Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [55]
If the rain had to keep my body stuck in the cafeteria, at least my head was in the clouds—in fairy tales and stories of ill-fated love. I hadn’t been going to the cafeteria this week, so I didn’t know that Kristin had defected to the crowded corner table of “cool” kids—where Anthony had also apparently moved after his fight with Brendan. I had successfully avoided all contact with Anthony since the fight Monday, but stuck here in this small cafeteria, my eyes locked with his briefly. Glaring at me, he mouthed the word whore. I scowled back in response, giving him the finger. We continued our staring battle until I overheard Anthony’s name mentioned at my table, and I tuned in to the conversation.
Apparently, my confrontation—and Anthony’s confession that he was lying about my cousin—had triggered a butterfly effect. All my classmates were going over the list of conquests Anthony had claimed over the past two years and revisiting the validity of his claims. I overheard Kristin’s name and was surprised that she kept going back to him after he shared—or should I say, overshared—just how far she was willing to go.
“What’s the deal with Anthony and Kristin anyway?” I asked Cisco, keeping my voice low as I took a swig of my energy drink. Hey, I needed to stay awake.
“She threw herself at him freshman year, right when school first started. It was obvious she was into him. And she’s still into him. He picks her up every now and then, then drops her. And she goes for it every time.”
Cisco shook his head, disgusted. “The Thorns are loaded and big-time ‘old money’ people in New York.” He made air quotes around the words. “She’s got it into her head that only certain people are worth her time. His dad’s a big famous lawyer and all that.”
“The way Anthony treats her, you’d think she realizes it makes her look bad,” I mused.
“Instead you’d think she shot diamonds out of her butt, the way she acts,” Cisco snorted. “I’ve only ever seen her lose her cool over one other guy like that. I’ll give you a guess on who that is.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, great. Does his name rhyme with Schmendan?”
“Bingo,” he said. “But he wasn’t into it—at all—and that really made her mad.”
“So, are Kristin and Anthony back on?” I asked, confused.
“More or less. From what I heard, Kristin and Anthony reunited over a mutual enemy.” He gave me a pointed look and I just buried my face in my hands. Maybe I didn’t have to worry about a curse. I’d be lucky to make it out of junior year alive.
In chemistry, Angelique’s eyes predictably bugged out when she saw me staggering toward the table.
“Your books are in my locker,” I explained. “I read them all night long. Which explains—” I circled my face with my hand “—this sexy mess that you see before you.”
“You found something. I can see something has changed.” Yep, you really couldn’t pull the wool over Angelique’s eyes. I still wasn’t so sure about the whole reincarnated-maiden thing, but I had plenty of faith in Angelique’s uncanny abilities.
“I think so.” I sighed. “I discovered what my crest means. And honestly, I’m not sure how to handle it. On the one hand, it explains a lot of things that have been going on…but on the other hand, if I believe it, then that’s likely the first sign of dementia. The pieces are falling into place, but the puzzle…it’s a very unrealistic puzzle. But the pieces fit.”
“I get it.” Angelique pursed her crimson lips thoughtfully. “Imagine putting together a jigsaw puzzle without having the benefit of the picture on the box.” I nodded along, getting her analogy.
“It would be difficult, right? And you would go through a billion different ideas of what the final picture is. But as more pieces fall into place, you start to see the picture. That final picture is not the picture you thought it would be from the start.”
“Right, but, Angelique,