Page 61 of The Rivals' Touch

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, heaving my body up next to her.

She sniffs and wipes her nose with her sleeve. “It doesn’t matter. There’s no beating Legacy.”

“I’m sorry about your mom.” I don’t know what else to say.

Tears wet her lips as she stares down at her hands in her lap. “She’s only got weeks left.”

A robin jumps along the grass, searching for food. The air smells of pinecones and the fir trees in front of us.

“Who’s looking after you?”

“My aunt. I’ll go to live with her when my mom is gone.” Her auburn hair moves in the wind.

“Do you have to move far?”

“No, I’ll still attend Aycliffe.”

“That’s good, right?”

She shrugs and tucks her hair behind her ear. “I guess.”

“Come,” I say, jumping off the wall. “Let’s go somewhere.” I help her down and walk toward the cluster of trees separating the school from the town.

“Where are we going?” she asks, ducking beneath a branch.

Damp leaves stick to my chucks as I wander aimlessly. “I don’t know. I’m not from here, remember? All I know is that the town”—I point ahead of us—“is in that direction. We could go watch a movie or something?”

“Legacy is protective of you.”

A branch slaps me in the face. “What?” I laugh, batting it out of the way.

Abigail shrugs. “She has a weird way of showing it sometimes, but she wouldn’t care that I talk to you if you were anyone else.”

“You’re delusional. Legacy is a bitch!”

A stick snaps under her feet. “Maybe, but she’s noticed you.”

I start to roll my eyes but stumble over a thick root. “Jesus! This forest is out to get me!”

Abigail smiles as I straighten and brush my blonde hair out of my face. No doubt I have leaves stuck to it by now.

“She only noticed me because I live with Zayd and she feels threatened.” Even as I say it, I know it’s not true.

Abigail stops in her tracks, grabs my arm, and places her finger over her lips.

“What?” I whisper, following her line of sight.

A deer munches on leaves up ahead, and its big antlers look majestic in the sunlight streaming through the canopy of leaves.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispers and loops her arm through mine.

I don’t move in case I frighten it away. “It’s so big!”

She snorts quietly, giving me a look that makes me laugh.

“You have a filthy mind!”

She shakes her head, and her auburn hair sticks to the damp tears on her cheeks that have yet to dry. “You dug that pit yourself!”

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