The Prophecy (13 page)

“What a
weirdo,” Shyla said about Coach Wally.

I sighed
and started walking again. “You have no idea.”

*****

I barely
registered second period. All I could do was sit and obsess about the argument Adrian
and I had had that morning, and how I would have to see him next hour. I had two
things to apologize for now. Altogether, I was not off to a good start.

Caleb glanced
up and met my eyes as I hovered in the doorway of third period, unsure where to
sit. He waved me over. “We saved you a seat.”

“Thanks.”
I wondered if by “we” he really meant himself. I wasn’t about to ask.

Dropping
my bag on the floor, I slid into the seat to his right. I surreptitiously
looked over at Adrian, but he wouldn’t look at me. He knew I was there, but he
was obviously doing his best to ignore me. With a sigh, I began unpacking my pen
and notebook.

“So
how’s it going?” I asked Caleb for lack of anything else to say. After all, I
barely knew him. We were still very awkward around each other.

“It’s
going okay.”

I
bobbed my head. “Cool.”

He
looked at me, and his eyebrows slowly rose as though he expected me to say
something more.

I
shrugged. “That’s all I wanted to know.”  

But
that definitely wasn’t all I wanted to know about Caleb. Not by a long shot. We
still hadn’t talked about why he could do . . .
what he could do
. I was
desperate to know what it meant and why he’d revealed himself to me. 

I
cleared my throat. “Hey, this might sound weird considering we don’t really
know each other. But do you maybe want to hang out sometime?”

That got
Adrian’s attention, and his eyes cut to me. But now it was
my
turn to be
petty. I focused all my attention on Caleb, refusing to let Adrian distract me.

Caleb
narrowed his eyes. “Why would I want to hang out with you?”

Um,
ouch. “I don’t know. I just think there’s a lot we have in common.” I gave him
a pointed
you know exactly what I’m talking about
look.

He studied
me a moment longer as he tapped the tip of his pen on his desk. Finally, he
shrugged. “Sure. Okay.”

I
beamed. “Great!”

At that
moment the infamous Mr. Wigley breezed into the room and began talking at once,
effectively putting an end to our conversation. He was one of
those
teachers: the kind that dives right in, even on the first day of school. I
sighed and put my elbow on my desk, resting my chin in the palm of my hand while
willing my eyes to stay open. My heart just wasn’t into school this year.

Midway
through class, Caleb tapped me on the shoulder and jerked his thumb in Adrian’s
direction. He was holding a note close to the floor, extended in my direction.
I nabbed it at once and placed it in my lap, where I began unfolding it as
quietly as I could.

I’m
sorry
, the note said.

I
breathed a sigh of relief and then looked over at him and mouthed
me, too
.

A few
minutes later, another note folded like a paper airplane came in for a landing on
the floor by my desk. The guy sitting next to me swiped at it, but I was too
fast for him.

Wanna
make out later?
I put my hand to my mouth, trying to stifle a
giggle, but not doing a very good job of it.

“Is
something funny?” Mr. Wigley said, looking directly at me.

I
coughed to hide my laughter and pounded my chest with my fist. Out of the
corner of my eye I could see Adrian’s shoulders shaking. “No, sir. I had
something stuck in my throat.”

Mr.
Wigley at least had the decency to look concerned. “Do you need to be excused?”

I
cleared my throat and dabbed at the corner of my eye with my thumb. “No. I’m fine
now. I promise.”

Mr.
Wigley eyed me for a few seconds longer, probably mentally running through the
steps of basic first aid in case there was truly a need—or maybe he was simply
trying to decide if I was lying—before turning back to the board and resuming
class. I didn’t look at Adrian again for the remainder of the period.

After
class, Adrian grabbed my hand. “I really am sorry.”

I shook
my head and looked down at my feet, the blood suddenly rushing to my face. “I’m
the one who should be saying sorry. I was acting like a baby.”

Adrian put
his finger under my chin and tilted my head so I’d have nowhere to look but in
his eyes. “I knew you were counting on us going out to dinner last night, but
it was nice being back on the reservation for a few days helping Caleb pack up
his stuff. I got to see some of my other friends, too. I guess I just got caught
up in the moment.”

“So why
didn’t you call and tell me that? Yes, I was mad that we didn’t get to go out
like we’d planned, but I would have understood.”

“I
don’t know why I didn’t call.”

“It’s
because he’s an idiot,” Caleb said, slapping Adrian on the back. He winked at
me and then added, “Don’t mess it up, bro. There’ll be some other guy waiting
to swoop in as soon as she figures out you’re a total moron and dumps your ass.”

“Some
other guy, huh? Maybe someone like you?” Adrian said. He laughed, but I thought
he was only half-joking.

Caleb
snorted. “Dude, I don’t go after my best friend’s chick. Give me a little
credit. Besides,” he said, eyeing me, “she’s not type.”

“Gee,
thanks. Tell me how you really feel,” I said.

He held
up his fingers in the peace sign. “I’m outta here.”

Adrian squeezed
my hand. “I’ve got to go, too. Need a ride home after school?”

“I told
Priscilla we’d walk.” Of course, that was when I’d been mad at Adrian.

“Are
you sure? Seriously, I really
am
sorry.”

“I am,
too. But it’s a nice day.”

Adrian leaned
down to kiss me when Mr. Wigley strolled by and announced, “No PDAs in my
classroom.” We settled for walking out together, hand-in-hand, and then reluctantly
parted ways at the end of the hall.

In the
lunchroom I saw Caleb sitting by himself and was torn between leaving him alone
and asking if he wanted to sit with Priscilla and me. In the end, I invited
him. 

“So is
Adrian’s friend too good for us or something?” Priscilla said when I got in
line behind her, just as surprised as I that he had said no.

