Were not six.
Lesa snorted and repeated, Pretty princesses?
Yes, pretty princesses. You can borrow one of my dresses. I have enough. Dee poked at her green beans.
Something was not right with her. She wasnt eating and was now suggesting I could wear one of her dresses. Dee, I dont think Id fit in one of your dresses.
She turned her angelic face to mine, lips turned down at the corners. I have plenty of dresses you can wear. Dont be silly.
I stared at her, dumbfounded. If I wore one of your dresses, Id look like a tightly packaged sausage.
Dees gaze darted over my shoulders, and whatever she was going to say died on her lips. Her eyes widened and face paled. I was afraid to turn around, half expecting to find a set of DOD officers strolling through our school cafeteria in black suits.
The picture in my brain was equally hilarious and frightening.
I slowly twisted in my seat, preparing myself to be thrown on the floor and handcuffed, or whatever it was they did. It took me a moment to find what Dee was utterly transfixed by, and when I did, I was confused.
It was Adam Thompsonthe nice twin as I liked to refer to him and he was Dees friend? Boyfriend?
Whats going on? I asked, swiveling around.
Her gaze darted to me. Can we talk later?
In other words, it wasnt something she could say in front of the others. I nodded and glanced behind me. Adam was getting food, but I noticed someone else.
Blake stood by the doors to the cafeteria, scanning the crowds for someone. His gaze found our table and his hazel eyes settled on me. He smiled, flashing a set of ultra-white teeth, and waved.
I gave him a little wave back.
Whos that? Dee asked, frowning.
His name is Blake Saunders, Lesa said, eyeing her lunch. She poked it with her fork as if she expected it to jump off her plate and run away. Hes a new kid in our biology class. I found out hes living with his aunt.
Did you go through his personal files or something? I asked, amused.
Lesa snorted. I overheard him talking to Whitney Samuels. She was giving him the third degree.
I think hes coming over here. Dee turned to me, her expression unreadable. Hes cute, Katy.
I shrugged. He was very cute. Blake reminded me of a surfer, and that was hot. And he was human. Bonus points there. Hes nice, too.
Nice is good, Carissa said.
Nice was great, butI glanced at the table in the back. Daemon wasnt sitting with us today. He seemed to be in a heated discussion with Andrew. There was also no Ash. Strange. My eyes bounced back to Daemon.
He looked up at that exact moment. The smirk on his face faded. A muscle in his jaw popped. He looked pissed . Whoa. Whatd I do now?
Dee kicked me under the table, and I twisted back around.
Standing beside me was Blake. A nervous smile was on his face as his eyes flickered over the table. Hey.
Hi, I said. Want to sit?
Nodding, he took the empty seat beside me. Everyone is still staring at me.
Ah, it should fade in a month or so, I told him.
Hi, Lesa chirped. Im Lesa with an e , and this is Carissa and Dee. Were Katys cool friends.
Blake laughed. Nice to meet you. Youre in bio, right?
Lesa nodded.
So where are you from? asked Dee, her voice surprisingly tight. Last time Id heard that tone was when Ash had shown up at the diner with Daemon before school started.
Santa Monica. After another round of aah s, he grinned. My uncle was getting tired of the city, so he wanted to get as far away from it as possible.
Well, this is as far as you can get. Lesa grimaced after
winter.
Interest lit up his eyes, making the specks of green stand out. Nowhere near as bright as Daemons, though. Perfect snowboarding weather, then. Do you snowboard?
I laughed. Id kill myself in two seconds. I went skiing once with my mom and it wasnt pretty.
Blake grinned and then shifted his attention to the waitress taking our orders. Surprisingly, I wasnt nervous. There wasnt a tipsy feeling in my stomach when our gazes met. My skin didnt feel stretched too thin. And I wasnt sure what that meant. It seemed so normal .
He told me about surfing while we waited for my slice of cheese pizza and his cup of chili. I told him the closest Id come to surfing was watching the guys down in Florida. I didnt have that kind of coordination, and he tried to convince me it wasnt that hard.
I laughed. A lot. We took our time eating. With him, I wasnt thinking about aliens from outer space or the looming threat of the DOD or Arum. It was the most relaxing hour Id spent in a long time.
Toward the end, he was ripping a napkin into tiny pieces while he grinned at me. So, you have a blog?
Surprised, I nodded and figured Id get my geekdom out of the way. Yeah, I love books. I review them on the blog. I paused. How did you know?
Blake leaned forward and whispered, I looked you up. I know, kind of a nerdy thing to do, but I found your blog. I like how you write your reviews. Very witty. And youre passionate about it.
Flattered and completely won over by the fact he actually read my reviews, I smiled. Thank you. The blog is really important to me. Most people dont get it.