Page 49 of Shattered Heir
Ash moved forward and kicked him in the shin.
I smiled as Cade winced, yet never moved.
“You don't know anything about me; stop talking.” She pulled my arm and spun us around, walking fast down the hall.
“I will find you alone one of these days, Emma, and then we'll talk,” I heard Cade call. I tried to steady my breathing until we turned the corner, and I nearly collapsed onto a bench.
“Emma, you did so amazing.” Ash leaned over me.
“Me? I didamazing? You rocked; you kicked him!”
“That really did feel good,” she smirked.
“I hate him so much.”
“Beauty is wasted on him, and actually on Glass, too. Aiden deserves his beauty,” she said that last part softly, probably meant for herself, but I heard it. I looked up at her and smirked.
“What? Glasson, huh?”
“Look, I may dislike Glass, but he is hot. I have eyes,” she shrugged. “Are you okay? Do you want me to call Ryker?”
“I'll be okay. I just need to get to class.”
She nodded and helped me up.
I walked slowly to second period after Ash raced off to her class. I hoped that she wouldn't be late because of me. I reached the door and waited. I breathed slowly as I looked into the window. It seemed as if the teacher had just handed out the assignment for the day. That seemed to be a good time to goin, because she was not in the middle of a lecture, right? Right. I squared my shoulders, readying myself to grab the handle when I saw Shad. He was sitting beside Karen, inmy seat. I wondered how he even handled going to school when he barely even remembered anything. Then again, Ryker probably told him stuff. I hadn't bothered asking because I didn't really want to hear about how much Ryker liked Shad now that he was so ‘chill,’ Ryker’s word for the new Shad, not mine. I knew that Shad needed to be monitored. There was a lot that was unknown about soulless people. I tried not to feel jealous when he smiled at Karen, but the monster inside of me growled. I grabbed the handle and turned it. Walking in so late, eyes turned and looked at me, but I kept my eyes upon my teacher’s desk. I took the assignment from her and went over toward my seat. I slipped into Shad’s seat, the one open at my assigned table, and I pulled out my notebook and pencil. So far, so good. Maybe they will just ignore me. I could handle that.
“I hope you don't mind, Emma. I stole your partner for the day,” Karen said with fake worry, touching Shad’s shoulder. I could see it in her eyes. She didn’t care what I thought; she had what she wanted. I tried not to let their obvious nearness cause my insides to squirm, tried to make the monster calm down, but inside, I was raging. One little thing could have snapped me, and I would have been all claws.
I knew Karen was probably not a bad person. From what Ryker had told me about our earlier relationship, it had been rocky at best. So even though I really wanted to hate her, I couldn't. She had been my friend at one point in my life, and that meant something, no matter what the falling out we once had, which I could not remember. I was sure that she could, though. And honestly, who knew how badly I had hurt her? Could I help it that I had been more like a zombie for most of my life? No, because I had no say in the matter. I had no idea who I was formy entire life—until that moment. So yes, I had pity for Karen. I could see how being my friend when I was like that could have been challenging. I had a few memories of her tripping me in routines, or saying unkind things, but maybe she did that to get a reaction from me. Something, anything was probably better than nothing, and in all honesty, it all seemed like such a blur. I shouldn't dislike her. However, the way she looked at and touched Shad like she owned him, made me see red. Shad was not hers; Shad was mine.I knew that sounds possessive, but if Shad was himself, he would have agreed with me. So yes, to some extent, I could understand the difficulties in the friendship that Karen and I had once shared, and I couldn’t outright just hate her like I hated Cade, although I still wasn't a big fan of hers because, despite how zombie-like I had been, there were many other ways to have handled the situation between us that did not involve sabotaging routines and being well—mean.
“No, it's fine. I like working alone anyways,” I said, looking at Shad for the first time. His eyes locked onto mine, and I tried to not let the blackness inside of them make my stomach churn. I offered a small smile, and he nodded. I missed his smile, the smile he gave only to me. It wasn't an average grin—all teeth bared, bright and wonderful. No, the smile he saved just for me was tipped on one side of his mouth, with his lips pressed together, and with his eyes holding me captive in his careful yet carefree way. I looked down at my paper and tried not to daydream about earlier days in math class when Shad was Shad, and when he would hold my hand, smile at me, and help me figure out problems. When he comforted me with his melody and chased away the darkness. I didn't realize that I had become tearful until a drop spilled onto my math paper, and I quickly wiped it away, hoping I could control the emotions raging inside of me for the remainder of class.
The bell rang, and I sat frozen in place. I put headphones on to keep myself from listening to Karen’s constant flirting with Shad–all period long. He seemed fully aware of what she was doing, and he didn't seem to mind in the slightest. I wished that it could have been easy for me to not be jealous. After all, Shad wasn’t himself. I knew that; I knew that if Shad was there with me with his melody fully intact, he would have been holding and caressingmyfingers and finding things to talk withmeabout. I smiled as I noticed most of my classmates had left. I packed up my backpack. I waved to the teacher as I headed for the door. I had survived. Sure, I didn’t know how to do the equations from class, but I had not completely jumped into Shad’s arms, and I had not started balling my eyes out either. Okay, I cried one tear, but that is pretty good if you ask me.
“Can I talk to you?” Startled, I jumped, as I realized that Shad was right beside me. How had that happened?
“Uh, sure?” I asked, as the classroom door swung shut behind me. I held the straps of my backpack tightly, nervously running my hands up and down my body as if they were looking for a way to escape. I met his eyes, his black eyes, and then focused on his face as a whole, instead. He still had the same perfectly structured face and black-blue hair. “What do you want to talk about?” I gulped and tried to steady my breathing because my heart started to beat a thousand beats per second.
“I don’t know,” he said as he looked at me, his brow furrowed as if I had frustrated him again.
“You don’t know?” I asked.
“I mean, do we talk? Wetalk, right?” He ran a hand through his black-blue hair, and I remembered a time when my hands had done that. I tried to tell myself to stop thinking about how his hair was silky and smooth and how he had kissed me even more fiercely when I played with his hair in that cave. Icleared my throat and felt my face get hot. He looked at my cheeks, and I knew that they must have been bright red.
Stupid skin.
“You okay?” he asked, gesturing to my face.
“Oh, yeah, it’s just hot,” I answered as I started to fan my face with my hand, like an idiot. He gave me another odd look likeI was the magical being who had just arrived, not him.
“Well, you look pretty,” he said. No extra warmth or emotion in his voice. It was as if he were stating a fact. Before I could say anything, I felt his cool hand on my cheek. I froze and looked into his eyes. “Your skin is so soft,” he whispered. I stepped back because I could not take it, and I knew that in a few moments, I would have planted a kiss on his perfect lips.
“Uh, thanks. Cheeks are soft,” I said, and inside, I slapped myself because that sounded so dumb.
He nodded. “Well, it was good talking with you.” He did a little bow thing and walked down the hall to the cafeteria.
I stood there, watching his retreating form, wondering,what in the world just happened?
