Chapter 3

When the three of us walked to my locker after French on Monday and I pulled my locker door open, a light purple envelope fell out at my feet. Steven stooped down and picked it up, tearing it open as he stood up. He pulled out the card inside with two silver hearts intertwined on the front. He flipped it open and showed us that inside there was a simple “Thank you” written in pink ink.

“That’s Tracy’s handwriting,” Jodi commented almost dismissively as she shoved our French books inside the locker and pulled out our math books, handing me mine.

“How do you know?” Steven asked.

“I recognize it from her birthday party invitations.”

“What teenager still hands out birthday party invitations?” Steven asked incredulously.

“Apparently someone who still sends thank you cards,” I said as I snatched the card from him and waved it in his face. “Someone who still has manners.” I tucked the card inside my math book.

“Hey! Why didn’t I get an invitation?” Steven pouted.

“Because it was a slumber party for girls.” Jodi explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“So?” He insisted.

“For real girls, Steven!” I said as I grabbed Jodi’s arm and blew Steven a kiss rushing us to class.

When we walked into class, Jodi grabbed my arm suddenly, making her thoughts burst into my mind as she thought, There he is!

What? Who? I thought back. Looking up I saw a guy at the teacher’s desk taking back a piece of paper and turning to take an empty seat the teacher indicated with a wave of his hand. As he turned, his eyes scanning over the room, he stopped suddenly, as if hit by a wall, and locked eyes with me. He had fathomless blue eyes. My stomach flipped and I felt my throat tighten and I had to fight the urge to smile. This was a very strange feeling, suddenly nervous and self-conscious just because this boy was looking at me.

Oh no, that’s not him. Phew! But he does look a lot like him. Maybe twins? Jodi’s “voice” sounded more like her own again, breaking me from my trance.

Who are you talking about? I demanded, letting my frustration color my words.

There’s this new guy in my Chem. class. He’s gorgeous, not that this guy isn’t, but there’s a more chiseled quality to the other guy’s face. Yeah, twins, must be. I found it funny how a new student always seemed to carry with them an air of adventure and excitement.

Hmmm…Wait, what the hell Fae! You’re dating Jay! I colored my words as darkly as I could. Jodi had a more wandering eye than most hard up guys. Her boyfriend was a good friend of mine going back to elementary school.

There’s no harm in looking! She shot back defensively. Too defensively.

Mmmhmm. Just remember, Jay’s like a little brother to me, and just because he’s at a different high school, it wouldn’t make you any less of a slut.

Whoa! That’s too far! Jodi glared at me.

Not according to what I can see going through your mind right now, I shot back at her. We glared at each other, Jodi’s hands forming fists and mine holding onto my bag. After a few tense moments Jodi finally blinked and looked away from me. I felt a wash of embarrassment from her; she hadn’t realized I could see the underlying thoughts in her mind when we were so closely connected. I couldn’t really blame her though; I was afraid of being the same way and that more than anything kept me from committing to a boyfriend. We set to work on today’s problems in silence. We were just finishing the sixth problem when I heard the tip of Jodi’s pencil snap.

“Damnit!” She whispered harshly. She turned in her seat to reach in her bag for a fresh one and turned quickly back around, touching my wrist lightly, The new guy is staring at you. This exciting development magically erased all our earlier tension. Girls learn at a young age not to physically respond to this kind of information for fear of embarrassing yourself. So with every ounce of self-control I had, I remained staring at my paper.

Staring or zoning out and happens to be looking my way? I asked skeptically, trying to ignore the twist in my gut. Jodi turned again on the pretext of closing her bag to take a second look.

Totally looking. And he just realized I caught him doing it and he looked away really quickly! I tried, unsuccessfully, not to grin at that – after all he was cute and I didn’t have a boyfriend. Jodi bent her head over her paper and went back to working the problems, giving me an un-obstructed view of the new guy.

He had wavy, chestnut colored hair that was just a little too long, letting a wayward lock fall forward over his forehead as he bent to his copy of the problems. He had a light, creamy complexion that no one would dare call pale. His lips were full and soft red but not in any way feminine like Steven’s could sometimes be. He had a narrow, straight nose and dangerously sharp, high cheekbones. From my first glance I knew he was at least three or four inches taller than me and I could tell his lightweight sweater hid a well-muscled chest and arms, but lean, not meaty. I was aware of an excess of saliva in my mouth and forced myself to swallow, trying to not blush when I heard Jodi snicker quietly next to me.

Jodi and I passed our papers to the front of the row just as the dismissal bell rang shrilly. We quickly shoved our binders into our bags, pulling the zippers closed and slinging our bags over our shoulders almost in perfect sync with each other. We stepped into the aisle and blended in with the other students making our way to the door. I was trying with all my effort not to glance around. I had to be careful to keep my face neutral and not look like I was trying to watch the new guy and at the same time not look like I was trying not to watch him. It was a delicate balancing act that girls have been trying to perfect for generations. Some girls are better at it than others.

