Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One by Karen Lynn Bennett

locker.”
    Val dropped one arm and tried his leer on me. “What? You want some of me, too?”
    Well, that did it for Ruthie. She pushed him away and attempted a look of disgust. But I could tell she was into him.
    “Need a little help, ladies?” a deep voice sounded behind me. Isaac. He slipped an arm around my shoulders. “Is Valley Girl Val messing with you?” he teased, adding a playful punch on Val’s arm. Val winced.
    “Hey, Steroid Boy, no need to referee! Ruthie and I were just talking!” He pushed ineffectively at Isaac, which was amusing because Val had it going on in the whole muscle department. How did I know that? Everyone knew since most guys on the football team stripped to their waist after practice and strutted around like peacocks. Val sized up Isaac like he had never seen him before, reluctant respect glinting in his eyes.
    I just wanted in my locker, and since Ruthie had moved over, I proceeded to repack my backpack with homework.
    “Ha ha, Isaac.” Ruthie turned back to Val. “I gotta be home when my brothers get out of school, so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
    Since she was giving me a ride home, I hurried up, glancing distractedly at Val and Ruthie. With a heavy-lidded look thrown over his shoulder, Val took off, immediately yelling at some other guy down the walkway. First day of school was always crazier than normal. And the campus reflected that with kids darting here and there, jammering on about summers and classes, who was who, and sneaking up on each other. Give them a couple weeks of homework, and the exciting atmosphere of the first day would transform to a moody silence broken by locker slams and squeaky sneakers. Okay, that was a little pessimistic, but so true.
    The rest of the day was uneventful. Dad was home when Ruthie dropped me off, and I was happy to see that the scratch on the side of his face was almost gone.
    And the best part was that there were no nightmares that night, which is not to say that I didn’t dream. I did remember two sets of eyes flitting through my subconscious, one brown and one blue.

 
     
    Bobby
     
    The next few days moved along slowly for me. And the sole reason was that Zander seemed to be avoiding me. I kept seeing him around campus, but he slipped away before I passed him. In class, he sat as far away from me as possible and avoided my gaze. I couldn’t help but assume he had heard about me, the “me” from last year. It was inevitable, I guess, but it hurt me like nothing else. He had been like a knight in shining armor the first time I met him, as stupid as that sounded, and I had hoped he was going to be different than everyone else.
    We didn’t see him at lunch, either. All of us wondered where he was, minus Isaac, of course. Phoebe and Isaac were continually bombarded by hopefuls, and Val took up permanent residence next to Ruthie. Isaac kept edging closer to me, making me think perhaps Ruthie had it right and he did like me, but then with all the girls coming by to flirt, well, it was hard to tell. Anyway, my mind kept wandering to Zander, wondering what was up with him.
    I also spent a lot of lunch staring around the tables and noticing who was new and how students had changed over the last year. There was the typical jock table, the cheerleader table, the band table, the chess club table, and so on. And then there were the fringe elements, students who didn’t seem to belong to any of the groups. I felt like them. I was pretending here at this table full of beautiful and popular kids. I caught the eye of Bobby, sitting two tables away. His gaze skittered away. I remembered him from middle school. He had been pretty popular back then. I wondered what had happened to change him. His hair was messy and overly long. His clothes fit loosely. And he didn’t seem to be talking to anyone. Then I remembered. His parents had died tragically in some random drive-by up in Oakland, and Bobby and his brother had been split up between