Awakened Page 2

  “Hey, you okay?” Sadie leans over, placing her freezing-cold hand on my arm.

  I jerk back from her icy touch, but continue to rub small circles on my aching temples. “Yeah, this headache just came on out of nowhere.”

  “Yeah, I had one for a second, but it’s gone now. It was weird.” Sadie looks as though she remembers nothing. None of the weirdness that we’d all just witnessed, none of the strange reactions that took place between Mr. Sloan and the students, myself and Sadie included. Did I just imagine all of it? I haven’t been sleeping too well lately. Maybe I’m just sleep-deprived and my mind is playing tricks on me.

  I wonder what Freud’s explanation would be?

  “Anyway, I think I have some Tylenol.” Sadie starts digging through her purse, if that’s what you would even call it. It’s more like Mary Poppins’ overnight bag, and God only knows what she has in that thing. “Where is it?” she mumbles, the objects inside her purse rattling. A used, wadded-up tissue falls out and lands on her desk as she continues her search. “Here it is.” Sadie passes the pill bottle to me along with a bottle of water. I look over at her, my eyebrows drawn together.

  “What?” she asks, obviously seeing my surprised expression. “Yes, I bring my own water. You seriously can’t expect me to drink out of those nasty, germ-infested fountains. Do you have any idea how many mouths have touched those things? Thousands! You can contract all kinds of diseases from them.” She shivers, clearly grossed out.

  I roll my eyes at her, uncapping the Tylenol as a burning sensation shoots across the back of my neck, setting it on fire. A million tiny branding needles race across my neck, pricking their way across my skin and leaving behind a scorching pain. I let out a yelp, dropping the bottle, and tiny white pills scatter across the floor. I grasp my neck, rubbing, clawing, willing the inferno of suffering to stop.

  “What the hell, Devyn?” Sadie snaps, cutting her eyes at me. “What’s your problem?” She bends down to scoop up the pills.

  “What is all the commotion?” Sloan’s booming voice grabs my attention, the burning on my neck forgotten.

  “Sorry, Mr. Sloan,” Sadie apologizes, quickly tossing the pills into her bag before he sees.

  I look up at the sound of his captivating voice. Mr. Sloan’s eyes seem to glow under the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, a sparkling red hue shining in them like two lit torches. The vein in his neck pulses wildly, and I can see his jaw clenching and unclenching.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Sloan,” Principle Arrowood calls from the door.

  As if someone had flipped a switch, the red blazes in Mr. Sloan’s eyes disappear, and return to their beautiful, sparkling emerald color. His entire demeanor reverts to a normal, relaxed and casual state.

  “We have a new student starting with us today,” Principle Arrowood continues. “Louis, this is Mr. Sloan. He is filling in for Mr. Hammond, but I’m sure he and the other students will be more than happy to help you get acquainted.”

  “Oh, of course,” Mr. Sloan replies, gliding on long legs toward the door to welcome the newcomer.

  All of a sudden, Mr. Sloan stops, taking a step back, his eyes widening in surprise.

  “Hello. I’m Louis Foreman,” the transfer student says.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see the new kid step forward, but I ignore him. I’m too caught up watching Mr. Sloan. He takes another step back, balling his hands into fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white from the pressure. His chest rises and falls with his quick breaths, the muscle in his jaw ticking.

  Mr. Sloan clears his throat before speaking, apparently struggling with this new student’s arrival, but why? “Welcome, Louis. Please, take a seat.” His words come out strong and confident, despite the anger and confusion that seems to dance around on his face.

  Please, tell me someone else sees this. I turn in my chair and look around the room, but no one seems to notice anything out of the ordinary.

  I glance over at Sadie, but she, just like all the other girls, is too busy ogling the new kid to have noticed Mr. Sloan’s odd behavior, and the boys are too busy staring down their competition as he makes his way into the room.

  Maybe I just imagined it; maybe my mind is turning into an iceberg, like Freud said. Each brain cell is slowly freezing over, crystalizing, until the only thing that will be left is a huge clump of ice sitting where my fully-functioning brain used to be.

  Hoping against hope, I flip my gaze back to Mr. Sloan, only to see him glaring with fiery red hatred at the new kid’s back. I gulp, loudly, and Mr. Sloan whirls around at the noise, his eyes piercing my soul like a thousand stinging bees.

