Everlasting Bond (4 page)

Luck was on her side today. They pulled into their parking space with a few minutes to spare. Katrina grabbed her bag and made a mad das
h for the school’s front steps.

“Jake, we’re going to fini
sh this conversation at lunch,” she called after him.

Before he could disappear out of her view, Jake nodded in agreement.

Entering Ms. Stevenson’s class, Katrina was too distracted with everything else to notice the occupied seat behind hers. Instead, she inconspicuously tried to take her seat. A lot happened that morning and she needed a brief second to gather her thoughts before class started.

As the bell rang, Katrina watched Ms. Stevenson saunter in and set her books out onto her desk. Preparing for the day’s lecture, Katrina noticed Ms. Stevenson had a thrown together look, instead of her usual tidy attire. Katrina figured she too had one of those mornings and waited to take notes on whatever boring math lesson she had prepared. The morning seemed so surreal and she hoped it would be just the distraction she needed.

Katrina thought about what Jake had just told her and it was turning her stomach in knots. She knew there was something off about them. They not only looked different, but they also acted very strange.

She blew out a deep breath and attempted to lose herself into the newest geometry assignment, but her brain had other plans. Dark images of Cole and Andrew swirled around in her head over and over until Katrina tho
ught she was going to lose it.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, the bell rang. The loud noise
had never felt as inviting as it did right then. Anxious to talk to Stacy, Katrina got up and waited just outside the door to grab her. Looking at the ground watching for Stacy’s tan sandals, a pair of black leather boots stopped and turned in her direction.

“Yo
u’re Katrina Davenport, right?”

“I am.” She purposely kept her eyes planted to the floor, while thoughts of what Jake said swirled in her head. The last thing she wanted to do was make eye contact with him.

In a brief moment of uncomfortable silence, which seemed more like decades rather than seconds, Katrina’s eyes were still wandering through the sets of shoes passing by until she found the pair she had been waiting for.

“Ready?” Stacy asked, as if right on cue.

“Yup,” Katrina quickly answered.

“Maybe I’ll see you around later?” Cole smoothly added. To her, it seemed more of a promise rather than a question.

“What was that about?” Stacy grabbed Katrina by the arm and pulled her down the crowded hall.

“I have no idea.”

“So, are you back?” Stacy asked, changing the subject.

“Back from where?”

“From Mars. Where do you think?” Stacy teased.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’ve just seemed so out of it lately. At lunch, it’s as if you’ve been miles away.”

Katrina should have known that Stacy would have noticed her odd behavior the past couple of weeks. Perhaps it was the fact that they had been inseparable since grade school, which gave Stacy that perceptiveness into Katrina? Whatever t
he case, Katrina knew at lunch Stacy would have to be told all of the eccentric details she’d heard this morning. She wondered what Stacy’s reactions would be. This would put their friendship to the test for sure.

“
Hello!” Stacy’s finger snapped in front of Katrina.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.”

“See what I’m talking about? Your mind wandered again.”

“I was thinking.”

Stacy looked at her and paused only seconds before blurting out, “So, how about Cole Aldrich? New York’s loss is our gain. And I heard his cousin is just as hot!”

“Yeah.” Katrina tried to hide a smile. If there’s one thing Stacy coul
dn’t resist, it was a cute boy.

“Yeah? Is that all you can say? He practically came up and tried to ask you out. You completely blew him off. Are you so set on getting out of here that you don’t want to at least sample some of the goods?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

“I know you do, Kat. But you can’t let that blind you to some of life’s perks!”

“I guess you’re right.”

“That’s a given,” Stacy teased, rolling her eyes.

“Do you think we can talk later? We haven’t had much time to since school started and there’s some stuff I just need to tell someone before I go crazy.” Katrina blurted out.

“Of course, sweetie.” Stacy’s voice changed into a serious tone. “Anything you ne
ed, you know I’m here for you.”

Whatever was bothering her, Katrina knew they would conquer it together, like they always did. This eased some
of her anxiety.

“I’ll see you at lunch,” Stacy said, before dashing into her class, leaving Katrina alone in the hall once more.

Continuing towards her next class, Katrina was still debating on what she would tell Stacy. While thinking, she glanced up and saw something she wasn’t expecting. At the end of the hall, leaning against the last row of violet lockers were Cole and she presumed his cousin, Andrew. From his pale skin to his sky blue eyes, he was the spitting image of Cole. The only difference being Andrew’s chocolate colored hair. Both sets of eyes were staring right at her as though she was the only being amongst a sea of bodies.

They smiled at her at the same time, but the grins on their faces made her feel odd. It was more like that of a predator than a friendly gesture. Images of the fangs Jake had described ran through her mind, as she looked away from them. Doing her best to ignore them, she kept walking.

Rounding the corner of the crowded corridor, Katrina could still feel both sets of eyes follow her every move. Using larger strides than normal for a girl her size, she reached her next class within seconds. Walking through the door, a sense of relief washed over her. Her body was recovering as if it had just crossed the finish line in a marathon. The thumping of her heart against her chest made it almost hard to breath. In the classroom she felt safer, but she knew sooner or later she'd have to go back out there. She just hoped they would be long gone by then.

The next two periods went by
with a little more ease for Katrina. Having no more bizarre encounters with Cole and his creepy cousin, she was beginning to settle into the day’s routine. She wasn’t sure if time flew because she was caught up in her classes or if it was because she had been dreading it. Whatever the reason, she knew she could no longer put off the inevitable. Lunchtime arrived and she was making her way into the noisy corridor. Crammed with an overflow of starving teenagers, Katrina maneuvered herself through the only path she could find. Cautiously glancing around, Katrina found Stacy quickly. She waved her best friend to stay still and moved as fast as she could through the crowd towards her.

