24.

“It looks like you’ve made a new best friend,” Kiran’s crisp accent whispered in my ear from behind. He scared me so I turned too quickly to face him and our noses bumped. A shot of electricity rushed through my blood as we were less than millimeters apart from each other. And then I blushed as I remembered our kiss from the other night.

“What do you mean?” I asked, praying my breath had recovered from lunch.

“The new kid, it looks like you two are getting along well,” he sat down next to me at the lab table. Lilly was usually my chemistry partner, but because of her prolonged absence I was alone today.

“Avalon is um, nice,” I was not quite sure what Kiran was getting at; but almost positive he was just trying to extract some reaction from me.

I turned my attention back to my work, not really sure what to do. Both Avalon and Principal Saint had told me countless times to keep my distance from Kiran and I’d done my best, but Kiran hadn’t been given the same directions.

Well, actually he had been told to stay away from me; he just had the luxury of being able to do whatever he wanted. I found that a tiny bit irritating.

“I bet he is,” Kiran grunted and I realized for the first time that Kiran was jealous of Avalon. I couldn’t hold back a smile. I looked over at Avalon who was partnered with Adelaide Meyer, extricating her from her usual table with the “holy trinity”. Despite her separation from Seraphina and Evangeline she seemed completely at ease. Well at least she was completely drooling over Avalon, finding any excuse possible to touch him; my stomach churned violently, but not from jealousy.

More like I had an internal need to protect him. I found this weird, since we just met not that long ago, but the feeling remained despite that fact. I stared at them for a few seconds longer wondering if Avalon enjoyed the attention or was as annoyed with her as I was just watching them. Yuck.

“Have you met him yet?” I asked, half joking. I pretended to focus more intently on the busy work Mr. Hayman assigned, carefully looking up answers from the Table of Elements.

“No, not yet. I mean he did manage to break into my private club and all, but I wouldn’t say that we have met properly. Would you care to introduce us?” his English accent was the epitome of gentlemen-like behavior, but I noticed his eyes roll and shoulders slump a little.

“My pleasure,” I mumbled. I glanced again at Avalon understanding why all of the girls fawned over him, but that didn’t mean I necessarily felt the same way. He had turned into my only friend since Lilly’s absence and we had a lot of fun together, well at least a lot of excitement together. But he was definitely only a friend.

I had tried to like him. I had tried to play his games; but I couldn’t keep up. Besides I was pretty confident he was not the least bit interested in me. We were it seemed, just friends. Actually I didn’t even know if I could say that. He at least preferred to talk with me more than the other girls, but I just couldn’t figure him out.

If I understood Kiran’s feelings for me, or non-feelings for me, maybe I could have understood his jealousy, but at the moment it didn’t make any sense. Avalon and I usually sat together and talked together, but it was completely platonic. Kiran hadn’t tried to do very much of either since he kissed me. I guessed since he figured out who I was, I was no longer a curiosity; he probably got bored.

I touched my fingers to my lips remembering his passion. The back of my neck got hot suddenly and the electricity surged through my veins. Confusing or not, the memory of his lips against mine made me dizzy. I noticed that Kiran’s eyes were also on my lips and he was wearing his signature smirk.

“Is he taking you to the Fall Equinox dance?” Kiran pried, forcing his eyes from my mouth deep into my own.

“Hmmm…. I don’t know,” I tried to be coy, but knew that I would say no even if Avalon did ask; dancing was not really my thing. “Who are you taking?” I asked, taking the attention off of myself. I already knew the answer though; in fact, the whole school knew the answer. It wasn’t like Seraphina was very quiet about their relationship anymore.

I was not totally sure if it was because she thought I was a threat to her precious relationship, or if she was scared that Kiran really wasn’t that into her; but whatever the reason, she was no longer reserved about her feelings. Every chance Seraphina got, she was all over him, or bragging about him. She loved to talk loudly about what Kiran bought her, or where he took her. Kiran remained silent, but was always by her side lately.

“Are you going to the dance?” he avoided my question.

“No, probably not.” I decided to be honest. I couldn’t play these games; I wasn’t any good at them.

“Why not?” Kiran asked sounding a little panicked.

“Well dances are not really my thing, besides I don’t want to go alone. Avalon and I really are just friends,” I put my pencil down and looked out the window. I’d been talking to Kiran for too long and felt like I was going to get into trouble.

Principal Saint warned me every time I saw him to stay away from Kiran, especially since he caught me at Kiran’s club the other night. As helpful as he had been in finally shedding some light on who I was; I found staying away from Kiran the hardest thing he had asked me to do. I understood that he hadn’t asked much of me, but there was something about Kiran that I was unable to keep myself from.

“Well you don’t have to go alone. You could um, come with us,” he sounded sincere, and I flashed him a grave look. He had got to be kidding me. A third wheel to a date between Kiran and Seraphina, no thank you.

“Sounds fun, but I think I’ll pass. Besides what would your girlfriend have to say about that?” I rolled my eyes.

“Well maybe you could double with Talbott?” he suggested softly. “He doesn’t have a date yet.” This was getting ridiculous.

“Yeah…. maybe,” I laughed sarcastically, “Thanks, but no thanks your majesty.” The bell rang and I was thankful to be done with Kingsley, at least for the day.

