"Super-powered" Noah Brandt is the ice to her twin sister Autumn's fire, but when Autumn falls into a mysterious coma, it's up to Noah to find out why and save her sister before it's too late. . . with a little help from Autumn's lifelong crush, Cai...
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C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N
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My phone rings in my pocket, drawing me out of my thoughts.
I lay Autumn's warm hand down to retrieve it, my eyes scanning the screen.
Caiden
I set the ringer to silent before abandoning the phone on the bedside table to pick up Autumn's hand again.
Finally, the call ends, and I sigh. I've been ghosting Caiden ever since the disaster in his garden on Sunday. I'm both ashamed and irritated. Ashamed, because of what I did to Caiden. Irritated, because he doubts Kaia's guilt. He doubts me.
Today, it's Monday, and although I begged to stay with Autumn, Mom made me go to school. I spent most of the day avoiding Caiden while also batting nosy questions about my sister.
Autumn hasn't missed a day of school since kindergarten -- she'd never rob the masses of her presence -- but today, of course, her attendance streak ended. And everyone who was anyone noticed.
For now, I'm reporting that Autumn's sick, but Mom and I agreed that if things stayed as they were, we'd start telling those who asked that Autumn left the state to visit family. In the Bahamas, of course -- because the only reason Autumn would ever abandon her kingdom here would be to enjoy an extended vacation.
Besides me and Mom, the only people who know the truth about Autumn's absence are Caiden. . . and whoever attacked Autumn.
Kaia.
Still, the fact that everyone else believed my lie about Autumn so easily is almost. . . infuriating. I just wanted to grab each of my classmates by the shoulders and scream. They're all so oblivious. Not one of them could sense that something is so terribly wrong, but I know that this is how it has to be. How it should be.
The only person I feel somewhat guilty lying to is Elise. The concern and genuine care in her eyes at lunch today was so startling that I found it hard to meet her gaze.
Yet, as I look at Autumn now, I know that in this case, family comes first.
I have the urge to fret over my sister -- fix her in all the ways I can to make up for the one way in which I can't. Yet, Mom and I realized yesterday night that Autumn isn't just in a normal coma. Instead, she's frozen in time. She doesn't need our care, the kind Mom is used to providing at the hospital.
