But Jared was still eyeing him, a hint of provocation in his expression. “I guess there were just more of them than I’d expected. I let my guard down.”
Cameron spoke then. “What kind of archangel can’t handle a few watered-down descendants?”
Jared latched on to that like a bully trying to pick a fight. “The kind that can stop your heart before you have time to blink.”
Brooke looked over at Jared as we pulled into the parking lot. School was only three blocks away from the store, but riding in Cameron’s warm truck was way better than not riding in Cameron’s warm truck.
“Could you guys not start this crap again? It’s been weeks. Why the sudden animosity?” When Jared turned to look out the window, she said to me, “See, everybody’s acting strange.”
And she was right. When we got out, everything got even stranger. Well, not immediately. For the most part, it was a typical Tuesday. Kids standing in their respective groups. Teachers hustling to their classrooms, massive coffee mugs in hand. Principal Davis glaring. Just a regular day at Riley High.
Until we stepped inside. While kids were there as usual—raiding their lockers, walking to class—unlike usual, the halls were deathly quiet. Eyes were cast downward and movements were hurried, wary.
“Dang,” I said, suddenly uncomfortable. “Is there a new no-talking rule in the halls?”
“I hope not,” Brooklyn said, reading a text on her phone as we wound through the stoic crowd. “Your grandmother says hey.”
“She’s texting you now too? That woman is a menace.”
“She’s funny,” Cameron said, sticking to us like a Post-it note. He took his job as protector very seriously.
“I’m glad you think so.”
Spotting Hector Salazar, a kid I’d known since kindergarten, leaning against his red locker, I waved a quick hello. He was a bona fide nerd and proud of it to the point of arrogance, but I never held it against him. He was smart. He knew it. Who was I to argue? Super smart or not, though, he usually waved back. Instead, he lowered his head and stared at me, his gaze expressionless.
“What the heck did I do to Hector?” I asked no one in particular.
“What?” Brooke barely looked up from her phone, but Cameron took hold of my arm and pulled me to a stop. He was really strong. Like supernaturally strong. So I stopped fairly quickly.
“What did you say?” he asked.
I looked up in surprise as Brooke turned back to us and Jared came closer to hover and stare menacingly at Cameron.
Suddenly self-conscious, I said, “Hector gave me a really odd look.”
Cameron straightened and eyed the crowd from his perch atop his shoulders. Man, that guy was tall. “What kind of look?”
Jared did the same before giving me his attention again.
“A look. I don’t know. I waved and he just stared.” I lifted a shoulder. “I haven’t done a thing to him since the first grade. And that was totally his fault. I mean, I’m all for sharing, but there’s sharing and then there’s robbing your classmates blind.”
Brooke laughed. “What did he want from you?”
“My blue construction paper. All of it. Honestly. It’s not like construction paper grows on trees.”
Cameron appraised the crowd before parking his gaze on Jared. Jared returned the sentiment and the glower-fest began anew.
I elbowed Brooke and she glanced up to take in the stare-down before questioning me with raised brows.
While Cameron’s eyes were filled with uncertainty, Jared’s were narrow, challenging. Again, it was so unlike him and, well, more like Cameron. Their roles had been switched. What on former planet Pluto was going on?
“Where’s Glitch?” Brooke asked, checking around.
“He had to go straight to class,” Cameron said before stalking past us.
We followed. “Really? He didn’t say anything.”
“I don’t see the new kid. Let’s just get you to science.” Normally, getting to class was not one of Cameron’s priorities.
The boys seemed to be lost in thought as they walked us to first hour. We stopped outside the classroom, and I turned to say good-bye to them. Well, mostly to Jared. I wondered if there was a chance I could see what had actually happened to him.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked him, inching closer.
His smile faltered and he camouflaged any emotion behind an empty expression. “I’m certain of it.”
“Can you tell me what’s going on?”
He crossed his arms at his chest. “No.”
I leaned forward and put my hand on his. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
He raked his teeth over his bottom lip and stared intently. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Then, with his beautiful mouth tilted up at one corner, a playful grin sparkling in his eyes, he asked, “Are you getting anything?”
I dropped my hand and rolled my eyes.
A deep laugh, soft and gorgeous, sounded in his chest.
“How do you always know?” I exhaled loudly and gave up. “Never mind.”
He took my jacket and pulled me closer to him. “You’re giving up?”
The world tumbled in my periphery, dissolved into nothing. “No.” Then when I could catch my breath, I said, “Never.”
“We need to get to class,” Cameron said, completely breaking the spell I was under.
We turned in unison to look at him. Mostly because he was standing really close.