Awakened (Unbound, Book 3)

Chapter Forty-Two

Calin picked me up for school the following day before we stopped to get Maible, who had ended up not being able to come over at all the night before because her parents had told her to come straight home after her fundraising meeting. She'd called and explained that she wanted to make sure that I was alright, and I let Calin explain what had happened so that I wouldn't revert into the emotional state he'd managed to pull me out of.

The shield, it seemed, only protected me from emotions trying to get in.

I wondered if it somehow kept my emotions from getting out, making them build to new, uncontrollable heights?

Calin had stayed late, keeping me preoccupied from my self-destructive thoughts with a series of movies and even a couple of games of Scrabble. He'd refused to leave until I started yawning and nearly nodded off with my head on his shoulder. Midway through the evening, I'd even forgotten how angry I'd been and started to enjoy the time we spent together. We didn't spend enough time alone, just the two of us.

"How are you doing?" Maible asked me as she opened the back door and climbed in the car. "I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come over last night. I wanted to but—"

"I know." I smiled, cutting her off. "I'm fine. A good night's sleep helped to calm me down."

Calin turned and tossed me an I-told-you-so gaze, smiling from ear-to-ear. I laughed and playfully punched him in the shoulder, making him jerk the wheel slightly as we turned onto the main stretch of road and pulled into a parking stall in front of Celestial Java.

"What'll it be, girls?"

"The usual," we replied in unison, laughing.

He nodded and jumped out quickly to grab our morning fix as my gaze followed him, appreciative that he somehow knew I didn't want to face the morning crowd after the last couple of days. He was dressed in fitted dark wash jeans and a gray hoodie sporting the school's mascot, a black raven, on its back. His hair was artfully tossed to look as though he'd jumped out of bed and his one-of-a-kind piercing eyes seemed to penetrate right through me as he looked back, a half smile cranking up his appeal.

"Uh oh," Maible mocked playfully, smiling mischievously. "I know that look."

"Oh, shut up." I tried to shield my expression from her. "We're just friends."

"Right, and I'm Oprah," she tossed back sarcastically.

"So, what did your parents want last night?"

"They told me I couldn't hang out with you anymore," she answered bluntly.

I turned around so fast that I was surprised I hadn't given myself whiplash even though the car was in park. "What?"

"Relax." She waved her hand through the air in front of her. "I changed their minds. They thought you were the prankster and that you would be a bad influence on me, so I had them phone Devland. He confirmed that Duvessa had framed you for the pranks and they're cool with you again."

"Good to know." I groaned. "God, I hate that chick."

Calin came back to the car and dispersed the coffee cups with a broad smile before we all continued to school. It was a quiet ride as my mind started hashing through what to expect when we arrived. Had Mr. Corbin spoken to Duvessa? Would she have been guided away from the destructive antics she'd been set out to accomplish? If not, how soon would it be before something else happened because of her?

It wasn't long after we arrived at school that it became apparent nobody knew that Duvessa had been the prankster. Everyone was staring at me with accusation as though I'd just kicked their dog or something. I knew deep down that the things that had happened hadn't been my fault. Rationally, I knew that was the truth. Irrationally, I felt as though I was just as guilty because I should've stopped it before it had gotten so far.