The Scarlet Letterman (22 page)

I glance over toward the infirmary, and that’s when I see Ryan Kent coming out. He’s alone, and he blinks back a little against the sun, and then, for a second, I think he sees me. I give him a tentative wave (we’re supposed to be friends, aren’t we?) and then he waves back, and seems to be coming in my direction.

I finger the spell satchel Blade gave me. Could it actually be working?

I glance around to see if maybe he might be walking toward Parker or someone else, and that’s when I see Heathcliff, coming up from the other end of the commons, and walking right toward me.

Okay, Blade didn’t say anything about attracting
two
true loves. I glance back at Ryan. He’s about the same distance as Heathcliff and they’re walking at the same pace. I’m no whiz at physics, but it looks like they’re going to reach me at about the same time.

I have a sudden flash of a word problem: Your ex-boyfriend is heading toward you at a speed of five miles per hour from the north. Your forbidden boyfriend (of sorts) is heading toward you from the south at five miles per hour. Which one will get to you first, and on a scale of one to ten, just how awkward is this encounter going to be?

I watch in slow motion as the two boys halve and then quarter the distance between them and me.

It’s Heathcliff that reaches me first.

He doesn’t say anything, being a boy of few words. He just plops down next to me, pushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Ryan, four feet from me, stops, eyes Heathcliff, and then suddenly changes direction, heading off toward the library. He doesn’t even miss a beat. He simply pretends he had never planned to stop. I can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.

Next to me, Heathcliff reaches into his pocket. He pulls out the locket that contains the piece of
Wuthering Heights.

“How did you get this?” I cry, grabbing it from his hand.

He only shrugs. I can’t help but notice that he’s watching the retreating figure of Ryan Kent, heading away from us. Heathcliff pulls his attention from Ryan and then back to me.

“Happy birthday,” he tells me, taking the locket back as he fastens the chain around my neck. His fingers just brush the base of my neck as he does so, and they feel warm.

“But how did you know it was my birthday?”

Heathcliff stares at me without blinking. “Don’t you know by now? I know everything about you,” he says.

I glance up at him, and he’s just inches from me, so close to me that I can see his eyelashes. They’re long and dark and thick. There’s another surprise, I think. Heathcliff has girl lashes. Who knew?

Our noses are nearly touching and all I can think is what his lips will taste like, when abruptly, he pulls away from me. He’s looking over my shoulder, and I turn and see that Coach H has spied us and is giving us a disapproving look.

When I turn back around toward Heathcliff, he’s already picked himself up off the grass and is walking away from me.

“But…” I start, even though I know it’s already too late. Heathcliff is off, just as quickly as he came.

I run my fingers over the smooth gold locket hanging outside my Bard shirt, and watch Heathcliff until he turns the corner around Macduff dorm, and I can’t see him anymore.

From two boys to none — in five seconds flat.

That has got to be a new record.

eBook Info

Title:

The Scarlet Letterman

Creator:

Cara Lockwood

Date:

2007

Type:

novel

Format:

text/html

Identifier:

ISBN 1-4165-3147-5

Source:

PDF

Language:

en

Relation:

None

Coverage:

None

Rights:

Copyright © 2007 by Cara Lockwood