Seven

 

 

 

“Clara,” Eli said and reached his hand out to me, beckoning. “Come away from him now.”

I wondered if the fake Eli would try to stop me but he lifted his hands, as if in surrender, and let me go freely. I heard him laugh as Eli pulled me behind him.

“Brother.”

“Enoch,” Eli spat. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“You’re not that hard to find anymore. You travel to these pitiful little towns and buy those quaint old houses. So pathetic and predictable.”

“Eli,” I asked. “What’s going on?”

He sighed and took my hand behind him, almost as if to hide the fact that he was trying to comfort me.

“Clara, this is my brother, Enoch. My twin.”

“One of your family that you were telling me about?”

“Yes.”

“Tsk, tsk, brother,” Enoch mocked. “You didn’t introduce your little cupcake to me. How rude. Especially after I’ve tasted her lips and her fright, her want.” He licked his lips again and smiled at me. “All were delicious.”

I blushed and covered my cheek with my hand in embarrassment. I knew something had been off with Eli when I saw him there on the wall. But Eli didn’t mention that his brother was a twin. How could I have known?

“Don’t, Clara. You have nothing to be ashamed about,” Eli whispered. He looked from me to his brother. “You thought you were kissing me, after all.”

His brother laughed and pushed off from the wall.

“Ouch.” Then he shook his head in mock disappointment. “I can’t believe you told a human about what you are. I’m in delightful shock - both by your actions and her reaction. She still wanted to kiss you after you told her you siphon off her emotions. Fascinating.” Eli just continued to glower. “Goodbye, brother. Bye, Clara. Nice, uh...meeting you. I hope we can meet again. Maybe next time, you can leave the stick in the mud at home.”

Eli growled and Enoch laughed again as he disappeared around the corner of the building.

Eli’s visibly relaxed and turned to me.

“Are you ok?” he asked as his hands roamed my arms and face. “He didn’t hurt you did he? What happened?”

“I saw you - I thought it was you - waiting here. So I walked up to you and said I was wondering if you’d be here. Then you kissed me...” I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“I kissed him back,” I confessed.

“It was me you were kissing.” He smiled and ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “I should be happy you want to kiss me at all. What happened to thinking it over? I didn’t think I’d see you here tonight.”

“I’m still thinking but...I can’t seem to keep away from you. I was hoping you’d be here,” I admitted. “Can we just take things slow? I’m still not sure what’s going on...with everything but I want to still be friends.”

“That’s sounds really good, actually.” He glanced behind us. “Do you still want to go in or…”

“Yeah, we might as well. We’re here.”

Eli bent down to kiss my forehead, holding my face gently. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Patrick.

“You both made it. Awesome.” He hugged me and told me I looked great in my ear. “Let’s go in. You can suck face on the inside of the club too, ya know,” he said grinning and bumped fists with Eli as he chuckled.

The bouncer asked for all our I.D.s and I started to wonder when he asked if they were going to let me in or not. I hadn’t thought it would be a problem.

“You can’t come in,” he confirmed my fears. “Eighteen and up only, kid.”

“You’re not eighteen?” Patrick asked. “But you’re a senior.”

“I have an early birthday. I don’t turn eighteen until May.”

“Dang.”

“Let her in,” Eli said, looking at the bouncer closely. “Let. Her. In.”

The bouncer blinked a few times and looked around. Then he looked back to me.

“Go ahead. But if someone asks, you snuck in, got it?”

“Yes. Thank you,” I answered.

“Eli, dude. Awesome. You got come Jedi mind tricks working for you, man,” Patrick praised as we followed him in.

I looked at Eli but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. Inside, the music was so loud it actually vibrated through me, making my vision bounce and it was impossible to hear. So much for talking anything out with Eli tonight. We went to the bar and ordered a few sodas. It didn’t escape my notice how Eli’s protective arm stayed around me the entire time.

The announcer said that the first band of the night, Blue Ashes, was about to take the stage. Eli pointed to the balcony, asking if I wanted to go there with him. I nodded. Patrick and his boys followed us and Eli leaned me against the railing and caged me in with his arms from behind me.

It made me smile because he was protective in a fierce way that was unlike Tate. Tate had been protective like I was a possession of his. Eli was protective like I was something precious.

