Chapter One
The taillights of my brother's car glowed like monstrous eyes through the thickly falling snow. Wind gusted, whipping strands of hair across my face. I tucked them behind my ears and watched as Alex drove out of sight. Shifting my backpack, I turned and followed a faint trail of footprints into the school.
The heels of my boots clacked against the floor as I walked past darkened classrooms. I pictured the teachers hanging out in the faculty lounge getting their coffee fix and water cooler discussions out of the way. What they were really doing, I hadn't a clue. But thinking about them kept me focused on something other than the unease slowly building inside of me.
Normally, the early quiet didn't bother me, but after the nightmares I'd been having over the past week, I found myself jumping at the slightest sound. Even now, it felt as though someone watched from the shadows. But no one was there.
Quiet whispers echoed around me. My heart rate kicked up, the rapid thud distorting my hearing. I tightened my grip on my book bag, ready to use it in self-defense if it didn't slip out of my sweaty palms.
Taking a deep breath, I turned the corner. A few students wandered the hallway talking to each other, their instrument cases neatly piled outside the band room door. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. I must’ve looked like an idiot. Thank God they hadn’t seen me.
“Get a grip, Cal.” I loosened my grip on my bag and continued down the hallway, my legs shaking as relief flowed through me.
Only I would get scared by a group of bandies walking the hall. At least they hadn’t seen my overreaction. Stupid nightmares, interrupting my precious sleep.
Between the dreams and Alex forcing me to get up before the sun, it was no wonder I was such a mess. I mean really, what teenager could function on four hours of sleep a night?
If my brother’s classes hadn't been scheduled for the crack of dawn, I'd still be in bed, snuggled up with my comforter. Before registration, I'd begged Alex to pick the later sessions, but he’d told me that being a college freshman meant he had to take his classes when he could get them. I didn't buy it. I knew he preferred to be up and about early―he always had.
It wasn’t so bad. Every other day, Reece Michaels―Alex's best friend, our former foster brother, and our current housemate―dropped me off before he headed to the same local college as Alex. It was perfect. Not only did I get to sleep later, but I also got to spend time with the guy who filled my dreams.
Alex refused to let Reece bring me every day—said it made him feel like he was neglecting me. I looked down the sparsely populated hallway and sighed. How could I tell my brother that I wouldn’t mind if he neglected me a bit if it meant hitting the snooze button a few more times? I yawned. On days like today, being neglected didn’t sound so bad.
I meandered toward my locker, stopping occasionally to read the posters that were hung haphazardly on the walls. A brightly colored paper announced the upcoming solstice dance. Another listed the date of the winter holiday concert. Time was really flying this year. It seemed like school had only started a few weeks ago, yet here we were at the holidays already.
As I walked past a side entrance, I heard the muffled squeal of brakes from outside. A moment later, footsteps, laughter, and conversations filtered through the hallways as the first wave of students entered the building. Finally, the creepy someone's-watching-you-from-the-shadows feeling disappeared.
I stopped in front of my locker—number 114—and spun the dial. Scratches marred the locker’s blue paint, revealing shades of red and orange underneath. Not the newest lockers, but at least our school didn’t have the ones stacked in threes, where it always seemed that the tall guy got the one at floor level and the short girl got the one by the ceiling.
“Please open,” I prayed as I lifted the latch. It was no use. The door wouldn't budge. Frowning, I dialed my combination again. Still nothing. “Stupid piece of crap. Why can’t I ever open you?”
The lockers on both sides of me rattled, as if something wanted to break out. I looked, but they were all closed and hadn't moved an inch. Weird. Wonder what that was all about.
“For once, open like you're supposed to,” I muttered, knowing it would never happen. This locker had never opened without a fight—not once in the four years I'd used it. Why would I expect anything different today? If our school was like others, and changed lockers every year, someone else would have had the pleasure of dealing with this piece of junk. But no, our school gave the incoming freshmen the lockers vacated by the outgoing seniors. Since there were only two hallways of lockers, it worked—it wasn’t like we had different floors or wings set up for each grade level. Nope, our grade levels were mixed in each hallway. Some of the teachers even taught multiple grades. What else could be expected from a small, rural school?
Fingers crossed, I spun the dial again.
Nothing.
“Damn it! I need my books!” I kicked the cheap metal, the resounding thunk doing nothing to make me feel better. Instead, sharp pain shot through my toes.
“Fu―”
I cut off my curse as a sensation of emptiness filled my stomach. Someone was creeping up behind me. For the past couple of days, I’d been having odd feelings around people. The first time I’d felt it, I’d thought I was getting sick. But it kept happening—different sensations around different people.
So far, none of the sensations had been repeated, but that didn't mean they couldn't be. After all, there were only so many things a person could feel, and I was bound to have repeats sooner or later. Like this empty-stomach thing. Every time I'd felt my stomach go hollow, Alyssa O'Connor, my best friend, had been nearby. It could have been a coincidence, though. In fact, I could turn around now and find a total stranger standing there. That thought alone kept me facing the door of my locker.
“What's your problem today? Get up on the wrong side of the bed?”
