I turn my head up and catch sight of Easton hanging out of a window. A third-floor window. And, he’s about to fucking jump.
“EAST!” I scream as he jumps. At first, he falls quickly, then suddenly his descent slows, so he’s floating down softly. Air. East has an air mark. Breathe, Kenzie, breathe.
He lands on the floor gracefully, and smirks, the amusement reaching his eyes. “Worried, were you?” he teases, as he walks over to us.
“You may have given me a slight heart attack,” I admit begrudgingly.
“You totally freaked, were you worried about his pretty face being ruined?” Kelly points out, laughing at the mortified expression on my face. Drop me in it, why don’t you Kells.
“No!” I snap.
“You don’t think I have a pretty face?” East asks, stepping closer to me. “I’m hurt, offended, and not at all amused, Mackenzie,” he says softly, danger lacing his teasing tone.
“I-I never said that,” I stammer out. Great. Now, that was so smooth.
“So, you do think I’m good looking?” he asks, smiling even wider. Smug ass.
“No, I just meant that your face is probably considered pretty, hell maybe even a touch feminine, actually. You’re not really my type,” I say, keeping my face as blank as possible.
“What? You can’t be serious? Feminine?” he sputters, running a hand through his stupidly perfect hair.
“What? Shocked the whole world doesn’t want to bang you?” I ask, smiling.
“Well, not the whole world, but I’m pretty sure the female population of the school does. And, ‘feminine’ is not the word to describe me, definitely not,” he says confidently.
“Well, not me,” I answer. “Why don’t you go find one of those other members of the female population to fall at your feet, East. You may do better with them,” I retort.
“Well, I could do that. But, I prefer a challenge.” He winks at me and steps back. “I’ll catch you later then, Kenzie!” he says, turning to leave.
“Wait, what did you want?”
“Oh, shit, I meant to ask about what happened in your fire lesson,” he says, turning back to us. “It’s already been going around the whole school. Someone said you tried to fling a fireball at the teacher, is that true?”
“Of course, it’s not true,” Kelly interrupts with a laugh.
“Yeah, why would I throw a fireball at bitchface?” I ask, not really expecting an answer. “Then again, maybe I should have,” I add, muttering under my breath.
“Then why is half of her hair missing?” Easton asks.
“Um, I kind of lost control and made fire tornadoes, oops?”
“’Oops’?” he mimics. “‘Fire tornadoes’? Why am I not surprised?” Easton chuckles. “Pro-tip, don’t mix fire and air unless you want to cause disaster,” he says teasingly.
“Yeah, so I’ve since been told,” I mumble. Why did everyone else think of that but me?
“Anyway, I need to get moving, just wanted to make sure you were okay, and that you weren’t attacking teachers with fireballs.”
“Well, I’m fine. Catch you later, East,” I call after him as he walks off.
The second he’s out of earshot, Kelly turns to me. “That man is sex on legs, and you know it,” she says.
“Oh, I so do. You know who else is sex on legs,” I say, wriggling my eyebrows.
“Oh Gods, Kenzie, you cannot go after Mr. Sexy, no matter how sexy he is,” she replies, and starts moving towards our dorm building.
“Why not,” I whine.
“Because Mr. Sexy is a teacher, and although not illegal for our kind because we don’t even start school till we’re seventeen, you know it’s frowned upon. Your dads would freak for one, and he would be fired,” she answers.
“I know, I know. But, he’s so hot. Like, ‘fuck me on your desk’ hot,” I reply.
“That hot, huh?” she asks, pulling a face.
“Yup. I’m not seriously going after the guy or anything, but I will say this, if you want to be with someone, you should be with them,” I say, my tone losing its playfulness.
“You really think so?” she asks, looking thoughtful.
“Definitely,” I answer without hesitation. “You can’t help who you fall for.”
“I think so, too,” Kelly replies, linking her arm in mine.
“Come on, I have snacks under the bed, and I know you missed lunch.”
“You’re a Goddess,” I reply, linking my arm back in hers as we make our way to our dorm room.
Chapter 9
Kenzie
“Now class, because spirit is such a rare gift among our kind, we only have one class for all three year groups,” the teacher explains as she comes to stand in front of her desk, her long skirt swishing around her ankles.
I shift in my seat and eye the five others in the small class room. No kidding, teach. We’re all sitting in a small semi-circle, and sitting right next to me is none other than the asshole one minute, and kissing me in the vision of the future the next, Enzo. Great.
“Now we only have one new student blessed with Spirit this year, Mackenzie, welcome,” she says warmly. I look up into her warm, welcoming face and relax a little. Maybe this class won’t be so bad.
“Thank you, Miss . . .,” I trail off, not knowing her name.
“Miss Dommett,” she supplies for me. “But, call me Stacey, I hate formalities.”
“Thank you, Miss Do—Stacey,” I correct myself as I reply.
“Fabulous, let’s make sure to make Mackenzie feel nice and welcome, guys,” she says to the class. I notice for the first time that I’m the only girl in the class, which makes sense considering the male to female ratio of our kind. “For her benefit, let’s go around and introduce ourselves.”
“I’m Jack,” the guy on the far right says, throwing a hand up in a mini-wave gesture.
“I’m Steve,” the next in the line says.
“Ryan,” the next says.
“Same name as my brother,” I reply with a smile.
“Ryan Crowe?” he asks with a smile.
“That’s the one,” I reply.
“You really don’t look like Ryan’s sister, other than the black hair, maybe,” he says.
“Everyone says that,” I reply, returning his smile. Stacey turns to Enzo next and waits for a moment silently before a frown takes over her face.
“Lorenzo, aren’t you going to introduce yourself?” Stacey asks, her tone losing its cheeriness.
“No, firestarter, here, and I met yesterday,” he says, throwing me a disgruntled look.
“And, here I was thinking we wouldn’t have any classes together,” I reply sarcastically. One could have hoped, anyway. I add silently.
“No such luck,” he mutters under his breath, but I catch it.
“What is your problem?” I ask through gritted teeth, as Stacey turns back towards Jack to answer a question.
“You are my problem,” he answers. “Thinking you’re all that with your twelve marks.”
I laugh. Not even attempting to keep the giggles in. Like seriously, the guy is jealous about my twelve marks? I don’t even want them!
“What is funny, Mackenzie?” Stacey asks. That snaps me from my laughter. Oops.
“Nothing Mi—Stacey,” I answer.
“It sure sounds like something was,” she says, narrowing her eyes and glancing between me and Enzo.