Hunters of Chaos (8 page)

“G
ET THOSE LEGS UP, LADIES!
Nice and high. No dawdling, Patrice! Pick up the pace, Tammy! Go, go, go!”

I listened to Coach Connolly's voice blare through the megaphone as I rounded the track during PE class. I'd only done one lap and already my lungs were burning in my chest and sweat poured down my back. The blazing sun seemed to be sitting right on my shoulders. But I kept my legs pumping and focused on keeping pace with the rest of the girls. I wasn't exactly a track star, but at least I wasn't dead last. There were five girls behind me, some barely jogging, with their arms up and hands hanging limp, like a T. rex's. Way out in the lead was Doli, who ran as though she'd been born running, taking long, graceful strides and easily leaping over the hurdles that were spaced several feet apart on the straightaway. I noticed Coach Connolly keeping track of Doli's time on a stopwatch.

When we'd all completed two laps, the coach blew the whistle hanging around her neck and told us to gather on the grassy area inside the track.

“That was a good run, ladies,” she said. “Those of you who ran
around
the hurdles instead of
over
them”—she raised her eyebrows and shot some of the girls a knowing look—“don't think you got away with anything. You'll do extra laps next time. In ten minutes we'll do two-person relay races. But for now, pair off for buddy stretches. Face each other with your legs extended in a V, feet touching. Hold hands and pull back and forth like you're rowing a boat. You should feel it in your hamstrings.”

She blew the whistle again, and immediately the others began turning to one another, pairing off one by one with their friends. Within seconds everyone was taken except Doli and me. She approached with a confident smile. “Hey. Ana, right?”

“Yeah. And you're Doli?”

She nodded. “That's me. Looks like we're the only ones left. Want to be my partner?”

“Sure,” I said, relieved that I'd found a buddy, even if it was only for buddy stretches.

We got into position, pressing the soles of our sneakers together and rowing back and forth. “So are your ancestors really Mayan?” Doli asked as she pulled me toward her. My face must have registered surprise—
Does everyone know everything about me?
But she laughed and said, “I heard you tell Lin the other day.”

“Oh, right.” I shook my head and rowed backward. “Then I guess you know the earthquake and that thunderstorm were both all my fault too. Lin says I'm cursed.”

“Classic Lin,” said Doli, frowning. “I wouldn't worry about her or what she thinks. She's not the kind of friend you want anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

Doli squinted her eyes against the sun as she met my gaze. She seemed to be sizing me up, deciding if she could trust me. Finally she released my hands and folded in her long legs. “I know it seems like I give Lin a hard time, but that's only because she gives me one. She knows I'm here on scholarship, and she never lets me forget it.”

“Really?” I said, shocked. I'd thought I was the only one who wasn't rich. “Is it an athletic scholarship? I saw Coach Connolly timing you.”

“Well, track is why Temple recruited me. Coach works with me whenever she can to get me ready for the meets. I may even try for the Olympics someday. But the scholarship was a total surprise. You can't believe much of what comes out of Lin's mouth, but she was right that my parents live on a Navajo reservation. Last year, after I got the letter inviting me to Temple, I found out that this Navajo charity had given me a full scholarship. Good thing, too, since there's no way we could have come close to affording it otherwise. The whole thing really freaked me out, though, since I hadn't even applied. But my parents were so happy, I didn't question it. And here I am.”

I was floored.

“The same thing happened to me,” I said quietly.

“You got a full scholarship from a Navajo charity?” Doli raised one eyebrow skeptically.

“No.” I looked down and picked at the blades of grass in front of me. “I got one from my parents. They left me the money for tuition . . . in their will.”

Doli's face fell. “I'm so sorry,” she said. “I didn't know.”

“That's all right.” I shrugged one shoulder. “I live with my aunt and uncle now, and they're great. My parents died a long time ago, when I was really little. I don't even remember them, to tell you the truth. But I know they wanted me to come to Temple Academy. So here
I
am.”

“Huh,” Doli said, swiping her forehead with her arm. “I guess that makes two things we have in common.”

“Two?”

“Your necklace. It's a cat, right?”

I hadn't realized that when I'd bent over to do the stretches, the necklace had fallen out of my T-shirt and was resting against my chest. I cradled it in my palm, the turquoise carving cool even in this heat. “It's a jaguar. My aunt and uncle gave it to me. Aunt Teppy told me never to take it off so they could always be with me.” Feeling like I had just said something unforgivably lame, I added, “It's a Mayan thing.”

But Doli just nodded seriously as if she understood completely. She reached into her own T-shirt and pulled out a necklace. I couldn't hide my surprise. She had an accessory after all. Dangling from the end of a thin leather loop was a small carving of a cat in midleap. “Must be a Navajo thing too, because my parents also gave me a cat to wear. Only, this one's a puma.”

“Why did they give you a puma?” I asked.

“They said it was to keep me safe. My people believe that pumas are protectors—guardians. But really I think they just wanted to give me something that would make me feel close to them.”

“Your mom and dad must miss you a lot. How far away is the reservation?”

“That's just it!” Doli laughed. “It isn't far at all. The reservation is right outside the Temple Academy grounds. If I had a pair of binoculars, I could probably see my parents from my room.”

I laughed with her for a second, but my longing must have been written all over my face. Doli stood up and gazed down at me. “What's the matter?”

“Nothing.” I ripped more blades of grass from the ground, shredding them into confetti. “I just wish my aunt and uncle were that close by. They're all the way in Ohio, and I miss them like crazy.”

