Bittersweet (Book #1 Evening Wings Trilogy)

Chapter 12

12

I got out of the Rust Bucket and slung my backpack over my shoulder, my earphones plugged deep in my ears. I locked the door and fiddled with one of my little braids. I fished my cell phone out of my skirt’s pocket, thinking of texting Xander to ask him where he was when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I pulled my earphones out of my ears and turned around, expecting to find Xander standing behind me, but instead, I found…. Shaquire.

My eyes scanned around her, searching for Heidi, but Heidi was nowhere to be found. It was me and her in the nearly empty school parking lot, before 7:30 in the morning.

“Um, hi….” I said, pulling the earphones from my ears. “Can I help you?”

The girl shook her head and her long straight hair, tied back into a ponytail shook with it. I noticed the sparkly nose ring in her nose and the bizarre way in which her violet irises seemed iridescent in the light.

“No.” she said in a thick, unfamiliar accent. She was a strange beauty, and somehow, she glowed in the bare light coming from the sky. I envied her a touch.

She seemed to scrutinize me, not in a harsh, ‘Heidi’ way, but in a way that made me feel a bit insecure. I shuddered.

“I’m curious,” she said in that unfamiliar accent. It sounded almost songlike. Her voice was like a soft soprano, and it seemed she was well aware of its captivity. “That boy, with the hideously untidy smattering of hair, is yours?”

She spoke like she was from an olden time; when ‘thee’ and ‘though art’ were used.

“Yes,” I replied timidly, trying to find her point.

She sighed quietly. “Ah,”

Shaquire turned to leave and her long hair swished against the sharp bones in her back. As she turned, I noticed a tattoo—it seemed to be some kind of emblem—drawn in an attractive plum color on her neck. However, I was too far away to get a good glimpse of whatever it was drawn in that raised, plum hued circle.

I wondered what her question meant. It was very strange, not to mention arbitrary that she would ask it and move on. However, I could not decipher the creepy, chocolate-skinned girl and pushed the matter to the back of my head, under the rest of things that were piling up inside there.

At that very moment, Xander pulled into the student lot; I recognized the car. He lowered the window and grinned at me, bringing down the volume of his song until it was nothing but a haunting hum in the background.

“Good morning.” He smiled.

“Good morning,” I sighed happily, lowering my altitude so I could kiss him through the open car window.

His lips tasted delicious, like the tangiest fruit tinged with the cool, indescribable taste of spring water. His lips lingered on mine for a moment, and then he leaned away, grinning at me when I bit my tingling lips and looked over at him.

“Let’s not get naughty,” he warned with a cunning look in his gorgeous eyes.

I laughed and leaned away from the window, stifling a sigh of arrogance. He was always so careful when we were here. I liked the Xander that kissed me boldly when we were in the arms of the forest. The Xander who wasn’t afraid to touch me or kiss me when we were in the sight of fairies that could quite possibly kill us for doing so.

He’s just trying to protect you, a wise voice in my head voiced.

I grumbled.

I didn’t quite like the Seelie fairies now. If I weren’t half Seelie myself, I’d hate them.