Page 22 of Infinity Chronicles 1
I need to know what's beneath that thick band. I take a step forward to do just that when Ollie’s voice jars me from my intended target, a good thing too. With my single-minded focus, I didn't even care that I would have looked crazy pawing at him with his girlfriend standing a few feet away.
With that thought, a cold sinking feeling washes over me, effectively reminding me I have no place here. Looking at the ground, I miss the fact that Milo and Ollie have moved past Dante and up to me until I feel Ollie’s fingers under my chin, forcing my head up so I meet his eyes.
“Sorry I started this here,” he says with a grimace. “Can we talk after school?” I nod without thought; his clear green eyes don't give me much of an option.
“I need to get to class,” I mutter when my tongue becomes unglued from the roof of my mouth. Ollie gives me a cheeky wink, letting the seriousness that had invaded our conversation fall away.
I turn and dash for the open doorframe that will take me to the hall where my locker is, and away from these confusing boys, but I don't make it far. I let my back hit the wall to catch my breath.
I hear murmurs from the stairwell when I'm settled enough to take a deep breath and the buzzing in my ears subsides.
Dante’s low growl is broken by Milo’s urgent hiss, “I don't care what promises you made. I'm tired of her sniffing around every time you're out of her sight. I'm not letting her, or you ruin this.”
Deliberately stepping closer to eavesdrop I hear Ollie, in a much quieter voice, soothe as he says, “that's not going to happen Milo, because Dante won't let it. He knows how important this is.” He pauses before he adds, “To all of us.”
With that I push away from the wall and rush in the opposite direction.
Last hour comes way too fast, not only do I to have to sit next to Dante in art, but I also told Ollie we could talk after school. I've already made several excuses in my head as to why I'd need to rush home instead of talking with them, but all the cop-outs sound lame, even to me.
The only one that could get me out of it easily would be to tell them the truth, that my mom disappeared.
I'm not ready for anyone to know that.
Avoiding them tonight will not get me any closer to the answers I want either, but I do need to be careful around them. I don't want Delaney getting the wrong idea.
I haven't missed all the snide little remarks she makes every time I've passed her in the halls or the cunning way she watches me in class. There's no way she's going to let me slip back into invisibility.
Surprisingly, Dante is at our table before me. It's a first. I'm not sure if I was that slow getting here, or if he rushed.
His head is down looking at his wrist as I enter. As soon as I breach the door, his head pops up and his eyes land on me. My step falters under his scrutiny. The way he's looking at me makes me want to turn around and run, not walk, out of the room.
Dante stands like he knows exactly what I'm thinking, and he'd be willing to chase me if I did. His head tilts to the side and his eyes, which seemed so intense seconds ago, soften.
The hard edge of his jaw relaxes and it changes his appearance completely.I go from wanting to run away from him, to run toward him instead.
With a small shake of my head I remember I can't. Not only because he has a girlfriend, a girlfriend who isn't very nice and he isn't very nice to either, but because I can't let anyone know me. My mom would freak out if she knew I was even entertaining the idea of talking to him and the other guys.
That thought reminds me it might not even matter anymore, mom’s gone. Maybe for good.
I take a few tentative steps forward. Dante pulls out my stool as I round the table.
“Hi Laura,” he drawls in his deep baritone.
My heart thuds painfully hard once, before rushing on in a quick staccato.
“Hi Dante,” I reply while putting my bag on the floor and sliding onto my stool. Mr. Adams saves me seconds later when he calls the class to attention.
Thankfully we're both too busy finishing up our portraits to do any talking through the rest of the class.
I have been sneaking looks at him every chance I get though, sometimes when I do, he's already looking at me.
“All right guys, we have until Thursday to get all these beautiful faces ready for display. Principal Cooksey and I will select three works from each grade for submission into the Scholastic Art Awards.
As you all know it's a pretty big deal to be selected and an even bigger honor to win. So, leave a little of yourselves on the paper for everyone to see and maybe, just maybe, one of you will walk away with a pretty nice scholarship in a few months.”
The noise level in the class picks up a bit after his announcement; excitement floats in the air, settling on everyone's shoulders with weight.
Dante stares at his drawing, it's so amazingly detailed I would believe it was a photograph if I hadn't seen all the work he's put into it over the last week.
