Covet (Clann)

not having a date, and offering to take her had seemed the friendly thing to do.
    Last year, Savannah and I had spent days trying to choose costumes that would secretly match each other, teasing and tormenting each other in the process. It was during one of those costume tryouts that I’d first blurted out I love you . Man, I’d been a nervous wreck for a couple of minutes, waiting for her reaction.
    And then she’d said those three little words back, looking up at me with that sweet, beautiful smile of hers….
    A pause. The silence made me glance at Bethany. She was glaring at me.
    “What?” I asked.
    “I said that I had our costumes overnighted. So when yours arrives today or tomorrow, could you please remember to try it on and let me know if it fits?”
    “Sure,” I agreed, taking a long chug of soda.
    I glanced across the cafeteria to where Savannah should be sitting with her friends. The empty seat beside Anne was like a punch to the gut.
    Anne was laughing about something with the other girls at their table. Must be nice to be that clueless.
    How could Anne not know what was going on between her best friend and her ex?
    Bethany said something about a game.
    “What about the game?” I muttered, staring at that empty seat across the cafeteria.
    Bethany huffed, which finally got my attention. I gave her a sheepish smile and she calmed down.
    “I asked you if we’re still on for you to give me a ride home after the game this Friday,” she said.
    “Oh. Sure.” It was an away game this week, Pine Tree maybe. Whoever it was, we’d have to ride the buses with our teams back to the campus. But from there, Bethany would need a ride home, which I must have offered her at some point earlier in the week.
    The bell rang. She smiled and gave me a peck on the cheek goodbye before racing off for her next class.
    I walked more slowly to mine. Would it be wrong of me to put an anti-love spell on Sav to make her forget about Ron? Dating him was obviously a sign that she’d lost her mind. Maybe if I broke them up before Anne found out, I could save Sav and Anne’s friendship.
    I entered the main hall and blew out a long breath. No, I’d better stay out of her mess of a love life. If she wanted to turn all self-destructive with her friendships, there wasn’t much I could do about it.
    SAVANNAH
    Usually I could write off the feeling that everyone was watching me as vampire paranoia. But Wednesday morning at Charmers practice and then again in second period chemistry class, everyone really did seem to be staring at me and whispering. Apparently the grapevine had caught word of my blowup in English lit yesterday. Which meant I would have to work extra hard to tune out everyone for the next few days.
    During chem lab, Ron leaned over and murmured, “Is it just me, or does it seem like everyone’s talking about us today?”
    I shook my head, my jaw clenched. “It’s not you. I think they heard about yesterday.”
    His eyebrows shot up. “And they care because…?”
    “Anything having to do with you-know-who seems to interest them. Because obviously they need to get a life .” Anger made those last words come out a little louder than I’d intended.
    Someone giggled, and the whispers ratcheted up another notch, making me want to cover my ears with my hands. But that would probably only fuel the gossip even more.
    Sighing, I said, “Just ignore them. Now what are we not supposed to blow up in here today?”
    * * *
    By the end of Charmers practice, I was exhausted. It had taken way too much energy to block out thoughts, thanks to the little scene Tristan and I had enacted yesterday in English lit.
    I trudged across the parking lot, my Charmers duffel bag banging against my hip hard enough to make my bones rattle, only to discover a very unwelcome visitor waiting for me at my truck.
    “Get lost, Williams,” I said as I unlocked the driver’s side door and tossed in my duffel bag so I wouldn’t be tempted to hit Dylan over the head with it instead. I was so not in the mood to deal with him today. And I really didn’t appreciate the way he was leaning against my truck as if he owned it.
    “Heard about you and Tristan in English yesterday.” Rolling off my truck, Dylan tossed his long blond bangs out of his eyes and moved closer to me.
    I refused to move back, even though he was definitely in my space now. “Give me a break, Dylan. We were fighting, not getting back together.”
    “Really? Because what I