Page 29 of Tangled Rose

“Yeah, maybe.” I heave out a breath and jerk my head in the direction of the main office. “I need to grab my textbooks.”

“Yep. Come on.” She turns, pushes the door open, and marches right up to the counter. All of a sudden, her sassy attitude dissipates and a serene mask drops over her features. “Mrs. Cooper, good morning!” Her voice is sticky-sweet and causes the lady behind the counter to look up with a broad smile on her face.

“Well hello, Aria, it’s nice to see you. Who do you have here?”

“This is Lyla Taylor. She’s new and needs to pick up her books. Is there any chance you could help us with that?” I swear, her smile is so big, if this were a comic book, the artist would have drawn little flashy twinkles on her pearly white teeth.

Mrs. Cooper’s attention shifts to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Lyla. It’s your first day, huh?” She stoops behind the counter, then comes up with a fat stack of five textbooks. “This is everything. You have your locker combo?”

Taking Aria’s lead, I give her the biggest smile I’ve got. “I do. I got it in an email. I think maybe I’ll wait and try it later. Aria’s been a big help already, and she’s going to take me to my first period class.”

“Great, great. Aria is a sweetheart. You’ve picked a great buddy to help you.”

I set my bag on the counter, pick up the books, and shove them inside. “Thank you. And I’m beginning to see that.” I turn slightly to Aria and shoot her a wink, then wave at Mrs. Cooper. “See you later. Thanks again.”

I giggle as we exit the office. “What the fuck was that?”

“That’s called knowing when to use your powers for good instead of evil. It’s always smart to get in good with the secretaries. They have all kinds of information. I swear, they have more pull at this school than the headmaster sometimes.” She pauses. “But if you do get in trouble for something, Gilmore will look the other way for one of two reasons. Money or sports abilities. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he goes pretty easy on our top athletes because they make him look good. He also appreciates bribes, but don’t worry about that.”

I bark out a laugh. “Yeah, I won’t. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve got skills.”

She gives a bob of her head. “Yep. One hundred percent. Let’s get going.”

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