Page 36 of Firestorm
“Anything exciting happen today?” I asked. Even though we didn’t share any classes, there were still plenty of gossip-worthy things happening around campus on any given day.
“Not really,” Willow said, picking at her nails. “My brother tried to call me but I missed it and then he didn’t answer when I called back, but that’s typical.”
I watched her for a moment, debating whether or not to call her out on that. This was another tidbit of information about her brother. Clearly, it bothered her that he hadn’t answered her call. In turn, it bothered me that that was a typical thing to expect from him.
My brother would drop everything if I called him. Willow deserved better.
“Anyway,” Willow said after clearing her throat. I busied myselfwith tying my shoelaces to give her more privacy. “A certain redhead was asking where you were.”
I bit my lip, thankful my face was hidden while I leaned over my shoes.
“That sucks,” I said lightly.
“Yeah, it does. Especially because he reeked.” Willow said with a scrunched up nose. My secret grin fell.What was his deal?
“Oh, and stay away from Landon.” Willow said as I stood. “Word is he’spissedabout Health class.”
“Wonderful,” I muttered as we stepped out into the hall.
We made our way across campus, following the cobblestone path shadowed by a copse of trees. It was extra dark beneath the tree canopy, making it seem almost overcast. The sun was setting to the west, leaving an orange haze along the horizon.
It was pretty here, but the sun setting over trees didn’t look right. The sunset was much prettier as it went down over the glittering ocean.
I hadn’t thought about how much I missed the ocean until now. My skin was drier here with less humidity, my hair super straight without the salty air giving it a bit of wave, but my eyes weren’t as dry from the salty air, either.
I still missed it. Everything was strange here.
“I’ll go find Mia,” Willow said as we entered the dining hall. I nodded, then made my way over to the main line.
“There she is,” a deep voice practically purred from behind me.
I fought back a shiver, though my skin still erupted with goosebumps.
“Aiden,” I said flatly, then fought a grin as he gave me a bewildered expression. His eyes were clear, his pupils normal size. I grinned.
“You are so hard to get a read on,” he said, shaking his head with a smile. “How was your day of hooky? Do anything exciting?”
“Hooky?” I questioned playfully. “I wassick.”
“Oh, of course.” Aiden replied, playing along. “You looksoill.” We grinned at each other like idiots for a moment before he reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “What’d you do today?”
I shrugged. “Just read, mostly.”
“Read what?” Aiden asked, grabbing a platter of fruit I’d been eyeing and placing it on my tray.
“Just science stuff,” I muttered, slightly rattled by how attentive he was. How did he know I ate this fruit mix every day? “Nothing you’d care about.”
“I care about science stuff,” Aiden said defensively. “What was it about?”
I chewed my lip for a second, then cleared my throat.What the hell, let’s try it.“It was a theory about how elemental affinates could be trained to expand their affinity. Someone using water should be able to create ice. Someone using earth should be able to expand to metal. Maybe someone with fire could–”
Aiden had gone completely silent, so I trailed off as I lifted my chin to look at him. The look on his face was…weird. He seemed a little shocked, his lips parted slightly, but there was a heated glint in his eye that almost had me shivering again.
This man was going to kill me.
“Skye, that’s…really crazy. Are you really interested in things like that?” he asked.
I nodded, my cheeks heating slightly. “In a different life I would have liked to study it.”