  He blinks, and when his eyes reopen, they’re as green as an Irish meadow.

  What the hell is going on here? And who the hell is this man?

  “WHAT IS UP WITH YOU?” Sadie asks as we make our way to my locker.

  “What do you mean?” I ask, feigning confusion and avoiding looking over at her, afraid my eyes will give me away.

  “You know exactly what I mean. First, you throw my pills all over the floor, and if Mrs. Arrowood had walked in two minutes earlier, she would have busted me. You know we’re not supposed to carry medicine with us without checking it in with the nurse. I could have gotten in a shit-load of trouble for that. Then, you were so busy staring down hottie teacher that you didn’t even notice the even hotter new guy.” Sadie grabs my arm, banishing the image of Mr. Sloan from my mind. “Devyn, are you even listening to me?”

  “Huh?” I say. I knew she was talking to me, but it was hard to concentrate on her words when all my mind can seem to focus on is the hot, new, mysterious teacher. “Sorry, this headache is still pretty bad,” I tell her, hoping she believes my half-truth.

  “Whatever,” Sadie says, the annoyance obvious in her voice. She flips her hair over her shoulder, the smell of her strawberry shampoo wafting over me as Kyle Samuels, the most popular guy in school, approaches. A scowl spreads across Sadie’s face as Kyle walks past us without even looking in her direction. She’s been trying to catch Kyle’s eye all year, but she has yet to succeed, probably because he’s too busy drooling over the head cheerleader, Paige Caughman, who is busy trying to butter up the English Lit teacher, whom I hear is having an affair with the math teacher—who is, in fact, married to the guidance counselor. And then there are the rumors about the guidance counselor and the janitor… I swear, this school is one big soap opera. I can just picture the title, “The Young, The Old and The Horny,” airing tonight at eight o’clock.

  Sadie watches Kyle longingly for a minute, the hurt clear in her eyes. Then she straightens her shoulders and turns her attention back to me. “You’re acting weird today, Devyn. What is up with you? Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  I’m acting weird? This whole freaking day has been weird, and it’s definitely not just me.

  I toss my books into my locker, trying to figure out how to answer her without sounding completely insane. “I don’t know. I’m just not feeling like myself today.” I shove more books into my bag, praying she’ll drop the subject. How do I tell her that I think our new substitute teacher is a psycho with mind-control capabilities? Yet, I can’t be sure if what I saw and experienced was even real. The other students don’t even seem to notice that anything strange happened, so now I’m worried I might be going crazy. Yeah, there’s no way I’m telling her that.

  “Well, get over it, ’cause I’m pretty sure the new guy has the hots for you.” Sadie smiles at me, waggling her perfectly plucked eyebrows.

  I look over at her, dubious. “You’re losing it. He does not. He doesn’t even know me.”

  “He doesn’t have to know you to think you’re super sexy.” She knocks her shoulder into mine. “And what other reason would there be to explain why he didn’t take his eyes off you during class?” Sadie shoves a stick of gum in her mouth and tosses the wrapper in my locker. I snatch it out, annoyed, and throw it into the trashcan beside us.

  “Whatever, Sadie.”

  There is no way Landon…Louie—what the hell was his name? Oh, right…Louis, would be interested in a Plain Jane like me, not when you’ve got girls like Sadie Mason making up most of the female student body. Sadie is ridiculously pretty, and even on my best days, I can’t compete with her. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not ugly, but my looks rank nowhere near Sadie’s, or even half the other girls in this school. I’m just ordinary; nothing special to look at here.

  My drab, dull black hair never wants to cooperate, so most of the time it ends up in a boring ponytail, whereas Sadie’s shiny blond locks always fall in perfect waves down her back. My poop-brown eyes can’t even be compared to Sadie’s sparkling ocean blue ones. And I could never pull off wearing the same cutesy outfits she does. Her slim, size-three figure can make even the most hideous outfits look good, but with my broad, athletic shoulders and too-small boobs, it’s hard to make anything look decent on me, so I usually just throw on a T-shirt, ripped up jeans, pair it all with Chucks, and I’m good to go.

  “Oooh. You should so invite him to your birthday party,” Sadie exclaims, her smile bright enough to light up the entire hallway.

  “I told you I didn’t want a party,” I say, anger flaring.

