Phoenix Academy - Lucy Auburn Page 0,21

stretching out towards an impossible horizon. David and Reggie meet in the middle and swim off in opposite directions, their heads floating above water, shoulder muscles working overtime to glide them through the depths.

Though I reach out with my naturalistic senses for some kind of threat, I find none lurking anywhere beneath the solid blue surface of the water. Nothing in the trees, either. And while I'm not normally the type to dive in headfirst, and my venture to the abandoned school has already proven a stupid idea, I can't stop myself from swaying towards the water with longing.

A breeze picks up and pushes my hair in front of my face, blue tendrils dancing, reminding me of what I've been through to get here. I've lost so much to the cruelty of my soulless father and the strange destined fate that is my phoenix nature. If I could go back in time for just an hour, I would choose to be out in nature with my mother and sister, living in quiet peaceful moments like this one.

"You can go in." Xavier's voice is mild but slightly sad. "It's okay. I get it. I wouldn't want to be stuck out here with me, either."

"That's not it." I blink at him, startled by his self-pitying energy. "I was just thinking about... about before. With my mom and sister."

"Oh." He rubs the back of his neck, looking sheepishly embarrassed. "I'm so stupid. Here I was, assuming you were thinking about me, like I'm more important than everything you've been through."

"It's okay. Things are... weird between us."

"Weird doesn't begin to cover it," he confesses. His brown eyes seem to glimmer with gold from the magical sunlight that beams down at us. "Do you think, maybe, we might be... something more than just friends? One day?"

I don't even know what a day is down here. My sense of time has gone out the window. But I can tell this is important to him, and the truth is, it is to me as well.

"Once we're out of here, we'll figure everything out. I promise."

The words sound hollow, so I follow them up by daring to step close to him, feet in the cool grass. Getting up on my tiptoes, I press my mouth to his cheek and softly kiss him. His hand comes up to brace the middle of my back, palm gently curved, ready to pull away at any moment if I object.

"There." I smile at him softly and take a moment to inhale his scent: old library books, musk, cinnamon and warmth. "Why don't we join the others now? Since they haven't been drowned by sea monsters yet."

"Yeah." Xavier sounds a little dazed. He takes his glasses off, folds them, and tucks them into the pocket of his blazer. "I think... I think I would like that."

I can't help but shake my head at him a little. "You and your brother are so different. It's a wonder you look alike at all."

"A lot of people say that." He casually tosses his blazer on the ground, revealing his naked chest, then carefully removes his slacks, folds them up, and places them on top of the blazer. I avert my eyes as he turns to me and adds, "But the truth is Reggie and I are more similar than we seem at first glance. For instance... we both really, really love pranks and roughhousing."

Then he grabs me around the waist.

Grins as I gasp and squirm in his strong grip.

And carries me, slowly but surely, into the shallow end of the lake.

"Xavier! Unhand me!"

"No."

As I sputter and kick my legs, then give in and wind my hands around his shoulders, his strong arms flex beneath me. Deeper and deeper he carries me, my feet dipping into the water, then my whole lower half, and finally all of me. Xavier lets me go, and my feet find the muddy bottom of the lake, toes digging in, my Phoenix Academy skirt swirling around me in the warm water.

Scowling, I splash Xavier. He just grins, looking roguish and devilish just like his brother, identical in almost every way except for the indent his glasses have left behind on the bridge of his nose. A frustrated sigh consumes me, and it's all I can do not to throw myself at him—so instead I throw myself back, deeper into the water, dipping my head in and swimming towards the center with long strokes.

A moment later Xavier follows behind me, and together we