"Jeez, Ange. Chill. Who cares? It's no wonder she had to transfer. I'd probably get expelled in a second if I went there." Charla winked in the rear view mirror. "But enough crazy talk, let's get some tunes going to kick off the weekend, shall we?"
As the sounds of funk-inspired hip-hop filled the car, Victoria leaned back, watching the dark green scenery go by letting its beauty diffuse her irritation. Here and there, some leaves had already begun to redden, hinting that fall was just around the corner. New England's stunning autumn landscapes were unsurpassed. She sighed, enjoying the breeze blowing through her hair.
A silver car heading in the opposite direction caught her eye. The car was fantastic, sleek and foreign, and looked totally out of place in Canville. As it passed by, almost in slow motion, she could see the familiar, striking face through the windshield.
Christian Devereux ...
His eyes caught and held hers, and for a moment, they were both frozen, time and space passing around them. She tore her eyes away from his as they drove past, resisting the urge to turn around in her seat and stare. One look, and it felt as if she were dissipating, like fragments of paper on water.
"Is Christian Devereux hot or what?" Charla said, breaking her trance. "And that car! What I wouldn't give to get a ride in that!" She laughed. Angie rolled her eyes.
"Does he go to Windsor?" Victoria blurted out. "I mean I saw him at Admission's."
"Harland. But he's involved with a class at Windsor," Charla said. "Seriously, I couldn't stand to take AP Epistemology. I would be like freaking out the whole time."
"AP what?" Victoria said.
"Epistemology," Charla said with a grin. "Mouthful, right?"
"That's a class?"
Angie surprised Victoria by commenting in a dry voice. "It's an elective class, part of a new program—the study of knowledge and truth and what people believe in, things like that. It's a new major at Harland, one of the first in the state I think, and they want to gauge high school student interest. Everyone freaks out when he comes to class. It's totally ridiculous." Quietly under her breath, she added, "as if they even know what he is." Victoria heard her and the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
"What do you mean? What is he?"
Angie was quiet for a minute, and Victoria thought she was going to ignore her as usual but Angie surprised her by turning around. "You know, he's some kind of foreign prodigy slumming, but you'd think he was a celebrity the way everyone gets." Her tone was as disgusted as if she had something awful in her mouth. Victoria wasn't sure if that was because she was addressing her or because she was talking about Christian Devereux.
"Well, I don't care!" Charla said. "Slumming prodigy or not, I would do anything to get in that car. I would look so hot in there!" For some reason, Charla's words infuriated Victoria but she stifled the blistering response that rose in her chest and plastered a smile on her face instead. Charla grinned in the rearview mirror. "Here we are!"
The lake was encircled by thick green woodland. They parked and walked down a wooded trail to the water's edge where a long, gray pier jutted out. The water was crystal clear and the sun hung low on the horizon, casting a golden tinge across it. There were throngs of people milling about, many of whom she didn't know, but Victoria didn't mind as the coolness of the water on her toes and the smell of the clean, warm air were more than enough to make her forget about everything else.
A floating dock out in the middle of the lake looked inviting and Victoria thought she would swim to it. She stripped off her jeans and was just tugging on her T-shirt when she heard her name.
"Tori," a high-pitched voice shrieked. Victoria turned to see Charla dragging along a cocky-looking young man. "This is Gabriel. Everyone calls him Gabe. Gabe, meet Tori. She's with us."
At first glance, Victoria could see why Charla was head over heels for Gabriel. He was good-looking with black curling hair and dark, flashing eyes. His skin was tanned and his body athletically muscular. He looked like a gypsy. Victoria could see the strong resemblance to Angie, and the only real difference between them was her perpetually sulky mouth and his smiling one. He stuck out his hand and took Tori's in a warm grasp.
"Nice to meet you, Gabriel. So you're Angie's brother?"
"Funny, how can you tell?" he said. He smiled conspiratorially and a slight overbite kept his face from being too perfect. "So how do you like Windsor so far?"
"I actually really like it, thanks." His eyes were intense.
The way he looked at her as if he were really interested in hearing what she had to say was refreshing. After all, she had only met Charla, who didn't really care what anyone else had to say as she could more than capably say it for them; Angie, who never had anything to say; and Christian, who infuriated her to the point that she couldn't say anything at all.