Page 66 of The Protégé

As I turned down the residential street, I tried to put myself in her situation. It must’ve been hard for her, trying to fit in with her Latina background. I wished I could’ve been there with her. But I had my own issues growing up. If I had been in the same school as Elena, would I have noticed her? Would we have been friends?

“I bet your life was smooth sailing. Private school all the way? Were there any minority students in your class?”

“Yes, I went to a private school, but there were international kids there. I wouldn’t call it smooth sailing.”

“No? Wanna tell me about it?”

My mother used to say the people we met were like angels placed on our path to help us grow. Some remained withus, while others disappeared because their purpose had been accomplished.

I met Elena’s curious brown eyes. I was at a fork in the road, and she appeared, luring me down this interesting path with an unknown destination.

“How about we exchange curiosities?” I asked. “You tell me what Sam told you, and I’ll share my school years with you.”

She considered my offer, biting her bottom lip. “Is everything a business negotiation with you?”

“If it were a business negotiation, I would have won already. This is just me offering a safe space for two people who are curious about each other to talk.”

She smirked. “You’re good at twisting words around.”

I laughed. “You’re reading too much into it. But I guess that’s something journalists do. Maybe you’re right. I’d twist whatever I had to find out everything about you.” I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it.

She sucked in a breath. “You’re so confusing.”

“So help me unconfuse myself.”

“That’s not an actual word.”

“It’s real in my head. As long as you understand me, who cares if it’s in the dictionary?”

I pulled into her driveway, parked, and turned off the engine. Today had been a mish-mash of stuff. But somehow everything fell into place as I sat here with her. Despite all that had occurred this morning, starting with us making out in the Cosmic Lounge, to making sure people knew she was mine at the auction, to me wanting to rip Sam to shreds for terrifying her, to finally holding her hand.

She yanked at my hand. “Okay, I’ll unconfuse you.”

I smiled. “Let’s go inside so you can tell me about Sam.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

ELENA

After a quick shower towash off Sam’s energy, I changed into my cotton shorts and a T-shirt with a riddle:I rule the night but can trespass into the day. I make anything possible, but can also fade it away. What am I?

I ambled out into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Today had been an interesting day, to say the least. I’d never experienced so many trials in one day. I’d think about them all later. Right now, I just wanted to...let go. Free my mind.

I glanced over at Orion, who was observing the dandelion plants on my display table. “Do you want some cold dandelion tea?”

“Sure. Why are you growing dandelions?”

He’d asked me this question before, and I had told him my reply depended on how my first day of work went.

As though he sensed my thoughts, he straightened and walked up to me, staring at my shirt. “What’s the answer?”

I looked down at the riddle. “A dream.”

“I like it.” His eyes beamed. “I hope I earned some dandelion wisdom from you.”

I took out two mugs and poured water in. “To be honest, the workday ended badly, but you made up for it by pretending to be my boyfriend at the auction.” I offered a mug to him. “By the way, people are starting rumors about us now. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologize for something I did on purpose.” He took the cup, sat down, and sipped the cold drink.

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