The Life I'm Running From

37\ And The Dart Struck Its Target

"Girls?" Ms. Elliot turned to Skylar and me, placing her hands over her baby bump. "Can you go see if Mrs. Treenage still has the coloured construction paper? I need it for the Ninth Grade Art class next period."

I set down my charcoal pencil as Skylar smiled politely. "Of course. I'm nearly done here anyways."

You would think that because Skylar was so amazing at painting, she wouldn't be blessed in all other art forms. But looking at her charcoal sketch of a dog, I could tell that that was as far from the truth as you could get. Her drawing literally looked furry, as if I could reach out and pet the dog. I decided against doing that. I didn't want to get even more black smudges on my fingers.

"Coming?" Skylar asked me. I took one disdainful look at my own charcoal drawing—it was supposed to be a ladybug, but instead resembled a fly, like a really ugly fly—and followed her out of the room.

The hallways were silent. Miss Mayfair was giving a lecture inside a class down the hall, and we hurried past as quietly as we could. I hadn't forgotten about almost getting detention last week.

My sneakers squeaked on the hardwood stairs as we went up a floor to Mrs. Treenage's classroom. My eyes glazed over the posters on the wall. Most were about not doing drugs or vaping—you know, health issues—and being motivated to graduate. Underneath a poster that said "you make your future" someone had scribbled some obscene words that usually only came out of my mouth when a demigod misfired one of their arrows into my leg. Skylar wrinkled her nose at the vandalism. I knew from being at her house that her parents were strongly against swearing. Lucky for me, Danny didn't care.

We stepped off the stairs and entered the ninth floor. Down the hall, I spotted Peter grabbing textbooks from his locker.

"Hey," I said, stopping beside him. He shut his locker door shut and smiled at me, which made my stomach do something weird. Maybe it was that fancy European delicacy Charlie had given me this morning.

"Long time no see," he joked. He moved to hold his textbook against his chest, and his fingers absentmindedly tapped the cover. "What's up?"

I jutted a thumb towards Skylar, who had awkwardly stopped behind me. "We're grabbing art stuff. Actually..." I looked back at Skylar, silently pleading with her to leave. I needed to tell Peter about what I had found out about Ravenyx.

Skylar however, had gotten the wrong impression. She smirked as if she knew exactly what I was wanting, and my cheeks flushed. "I'll grab the paper and be back here in about... three minutes or so." With one last 'knowing' look, Skylar passed by us and turned down the hallway.

Peter looked back at me, a playful innocent smile on his face. "So what did you want to say?"

I glanced around the hallway, but all of the classroom doors were firmly shut. I couldn't have anyone overhearing. In a conspiratorial tone I said, "I know who Ravenyx reminds me of."

Peter raised his eyebrow. "An evil supervillain? Because I was getting those vibes too."

"No." A grin tugged at my lips. "Taylie Goldmyn."

Peter's eyes widened. "You don't think—" He lowered his voice, and leaned in so close his breath tickled my cheek. "You don't think Taylie is Ravenyx, do you?"

I shook my head. "No. But she looks nearly identical." Excitement bubbled up inside me. "So I'm thinking maybe a twin sister."

"An evil twin sister." Peter laughed, but I could clearly hear the anxiety laced within. "I thought that was too clichéd to ever happen in real life."

I shrugged. "I guess not. So I'm thinking we talk to Taylie. Ask her about her family, find out if she has any relatives who look like her."

"Okay, good plan, but it can't be me." Peter sighed, and zipped his textbooks into his backpack. "Taylie hates me."