Page 47 of Soul of Shadow
They turned through the entryway into the cafeteria and stopped dead in their tracks.
The cafeteria was no longer the cafeteria. There was the normal assortment of wooden tables and cushioned chairs, yes, but the far wall—two stories high, blank-white plaster, normally reserved for event posters and opportunities to sign up for clubs—was no longer visible. It had been covered, floor to ceiling, in roses.
There must have been hundreds of them, maybe even thousands. Roses upon roses, painted either emerald green or shimmering gold. They formed an enormous wall of flowers, with only the very center left uncovered. Inside that opening was a huge banner that read:
CHARLOTTE HUDSON …
HOMECOMING?
The cafeteria erupted into applause at the sight of Charlie and her friends. Startled by the noise, the vätte dove into her backpack.
Charlie spine went rigid. Lou and Abigail gasped in unison. Together, they looked down, eyes traveling to the bottom right-hand corner of the wall of roses. To the boy standing there. The boy who had set it all up.
Elias Everhart stood on the floor of the cafeteria with a bouquet of green and gold roses in his arms, grinning like a gambler who knew he had the winning hand.
23
“What the hell are you doing?” Charlie hissed as she stormed up to Elias. She kept her voice low, but she didn’t even need to. The ferocious clapping and cheering in the cafeteria drowned her out.
“Asking you to homecoming,” Elias said, gesturing wide with the giant bouquet of green and gold roses. “What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Is this some kind of joke?” She stabbed a finger at the roses. “What are these supposed to be? A self-serving homage to your own eyes? With some gold to represent the fact that you’re a royal pain in my ass?”
His grin widened. “Iknewyou liked my eyes.”
“Oh my—” She rubbed her forehead. “That is not what I meant.”
He waved the green-and-gold rose bouquet in her face. “So, what’ll it be, Charlotte?” he asked loudly. “Yes or no?”
“You’re going to make meanswer?” Charlie threw a look over her shoulder, where the whistling was dying down and the students were leaning in, eager to hear her response. “This is a serious ask?”
Elias put on a faux-grim face. “I wouldn’t do this in front of the entire school if I wasn’t deadly serious.”
“But I thought you hated dances.”
He brushed his chin with his free hand, the one that wasn’t holding the bouquet. “Look. I’m doing you a favor. You need a date by the end of today, and we both know you weren’t actually going to ask anyone.”
The bottom of Charlie’s feet tingled with nerves. “Is this because of…” She glanced over her shoulder, lowering her voice even further. “Last night?”
Something bright flashed through Elias’s eyes. “I have no idea what you mean,” he said, leaning down to whisper. “This ask is the perfect excuse to keep an eye on you during the dance. Make sure that the liquor doesn’t cause you to reveal anysecrets, if you know what I mean.”
She deflated slightly and immediately chastised herself for doing so. Of course this wasn’t about last night. Nothing evenhappenedlast night. Why was she even thinking about it? Why had it kept her up for half the night, had taunted her with the memory of warm flames dancing across his lips…
No, she told herself.Stop.Not only was this ask not about the lack of anything that existed between them; it was athreat. Another example of how easily he could infiltrate her life.
And yet—
Wasn’t that exactly what she planned to do? Infiltratehislife? Learnhissecrets?
“Answer!” yelled someone in the crowd. Several more people whistled. When Charlie looked over her shoulder, everyone was staring—and she understood why. To everyone else, this looked like a big, romantic ask from the sexy, mysterious new guy.Surely dozens of girls nursed crushes on him. Surely they were furious that he was askingher, the girl who had never expressed interest in dating anyone.
Back in the entryway stood Lou and Abigail, waving and flashing thumbs-up.
Charlie sighed. If only her classmates knew the truth: that there was nothing romantic about this situation, that Elias was using this as a way to bully her into being his date, which allowed him to keep a close eye on her.
Charlie turned to Elias, who was standing with his hands wide. “Well?” he asked.
“Hurry up and answer!” someone else yelled. The call was followed by a round of applause and general agreement.
