Part 10 (2/2)
I wonder if this whole scene was to make Asher think I am insane, so she could have him. ”Raven, are you sure-”
”Raven. Ember. Can you explain what on earth happened?”
We blink up at our science teacher, Mr. Reynolds. He's the kind of guy who always looks like he has a chip on his shoulder, like his face is permanently frozen in a scowl. He wears a lot of tweed suits with elbow patches.
He stares at us lying on the floor and then at the books strewn around us. ”So which one of you wants to explain what happened?”
”Um... Would you believe me if I said the books pushed us over?” Raven suppresses a laugh.
He blinks through his thick-rimmed gla.s.ses. ”This is going to cost you both after-school detention.”
”Why?” Raven complains. ”We were just messing around, Mr. R. And we didn't mean to knock over the books.”
”And I'm going to add two more days for complaining.” He extracts detention slips from his pocket, hands them to us, and walks to the checkout counter.
”You should have just let me call him.” Raven pinches me on the arm.
I slap her hand and wince from the foul flicker of her death. ”Why? I knew you'd make it as embarra.s.sing as you did. You always do.”
Just then, Cameron strolls by. His eyebrows dip together as he spots Raven and I tangled up in a pile of books.
He stops in front of us and his lips curl into impish grin. ”I'm kind of curious what led up to this.”
”We fell,” I say, before Raven can feed him some dirty story. I grab the shelf and pull myself to my feet.
Raven sticks out her hand to Cameron and pouts her bottom lip. ”A little help, please.”
Cameron takes her hand and tugs her up. She intentionally trips and braces herself with his shoulders. ”Oh my goodness.” She squeezes his shoulder. ”You must work out.”
He removes her hand from his arm. ”Not really.”
”We should get to cla.s.s,” I tell Raven before she can further embarra.s.s herself.
She seductively smiles at Cameron and flips her hair before walking past him. ”See you after school, Em.” She waggles her finger at me and turns the corner.
”Sorry about that,” I say to Cameron. I round the bookshelf and collect my bag from the floor where Raven dropped it. When I turn back around, I almost run into him.
He watches me with his haunting eyes, like he could eat me up. ”You dropped this.” He hands me my phone.
I drop the phone in my bag and back up. ”I'm real sorry about Raven. She can kind of be a little... overly friendly sometimes.”
”I think she might have some issues,” he informs me with a lazy grin.
”Doesn't everyone?” I pick up a book to divert my attention away from the heat in his eyes.
He takes the book from my hands and discards it onto the shelf. ”Okay, I'm going to get straight to the point. I think we should go out on a date.”
”Go out on a date?” I elevate my eyebrows. ”Really? You and me?”
”Why do you sound so surprised?” he asks, amused.
I glance at my black jeans, my fingerless arm warmers, and my black and red striped tank top, then at his black b.u.t.ton-down s.h.i.+rt and his name brand jeans. ”I think it's kind of obvious.”
”We're not as different as you think,” he a.s.sures me confidently. ”You like poetry, right? So I was thinking that you and I could go to a poetry slam.”
I sputter a laugh. ”Sorry to burst your bubble, but there aren't poetry slams around here. In fact, the closest thing you'll probably find is banjo night down at Mamma's House of Cheese Fries.”
He laughs and it erases the misery in his eyes. ”You don't think I know that.” He inches forward and the tips of his shoes clip the tips of mine. ”There is, however, a Sat.u.r.day night poetry slam in Jackson.”
I casually step back, seeking room before an accidental touch happens. ”What about Mackenzie?”
He matches my step, closing in on me, the heat of his body radiating all over me. ”What about her?”
”Are you two like, dating or something?” My elbow b.u.mps the shelf and books topple over.
”We're just friends.” He crosses his arms and leans against the bookshelf.
”Yeah, but you guys won't be, if you go out with me,” I say and he fakes a befuddled look. ”Oh, don't pretend like you haven't heard what people say about me: cult member, Satan wors.h.i.+per, murderer.”
”And haven't you heard that I like to spend time in the cemetery digging up graves.” He dips his head in and his warm breath embraces my cheeks. ”Say yes, Ember. Please.”
The back of my mind screams that this is wrong, that something is off about the whole situation. But there's a pull toward him, like a magnet to metal.
”Okay,” I say, startled by my answer. ”It's a date, then.”
The bell screeches and he backs toward the door. ”I'll pick you up tomorrow at eight.” He winks at me and pushes out the door.
”I hate this,” Raven complains as we take a seat at a table.
School is over, but Raven and I have detention with Mr. Reynolds, which is held in the library. I haven't told her yet about my date with Cameron, because I know she'll freak out and make a scene.
”It's only for an hour,” I say. ”You'll survive.”
Her face scrunches at the science book in front of me. ”I have much better things I could be doing than homework.”
I take out the a.s.signment. ”You'll survive.”
Mr. Reynolds comes up to our table with his arms crossed. ”You two are not allowed to sit near each other.” He points a finger at a table across the room. ”Raven, get your stuff and move over there.”
”We promise we won't talk.” She smiles innocently.
Mr. Reynolds narrows his eyes. ”Get your stuff and move over there. Now.”
Raven huffs, grabs her purse and a magazine, and stomps over to the table across the room. Mr. Reynolds heads back behind the counter to chat with the librarian. I start working on my homework, but anxious energy thrums through me.
When Mr. Reynolds steps out for a moment, I walk up to the counter. Ms. Kinsley, the middle-aged librarian with auburn hair and green eyes, looks up from her computer.
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