Chapter 16
Phantom Squad didn’t get back to campus until after ten the next night, and Colt rolled his eyes when he saw the Phantasmic . . . March to Victory posters already hanging on one of the kiosks.
He offered to walk Stacy back to her dorm under the auspices that he didn’t trust Pierce, which was partially true.
“Can I ask you something?” he said as his boots crunched on the freshly fallen snow.
“Sure.”
“You and Pierce . . . you weren’t actually . . . well, you know . . .”
“What, dating?” Stacy laughed, breaking the tension. “I don’t know what you would call it, but we were close—at least for a while.”
“Sorry, it’s none of my business.” Colt turned his attention to a squirrel that scampered up a tree. He hoped she didn’t notice he was blushing.
“It’s fine,” Stacy said. “There’s a reason I didn’t tell anyone that we knew each other back home. Most people think he’s an arrogant, spoiled-rotten jerk.”
“No comment.”
Stacy smiled. “He wasn’t always like that. I mean, yeah, I suppose you could say he was always . . . well, confident.”
“Confident?”
“Things just come easy for him. I’d study for hours and end up with a B on a chemistry test, and he’d blow it off and end up with an A. It was infuriating, but I’m pretty sure he has a photographic memory. It was the same with sports—he was the star on our basketball team even though he never took it seriously. But everything changed when he found out his dad cheated on his mom. He got angry.”
“Is that when you guys broke up?”
“Something like that. There’s a part of me that still likes him, as strange as that may sound. It’s just that I know how much it hurts when your parents get divorced, so I guess that’s why I’m not as hard on him as I should be.”
“I’m sorry,” Colt said. “I had no idea.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. You’re not the one who had an affair with one of my teachers.”
Colt stopped, his jaw hanging open. “Wait, are you serious?”
Stacy nodded. “Crazy, isn’t it? I was so embarrassed that if I hadn’t gotten the invitation from CHAOS, I would have emptied my savings account and moved to a remote jungle in South America.”
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“Danielle was right—you’re not so bad,” Stacy said with a grin.
“Don’t believe everything you hear.”
“What if I told you that she sneaked out the other night to go and see Oz?”
“Now you’re just messing with me.”
Stacy raised a single eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
Colt couldn’t imagine Danielle breaking the rules like that, especially after everything that happened with Oz and his dad. Then again, it was only a matter of time before they admitted to the rest of the world that they were more than friends.
“She’s liked him for a long time,” Stacy said as she cut across the lawn toward a bridge that led to the girls’ dormitories.
“Yeah, I kind of figured.”
“All right, now it’s time for me to ask you a question.”
Colt knew he was in trouble from the way Stacy was smiling.
“Tell me about Lily,” she said.
“What about her?” Colt said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Do you miss her?”
He bit his lower lip and made a silent vow to get even with Danielle. What was he supposed to say? That he thought about Lily all the time, or that it didn’t matter because he was pretty sure she had moved on?
“You do, don’t you?” Stacy’s smile was gone.
“I don’t know,” Colt said. “I guess. But it’s not like she was my girlfriend or anything.”
“If you say so.”
“I’m serious,” Colt said, sounding angrier than he had intended. He lowered his voice and continued. “After my parents died, Lily was . . . I don’t know, I guess she was there for me. Her birth parents died when she was little, so she knew what I was going through. It’s kind of like you and Pierce, I guess.”
“It didn’t hurt that she’s beautiful.”
Colt frowned.
“Danielle showed me a picture.”
“She is pretty.” Colt shrugged, trying to keep his emotions in check. Talking about Lily made him miss her more than ever, and yet he liked spending time with Stacy. Then again, what did it matter, if the world was about to end?
“You don’t have to be embarrassed,” Stacy said as they approached the front porch.
“Yeah, well, I better get going,” Colt said. “Don’t want to get caught out after curfew.”
“Like it matters,” Stacy said. “What are they going to do, expel you? Everyone knows that you’re our only hope against the Thule. I’m pretty sure you could do whatever you want and they wouldn’t touch you.”
“I doubt it.”
Stacy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for walking me home,” she said.
She ran up the front steps and through the door, leaving Colt more confused about his feelings than ever. Lily seemed so far away, and Stacy was real. Then there was Miranda . . . not that he had feelings for her. Not really, anyway. Still, even if she only liked him because she thought he was going to be famous, it felt good.
“Colt!”
He turned around and saw Grey and Ethan running toward him.
“We’ve been looking all over for you,” Ethan said.
“Yeah, everywhere,” Grey added. “Have you heard?”
“Heard what?” Colt asked, more than a little annoyed. He wondered how long they had been watching him.
“The Black Sun Militia broke their treaty with Koenig’s Defense Corps, and there’s a rumor that the Vril will be next,” Ethan said. “You know what that means, right? They’re going to be so caught up fighting each other that they won’t be able to invade Earth.”
“We’ll see,” Colt said.
“Oh yeah,” Ethan said as he handed him a piece of paper. “I almost forgot. Have you seen these?”
Colt turned it over, and when he saw a Phantasmic . . . March to Victory poster he crumpled it up.
“What are you doing?” Grey said. “That thing is awesome.”
“Yeah, I was going to have you sign it so I could send it back home to my brother,” Ethan said.
Colt took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Maybe later, all right? I just need to clear my head.”