Pretty much everyone was in a flurry about the new religion teacher on Monday. Considering the median age of teachers at HTA was well over forty, having such a young (if only by appearance) new teacher was something to talk about.
“I hear he’s cute,” April said as we walked to senior religion studies—the last class of the day.
I was glad for her company, since Daniel and I were apparently avoiding each other today. Or at least I was, considering the fact that I’d chosen to sit next to April in the back of the art room since her tablemate was out sick. April had spent most of art class sketching out costume designs for me. Even though I didn’t much care for wearing a violet-purple cape with a big sequined WG (for Wolf Girl!) on the back, I didn’t have the heart to tell her I’d been grounded from training—and if Daniel, Gabriel, and Dad had anything to say about it, I’d never have a need for any of her designs. But now I almost wished April would go back to the subject of optimal crime-fighting footwear, because debating the finer points of Gabriel, or Pastor Saint Moon, or whoever he was supposed to be, wasn’t exactly something I wanted to do.
April sighed as we walked through the classroom door. “Yep, he’s cute all right. Actually, I think handsome is more the word for him, don’t you think? Cute implies a certain boyishness, but …”
I leaned in close to her ear. “You know he’s, like, an eight-hundred-and-something-year-old werewolf, right?”
“What?” April asked about ten more questions in a single breath, but I have to admit I tuned her out.
Gabriel stood next to Daniel’s desk. They both looked over a piece of paper in Daniel’s hand. I knew I could switch on my superhearing—it really was getting quite easy to control that power—to overhear what they were saying, but I didn’t like the idea of using my abilities to spy on Daniel. I also knew I could probably just walk right over there and ask what they were up to. I usually sat next to Daniel anyway. But I honestly wasn’t ready to talk to either of them yet. And since Daniel hadn’t made any effort to try to talk to me since last night, let alone apologize for lying about his whereabouts and then turning his back on me, I pulled a babbling April to the opposite side of the room.
“Hey, Grace,” Miya Nagamatsu said after I sat down in front of her.
“Hi.” I smiled at her. Mostly because her presence meant April stopped asking me questions about Gabriel’s were-status.
“We never see you around anymore.”
I shrugged. That was the thing about when April and I stopped being friends. It was as if we’d had an unspoken agreement that she’d get to keep all our other friends, like Miya, Claire, and Lane. They usually ate lunch together at the Rose Crest Café while I stayed back in the art room to work with Daniel and sometimes Katie Summers. Only today, Daniel had taken off as soon as the lunch bell rang, so it was just Katie and me working on our paintings—and she’d definitely been less talkative without Daniel around.
“Yeah,” said Claire. “We miss you.”
“Thanks, guys.”
“Did you and Daniel break up or something?” Miya pointed at Daniel across the room. “You guys are usually glued at the hip.”
As if on cue, Daniel looked up at me. Our eyes met for a moment, and he gave me half a smile. More sadness laced his expression than I’d expected to see. It made my heart feel hollow.
What is going on with him?
“No,” I said to Miya, “I just felt like a change today.” But I suddenly felt the urge to close the distance between Daniel and me. Yes, Daniel had lied, and he hadn’t backed me up when I needed him, but he was obviously going through something. I hated myself for being stupid and petty and not being there for him now.
But just then Katie Summers slipped into the empty desk next to Daniel, where I usually sat. She leaned over and asked Daniel a question. He took his eyes off me and answered her.