Otherworldly Bad Boys: Three Complete Novels (49 page)

“You need to get back to your dorm,” he said. “Right now.” He yanked his phone out of his pocket. “Jesus, what time is it? You could miss it.”

I sat up on the couch. What was he talking about? And why wasn’t he touching me anymore? “No, you know what, skip the dorm.”

“What?”

“You don’t have time.” He turned in a circle, flustered. “I don’t have time either. But we can’t show up together. You have to get there—”

“What are you talking about?” I stood up. When I moved, I realized I was swollen and excited between my legs. A little jolt went through me, and I felt frustrated.

“Scales and Fangs, Miss Moss.”

“The secret society? But I’m not supposed to talk about that.”

“There’s a note in your room right now telling you to go into the woods for your first activity,” he said. “So you have to go. And don’t tell anyone you know that I’m... part of...
Fuck
.” He dragged a hand over his face.

“I don’t understand.”

“I never forget society functions,” he muttered. “What’s happening to me?” He looked up at me. “What are you doing to me?”

I shook my head.

* * *

They were standing in a ring in front of an ancient, gnarled tree. The tree’s branches twisted and stretched against the night sky. It was late summer, but the tree didn’t have any leaves. It was bare, skeletal, naked.

They were all wearing hooded robes, like the one from my dream. Their faces were downcast. They were humming.

I saw them when I broke into a clearing in the woods.

“Teagan,” someone whispered.

It was Nell. She found my hand in the darkness. “I didn’t know if you’d make it. You didn’t get your note.”

“They, um, sent me another one,” I said. It had taken me several minutes to finally understand what Professor Alexander was saying. He was a senior member of Scales and Fangs, one of the people who would initiate us. He knew that I was tapped for the society, and he knew that I was supposed to be out in the middle of the woods tonight.

And whatever Scales and Fangs was, he obviously considered attending its functions more important than getting laid.

I squeezed Nell’s hand, glad of her comfort because the woods were kind of creepy, but also because I was realizing how narrowly I’d escaped making a bad mistake tonight. What would it have meant if I’d slept with Professor Alexander?

It wouldn’t have been good. I was sure of that. All in all, I was glad he’d stopped it.

“What are you doing here?” whispered another voice.

I turned and found myself face to face with Reba, the girl from the first day at the dorm.

“You were tapped?” she demanded. “But you’re a freshman.”

“You have to be twenty-one,” said Nell. “Don’t flip out.”

Reba narrowed her eyes. “There’s something weird going on with you—”

“Initiates of the Scale and the Fang, gather close!” rang out a voice.

It was coming from the circle of robed people. I watched as several other people emerged from the woods. There were seven of us total. Nell, Reba, and I were the only girls. The other four were guys that I didn’t recognize.

“Come within our circle.”

We stepped between the dark robes, squeezing into the middle. The circle of robes pressed close. The skeletal branches of the tree loomed above us, crisscrossing the sky.

My heart sped up. There was something about this—

“Gods of the sky protect us.” They whispered together in dry voices like crumbling leaves. We couldn’t see their faces. Their hoods hung too low, and so they were featureless, simply empty shadows under their cowls. “Coil around us, great serpent. We are the storytellers of the new world. Wrap us tightly and accept your new acolytes into your folds.”

Something about that chant... What was familiar?

“Welcome in the secret hour, share with us the misty power. May fortune’s favor fall upon the serpent’s servants all,” they urged. “Welcome in the secret hour, share with us the misty power. May fortune’s favor fall upon the serpent’s servants all.”

Their voices grew louder, more urgent. “
Welcome in the secret hour, share with us the misty power. May fortune’s favor fall upon the serpent’s servants all!”

And the limbs of the tree came to life above us, moving, slithering like a thousand snakes twisting out of the tree trunk. They dove down for us as if they were striking their prey.

I threw up my arm to protect myself.

I heard Nell scream.

Other shrieks of terror came from our fellow initiates. We all cowered, hiding our faces.

And when I looked again, the tree hadn’t move. The limbs still reached for the sky. As if they’d never moved.

* * *

“It was a really good illusion, that’s all,” said Nell. We were in the dining hall the next morning, eating breakfast. “You know it’s a rumor that the guy who made the really realistic ghosts for
Shimmer
on Broadway was a member of Scales and Fangs?”

“I don’t think it was a set piece, Nell,” I said.

“What? You think the tree really came to life?”

“I think...” I didn’t know how to explain it. “Something happened. They did something to us.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think we should be talking about this here.”

“But what if—”

“Everything’s fine,” she said. “But people could hear us, and we aren’t supposed to talk about Scales and Fangs in public.” She picked up her empty glass. “I’m going to get some more orange juice.”

I sighed, watching her go. I’d hardly touched my tray. I had some French toast with powdered sugar, but I hadn’t done much other than cut it up. I picked up my fork and stabbed a piece of it.

“Hey, Teagan. You sitting alone?”

I almost dropped my fork. “Harper. You scared me.”

“Sorry.”

I gestured at Nell’s tray. “My roommate’s sitting there. But you can sit down too if you want.”

“Cool.” He settled in. He had about four pieces of French toast. I didn’t know they’d even give you that much. He picked up a plastic syrup container and ripped open the foil. “So,” he said as he dumped syrup all over his breakfast, “I figured out why you ran out on me last night.”

“You did?” I said. I took a bite of my own food.

Nell came back with her orange juice. “Hey Harper.”

He grinned at her. “Hey. So, I think your roommate got tapped for Scales and Fangs.”

