Embers (The Wings of War Book 1) (13 page)

Tanya finally stopped outside a closed door, saying, “Here is your geometry class.   Mr. Chin is your teacher.  I’ll ask him to have one of the other students show you to your next class, which is…ah, let me see here, U.S. history.”  She handed me the schedule, wished me luck and shuffled me into the room. 

Butterflies—millions of butterflies attacked my insides.  I took a deep breath, and while Tanya talked to Mr. Chin, I sat down at the nearest available desk. It was small and uncomfortable, but not as bad as having everyone in the room stare at me.   

Mr. Chin promptly introduced himself and then shot into the lecture.  Relief flooded me.  I actually recognized what he was scribbling on the blackboard.  I silently thanked Mom for preparing me well for this little odyssey.  Having Mom pop into my mind caused my throat to suddenly constrict.  I wouldn’t let the sadness get a hold of me, not here.  I can do this, I assured myself staring at the board until it blurred.  Later, when I was supposed to be asleep in bed, I’d bury my head in the pillow and let some of the tears fall, but not now.
 

The class dragged by. I was careful not to look around the room at the other students, feeling their curious gazes on me nonetheless.  I wasn’t in a social mood and worried that my face would say so if I did lock eyes with anyone. 

When the bell rang, I sat for a moment while I put my new book into the backpack.  Zipping the pack, I glanced up and watched everyone hurrying out of the room, except one girl.  She remained, talking to Mr. Chin at the front of the room.  She was tall, dark skinned and slender.  The jeans and layered camisoles she wore beneath the short sleeved tan jacket fit her perfectly, giving me the instant impression of a fashion model.  Her shoulder length black hair was straightened into soft strands that seemed to glisten under the bright fluorescent lights in the room.  The girl’s oval face smiled and bobbed up and down while she conversed with Mr. Chin.

“Ember, this is Maddie Holt.  She’s going to take you to your next class,” Mr. Chin said without even sparing me a glance.  He was too busy adjusting the papers on his desk. 

Maddie motioned for me to follow her into the hallway.  Once we were free of the room, she spun around and held out her hand.  “Hi, I’m Maddie.”

“I’m Ember.  Thanks for being my tour guide.”  

“Oh, no problem, I’m going that way anyway,” she said directing me to squeeze in between a cluster of girls stopped in the middle of the hallway.  

I was so distracted by the chaotic stream of kids pushing past me that I barely heard what Maddie was saying.

“Ah, what was that?”

“I asked you if you wanted to try out for the cheerleading team.  I’m the captain.  You know, I think you’d fit in perfectly,” Maddie said. Her large, brown eyes sparkled happily.

“I’ll think about it. I’m living with my aunt and she’s an older lady who needs my help a lot.  I probably wouldn’t have the time,” I said.  There was about as much chance of me joining a cheerleading squad as playing soccer.

“We practice four days a week—and then there are the games.  It’s pretty hardcore, but you’d love it.  So, talk to your aunt about it, okay?” she encouraged.

“I will,” I lied, avoiding her enthusiastic gaze. 

“Here it is.  I’ll meet you back here after class, so wait for me.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

I was just about to alert her of the curly, brown haired guy, who was sneaking up behind her when he put his finger to his lips and shushed me with a wink.  The unknown assailant grabbed her around the waist.  Maddie jumped and turned fluidly around in his arms.  She gave him a quick kiss on the mouth before turning back to me.  “Meet my boyfriend, Randy McGregor.” 

Randy let go of Maddie and bowed deeply.  “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he said in a theatrical way.  With the southern accent, it was quite comical. 

I nodded and forced a smile.  “It’s nice to meet you.”

Maddie’s face flushed and her gaze narrowed. 

“See you later, Ember,” Maddie muttered, pulling Randy down the hall with her. 

I was suddenly tired.  High school drama wasn’t going to be fun.

