Emma felt her face heat up all over again. “Well, he said he tried to help me with Kessler because we were friends. And then he sort of touched my hand and gave me a few of those hot, steamy looks. And I think there was some flirting, so I took your advice and asked if he wanted to go down to the practice range after dinner.”
“You did not,” Loni squealed in excitement. “I can’t believe you have a date. I mean, this is huge. Emma Jones is going on a date with Curtis Green! I wonder if Barney would give us a pass-out so we could take you shopping at the mall? Because nothing says ‘first date’ like a new outfit, and—”
“Um, Lon.” Emma coughed. “Before you get too carried away and start picking out names for Curtis’s and my children, I should probably tell you that he said no.”
Loni paused for a moment and blinked. “What? What do you mean he said no? Anyone can see he’s crazy about you. I bet you didn’t ask him the right way.”
“I asked him the right way,” Emma assured her as she filled her friend in on exactly what had happened. Then she shrugged to hide her disappointment. “Which means when he said he wanted to be friends, he really meant that he wanted to be friends.”
“Yes, but Sagittarius guys aren’t normally about the friendship, if you know what I’m saying,” Loni persisted in a stubborn voice that Emma was well acquainted with.
“Well, this is one,” Emma said drily.
“I refuse to believe that.” Loni shook her head. “The only reason he pretended to fix your tie—which, for the record, is a complete disgrace—is because those juniors came along. And as for not going to the practice range with you, did it ever occur to you that he was actually telling the truth? Maybe he really does have something else going on tonight.”
“Maybe,” Emma agreed in a diplomatic voice while trying not to think about the frozen expression that had crossed Curtis’s face as he had spoken to her. It had been dark. Like a shadow had fallen over him. And she didn’t care what Loni said, Emma knew that Curtis had ditched her for a reason. Unfortunately, she had the feeling that whatever it was, she wasn’t going to like it when she found out. And with that thought, she and Loni hurried to the library in silence while Emma tried to ignore the fact that, thanks to being brushed off by her archenemy, her life had just hit a new, all-time low.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
By three o’clock Emma realized that the humiliating encounter with Curtis was actually the least of her problems as she discovered that turning over a new leaf was going to be tougher than she thought. She’d lost count of the number of people who asked about her invisible dragons and whether Kessler was going to make a new designation just for her. And considering that it wasn’t funny the first time someone said it, by the time the final bell rang, it was more than a little annoying. In fact, Emma almost missed being teased about the explosion in the food court.
It was actually almost a relief when she finally headed off to the detention room. At least Professor Meyers was supervising today, and she normally just let everyone do their homework.
“Emma,” Professor Meyers called her over to the front desk and held up a piece of paper. “Before you sit down, I just wanted to talk to you about the results of the simulation fight you did this morning.”
Emma groaned since she had been more than a little distracted during the whole test. “Is it bad? Because the thing is that I’ve—”
“No.” Professor Meyers shook her head, and a stray dark curl flopped onto her cheek. “It’s actually the opposite. These results are a marked improvement on the test we did last week.”
“Oh,” Emma said in surprise as she studied the piece of paper.
“Anyway, you’d better take a seat and start on your homework, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m pleased with your efforts.”
“Thanks,” Emma said as she stuffed the results into her pocket and made her way toward the back of the room. As she did so, she glanced around. There were a couple of seniors she vaguely knew, plus a bunch of freshman who had been caught last week sneaking off campus without a pass. A