Page 47 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

W ave got out of Dr. Kelsey’s class with her head held high and her shirt once again in tatters.

She really should learn to wear the spelled clothes Ginny made for her to this class or bring a change of clothes.

This was the second time he had amused Elena at Wave’s clothes’ expense, just because she was too worried about raising suspicion with the level of her external shielding.

She pulled out her phone and called Chrissy.

She would have to apologize for her lapse of judgment and plead her case for a quick change of clothes.

Thursdays were a bad day to be messed up.

Especially since Jarred was now on high alert for any signs of Elena activity, and a burned shirt was a dead giveaway.

“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have time to snag me another shirt or swing by to fix the one I’m wearing?” she asked as soon as Chrissy answered.

“What happened to your shirt?” Chrissy sounded distracted.

“Um,” Wave looked around to see if anyone was listening as she hurried towards the toilets. “It got burned in class. Again.”

“What?” Now Chrissy sounded more alert.

“What’s going on with you?” Wave asked back.

“You’ll never believe this, but His Highness hunted Diana down and is apologizing! ”

“What? Is she all right?” Wave asked, her shirt forgotten.

“She isn’t crying.”

“I’ll—”

“Ginny is with her.”

“Okay, good. Stay there. I’ll figure out something with the shirt. Keep me posted.”

“Sure,” Chrissy replied, clearly already focusing only on Diana. Not that Wave could blame her. So, her plans A, B, and C were not viable. Who else…

“There you are,” Salis called out. “Come on, we’re going to be late for class.” He waved his hand, urging Wave on, and then stopped. “What happened to you?”

“No time,” Wave huffed. “Please tell me you have a t-shirt or something that I can borrow.”

“I, um… No?”

“Fuck. I can’t go to class looking like this, and Chrissy is too busy to swing by.”

“You could just skip the class,” Salis suggested.

Wave shook her head. “I want to be in the class. Dr. Johanson is brilliant, and I’m not going to let Elena mess that class up, either.”

“Elena,” Salis groaned and then quickly glanced around. When he was satisfied that no one was paying too much attention, he focused back on Wave. “You know, you could call one of your boyfriends.”

“For what?” Wave frowned and kept walking toward the class, hoping for some idea to fix the mess she was in.

“They should know all the crap Elena is putting you through.”

“It’s not their problem. I can handle it.”

Salis tugged at her singed sleeve. “Clearly.”

“And they are not my boyfriends,” she hurried to add on.

“Little late for that denial.” Salis grinned.

“Oh, hush, perky butt.”

“Not on your life, luscious lips.”

“I still need a shirt or a jacket or something,” Wave groaned. “If only I’d taken the jacket Chrissy tried to push on me this morning.

“If ifs and buts were coconuts…”

“Not helping, Salis.”

“Okay, okay. But it’s not that bad. Roll the sleeves, if you’re not too cold?”

“It’s not the fashion statement I’m worried about,” Wave said and slowed down. She glanced quickly at Salis and blurted out. “Someone from Kelsey’s class, like Elena , might see how fast I’m healing.”

“What?” Salis looked confused, and when Wave quirked a brow, his face cleared. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“And that would be bad?”

“Officially, maybe. Unofficially, very.”

“You know, Wayla, half the time I feel like a secret agent decoding the things you say.”

“Sorry, I—” Wave was already pulling away when Salis wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in tight.

“Stop that. It was a joke. Sheesh, woman. You are on edge today.”

“I just spent an hour getting burned because I suck at handling fire,” Wave said. She wanted to moan and whine, but held herself in check, mostly. “I hate fire.”

“Okay, I get your side of things. Now, to the shirt dilemma. I don’t have anything else, but we could swap shirts.”

“You won’t fit into my shirt,” Wave groaned. Salis’s smile was wide and devious.

“Guess I’ll be going shirtless then.” Before Wave had time to object, he pulled his pullover off and handed it to her.

“It’s not summer anymore!” She had to say something to pull her attention away from Salis’s stomach and the eight-pack it presented.

“It’s not winter either. I’ll be fine, Wayla.”

“I… but…” Wave pulled the shirt over her head and sighed. “Thanks!”

“Anything for you, buttercup!”

Wave sighed again, rubbing her eyes, and then continued walking. “I’ll never live this down,” she muttered when everyone turned to stare. As misdirections went, this was top-tier. Salis just threw his arm over her shoulders and kissed her hair.

“Don’t get any ideas, cupcake. I’m way out of your league.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, toffee bun.”

I t took until the next evening before Wave had a chance to talk with her roommates. She had evaded everyone but Salis the previous day, but now they were all sitting in the living room.

“So, tell me.” Wave looked at Diana. “What happened?”

Diana looked flustered. “He found me in the dining hall and cornered me alone. Well, Ginny was there, ready to blast his ass, but you know it wouldn’t have gone over well, so I agreed to listen to what he had to say.”

“Bastard,” Ginny interjected. “He knew she would cave to save my ass.”

“What did he have to say, then?”

