A Beautiful Dark

Skye?”
    He could have just assumed , a small voice whispered inside my head.
    The sharp sound of metal against metal made me look around.
    The blond guy from the party—Devin—was standing by a locker on the far side of the hallway.
    And he was staring at me.
    His face was expressionless, but the temperature in the hallway seemed to plummet.
    He hefted his backpack onto one shoulder and approached. I wanted to head into the room, but I was rooted to the spot. He stopped in front of me.
    “I’m sorry about ruining your party Saturday night.”
    His voice was quiet, calm, shy. But also seemed sincere. I hadn’t been this close to him yet, and now I could see that his eyes were a tranquil blue. Peaceful. It was something I’d longed for since my parents had died—a place with no troubles.
    When I glanced back at Asher, I could sense the animosity rolling off him in waves. I looked back and forth between them, unsure of what was going on. Standing there, I felt closed in—trapped—like I had Saturday night during the fight.
    “You should both talk to Dr. Schneider,” I said. “The guidance counselor. I hear she’s great with conflict resolution.”
    The bell rang.
    “Thanks, guys. Now I’m late to class.”
    “First time for everything,” Asher said.
    How had he known?

Chapter 5

    I hesitated at the door. Ms. Manning was already pacing the front of the classroom, going through the day’s announcements.
    I heard something drop in the row of seats by the window where Cassie and I had been sitting since the beginning of the school year. She was already seated there, bending over to pick up her calculator from the floor. She turned her head, and I could just see her eyebrow rise through the messy red-blond wisps of hair that had fallen in her face. She shot a pointed look at the two guys standing near me, winked, righted herself, and began to scribble in the notebook in front of her.
    “Skye?”
    Ms. Manning was standing in front of her desk, staring at me as if she was waiting for an answer to a question I hadn’t heard.
    “Sorry, Ms. Manning,” I said, humiliated. I’d never before had to do the tardy walk of shame. I hurried to my desk and slipped quietly into my seat beside Cassie. She kicked my ankle lightly with the toe of her gray vintage suede boot.
    “Nice entrance,” she whispered. “Drama queen.”
    “It wasn’t her fault we’re late, Ms. Manning,” Asher announced. “My cousin and I got lost, and Skye helped us find our way. It’s our first day here. New school. You know how it is. I’m Asher. I’ve heard great things about you.” He flashed a dazzling smile, focused only on her. She actually blushed and patted her mousy brown hair that frizzed out in a crown around her face. I almost laughed as I remembered the note Cassie had sent me last semester: Why doesn’t she use conditioner?
    I figured that now, Ms. Manning was wishing she had. She looked past Asher to his cousin. “And you are?”
    “Devin.” He looked uncomfortable, as though he didn’t relish being in the spotlight as much as Asher apparently did.
    “Welcome to homeroom. You’ll find empty seats in the back, boys. Make yourselves comfortable there.”
    As they walked to the back of the room, Asher winked at me. My heart kicked up, and I fought not to smooth my hair like Ms. Manning had. I couldn’t help but be impressed by how he’d effectively diffused the situation with Ms. Manning more easily than I’d ever seen anyone do it. I had a feeling the three of us wouldn’t be marked as tardy. My perfect attendance record would remain unmarred.
    I stole a glance over my shoulder. Asher slumped low in his chair, splaying his legs out in front of him. Devin sat up straight, tucking his legs beneath his desk. Not stiff, exactly. It was more that he was perfectly controlled, like in yoga. I could almost envision him meditating, a low hum playing inside his head.
    “Well, now that we’ve had our excitement for the morning,” Ms. Manning began, drawing my attention away from the guys, “let’s look in the packet that you should have taken from my desk when you came in.”
    Everyone just stared blankly at her.
    “Really, guys? Come on, vacation’s over. Let’s get those heads back in the game. Cassandra.” Ms. Manning looked sharply at Cassie as a stack of packets passed back to Cassie’s desk. Glaring at her, Cassie took one and gave them to me.
    She has it in for me , she scribbled in tiny script at