Coldhearted (9781311888433) (14 page)

“
No, I can’t let you do
that, Edie. It’s not right.”

She stared into his warm, hazel eyes. “You’re
wonderful, Mason Fenwick, do you know that?”

He embraced her in another hug. “And you’re
beautiful, Edwina St. John.”

She smiled. “Are you friends with me only
because of my looks?” she teased.

He playfully grimaced, and then smiled,
showing off his cute dimples. “Ah, you got me!” His smile faded,
dimples receding, as he looked deeply into her eyes. “You got me,
Edie. You know that, right? I’m yours, however you want me.”

He leaned down to kiss her, but just when
their lips touched, the light above them exploded, sending sparks
flying. She yelped and they pulled away from each other.

“
What the…” Mason trailed
off, and then took her aside, away from the fireworks. “That was
weird.”

There was another explosion of sound, but it
was only the warning bell, ringing for students to hurry to their
third period class. To Edie’s already rattled state, it sounded
like a harpy had shrieked.

“
We’d better go,” she
suggested, not wanting to anger her any further.

“
I’ll get the janitor,”
Mason said, indicating the broken light. He walked Edie out into
the hall. Students were scampering to get to class before the tardy
bell rang. “Meet me at my truck, at lunch, okay?”

“
Okay,” she agreed, and
waited for him to kiss her, but he didn’t.

He just gave her a farewell smile, and then
approached the janitor, who was coming down the hall.

Edie started the journey to her next class,
dismayed she and Mason hadn’t kissed. She looked up at the
functioning lights on the ceiling and gave them a threatening fist
in the air. The lights grew brighter, calling her bluff. She
grumbled and went into Mrs. Crawford’s class for United States
history. The tardy bell had already rung, but she smiled and waved
Edie inside. Edie saw two more people waving at her and realized it
was Diana and Madelyn. She beamed at them and took a seat opposite
Madelyn. But they didn’t seem happy to see her, frowning.

“
We heard what happened,”
Diana whispered.

“
Heard about what?” Edie
asked, not wanting to give anything away, until she knew what they
knew.

Diana was about to tell her, when she was
shushed by Mrs. Crawford, who was handing Edie a textbook. Mrs.
Crawford then went to the blackboard and started her lecture on the
American Revolution. It was ten minutes later when Mrs. Crawford’s
back was turned to the class that Madelyn took a chance.

She leaned toward Edie, and whispered, “About
what Rochelle accused you and Mr. B of.”

“
Oh, yeah, that,” Edie
whispered back, shaking her head in frustration.

“
We’ve heard she’s been
suspended for three days,” Diana added.

“
Suspended for three days?”
Edie nearly shouted.

“
Um, girls?” Mrs. Crawford
called out, having turned back around. “Please pay
attention.”

Edie was fuming. Suspended for three days?!
Rochelle should’ve been run out of the country! There was no
justice! Edie was so angry that she couldn’t pay attention, so by
the time the bell rang, she’d written nothing on the American
Revolution. She didn’t care and cornered Diana and Madelyn before
they left the classroom.

“
Suspended for three days?”
she asked, instead of inquiring if she could borrow their notes.
“Are you sure?”

Diana nodded.

“
Well, that’s what we’ve
heard,” Madelyn said. “But it’s probably true. I mean, not about
you and Mr. B, that’s a load of crock, but Rochelle being
suspended...”

Technically, Edie and Russell weren’t in a
relationship but they had kissed. Or at least, she’d kissed him,
but she thought that he’d also kissed her back, although rather
lightly, unsure. There wasn’t anything romantic going on between
them, but there was something going on.

“
Yeah, what she said is
nonsense,” Edie agreed. “But I wish she’d been
expelled.”

Diana put her arm around Edie’s shoulders.
“Join the club, honey.”

Chapter 11

Edie and Mason had eaten lunch together at
Jack’s, and Diana and Madelyn had joined them.

Mason hadn’t seemed disappointed; although
he’d made sure that he’d sat next to Edie at the booth, while Diana
and Madelyn had sat across.

Edie felt safe next to Mason, not only for
his kindness, but for his warmth.

It seemed that Mason, Diana, and Madelyn had
come into her life for a very special reason.

School guidance counselors always talked
about having good people in your life, as opposed to bad
people—people who talked you into doing wrong things, people who
said mean things, and people who pretended to be your friend. Well,
Edie had found her good people. Even Jules was good, although she
and Edie rarely saw each other, with Jules being a junior, and Edie
having some sort of crisis every other minute. And yes, Russell
Ballantine, Edie’s teacher, was good, even though she was wary
about his intentions.

As an adult, as her teacher, he was playing
with fire in being so…attentive to her. Of course she’d made the
foolish mistake of kissing him. So in truth, she felt that she was
partly to blame if anything were to happen between them. But she
didn’t think anything would happen. Russell, despite being
overfriendly toward Edie, hadn’t pushed himself on her, hadn’t
coerced her into anything, and hadn’t crossed that line between
friend and lover. Still…her mind was swirling as to why he had such
an intense interest in her, why he felt the need to protect her. If
she were curious, then Mason was concerned. He wanted her to stay
away from Russell, to avoid a scandal, before rumors started
spreading around the school, around town.

Mason was also afraid for Edie to go with
Jules to the Grimsby Sanatorium on Saturday. Edie didn’t think his
caution had to do with any sort of paranormal activity; he just
didn’t want her to get arrested. That on top of her supposed affair
with Russell would surely send the town into a spin. She wouldn’t
be surprised if they marched toward her house, with torches and
pitchforks, demanding that she flee at once or suffer the
consequences. Yes, she was certainly making a name for herself
here—and not in a good way.