I turned to look at him and found his face right there over my shoulder. My cheek touched his lips and nose. He kissed it and I shivered. I felt him exhale on my face and realized I was feeding him right that second. I tried to calm down, taking a deep breath. It was kind of chilly inside the smoky club actually, which was weird. I took Eli’s arms and put them around me without even thinking.

“I promise I’m not playing some stupid girly flirting game. I’m just cold. Is this ok?” I asked loudly.

“Are you kidding me?” he said into my ear and kissed my cheek once more. “And you look stunning, by the way. I didn’t really get a chance to say that before.”

“Thank you. So do you.”

He laughed.

“Never been called stunning before.”

“Well, you are.”

He smiled and chuckled silently, but I could feel him shake slightly. He put his head against mine for a few seconds and then the lights went out completely. The show was starting.

The band was terrible, but in the strobing and laser lights Patrick and his friends seemed to enjoy them. Then another band came and played a small set, then another. I wasn’t too impressed with any of them but it was still fun to watch and entertaining. And Eli’s arms around me made it even better.

Finally ten o’clock rolled around and I really wanted to talk to Eli. I pulled him to me and yelled as much in his ear. He must have gotten the gist because after he motioned to Patrick that we were leaving. He held my hand tightly and towed me down the stairs and out the door.

“Where’d you park?” Eli asked looking around furiously, for the car or Enoch I didn’t know, and I showed him.

“Where are you parked?” I asked.

“I walked. I’ll just ride with you if that’s ok.”

“Yeah, of course. I’m sorry if you wanted to stay, I just really wanted to talk to you.”

“No,” he opened the passenger door to my car, put me in and then got in the driver’s seat, “I wanted to leave too. I need to explain some things to you about my brother.”

“Ok, good, because I have some questions.”

“Where to?” he asked as he pulled a swift u-turn onto the highway.

“Not home. Let’s go to the dock, out past the warehouse district.”

“Alright. Buckle up.”

He drove us quickly and I decided to start the questioning.

“So, I thought you said your kind couldn’t feel? If that’s the case, then why did Enoch kiss me?”

“Our bodies feel, just not those kinds of emotions. Not love but lust. Not friendship but competition. My brother has always been somewhat of a female conqueror,” he said and I could tell he thought it was disgusting.

“So he seduces girls just to feed off them? And then leaves?”

“Pretty much. He gets what he wants and needs. He’s not made to care about the person. I’m not making excuses for him,” he said quickly. “I’m just saying, Devourers don’t have relationships, even with each other. It’s all twisted and dysfunctional. It’s not real. It’s all a game, a show.”

“So what’s he doing here?”

“Good question,” he muttered as he pulled into the dirt road and I showed him where to park. “I haven’t seen him in about five years.”

We sat in the car and looked out at the water. The long list of things I wanted to ask were a jumbled mess in my head. I couldn’t seem to make sense of any of it.

“Ok. So, what happens now? You skip town because he found you?”

He looked at me with a face of horror.

“No, Clara. No. He’ll leave soon enough on his own. He bores easily. I’m not leaving you,” he took my hand, “unless you send me away.”

“I don’t want you to go away.” I gnawed my lip as he rubbed my knuckles with his thumb. “So what’s up with him? Why does he follow you around?”

“I told you, it’s a game. And if we see him again, which I’m hoping we won’t but if we do, I’ll have to pretend like I’m just using you so he’ll leave you alone.”

“What?” I said not understanding.

“If he knows how I really feel about you, he’ll just try to torment you and I can’t have that. He’ll know that something is different about you. I’ll have to be with you at night, in your Reveries, so he can’t get in. We’ll just keep a low profile until I know he’s gone.”

“Low profile. Sounds very 007.” He laughed and I smiled, loving hearing it. “Ok, so you ignore me and hope he leaves, that’s taken care of. Now. How old are you?”

He seemed surprised by the question and I bet he’d never been asked before where he could actually tell the truth.

“Uh...three hundred, plus some. I lost count.”

I gulped and fidgeted with my ring.

“You don’t remember the year you were born?”

“Mother wasn’t too keen on keeping records,” he said and laughed without humor. “My brother, sister and I were just a means to keep our race going after all.”

“That’s terrible.”

“Not really. We just don’t view family like humans do. Trust me, if you knew my parents you’d be glad they cut me loose.”