  “Well, it’s not every day my best friend turns eighteen. Of course, I’m going to throw you a party. And it is going to be fabulous! It will be the talk of the school.”

  “You’re really just wasting your time and your daddy’s money. It’s not like anyone will come. You know you’re my only friend. Everyone else in this school just tolerates me because of you.”

  “That is not true. They love you.” Sadie swings her arms out, indicating the students gathered in the hall.

  “You’re delusional, Sadie.”

  “I’ll prove it.” Sadie turns and scans the crowd. “Jackie,” she calls out.

  Jackie, a tall brunette with legs as long as my whole body, strides over, her mingling followers creeping behind her. “Sadie, dear, I feel like we haven’t talked in ages. Where have you been?” She greets Sadie with a kiss on the cheek.

  Who the hell does she think she is, some A-list celebrity or something? And who the hell talks like that? Oh, dear, I haven’t seen you in ages. We just have to get together for some tea and crumpets. God, I hate Jackie. She has always been extra rude to me, although she does put on a good front whenever Sadie is around.

  “And Devyn, I see you’re still the same.” Jackie pats my arm before pulling her hand back and wiping it on her denim skirt, as if worried my un-coolness is contagious. She is such a vile bitch!

  “I’m throwing a birthday party for Devyn next Saturday and we would love for you to come,” Sadie tells her.

  “Oh, is that so? I’ll have to check my calendar, but I may be able to shuffle some things around and make an appearance. Just text me the details.” Jackie runs her hand over her shiny brown hair, then checks her nails as if getting bored with the conversation.

  “Sure,” Sadie answers. “I’ll send them during next period.”

  “Okay. Well, I’ll see you girls later. Ta ta.” Jackie waggles her fingers at us before turning and leaving with her gaggle of brain dead girls following her.

  Ta ta, you condescending, stuck up bitch, I want to say, but don’t. Instead, I turn to glare at Sadie. “Seriously? You invited Jackie?” I say as soon as Jackie is out of earshot.

  “What?” Sadie asks innocently. “Jackie is nice.”

  “Um, no she isn’t. She’s a conceited bitch who thinks her shit don’t stink.”

  “You just need to get to know her better. Cheer up. You’re turning eighteen.” Sadie grabs onto my arms and bounces on her feet, expecting me to join in with her celebration, but when I remain still, she stops. “Look, I’ve gone through all this trouble of planning an amazing party for you. The least you could do is pretend to be happy. I know you’re not Miss Popular and you don’t care to be, but could you at least have a little fun, for me.”

  I huff out an exasperated breath. “Fine,” I tell her. “Yay! It’s my birthday.”

  Sadie ignores my sarcasm and continues to bore me with party details. “I’ve booked five VIP sections at Club Rogue, the caterer is paid for, and I’m meeting with the DJ this afternoon to go over song choices. Oh, your party is going to be amazing. I can’t wait,” she squeals.

  “Me either,” I say, faking enthusiasm the best I can.

  “Excuse me, girls,” Mr. Hottie interrupts. “I would be so grateful if you could point me in the direction of the teacher’s lounge.”

  Again, his sensual voice instantly captivates me and pulls me into his trance. I step forward, needing to close the distance between us. His eyes burn into my soul, calling out to me like a long-lost love. I take another step. He stands firm, his eyes never straying from mine. My skin prickles and goosebumps race across my arms at his nearness.

  Go to him! The voice sings in my mind. I take another step. I must go to him. Sadie grabs my hand, tugging me back, but my eyes remain locked on Mr. Sloan, unable to pull my gaze away from his.

  “Devyn,” Sadie says, her voice barely registering in my mind. She tugs at my hand harder.

  “Oops, sorry, Mr. Sloan,” someone says, bumping into his back. Mr. Sloan stumbles forward a step, throwing out his arm to brace himself against the lockers. The movement causes his sleeve to rise up and I catch a glimpse of a swirly black and gold tattoo on the inside of his wrist. He snaps his head back at his assailant, instantly breaking our hypnotic connection.

  I blink, ridding myself of the fog that has set up residence in my brain, and am suddenly overcome with a piercing pain. It radiates through my head like a sharpened arrow puncturing my skull, and my neck burns with a scorching fire. It feels like someone is holding a lit torch to my skin.

