The Divide Page 0,8

hurt, but the other part of her brain, the irrational part, didn't care at all about that and just wanted him back in her life.

She touched the soft leather of his jacket and asked, as innocently as she could, "Don't you miss me at all?" A pang of agony shot across his face, like she'd stabbed him in the stomach with a sharp knife.

"Cassie," he said.

He was about to say something important. She could tell by the gentle tone of his voice and the way he was struggling to find the right words. It was so difficult for him to express his emotions that to watch him working so hard at it now made Cassie's heart melt a little. This was the tender side of Nick not many people had access to.

"Cassie, listen," he said.

But just then Adam drove up, honking his horn. "Hey, you two," he called out. "Want a ride?"

Shoot. What terrible timing. She and Nick were finally getting somewhere.

But the moment was lost. Nick's face, which had opened itself up briefly, closed again, tighter and more secure than a vault.

"Do you want a ride home?" Cassie feebly asked him.

The sight of her with Adam was the last thing Nick needed, and Cassie knew it. "I'll pass," he said, with the coldest voice he could muster. "But you'd better go," he added, when he noticed Cassie's hesitation. "Your chariot awaits."

Cassie was torn. For a split second she imagined their alternate future, the one where Adam didn't pull up, where she and Nick talked the whole long walk home beneath a canopy of trees. She didn't want to let this possibility go.

But she knew not to push Nick too far. After all, her loyalties were to Adam, and they always would be.

Nick started shuffling away in the opposite direction of home. Cassie rushed to catch up with him and whispered into his ear. "You may have earned the right to wall ow a bit," she said. "But I'm not going to let you go that easily." Then she jogged back to Adam's car, opened the door, and climbed inside.

The interior of Adam's car always smelled the same. It was the sweet musk of autumn leaves and gasoline, oiled leather and rubber, and it never failed to make Cassie feel a charge.

Adam looked her over, analyzing every inch of her face with his piercing blue eyes. "I thought you were going out dress shopping with the girls."

"I didn't feel like it."

He rested his warm hand on her knee. "Cassie, are you sure everything's okay?"

She gazed out the window and didn't answer.

"Was Nick giving you a hard time back there?"

"What? No, of course not. If anything, I was giving him a hard time, trying to get him to be my friend again." Adam returned his hand to the steering wheel and gripped it so tightly, his knuckles whitened. "He needs time."

"I know."

Cassie watched the more ordinary streets of New Salem give way to Crowhaven Road and decided to change the subject.

"Did you get a weird feeling from the new principal today?" she asked.

"No, why? Did you?"

"Kind of, but I'm not sure," Cassie said honestly. "I think I want to ask Constance about it. Maybe she knows a spell or something that can show us his true nature." Adam tried to suppress a smile. "I think you're being a little paranoid, Cassie. Rightfully so, after all we've been through. But honestly, the only thing I found freaky about the principal is that Faye is into his son."

"I know, you're probably right." Cassie returned her gaze out the window. She noticed a black sedan behind theirs and strained to see if it was one of their friends. Not too many cars had a reason to turn onto Crowhaven Road.

"Cassie," Adam said. "Listen to me. Black John isn't haunting us anymore. He's gone. We won." In spite of all of Adam's sensitivity, it bothered Cassie that he still glossed over the fact that Black John, though evil, was her father. Whenever Adam mentioned him, it was always, He's gone, gone forever - which of course was a good thing, but Adam could at least acknowledge that his death was confusing for her.

"I think I'd still like to go see Constance," she said. "Will you drop me off there, please?"

Adam got quiet then, which meant he had the sense to know he'd said something to upset Cassie.

They were just about at Constance's house now, so he let up on the accelerator and slowed to a