Juliet Immortal

supplication it makes my chest ache. “I know it’s hard to believe me.
I
wouldn’t believe me if I were you. But if you’ll just give me some time, I—”
    “I don’t believe you. I never will.” I take another step back. “We should get back to school. We’re going to be in even bigger trouble than—”
    “Olvida la escuela,”
he says, anger in his eyes. “This is more important than—”
    “Go back to school, Ben.” I cross my arms tight, doing my best to hold myself together. “Find Gemma and tell her you want to work it out. We can pretend this never happened.”
    “No.” Ben’s lips press together in a stubborn line I want to trace with my shaking fingers.
    “You have to,” I plead. “Do whatever it takes to convince her you’re worth it, or you
will
regret it.”
    “No, I won’t.”
    “You will. I promise you will.” Overhead, the sky darkens and thunder rumbles, echoing across the valley below. When Ben’s eyes look to the sky, I slip past him and back into the woods. “Love her … or run as far away from both of us as fast as you can.”
    “What are you talking about?” He trails me, ignoring the hand I hold in the air, demanding that he stop.
    “Love her.” Lightning flashes like a warning to keep my secrets. A warning I ignore. “Or leave Solvang and don’t ever come back.”
    “What?”
    “You’re in danger if you and Gemma don’t stay together. Just … be careful. Okay?” I see the confusion on his face but push on before he can speak. “I know you don’t understand, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to warn you. I wish someone had warned me.” My voice wavers as my steps grow faster. “I wish I had listened.”
    “Ariel. I don’t—”
    “Please listen, Ben. Please. We will never be together.
Never
, no matter what. It’s more impossible than you could ever imagine. The best thing you can do is forget we ever met.” Without another word, I turn and walk away, heading in the opposite direction of the school. I can’t go back there. I can’t risk seeing Romeo with the taste of Ben still on my lips.

SEVENTEEN
    I walk home in the rain—again—this time wearing nothing but jeans and a tank top. I’m freezing, shivering until my jaw locks up and my bones ache, every second a painful reminder of how fragile I’ve become.
    Finally, I decide to hitch a ride. The scariest people in this town won’t get out of school for another six hours. I should be safe. I’ve had my thumb out for less than five minutes when a car pulls over.
    Unfortunately, it’s familiar car. With a very familiar, very
angry
woman in the driver’s seat.
    Ariel’s mother leans over to open the passenger’s door. “Ariel Dragland, what are you doing out here?” Her voice risesto a note so high it makes me wince. “What is wrong with you?”
    “Mom, I …” Caught skipping school and hitchhiking. This isn’t going to end well. I can see a vein on Melanie’s forehead beginning to bulge. “I th-thought you were at w-w—”
    “I
was
at work. Before the school called and said you’d been in a fight and run off into the woods with some boy.” She snaps her fingers and flutters one impatient hand. “Get in the car! You’re going to freeze to death and the seats are getting wet!”
    I slide into the seat and pull the door shut behind me. The heat blowing from the vents feels as if it will burn my numb skin, but I’m grateful for it. As soon as I buckle my seat belt, I hold my fingers in front of the plastic slats, hoping the warmth will seep through my hands into the rest of me.
    Melanie stares. “You’re blue. You’re going to catch pneumonia.”
    “I’m sorry,” I say, clenching my jaw tighter, trying not to shiver.
    “You’d better be.” She shifts into drive and pulls slowly back onto the street. Water churns around the wheels, splashing as high as my window. “What is going on? Why did you leave school? Why were you in a
fight
? Where is your sweater?”
    “It got ripped on a tree branch, so I left it in the woods,” I say, answering the only question that seems possible at the moment.
    “You left it in the woods,” she repeats, voice flat. “With that boy? The one who was kicked out of the other school?”
    I shake my head. “Ben wasn’t kicked out of school. He came here to live with his brother.”
    “Well, he’s probably going to get kicked out of
this
school,” she says, squinting through the windshield as the rain picks