I thought about that and felt like he was being a little ungrateful. At least he still had his parents. I missed mine so much. My face must have shown my sadness, or he felt it maybe.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Clara. I didn’t mean to be so callous. I just meant that they are a ruthless pair, nothing like I’m sure your parents were with you.”

“It’s ok.” I absorbed that, trying not to shudder. “So, you came to the club. I didn’t think you would.”

“I didn’t think you would either but I didn’t want to miss the chance that you might.”

“I’m glad you did.” I shook my head. “I can’t believe I couldn’t tell that wasn’t you.”

“He knew you thought he was me. That’s all that mattered. If I hadn’t shown up he would have just pretended until you realized it. And then...” He shook his head furiously. “No, I’m not thinking about that.”

“He didn’t seem...I don’t know, evil. He was a jerk, but he seemed…he seemed normal, like you.”

“What did he say to you?”

“I told him I didn’t think you were coming. He said why wouldn’t he come. I said I knew things were weird but could we just try to have fun tonight and not worry about everything. He said he would and then he kissed me. He stopped and said...I was exquisite.” I cringed looking at Eli. “Wow, you’re exquisite.”

“He said that?” Eli asked and seemed shocked. “That was the words he used?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Nothing. It’s just strange. He doesn’t usually comment, he just takes what he wants and leaves. Maybe he’s just playing with me. Never mind.” He waved his hand before taking mine in his. “If you see him just ignore him. He won’t play if it’s not fun.”

“So...this is how all Devourers live? Having random kisses and just eating emotion from strangers all day and night?”

“Mostly, yes. But...I don’t…anymore.” He sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. “I haven’t lived like that in a very long time. I survive on strangers but they don’t even know I’m doing it. I just find ones that are sad or angry. It made things a lot harder on me but...I’ve survived that way, albeit it uncomfortably and near severe hunger sometimes; to try to atone for what I’ve done.”

“Eli...” My heart was breaking for him. He was so guilty, his fingers were actually shaking in my hand. “That’s over.” As much as I didn’t want to think about the things he’d done before, especially with other girls, I knew it wasn’t his fault. He was fighting it. “Eli, look at me.” I pulled his face up when he didn’t. “I don’t blame you. You’ve changed, that’s what matters. What happened? What made you decide to be different?”

“I don’t know, really.” He smiled. “I was walking into a diner one day and a little boy bumped into my leg. I was so annoyed and when I looked down to see him looking up at me, just as annoyed as I was, I laughed. For the first time in my entire existence...I laughed out of pure enjoyment. I’d never felt that emotion before. I watched him walk away with his mother and I thought about how hard it would be to hurt him after that, to make him scared and feed off him, and I knew I couldn’t. From that day on, I never forced an emotion onto another person unless it was necessary. That’s why I liked your Josiah so much the other day. It reminded me of that boy who saved me,” he said and smiled again remembering. “But I never felt another good emotion after that day, until I met you. Now I can’t stop feeling it around you. It’s all over you.”

“So I’m your muse,” I said and smiled coyly.

“That’s a very good description. My muse, Clara Belle,” he breathed and ran his fingers down my cheek.

“So how do you know my middle name?”

“I saw it in your school file. That secretary’s office is very nicely decorated-”

“Eli!” I laughed. “You broke into the school?”

“Technically, I was already in the school. I broke into her office.” He smiled gorgeously at me. “I had to know you,” he admitted and shrugged.

I leaned over and put my head on his chest. Some girls might be upset about him digging through their files. I was just glad he cared enough to go to the trouble. He sighed happily and ran his fingers through my hair. It felt so good. For the first time in days, I felt like everything was ok and maybe working out for the best.

“So, do you have more questions for me?” he spoke into my hair.

“Tons, but I can’t seem to work my brain right now.”

“Well, can I ask one thing?”

“Sure.”

“Can I have the kiss that was supposed to be mine anyway?”

I looked up at him and smiled. He turned my face up towards him and pressed his lips to mine gently. I pulled back a little.

“I...don’t want to lead you on.”

“You’re not. I know what I’m getting into. I can be patient, I told you.”

“I’ve been called a tease before,” I muttered thinking about Tate and then regretting it.

“You are not a tease. I asked for it didn’t I? I won’t get the wrong idea, I’m glad to spend any time with you I can get. Sometimes...a kiss is just that.”

