Bittersweet (Book #1 Evening Wings Trilogy)

Chapter 6

6

I slammed my locker door and hugged myself.

It was cold, colder than most of the autumn days had been. There was some lingering humidity in the atmosphere, but the winter chill was descending on Merrimack County like yellow fever. 

It was contagious. All the leaves on the trees had fallen and outside had taken on a mysterious foggy mist that invaded the land when it was uncalled for.

I double dressed each day. Anything to get away from the cold that was ruining the moist autumn weather and making my life a living hell.

“Liz! Liz!” I heard the clatter of thin high heels behind me, and I turned to find Heidi, wearing a big, hot pink parka and a big smile. Her eyes shined with excitement and she hopped up and down.

“What?” I asked, wrinkling my brow.

“The comet!” she panted. “The comet!”

I raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

She gulped a quick breath of air and calmed herself enough to explain it to me. “There’s a comet that passes over New Hampshire every one hundred or so years. It’s passing over New Hampshire this year! On Halloween!”

“Um, so why are you so excited?” I asked.

Her brow wrinkled. “Um, duh… it’s a comet. Have you ever seen one?”

“Um, no,” I replied. “Only in books,”

“And wouldn’t you like to see one… in real life?” Heidi prompted.

I nodded. “Now that I think about it that actually sounds like a good idea.”

“Awesome, I’ll ask Zaria if she wants to come too!” Heidi exclaimed, emitted another keyed up squeal and dashed off, racing down the hall.

A comet that passed over New Hampshire every hundred years? What an event. Surely, everyone would be turning out to witness its fleeting.

I walked to my AP English class and sat in the middle of the classroom, in my usual seat, beside Xander—who wasn’t here yet—who was officially my English partner for the rest of the semester.

After what had happened on Saturday, I didn’t actually want to see him, especially after the nightmare that both Zaria and I shared. I was anxious with fear and at the same time, I wanted to see his face, because I felt protected from the world when I was with him. But I also felt as if I wasn’t protected from him.

Xander strode into the classroom a few minutes after Mrs. Dupree had begun her lesson. She ignored him because he was attractive, I could see the sick desire in her eyes, and obviously, she could see it too, because she turned to face the board.

Xander cautiously sat beside me and set his books gently on our shared table. He kept his eyes on my face as Mrs. Dupree explained what our assignments for the day were. I doodled aimlessly on the inside of my forearm with a gel pen until Xander tapped my desk. That reminded me I had work to do.

I opened my notebook and flipped to a new page. He was already writing what his mind offered him out onto the blue lines of his notebook.

I set to work, as usual, trying to make my work less sloppy and careless as I went along, spewing a narrative about a girl whose entire life was a nightmare.

The girl and the outrageously good-looking boy danced in the sunshine, basking in the sunrays. Tiny fey, made a glittering atmosphere of splendor around them.