  “Gah!” I cradle my throbbing head, my brain feeling like it’s being ripped in two.

  “Devyn, what’s wrong?” Sadie asks, her voice filled with concern.

  I can’t think. The torment is too much. I don’t know what’s worse, the snaking ache in my head or the blaze wrapping around my neck. My heart speeds up, pounding in rhythm with the pulsating agony in my head.

  “Come on, let’s get you to the nurse.” Sadie tightens her grip on my arm and tugs me down the hall, my feet dragging behind her.

  “Hang on,” I manage to say, as the pain slowly eases off to a dull ache, but Sadie keeps moving, pulling me along. “Sadie, I’m fine,” I say a little louder.

  She slows to a stop, turning to look at me, worry and confusion spread across her face. “You’re fine? Really? ’Cause it looked like you were about to pass out back there.”

  “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just this headache.” I try to sound convincing.

  “Seriously, Devyn, what is with you today? You’re acting really strange. Let me take you to the nurse, you might be coming down with something.”

  “It’s nothing. I told you, I just have a headache. I’ll see you at lunch. Okay?” I turn and start to walk away, desperately wanting to avoid any more questions.

  “Devyn,” Sadie calls my name. Students stare at me as if I’m some sort of sideshow circus freak as I pass by them. I drop my gaze to the floor and try to ignore their whispers about the crazy girl, cringing inwardly as I try to make my escape.

  “She is so weird. I don’t see why Sadie hangs out with her,” one girl says.

  “She probably just feels sorry for her. You know she doesn’t have parents,” another girl replies.

  Tears are building, wetting my eyes, but I refuse to let them see me cry. These people know nothing about me. How dare they assume anything? And I do have a parent. Uncle Tank is as much my father as my own dad would have been. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes, but I blink hard, ignoring their sting, hoping no one notices.

  I swallow the lump in my throat, trying to get control of my emotions before answering. “I’m fine, Sadie,” I call over my shoulder, tuning out the rest of the nasty remarks. “We’ll talk at lunch.” I hear her huff out a breath, but I don’t turn around. I can’t explain what’s going on. Hell, I don’t have a freaking clue what’s happening. All I know is that something is definitely not right with me today.

  I stumble into my next class, thankful to be away from Sadie and her questions for the next hour. How did the day go from being perfectly normal to total chaos? I drop my book bag on the floor, lay my head down on my desk, and close my eyes, praying the rest of the day will be drama-free.

  “Excuse me, is this seat taken?” a sexy, raspy, and very male voice asks, with a hint of an English accent. I open my eyes but leave my head down, hoping he wasn’t talking to me. I flick my eyes to the side and see a pair of black biker boots parked beside my desk.

  “Damn it,” I mutter under my breath, irritated at being bothered. Is it too much to ask to be left alone for a single minute?

  I slowly lift my head, taking in the new guy’s appearance. I try not to laugh as I eye him up. Black biker boots, tight jeans, plain black t-shirt. Is his hair going to be slicked back like those guys on Grease? Is he going to whip a comb out of his back pocket and run it through his strands while singing about Grease Lighting? I finally make it to his face with its strong, angular jaw and captivating, slate gray eyes, slightly hidden by long, sandy blond hair. Well, hello good looking. He is definitely not a Grease guy. Sorry, John Travolta, but you’re just not my type.

  “Hello.” His accent drips from his tongue and my heart smacks into my ribs. “Is this seat available?” He motions to the desk behind me.

  “Um…um…” I stutter, forcing the sound over my suddenly very dry lips.

  He looks at me, confused, his eyebrows coming together to form a V—the sexiest V I’ve ever seen.

  “No. I mean, yes. I mean, no one is sitting there.” My addled brain finally manages to get some words out. The new kid, Louis, gives me a crooked smile, his gray eyes twinkling with flecks of silver. My God, he is dreamy!

  Good job, Devyn! Now, he probably thinks you’re a moron, just like all the other people in this school do. Heat creeps up my neck and spreads into my cheeks. I turn my head quickly, trying to hide the evidence of my embarrassment. This day just keeps getting better. I should have stayed home, faked having the flu or something. But then Uncle Tank would have rushed me to the doctor only to find out I was perfectly healthy, and then he would have shipped me off to school anyway.