Sword Play by Linda Joy Singleton Page A

was thirteen months older. They joked about being Irish twins and mostly got along okay, but when they did argue—watch out.
    “I’ve been living with my grandmother on her farm,” I answered.
    “In a totally hicksville town without fencing classes,” Vin added with a shudder as he sat at the bench table. “I don’t know how you stood it.”
    “I loved the farm with all the animals and woods, and especially being with Nona. The school was cool—I made a lot of friends.”
    “Anyone special?” Jennae leaned toward me eagerly. “Like a boyfriend?”
    “Well … yeah.” I paused, not comfortable talking about other guys in front of Derrick since we’d gone out a few times. Of course with a close group like Foils, there was lots of inner dating. It was never serious between Derrick and me. He was one of these guys who only talked about cars, which got boring fast.
    “What’s your guy’s name?” Jennae persisted, and for a moment I was reminded of Penny-Love, who always wanted to know romantic buzz. What was she doing right now? I wondered. Maybe working in Nona’s office and laughing as they discussed new clients? Having a great time without me?
    I glanced up to find Jennae, Vin, Alphonso, and Derrick waiting for my answer. I had to think a minute to remember the question.
    “His name is Josh,” I told them. “He has dark hair and dimples. He’s athletic—he likes sports like track and soccer.”
    “A jock, huh?” Jennae raised her brows. “Does he have a hot body?”
    “Very hot.” I smiled. “But he isn’t all about sports. He’s on the student council and volunteers at hospitals to cheer up sick kids.”
    “Stop already,” Vin said, fanning himself. “This guy sounds unreal.”
    “I never said he was perfect. He has faults, too. He stood me up today.”
    “The jerk!” Jennae frowned.
    “Dump him,” Vin added.
    Derrick raised his hand jokingly. “I’m still available.”
    “Been there, not doing it again. Besides Josh didn’t mean to ditch me.” I quickly explained about Josh’s apprenticeship to a professional stage magician and how he couldn’t miss out on a great opportunity today. “He’ll visit me next weekend.”
    “Well in that case, he’s forgiven,” Jennae said. “You must be miserable having to leave him.”
    “Not just him. I didn’t want to leave Sheridan Valley, but Mom insisted. Otherwise I never would, not after—” I stopped myself. Familiar bitterness swelled in my throat and it was hard to talk.
    “I understand.” Jennae patted my arm soothingly. “And I’m glad you’re back.”
    Then she offered me a slice of pizza.
    Who could refuse Rosetti’s triple cheese, mushroom, and bacon pizza?
    Definitely not me. So I kicked back and enjoyed pizza and conversation. Slipping into old routines felt surreal. Like nothing had changed, yet of course so much had. I wasn’t the same person who had stood by defenselessly while being attacked by vicious rumors. I’d gained confidence and new friendships. Looking around, I realized my old friends had changed, too, in subtle ways.
    I didn’t contribute much to the conversation, preferring to listen and tune into their auras. Jennae radiated like sunshine in her excitement over acing a difficult test and maintaining a 4.0 average so she could apply to a top college. Derrick’s orange-brown aura reminded me of autumn as he boasted about skipping college to work as a mechanic in his uncle’s body shop. Jennae argued that he still needed college.
    “What for?” he retorted. “So I can learn more and earn less?”
    Vin’s vivid rainbow aura flared as he took Jennae’s side. He said only a fool would skip college, then spouted off statistics (which I suspect he made up) about blue-collar jobs versus white-collar jobs.
    With a steady green-blue aura, Alphonso remained neutral as always. He never said much because of his stutter. But when he picked up a sword, it was like watching Clark Kent switching into