Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,20
all kinds of dark scenarios in mind.”
“Hmm.” We moved down the walkway toward my locker, and it was my turn to root through my books. Michael leaned against the wall, and I could feel his eyes on me before he spoke again. “So do you think you can keep yourself dry and out of trouble this morning?”
I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t seem to be asking too much, does it? Sometimes I think I’m missing some essential element I need to be part of things. I’m always the invisible girl… unless I’m in Chemistry here, then I’m the girl with the target on her.”
“I don’t think it’s you. We get a certain amount of transient kids in King… you know, they move here for a year, then they’re gone. I guess it does take a while before people really open up.” He shrugged. “Like I said the other day, I’ve been in this area, at King schools, all my life. So I don’t know for sure.”
“Small towns are always harder to break into,” I agreed. “I thought Florida would be different, because there are always people moving in and out, and all the tourists, too.”
“King is a little bit of an oddity, though,” Michael remarked. “There are a few old Florida families, and sometimes they act like they’re royalty. Not all of them, but there are some odd ones.”
“King has been here a long time?” I questioned as I closed my locker.
“Haven’t you heard the history of this town?” Michael asked. “It’s kind of cool, I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing.”
“What sort of thing?”
“Oh, you know, history, magic, legends, all that paranormal stuff.”
My spine tingled. “Some people would say I am very into paranormal stuff,” I murmured softly, just for Michael’s ears.
He smiled gently. “Not like this. Gravis King was a carnie. Actually, he owned a big carnival, one of the largest in the south in the late nineteenth century. He retired down here, bought land, and brought his whole carnie family down to live here, established this town. Said they all needed a place to make a fresh start.
“Lots of people who still live in town can trace their family trees back to King’s carnies. If you go downtown and walk around, you’ll see shops with some of the carnie names up there. People trying to play on their heritage, I guess. Makes a good draw for tourists, and we get busloads every year. Whatever works.” He shrugged.
“That’s very interesting,” I mused. “Is yours one of the families?”
“No way!” he laughed. “My parents settled here as a compromise. My dad came from the panhandle, my mom came from south Florida, so they agreed to live here as a half-way point. And they’re not much on the mystical elements people in town play up. My mom says it gives her the creeps. So we don’t live in the town, we live just outside, like I told you.”
The first bell rang, and I looked up, startled. I had been totally absorbed in our conversation.
“Gotta run,” Michael sighed, regretfully. “See you at lunch. Stay dry!”
It was hard to believe it was only my third day at King High School. I managed to keep it relatively uneventful. In Chemistry, I slid into my assigned seat as quietly as I could, but I needn’t have bothered. Liza, Casey and Nell were all in full ignoring mode, not even bothering to acknowledge my presence. I was perfectly okay with that. I took notes on Ms. Lacusta’s lecture and kept my eyes on my notebook.
When the bell rang, Ms. Lacusta called me to her desk and handed me several papers stapled together.
“These are the notes from the lab you missed,” she explained. “And there is a summary worksheet on the back page. If you complete it tonight, I will make sure you receive full credit for the lab you missed.” Her eyes were very perceptive as she gazed at me. “I don’t believe that you were at fault yesterday. I should have kept a closer eye on the situation, especially considering the… personalities involved.”
I wasn’t sure what I should say at this point, so I just nodded and murmured my thanks. As I turned to go, Ms. Lacusta said softly, “Tasmyn… tread carefully. And please, do feel free to let me know if there is anything I can do to help you feel more settled and at home here. I think I could be very helpful to you.”