All of a sudden, he looked right at me, his eyes full of the same hatred I’d seen in them earlier. I blinked and sank back in my chair, the corners of my eyes burning with tears threatening to spill out. I sucked in a slow breath. I would not let some guy make me cry. I wouldn’t.
“This is Aislin Avery,” Mr. Sterling gestured towards a girl I hadn’t noticed was standing on the other side of him. She was short and slender with golden blonde hair running in waves down to her shoulders. And she had the same bright green eyes as the new guy. She was dressed in a sparkling pink sweater, jeans, and fur trimmed boots. I instantly got the impression she would probably soon be friends with Kelsey Merritt. Which, I know, is very judgmental of me.
I really shouldn’t assume things about people.
“And this is her brother Alex Avery.” Mr. Sterling said, motioning at the new guy.
Alex Avery? The name sounded vaguely familiar. Why though? I mean, it wasn’t like I was the kind of person who ran into so many people that I couldn’t keep track of their names. And besides, even if I was, I would have remembered him. Still…the sound of his name sent me into a déjà vu moment.
“Now we just need to find you two a seat,” Mr. Sterling said, scanning the room for some empty chairs.
There were two empty seats at my table, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about them sitting by me.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about anyone sitting by me.
Kelsey Merritt’s hand shot up in the air.
Mr. Sterling sighed. “Yes, Kelsey.”
She flashed her set of pearly white teeth at him and twirled her platinum blond hair around her finger. “I was just going to offer Alex a chair at my table.”
How nice of her since she shared a table with her two best friends, Anna Miller and Sarah Monroe—both could pass as her clone I might add—and there were no empty chairs for her to offer up. I scowled at the back of her blonde head, suddenly feeling very territorial of Alex. And yes, okay, I knew I in no way had any claim over him. But apparently, when it came to him, I didn’t have any control over my actions.
“Actually, that won’t be necessary, Kelsey,” Mr. Sterling replied, and I could practically hear an eye roll through his voice. “Gemma’s got two vacant seats at her table. They both can sit there. That way, no rearranging will have to be done.” He pointed a finger at me and instructed Aislin and Alex to, “Go ahead and take a seat back there.”
It was at this very moment that the people I’d gone to school with for the last twelve years suddenly decided to notice me. The weight of their eyes felt heavy, and I found myself wishing I possessed the power to temporarily make myself invisible. The prickle on my neck let me know I was experiencing my first anxious moment. I shrank down in my chair and focused on the table.
I stayed with my eyes down until a small stack of books landed on the table with a thump.
“Hi.” The girl—Aislin smiled at me as she sat down. “I’m Aislin.”
I gave her a small smile. Did I forget to mention my people skills sucked, big time? “I’m Gemma.”
She smiled again, unzipped her bag, and pulled out a pen and notebook.
The chair next to me slid out and Alex sat down in it. I held my breath, waiting nervously for the electricity to attack again. I waited. And waited. And waited some more. But the electricity seemed to be a no show.
Strange.
Mr. Sterling began his lecture on sky charting. I scratched a few notes down, but my attention kept drifting to Alex. He wasn’t doing anything, not even taking notes. He was leaning back in his chair, his arms resting behind his head, his eyes half open. He looked like he could have cared less about class, like it didn’t matter whether he failed or not.
In the middle of my staring, Alex turned his head toward me, his eyelids lifting open. Our eyes met and I froze, unable to breath. And then… he glowered at me.
I’d have loved to have told you that, at that very moment, I decided to stop acting like a fool over a guy who obviously despised me, and in response to his hateful glare, I fired one right back at him. But if I told you all of this, I’d be lying. Because all I did was look away and pretend to develop a deep interest in my astronomy book.
Yep, I’m a big chicken.
Class moved on so slowly it was unbearable. The electricity stayed MIA, which had me questioning if I’d imagined the whole thing to begin with. Perhaps when I’d felt it this morning I’d been overly exhausted, and my mind had been playing tricks on me. My sleep had been super crappy due to the reliving-my-death-over-and-over-in-my-nightmares thing.
Then again, maybe I was just losing my mind. There did seem to be many things happening to me that could qualify me as being on the brink of insanity.
But right as the thought crossed my mind that I just might be going off the deep end, I felt it—a spark. Soft at first, barely tickling at my fingertips, but growing stronger as it surged up my arms and down my back. I had to catch my breath and remind myself to keep breathing as my body hummed with heat.
I stole a glance at Alex, curious if he showed any signs of being able to feel the electricity. He looked bored. Absolutely, one-hundred percent, bored. He stared lazily ahead at the front of the classroom where Mr. Sterling was yammering something about stars and their positions and…I don’t know, his words sounded far off and distant.
With Alex seeming so relaxed and calm, I assumed there was no way he could feel the electricity. I guess the strange, electric feeling was a one-sided thing. Of course it was. It was me, after all, we were talking about here—The Queen of Freakiness.
