Fayre

I hear Emmet letting out a relieved sigh, I don’t know whether from being released from the intense staredown or from the uncomfortably burning temperature returning to normal. “You already know all the guys,” he says to them. “Next to Remy is his girl, Cecelia.” CeeCee’s not too thrilled to be introduced as Cecelia nor as Remy’s girl but she smiles coyly at them, nonetheless. “Next to her is Georgina, over there is Lauren and Hailey, and this is my girlfriend, Melissa.”

Georgina waves and the rest of us nod and say hi before Emmet adds, “Melissa is Luella’s sister. I supposed, you already know that, don’t you?”

Finley blinks in surprise and says, “Sisters? We didn’t know you have a sister.” Ruen looks as equally astounded.

Luella frowns, looking annoyed. “Adopted sister. We’re not really related,” she says quickly. “We don’t even share the last name.” There’s a note of bitterness in her voice.

It’s true, mom and dad never got around to have her last name changed after they adopted her. She remains Luella Miller instead of becoming a Crawford.

Ruen and Finley weren’t really interested to know anyone in the school or at the table. Before now, their attention was solely on Luella. Until a minute or two ago, I was pretty much invisible to them just like everyone else. Now they’re staring at me with more than just a little interest.

Emmet leans closer to me as if he wants to shield me from their stares. “The tryout is this afternoon, be there after school.” He sounds irritated.

“Are you going to be there?” Ruen suddenly asks me. His blue eyes are intense on my face. Searching.

“She is not!” says Luella sharply. Her eyebrows come down into a frown and her lips thinned. Her eyes narrow when she looks at me, warning me not to say anything and to stay away. When Ruen doesn’t say anything, she pouts and says, “You don’t need everyone to be there, Ruen. I am going to be there to cheer you on. I’ll be your best cheerleader.”

Something that looks like confusion crosses his face as energy crackles between us as we keep staring at each other. Something else flashes in his features before he rips his reluctant eyes away from me to look at her. It disappears very quickly. He smiles at her and the look is gone. To me, it looked like guilt. I don’t know how I know, but I feel like I can read him somehow.

“Yes, of course, you are, sweetheart,” he says to her.

Just like that, Luella is smiling again. She leans in as if she’s about to whisper a secret into his ear, but when she talks, its loud enough for everyone at our table to hear. “Besides, you and Finley are taking me somewhere special tonight. Somewhere secret.”

“So much for our secret,” I hear Finley mutters underneath his breath. I don’t think anybody else apart from Ruen heard him.

I could have told him that Luella couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it. Her need to brag and be the center of attention makes her spew secrets out like they gave away stale donuts at Mrs. Mahony’s bake and sale last week.

“You both are going to be on the team and I’m going to be there for you.” Luella pulls Ruen’s arm up and winds it around her shoulders as she tucks herself into him. The sleeve of Ruen’s crisp white shirt lifted up to reveal something around his wrist and I gasp.

The little girl pulled something out of the pocket of her pretty lavender dress. A bracelet made of shiny black onyx beads, stringed together by a black cord.

She carefully tied the string around the boy’s wrist. “I made this myself. Do you like it, Ciarán?”

His raven black hair ruffled in the wind. His electric blue gaze took in the bracelet. His lips curled up into a smile. “I love it,” he said, turning his bright, bluer than the sky eyes to look into hers.

“Are you okay, babe?” Emmet is asking me.

Suddenly I realize that I’ve been staring at a black onyx bracelet around Ruen’s wrist. My hand involuntarily move up to seek the bulk of a pendant, resting on my chest, hidden underneath my school uniform. I pull my hand back down at the last minute. The zapping of energy at my fingertips is still there. Fiercely angry...but weak.

“Excuse me, I need...” I need to get out of here. I whirl around and slam my tray onto the garbage and dirty tray station. The juice bottle and cutlery go crashing down onto the floor and I run.

I burst through one of the side doors and reach the football field before my legs give out. I crawl under the bleachers, sobbing and heaving. When I’m deep in the shadows, I tuck my legs and my hands up to my chest, trying to stop sobbing and make myself as small as possible. It’s quiet under here but I find no peace.

What is happening? I’m very confused. My dream and my reality are now crashing together, I don’t know what is real anymore.

I’m also weak. So weak, I barely feel the current under my skin when I’m not around those two. I feel bare and unprotected. The weaker I get, the more strange creatures seem to be drawn to me when I’m out of the house.

Deep inside, I understand that I’m fading away. My light is dimming. I sense that it’s important for me to understand what’s going on but I’m trapped in my own head. There are walls keeping me inside, caging me in. There are promises I can’t break.

The phone buzzes with text messages in my pocket. Must be Lauren and Hailey asking me where I’m at and if I’m feeling okay. I ignore the constant buzzing of notifications.

A brown, skinny little creature with big pointy ears is squatting with its back facing me in the darkest corner underneath the bleachers. It looks as equally upset...or maybe not. It spins its head back and smiles. Its teeth are yellow and serrated, its dark eyes are ominous but I stay. I hold my phone like a weapon but I stay because I have no energy to walk away. I stay but I keep my weary eyes on it just in case.

The bell rings but I stay a bit longer.

I encounter Hailey and Lauren before my last period as I trudge down the hallway.

“What happened? Where did you go?” asks Hailey, the same time Lauren is saying, “Where were you? We were worried sick!”

I’m feeling so drained, I’m dragging my feet to my classroom and I don’t feel like answering questions. I wish I could skip class and lie down on the floor and not get up ever again.

“So...it got really weird during lunch today, huh? Was that the reason why you left?” asks Lauren when I remain quiet.

“I think it was awesome, actually,” says Hailey gleefully. “Luella was green with jealousy. First, you got Emmet Winterbourne when it was obvious that she was crazy about him.” Wait, Luella was crazy about Emmet? How did I not know this? “Now, Ruen and Finley are starting to like you too. They couldn’t take their eyes off you in the lunchroom. That’s gotta drive her nuts.”

“Ruen and Finley like Luella, not me. And I don’t know why Emmet wants to date me,” I tell them.

“Oh, Mel, please...you’re gorgeous. You’ve got this sexy librarian thing going on. Emmet locked you down before any other guys got the chance.”

I let out a bark of laughter. Lauren and Hailey are the gorgeous ones in our group. I’m the plain, brainy goody two shoes. “Thanks for saying so, Laur. You’re good for my ego but I know how I look.”

Hailey rolls her eyes. She loops her arm around mine and says, “Come on space cadet, we’ve got to get to class.” I forgot that she and I share the same class. I also forgot that we share this class with Luella.

I would have turned around and walked out if Hailey’s arm isn’t looped tightly around mine when my eyes land on them.

Luella is sitting way at the back with Ruen on her right and Finley on her left. They’re always on either side of her as if they’re her personal bodyguards, protecting her. They pay attention to no one else but her. It's as if she's the most precious person and everyone else is insignificant.

Now that I caught their attention, I feel their burning stare on me as soon as I walk into the room. I feel their energy in the air and my eyes are drawn to Ruen. Our gaze locked. I break it when I fall into my usual seat next to Hailey.