“Slow down.” Theo began to hurry behind me. “You can’t leave. It’s my job to—”
“Protect me? I know.” I sighed. We came to the bottom of the narrow staircase and I turned to him while Adelaide waited. “Can you sit outside her door?” I asked and hated the whiny tone of my voice, but I was seriously going to lose my mind if he followed me everywhere.
Theo ran his hands through his dark hair and then tugged his lip ring. Finally, he shrugged and said, “I guess so.”
“Thank you,” I exclaimed in relief and surprised all of us by hugging him. “Oh … um … sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” I let my arms drop from around his neck and slowly backed away.
Adelaide smiled, shaking her head as she looked from me to her brother.
“Mark my words, it’s only a matter of time before you two explode like fireworks on the Fourth of July.”
Chapter 12
I BRAIDED THE FRONT PIECE of my hair and then pulled it back into a ponytail. I wore an ivory billowy top and pale rose-colored shorts with a lightweight jacket thrown over in case I got cold. I knew my sudden change in clothing choice was due to my growing feelings for my protector and not some sudden love of fashion. At least in an outfit like this I looked my age. But I still missed my t-shirts and Converse.
I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself. I felt like I was going to my first day of school and I guess that’s pretty much what it was.
I couldn’t believe I was going to be learning to do magic.
I still felt like I’d stepped into an alternate world or was having some strange dream.
But this wasn’t any dream. This was my life and it was completely and utterly insane.
A knock on the door made me jump. “Just a second,” I called and turned back to the mirror. I swiped some pale pink gloss across my lips. I knew then I couldn’t stall any longer. My whole body vibrated with nerves and I knew they weren’t going away any time soon. In fact, it was probably only going to get worse.
I tugged on my shorts—I wasn’t used to wearing something that exposed my legs this much—and opened the door. Theo was leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face. His black hair curled on the ends and a few droplets of water still clung to it. He wore jeans, an olive-green t-shirt, and a black leather jacket.
“Took you long enough, doll face.”
“Can’t you come up with a better nickname than doll face?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.
He grinned. “Would you prefer princess or boo-bear?”
“I think I’ll stick with doll face,” I groaned.
“Where’s your bag?” he asked, noting the fact I didn’t have one.
“I need a bag?”
He laughed. “Yeah, where else are you going to put your books?”
“Levitate them behind me?” I suggested. “Or make my protector carry them.” I poked his arm and smiled.
He laughed a full belly laugh. I think it was the first time I ever saw him laugh like that. “Oh, how you amuse me.”
“Glad to be of service.”
“Can I come in?” he asked, pointing behind me. “There should be one somewhere.”
“Sure.” I stepped aside so he could come in. I didn’t know why he even bothered to ask. He’d spent most of his time in my room the last week since that’s where I usually was. Sometimes when Adelaide came over she’d kick him out but most of the time he sat quietly in the corner. It was weirder being without him than being with him. In the beginning, I wanted him to leave me alone, but now I felt better with him around. Safer. I had even let him start sleeping on the floor in my room. I knew it wasn’t much better than the floor outside my door but it made me feel better. You’d think he’d be able to magically conjure up a mattress but no dice.
He disappeared into the closet and came back with a messenger bag that he handed to me. It was khaki with random patches sewed on.
“We better hurry. You’ve got Donovan this morning and he’ll be pissed if you’re late.”
I stepped into the hall and Theo followed as I locked my door behind me. Adelaide came out of her room at the same time.
“Ade,” Theo groaned. “You’re going to be late.”
She looked us over and narrowed her blue eyes at her brother. “Hypocrite much?”
“Ugh.” Theo threw his hands in the air. “Let’s go and stop arguing. We’re already late for breakfast.”
“That’s why he’s pissy,” Adelaide whisper-hissed loud enough for him to hear. “He’s hangry.”
“I’m no such thing.” He plucked at his shirt. “Now, let’s go.”
We rushed down the stairs and into the dining hall. The food was already beginning to be cleared away. I grabbed a piece of toast and stuffed it into my mouth. Theo was doing the same with a pancake and Adelaide daintily ate a handful of Cheerios.
“You two better hope I don’t get hungry before lunch. You know I turn into an angry bear,” she warned as we hurried to whatever room Donovan was holding his class in. I was stuffing the last bit of toast in my mouth when my feet went out from under me.
“Mara,” cried Theo and he grabbed me by the arm to help me up. “Are you okay?”
“Uh … yeah.” I looked around for what had caused my fall. Standing a few feet away and glaring daggers at me was Naomi. She smiled and waved before thrusting out her chest for Theo’s benefit. As soon as he wasn’t looking she flipped me the bird. I could tell we were going to get along great. Considering all of us of learning age were grouped together for these lessons, this was going to be loads of fun.
I honestly didn’t even understand Naomi’s obsession with Theo. He wasn’t allowed to date. Maybe she just wanted to bag the unattainable.
“Mara,” I heard called and then saw Winston making his way down the hall. I looked up at Theo and saw him roll his eyes. “I didn’t see you guys at breakfast.”
“Sorry, I was running behind. Nerves, you know,” I supplied. The butterflies were tormenting my stomach. I was thankful for the fact that living here there weren’t many of us learning and it was less of a school vibe. But still, the idea of learning magic was frightening. What if something went wrong? It seemed with magic involved you could burn the whole place down around you, but what did I know?
“You have nothing to worry about, love.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Winston. This isn’t your first day.”
He grinned, showing his crooked teeth. “If it’s that bad just throw out a distress signal and I’ll come running.”
I laughed. “All right, Batman.”
We made our way down the hall and into a room while Winston headed back the way we’d come. Maybe he’d forgotten something.
Someone bumped my shoulder before I could enter the room and I wasn’t surprised to see Naomi. “Oops,” she said in a falsely sweet voice.
“Bitch,” Adelaide hissed under her breath, having seen the whole thing. Theo was oblivious as he watched her sashay away. Some protector he was. “Want me to kick her?” Adelaide whispered in my ear and I giggled.
“I think she needs more than a kick.”
“Agreed,” said Adelaide with a glint in her eye I wasn’t sure I liked.