Intrinsical - Lani Woodland [23]
“Look, Brent. I appreciate what you’re trying to do but I’m not interested.”
He looked startled and began, “I—”
I cut him off. “I don’t want any part of this. The whole thing kinda freaked me out. I’m sure girls always do what you tell them because you’re hot, Brent, but I’m just not that interested.”
His head perked up with a wide smile. “You think I’m hot?”
I almost growled at him as my cheeks flushed. “I’m not interested in astral projection, so just leave me alone.”
“Why?”
“I have some very personal reasons.”
When I stood up to leave, he reached out to grasp my arm, but I pulled out of his reach.
“Yara, that isn’t how it works. After the first time, you lose the ability to choose. You need my help.”
My gut wrenched, like someone was tightening a loose screw. My chest tightened, my hands tingled, and I teetered backward. “I don’t want to fight again, so please drop this.” I picked up my backpack, and sprinted away from him, silencing the part of me that told me he was right.
Chapter 5
I had read, studied, written and typed until I could hardly see straight when I finally headed to dinner. I was starving because I had already missed lunch. Cherie hadn’t been to our dorm yet but we ran into each other as I was entering the commons building. “Hey, what happened to you today? You just vanished after Language Arts.”
I pulled her aside into one of the empty chair groupings on the bottom floor of the bustling building. “Yeah, I really have to talk to you about that.” She gave me a quizzical look, as if questioning what she might have missed while sitting right next to me. I leaned in and motioned to the busy room around us as I told her, “But it’s a long conversation I’d rather have in private. Nothing was really wrong, just strange.”
“Strange as in my kind of strange?” I inclined my head to let her know it was. Cherie’s eyes glistened with questions but she held them back. “We’ll talk tonight. I’m very intrigued.”
As we approached the cafeteria, Brent and Steve were waiting for us just outside the doors. Steve’s face lit up when he saw Cherie, but Brent’s face was calculating. A few girls walked by, yelling to Brent to call them later. I unclenched my fingers and followed Cherie to pick up my tray. We must have missed the dinner rush. The room was unusually empty and we had our pick of the tables after getting our food.
I squeezed lemon into my water as I told Brent, “I don’t want to hear it.”
His face was wooden. “I know, but I need to talk to you anyway. In private.” He subtly motioned to our friends. “I was afraid you wouldn’t talk to me if I approached you alone.”
“You’re right, but only because I know what you’re going to
say,” I admitted. Brent ran his hand across his eyes. “Doesn’t Steve think it’s odd that you’re willing to eat with me?” I asked, swirling my straw through my water. Brent twirled his pasta around his fork. “I didn’t tell him about
your wicked throwing arm.”
“Oh.” I took a sip of water.
“Doesn’t Cherie think it’s weird that I’d want to eat with you? Why would she even want to hang out with me knowing what I said about her?” He asked before taking a bite.
I didn’t tell her either,” I confessed putting my napkin in my lap and smoothing it down.
A smile curled on his face. “I see.”
“You see what?”
“More than you probably want me to.”
“You two look cozy,” Cherie said. I hadn’t realized how close I had moved toward him while we were talking, and I scooted away from him. “What are you two whispering about over there?”
I’ve always thought fast on my feet and I smoothly lied. “I was asking Brent how Gifted and Talented P.E. went.”
Brent smiled into his napkin. “Nice,” he muttered under his breath. He raised his voice so our friends could hear as his face drew into a painful grimace. “Torture! How was remedial P.E., Yara?”
“Um . . . better than torturous.