I pulled him back to me and let him ravish my mouth furiously, turning in my seat to reach him better. His breaths were huffing like we were running a marathon and he groaned several times as my skin heated and he absorbed the want I felt for him and my happiness at the situation for the moment. It was odd to think that I was essentially feeding him what he needed to survive. When I ran my hand through his hair his grip tightened on me and he pulled me closer and I let him kiss me deeper.

I let him devour me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eight

 

 

 

After Eli took me home, ten minutes before curfew, he walked to his house despite my protest to drive him. He assured me he’d be fine and waited for me to go inside. I was glad the Pastor and Mrs. Ruth weren’t waiting for me. I’d just had one of the longest make out sessions of my life, case being, because I didn’t have to stop him, and I’m sure I had that just-been-kissed look. Unlike Tate, he didn’t try to push me too far, didn’t try to ply me with sweet nothings as he reached for skin under my clothes.

It was heavenly to feel safe in more ways than one.

He did tell me he’d see me in the dark so I wasted no time trying to get to bed. That night, he took me back to the park. It was daytime again and we sat and counted cloud animals as we lay in the grass. I lay my head on his stomach and ran my fingers over his eyebrow piercing. Once again, he walked me home when it was over and kissed me on my porch.

The next morning, I woke feeling giddy and refreshed. I was ready to get to school. I hadn’t wanted to go to school in a very long time. After putting on a sweater with my uniform skirt, I made my way down for breakfast.

“Hey, sweetie,” Mrs. Ruth said as she scooped and cut pancakes onto plates. “How was your night? I was pooped so I went to bed early.”

“It was good. I was home at eleven something, I promise.”

“We trust you, I just wanted to see if you had fun.”

“Yes, ma’am. I did have fun. Eli showed up.”

“You seem to mention him a lot lately,” she said with clear inflection as she passed me a big plate of flap jacks with extra butter, just the way I liked them.

“Yes, ma’am,“ I agreed and left it at that. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“Of course. The munchkins have to eat anyway. Hannah, wipe your mouth.” When Hannah gave her a sulky look, Mrs. Ruth gave her a do-it-now look herself. Hannah wiped her mouth, with the quickness. “So, how are the new classes? Do you have any with Tate?”

“Just homeroom. I like them all fine.”

“And how are things with him?” she asked and I heard her disapproving tone.

“I’m not seeing him anymore. He cornered me one day and…well, Eli came to my rescue.”

“What?” She dropped the fork she was using and fumbled to recover it. “What happened?”

“Nothing. It’s ok. It wasn’t a big deal.”

She thought for a second, chewing her pinky nail.

“Do you want Pastor to talk to the principal about switching homerooms?”

“No, it’s ok. I’m not going to run from him.”

“But it would be better, I think. I heard some rumors, Clara, going around town. Steroids? Please tell me it’s not true.”

I put my fork down mid-bite and sighed.

“It’s true.” She gasped and covered her heart so I went on. “He claimed he was only doing it for the meets, the championships. His dad puts a lot of stress on him. I told him no more but the last time I saw him he…well, let’s just say he wasn’t very nice. I accused him of still taking them and he didn’t deny it. So, I told him it was over but he didn’t take the news too well.”

“Clara! You should have called us! I’m surprised the school didn’t.”

“They didn’t know. Eli…he punched Tate,” I admitted and scrunched my nose at her look. “It was in my defense.”

“Clara, this is serious. This should have been reported!”

“Eli just ushered me to class and made sure I was ok. I didn’t even think about it. It’s fine. I think Tate’s pride was hurt enough for him to forget about me.”

“This is all very scandalous,” she sighed and shook her head. “I have to tell Pastor but I’ll keep it low key.” She gave me a look with twisted lips. “He’s not going to be happy about this, especially after what happened at the match.”

“I know. I didn’t want to worry you guys.”

“It’s not your fault but it needs to be addressed.”

“If you say so,” I said softly. “I’d rather just forget it myself.”

“How easy is it going to be to forget when homeroom starts in,” she looked at the clock, “seventeen minutes?”

“Crap, I gotta go,” I said quickly and chugged my milk. “See you guys.”

“Clara, please be careful. I worry about you.”

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “Bye, munchkins.”

