Shimmerspell (A Faerie Tale Girl Novella, #1)

Chapter Four

Jensen stepped in front of the Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder poster taped to the lunchroom door and goosebumps pebbled her arms. This part of the school was colder than usual.

With the smell of Pine-sol strong in her nose, she wasn’t surprised by the grimy yellow “Watch your step” sign in the middle of the floor. Doing as it commanded, she eased by it, but stiffened at the sound of hushed voices. Not because students huddled together sharing secrets in high school hallways was abnormal, but because of the odd tone of this particular whispery exchange.

Shoulder to the wall, she peeked around the dusty trophy case and saw a boy with white blonde curls talking with a slim blonde girl, whose face Jensen could not see. Large iridescent wings fluttered on the boy’s back and his skin had the same pearlescent sheen as Liam’s. “What the hell are they doing here?” he growled, the area between his eyes pinched tight.

“I don’t know,” the girl replied. She shook her head, and soft spirals of golden hair cascaded down her shoulders. “Where the hell is Liam?”

“Seeing to Principal Rutland.”

The girl grasped his arm, her other hand stroking his cheek. “We can’t continue waiting love. We should go ahead and dispose of the body before any of the students see.”

Jensen’s hand shot to her mouth. They killed somebody. Maybe even Rutland. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears, rattling her teeth. Could they hear it?

Holding her breath, she backed away running her trembling palm across the wall for balance. She slid into the lunchroom and eased the door shut, backing away from it with her hand clutching her chest. She had to do something, but what? Get the hell away from there, that’s what. She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out her cell phone.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” a deep voice asked.

Terrified, Jensen spun around with her fists up, finding the janitor staring at her wide-eyed, his fingers rubbing against the opening of a new trash bag.

Without responding, she ran past him, shoving open the exit to the outdoor lunch quad.

Scrolling past the fast food restaurants she had added on her first day there, she found Lauren’s number and pressed send.

Lauren answered on the second ring. “Hello.”

“Some students killed Rutland,” Jensen blurted out. “They’re trying to get rid of the body and maybe I’m hallucinating or something, but they have these wing-things on their backs.”

“What did you do?”

“I haven’t done anything. Are you not listening? These three kids killed Principal Rutland.”

“My God Jensen,” Lauren said, her voice quavering, saying nothing else.

“I just told you someone killed the principal and all you have to say is 'God Jensen.' Aren’t you gonna tell me where to meet you?”

Crickets chirped.

“Lauren?”

“No.”

Jensen stopped dead in her tracks, the ball of her foot still raised on the ground while the word bounced around in her skull. “No? What does that mean?”

“It means I’m not coming. I’m sorry. I can’t deal with this anymore.”

“Can’t deal with what? Look, I know we argued earlier, but—”