Summer's Desire (35 page)

I nod warily.

"So from the same source I heard
another apparent whopper, which I also didn't believe. But if one story is
true, then the other has be too, right? OMG, if there's any justice left in the
world, it's
got
to be true." Then, turning to Marcie: "It's Greta
who told me all this. She was in Homeroom with Seth."

Marcie cocks her head. "Greta
doesn't tell lies usually. I mean, she likes to embellish the truth a little—"

"Yeah, I know," Dana
interrupts impatiently. "I just thought that, in this case, she had
embellished like a whole lot
more than just a little."

"Jeez, Dana, just tell us already,"
says Will, sounding exasperated.

She smiles brilliantly. "Seems
that, during Homeroom, Seth Lewis had a run-in with Jessica Anderson. He was
already there when Jessica arrived late along with her posse. According to
Greta, Seth spotted her like in the same instant—almost like he was waiting for
her or something—and his face got all harsh and scary. And he went to her and
dragged her out of the classroom without a word."

"And the Homeroom teacher had nothing
to say about that?" Will asks skeptically.

"Not to Seth Lewis, she didn't!"
Dana smirks.

"Typical," mutters Robbie.

"Anyways," says Dana, "no
one knows exactly what Seth told Jessica because it all happened during class—obviously—and
they talked outside, in the empty hallway. Unfortunately. But it must've been
something totally serious because when Seth came back, he was alone. Looking
all pokerfaced and stuff, unfortunately, so no clue there either."

"So what about Jessica?"
whispers Marcie.

"No one's seen anything of her
since, but some girls swore they heard her bawling in the bathroom before
second period. But do you know what's the real cherry on top of the cake?"
Dana asks gleefully.

"What?" I murmur. The others
are all listening, keen and wide-eyed.

"When Seth went back to Homeroom,
he made Jessica
persona non-grata
with his group. Honest to God, when
Greta told me this, I thought she'd literally dreamed it all up. I mean,
Jessica brought to her downfall is a fantasy a whole bunch of people here have had
for a seriously long time!"

"You sure it's not you who dreamed
all this up, Dana?" asks Will.

"Not this time," she denies
happily. "For real, Greta said that Jessica was banished from the popular
group and isn't allowed to sit at their table anymore. If that's true—please
God, let it be true!—seeing how supremely crappy Jessica's been to pretty much everyone
in this school, she definitely won't find anyone else to sit with. Seriously, if
her previous buddies reject her and she's not one of the popular group anymore—then
that viper is left defanged, declawed, and out in the cold. Oh yeah, baby,
she's
done for
," Dana emphasizes jubilantly.

"I don't think that vipers have
claws," observes Robbie.

"Seth can cast Jessica out?" I
ask. "Just like that?"

Dana nods ecstatically. "He totally
can."

I'm totally awed.

"Seth Lewis can do whatever he
wants at R.-High," Marcie confirms in a stunned murmur. "I told you
he's at the very top of the pecking order, and the popular crowd sticks with
him. So his word is pretty much law here."

"Looks like he finally decided to
put his power to good use," Dana chirps merrily. "God knows, Jessica the
Bitch totally had it coming."

"What I wanna know," says Robbie,
"is why would Lewis do that in the first place?"

"Right. There's no precedent for it,"
adds Will. "So what the hell happened that made him throw Jessica to the
wolves?" He turns to look straight at me. "Any clue, Summer? She's
your foster sister, after all."

I glance away, ignoring his probing.

I'm staggered by everything I've just found
out. I'm awed—and unsettled. I'd heard over and over that Seth wields enormous
power in this school, but it's one thing to know something in theory, and it's
another thing entirely to see that theory applied—brutally and efficiently.

I realize that Dana is watching me very
intently. She opens her mouth to say something, but her gaze is drawn to
something above my head and her eyes take on a glazed expression.

The next moment, a massive body is curling
around me from behind and strong arms wrap around me. Soft lips kiss me lightly
on my cheek.

I shiver with delight.

"Missed you," Seth whispers in
my ear,

The girls both inhale audibly.

Seth raises his head and addresses my
table companions: "I hope you won't mind if I steal Summer away. I want us
to sit together." He gives them his social, dazzling smile.

Good God, he's so freaking hot! His face
is out-of-this world gorgeous, and his classy jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt
mold a body that's utterly, irresistibly scrumptious.

The girls are properly dazzled by Seth's
smile. Robbie scowls.

Will answers with a smirk, "Sure,
you can take your girlfriend."

The girls nod frantically and Robbie
keeps frowning.

I rise from my seat, and Seth instantly
grabs my right hand and pulls me away from the table.

"You didn't eat yet?" he asks
me.

"No, I... I just hung out a bit
with Marcie and the others." I can barely meet his astute gaze. My head is
churning with a hundred conflicting thoughts about everything I heard earlier,
and I feel as if he'll be able to read all those thoughts in my eyes.

Indeed, he gives me a suspicious look,
instantly aware, of course, that I'm keeping something from him.

Luckily, he decides not to pursue it.
"Let's get something to eat then."

As we're moving toward the food
counters, my eyes fall on the popular students. Their stares have grown more
intense now that Seth's with me, and they're whispering rapidly among
themselves. Jacob catches my gaze. He's leaning back in his chair with a self-satisfied
smile, as if he's just won a bet.

"Your friends are all staring at
us," I whisper to Seth.

He throws them a distracted glance. "So
they are. Don't worry about them. They'll get used to the sight of us together
soon enough. They'll be seeing it a lot."

"Jacob looks very smug."

He sighs. "Jacob is very good at
reading people. Today, he was the only one not surprised when I said that you
and I were together."