“Bye, Clara!” a sweet chorus sang behind me as I made a mad dash to grab my cell and blot on some lip gloss.

I tossled my locks and ran to the door, only to be caught by Pastor.

“Hey, running late?”

“A little.”

“Wouldn’t be running off to see a certain dashing young man, now would you?”

“Maybe,” I said coyly, causing him to laugh, and kissed his cheek. “Bye!”

“Have a good day, sweetheart.”

“I’m sure I will!” I called and barely looked both ways before running across the street.

I thought how strange things were. I was never really close to our pastor and his wife before this. I went to church along with my parents but I never really participated. It was just something I’d always done. Now, however, they really were like parents to me. Pastor worked a lot. A lot. But what did you expect from a Pastor? That was how it should be. And they practiced what they preached. They were the sweetest, nicest, most sincere people I’d ever known in my life. I was extremely blessed that they offered to take me in instead of putting me in foster care. I would always be grateful to them for that. And though I missed my parents with an ache that still stung and burned in my chest and made my eyes prick, I was as happy as I could be in my situation. And I knew that when I peeked back at the house, Pastor would still be there watching to make sure I made it safely. I turned and there he was. I waved and smiled. He waved too and took that as his cue to go back to his work.

I waved to a few people I knew and hastily made my way inside. I had to get to my locker before homeroom. I almost growled when one of the girls from the Spirit Squad stopped me.

“Clara, hey. How. Are. You?” she said in her biggest sympathy voice. It rankled me because that was exactly how people talked to me after my parents died.

“Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, I heard about everything that’s been going on with Tate. And now Eli. Boy, you sure are busy, huh?”

“What does that mean?” I asked as the hair on my neck rose and buzzed with annoyance.

“Nothing,” she said innocently and flipped her long chestnut hair, “but you can’t really blame Tate for hitting Eli, can you? After he found you out like that?”

“Found out what?” I said suddenly very intrigued.

“That you were seeing Eli behind his back. I heard all about it; how he punched Eli by the cafeteria.”

I sighed and felt my lips pull back in a sneer.

“Get your facts straight, Brittany. I wasn’t seeing Eli behind Tate’s back, for one. For another, Eli hit Tate, not the other way around.”

“Oh, well, Dee is telling everyone that you were caught at the away showers with Eli and that Tate went ballistic.”

I felt my jaw drop and all I could do was stare. Dee was a real piece of work. How dare she? Who did she think she was? I realized Brittany was still going and I’d missed half of the conversation.

“And so anyway, I was like, Mike, please. There’s no way Eli’s head went all the way around.”

“Ok,” I stopped her. “Now Mike?”

“Yeah. They told the whole cafeteria what happened. Poor Eli. I hope his nose grows back straight.”

I almost laughed.

“Stop listening to them, Brittany. Just because the words are uttered from their lips doesn’t mean it’s golden.”

“So, it’s true? They kicked you out of their group?”

“I left,” I confirmed.

“And Eli and Dee aren’t dating anymore?”

“They never were!” I yelled and then bit my lip.

“Sorry,” she groaned. “Look, you are apparently strung out about this whole thing, so I’ll see you later.”

“I’m not strung out, I’m just sick of it all.”

“They’re your friends,” she reasoned.

“No, they never were. They were just the people I was stuck with.” I looked at her closely. She was a Sophomore. I felt it was my duty to enlighten her. “Brittany, listen. This is going to sound very after-school special but just listen. High school doesn’t matter. I thought it did. I thought being popular was important. I thought having a hot guy be your boyfriend and everybody knowing your name was awesome but it isn’t. It gets old and it gets pointless. Don’t follow them just because you think you have to. Be your own person.” She gave me the weirdest look, like I was shooting green slime from my ears. I sighed. “Ok, thanks for telling me but everything they said was a total lie. Dee’s just jealous and Tate’s pride is hurt. See you at the pep rally later?”

Her eyes lit up again and she smiled.

“Totally! And don’t worry about Tate. Eli is so much hotter anyway. Tootles!”

There was no way to reach her. My old friends were like a tractor beam; a total façade of coolness and success. I couldn’t really blame her. I used to be exactly like her.

I rubbed my eyes as I pushed through the people to get to my locker. Eli was there waiting for me. I sighed in relief and it made me smile that it was an instantaneous reaction. I really did like him and wanted to be with him.