It was a risk telling her these things. Not only had I revealed that I was from glamour-free Ohio, but I'd exposed myself as the homesick kid I was instead of the independent New York debutante I'd been pretending to be. But Doli and I had so much in common; somehow I knew she wouldn't hold it against me.

She drew her lips in with that same look of compassion I'd seen earlier in the hallway of the dorm. For a few moments we let the silence stretch out between us, until Coach Connolly blew her whistle. At last Doli reached down and clamped her hand around my forearm. With one strong tug, she pulled me to my feet. “Come on, Ana,” she said. “Let's team up for this relay race and show these girls how it's done.”

After class ended and we'd showered and changed back into our uniforms, Doli and I walked out of the locker rooms together. She was practically bouncing up and down, she was so excited. “Did you see how we left those other teams in the dust?” she said. “Tammy hadn't even finished her first lap when you crossed the finish line.”

It was true. We made a pretty powerful team. Even I found it hard not to gloat. “Aw, give the other girls a break,” I said with a laugh. “I was the only one with a future Olympian on my team.”

“True, true,” said Doli, taking a bow, her arms spread wide. “But I think I'll wait till later to sign autographs, if you don't mind. Right now, I need food! Want to get something to eat?”

“More than anything,” I replied. All that running had worked up my appetite. “But do we have to go to the dining room? My legs are so shaky, I'm not sure I could make it that far. Not to mention I'm not in the mood for sushi or Cornish game hen. Doesn't this place have any regular food?”

Doli laughed. “No problem. There's food in the kitchen back at Radcliff, and I know how to cook a little bit. How do grilled cheese sandwiches sound?”

“Like heaven!”

We walked back to the dorm, chatting like old friends the whole way. It felt good to find someone I could really talk to. After Doli made the sandwiches, we sat in the kitchen devouring them and talking about life at Temple until we heard someone clearing her throat.

I looked up to see Nicole standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, an annoyed expression on her face. “There you are, Ana. I've been looking for you. Why didn't you come eat with us in the dining room?”

When I didn't respond right away, Doli jumped in. “We had a real craving for grilled cheese after our relay races. You should have seen it. We rocked that—”

“Excuse you, but I was talking to Ana,” Nicole said, sneering. “Don't you have some studying to do, Doli? You've got to maintain that C average if you want to keep your scholarship, right?”

I was mortified. I couldn't believe how awful my roommate was being to my new friend. I registered a glimmer of hurt in Doli's eyes, but she quickly steeled herself, snatched up the rest of her sandwich, and rose to leave.

“Doli, wait,” I called. “You don't have to go—”

But she was already halfway up the stairs. “I'll see you later, Ana,” she called without turning back.

After she had gone, I glared at Nicole, waiting for the apology I was sure would come. But she said nothing.

“What is wrong with you?” I cried after a moment. “Why were you so rude just now?”

Nicole blinked in surprise, touching her hand to her chest. “
Moi?
Rude? I don't think so. You were the rude one for standing us up. I mean, seriously. Major faux pas, Ana, ditching us for Doli Haskie of all people. What are you
doing
?”

“I was having a nice lunch with a friend until you showed up,” I snapped. Having lost my appetite, I dumped the rest of my sandwich in the trash, circled around Nicole, and sped up the stairs to my room. But of course it wasn't
my
room, it was
our
room, and she was right on my heels.

“Don't you get it?” she continued. “I'm trying to help you. Hanging out with Doli is social suicide.”

“Says who?”

“Says Lin Yang. She can't stand Doli, and that's enough to make her a pariah on this campus. Haven't you even noticed how hardly anyone talks to her besides her juvenile delinquent roommate, Shani?”

I flashed back to gym class, when everyone was pairing up. Was that why only she and I were left standing? I'd thought the other girls were intimidated since she was so much better at track. But maybe that hadn't been the reason. Maybe thanks to Lin, Doli had needed a buddy just as much as I had.

“Shani's some kind of nutcase who's been kicked out of eight different boarding schools, so it figures that she'd like Doli. But you don't have an excuse. Besides,” Nicole went on, “that girl doesn't even belong here.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” I said, feeling the control I had over my anger begin to slip.

Nicole opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. Finally she crossed her arms and said, “If you don't know, I'm not going to spell it out for you. But you should do yourself a favor and take my advice: Stay away from Doli. I wouldn't steer you wrong. You're my protégée!”

“So this is you looking out for me?” I shot back.

“Naturellement!”

“Well, thanks, but no thanks.”

Nicole sighed as if she were an underappreciated mother. “Fine,” she said. “Do what you want. But don't say I didn't warn you.”

I wanted to tell her that I didn't need her warnings or her advice about who my friends should be, but instead I just turned away. I could tell that arguing with Nicole about this was pointless. Good thing I had to go to my next class soon. I decided to quickly check my e-mail to see if my aunt and uncle had written me back, and then I would leave the room and stay gone for as long as I could. But when I sat down in my chair and moved to open my laptop, I noticed a square white envelope on the desk. It had the school's insignia on the front with my name written in blue ink beneath it.

“What's this?” I asked, picking it up.

Nicole, who had been checking her outfit in the full-length mirror on our closet door, turned to see what I was holding. “Oh, yeah,” she said. “Our weirdo history teacher dropped it off for you. Looks like
she
wants to be your new BFF too!” She giggled in that snide way that lets you know someone is laughing
at
you, not
with
you.