But then again…as I peered closer at Alex, I noticed his hands were clenched rather tight. And the line of his jaw looked as if he was biting down hard. So maybe I wasn’t alone. Well, either that or Mr. Sterling’s lecture was painful for him to listen to.
As Alex ran his hand tensely through his hair, he caught my eye. I should have looked away. I mean, how many times could I get caught staring at him before he declared me a stalker? But once my eyes met his, looking away was impossible, like an invisible force had magnetized my gaze to his.
My heart thumped deafeningly inside my chest as I stared at him with wide eyes. He didn’t look away either. He didn’t even so much as blink, this half serious, half afraid expression on his face, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to think about the situation.
I wasn’t quite sure what to think about the situation either.
Time seemed to come to a standstill, electricity spiraling through my body, heating my skin hotter and hotter. I felt like I floating, yet suffocating at the same time. I could barely breathe. In fact, I couldn’t breathe. The room had started to sway from my lack of oxygen. That’s when I realized I was holding my breath.
Whoops.
I sucked in a breath of air.
Alex blinked, breaking our gaze. Immediately, he flung his attention back to the front of the classroom. I watched him, confused and somewhat sad. Why I felt these things, I couldn’t tell you. Well, at least about the sad part. The confused part was totally understandable. Electricity that buzzed between two people. What could be more confusing than that?
But which one of us was causing it? If I had to guess, I’d say it was me since weird seemed to be my middle name. Although, if I was the one causing it, why did I only feel it when I was around him?
“Alright, everyone go ahead and begin.” Mr. Sterling voice rose over my thoughts.
Great. Go ahead and begin what?
I casually peeked over at Aislin, trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to be doing.
“Well,” she flipped open her book, “how should we do this?”
I stared at her blankly. Do what?
Sensing my confusion, she said, “We’re supposed to be working on the review questions as a group.”
“Oh,” I said idiotically. Note to self: start paying better attention. “Um…we could just divide the questions between the three of us, I guess.”
“Is that how you usually do it when you work in a group?” she asked.
“Sure,” I told her, holding back a laugh. Work in a group. The only time I ever worked in a group was when teachers forced me to. And since this class went by the sit-wherever-you-want-work-with-the-people-at-your-table option, guess what? I never worked in a group. Ever. Because I sat alone.
All the time.
“Why do we have to work together at all?” Alex interrupted, his voice as sharp as glass. He glared at me, his eyes so full of hate I nearly melted into the back of my chair.
“Alex knock it off.” Aislin hissed. “I mean it. Be nice.”
Well, at least I wasn’t the only one noticing his hatred for me.
He shook his head. “We don’t need to work together just because the teacher suggested it.”
My jaw dropped. Okay, so I know I’m a little weird and everything, but what the heck had I ever done to him? I mean, besides stare a little? Okay, well, maybe a lot. But hey, staring never hurt anyone.
Aislin leaned in toward him and lowered her voice. But I could still hear her. Hello, I was sitting right here.
“Alex,” she whispered. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you need to stop. Now.”
After that, it got quiet. And the awkward kind of quiet where no one speaks and the silence is almost maddening.
“You know what,” Alex said, slicing me with a glare, “I think I’m going to take off early.” He shoved his chair away from the table and got to his feet.
Aislin reached up and caught him by the sleeve of his grey thermal shirt. “Alex sit down.”
He yanked his arm away from her, threw his book in his bag, and hurried down the stairs. He went straight up to Mr. Sterling’s desk and said something. Mr. Sterling gave him a nod, and he left, bumping his elbow on doorway on his way out.
For a moment, I just stared at the doorway. There were so many different feelings pouring through me, half of them new. Hurt, anger, pain, longing. It was too much. My brain felt like it was going to explode from the overload.
“I’m so sorry,” Aislin apologized. “He’s just been moody lately with the move and everything.”
“Oh.” I tore my eyes off of the doorway and focused on her. “Okay.”
She frowned. “Are you okay? You look like you’re going to be sick.”
“Huh?” I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.” I faked a smile, pretending like it wasn’t a big deal. That I didn’t feel like I was going to throw up. That my heart didn’t feel like it was breaking. That a guy I barely knew who hated me wasn’t tearing me apart. But it was. It really, really was.
Chapter 4
So if I thought my life had been strange with the not-being-able-to-feel-prickle-up-the-neck-and-suddenly-you-can-feel thing (I really needed to give a name), then I had no clue what strange meant. Over the last few days the word “strange” had taken on an entirely new meaning to me.
First off, Alex did not like me. And that was putting it very, very mildly. When he looked at me, half of the time it was as if he was staring of into some far off place—like I wasn’t even there. And the other half of the time, the brightness in his eyes darkened with utter loathing.