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said languidly and scooted over so I could open my locker door.

“Hey,” I said and looked up at him. “Have you heard the news?”

“About Tate dismantling my face? Yep.” He rubbed a hand down his cheek. “Feels smooth enough to me.”

I laughed.

“Yeah. Smooth.” I shut my locker after grabbing my notebook, took a quick look into my magnetic mirror and shut it easily. “So, how was the rest of your night?”

“Good enough, I guess,” he said and let his arm surround me. He whispered in my ear. “Could’ve been better.”

I pulled back and smiled at him but it faded away. I don’t know how I knew, he looked exactly like Eli. Exactly. He’d even gotten his eyebrow pierced, which was freaky enough in it’s own right. He saw the change come over me and smirked.

“Dang. What gave me away? Was it my suggestive tone or debonair looks?”

“How did you get in here?” I asked and tried to pull away but he held tight.

He gave me a sardonic look. Oh yeah, public school with an emphasis on the ‘public’. Our small town wasn’t bad boned enough for metal detectors or security guards.

“Ok, fine. How did you get a uniform? And what’s up with the eyebrow? It’s creepy.”

“You don’t look happy to see me, Clara,” he sang and when I tried to pull away this time, he let me go. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Really? Then what are you doing here? And how did you know all about that Tate stuff?”

“Well, I’ve been here all morning waiting for you to come. Everyone apparently knows Eli and have been giving me their condolences all morning. Don’t worry,” he assured, “I kept his precious reputation in tact and acted appropriately shocked at the revelation that a human boy could lay me out flat.”

“That’s not what happened,” I told him, my voice raising in annoyance at the thought that everyone was talking about Eli. I kind of wanted to smile. I’d never been the protective type before. “Eli is the one who… You know, what? Never mind. You still didn’t answer my question.” I crossed my arms over my chest to seem more confident when really I was shaking because I realized I was now in an empty hallway with a Devourer who hadn’t suddenly grown a conscious like another one I knew. The bell must have been about to ring. “What are you doing here?”

“Eli. He needs to come back and stop this ruse. It’s been years. Many. Way too long to play the sullen runaway child.”

“Maybe he doesn’t want to go back,” I countered. “Maybe he likes it here.”

“With a snack like you hanging on his sleeve, I’m sure he does,” he replied wryly, his accent still perplexing me to place it. “That’s beside the point.”

“Why? Why can’t he just be rogue?”

He chuckled.

“I can’t believe he told you everything. It’s so out of character for him.” He moved forward to stand over me, his chest almost bumping mine and my pulse jumped. He licked his bottom lip and smiled. “But as I said before, you are unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Maybe that’s why he stays.” He twitched his head to the side. “Doesn’t want to lose his little candy store…do you, brother?”

I peeked over his shoulder to see Eli staring daggers into Enoch’s back. I blinked to clear my vision because it seemed like Eli’s veins were standing out…and blue almost… When Enoch looked back too, Eli’s face changed to one of boredom.

“Enoch, leave her alone.” He came forward and pulled me to him. He kissed the corner of my mouth then dragged his lips to the place under my jaw. My breath caught as my heart spiked and they both sighed. Eli then let his tongue touch my skin and he groaned before pushing me a little with his arm. “Go to class, Clara. I’ll see you at lunch.” The bell rang. He smacked me on the side of my thigh right as I was about to turn.

Oh no he-

His eyes pleaded. He begged me with them to just do what he said. Oh yeah. The whole he-can’t-know-how-I-feel-about-you thing. I sucked it up and made my way to class. I even turned at my homeroom door and winked at Eli. Even though I kind of wanted to slap him a little, I also understood. But I so didn’t want to leave him like that. I felt like there was a good chance I’d never see him again. He nodded his head to my class for me to go. I went, begrudged. And I was late.

I felt Tate’s gaze on me but I refused to look his way as the teacher eyed me with pursed lips. Homeroom only had a few minutes left. I was really anxious to see Eli and find out what happened. The school’s morning news was blaring a story about the drinks getting spiked at the last formal and at the upcoming Homecoming Dance, this would not be tolerated. Yeah right.

The bell rang and I dashed to the hall to find it devoid of Eli. Or Enoch. Dang.