Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,49

and muttered curses. I took my seat and tried not to stare at Amber for the rest of the class. At least it distracted me from the boredom that was English class right now.

I remembered Amber’s reaction to me during my first few days at King. She wasn’t exactly friendly. I hadn’t thought too much of it at the time, absorbed as I was in getting to know Michael. But now I considered her. We only had the one class together, but I saw her here and there throughout the day. I tried to remember if I ever saw her with other girls, with a special boy, but nothing came to mind. I knew that Anne had mentioned Nell’s long-time abuse of Amber in earlier days, and I wondered if that had anything to do with whatever was going on today.

I was glad when the bell rang, meaning it was lunchtime for me. Michael and I had fallen into a routine: he always made it to the cafeteria ahead of me because he had a free period for independent study preceding lunch. He chose our food, and I struggled to eat even a portion of what he got. Usually we sat at the table inside with his friends, which I enjoyed, since it gave me a chance to visit with Anne. But sometimes, on particularly pretty days, he would find a table outside for just the two of us.

Today seemed to be one of the outside days. I scanned the lunchroom for Michael, giving a brief wave to our normal lunch table. I didn’t see Michael, but I did see Amber. She had beaten me to the lunchroom and was sitting with Nell Massler and her group.

I tried not to gape at that sight as I pushed out through the swinging door. Michael was sitting at our usual outdoor table with two trays. Most of the other tables were empty.

“Is this seat taken?” I asked as I swung my leg over the bench. His smile was slow but sweet.

“I was saving it just for you. As you can see, I had to fight off the throngs.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty exclusive out here, isn’t it?”

He grabbed a crouton off the salad on one of the trays and crunched on it. “Do you mind eating out here? It’s quieter. But I guess it’s kind of hot, too, so if you’d rather be inside…”

I shook my head. “No. Quiet is good. I wanted to talk about something kind of private anyway.”

Michael raised his eyebrows and looked at me speculatively. “Good private or bad private?”

I gave him a light punch on the shoulder, and he caught my hand and held it. Happiness flooded my heart. I’d have to eat one-handed, but I was willing to make that sacrifice.

“I just have some questions for you. And I want to tell you something.”

“Okay, fire away.”

“How well do you know Amber Cole?”

Michael was quiet for moment, thinking. “I don’t know her really well, but we’ve gone to school together all the way through. She’s a year behind me, but I remember a little. She’s always been pretty quiet. I think she had a few friends when we were in elementary school, but mostly they drifted into other groups when we hit junior high. I think she’s alone a lot. Seems like a nice girl. No boyfriend I know about. Not one of the high achievers or a loser either. Just in the middle.”

“Hmm,” I responded. “So would it be kind of odd that she’s sitting with Nell and her crew today?”

Michael made a face. “Yeah, that whole thing is odd. I told you before Nell wasn’t the nicest kid when we were in grade school. Amber was one of her targets. She used to bait her, tease her. But I’ve seen Amber hanging out with Nell this year. It would be pretty out of character for Nell to change her mind about someone, but I guess it happens.”

I thought about that for a bit. “Anne told me before that Nell used to pick on Amber. She—Amber, that is—came into English today late and scared out of her mind. We were having a pop quiz on Caesar—”

“That would be enough to scare me out of my mind.”

I rolled my eyes. “It wasn’t test terror. That’s different. That’s like—‘oh, darn, I didn’t read the assignment, I’m going to fail this, my mom’s gonna kill me’—more like dread or anxiety. This was real fear.” I hesitated. Trust was something I was