The Immortal Rules (43 page)

Authors: Julie Kagawa

BOOK: The Immortal Rules

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And then, one of the girls
turned and looked right at me.

I glanced away, hoping that no
one noticed. Cheerleaders, I’d discovered, usually dated large, overly
protective football stars whose policy was punch first, ask questions later.
I did not want to find myself pressed up against my locker or a bathroom
stall on my first day, about to get my face smashed in, because I had the
gall to look at the quarterback’s girlfriend. I heard more whispers,
imagined fingers pointed my way, and then a chorus of shocked squeaks and
gasps reached my corner.

“She’s really going to do it,”
someone hissed, and then footsteps padded across the room. One of the girls
had broken away from the pack and was approaching me. Wonderful.

Go away.
I shifted farther toward the wall.
I have nothing you want or need. I’m not here so you can
prove that you’re not scared of the tough new kid, and I do not want to get
in a fight with your meathead boyfriend. Leave me alone.

“Hi.”

Resigned, I turned and stared
into the face of a girl.

She was shorter than the others,
more perky and cute than graceful and beautiful. Her long, straight hair was
inky black, though she had dyed a few strands around her face a brilliant
sapphire. She wore sneakers and dark jeans, tight enough to hug her slender
legs, but not looking as if she’d painted them on. Warm brown eyes peered
down at me as she stood with her hands clasped in front of her, shifting
from foot to foot, as if it was impossible for her to stay still.

“Sorry about the note,” she
continued, as I shifted back to eye her warily. “I told Regan not to do
it—Miss Singer has eyes like a hawk. We didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”
She smiled, and it lit up the room. “I’m Kenzie. Well,
Mackenzie
is my full
name, but everyone calls me Kenzie.
Don’t
call me Mac or I’ll slug
you.”

Behind her, the rest of the
girls gaped and whispered to each other, shooting us furtive glances. I felt
like some kind of exhibit at the zoo. Resentment simmered. I was just a
curiosity to them, the dangerous new kid, to be stared at and gossiped
about.

“And…you are…?” Kenzie
prompted.

I looked away. “Not
interested.”

“Okay. Wow.” She sounded
surprised but not angry, not yet. “That’s…not what I was
expecting.”

“Get used to it.” Inwardly, I
cringed at the sound of my own voice. I was being a dick; I was fully aware
of that. I was also fully aware that I was murdering any hope for acceptance
in this place. You didn’t talk this way to a cute, popular cheerleader
without becoming a social pariah. She would go back to her friends, and they
would gossip, and more rumors would spread, and I’d be shunned for the rest
of the year.

Good,
I thought, trying to convince myself.
That’s
what I want. No one gets hurt this way. Everyone can just leave me
alone.

Except…the girl wasn’t leaving.
From the corner of my eye, I saw her lean back and cross her arms, still
with that lopsided grin on her face. “No need to be nasty,” she said,
unconcerned with my aggressiveness. “I’m not asking for a date, tough guy,
just your name.”

Why was she still talking to me?
Wasn’t I making myself clear? I didn’t want to talk. I didn’t want to answer
her questions. The longer I spoke to anyone, the greater the chance that
They
would
notice, and then the nightmare would begin again. “It’s Ethan,” I muttered,
still staring at the wall. I forced the next words out. “Now piss
off.”

“Huh. Well, aren’t we hostile.”
Though her words were sharp, she still seemed more amused than anything. I
resisted the urge to glance at her, though I still felt that smile, directed
at me. “I was just trying to be nice, seeing as it’s your first day and all.
But, if you want to be a jackass…”

“Miss St. James.” Our teacher’s
voice cut across the room. Kenzie turned to look, and I snuck a peek at her.
“I need to speak with Mr. Chase,” Miss Singer continued, smiling at Kenzie.
“Go to your next class, please.”

Kenzie nodded. “Sure, Miss
Singer.” Glancing back, she caught me staring at her and grinned before I
could look away. “See ya around, tough guy.”

I watched her bounce back to her
friends, who surrounded her, giggling and whispering. Sneaking unsubtle
glances at me, they filed through the door into the hall, leaving me alone
with the teacher.

“Come here, Mr. Chase, if you
would. I don’t want to shout at you over the classroom.”

Pulling myself to my feet, I
walked down the aisle and slouched into a front-row desk. Miss Singer’s
sharp black eyes watched me over her glasses, then she launched into a
lecture about her no-tolerance policy for horseplay, and how she understood
my situation, and how I could make something of myself if I just focused. As
if that was all there was to it.

Thanks, but you might as well save your
breath,
I thought.
I’ve heard this all before. How difficult it must be, moving
to a new school, starting over. How bad my life at home must be. Don’t act
as if you know what I’m going through. You don’t know me. You don’t know
anything about my life. No one does.

And, if I had any say in it, no
one ever would.

If you loved
The Immortal Rules
, don’t miss the Iron Fey
series, also by
New York Times
bestselling
author Julie Kagawa.

The Iron Fey series

Man’s obsession with
progress and technology has produced something terrible: the Iron Fey. Their
presence is slowly destroying the Nevernever, home of the original faeries.
It is up to Meghan Chase, half-human daughter of the Summer King, to stop
them and somehow find a way for both species to survive.

The Iron King
(Book 1)
Winter’s Passage
(ebook)
The Iron Daughter
(Book 2)