Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,111

together, whispering, but Nell was ignoring them. In self-protection, I concentrated on keeping up my mental wall and sat down behind her.

Ms. Lacusta began class immediately, and thankfully, it was an intense lecture, requiring all my attention and note taking abilities. Although I didn’t hear anything from Nell’s mind, it was a relief when the bell rang and I could leave.

In English, Amber smiled at me as she took her seat, and I marveled at the contrast between what I felt from her today and the Amber I had first met nearly two months before. Despite her underlying anxiety, she was much more peaceful today.

We walked to lunch together after class. Julie DiNardo and Casey passed us, and they both flashed glares of intense dislike at Amber. I half waited for her to wilt beneath their obvious anger, but she merely looked away from them.

Once in the cafeteria, I broke away to join Michael at our table while Amber filled her tray. I smiled at the changes I saw; Anne and Jim were sitting close together across the table, and Brea’s junior boyfriend was next to her. Cara threw me a quick wave as I sat down next to Michael.

He took my hand in his and drew me closer to his side.

“How did it go this morning?” he murmured in my ear.

“It was fine. Just like you said, nothing happened. She ignored me completely.”

“Good. I passed her on the way here, and it was the same story. She didn’t even look at me. Maybe she’s a little embarrassed by the whole thing. You know, now in the more reasonable light of day and all that.”

I snorted. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t think ‘reasonable’ or ‘embarrassed’ are words that I associate with Nell Massler.”

He shrugged. “As long as she’s leaving all of us alone, I’m not going to sweat it.”

I nodded and began to eat some of the sandwich that Michael pushed in front of me. “I don’t trust her. I don’t see her being that easily dissuaded. That’s why I’m going to check in every now and again, just to make sure she’s not still plotting evil and mayhem.”

Michael frowned. “You mean purposefully listening in on her?”

“Not all the time. Just now and then. You know, kind of like when someone’s on parole and there’s an officer to make sure the rules are being followed. I’m Nell’s parole officer.”

Amber joined us just then, sitting next to me but looking uncertainly at the rest of the table. I turned to include her in our group. As I had predicted, there was a warm welcome from the whole crowd. Anne was particularly kind, and I could feel Amber’s gratitude. Only Cara looked slightly perplexed by the turn of events. I figured I was in for a grilling during History class.

She caught up with me outside the classroom, right after Michael had left for his own class. I waited to walk in with her.

“So… what’s the deal with Amber?” Cara didn’t waste time with any preliminaries. “I thought she was tight with Nell Massler. Now she’s sitting with us?”

“Long story. Basically, Nell finally pushed her too far, and Michael and I happened to be there for her at the right time. Amber’s had a tough time of it lately, and she needs friends. That’s about it.”

“Huh.” Cara and I sat down and waited for Mr. Frame to arrive. I could feel that Cara knew she wasn’t getting the whole story about Amber, but I chose not to elaborate. My silence provoked her into comment.

“She seemed like kind of a loner, before. When I moved here last year, I tried to talk to her a few times. But she was so quiet, I could never really get a conversation going. She looked completely different today at lunch.”

I shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe she just needed to realize that she doesn’t have to be lonely anymore.”

Cara looked at me with one eyebrow raised, but she didn’t push it any further. Mr. Frame came in to begin class, and I was relieved to have an excuse to turn my attention elsewhere. As much as I liked Cara, I wasn’t entirely sure that I trusted her yet.

After a week of relative peace, I began to feel cautiously optimistic about Amber’s safety. Nell continued to ignore all of us, and if her friends shot Amber dirty looks or made loud, derogatory comments in our direction, it was easy to pretend we didn’t hear. I listened to Nell as frequently as