.”
    “I
think you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. I also think you need
to quit putting yourself down every opportunity you get. It’s one of the few
things about you that drives me crazy.”
    “Gasp!
You mean there’s more ?”
    “Yes.
You’re way too attractive. I’m going to have to start beating the girls away
from you with a stick.”
    I
frowned at her statement. If you only knew the half of it…
    I
still needed to tell Jess about Shannon. I had meant to earlier, I just hadn’t
had the opportunity. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. The truth was
I didn’t want to hurt her and I didn’t want her to hurt me.
    “What?”
She looked at me quizzically.
    “Come
on. Let’s eat. I’ll tell you over lunch.”
    “I
really don’t like the sound of this…” She picked up her tray and walked
over to our usual table. Clarisse and Jeremy, who normally ate with us, were
thankfully absent. She put her tray on the table, sat down, and folded her
hands over her food, waiting expectantly.
    “Aren’t
you going to eat?”
    “After.
Maybe.”
    I
gave her a half smile. “It happened Saturday…”
    “ What happened Saturday, Connor?”
    Oh
shit, she said my name. “I went to the mall to get some pretzels. Shannon got a job there and was
working–”
    “Shannon
who?”
    “Shannon.
Cheerleader. Senior Shannon.”
    “Okay?”
    “Well
she was acting all weird. She gave me free pretzels, I said thank you, ate and
left.”
    “That’s
it?”
    “Well
no, I haven’t gotten to it yet.”
    “Talk.
Now.”
    I
gulped and took in a large breath. “Well, I walked around the mall for a
bit and when I was leaving, she sort of ran up to me and kissed me.”
    Her
face went blank. She calmly reached down and grabbed her salad dressing, opened
it, and began pouring it over her salad. I expected