Fated

with such raw regret, my heart aches on his behalf.
    “Considering the circumstances, I think you did fine. Besides, it’s not like you stood a chance, her mind was made up the moment she saw you.”
    Dace jerks back, his expression slighted, voice unsure when he says, “I don’t understand…”
    I fumble with my lunch sack, wondering why I can never say the right thing around him. Having no way to explain in a way that won’t sound completely embarrassing, when Xotichl steps in.
    “What’s not to get? You’re hot—Daire’s gorgeous—it’s a recipe for parental distress if there ever was one. Guess that means she got a ride home from you, since Auden and I couldn’t find her?”
    Dace and I exchange a look, mine flushed and panicked, his amused and reassuring when he says, “She wasn’t feeling well, and I was on my way out…”
    His voice drifts away with his gaze, as Xotichl’s foot finds mine, giving a swift kick when she says, “Incoming.” And it’s only a few seconds later when Lita appears at the end of our table.
    She looks at me, her gaze surprisingly shy when she says, “Hey.”
    I glance to either side of her, amazed to find she made the trip on her own. Leaving me to wonder if she truly is tired of hanging with suck-ups, like she implied in the bathroom.
    “Listen,” she says. “I just wanted to apologize for the other day.” She swallows hard, forces her gaze to hold mine.
    “By the other day, do you mean yesterday—or the first day I saw you on the trail?” I ask, figuring there’s no use denying the fact that she’s had two occasions to be nice to me, and both times she chose not to.
    “Um, both, I guess. I just…” She tries to find the right word, quickly abandons the search, and starts again. “I know it wasn’t cool of me, and I just want to—”
    But before she can go any further I flash my palm and say, “It’s fine. Whatever. Apology accepted.” Noting the way her shoulders soften, her jaw loosens, the effect short-lived when I add, “But just so you know, before you start spending all your energy being nice to me, my Hollywood connections aren’t all that you think.”
    Xotichl sucks in her breath, while I brace for an onslaught of denials and anger that fail to appear.
    “Wow,” she says, her heavily made-up eyes surveying me with a hint of approval. “You really don’t take any crap, do you?”
    I glance at Dace who’s watching me intently and knowing it’s true, and that I have Jennika’s influence to thank, I say, “Nope, I really don’t.” I meet her gaze again.
    “So, we’re good, then?” she asks in a voice that’s ridiculously hopeful. So hopeful I’m pretty sure she didn’t believe me—still thinks I have unlimited access to Vane Wick, or whoever else she might have in mind.
    But not wanting to start up again, I say, “Yeah. Sure. We’re good.”
    She nods. Smiles. Starts to move away, then turns back as though a thought just occurred to her. “I’ll look for you at the Rabbit Hole. You know, tomorrow night, for Day of the Dead? You’ll be there, right?” Her eyes drift from me, to Xotichl and Dace, acknowledging them as though she hadn’t realized they’d been sitting there all along. “I thought we could maybe hang out?”
    I gape, rendered dumbstruck by the offer. Eventually gathering my wits enough to say, “Sure. Whatever.” Watching as she retreats and thinking how my prospects for tomorrow night keep getting weirder.
    Xotichl whistles under her breath, saying, “I’m not one to shock easily, but that was just…” She screws her lips to the side, drums her nails against the side of her water bottle, searching for just the right word.
    “Oddly sincere,” Dace supplies, his gaze finding mine.
    I lift my shoulders, having no idea if he’s right, but then nothing in this town is ever what it appears.
    The moment broken by the shrill sound of the bell, telling us it’s time to pack up and move on.

forty-two
    When I reach my last class, independent study, the one I share with Dace, there’s no denying the excitement I feel at the prospect of seeing him again. But my excitement soon turns to disappointment when I find his chair empty. For whatever reason, independent study is not on his agenda today.
    I claim the table near the back and retrieve my book from my bag. Determined to settle in for a nice long read, but not getting very far before my mind wanders back to Paloma.
    I have to help her.
    As her