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Cassie was waiting for me at my locker when I
got there. "Brandon wanted me to stop by and let you know he had a
few things to take care of, so he won't see you during lunch. You
can still come sit with us if you want."

The words were right. If I'd been reading
them off of a page in a book, I probably would've believed them,
but the way she delivered them left no doubt in my mind. She didn't
want me at their table. The only reason she'd stopped by my locker
was because Brandon had told her to.

"Thanks, but I have some studying to do. I'd
better just find a quiet corner."

The smile I received was sickly sweet, but
left me with the impression I'd somehow just failed a test. "Okay,
we'll see you another day then?"

I pulled out my Spanish and Biology books,
more because they were the two subjects I was doing the worst in
than out of any real desire to study them, and wandered the halls
until Mr. Whethers took pity on me and asked if I wanted to study
in his classroom.

Sitting there all by myself felt so lonely.
When you boiled it all down, I had a grand total of two friends in
Sanctuary. Rachel and Brandon, both of who seemed to dislike the
other, and neither of whom I was really sure I could count on. It
was fine to only have two friends, or even just one friend if you
knew they would do everything they possibly could to make sure they
wouldn't let you down. It was entirely different when you weren't
sure you could trust the people around you.

Brandon was too good to be true. I pretty
much expected any day now he'd come to his senses and realize he
could do a lot better. Right or not, it's hard to really become
emotionally invested when you feel like that.

Rachel on the other hand
should have been the perfect friend, but I got the feeling she'd
always choose her brother over me. I felt guilty for holding that
against her, family 
should
 be important. Cindi's
friends back in Minnesota had probably felt similarly, but I'd
always been really careful not to make her choose between me and
them. Alec seemed like the type who'd force a decision just because
he could.

I felt my heart go crazy at the same time
tears started gathering at the corner of my eyes. It was stupid to
have risked a panic attack when I was already borderline depressed,
but that was what I was looking at now.

I'd picked a seat that wasn't visible from
the doorway, so I just put my head down and let the twin traumas
run their course. By the time I was feeling steady enough to leave
the classroom, I had just enough time to make it to the bathroom
and try to clean myself up before lunch ended.

The rest of the day went in starts and
stutters. I went from answering a question about the economy of
post-Civil war Georgia, to watching Alec start putting together
rough plans for our next group project.

I had just enough time to notice he seemed
relieved I wasn't trying to get in his way, and then Spanish was
finishing up and I was headed to the tutoring lab. Most Friday
afternoon sessions were pretty sparsely attended. Today was no
different, which was a good thing since I probably wouldn't have
done a very good job of explaining anything.

Mrs. Campbell shut everything down before my
shift started, and sent me home with a concerned look in her eye.
Rachel skipped over to my table while I was still trying to get my
books put away.

"Guess what. I'm bringing pizza on the bus so
we'll have something to eat on the way to Les Misérables. I can't
wait. My first time going to Les Misérables, and my first road trip
on a bus."

"You've never actually been on a school bus
before have you?"

Rachel blushed a little bit. "Well, no not
really. It should be fun still though right?"

I found myself returning her smile. You
really couldn't spend any time around Rachel and not find yourself
smiling. "Well, I've heard about bus trips that were extremely fun,
but I've never been on one before. For me it's always been way too
much time crammed into a relatively small space with fifty or sixty
other people and no bathroom. Still, if any bus trip is going to be
fun, it'd be this one."

Rachel handed me my last book, and waved to
Isaac, who was just now getting up from his table.

"Hello, Adriana. I assume you'll need a ride
home today?"

It was the first time Isaac had actually
spoken to me, and I was surprised at how well-spoken he was. His
voice sounded like a superbly-tuned cello. I filed the information
away as, further evidence he wasn't really our age.

"Yes please, Brandon can only take me home on
Tuesdays and Thursdays."

It wasn't my imagination; Isaac flinched
slightly, and Rachel's smile momentarily turned plastic. I mentally
kicked myself for having once again stepped squarely between the
Capulets and Montagues.

