Page 77 of Life and Death

I scowled at him. “It’s not like that.”

He made a disgusted face. “That is, hands down, the most disappointing story I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I take back everything I said about your game. Obviously, it’s just some pity thing.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Maybe I should try to look more pathetic. If that’s what Edythe is into.”

“Go for it.”

“It won’t take her long to get bored with you, I bet.”

My façade slipped for a second. He caught the change and grinned, a little smug.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m sure you’re right.”

Ms. Varner showed up then, and the general chatter started to die down while she began writing equations across the board.

“You know what, though?” Jeremy said under his breath. “I think I’d rather be with a normal girl.”

I was already irritated. I didn’t like the way he talked about Edythe in general, and the way he saidnormalreally bugged me. No, Edythe wasn’t normal, but that wasn’t because, like his tone seemed to imply, she was something . . . off or wrong. She was beyond normal, above it. Surpassing it by so much that normal and Edythe weren’t even on the same plane of existence.

“That’s probably for the best,” I muttered in a hard voice. “Keep your expectations low.”

He shot me a startled look, but I turned to face the teacher. I could feel him staring at me suspiciously again, until Ms. Varner noticed and called on him for an answer. He started flipping spastically through his book, trying to figure out what she’d asked him.

Jeremy walked ahead of me on the way to Spanish, but I didn’t care. I was still annoyed. He didn’t talk to me again until the end of class when I started shoving my books—a little too enthusiastically—into my backpack.

“You’re not sitting with us at lunch today, are you?”

His face was suspicious again, and more guarded now. Obviously, he’d thought I’d be eager to show off, to sell Edythe out to make myself look cooler. After all, Jeremy and I had been friends for a little while. Guys told each other this kind of stuff. It was probably part of the man code thing I’d invented. He’d assumed my loyalty would be with him . . . but now he knew he was wrong.

“Um, not sure,” I said. No point in being overconfident. I remembered too clearly what it felt like whenever she disappeared. I didn’t want to jinx myself.

He walked off without waiting for me, but then he did a little stutter step and paused on the threshold of the classroom.

“Seriously,what the hell,” Jeremy said loud enough that I could hear him—as did everyone else within a ten-foot radius.

He glanced back at me, shook his head, then stalked away.

I was in a hurry to get out the door—to see whatthatwas about—but so was everyone else. One by one, they all stopped to look back at me before exiting. By the time I got out, I didn’t know what to expect. Irrationally, I was half-expecting to see Taylor in a sparkly prom dress and tiara.

But outside the door to my Spanish class, leaning against the wall—looking a thousand times more beautiful than anyone had a right to—Edythe was waiting for me. Her wide gold eyes looked amused, and the corners of her lips were right on the point of smiling. Her hair was still coiled up in that messy twist, and I had the oddest urge to reach down and pull the pins out of it.

“Hello, Beau.”

“Hi.”

Part of me was aware we had an audience, but I was past caring.

“Hungry?” she asked.

“Sure.” Actually, I had no idea if I was. My whole body felt like it was being electrocuted in a strange and very pleasant way. My nerves couldn’t process more than that.

She turned toward the cafeteria, swinging her bag into place.

“Hey, let me get that for you,” I offered.

She looked up at me with doe eyes. “Does it look too heavy for me?”