I let out my breath in a relieved whoosh and turned, smiling, as Alyssa sauntered up, unbuttoning her pea coat. Today, she wore black tights, a dark purple mini-skirt, and a cashmere twin set in lavender. Purple suede shoe-boots with a three-inch heel brought the top of her head almost to my chin. Her light brown hair, streaked blonde by last summer’s sun, fell in gentle waves to her shoulders. Hazel eyes of the blue-green variety glittered with amusement as she struggled to hide a smile.
Feeling completely underdressed, I glanced down at the faded sweater and the jeans with holes in the knees that I wore. I pulled an elastic from around my wrist and tied my brown curls away from my face. “No. Just can't get my locker open.”
“Mm-hm. ’Cause that's nothing new.” She pushed me aside. With a flick of her wrist, the dial spun, and the door opened. “There. Now, what's up?”
“Nothing's up. Everything's fine.” I emptied out my backpack and hung it inside. Our school had a “no backpacks allowed in the classroom” policy, which forced us to carry our books the old-fashioned way.
“Then why are you so jumpy?”
“Me? I'm not jumpy.” No way was I going to talk about my dreams right now. Nope, the best way to forget about them was to pretend they'd never happened.
“You almost jumped out of your skin when I walked over here.”
“You're seeing things.” I double-checked my bag to make sure I had everything, and to avoid her all-knowing gaze. “And if I did jump, it's because I didn't know you were there.”
“So you say.” Eyes narrowed, lips pushed out in a pout, she studied me.
“What?”
She grinned and tapped a finger against her lips. “Why, Callie Rycroft, I do believe you're keeping a secret from me.”
“Why do you think that?” I slammed my locker door closed, wishing she'd just leave things alone.
“Seriously? We've been friends forever.” She tucked her arm through mine. “I know all your tells. And you, my dearest, bestest friend, are keeping a secret. So spill.”
“There's really nothing to say,” I hedged. Not a complete lie, but not the complete truth, either.
“I'm going to get it out of you eventually. You do know this, right?”
I laughed out loud. Alyssa had a way of making people talk—she'd done it to me more times than I could count. But I knew how to hold her off…for a little while, at least.
“Come on.” She tugged me down the hallway. “I've gotta get my books before class starts.”
The two of us had been friends since we’d learned to walk. She was my anchor—I couldn't imagine life without her. We had planned on being together forever, but that wasn't going to happen now.
If my parents hadn't died, things would be different. But they had, and that meant that at the end of the year, my best friend would be heading off to college without me, and I'd be enrolling at the same local college that Alex and Reece attended—the only one we could afford.
“So, are you ready for the Economics test today?” Alyssa opened her locker and hung up her coat.
I snorted. “Please. It's going to be a piece of cake.”
“I could use an early dismissal. Or a fire drill. Anything to get me out of class.” She pulled books out and stacked them on the floor.
“Good luck with that. Besides, the test is tomorrow.” I tucked a stray curl behind my ear.
“You sure? I could've sworn Mrs. Patterson said it was today.”
I flipped open my student planner and showed her what I'd copied from the board yesterday. “See? The test is on Friday, not today.”
The first bell rang and Alyssa jumped. “Guess we'll find out soon. Loser buys sodas next girls' night.”
“You're on.” I closed my planner and smiled, ready to prove her wrong.
We shuffled down the hallway side by side, holding up some of the underclassmen that were scurrying to class. I didn't understand their rush, though I vaguely recalled doing the same thing when we’d been freshmen. Now that we were seniors, we moved at a slower pace, wanting to spend as much time together as possible before our classes began. After all, homeroom wouldn't start for another ten minutes
When we reached the crossing hallway, I stopped. “Okay, I'll see you at lunch, and we'll discuss who's buying what then.”
“I know exactly who's going to be buying, so make sure you have your allowance ready to pay up,” Alyssa teased.
I forced a smile. She didn't know that I didn't get an allowance anymore. I'd been too embarrassed to tell her that my spending money came from the tips that Reece earned as a waiter at a fancy restaurant in town. Not even Alex knew about it. He must have just assumed that I didn't have any need for spending money, or perhaps he was too busy worrying about everything else, like groceries, and taxes, and all the other stuff our parents used to take care of.
Alyssa continued on ahead while I turned, dodging around the pair of bandies goofing around outside the doors of the music room. I jerked to a halt as three girls from the cheer squad cut in front of me on their way to the bathroom. Shifting my books, I continued on my way, wondering who'd try and run into me next. Across the hall, Riley―the loner guy who sat in the back of all my classes―dropped his books, earning a round of laughter and applause from the lacrosse boys, who were hanging around outside of my homeroom. He pushed a hand through his too-long, brown-as-crap hair, and bent to pick up his things, getting no help from anyone. Not even me.
Riley was the invisible student. No one knew anything about him. He didn’t help matters though, staying on the fringes, never participating in school events. He just kind of faded into the background, and we all let him. Sometimes I’d smile at him so he wouldn’t think we were all jerks here, but I avoided actually talking to him. Mostly because anytime I took a step in his direction, he bolted the other way.
