Under A Blood Moon (Elemental Enchanters) (7 page)

Ava tossed her pencil in the crease of her chemistry book. She didn’t want to think about
it. Nor did she want to think about her quasi-argument with her father last night. Or how she wound up unconscious in the hallway yesterday. She was sure the bruise on her jaw was extremely attractive. Had Xavier really hit her?

The crowd cheered
, and a whistle blew. The announcer said something, but it was like listening to Charlie Brown’s teacher. Very muffled.

“First down.” Melissa nudged Ava.

“And I care?”

Like every Friday night at the football game, Ava didn’t watch, but did her homework.
What better time to do it? If it hadn’t been for Thomas, she wouldn’t even be there.

She
always sat at the top of the concrete bleachers, away from the crowd so she could concentrate. Even in the sea of red-and-black Raiders fans, she managed to find a good spot. On the other side of the field, green-and-gold Spartans screamed and shook shakers.

Gillian cheered on the sidelines in her
little uniform while Jeremy sat at the bottom near her, and of course, Thomas and Lance were playing.

Peter had sat with Ava every home game and ac
tually helped with her homework, except tonight. She was glad Melissa hadn’t antagonized Thomas about them sitting together, and Melissa actually seemed to like Peter’s company.

“I don’t see how you can concentrate on that here.”

Ava shrugged. “I just drown out the noises.”

Just as she looked out into the game, Ava saw number seven run back to the sidelines and after several teammates patted him, he pointed at
her.

“I don’t get why he always does that.”

“Because. He just made an awesome play, and it was all for you,” Melissa said in a dramatic voice. Her hands raked through her loose side ponytail.

“Whatever.” Ava returned to her book.

“You know Thomas is going to be upset that you’re not watching him.”

“I don’t care.”

Melissa opened a package of candy and poured some into her hand. She ate one piece at a time. Something to keep her from smoking, Ava guessed. “What’s the deal with you two? I mean, did it really spur from that night in the summer?”

“That night certainly didn’t help.” She pretended to read about atomic mass.

“Then what is it?”

Ava didn’t want to say too much because Melissa wasn’t exactly the best at keeping things to herself.
“He’s just different.”

“We
all are. Especially now. You two used to be so good together.”

Ava looked up and saw, through the thick crowd of heads and shakers, Peter sitting with a
couple of friends. Her heart leapt, and she wondered why he wasn’t sitting with her.

“
Would this have anything to do with Peter?”

Damn. Melissa caught her looking at him.
“We’re just friends.”

Melissa popped a piece of candy in her mouth. “I mean, I get why you like hanging around him. He’s smart.
He seems to hold a more interesting conversation than Thomas can.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I just think it’s a shame that he likes you so much, and you have a boyfriend.”

“He likes me as a friend.”

Melissa raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that. Do you know he’s been sneaking glances at you all night?”

Ava shifted uncomfortably, but s
he secretly liked knowing that.

“It’s like you two are star-crossed lovers.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she said and faked a laugh.

“Well, maybe
you’re right. One of the girls he’s with keeps glaring in your direction. She could be his girlfriend.”

Ava looked up
, and sure enough, the brunette girl was glowering right at her. Did Peter have a girlfriend? He would have told her. Was that why he wanted her to sit with his friends so much, so she could meet her? Her stomach turned. This was silly. He could have a girlfriend if he wanted to. Or maybe that was his friend Amanda who needed company after Seth became Xavier’s friend. But that didn’t explain the glares.

The loud cheering and the emptying bleachers signaled the end of the game. A
va closed her book and notebook and followed Melissa with the rest of the crowd down the side of the bleachers. They stopped at the bottom beside the concession stand.

“Hey.” Gillian bounded up to
them. “That was an awesome game, wasn’t it?” Red and black ribbons tied her black curls into a ponytail with an exuberant bounce. Her blue eyes sparkled, and she held the black and red pompoms in her hands.

“Yeah it was so awesome.
I wish we could do this every night,” Melissa said sarcastically, and then walked closer to the locker rooms to wait on Lance.

Ava
looked past Melissa and saw Peter and his friends following the crowd out of the stadium. He playfully tousled the brunette’s hair, and she squealed. She hooked her arm with his. Ava felt a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach, and then looked away.

Gillian tugged on
her arm. “I didn’t know he had a girlfriend.”

“So it would seem.”
She wanted to tell her the truth about Peter and needed to get it off her chest. “Gillian, if I tell you something, do you promise not to say anything to anyone?”

“
I promise.”

“Not even to Jeremy or Melissa?”

“Yeah. What is it?” Her eyes were eager for whatever juicy gossip Ava was about to tell her.

She
took a deep breath, and hoped Gillian could keep the secret. “I really like Peter. And it gets worse the more I see him. I’ve tried ignoring how I feel, but there’s just something about him. I want to break up with Thomas and be with Peter.”

“Whoa.” Her mouth was agape, and she brought her pom-pom filled hands to her mouth. “
You can’t,” she whispered so softly. “You know that’s forbidden.”

She’d known about the unspoken rule regarding
Enchanters mingling with humans. But if Corbin was dead and there wasn’t a war, what was the harm?

“What am I supposed to do?
” she asked. “I’m becoming more and more detached from Thomas, and he’s aggressive and even more possessive.”

