Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,110

hide all of this turmoil from my parents.

All things considered, I liked this year much better.

I was jittery on Monday morning, wondering if Nell would be in school and how she would act toward Amber, Michael and me. Michael picked me up as usual, but our ride was much quieter than it normally was.

“So, how were your parents today?” Michael inquired. I knew that he was worried about how they viewed him, now that they knew the truth.

I made a face. “They’re still not happy about all the changes they see in me. It’s my own fault, really. If I had been up front with them from the beginning, they would have had time to process everything little by little. Now it’s all hitting them at once.”

Michael sighed heavily. “I’m sorry it’s so rough on you. Not what you needed after this weekend.”

“Well, maybe not. But I think they’ll come around. I tried to be as reasonable as I could without giving in completely.”

We pulled into the parking lot and walked hand-in-hand to my locker. The walkways were fairly empty; we’d made it in early. I didn’t see any sign of Nell or her crowd, but as I pulled books from my locker, Amber approached us.

“Hi,” she smiled, almost shyly. “I’m really glad to see you. My mom dropped me off early, on her way to work, and I’ve been wandering around, afraid of seeing—well, afraid of what was around every corner.”

“I think you’re pretty safe here,” Michael said. “But you should probably watch your back when you’re alone outside school. Is your mom picking you up today or are you walking home?” I felt the concern that he was trying to hide, and I picked up random scenarios flitting through his head.

“Yeah, I’m covered,” Amber confirmed. “I have a feeling that my parents are going to be a little overprotective for a few days, at least.”

“Overprotective is good for right now,” I put in. “You’ll have plenty of time to stretch the apron strings once things settle down.”

“I guess so,” Amber agreed. “I can’t imagine how bad it would be if I’d told them I was actually in physical danger. They’d have probably shipped me off to boarding school. Or a convent.”

We all laughed, somewhat ruefully because we knew how close to the truth it was.

In French, Cara and I rehashed Friday’s dance. She told me that she had enjoyed hanging out with Dan but assured me that they were just friends.

“I like him,” she whispered as the teacher began the lesson, “but not anything heavy, you know?” I nodded and was suddenly tempted again to listen into Cara’s thoughts, remembering the suspicions I had picked up from Anne about Cara’s feelings for Michael. If she had some sort of crush on him, that could explain why she didn’t want to get involved with Dan. But after the talk with my parents over the weekend, I was determined to keep my motives pure when I decided to use my talents. This would definitely be a selfish purpose.

I was on edge as French ended and I walked to Chemistry. My palms were sweaty, and I felt slightly sick at the prospect of confronting Nell. As I turned the corner of the walkway, I heard my name—not spoken aloud, but thought somewhere near me. I glanced up to see Michael leaning against the building, smiling at me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised. His Physics class was nowhere near my Chemistry classroom.

“I knew you were going to be jumpy about going to chem. today, so I thought I would hang here, just to remind you I’ve got your back. She might be nasty, but she won’t do anything in front of the class, or especially in front of Ms. Lacusta, I think. Be strong.”

My nerves eased, and I smiled up at him. “You know, you’re fairly wonderful. What did I ever do to deserve someone like you in my life?”

He grinned back. “That’s a topic we can explore later. For now, go on in and deal with Chemistry. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” He planted a swift kiss on my cheek, so quickly that no one watching would realize he hadn’t merely leaned down to whisper in my ear. Then he was gone, around the corner.

I knew he was right. I was perfectly safe in class. I lifted my chin and went inside.

Nell was in her seat, facing the front of the room. Casey and Liza had their heads