Full Moon by W.J. May Page A

grinned,
feeling better. “You so missed your chance when you turned him
down.”
    “ I guess he never got over it.” She pretended to clutch her
heart. “It started the first week I was here, but he was just so
big—”
    “ An’ ugly.”
    “ An’ smelly. It turned me off.”
    “ I don’t blame you.”
    The bell rang.
I had chemistry and she had art on the other side of school.
    “ See you after classes. Try not to pick anymore fights.” She
laughed and disappeared down the hall.
    Afternoon
classes flew by. At the end of the day, I made my way out to the
parking lot to Grace’s car. My heart skipped a beat when a dark
blue Mustang sat parked beside the Smartcar.
    Michael stood
waiting between the two cars, leaning against his door.
    “ Hi.” I hadn’t seen him for two weeks and he looked awesome. I
made tight fists, warning my fingers not to reach up to his blond
hair begging to be tamed. His blue eyes piercing with their
intensity, his lips and slight stubble – all of it made my blood
rush.
    He nodded a
hello, but his face remained serious. “Grace told me what happened.
I thought I might have a word with this Damon boy.”
    Boy? Damon was like a year younger
than him. I waved my hand. “It’s nothing. Damon probably took too
many steroids and had some reaction.” Bummer. I had been hoping for: I
missed you.
    Michael’s head
shot up and his body tensed. I turned around to where he
looked.
    Damon pushed
through the school front doors, strutting across the grass with
Simon in tow. They headed to the other side of the parking lot. He
kept glancing our way with an irritating, cocky smile, but he
continued to his car. He gassed the engine and sped out of the
parking lot.
    “ Michael!” Grace’s singsong voice made both of us turn. “What
a surprise.” Her cheeks and most of her face burned slightly
red.
    “ Really? You contacted –” Michael stopped
mid-sentence.
    Something
passed between the two of them, but I couldn’t figure out what. It
might take a bit of patience, but I intended to find out. Why would
Grace call Michael and tell him about lunch? It was no big deal.
Then it dawned on me. “It seems your old flame’s still holding a
bit of a nasty grudge.”
    Grace
shrugged. “You win some and, in his case, you lose again. The guy’s
a meat-head.”
    “ Maybe it was good I wasn’t here.” Michael turned and smiled
at me. “Well, if my knight-in-shiny-armor services aren’t needed;
is there anything else I can help you with?”
    “ Well…” I said. “There is this Halloween Masquerade. We are
actually required to go for drama class. I could really use a
date.”

Chapter
7
    Of all the
Halloween themes, we got stuck with famous couples. Grace convinced
Simon to go with her and she took charge of all our outfits. She
bought a Spartacus costume for Michael and a Roman slave one for
me. I’d come to trust her and she made me laugh with her charity
shop and eBay shopping.
    The night of
the dance I sat in her bathroom on a stool, letting her curl my
hair and pin it up. “Doesn’t Spartacus’s wife get murdered?”
    She dropped
the curling iron.
    I swore she
caught the hot part in her bare hand but didn’t even flinch.
    Setting the
curling iron on the counter, she grabbed a few bobby pins. “Aren’t
all famous couples tragic?”
    Her hand was
obviously not burned. I pointed at her in the mirror. She was
dressed as Fashion Fairy Tale Barbie. “I don’t think Barbie and Ken
have a tragic ending.”
    “ Touché. But if Damon see’s the outfits, he might change
that.” She giggled at my shocked looked in the mirror. “I’m just
kidding. He’s the one who gave me the idea.” She pinned the last
bobby pin in my hair. “Stand.”
    We stared at
my reflection. The faded grey-blue slave’s dress had tattered
sleeves and hem but I was willing to bet, no slave ever wore a
dress this formfitting. Grace had tied a black scarf around my
waist for a belt. She’d bought the gorgeous pair