Luckily, because he hadn’t been staring at Jodi during class, she was free to look for him almost as obviously as she wanted without fear of embarrassment. I saw her glance over her shoulder so many times it looked like she had some sort of nervous twitch. Her eyebrows shot up dramatically as she neared the door and I caught the faintest of nods. She had spied him watching me again, making his way to the door. As casually as possible, I grabbed the sleeve of her jacket and shoved her out the door and rushed away.

“What’s the matter?” Jodi asked, unable to keep all of the laughter out of her question.

“Be less subtle, Captain Obvious!” I answered sarcastically.

“Dude, trust me, he was so fixated on you he would never have noticed me looking, even if I was two inches from his face.” She glanced passed me and grinned again, skipping off to class. I didn’t have to wonder what made her suddenly so giddy for long.

“Who was fixated on you?” Steven’s voice sounded over my shoulder almost immediately. Damnit, Jodi. I sighed heavily and turned to face Steven and walk with him to Chem. I filled him in on the new twins at school, trying very hard to explain the looks I got in math as a no big deal situation. But, just like Jodi, he launched into immediate gossip mode and began a rapid fire of questions ranging from the tilt of his head to the possible innuendos even the slightest eyebrow arch could mean.

When the bell rang for lunch, we made our way to the door. Sitting in the last row always made us the last two out. Steven stepped out before me and I nearly broke my nose as I crashed into him after he came to an abrupt stop and gasped, eyes going round.

"Is that him?" He whispered over his shoulder. I lifted up onto my toes to see over his shoulder and knew immediately this was the twin that Jodi had seen in her first class. He was the same height, had the same velvety hair but rather than lean muscle his shoulders and chest threatened to tear the seams of his simple black sweater. And the razor sharp nose and cheekbones I had admired earlier were softer with a slight roundness to them.

I shook my head and said, "No, that must be the one that Jodi saw first; he's burlier than the other one."

"Mmmhmm burlier. Now that’s an adjective you don’t get to use too often." Steven bit down on his lower lip and let his eyes follow him until he turned the corner and disappeared from sight. "Mmm! Love to watch him go!"

"Oh. My. God! You are such a cliché!" I covered my eyes and shook my head.

"Only on Mondays, darling."

We made our way out to our spot at lunch, Jodi following just a minute behind. Steven reached up and pulled Jodi down into the grass as soon as she stepped next to him, launching into a debate about the likelihood of which team Mr. Muscles played for. I pulled out my copy of the Almanac and tuned them out as much as I could. I read the same line five times before I realized I wasn’t taking in a word of it, unable to see past the image of perfect ocean blue eyes. I finally gave up, throwing the book back into my bag and nudging Jodi's foot with mine.

"Hey, did you see Tracy in band?" Tracy played second chair flute.

"Oh yeah." She shook her head sadly, "Nick walked her to class.” Then she perked up said, “His arm is in a sling. He won’t be playing for the rest of the year." She perked up at the end.

"Aw, poor boy," Steven said sarcastically.

"Seriously though? Nick walked her to class?" I asked, a little too aggressively.

"Yep. And gave her a kiss good-bye, so I guess everything’s perfect for them," Jodi said. I fumed quietly, knowing I shouldn’t expect things to change overnight but sometimes you just can’t help but hope. "That means we'll probably pass him on the way to English..." She let the sentence trail off.

"So?" I asked.

"So, maybe we should go first and make sure the coast is clear?" Steven finished her thought.

"No way. I am not scared of that Neanderthal!" My voice rose of its own accord. "If he so much as breathes in my direction, I'll snap his other collarbone and say it was self-defense." I felt heat rising in my cheeks as I spoke. Jodi and Steven shared a knowing look and a second later I thought I saw Steven's hand move away from Jodi's. I had a funny feeling I missed something.

“Did you give her the crystal?” I asked trying to ease the tension between us. I didn’t like that they were worried about me and my tempter.

“Oh yeah!” Jodi’s voice lightened with the subject change. “She took her jacket off so I dropped the heart on the floor near her foot at the same time and picked it up and told her I thought it fell out of her jacket.”

“And she bought that?” Steven asked.

“Well, it’s a pretty trinket, isn’t it? And Trace is pretty girly. She kinda smiled at it and said thanks and took it.”Jodi looked proud that her little trick had worked.

“Hey, aren’t you worried she’ll think Nick slipped it to her?” Steven asked me, nudging my foot with his.

“Not really. It doesn’t matter who she thinks gave it to her, so long as she keeps it,” I shrugged.

“But say it works, right? And they break up, and she thinks Nick gave it to her, what if she gets rid of it?” He pressed.

“So she gets rid of it,” I said dismissively. “They’ll only break up once the spell is complete and then she won’t need it anymore.”

“But what if--” Steven started to argue again.

“What if she gives it back to Nick?” I asked, anticipating his question. Steven nodded. “Then maybe he’ll say he never gave that to her and she’ll keep it, thinking it was lucky Jodi gave it to her or maybe she’ll think she has a secret admirer. Either way, does it matter? No matter what, it’s a happy ending.”

“Unless she thinks Jodi’s the secret admirer,” Steven and I laughed as Jodi rolled her eyes, wadding up a piece of paper and throwing it at Steven’s head. Just then the bell rang and we gathered up our stuff. I caught Jodi and Steven sharing a secret look, knowing that I’d missed something again.