I turned and went through a door to face another classroom of staring eyes.  I was getting used to it though. After the introductions, I sat down and tried to keep my mind off the fact that I’d never find another friend like Piper.  I missed our witty conversations and the comfortableness I felt with her.  It would probably be a long time before I saw her again. 

With a heavy heart, I took a breath and let my friend go.  Opening the text book to the page written on the chalkboard, I tried to focus on the lecture that the history teacher had already charged into.     

Again, none of the material Missus Williams was going over was new to me.  I took a few notes to keep up appearances and kept glancing at the clock.  The minutes ticked by in slow motion.  After a torturous half hour passed, I slumped down in the chair in defeat.  I was used to doing schoolwork on the computer, moving at my own speed and taking breaks when I wanted too.  The drudgery of a structured school schedule was painful. 

When the bell finally rang, I jumped up along with everyone else, thrilled to move around. 

True to her word, Maddie was waiting in the hallway.  I’d expected her to ditch me after the little scene with her boyfriend, but glancing at her honest smile, I realized that any jealousy she may have experienced was gone now.

“My next class is gym,” I told her. 

“That’s great.  I have gym also,” Maddie said cheerfully.  “This will give us a chance to get to know each other.  Coach Hartsell will have us walk the outdoor track for the entire period.”

“No basketball or running or anything like that?”  I asked.

“Nope, not for us, Hartsell knows most of the kids in the class already play sports or do cheerleading, so she takes it easy on us.”                                       

I kept pace with Maddie while she glided through the hallway, stopping to talk to several kids along the way.  She introduced me to Lindsey Cummings, a blonde cheerleader who was also heading to gym class. Lindsey was friendly, but thankfully, more subdued than Maddie.  I was even more surprised to learn that she had a couple of horses and several dogs of her own. 

Hannah Dixon also joined our group.  She was a very pretty girl with a thick mane of red hair that bounced at her shoulders as she walked.   I gathered from the conversation and her dull eyes that she’d recently broken up with her long-time boyfriend.

It was strange interacting with the girls.  I’d never hung out with cheerleaders before.  But I had to admit, they weren’t completely fitting into my preconceived notions.  Although they certainly weren’t as thoughtful and knowing as Piper was, they were being nice to me.  I even had a lot in common with Lindsey.  Maybe I was capable of friendships with mainstream people after all.

Our forward progress stopped when the hallway became blocked by a crowd of mostly guys.  I stretched my neck and rose on my tip-toes to get a better look past their heads. 

The crowd’s attention was turned to a boy whose back was pressed up against the lockers.  Heat fanned out across my skin.  The fire was nudging me to do something.  Scorching a few teenagers was probably just the sort of thing that would get me out of having to go to the school permanently.  But I paused.  An image of Ila rose up before me.  She was shaking her index finger. 

I blinked when the vision cleared.   

A tall blonde guy reached back and tossed the cap he was holding in the direction of none other than Randy McGregor.  Before Randy could grab it, I had a split second of understanding.  The fire pulsating just beneath my skin gave me the speed to react.  I jumped in front of Randy and grabbed the cap from the air.

“Good catch, Ember!” Randy exclaimed.

I was fuming mad.  The thought to mind my own business was shot to hell.  I had a soft spot for underdogs. 

I glared at the blonde.  “Why are you doing this?”

After a couple of seconds of dead silence in the crowded hallway, Randy broke into laughter.  Several of the other guys followed suit and their irritating noises were joined by snickers from the few girls watching the scene. 

Maddie appeared by my side.  I wasn’t sure if she was going to provide backup or chew me out until she addressed the tall boy with a smirk, and said, “You know how to make a good impression on the new girl in school.”  She paused to glance at me. “Ember, this is Preston Scott.  He’s the quarterback of the football team. He’s not used to girls talking to him that way.”

She said it with quivering lips, as if she was desperately trying to control herself from laughing. 