“He
probably just feels weird,” I said. “He doesn’t really know me, and he knows
you even less. What would we have to talk about anyway?”

“He’s
cute,” Priscilla said. “I hate to break it to you, but he might even be cuter
than Adrian. He’s got this whole bad-boy image going on that I’m kind of
attracted to.”

I took
in Caleb’s blue-tipped faux-hawk and fitted shirt advertising that he was TOO
HOT TO HANDLE. He’d recently pierced the cartilage of his ear, to complement the
one in his brow, I supposed. We moved forward in line and I grabbed a slice of
cheese pizza from the warmer.

“Don’t,”
I said.

“Don’t
what?”

“You
know what I mean.”

Priscilla
got this dreamy, faraway look in her eyes as she turned back to stare at Caleb.
“I know you’re totally in love with Adrian, but you have to admit that his
bestie is pretty hot.”

He was good
looking, but I wasn’t attracted to him. I loved Adrian, after all. Caleb was
just . . .
Caleb
.

“I’d
steer clear if I were you,” I said. “I think he has a thing for Shyla.”

Priscilla
trailed on my heels as I squeezed through the crowd to the milkshake dispenser.
“Really? Not that I have anything against Shyla. But why her?”

“I
guess they were friends from before.”

“But
that was ages ago. They were just kids.”

I
shrugged. “I saw the look on his face when he saw her that day on the
reservation. I’m telling you, he’s got a thing for her.”

Priscilla
hmphed.
“And usually you’re so oblivious to those things.”

I gave
her a look. What was up with everyone criticizing me today? I leaned in and
lowered my voice to a whisper. “If I tell you something, do you promise to keep
it secret?”

Priscilla
leveled her gaze at me. “Seriously, you should know by now I’m good at keeping
secrets.”

I held
up my finger in the one-minute sign as I paid the cashier and then waited for
Priscilla to pay. Finally, we made our way outside to our usual spot and sat
down on the steps.

“Spill
it,” Priscilla said.

I nabbed
one of her fries and shoved it in my mouth, chewing as I thought. “Come to
think of it, I really shouldn’t tell. It’s not my secret.”

Priscilla’s
face wilted. “You know I won’t tell anyone!”

“I
know, but I wouldn’t want anyone to know
my
secret.”

Priscilla
tilted her head and grinned. “So you’re saying it’s a secret like yours?”

I
shrugged, biting off the pointed tip of my pizza. “I’m not saying anything.”

“All
right. Let’s play Twenty Questions and I’ll guess. Then you won’t have to come
right out and tell me.”

I
considered that. “I guess that would be okay.”

“All
right.” Priscilla fixed me with a glare. “Animal, vegetable, or mineral?”

I swallowed
the bite of pizza and nabbed another fry. “Uh, I don’t think any of those apply.”

Priscilla
groaned. “Then just tell me.”

“Oh,
all right.” I fidgeted on the step, not totally comfortable with what I was
about to do. “So here’s the deal. When I was at the reservation something
happened.”

Priscilla
leaned in closer, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. “This sounds
juicy. What kind of something are we talking about here?”

I
flicked my hand at my paper napkin lying on the ground beside my foot and it instantly
caught fire.

“That
sort of something.”

Priscilla’s
eyes grew wide. She fumbled for her bottle of water, twisted off the cap, and poured
half its contents over the fire to douse the flames.

“Are
you crazy, you little pyro?” she half shrieked, looking around to see if anyone
had noticed. She took a deep breath and pushed the hair out of her eyes. “So you
started a fire?”

“No, you
dum-dum!” I threw my hands up in exasperation that I actually had to come right
out and say it, after all. “Caleb did.”

“You
mean Caleb Moon?”

I
rolled my eyes. “How many other guys named Caleb do you know?”

She
continued staring at me as if she didn’t quite believe what I was saying. “Are
you sure?”

“I know
what I saw. And he didn’t even try to cover it up or explain it away. He just
did it. Right in front of me. He
wanted
me to know.”

“But why?”

I took
another bite of pizza. “I think he needs someone to commiserate with, you know?”

Priscilla
took a deep breath. “This is way too freaky. Does anyone else know?”

“Just
his mom and sister. Anyway, I was sort of thinking that we could practice
together.”

“Practice
what
?”

“Practice
tying our shoes,” I said sarcastically. “You know . . . whatever it is we can
do,” I ended lamely. There was a part of me that still felt incredibly silly admitting
out loud that I had magical powers.

“Oh. Speaking
of magical powers,” Priscilla said, obviously not feeling ridiculous at all. “How
are yours coming along?”

“No
comment.”

Priscilla
groaned. “You can’t keep ignoring what you have. The only way you’ll get better
is if you actually practice.”

“You
sound like Meg.”

“Well,
she does have a point.”

I
sighed. “I know. I almost lost control in the locker room this morning. Jasmine
made me mad and my hands started tingling. That’s the main reason why I want to
talk to Caleb and see if maybe he can teach me a few things about how to better
control it. I figure two heads are better than one, right?”

“And
Adrian doesn’t know about Caleb?”

“Nope.”

“So how
is it even possible he can do the weird things you can? Does that mean he’s a
Spirit Keeper, too?”

“I have
no idea. That’s something I have to find out. But he’s keeping his powers
secret from everyone else for a reason, and I want to know why.”

“Man,
if I had that type of magic, I’d definitely flaunt it.”

“Well,
I can’t. Not unless I want people to know that I’m a complete freak.”

“You’re
not a freak. You’re just unique.”

I
grinned. “That’s a very diplomatic way of putting it. So,” I said, changing  the
subject. “Tell me what you think about Jasmine.”