Okay, there's something else I was
meaning to ask him. "Is it true that you had warned Josh away from me
before last Thursday?"

His expression becomes carefully neutral.
But—"Yes," he admits.

"When?"

His gaze turns defiant. "The first
day I saw him trailing after like you some damn lost puppy."

"But why? He seemed like a mostly
okay guy"—I force out the lie between gritted teeth—"until he went
all psycho on me, that is. Why was it necessary for you to warn him away from
me so early on?"

"He's
not
an okay guy, baby,"
Seth grinds out. "Never has been, as long as I've known him. He does drugs
and bangs up his girlfriends. Knowing that, I didn't want him anywhere near
you." A pause. "Besides, I was jealous as hell thinking you might
find him attractive."

Seth actually admits to being jealous?!
I bite my inner cheek to stop my big, inappropriate inner smile from showing on
my lips. He's totally earned a reward, though.

So I tell him truthfully, "I never
liked Josh."

Seth's expression lightens in relief. He
leans down and gives me a silky kiss, and when he raises his head, he's
grinning affectionately.

I smile back. "You're being awfully
touchy-feely these days."

His grin becomes bigger. "What can
I say? I've got a gorgeous girlfriend that I can't keep away from. Why would I
even try?"

"Don't try! I don't mind your...
attentions."

He bursts into laughter. "I noticed
that. But don't worry, I won't take things too far when we're in public." 

I look at him curiously. "What do
you mean?"

Seth seems to be hesitating. "I
don't want to share you with anyone," he admits at last. "I don't
want anyone to see the intimacy between us."

His deep blue eyes bore into mine,
fierce and heated. I hold his gaze, overwhelmed. I love that he feels this way;
I don't want to share him either, or what we have together.

We fill a single tray with hamburgers
and slices of pizza, some muffins, and a salad for me. After he pays for the
food, Seth picks up the tray and starts leading me toward his usual seat at the
popular table. Only it's not just his chair waiting for him there, but also
another free one right next to it.

His friends watch our approach with a
mixture of wariness and curiosity. Earlier, when they first glimpsed me from up
close, those who had also seen me on Saturday seemed shocked by my new,
improved appearance. Now, as I'm nearing their group, I catch more than a few
approving and even admiring glances from the boys, and the girls seem quite
startled still. Elle, one might even say, looks furious at my transformation
from an ugly duckling into a... pretty duckling. There's really no mistaking
the baleful glare she's sending my way.

I whisper to Seth, "Won't your
friends mind you bringing me out of the blue to sit at their table?"

"No, I talked to most of them this
morning. They know how it is with us, and they know you'll be sitting with me
from now on." Then, in an almost silent but still downright scary growl:
"If they make you the least uncomfortable, they'll regret it deeply."

I take advantage of the fact that he's
lowered his head to tell me this, and I give him a big smooch on the cheek. He
stops in his tracks and grins at me, surprised.

"What was that for?"

I beam at him. "There must be
something wrong with me, but I really like it when you get all snarly and
protective. So just now, I couldn't help myself, I had to kiss you."

He shakes his head, amused.

Then I wipe the smile off my face and
tell him seriously, "But Seth, I don't want you to fight my battles for
me. I won't let you."

He opens his mouth to say something, but
I stop him by raising my hand. "No, listen to me, Seth. If I need your
help, then I'll be very grateful that you give it to me. But when it comes to
issues that I can darn well handle on my own, you won't interfere. Just like
when we were children, remember?" He was always protective of me, but he
never smothered me.

He just looks at me, his beautiful eyes
clouding with pain and insecurity. "It's just... you've been gone so long,
baby, and you've had it so hard. Now that I've got you back, all I want is to
wrap you up in cotton wool and make sure you're never hurt again."

"It doesn't work like that, Seth. You
can't protect me from living life."

He inhales deeply. "I know. But I
need you be patient with me until I settle down some. Do that for me please?"

I pour over his beloved features,
struggling with the weight of his and my sorrow. "I'll be as patient as
you need me to be, I promise. But Seth, please don't cut off any of your
friends' heads if they happen to make me uncomfortable. Let me handle it,
okay?"

He frowns. "I'll handle the guys,
you can handle the girls. Sounds fair, yes?"

I roll my eyes. "I suppose."

I become aware that we're attracting a
lot of extra attention tinted with confusion as we're just standing there near
the food counters, leaning into each other and whispering, while Seth is
holding a tray full of food.

I nudge Seth and we start walking again
toward our table. Moments later, we reach the popular crowd at last.

"Hi, everyone," Seth greets
evenly, and his friends answer in kind.

He sets our tray on the table and holds
out the new chair for me. After I sit down with a murmured "Thanks",
Seth takes the seat next to me.

Then he addresses the group. "Those
of you who don't already know her, this is Summer, my girl. Summer, you already
met Elle, Susan, and Tracy on Saturday.

"Then there's Amelia and
Chelsea." I recognize Jessica's friends from the cinema.

"Mandy and Peter, who are
together." The two of them make a nice couple, she all dark mocha skin and
big brown eyes, and he all tall and handsome, though in a more subdued manner
than the other guys at the table.

"Jacob, Alex, Nick, and Carter you
already know." This last part he says with a frown aimed at Carter, who
instantly lights up with a devilish glint in his eye.

"Summer, Summer, Summer" he
drawls, aiming a shameless leer at my chest, "you really bring the hot
season with you 'cause lemme tell you: you look fuckin' hot!"

I fidget, ill at ease.

"Carter," Seth says warningly.
His voice is quiet but at the same time filled with true menace somehow. The
two of them lock stares for a long moment. Finally, Carter looks away.