I brooded over the possibilities of running into Nick all through my Teacher’s Assistant elective before English, hardly noticing that I gave a paper a B when really it deserved a C. I wasn’t scared, just full of pent up energy waiting to be expended. I felt like a ball of wound up springs. After class I waited for Jodi and Steven to find me instead of heading to class by myself and meeting them there, knowing that would make them feel better.

We walked to class in silence; I was clutching a book to my chest, holding it high and close to my chin. I couldn’t do anything to relax my face. I felt like a surly five-year-old but I didn’t care. We came around the corner and saw Nick leaning over to kiss Tracy good-bye. As he straightened up he caught sight of me over Tracy's head and I saw his eyes narrow and his jaw working while he ground his teeth, but he simply finished saying good-bye to Tracy and walked off to his class. Tracy turned a confused face in our direction and then her face lit into a smile when our eyes met. She gave me a little wave and turned to go into the classroom. If she didn’t want to acknowledge Friday night out loud, then I wasn’t going to bring it up.

"I think I saw him breathe your way, doll face," Steven snickered at me.

"Shut up, Flamer," I snapped at Steven. Jodi laughed loudly; obviously happy the tense moment was diffused so quickly. As we walked in all three of us were stopped in our tracks again seeing both twins standing at the teacher's desk. I felt my stomach flip again and my cheeks grow warm. Gently, but forcefully, I pushed Jodi forward to remind her to keep walking and we took our chairs, each in front of the other, just like in French class. The late bell rang and everyone fell silent. The twins were still standing by the teacher's desk and Mrs. Grant came to the front of the room.

"Ok guys, looks like we have two new students today," she indicated the boys with her right hand. "This is Ian," she gestured to Mr. Muscles, "and this is Jensen," she gestured to the other. I looked at Jensen when she said his name and to my surprise he was looking across the room, directly at me. My stomach would never unknot at this rate. Steven sat in front of us in this class and Jodi behind me. I felt her fingers slide through the ends of my hair and press into my shoulder blade. Dude... he is doing it again... she sounded almost in awe.

It almost creeps me out.

Sweetie, take a compliment. I wish Jay looked at me like that.

He does, you're just too close to his face to notice. I felt her smile before she broke the connection, taking her hand back.

"Ok everyone, you know the drill, family can’t sit together." There were a couple of pairs of cousins in the room whom Mrs. Grant had immediately separated on the first day of school. "So, who's willing to give up their seat for Jensen and take one of the free ones in the back next to Ian?"

"I will!" Steven's hand shot up into the air like a rocket. I heard Jodi snort behind me and then quickly try to cover it with a cough, but I was caught up in the liquid movement of Jensen's confidant stride as he came closer and closer to the seat in front of me. I would kill Steven for this later.

Rather than focus on the knot in my stomach that was getting tighter with every step Jensen took towards me, I watched Steven make his way over to Ian, who had beat him to the desks first. Steven slid into the chair next to Ian with a sly smile and arched eyebrow. I laughed quietly, turning back to the front of the class. Jensen was sitting now, just inches away from me. He raked his fingers through his hair trying to get the wavy locks to stay off his face. The most intoxicating scent came back to me, a combination of musk, cinnamon, and something sweet I couldn’t put a name to.

It was an incredibly short class; I had no idea what the subtext of Dante’s Inferno was that James, Tracy, and Crystal had rambled on about for the last forty-five minutes. I had less than a second when the bell rang to compose myself before Jensen stood and turned to leave or he would have caught me staring.

“Ugh, like trying to talk to a statue!” Steven complained as we joined him at the door and started off for History.

“What?” Jodi asked.

“Mr. Muscles, or should I say Mr. Cold-Shoulder!” Steven pouted.

“Ha! I told you he was straight!” Jodi beamed and searched around until she saw both twins walking together about twenty feet ahead of him. “Mmmm.”

“Jay…” I reminded her a little sternly.

“I’m only looking,” she muttered.

“Yeah, at least you have a boyfriend. Besides, you’d be wasting your time; he was staring at Tracy through the whole class,” Steven said.

“What!” Jodi and I cried in unison.

“What?” Steven said a little scared.

“How could you not tell us that immediately!” I said, lowering my voice and grabbing Steven’s arm and pulling him around to face us. Jodi and I both had stopped short at this piece of news.

“What’s the big deal, she was giving a presentation?” Steven shrugged.

“Ok, sweetie, think very carefully,” Jodi said. “Did he look at James or Crystal at all? I mean, even once?” Jodi had grabbed Steven by the shoulders and turned him to her to stare eye-to-eye, trying to impress the importance of this.

“Ummm…” He hesitated, clearly scared to say the wrong thing.

“Steven,” I said as calmly as I could, “try to remember.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Not even once?” Jodi pressed.

“No, when she finished talking and went to the side to let Crystal say her part he kept staring at Tracy.” Jodi let Steven go and turned to me. We held up both our hands and gripped them together, interlacing our fingers, smiles spreading over our faces.

“Not even once!” We whispered to each other excitedly.