Isaac recovered with admirable speed, smiling
as he gestured us forward. "Well, then, after you."

It wasn't until Rachel and Isaac were driving
away that I realized she'd completely pulled me out of my funk. I
still didn't know that I could really depend on her, but at least I
know she'd try her hardest.

Chapter 17

I reached out groggily to turn off my alarm,
and then wished it was still the weekend so I wouldn't have to get
up and go to school.

I finished off my normal morning routine with
a pair of aspirin from the bathroom cupboard. I didn't usually like
taking drugs of any kind, but I had a sharp headache building
already.

I shuffled downstairs, waved a speechless
hello to mom, grabbed my lunch, bag, and books as I absently
wondered why there was a cupcake on the counter with a lit candle.
Mom has always been paranoid about open flames. She'd nearly burned
down the house as a kid.

I was halfway to the front door before Mom
grabbed my arm and turned me back towards the kitchen. "I can't
believe you. You really would have left without realizing it was
your birthday?"

Ugh. No wonder I had a headache. My brain
must have been working overtime in an effort to block out the fact
I was now another year older. "Thanks, Mom."

I blew out the candle, and turned to leave
again, but didn't even get to take a step this time.

"Hold on there. Do you always skip breakfast
now?"

Mom had somehow spontaneously developed these
weird memories featuring me as a morning person. I personally
couldn't remember a time when I'd actually liked getting up. I
didn't necessarily hate the mornings, but we weren't really on a
first name basis. More like acquaintances than friends.

"You both used to be down in the kitchen
eating breakfast at the crack of dawn almost every morning. Now
it's like you don't even want to roll out of bed."

She
 used to like mornings. I'd tagged along just because it
hadn't seemed right to put a damper on such enthusiasm. Trust mom
to bring that up on my birthday. I swayed just a little. Today it
didn't seem quite as bad, as long as I didn't think of her actual
name.

"Mom, I don't want to be late. Thanks a bunch
for the cupcake. Can we wait to celebrate until after school?"

Now it was her turn to look guilty and fidget
just a little bit. "Actually, that's why I wanted to talk to you
this morning. I've been shooting that new place I left you the note
about. The one that bunch of kids your age told me about. Anyways,
it's the best place I've found so far. I've been shooting it at
pretty much all hours, but I think I need to get higher up for the
shot I want."

I knew exactly where this was going.
Actually, I was kind of relieved she wasn't going to be around this
afternoon. Birthdays are supposed to be special. Dad had always
understood that and done an amazing job of surprising us with
something new and unusual on our birthdays. Mom had always felt
like a round of happy birthdays, and a cake more than met the
requirements for birthday specialness. It was going to be hard
enough missing dad on the one day guaranteed to make me think of
him. It would've been worse if mom was around constantly making
comparisons between what she was doing and what dad would've
done.

"...so this is the only day he can help me;
and if I don't get some help climbing, then I'll never make it high
enough to get the shot for the tourism booklet. You understand
don't you sweetie?"

I nodded, and managed a fairly convincing
smile.

"Ok, then. Well there's a present for you in
the living room, but since you didn't want to celebrate until after
school, you'll have to wait to open it."

I could definitely hear the rumble of a
high-performance engine. I nodded again, and turned to go, hopeful
that I could somehow avoid the inevitable question of why Brandon
was coming to pick me up in the mornings as well as dropping me off
most afternoons. Unfortunately, mom's hearing was nearly as good as
mine, and she was walking towards the windows before I managed to
get the door open.

"Adri, who's that?"

It was obviously one of those leading
questions designed to see whether or not I'd try to lie. I
shrugged. "His name is Brandon; he picks me up sometimes in the
morning."

I was saved from dealing with her response by
Brandon's knock.

"Hello, Adriana, Mrs. Paige."

I never thought I'd see the like. Mom's face
lost its stern 'I'm doing this for your own good' look, and instead
transformed into something not very different from what I saw every
time I watched the girls my age look at Brandon.