“This is Ember O’Meara.  She moved here from Ohio—she’s living up on Raven Mountain,” Lindsey informed Preston sidling up to my other side.

Preston stared at me with a confused look on his face.  I had to admit that he was a good looking guy.  A wave of fair hair dropped over his left eye and he had to toss his head a bit to clear his vision.  His green eyes were frozen wide and his full lips were turned down in a frown. 

As he thawed from the shock of being unexpectedly called out for his bad behavior, his eyes surveyed me from head to foot and back up again.  His initial look of confusion was quickly turning to that of appraisal. 

I stared back at him darkly, hoping to beat him down with my angry eyes. 

“Sorry to upset you.  I was having a little fun with Ivan here.  It was just a game.” Preston shifted his gaze from me to the boy at his side.  He reached out, tussling Ivan’s mop of brown hair.  Then he turned on his heels and strode away.  The rest of the guys dispersed with him.

“Come on Ember, we’re fixin’ to be late,” Maddie said, grabbing my arm. 

“Wait.” I pulled away from her and went to Ivan who was still leaning back against a locker.  He looked as if he were trying to melt into it.

“Here’s your cap.”  I handed it to him, gazing into his wide spaced eyes for a long second. 

Goose bumps raised the hair on the back of my neck and my heart raced.  I turned away to join Maddie. 

Ivan’s eyes were golden yellow, the same as a wolf’s.    

Hebrews 12:22

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,

to an innumerable company of angels.

Ember ~ Fifteen

T
he strange color of Ivan’s eyes was on my mind when I stepped across the crunchy, dried-up grass of the school lawn to reach the track.    Maybe I’d only imagined the golden yellow outlining his pupil—and so what if his eyes were a strange color?  Sighing, I already knew the answer.  It wasn’t just his eyes that had freaked me out.  It was the instant impression in my mind of a wolf when his gaze had met mine.

I had no doubt that he wasn’t an ordinary teenager.  What he was, I hadn’t a clue.  A dozen ideas swirled in my head, but unfortunately, there wasn’t anything I could do about my suspicions at the moment.

“Do you have a boyfriend, Ember?” Maddie asked with a sideways glance, abruptly dragging me from my thoughts.

“Nope, I’ve never had the time for one.”

“What! I don’t believe you never had a boyfriend!”  Lindsey exclaimed.  “You’re so pretty though,” she added for good measure.

Before I could even thank her for the compliment, Maddie retorted, “It doesn’t matter whether she’s pretty or not.  She just hasn’t found the right guy yet.” 

“She certainly isn’t going to find him around here,” Hannah blurted out.  Even though she said it in a sarcastic way, her voice still had a pleasing ring to it.  The sides of her slender nose were scrunched up by the tight, sideways tilt to her lips.  She meant what she had said.

“There are some cute boys in Oldport,” Lindsey assured me.

Hannah shook her head and walked off ahead of us. 

Maddie whispered, “Don’t mind her.  She’s been in a bad mood ever since her boyfriend broke up with her last week.  He graduated in the spring.  Hannah was sure he was going to marry her, but instead, his first week away at college, he dumped her.

“I guess she has a good reason to be anti-boyfriend,” I replied. “And besides, I agree with her, guys are trouble.”

“I beg to differ with you on that,” Maddie said with a giggle. 

Lindsey piped in. “Me too.”

When gym class was over, I was glad to hear that we all had lunch together, and thoroughly surprised that I even cared.  I’d never enjoyed group situations before, but here I was, literally in the center of one of the popular cliques. 

The three girls escorted me to my locker to get the lunch that Ila had packed for me. They were all politely amused by the cooler with my sandwich in it.  I didn’t mind.  I was looking forward to eating the tomato and fresh baked bread sandwich. 

The cafeteria was packed and I was all too aware of the scents of sweat, cologne and perfume mixing in with fried food.  Everyone was talking loudly at once and although I did my best to block out the noise, I failed miserably.