Moon Academy - Catherine Banks Page 0,1

as she moved. “Did you remember your pompoms?”

I smiled. “They’re in my locker.”

She nodded. “Good. You know that you’re going to be the top at the game, right?”

I nodded. “I am the smallest.” And it was true. I was short and only weighed ninety-five pounds. I wasn’t skin and bones, but I wasn’t overweight either. I ate a lot, but my body just burned it off faster than it could store it.

Cherry, the captain of our cheerleading squad, a redhead with the biggest boobs I’d ever seen on a high school girl, plopped down on the other side of me. “Tell me it’s true.”

I frowned at her. She knew I hated it when she started conversations like that. “What?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “That you and Tom are going on a date tonight?”

A date? I hadn’t really thought about it. I shrugged. “We’re going to dinner after practice.”

Cherry and Macy squealed excitedly. “O-M-G!”

“Quiet down, girls. Class is starting now,” said Mr. Roy. He was completely bald, which he said was the fault of all of the noisy students in his class, and had a set of pearly gray eyes. He was supposedly human, but his eyes made me question that.

Cherry flipped open her notebook and started scribbling notes as fast as she could. Whoever said cheerleaders were dumb had never met straight-A Cherry. She had a five-point zero G.P.A. and mostly AP classes.

I stared at the whiteboard in front of me and pondered over Nick’s new attitude. I knew he was going to start acting differently when it came closer for him to have his big shift, but I was hoping the change wouldn’t alter his personality. I’d known him for ten years, and I had never seen him so frustrated. Maybe I needed to talk with Dad; he knew what it was like to go through the change.

The bell rang, and I realized I had fallen asleep. Cherry nudged me and I grabbed my bag. “Need to borrow my notes again?” she asked.

I nodded and rubbed my eyes. “Sorry, I’m just not sleeping well.”

Cherry and Macy walked on either side of me as we headed for the locker rooms.

“Are you having those nightmares still?” Macy asked.

“Yep, I have them every night,” I admitted and then chewed on my lip

“Hey Sarah,” said two of the boys from Nick’s pack.

I waved and smiled. “Hey, Ryan. Hey, Anthony.”

Cherry sighed. “It’s no fair that the hot boys are all attracted to you. Can’t you push some our way?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “They all know me, but none of them want to date me. I’ve never even been on a date.”

“Nuh-uh,” said Cherry and Macy simultaneously.

“I’m being honest. I may spend a lot of time with the guys, but it’s always in a group or doing guy things. Tonight, is the first time that anyone’s asked me to dinner. I didn’t even think about it being a date until Cherry said something.”

“Wow,” they said in unison as we stepped through the doors to the locker room.

After an invigorating mile run and a change of clothes, I stood in line for food in the cafeteria. Nick stopped beside me without even saying hello.

“Hi, Nick.”

He ignored me, his eyes fixed on something or someone up ahead. I leaned around the guy in front of me and saw Tom walking towards us. Nick’s hand clenched into a fist, and he moved a step closer to me. Tom stopped and smiled. “Hey, Sarah.”

“Hi, Tom.”

He looked at Nick and frowned. “You need to talk?” he asked Nick.

Nick glared at Tom a moment and then nodded. “After I eat.”

Tom nodded and then waved to me. “See you tonight.”

I watched Tom leave and then turned on Nick. “What is that all about?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he answered.

I punched him in the arm, knowing it wouldn’t hurt. “Stop being my Guardian and talk to me. What’s going on?”

“Trouble,” he said softly. “Like I said, don’t worry about it. I’ve got it under control.”

We grabbed our food and headed outside to eat. Once we were out of hearing distance of other people I asked, “Is Tom human?”

Nick’s lip twitched as he fought a smile. “Sort of.”

I sighed. “Why didn’t you just tell me he wasn’t human?”

“Does it make a difference to you that he’s not completely human?” he asked with anger and bitterness in his voice.

“You know me better than that. I just would have preferred to know, so that I could be more cautious. Will you tell me what