“He said that he was sorry. That he made a mistake—”

“Idiot,” Ginny cut in again. “If it took him this long to realize he made a mistake, he’s an even bigger idiot than we thought.”

“Do you think he meant it?” Wave asked, carefully observing Diana.

“I-I think so.”

“Was that all he said?” Wave prodded.

“No. Well, yes. He went on and on about how sorry he was.”

“Do you think he’s trying to get back together with you?” It was Chrissy who dropped that conversational bomb into the mix. She was sitting on the floor, doing her stretches again.

“What? No!”

Wave focused on Chrissy. “Why do you think that?”

She looked disgusted when she spoke. “He broke up with Di over two years ago at the start of our first year. And now he’s apologizing? Smells fishy to me.”

“To be fair,” Diana hurried to say, “he has tried to talk to me several times this semester, but I’ve been avoiding him.”

“You are not taking him back,” Ginny’s words were an order if Wave ever had heard one.

“I’m not! I’m not interested in him,” Diane defended herself furiously, with flushed cheeks.

“But you are interested in someone,” Wave caught on. Well, her siren senses picked up on that thread. Diana paled and flushed in turns and looked balefully at Wave.

“That doesn’t matter,” she finally said.

“Why the hell not?” Wave asked.

“Yeah, why?” Ginny butted in, still confrontational.

“Because he likes Wayla. And I think Irishen does too,” Diana whispered. The room went silent. Wave swallowed several times to get her voice working again.

“Excuse me?”

“Irishen has been shielding you from Elena,” Diana began, but Wave shook her head.

“I’m not interested in what Risha wants.” She gulped. “I don’t think I am. If I am, I need to have my head examined. I don’t—fucking hell.”

“And that’s what a broken Wayla Spinwell looks like.” Chrissy giggled. “It’s all right, W. We remember how he was before we all came to Tracthesian. He wasn’t always an asshole.”

“But we have an anti-fan-club and everything,” Wave mumbled. “And I’m getting plenty of dick, thank you very much.”

This time, it was Ginny who snorted. “Yeah, tell that to your needy pussy. I bet he would have done a better job than that ice pack.”

“I’m never talking to any of you ever again,” Wave vowed. Diana smiled softly and reached out to pat her arm.

“It’s all right, Wayla. You can be interested in him. I’m not saying that I’m over the moon about the idea, and I will ask you to keep him away from our home, but…”

“No, absolutely no!”

“Wayla,” Diana spoke soothingly. “He apologized. He explained… some of his side of things. His family, well, I think they are a lot like yours. They arranged the engagement with Elena.”

“That doesn’t mean he—”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do anything,” Diana said. “I’m just trying to say that you don’t have to hate him on my account, okay?”

“You are too good for all of us,” Chrissy sighed.

“Yeah,” Ginny agreed.

Wave gulped in air, and then her brain thankfully provided her with a change of subject.

“But who else do you like?”

Diana shook her head, “It doesn’t matter. He’s not interested in me.”

“Nope, spill it,” Wave demanded. Somehow, she didn’t think Diana was talking about any of the Powerhouses. She always seemed wary around them.

“I—”

“Jarred?”

Diana shuddered. “No!

“Marc? Hellion?”

Now Diana’s eyes were round and panicked. “No! Absolutely not.”

Wave nodded. “Okay. So, who? That’s the end of the list of males who are interested in me.”

That got a laugh from Ginny and a delightful giggle from Chrissy. Even Diana’s panicked look melted into amusement.

“She can’t be that clueless, can she?” Ginny asked Chrissy.

“Clearly, she can,” Chrissy replied.

“You two are helping her evade the question,” Wave groaned.

“It’s Salis, okay,” Diana blurted out. “But he’s—”

Now it was Wave’s turn to laugh so hard she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “Oh boy. Yeah, no. Your only competition there is Angie. Salis and I.” Wave mimicked Diana’s earlier shudder. “No way. Ever.”

“But he’s always hanging all over you, kissing you and—”

“He’s my best friend,” Wave said quietly. “I’m not saying that he’s like my brother, because I’m not blind and that eight pack almost made me swallow my tongue, but I’m not into him like that and he definitely is not into me like that.”

“You can’t know that—”

Wave cut Diana’s protest off. “I can. We talked after Marc threatened to poke his eyes out.”

“You—he—you did?”

Wave smiled gently. “Yeah. He’s a great guy, but not one for me.”

Diana seemed to be at a loss for words, and for once, Ginny and Chrissy didn’t have anything to say either. They all waited in silence while Diana sorted her head.

“You are certain he’s not interested in you like that?” she finally said.

“I am.”

“Okay.”

Wave grinned. “That’s it? Okay? Do you want me to introduce you two? I could invite him over to watch a movie with us or something.”

“Yes,” Ginny said. “I’ll get the popcorn!”

“I’ll clean up,” Chrissy said, looking over the pretty spotless room.

“I’ll—”

“You go put on something cute and casual,” Chrissy told flustered Diana and then turned to Wave. “Make the call.”

“Ay, ay, Captain!” Wave saluted and walked to her room. She had a very important call to make.