daughter, acting like the father she never had, but he might
also
have sent assassins to kill her mom and cut off Chloe from all human contact. And while she was beginning to find that people were a little more complicated than she ever realized before, she still had no desire or ability to deal with the mess that was her relationship with Sergei. Chloe had gotten along recently by forcing herself not to think about the Pride Leader.
“Sergei,” she said, feeling her belly twist into ulcerous knots. Alyec raised his eyebrows, listening in.
“You sound well, Chloe.”
“I am, thanks. More or less.”
“I see you brought us a little visitor last night. …”
Here it comes
. Ms. Barker was erasing the board in preparation for class and shooting nasty looks at everyone who was talking on cell phones. Leader of an ancient race of lion people aside, Chloe didn’t want to be one of those obnoxious jerks who put a hand up for the teacher to “wait a minute” while finishing a call. She was in enough academic trouble as it was.
“… I think you and I, and maybe Olga, should get together and have a little chat about things.”
“Yeah, uh, sure.” She tried to sound upbeat and lighthearted, like that was a great idea.
“When you come to visit your friend today, then?” It wasn’t really a question.
“All right.”
“Good, I look forward to seeing you later. Good luck in school.”
Click.
Chloe slowly closed the phone.
Let’s make a deal,
she sent a mental message to the Fates or the Twin Goddesses or her biological mom or whoever was casting the dice for her life.
Can you at least switch off crisis weeks? Like, one for school, the next for Amy and Paul, and the next for everything else? Does it all have to happen at once?
Something hit Chloe’s head with a small but pointed
thunk
and snapped her out of her thoughts. Lying on the ground next to her desk was a slightly squished Godiva chocolate. Alyec was grinning wickedly; he must have stolen or sweet-talked it away from the cheerleaders.
Chloe smiled back and whispered a thanks, unwrapping it immediately and popping it in her mouth.
God really does work in mysterious ways,
she reflected.
Lunch was a chilly affair that almost made her wish school would hurry up and end so she could face her next set of crap. Chloe sat across from Paul and Amy, who were obviously trying to interact normally—without even touching each other or making eye contact—until the bell rang and Paul gave Amy a perfunctory kissgoodbye. There wasn’t so much
tension
at the table as there was a complete freeze on normal, casual behavior.
I knew this would happen,
Chloe thought. When Amy first told her she and Paul had hooked up, it was obvious that, unless they kept dating until college, it could only end in tears for the trio of friends.
She stayed after for an hour to work on one of the many chem labs she’d missed, called “Forming Ionic Compounds.” Mrs. Mentavicci was
much
more laid back in these sessions, and when she wasn’t grading something—or playing solitaire—she actually helped. Chloe began to see the lure of being tutored. Without the tenseness of a forty-five-minute time limit and having to deal with a lab partner, she was able to work slowly and methodically and actually
understand
what she was doing.
Afterward she took a bus over to Sausalito. Chloe didn’t want a car to come pick her up—while luxurious, it was also incredibly disempowering; she felt completely in the Mai’s control. It was a good place to think, under the shaky fluorescent bus lights that made everything clearer and more real. Every rivet in the floor, every grommet on the ugly matted upholstery of the seats stood out.
But she could only focus on one thing: There was a chance that Brian could be dead or dying by the time she got to Firebird.
It hadn’t been immediate with Xavier, the guy she’dkissed at the club. When Chloe found him lying on the floor in his apartment a few
also
have sent assassins to kill her mom and cut off Chloe from all human contact. And while she was beginning to find that people were a little more complicated than she ever realized before, she still had no desire or ability to deal with the mess that was her relationship with Sergei. Chloe had gotten along recently by forcing herself not to think about the Pride Leader.
“Sergei,” she said, feeling her belly twist into ulcerous knots. Alyec raised his eyebrows, listening in.
“You sound well, Chloe.”
“I am, thanks. More or less.”
“I see you brought us a little visitor last night. …”
Here it comes
. Ms. Barker was erasing the board in preparation for class and shooting nasty looks at everyone who was talking on cell phones. Leader of an ancient race of lion people aside, Chloe didn’t want to be one of those obnoxious jerks who put a hand up for the teacher to “wait a minute” while finishing a call. She was in enough academic trouble as it was.
“… I think you and I, and maybe Olga, should get together and have a little chat about things.”
“Yeah, uh, sure.” She tried to sound upbeat and lighthearted, like that was a great idea.
“When you come to visit your friend today, then?” It wasn’t really a question.
“All right.”
“Good, I look forward to seeing you later. Good luck in school.”
Click.
Chloe slowly closed the phone.
Let’s make a deal,
she sent a mental message to the Fates or the Twin Goddesses or her biological mom or whoever was casting the dice for her life.
Can you at least switch off crisis weeks? Like, one for school, the next for Amy and Paul, and the next for everything else? Does it all have to happen at once?
Something hit Chloe’s head with a small but pointed
thunk
and snapped her out of her thoughts. Lying on the ground next to her desk was a slightly squished Godiva chocolate. Alyec was grinning wickedly; he must have stolen or sweet-talked it away from the cheerleaders.
Chloe smiled back and whispered a thanks, unwrapping it immediately and popping it in her mouth.
God really does work in mysterious ways,
she reflected.
Lunch was a chilly affair that almost made her wish school would hurry up and end so she could face her next set of crap. Chloe sat across from Paul and Amy, who were obviously trying to interact normally—without even touching each other or making eye contact—until the bell rang and Paul gave Amy a perfunctory kissgoodbye. There wasn’t so much
tension
at the table as there was a complete freeze on normal, casual behavior.
I knew this would happen,
Chloe thought. When Amy first told her she and Paul had hooked up, it was obvious that, unless they kept dating until college, it could only end in tears for the trio of friends.
She stayed after for an hour to work on one of the many chem labs she’d missed, called “Forming Ionic Compounds.” Mrs. Mentavicci was
much
more laid back in these sessions, and when she wasn’t grading something—or playing solitaire—she actually helped. Chloe began to see the lure of being tutored. Without the tenseness of a forty-five-minute time limit and having to deal with a lab partner, she was able to work slowly and methodically and actually
understand
what she was doing.
Afterward she took a bus over to Sausalito. Chloe didn’t want a car to come pick her up—while luxurious, it was also incredibly disempowering; she felt completely in the Mai’s control. It was a good place to think, under the shaky fluorescent bus lights that made everything clearer and more real. Every rivet in the floor, every grommet on the ugly matted upholstery of the seats stood out.
But she could only focus on one thing: There was a chance that Brian could be dead or dying by the time she got to Firebird.
It hadn’t been immediate with Xavier, the guy she’dkissed at the club. When Chloe found him lying on the floor in his apartment a few
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