The Divide Page 0,7

boy?"

"I don't know, someone new. His name was Max." Cassie searched the auditorium for Faye and found her standing in the corner talking to Max - talking at him was more like it. He leaned with both hands on his lacrosse stick, like he might fall over from boredom if it weren't holding him up.

Cassie shifted her attention to the man she assumed was the new principal waiting off to the side. He wore a finely cut dark suit and had salt-and-pepper hair. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and kept his hands clasped behind his back. He was handsome, the way Mr. Brunswick had been handsome.

Weak applause welcomed him to the stage. "Thank you," he said, as he adjusted the microphone. "I'm Mr. Boylan, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His voice was deeper than Cassie had expected it to be.

His outer appearance was dapper and elegant, but he had the voice of a lumberjack - it had a toughness to it, a grit, and the slightest hint of an accent she couldn't place.

A shiver ran down her spine.

No, Cassie thought to herself. You're being paranoid.

Just because Mr. Brunswick turned out to be evil doesn't mean Mr. Boylan will. She figured she must have been suffering from some kind of post-traumatic stress, the way soldiers returned from wars startled at every harmless loud sound they heard.

But as Mr. Boylan continued speaking, every muscle in Cassie's body tightened in defense. She glanced at Adam to see if he sensed anything off about the principal, too, but he was calmly watching the stage with no expression of alarm.

"Thank you all for your gracious welcome," Mr. Boylan said. "I hope you'll do the same for my son, who will also be a student here." He pointed to the far corner, where Max was still leaning on his lacrosse stick, staring straight ahead.

Adam and Cassie looked at each other simultaneously.

Neither of them had to say it.

Of course. Faye's new crush was the principal's son.

Faye was smirking behind him, watching the back of his head as if she could burn a hole through it with her desire.

When she caught Cassie watching, she puckered her lips into a kiss and blew it Cassie's way. Then she stuck out her tongue, pretending she might lick the back of Max's neck.

"This can't be good," Cassie said.

Chapter 4

As she walked home from school that afternoon, Cassie finally had a moment to herself to think. Diana and some of the others were going into town to shop for spring festival outfits. You need a spring dress for the spring festival, Suzan had insisted when Cassie said she was feeling too tired to shop. But Diana interjected on Cassie's behalf, saying if she was tired it was best to rest.

Did that mean Diana didn't really want her there? Cassie wished she was feeling more confident about her friendship with Diana, but it seemed out of sorts, just like everything right now.

Cassie decided to walk the longer, more scenic route home along Cherry Hill Road, where rows of Kwanzan and dwarf bing cherry trees would be on the brink of blooming. It was a blustery March day, and the sound of the wind in the trees was her favorite. She stopped walking for a moment to look up at their leaves, to watch them shake and dance overhead until she was dizzy.

"This is my turf," a voice behind her said.

She glanced around and saw a black leather jacket and black jeans.

"Nick," she said. "I walked this way to be alone, so maybe you're on my turf." She was trying to sound playfully sarcastic. Then she immediately ruined it by adding, "But it's really nice to run into you."

She noticed him shift uncomfortably at the sappy comment, but more of the same started sputtering from her mouth. "It's just . . . we've hardly gotten to talk lately," she said. "And we never hang out anymore."

Nick's face appeared cold. No smile, not even a hint of one. He obviously didn't feel the same way. He looked away and patted his jacket pocket for his cigarettes. Then he remembered he'd quit, so he stopped patting and stood still.

"I miss you, Nick," Cassie heard herself say. And she immediately wished it hadn't come out sounding so needy and pathetic.

Nick had been this way - aloof and closed off - since Cassie and Adam got together. The rational part of her brain knew he was only shutting her out because he'd been