Feeling a little guilty for not stopping to help, I headed toward my homeroom, knowing I only had about two minutes before the late bell rang. A few feet from the doorway, a tingle spread over my skin and my stomach fluttered. Reece. I closed my eyes and pictured his ash-blond hair fluttering just above his shoulders, his sapphire-blue eyes sparkling with humor, and the edge of his T-shirt lifting just enough for me to catch a glimpse of his rock-hard abs.
To say I had a thing for my brother's best friend was a bit of an understatement. But as much as I believed that true love conquered all, and that happily-ever-after was more than just the end of a fairy-tale, it didn't change the fact that Reece was nothing but polite and friendly with me.
Still, no matter how much I liked him, that didn’t explain why I had sensed him at school, unless something had happened to Alex, and Reece had come to break the bad news.
I jerked to a halt, all the blood rushing to my toes. Oh, God. Not Alex! I couldn't take being left alone in this world.
Sound buzzed around me and my vision swirled, leaving me dizzy and disoriented. I stumbled forward, colliding with something hard and warm. Fingers clenched my shoulders. I jerked away, desperate to find Reece and learn what was wrong.
“Jeez, Callie. What's your problem?”
I blinked and focused on the guy in front of me. Crap! The last guy I wanted to talk to, ever.
Ryan Michaelson, lacrosse captain and all-around nuisance, stared down at me, irritation burning in his green eyes. Heartthrob gorgeous with blond hair and a body of solid muscle—currently being shown off under a tight-fitting T-shirt and a pair of hip-hugging jeans—Ryan carried an ego the size of the school. It didn't help that he'd dated (and slept with) almost every girl in the student body. In fact, as far as I knew, Alyssa and I were the only ones who hadn't succumbed to his apparent charms.
“Nothing. Just leave me alone.” I tried to duck around him but he shifted in front of me, forcing me to stop. I groaned.
“What's wrong?”
“Please. As if you care.” I rubbed my arms, wishing the tingling would go away.
“I do.”
“Right. Because you think being nice to me once will make me forget what a jerk you are. God, why can't you just leave me alone?” I closed my eyes and counted silently, hoping he'd disappear. When I got to ten, I opened my eyes and glanced over at him. For a split second, Reece stood in front of me, but then he went fuzzy and morphed back into Ryan. “Reece?”
Ryan's head snapped up and his gaze drilled into mine. “Who's Reece?”
“No one.” Heat flooded my face, contradicting my sharp response.
“Then why did you say his name? Do I remind you of him?”
“No. Nothing about you is like him.” Except that for a second you looked just like him. “Look, I need to get to class.”
“Not until I know that you're okay.”
I huffed out a breath. “Why would you even care?”
“I'm wounded.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “Don't you know how much you mean to me?”
“Yeah,” I snorted, “as another name on your long list of conquests.”
He gave me a sad, puppy dog look. I’m sure he thought it would make me feel bad, but he was sadly mistaken. His charms, or lack of them, didn’t work on me.
“That's low. Here I am trying to make sure you're okay, and all you want to do is insult me.”
Hoping that he’d leave me alone if I told him what he wanted to hear, I said, “Fine. I'm fine.”
“And I'm the King of France.”
“There is no king of France.”
He smirked. “Exactly, and you aren't fine. Your face is whiter than white. When you walked into me, your eyes were glassy and unfocused. Are you on drugs?”
Just when I was starting to think that Ryan might have some redeeming qualities, he had to go and say something like that. “No. Of course not.”
“Then what's up with you?”
“If you must know―”
“Oh, I must.” He smirked.
I glared, irritated by his interruption. “I thought something was wrong with my brother.”
His brows drew low. “Why would you think that?”
“Because.” How did I explain this without seeming like a freak? I ran my hands up and down my arms and looked for Reece, knowing that he must be nearby. But he wasn’t there.
Could Ryan be the source of the tingles? If so, that would explain why the feeling was so strong right now. I’d never felt a duplicate sensation before, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t. And Ryan being the source would mean Alex was fine—Reece wasn’t here to tell me something terrible, thank God. My knees went week and I swayed toward the wall.
“Whoa.” Ryan settled his hands on my shoulders, keeping me upright.
“I'm okay.” And I was, now that I realized I'd been letting my imagination get the better of me. I’d been doing that a lot since I’d lost my parents. “Let me go. I don't want to be late.”
“You sure? I thought you were going to fall at my feet.” He flashed his trademark grin, the one most girls sighed and batted their eyes at. I didn’t get it. It did nothing for me. “Not that I would have minded. I love it when girls swoon for me.”
“You're such an ass.” I pushed past him, wishing for some kind of magic pill that would take away the pain suddenly pulsing in my eye.
At the classroom doorway, I paused and looked back, catching a glimpse of jet-black hair and sapphire eyes, just like the ones that haunted my nightmares. The very ones I'd been trying not to think about this morning. My heart thudded and my hands turned slick with sweat. It couldn't be. I blinked, and stared down the empty hallway.
Great. Now I could add “seeing things” to my list of weirdnesses.
