First Magic, Raven Steele [sight word books txt] 📗

I walked off before he could stop me, refusing to think about the odd interaction, especially since we hadn’t talked to each other in a long time. It was just Christian being Christian.

I’d been looking forward to trig class all weekend. At first it was unsettling going to Mr. Steele’s class with Matt so close, but during the last several weeks, I managed to focus only on my teacher. His class was the one place where all my worries seemed to go away. And it wasn’t because Mr. Steele treated me differently than the others. I didn’t think anyway. He just had this way about him that put me at ease.

Today was no different.

The moment I stepped foot into the room, Mr. Steele became my focus. He greeted me warmly, his arm brushing past mine as he walked toward the front of the classroom. I concentrated on that brief contact, wishing it had been longer. While he spoke, I watched the way his body moved, the way words fell from his perfectly shaped lips and how his intense eyes would sometimes meet mine and pause.

Before I knew it, the bell rang.

Matt appeared in front of me, making me catch my breath. His eyes roamed my face before he asked, “Are you going to the pep rally this weekend?”

I frowned. That’s twice now. To see how differently his answer would be from Christian’s, I said, “Thinking about it. Should I?”

“Hell, yes. It’s going to be awesome. I could even take you if you’d like.”

I gathered my belongings. “Possibly. I’ll let you know.”

“I hope you do.”

He stretched his hand forward like he was going to touch me or something but Mr. Steele interrupted him from the next row of desks over. “I need a moment with Llona, Matt. Could you give us a few minutes?”

“Sure thing.” Matt didn’t look at me as he exited the room.

My pulse began to race, and I licked my lips as I watched Mr. Steele sit on top of the desk next to me. I thought he caught the motion of my tongue, but he quickly looked up at me, meeting my eyes.

“How are things going?” he asked.

“They’re fine.”

“I know we spoke a few months back about your grade—“

“Am I failing again?”

“Not quite, but your grade has taken another turn for the worse. I’m worried about you, especially with what happened several weeks ago.”

“I’ll try harder.”

“You live with your uncle, right?”

The padding of his thumb ran across the smooth surface of several papers in his hand. I tried not to think about what that thumb would feel like sweeping across my lips, moving inside my mouth …

“Llona?”

I startled. “Yes. My uncle. I’m with him. I mean, I live with him.”

I could feel heat rise in my cheeks.

“Until you graduate?”

“Yes, even though I turn eighteen in a few weeks.” I really wanted him to know I’d be an official adult soon.

“I’m glad you won’t be the only adult around.” He handed me the stack of papers. “Maybe your uncle can help you with all these extra credit assignments because they are the only thing that’s going to keep you from failing my class. You don’t have much time left before the end of the semester so work quickly.”

I nodded my head and stared down at the papers. There must’ve been at least twenty of them.

He stood and bent over, his mouth by my ear. “If you ever need to talk, I’m here. Life can be hard sometimes, even scary. Know that you’re not alone.”

Straightening, he squeezed my shoulder gently and walked away.

I sat there, stunned, my skin buzzing where he’d touched me.

“What are you still doing in here?” a familiar voice asked.

I glanced toward the entrance to the room.

May stood next to the door, her gaze darting from me to behind her. “It doesn’t matter. We need to talk.”

She came into the room and closed the door behind her.

“Can we do this over lunch?” I asked and began to gather my belongings. Mr. Steele probably said things like that to all his failing students. It didn’t mean anything.

“No. It can’t wait.”

I lowered my backpack and looked up at her. May’s eyes were full of worry, and she was scratching at her arm. “What’s wrong?”

May dropped into a desk, the same one Mr. Steele had been sitting on, and drew in a long breath. “The last few weeks, Christian has been harassing me about that night at the maze.”

My heart skipped a beat. “He has? Why?”

“I guess after we left, he inspected the area and found some bones in the remains of the fire. He said he knew we were lying. Just about every day he’s been bugging me and so, when he came to my house yesterday—”

“On Sunday?”

“Yeah. Anyway, I guess I just cracked. He was really putting on the pressure. I didn’t know what to do.”

“So you told him?”

“All I told him was that someone played a prank on you and shaved your name into a dead bunny.”

“How did you explain the fire?”

“I said I dropped a match on it. Of course he wanted to know why I’d done that, and I just told him you were embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to see it.”

Moaning, I dropped my head onto the desk. “Is that everything?"

“Almost. He wanted to know how you found the burning rabbit.”

I lifted my head. “What did you tell him?’

She shrugged. “Nothing because I don’t know.”

“Neither do I,” I mumbled.

“I’m really sorry I told him.”

I sighed. “It’s fine.”

“So you’re not mad?”

“Not at you.”

“At Christian?”

I nodded. “He’s been acting really strange lately and it’s really starting to piss me off. This morning he was trying to convince me not to go to the pep rally on Friday.”

“He was? Why?”

“Another one of the many things I don’t know.”

“But you have to come,” she said. “It’ll be so fun!”

“Oh, I’ll be there. I’m not letting Christian ruin anything.”

The night of the big pep rally on Deer Lake had arrived. It had been the perfect day. The weather had been crappy, gray and overcast, but for me? Loved it. The full moon shined all its glory, making me feel invincible.

May picked me up as soon as it was dark and together we drove up the mountain, following several other cars all headed to the same destination.

As soon as May parked, she jumped out. “I’ll be right back.”

I looked in the direction she was heading: Adam. He was with his friends near the edge of a frozen lake or pond. I couldn’t tell its size from this distance. I wanted May to come clean about liking him, but I doubted she ever would.

I turned the opposite direction toward a roaring fire, saying hello to several of my classmates on the way. Many of them had their faces painted and were talking about how we were going to take state. The mood in the air was one of excitement and elation. I inhaled it all.

“Pretty crazy, huh?”

I turned around.

Matt smiled big, his eyes twinkling. His disheveled hair was tucked beneath an oversized grey hoodie. Over it, he wore a heavy coat. Because of the full moon, I barely felt the cold.

I returned his smile and looked around. “Everyone seems to be having a good time.”

He glanced down at my long sleeved shirt. “Aren’t you freezing?”

Before I could answer, he opened his heavy coat, stepped toward me and practically swallowed me within its puffy contents. It smelled of fall leaves and aftershave.

He held me close, his arms embraced around me. “This helps, right?”

My head pressed against his massive pecs. I laughed out loud and pretended I didn’t enjoy being this close to a guy, his strong arms around me. I just wished they were someone else’s.

“I’m actually not cold.” I untangled myself from him.

“You are an odd one, Llona Reese. I think that’s why I like you so much.” He nodded his head once toward the fire. “Let’s at least go stand over there.”

It didn’t surprise me when he put his arm around my shoulders and guided me toward the roaring flames, which