"Well hello. You're Brandon?"

**

Fifteen minutes later, I was still trying to
believe things had gone so well. I'd expected mom to put her foot
down and tell Brandon I'd be riding the bus to school every
morning, starting today. Instead, she'd shaken Brandon's hand,
smiled way more than usual, and hurried us out the door so we
wouldn't be late for school.

"I don't know what kind of magic you just
used on my mom, but whatever it was, you should do it again. Heck,
use your powers on her every time you stop by. That was
amazing!"

Brandon chuckled and reached over to run a
finger across my palm. "I didn't do anything special. Your mom
seems like a very sensible person."

I almost choked. "I love my mom, but she's
the least sensible person ever. She spends half of her time in a
different universe entirely, and only occasionally worries about
the same kinds of things as other parents."

"Ah, a dreamer, but one that still freaks out
when it comes to her daughter and boys. Maybe she was just struck
by my obvious good nature."

I shook my head as we pulled into the parking
lot. "Please. You're just about everything she's worried about in a
guy. Rich, handsome, popular. The only thing you could change to
scare her worse would be to join the football team and be the star
quarterback."

His smile was so beautiful it made my heart
ache. "Well, in that case I'm glad I never tried out for the
varsity team. I'd hate to make things any more difficult for
you."

Brandon gently captured my arm as we slipped
inside the school. "Speaking of stars, I happened to read them last
night and they told me a secret."

"Oh, really? Do tell, I always love to hear a
good secret."

There was a new twinkle in his eye as he
shook his head. "Oh, it wasn't a secret from you, just one you
hadn't shared with me. Happy birthday. I've got a multi-part
present in the works, but it's taking a bit longer to wrap it all
up, so you may have to wait a little."

As quickly as that, he winked and turned to
catch up with Cassie, leaving me in a state of near shock. He'd
been inside the house, but hadn't been able to see the kitchen, so
he hadn't seen the cupcake and candle. I'd done web searches on my
name and birth date before and never had it return anything legit,
so he couldn't have found it out that way. Even that would've been
an unheard of level of effort coming from a guy, but however he
really had learned it was my birthday must have been even harder
than that.

I felt like I was floating on a cloud as I
hurried off to Biology. The feeling lasted exactly as long as it
took me to sit down, listen to Mrs. Sorenson tell us all that she'd
finished grading our tests, and then see the big, self-satisfied
'D' sitting at the top of my paper.

For a second it felt as though my heart had
stopped beating. I'd never done worse than a 'B' on any assignment
or test since I'd finished up Kindergarten. I couldn't take this
home and show my mom. Head in the clouds half of the time or not,
she'd still freak out. Heck, I was already freaking out enough for
the both of us. This was going on my high school transcript. The
one colleges would be looking at. The one that might have gotten me
a scholarship. Only now I'd be lucky to pull a 'C' out of the
class.

I tried to control my breathing. This wasn't
the end of the world. I was almost done catching up in Algebra, so
I'd have a ton more time. If I really worked hard, maybe I'd be ok.
Most teachers would still offer some kind of extra credit if you
begged hard enough.

I spent the next hour mapping out exactly how
I was going to salvage my college prospects, and had more or less
pulled myself together by the time English ended. My newfound
dedication to excellence meant I out did myself in Algebra. I
finished up the day's homework, and made it more than halfway
through one of my makeup assignments by the time Mrs. Campbell
stopped off at my desk.

"Care to run another errand for me,
Adriana?"

I didn't really want to. Not when I'd just
discovered I had more studying to do than was humanly possible.
Still, Mrs. Campbell had always been super nice, if equally stern,
and there was only ten more minutes of class left. Besides, I'd
been so intrigued by the sight of Alec drawing, that I wanted to
see him like that again. If he could take such joy in the creation
process, maybe he wasn't as bad as he seemed. The only way to know
for sure was to see him with all of the masks off again.