“I’ve noticed that. Maybe you could just talk to him.”

“I’ve talked and gotten nowhere.”

“
Don’t do it.”

Jeremy walked up behind Gillian and wrapped his arms around her. “You were great tonight.” He kissed her cheek and hugged her tightly.

Ava looked away. The wind blew slightly, and she shivered. Goosebumps formed, but then she suddenly became warm as if the temperatures outside rose. And now she’d developed the climate-control ability, as she liked to call it. Enchanters could make themselves warm or cold to survive extreme weather. It was just one more reminder of how different she was.

“Are you two okay?”
Jeremy asked.

“Fine,” Ava said.

“We won, Babe,” Lance said as he and Thomas came out of the locker room, clean and refreshed. He picked Melissa up and spun her around.

“That’s 5
and 0,” Thomas said. “We
finally
beat them.” He took Ava’s hand, and then they all walked up the hill to the parking lot of the school. “After three years of them beating us. Ah, that game was so awesome. I totally ragged them.”

He launched into his review of the game while Ava ambled at his side
, not paying attention.

Thomas squeezed her hand. “Earth to Ava, are you listening?”

“Yeah,” she lied.

“Did you even watch the game?”

“Some of it.”

He sighed and released her hand. “Dammit, Ava,” he shouted.
“Why can’t you come and actually watch for once? I mean, what’s the point of showing up if you’re not even going to watch me?”

“Because you want me there. I had a lot of homework to do. Besides, I can’t really tell what’s going on or who has the ball and what all the flags mean.”

“I’ve tried explaining it to you. It’s not hard. It’s not a sissy sport like baseball. This is a real sport.”

As if
she hadn’t heard that a million times. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

“Next Friday, for once, would you please just watch me? Is it really that hard? Or do you have to be so damn stubborn and uncaring?”

“It’s not that I don’t care. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I just get bored.”

“Great. So now I bore you?”

Ava groaned. “Stop acting like a baby.”

“I’m a baby now?”

“Stop putting words in my mouth.”

Lance shook his head. “And the fighting has
begun. We’ll see you at the bonfire.” He and Melissa got into his car.

“
We’re gonna skip it tonight,” Gillian said. “We’ll see you later. I’ll call you, Ava.” She waved to them, and walked away with Jeremy.

Great. So now, Ava would have to endure
Thomas’s drunkenness while Melissa and Lance went to find a quiet spot in the woods. The night just kept getting better. She was a little miffed that Gillian had deserted her, knowing what Ava had just told her.

“Babe, ride with me,” Thomas
said.

“I wish you wouldn’t call me that. You know I hate it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Why?”

“You know why. It’s patronizing. It makes me feel like I’m some toy.”

“Whatever. Will you ride with me?”

“No. You’ll get drunk
, and then I’ll have to find a way home.”

“No I won’t.
But you could always drive us home.”

“I hate driving your
Jeep.”

“I won’t drink tonight. P
romise. Please?”

He wouldn’t give up.
“Fine.” She placed her books inside her car and then climbed inside his Jeep.

He turned the ignition, revved the engine, and drove out of the parking lot, following Lance and others in a caravan to the bonfire.

“I don’t want to stay long,” she told Thomas.

“You never do.
By the way, thanks for telling everyone yesterday that I fainted. Good to know you can keep a secret.”

“
Oh, like you kept mine about me thinking Gillian manipulated Kristen.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you ha
ve a crayon stuck in your brain?”

He
wrinkled his eyebrows. “No. That was like a month ago.”

“I still think something’s going on with
Xavier.”

“Why are you so concerned with him? Who cares? If anything, he did Kristen and all them a favor.”

“Favor? Why, because Kristen suddenly looks hot to you?”

Even in the dim blue dashboard lights, she could see the muscles in his jaw
twitch. “What about Peter? You seem to have the hots for him.”

“He has a girlfriend.” She hoped that would make Thomas back down.

“Maybe he had something to do with your fainting.”

She was aghast.
“How could you even think that?”

“
He’s always around you. He was the only one out there with you yesterday. Maybe he and Xavier are working together. You never know.”

“You can be such an ass.”

Thomas parked the car at the end of the line in a field down from the bonfire and cut the engine.

Ava
reached for her door, but he grabbed her arm and forced her to face him. “Don’t call me that again.” His blue eyes bored into hers.

She
exhaled, defeated. “I’m so sick of this.”

“Sick of what?”

“Fighting with you.”

“
Then don’t.” His eyes softened.

Then
he cradled her face between his hands. He kissed her, gently at first, then harder.

She winced from the bruise.
“Thomas,” she groaned.

He leaned over
, with his mouth still on hers, and pulled the seat lever, making it recline backward. His hands fervently tried to touch her, but she blocked him.

“Thomas, knock it off.
”

“Babe, come on, I’m ready.
”

“Well I’m not.
” She pushed him back.

He released a frustrated
groan and then returned to his seat. “When are you ever going to be ready? We’ve been together forever. What’s it gonna take?”

She pulled her seat back to the upright position. “Certainly not attacking me like that.”

“I can’t help it. I’m sorry. I really am.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “I just love you so much. And I feel like I’m losing you.”