"Remind me never to mess with you," Victoria said, half-joking.
Charla turned toward her, her stare measured. "Just stay away from Gabriel, and you and I will be just peachy." Her tone was mild and she'd said it with a smile but Victoria couldn't help but sense the menace underscoring her words. An odd coldness settled across her shoulders.
"I would never—"
"I know."
TO KEEP HERSELF busy, Victoria went straight from classes to rehearsal to the Black Dog. Her days merged into a carbon copy of the day before; wash, rinse, and repeat. But she didn't mind the predictable monotony. It helped her to not think about anything other than what she was doing at the time—not her strange gifts, which she'd ignored since her discussion with Leto, and certainly not Christian Devereux.
She saw Gabriel once at a football game that Charla had dragged her to, and he had asked her to a party at his friend's house. Victoria had declined. Although she liked Gabriel, he was too fast for her and given Charla's obsessive-compulsive behavior where he was concerned, she didn't even want to be around him. Gabriel had seemed disappointed but hadn't pushed. After what had happened with Christian, Victoria wasn't sure that she wanted to get involved with anyone at all, not even someone who would help her to forget him.
She'd briefly wondered about what Angie had said about Christian not dating anyone at Windsor even when he'd gone there, and it didn't surprise her. He seemed far too self-assured to have a girlfriend, which made his bizarre reaction to her even more extraordinary. It overwhelmed Victoria to even try to understand him. He had a Jekyll and Hyde complex that was beyond her comprehension. So she'd decided to just pretend he didn't exist. And apparently, he'd decided to do the same. Despite her relief, her disappointment must have been transparent because Charla had caught on to it.
"What's with you lately?" she asked, when they were hanging out after class at Willard's. "You're all jumpy one minute and mopey the next. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were in love."
"What? No!"
"Okay, now that's definitely a sign. Jumpy, and mopey, and defensive." Charla leaned over the counter of the booth pushing her plate of blueberry pie to the side and patting her flat stomach. "Stuffed. So come on, spill it. Who is he?"
"It's no one. Really." Victoria flushed, shoveling a piece of pastry in her mouth to avoid talking.
"And the fourth sign is denial," Charla said dryly. "Trust me, I am an aficionado of boys and boy behavior. You, my dear, are in the first stages of boy fever."
"Don't be ridiculous," Victoria said, her mouth full with another bite. "Look there's Angie. Hey Angie, over here!" She waved to Angie, who shot her a mystified scowl but made her way over to their booth.
"Hey," she said warily, eyeing Victoria and sliding in next to Charla. "What's up?"
"Not much except that Tori has a crush on someone and is totally holding out on me," Charla said, scooting over. She turned back to Victoria. "Speaking of, didn't you have a date like three weeks ago?"
"I don't have a crush, and my date was with a boy named ... John."
"John?" Charla tapped the side of her head and then shook it decidedly. "I don't know any Johns."
"Come on, there's at least five of them in our senior class," Victoria protested.
"None worth crushing over," she said, winking. "And you got saved, because here comes my crush right now. But don't think you're getting away, I'm on to you." She waved to Gabriel who'd entered the restaurant with four other football players.
Gabriel sauntered over, once again completely ignoring Angie to say hello to Charla and Victoria, and leaned against the table. He had his shirtsleeves rolled back and his tanned forearms were taut with muscle. His smile was lazy and confident.
"Hey Tori, is my girl getting you into trouble?" Charla blushed prettily.
"No more than usual," Victoria joked back.
"There's a party tonight at Jake's place. His parents are away and it'll be fun. You guys in?"
"Sure," Charla said. "Ange?" She turned to Angie who hadn't moved an inch since Gabriel had stopped to talk. Victoria didn't see anything but she could have sworn that Angie trembled slightly and shut her eyes almost like she had a sudden sharp headache. Her fingers clutched the books in her arms with a death-white grip. Victoria was astonished at the abrupt change.
"I ... I have to study. So no." Angie's voice was a dry rasp.
"Ange, it's Friday! And I need my buddy!"
"So take her," Angie said, jerking her head in Victoria's direction.