at the waist, side to side, until he catches his breath. “Well,” he says, shaking his legs out, “that was the best workout I’ve had since I’ve gotten here. Do you run every morning?”
I hide my delight. The Vamplayer has asked me to work out with him every morning? This is too rich. Wait’ll the other Sisters hear. They always think it’s such a waste of time to exercise every morning, but this time it’s finally paid off.
“Not every morning,” I hedge.
He winks. “Well, I look forward to running with you most mornings then, Lily.”
We walk off the track, following the sidewalk into the back entrance of the school.
Tristan opens the door for me, bowing slightly and making a courtly gesture. “Ladies first.”
I plunge ahead to tell the other Sisters as Tristan makes a quick exit down the opposite hallway.
I feel a vague presence at my side and turn quickly to see who it might be. Almost running into a tall, lanky figure, I gasp. “Zander?”
He barely sees me, watching instead as Tristan, looking every bit the Olympic type, jaunts toward the boys’ locker room.
“Lily?” Zander says, his apron over his shoulder, his eyes sleepy and, dare I say, disappointed?
Chapter 11
T he first class I have with Tristan and Bianca is fifth period PE. Fortunately, Alice and Cara are in it as well. Unfortunately, Alice is acting like she barely knows us.
I’m still feeling limber from my run with Tristan, although I’m a little miffed at the way Zander blew me off during lunch when he and Grover shared a table for two. It looked like Grover was going to wave me over and ask me to join them, something I would have enjoyed after four straight hours of mind-numbing morning classes. (You can hear the Emancipation Proclamation only so many times before it loses its poetry, you know?)
But with a quick jab from Zander, Grover stared down at his tray, unblinking.
I huffed from the cafeteria a few minutes later, tossed my uneaten yogurt and fruit cup into the nearest trash can (sorry, starving kids in third world countries), and spent the period watching Cara practice cheers with her new BFFs out on the quad.
We’re in the locker room now, Cara and I slipping into our red shorts and black tank tops, Nightshade’s school colors.
A few minutes before class is supposed to start, Alice stumbles in and hustles over but only because her locker is right next to ours.
“Where have you been?” I whisper. “You never came in last night.”
Cara looks even more upset. “This is the first time I’ve seen you all day, Alice!”
“Relax.” Alice grabs her stuff and quickly slams her locker shut. “It’s called blending in, okay? Deal.”
“Blend in, fine,” Cara says as Alice drifts away, “but tell a Sister where you are, ‘kay?”
“‘Kay,” Alice mimics, rushing to Bianca and her crew, turning her back on us as soon and as often as she can.
Bianca looks at her, and Cara and I hold our nonexistent breath in case Alice is assuming too much too soon. But Bianca opens her arms and gives the First Sister a big, fat first order hug.
Cara and I share a Do you believe that? look before leaning to tie our shoes, attempting not to look quite so jealous.
“That was sooooo fun last night,” Bianca gushes.
Alice quickly slips into her PE uniform. “Wasn’t it?”
“That was pretty sweet!” Alice says as a few more of Bianca’s identically pretty friends gather around her. “I never knew skinny-dipping could be so fun.”
“Mmmmmm. It’s much more fun when you invite the boys along.”
Cara and I look at each other and mouth the words, Skinny-dipping? and Invite the boys along? We’re far from prudes, but this is too much.
We slam our lockers and bound out to the gym floor, where a short, paunchy man in too-snug coaching shorts and a too-baggy golf shirt holds a clipboard.
“Names?” he says.
“Lily Fielding.” I spot Zander and Grover lurking on the sidelines, Grover practically spilling
I hide my delight. The Vamplayer has asked me to work out with him every morning? This is too rich. Wait’ll the other Sisters hear. They always think it’s such a waste of time to exercise every morning, but this time it’s finally paid off.
“Not every morning,” I hedge.
He winks. “Well, I look forward to running with you most mornings then, Lily.”
We walk off the track, following the sidewalk into the back entrance of the school.
Tristan opens the door for me, bowing slightly and making a courtly gesture. “Ladies first.”
I plunge ahead to tell the other Sisters as Tristan makes a quick exit down the opposite hallway.
I feel a vague presence at my side and turn quickly to see who it might be. Almost running into a tall, lanky figure, I gasp. “Zander?”
He barely sees me, watching instead as Tristan, looking every bit the Olympic type, jaunts toward the boys’ locker room.
“Lily?” Zander says, his apron over his shoulder, his eyes sleepy and, dare I say, disappointed?
Chapter 11
T he first class I have with Tristan and Bianca is fifth period PE. Fortunately, Alice and Cara are in it as well. Unfortunately, Alice is acting like she barely knows us.
I’m still feeling limber from my run with Tristan, although I’m a little miffed at the way Zander blew me off during lunch when he and Grover shared a table for two. It looked like Grover was going to wave me over and ask me to join them, something I would have enjoyed after four straight hours of mind-numbing morning classes. (You can hear the Emancipation Proclamation only so many times before it loses its poetry, you know?)
But with a quick jab from Zander, Grover stared down at his tray, unblinking.
I huffed from the cafeteria a few minutes later, tossed my uneaten yogurt and fruit cup into the nearest trash can (sorry, starving kids in third world countries), and spent the period watching Cara practice cheers with her new BFFs out on the quad.
We’re in the locker room now, Cara and I slipping into our red shorts and black tank tops, Nightshade’s school colors.
A few minutes before class is supposed to start, Alice stumbles in and hustles over but only because her locker is right next to ours.
“Where have you been?” I whisper. “You never came in last night.”
Cara looks even more upset. “This is the first time I’ve seen you all day, Alice!”
“Relax.” Alice grabs her stuff and quickly slams her locker shut. “It’s called blending in, okay? Deal.”
“Blend in, fine,” Cara says as Alice drifts away, “but tell a Sister where you are, ‘kay?”
“‘Kay,” Alice mimics, rushing to Bianca and her crew, turning her back on us as soon and as often as she can.
Bianca looks at her, and Cara and I hold our nonexistent breath in case Alice is assuming too much too soon. But Bianca opens her arms and gives the First Sister a big, fat first order hug.
Cara and I share a Do you believe that? look before leaning to tie our shoes, attempting not to look quite so jealous.
“That was sooooo fun last night,” Bianca gushes.
Alice quickly slips into her PE uniform. “Wasn’t it?”
“That was pretty sweet!” Alice says as a few more of Bianca’s identically pretty friends gather around her. “I never knew skinny-dipping could be so fun.”
“Mmmmmm. It’s much more fun when you invite the boys along.”
Cara and I look at each other and mouth the words, Skinny-dipping? and Invite the boys along? We’re far from prudes, but this is too much.
We slam our lockers and bound out to the gym floor, where a short, paunchy man in too-snug coaching shorts and a too-baggy golf shirt holds a clipboard.
“Names?” he says.
“Lily Fielding.” I spot Zander and Grover lurking on the sidelines, Grover practically spilling
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