I choked.

Nell’s eyes widened. “What? Why do you think that?”

“Why else would she leave a date with yours truly?”

I managed to swallow. “I told you I had homework—” “Yeah, yeah,” he said. “Look, I know you can’t tell me if it’s true, but just know that I understand. I really hoped I’d get tapped, but I’m a senior. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

“Wait a second,” said Nell. “You didn’t tell me you had a date with Harper.”

“We were actually just hanging out,” said Harper. “I’m only teasing about the date part. ‘Cause, you know, if I was going to take you on a date, there would definitely be white tablecloths involved.”

I felt embarrassed. I didn’t know what to do about Harper. He seemed nice. But it seemed wrong to lead him on when there was something weird happening between Professor Alexander and me. If he hadn’t realized the Scales and Fangs thing was supposed to happen last night, I would have gone all the way with him.

But that hadn’t happened. And Professor Alexander didn’t own me or anything. I could date Harper if I wanted. So I winked at him. “Really? White tablecloths, huh?”

“How do you guys even know each other?” asked Nell.

“Oh, I cast her in my play for senior seminar,” said Harper.

I looked at the two of them. “How do you guys know each other?”

“We did
How I Learned to Drive
together when I was a freshman,” said Nell.

“Yeah, but I met you when you were doing props for
Betty’s Summer Vacation
the semester before that,” said Harper.

“Oh, yeah.” She grinned. “Teagan, I told you the theater department was a big dysfunctional family.”

“Right,” I said.

“Don’t worry, I never slept with him,” she said. “He’s all yours.”

“You slept with my roommate, though,” said Harper. “Last year?”

She hid her face. “Oh god, can we forget about that? That was so embarrassing.”

Harper laughed. “Sorry.”

“See?” she said. “I told you it was incestuous too.”

“Yeah,” I said. I could see what she meant. They all had history with each other. They didn’t have history with me. But I wanted it. I wanted to belong, the way they seemed to.

“So this date idea is not totally off the table?” said Harper.

I grinned. “I don’t know. You think he’s safe, Nell?”

She laughed. “Oh, he’s a big teddy bear. Go for it.”

“We’ll see,” I said, giving Harper my best coy smile. Maybe I was leading him on. Maybe I shouldn’t be flirting with him while I kept kissing someone else. Everything seemed way too complicated. College was hard.

* * *

“I’m not sure about this scene,” said Harper. He was sprawled on his bed in his dorm room.

I sat opposite from him, on the other bed. Harper’s room was nearly identical to mine, except it faced the opposite direction, meaning that the bathroom was on the other side. He’d turned the other bed into a couch of sorts, with mismatched pillows lined up against the wall. I was leaning against one of them, staring at the script to
Moon and Moon
. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t know what to do with it. I thought it fell flat in the read-through last night.”

I had to admit that it was cool to have this much access to a guy’s room. Most of my hookups had been hidden away considering the guys I was with either lived with their parents or were, um, married. I wasn’t proud of that. But I hadn’t known that he was, not until I asked why we couldn’t go back to his place, and he told me. And by then, things were already... Well, anyway. Not proud.

This thing with Harper, though, was completely legitimate. It didn’t have to be hidden. Not like the thing with Professor Alexander, which was just a hornet’s nest of badness.

Clearly, I should be with Harper. He was the intelligent choice. But if that was the case, why did I always think about Professor Alexander when I was with Harper?

I wouldn’t anymore. I would focus completely on Harper. “Flat?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking that there needs to be some way to illustrate the relationship that Ella and Joe have to the audience. I mean, they’re very much in love.”

I hadn’t seen Professor Alexander since Wednesday night. One of the robed people had brushed up against me in the woods, and I had been almost entirely sure that was him. But he hadn’t been to our read-through. And our class didn’t meet anymore considering that we were doing the plays. Maybe I’d never see him again.

Augh. I was still thinking about Professor Alexander. I forced myself to focus on Harper. “Are they in love, though? If they were, she wouldn’t be attracted to Kurt.”

“Someone can be attracted to two people at once,” said Harper. “Don’t you think so?”

Boy, did I ever. Like I was attracted to the professor at the same time I was attracted to Harper. But... “Maybe. I don’t think the attractions are equal. There’s always someone that you’re more attracted to.”

“And you think she’s more attracted to Kurt?”

“I...” I bit my lip. “Well, Joe is obviously the one who it makes sense for her to be attracted to. Kurt is a dog during the day. He’s only a man at night when the moon comes out. What kind of relationship could she even have with him?”

Harper nodded slowly. “So, you think in that scene with Joe, she’s trying to force herself to be attracted to him?”

“Um...” I wasn’t trying to force my attraction to Harper. Was I? Why did everything have to be so confusing?

He stroked his chin. “So, how do I convey that to the audience? It’s this big inner conflict, but I don’t know how to show it.” He paged through the script. “But it makes this scene later when Joe wants her to prove how much she loves him make more sense, I think.”

“Which scene?” I said.

He told me the page number, and I flipped over to it. I started reading it silently.

“He can tell that her attraction to him is wavering.”

I looked up at Harper, chewing on my lip.

He was still staring at the script.

Get a grip, Teagan,
I told myself.
He’s not trying to send you coded messages from the play. He doesn’t even know you have something going with the professor
.

But did I have something? It didn’t seem like I did. It seemed like we only had a few stolen moments of intimacy. Still, I couldn’t get him out of my head. And I wanted to see him again. I didn’t know what I’d do when it happened, but I wanted him.