Elite (Eagle Elite) - By Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,45
touching me. I hated it even more that I liked it.
“Don’t wear expensive jewelry during the school day. I would hate to see you lose something important to you.” His eyes darted to my necklace. “Please? That’s something even my money can’t replace.”
Stunned that he would care, I could only stare at him with my mouth open. Nixon licked his lips and then looked behind me, before very gently tilting my chin toward his and brushing his mouth against mine. “Have a good day, Trace.”
Uh-huh. Holy Hell, my day was going to be all kinds of good if I got kissed like that. I opened my mouth to say something, but Nixon’s two fingers pressed against my lips. “Don’t ruin it by saying something. Now. Go to class.”
Nostrils flaring, I stepped back, grabbed the door and flung it open, stepping out of the room and into the noisy hallway. Straight lines, Trace. Just walk in straight lines.
Chapter Seventeen
Straight lines were overrated. I decided this as I almost tripped over my own feet twice and face planted into some guy as I hurried to my next class.
I almost made it to the door before I remembered what Nixon had said. With a curse I pulled off the necklace. It caught on my hair. “Crap!”
I brought the rat’s nest of hair in front of me so I could pick through it. When the necklace finally broke free it crashed to the floor and somehow managed to skid a few feet away from me.
Okay, so maybe Nixon was right, and I’m a freaking accident waiting to happen. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to where it fell and knelt. A pair of shoes met my reaching hand.
“Allow me,” came the familiar voice.
Frozen in place, I watched as Phoenix knelt down and picked the necklace up off the floor. “Pretty.”
“Thanks.” I held out my hand.
“What? I can’t be nice?” He smiled and flipped the necklace over reading the name on back. “Hmm, pretty cool. Family heirloom or something?”
“I guess.”
He nodded and plopped it into my hands. “I don’t bite, you know.”
“No, you just drug girls.”
He held his hands up. “I guess I deserved that, but are you really going to side with the same guy who last week embarrassed you in front of the entire student body?”
He had me there. I took a step back and shrugged. “He apologized.”
“Nixon Abandonato apologized to a farm girl from Wyoming?”
I nodded.
“Hmm.” Phoenix crossed his arms. “Now, why does that sound suspicious?”
“What, that he’d be nice to me?”
“No. That he’d apologize to a nobody.”
“A nobody?” Furious, I was half tempted to throw my book bag across my shoulder and hit in him the face. “At least today when I eat lunch I’ll be sitting with the Elect. Where will you be?”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head where I’ll be… but good to know whose side you're on. It makes what I have to do so much easier.”
I didn’t like the way his eyes looked, as if he hated me almost as much as he hated Nixon. I took another step back and another until I was close to my classroom.
Phoenix smirked, and walked off in the other direction.
Sighing, I leaned against the wall by my classroom. Nixon had asked me to do two things, and five seconds after he asked me, bad things happened. Great. Note to self. Listen to the godfather.
****
Lunch felt weird. Mainly because I could tell Chase and Tex felt awkward not having Phoenix there. I’d found out from Monroe that the guys had all been friends since the first grade. This was the one and only time any of them have fought, and clearly, it hadn’t ended well.
Nixon, was late to show up. I played with the food Monroe ordered me and pushed at my temples. A headache was coming on, I just knew it.
My phone went off.
Curious I picked it up. “Grandpa?”
“Sweet pea!” His voice was a bit hoarse. “How is your day?”
“Fine.” I mouthed Grandpa to Monroe, stood up, and walked a few feet away from the table. “Are you okay? Has something happened? Are the cows out?”
“Oh, I’m fine, I just miss you. Which was why I was calling. Do you think you would mind seeing your old man tomorrow night? Grandma's life insurance company needs a signature, and well, you know how I get with doing things over the phone and faxing, so I was going to fly into the city and take care of business.”