Entangled (Spellbound #1)

Chapter 13

In her haste to leave behind the humiliation that was French class—let Charlene smooth that one out tomorrow—Gray forgot her, or rather Charlene's, messenger bag. In hindsight, it was a bit like one of those cheesy maneuvers from a romantic comedy. Though when Nolan walked up with her bag after class she had to admit it worked like a charm.

Gray waited across the hall for the dismissal bell to ring.

She folded her arms over her chest and stared down any classmate who dared glance her way, including Shay Baxter. Once Nolan walked out with her bag she dropped her arms. He smiled as he crossed the hall and handed the bag over.

"Thanks, I couldn't go back in there," Gray said.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Um." Nolan looked at his feet.

"Just kidding," Gray said. "God, that was humiliating."

Nolan swept his bangs back. "What happened?"

"I don't know what I'm going to do," Gray said, staring down the hall. "I don't know French. Well, besides bonjour, oui, and now pourquoi." She looked at Nolan. "Do you think there's a spell for instant language fluency?"

Nolan's brows jumped. He looked around quickly and stepped closer to Gray. "Maybe we shouldn't be talking about that around here."

Gray stared him in the eyes. What she really wanted was to tell him she was back. If Charlene could tell Ryan, Gray ought to be allowed to tell Nolan. The hallway probably wasn't the right place to do it. Nolan already looked startled that she'd addressed him at all. Was Charlene that intimidating? And he'd all but had an epileptic fit when she mentioned the word magic in public. Imagine his reaction if she did something really crazy like go invisible?

Gray instantly thought of Raj. He delighted in magical misbehavior. But McKenna was still an unsolved mystery. Why had he run after her one day and ignored her the next?

Some questions were better left unanswered.

Nolan Knapp suddenly seemed feeble-minded compared to Raj. Live a little. That was Gray's philosophy since dying, anyway. She lifted her chin. "Have I said something to make you uncomfortable? My, what a good little warlock you are."

She saw his frown deepen, whether at being called a warlock in public or the obvious set down she couldn't be sure. "Merci for the assistance with my bag."

Hey, she knew a fifth French word.

Gray turned on her heel and walked away before Nolan could answer. She wanted to believe that her snooty words were all part of the act she was putting on, but the truth was Nolan had frustrated her.

As promised, Ryan appeared in two more of her classes. Before the day was out Gray had been groped no less than ten times by Blake, gotten slapped on the ass by Pete Sutherland (just how many guys was her sister sleeping with at school?), endured Brittany and Kiki's mean-spirited blather, and worst yet, had nothing but a chocolate Slim Fast for lunch. At least Blake spent lunch with his homeboys. If he'd tried to feel her up in the cafeteria, Gray would've been way too tempted to throw the shake in his face.

Speaking of the boyfriend, he was waiting for her after the last bell rang. Gray had to turn away from him to get inside Charlene's locker and Blake took that opportunity to run his hand down her back.

His hand didn't linger long before he began scratching at his head. The smile on Gray's face was hidden with her head inside the locker. So maybe she'd given Blake a slight case of the itchies across that thick skull of his. She couldn't exactly slap him across the face. Not unless she wanted Charlene to murder her in her sleep.