Page 15 of Ominous: Part 1

I raise my brows. “Um. Yeah. Pretty sure.”

Beside me, Dominic snorts.

The hallways are growing emptier, and I’m struck by the fact, if this keeps dragging out, Dominic and I could be walking to English together. Probably alone. I want to remove myself from this unwilling trio now.

“Move,” I tell Eli, ignoring the way his eyes light up with amusement at my command. “I need to go.”

“Hear that?” Dominic grins, smoothing down his tie. “She wants to get away from you, man. Come on, I’ll walk you to class, Edith.”

I narrow my eyes at Dominic.“Eden.”

He feigns shock, like he isn’t used to anyone smarting off to him, then an easy grin breaks out over his face. “My deepest apologies,” he says, one hand over his heart.

I roll my eyes, toss Eli a wry smile, and pivot to the right, darting around them, turning my back to both of them to head to English.

I hear Dominic laugh again, then Eli’s cold voice.

“Dom.”

I don’t stop, but I slow down slightly, to the point I hope no one notices I have.

Dominic doesn’t say anything, and I hold my breath to hear Eli’s next words. They’re not meant for me.

“I saw your sister last night.”

It’s the first time Eli has sounded like a teenage boy. Like he just told a “your mom” joke. I want to laugh, but I cover my mouth with my fingers, holding it back. I know he probablydidn’tsee Dominic’s sister last night, unless he went to their house very late, and I guess he could have but I don’t want to think about that and—

There’s a jarringcrashat my back, and there’s no point in playing it cool anymore. My heart gallops in my chest and I spin around, dropping my hand from my mouth.

Dominic is pinning Eli to the bank of dark blue lockers, the collar of Eli’s shirt fisted in Dominic’s hands. His jaw is set, his pale face blushing furiously red.

Eli is smiling, his hands loose by his sides, not bothering to defend himself. The halls are empty now, and I’m the only witness.

“You can’t take a joke?” Eli asks the question almost sweetly. For some reason, it causes my skin to crawl. Then a second later, he brings his arms up, underneath Dominic’s, breaking his hold as he snakes his hands beside Dominic’s inner biceps and squeezes. I blink, and Eli has spun them both around, Dominic’s back and head colliding with the lockers now, far louder than the first rattle.

I can practically see the breath leave Dominic’s lungs with the impact, and Eli has hold of his forearms, bending his elbows back painfully as he keeps him against the lockers. He leans in close, having to tilt his head down to get his brow to Dominic’s, their noses lined up, their chests brushing due to the angle of Eli’s grip.

It looks almost intimate.

I take a step forward, unsure what to do or say.

Eli must notice my movement.

He turns his head slightly, which only angles his mouth so close to Dominic’s I swear they’re touching. His gaze finds mine, a lock of hair over his brow. His lips are parted, turned up in a dark smile.

Do you want to play with me?I can almost hear his voice saying those words in my head.I can do far worse than this.

I don’t know what he sees in my face, but a second passes, and another, my stomach tightening the more he breathes over Dominic’s lips, and finally,finally,he releases him.

Dominic slumps against the lockers, and even though it wasn’t a real fight, his arms fall by his side. But the exhale he shudders out isn’t dissimilar from mine. I don’t even know why I was holding my breath. What did Ithinkwas going to happen?

Eli straightens, appearing as ifnothing at allhappened between him asking me what I thought, and Dominic’s interruption. I realize somewhere in the middle of all this, the bell rang, but it was secondary to Eli’s lips next to Dominic’s.

“Tell Mr. Baston you were in the bathroom,” he calls to me as Dominic looks toward me, then Eli, never moving, still catching his breath. “He’ll excuse you.” Then he turns his back to me without another word, adjusting his dark gray, leather backpack, goingpastour shared Latin class.

I don’t stay alone with Dominic in the hallway.

And when I slip into my seat in the front of my next class, I mutter to Mr. Baston I had to pee, and he looks a little shocked at my brashness, but ultimately nods and says nothing about my lateness.