“Stace!” she shouted over the o
ther voices echoing around her.

“Hey, you! Are you feeling any better?” Stacy yelled back, as she slipped in between one group of students. Dodging their backpacks, she made her way over to Katrina.

“A little.”

“Good. I’m starving. You?”

“No, not really.” Katrina shook her head.

“Suit yourself. I’ll get plenty just in case you change your mind. Can you go get our spot before any annoying freshman take it? I’ll handle the grub.”

“Sure. Sounds good.”

Pushing her way into the cafeteria, Katrina glanced around for her brother Jake. After all, she needed his collaboration. Convincing Stacy that something was seriously wrong with the Aldrich boys would take the two of them. It took her eyes just a moment to find her brother. Standing in the center of the cafeteria, between two large jocks, one being the infamous jerk himself, Br
ody Miller, was Jake.

Anger began to overtake her, as Katrina ran towards Jake. She was damned if she was going to let this jerk get away with picking on her brother again. It didn’t take long for her to reach through the forming crowd to find her brother
.

Mason’s hazel eyes pierced through her like cold hard daggers, which didn’t surprise her. Since grade school he had been giving her a hard time. She just wished she had the sense to punch his blonde head back then. Now
that he was the varsity tight end, he was a mass of muscle that could do more damage to her. Even his neck was too thick to move on its own.

And then there was Robby. Being Brody’s cousin, they were stuck together more by default than anything else. His gold hair was a much warmer inviting color than Brody’s. The only similarities the two
did share were their blue eyes.

“What are you doing, Brody?” she demanded.

“Nothing, Kat. So, why don’t you get out of here? Bye now,” he mocked. His blue eyes sparkled with deceit against his purple football jersey, as he laughed at her. The sandy spiked hair complimented his square jaw, which at the moment Katrina wanted to break with her fist. She couldn’t understand why most of the girls found this ass appealing. He was incredibly obnoxious and thought he owned the whole school. She found him to be to be really damn annoying herself.

“Leave my brother alone, Brody. I still owe you.”

“What are you talking about? I was nowhere near your brother, but I’d like to shake the hand of whoever was,” he taunted, as he turned towards his friends and laughed at Katrina’s expense.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave him alone.”

“Or what? What are you going to do about it?” Closing the little space between them, he gave her a deviant glare.

“Kat, come on. Let it go,” Jake pleaded, pulling on her shirt. Katrina ignored him. She was
too pissed to let anything go.

“Yeah, Kat, let it go. We’re busy, so run along.” He waved a dismissive hand at her. When she refused to moved
, he cocked his eyebrows at her and Katrina didn't like the sudden darkness in his eyes. “Unless you want to come to some sort of arrangement…”

“Come on, man. Let’s just go.” Robby tugged on his arm.

“No way!” Brody shoved him off. “Thing’s are getting very interesting.”

“What kind of arrangement?” She tried not to cringe as he eyed her up and down. Feeling the hotness of his breath against her cheek made her skin crawl, but she had to do something so Jake could survive the school year without being bullied.

“You know what I want, Kat,” he whispered in her ear.

“When hell freezes, you ass!”

“Ah come on, play nice. You asked, I answered,” Brody grinned, as he lightly stroked her hair.

She smacked h
is hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

“You’re such a tease!”

As Brody grabbed for Katrina’s wrist, she felt a cold grip of ice spin her out of the way. It was very firm and chilly, which sent every hair on her arm stand on end. When she spun back around, a very familiar face was standing between her and Brody.

“Why don’t you guys
leave them alone and go outside?” Cole demanded.

“Why don’t you make me, city boy?” Brody fired back gettin
g into Cole’s face.

At that moment everything in the cafeteria froze. Then
, in a matter of seconds, a good sized crowd started to form and watch. It was obvious by their faces most of them weren’t sure who would win.

“Gladly!” Andrew eagerly appeared from behind Cole.

Motioning a hand for Andrew to hold off, Cole stepped towards Brody and both boys squared off. Neither one was giving an inch. It was like watching two bulls ready to pounce on each other and it was clear neither would back down.

“Let’s settle down,” Principal Weber’s voice made Katrina jump. “Do we have a problem here, Mr. Miller?” His voice growled, as he shoved his way through the swarm of students.

The short, stocky man stared them all down through the edge of his square black-rimmed glasses. His slick bald head glistened under the cafeteria lighting. Underneath his brown polyester suit, Katrina could see small streaks of sweat start to appear.

“No, sir. We’re fine,” Brody replied. The deceitful look on his face insinuated everything was far from being fine.

“Then let’s disperse and enjoy what’s left of our lunch please.” Principal Weber turned to face the crowd that had gathered. They started to dissipate with sighs of disappointment. Apparently, Katrina wasn’t the only student wishing that Brody would have gotten what was coming to him.

Brody and Mason gave them a smug smile and then made their way outside. This left just Katrina, Jake, and the two Aldrich boys.

“You okay?” Cole asked, turning to face Katrina.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“How about you—Jake?” Andrew asked, stumbling over his name.

“Yeah. I’m good.” Jake tried to avoid eye contact.

The four of them stood in awkward silence for a few agonizing minutes, before Cole’s voice broke through. “Mind if we join you for lunch?”

“Sure,” Katrina nodded.
Why did I just say that?