“That’s not funny,” he said defensively. I gathered my things, hoping that this conversation was over. If he followed me out the door and Principal Saint saw me talking to him, I was going to be in big trouble. “Eden, please wait,” he grabbed my hand gently and I turned to look at him. Something in his eyes looked sad, like he was sorry for something.

“I just think that you would have fun if you came to the dance,” he gave me a saddened version of his custom smirk, and his eyes twinkled a little bit. The rest of the class was quickly leaving and I was afraid we would be alone in a second.

“Really, I can’t dance. If I went, it wouldn’t be fun for anyone…. trust me,” I tried to sound sincere, but my voice was breathy as Kiran pulled me a little closer, his fingers left my wrist and intertwine themselves with my fingers.

“Eden, are you ready?” Avalon was beside me and in an almost defensive stance. Oh no. I remembered my promise to Avalon and felt guilty for indulging myself with Kiran too long.

“Yes, almost,” I turned and smiled at him, refusing to drop my hand from Kiran’s. What was wrong with me? My magic flared at the memories of the last time we were this close and I regretted the fact that we were at school.

“Come on, let’s go,” Avalon’s voice was anxious and I was surprised that he was so impatient. The usually focused and clearer sensory perception that came from being around him felt tense and put me on edge. Avalon glared at Kiran, but every once in a while he turned to give me an impatient frown.

“She said she’ll be right there Avalon,” Kiran pulled me closer to him, blocking me with half of his body, and took an equally defensive pose. I could see Talbott out of the corner of my eye begin to make his way over from where he had been waiting for Kiran in the doorway.

“Let go of her,” Avalon nearly growled.

“No,” Kiran growled back and Talbott took his side, clearly protective.

“Alright, everybody just settle down.” I made my voice light, trying to soften the mood. What was going on?

“Back off Avalon. I wouldn’t do anything that would get you into trouble if I were you,” Talbott tried to step in front of Kiran but Kiran didn’t let him. He stepped forward as if he to challenge Avalon. Avalon mimicked his movement and stepped forward too.

“He’s right Avalon, you wouldn’t want to get into trouble.... again,” Kiran mocked him.

“Are you sure about that?” Avalon threatened in a deep, growling voice.

“Alright, I’ll see everybody tomorrow,” I dropped Kiran’s hand and headed for the door quickly. I was not going to get in the middle of some ridiculous boy fight.

I could feel Avalon’s presence behind me, but I refused to turn and acknowledge him. I headed straight for my car as fast as I could, hoping he’d get the hint.

He didn’t and continued to follow me, but he also didn’t try to say anything until we reached my car. He never even tried to walk beside me, although his long legs could have easily outpaced mine. He stayed behind me almost as if he was protecting me from whatever else was back there. I became even more irritated.

“I’m sorry about that Eden,” Avalon finally broke the silence as I searched for my car keys deep inside my book bag. “He just, ugh, he’s just so infuriating,” Avalon punched one of his fists into his other hand and I watched him clench his jaw.

“Well, he’s not the only one,” I gave him a fierce look and dug deeper in my bag for the keys to my Land Rover.

“Why do you even bother talking to him? I thought you weren’t allowed,” he looked at me with an intensity that I didn’t understand.

“It’s not like I try to talk to him. He is just always there! What do you mean I’m not allowed?” I defended myself, but wondered at Avalon’s use of the word “allowed.” I searched through my memories, trying to remember a time when I had been outright forbidden to talk to him.

“Oh nothing, I mean, it’s just that, like the whole betrothal thing,” he blurted out and I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“What do you mean?” I repeated.

“The betrothal between Kiran and Seraphina. I thought everyone knew. They are betrothed to be married,” I stared at him confused until he continued, “I thought that was the whole reason he was at this school; he’s like supposed to get to know his future wife.” And then the meaning of the word “betrothal” sunk in. Kiran was going to marry Seraphina; no wonder she thought she was his girlfriend: she was. In fact she was more than his girlfriend, she was his freaking fiancée. Freaking monarchy with their freaking tradition. What century did we live in? Betrothal? Out of control.

Talbott’s warning suddenly made sense, in fact, a lot of things suddenly made sense and I felt like such an idiot. He really was just using me for entertainment this entire time. I felt sick; how could I have not known.

“Oh,” was all I could manage, and my lips stayed formed by the word. But my heart dropped into my stomach.

“Hey were you planning on going to the Fall Equinox dance?” Avalon asked out of the blue, changing the subject quickly.

“Not anymore,” I reminded myself to breathe and willed myself to forget the nauseous feeling rising in my throat. “It’s not really my thing anyways.” I said softly, hoping I wasn’t letting him down. My mind was still reeling from the wedding news.

“Oh good…. Yeah, those things are dumb anyways,” his face looked visibly relieved and I didn’t understand why.

“We could hang out though; you could come over tomorrow night and we could like rent a movie or something,” I said, not wanting to sit at home, alone on a Saturday night, when the guy I had kind of liked or kind of hated or whatever I kind of felt was out having a great time with his future wife. Ugh.

“Oh no, I can’t, sorry, I already have plans. But you should definitely stay home and not go to the dance,” his expression was completely serious, and I was completely confused. “I hear it’s going to be really terrible. See you Monday, Eden,” Avalon turned and walked away to his car, leaving me standing alone, completely baffled. Boys could be so confusing.