Page 29 of Waysider
“Teddy is E&B’s golden boy,” Finch said, drawing Cass’s attention back to her. She began ticking off her fingers. “The best grades, captain of the lacrosse team, and his name has been at the top of the board since he was a freshman.”
You’re also completely in love with him, Cass thought, seeing how Finch’s entire face lit up when she talked about the “golden boy.”
“What’s the board?” Cass asked, deciding to change the subject.
“It’s right up there.” Finch nodded at something over her shoulder, and Cass twisted in her chair, peering up at the scoreboard she’d completely missed. There were four columns, and five rows in each. The first two columns were the houses with a point value across from it. The other two were students, and these, too, had points written beside them. Cass spotted Teddy’s name right away, and a start went through her at the sight of Sinister Gray’s right beneath it. Wasn’t that the guy they’d talked about in class?
“It gets updated every week,” Finch said. “The students with the highest scores always get the highest-paying clients when they graduate, and there are a few other perks, too. Like how they always get—”
“Over here, Tori!” someone called.
Everyone within earshot watched a girl weave through the tables. She was pretty. Her long, dark hair fell over petite shoulders, and her brown eyes were framed by long lashes. As she passed Teddy, Tori paused to say something in his ear, pressing her palm briefly against his shoulder.
Cass felt another prick of curiosity. “And who’s that?” she asked.
Finch had just taken a mouthful of pudding. She swallowed and answered, “That would be Victoria Chen. She lives with the Timekeepers. They’re logical. Driven. Ambitious. Good students. But that’s not why people are staring at her. Most voyants are made, but there are some people, like Victoria, who are just born one. She comes from a long line of them, and she’s incredibly powerful. She’s like E&B royalty.”
Cass heard furious whispers behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and noticed how a nearby table—filled entirely with girls—all seemed to be staring in the same direction. She followed their gazes, and in an instant, she figured out what had caught the girls’ attention.
It was the guy from the chapel.
He walked by slowly, completely unaware of the effect he had on the female populace. His hands moved in graceful shapes and gestures as he signed to a girl beside him. As if he felt Cass’s gaze, his focus shifted toward her. Their eyes caught and held.
After a moment, he nodded at Cass, and she gave him a brief nod back.
When she turned back to Finch, the other girl was gaping at her. Cass felt a faint, unexpected surge of amusement. Strange she could find anything funny, after what had just happened in the chapel. To hide the way her lips were tilted upward, Cass took a drink from her water glass. “What?” she said finally.
Finch made a sputtering sound. “What? What, she says. Cass Ryan, how do you know Sinister Gray?”
A jolt went through Cass’s frame. The guy she’d sat with in the chapel was the same one she’d just heard about in class? The guy who had some kind of psychic power? “I don’t,” Cass said shortly. “Who names their kid Sinister, anyway?”
“No idea. His mama is a famous actress, so maybe that explains it. Everyone is so curious about her, but his parents never come to visit. His friends call him Sin, anyway.” Finch gave Cass a knowing look. “He doesn’t date. Ever. Girls approach him constantly, and he turns them down every time.”
Cass didn’t bother correcting her roommate, but she had decided before even stepping foot on campus that she wouldn’t be dating anyone at this school. She was here to learn how to control her abilities, and to lessen the burden on her family with her absence. Cass wasn’t in this for a career in ghost hunting, and she definitely wasn’t falling for anyone who did want that life.
Despite herself, none of these thoughts deterred her interest in the boy from the chapel. Or Sinister Gray, as he turned out to be. What a stupid name. Cass watched him unabashedly as he sat at one of the other tables. She noticed that she wasn’t the only one—like Teddy, Sinister seemed to draw eyes everywhere he went.
“Why is everyone staring at him?” Cass asked Finch, keeping her voice low as if he might hear them.
“Sinister lives in House Shadowripper.” Finch’s tone was heavy with meaning. At Cass’s blank expression, she raised her brows. “Didn’t you read your welcome packet at all?”
“No. What’s so special about living in House Shadowripper? What kind of… voyant is he?”
Finch hesitated. She darted a glance toward the table where Sinister and his friends sat, as if she were worried they’d overhear. She leaned closer to Cass and lowered her voice. “In layman’s terms? They’re demon hunters. They’re the only ones who can handle a Level Five Haunting. They’re typically loners. Introverts. Very sarcastic, like Webster, the girl sitting next to Sinister.”
Cass felt her eyebrows go up. “Demons are real?”
“Lucifer, a pit of flames, all of that is nonsense. Not demons, though. Those are as real as it gets.”
“Great,” Cass chirped, reaching for her milk carton. She took a drink to hide how shaken she was. First ghosts, and now demons. Well, at least Cass knew which specialty she’d avoid at all costs, if it came to that.
Finch’s expression darkened as she lost herself to a thought or a memory. Her gaze went back to Sinister, and her voice was quiet as she said, “Shadowrippers also tend to have pretty short lives.”
Before Cass could respond, students began standing up throughout the room. Others were dumping their trays, or leaving the room. Now that Cass’s shock had faded and she wasn’t buzzing with adrenaline, she took stock of more details around her. “Where are people getting the coffee?” she asked Finch.
“There’s a cart in one of the gardens. It’s on the way to your next class, actually. Just follow the signs.”
“Rad. Thanks.” Cass rose from her chair, and Finch followed suit.