She was partly consoled by the fact that she
still had friends: Mason, Diana, and Madelyn. They hadn’t turned
away from her when others would have.

Yet…they didn’t know the whole truth. She and
Russell were keeping a secret. She hated lying to her new friends,
but what was the alternative? Admit her uncle had been absent?
Admit she’d kissed Russell? No. She and Russell would take those
secrets to their graves. It’d gnaw at Edie, she knew that it would,
but she couldn’t bear telling the truth and facing the
consequences. She felt she was a sinner like her uncle—for whatever
his reasons—and they both weren’t ready to travel that maze to the
chapel. What if she were denied? Rejected? She understood her
uncle’s hesitation. She had it too.

She felt fingers intertwine with hers,
pulling her out of her reverie.

“
Edie, you okay?”

She looked down at the hand holding hers, and
then up, at Mason’s concerned face. They were in the parking lot of
Jack’s, having just said goodbye to Diana and Madelyn.

“
Yeah, I am now,” she said
with a smile.

Mason smiled back and squeezed her hand. “You
don’t mind, do you?”

“
If I did, I would’ve yanked
my hand from yours already. So…does this mean we’re
boyfriend-girlfriend?” she asked boldly.

She saw his face light up, but then it dimmed
a little. “If you want, I mean, I don’t want to move too fast, if
you’re not ready.”

“
Life’s short,” she said,
essentially giving him a “yes.”

His face was bright again as he smiled. He
looked around the parking lot, at the seniors leaving, returning to
school. When he turned back toward Edie, he said, “There’s
something I’ve wanted to do ever since I first met you.”

“
Oh? What’s
that?”

“
Kiss you.”

“
You already
have.”

“
Not on the lips. Edie, can
I kiss you?”

Her heart was doing back flips. “You’re my
boyfriend, Mason, so yes, you can kiss me.”

He leaned down and their lips touched, just
barely, before they had to pull way, being interrupted from going
any further.

Ravenna Gallo was standing next to them,
hands on her hips.

She narrowed her eyes at Edie. “You think
you’re so great, don’t you, Edwina? Rochelle will get you for
having her suspended. So you’d better just watch your back!”

Edie opened her mouth to argue but shut it
when Mason stepped between them. “Get the hell out of here, Rave.
Rochelle had it coming to her. She’s always been a bitch.”

Ravenna gasped. “That girl,” she said,
pointing a threatening finger at Edie, “is a witch! Ro said so
herself! She didn’t strangle herself with that scarf. It was
Edwina! She’s an ugly, nasty witch, who seduces and steals guys
away from other girls, and tries to kill anyone who gets in her
way.”

Mason snapped his fingers in front of
Ravenna’s face, causing her to involuntarily blink to protect her
eyes. “Are you mental? Edie’s a witch? Well, if she is, then you
and Rochelle had better play nice, or else Edie will curse you into
your real forms: a pair of stinking toads.”

Ravenna gasped again, and then started to
cry. “Ro will hear about this! We don’t care she’s a witch. She’ll
get what’s coming to her!” Edie watched as Ravenna stomped to her
white Fiat, got in, and then sped away.

Mason sighed and turned back toward Edie.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I don’t know why they have
it in for you so badly. I’ve never seen them so…determined to ruin
someone’s life.” He held her in his arms. “Are you okay?”

Edie nodded. “Yeah, being called a witch
doesn’t bother me, although it might explain all the weird things
that have been happening lately. I mean, what if I’m not going
crazy? What if I’m…supernatural or something?”

Mason smiled, despite her concerns. “Well, I
know you’ve put a spell on me, Edie. You did the first day we met.
And now that we’re together, well, it’s just too good to be true.
Out of all the guys out there, you’ve chosen me.”

“
And out of all the girls
out there, you’ve chosen me. Why am I so special,
Mason?”

He grinned, exposing his dimples. “Oh, that
would take hours and we have to get back to school, like it or
not.”

Edie grinned back. “What about our kiss?” She
did a quick scan and discovered the parking lot was empty. “There’s
no one to interrupt us.”

He reached out and held her face in his
hands. His smile faded, as his lips puckered to kiss her. He leaned
down and brushed his lips against hers, softly, gently, not rushing
into anything, before giving her a chaste kiss. She thought that
the kiss was over, disappointed, until he lunged, making her gasp
from the urgency of his lips, smothering hers, taking her breath
away, as his passion threatened to consume her. When it was over,
they were both gasping for air to reach their lungs. Her heart was
pounding as she was sure his was too.

“
Sorry,” he apologized, and
then licked his lips. “I wanted to be gentle, but I also wanted you
too badly.”

“
It’s okay,” she said. She
gave him a crooked smile. “Besides if I didn’t like it, I would’ve
turned you into a toad already.”

Mason chuckled. “Well, I’d better not
disappoint you, then.”

“
I think you’re impossible
of that, Mason Fenwick. If the whole world were to turn against me,
I know you’d stand my by side.”

He cupped her cheek with his hand, the
scarred finger caressing her skin. “Always, Edwina St. John, I’ll
always be here for you, no matter what.”

She removed his hand from her cheek and held
it against her heart. “I’ll hold you to that promise.”

****

Diana and Madelyn were Edie’s only true
friends in psych class.

All the other girls had been giving her the
evil eye, believing Rochelle’s story that Edie and Russell were
together. It made no difference that they’d witnessed Mason kiss
her when he’d dropped her off. In their eyes, Edie had who they
couldn’t: the hot, young Mr. B.

Russell, for his part, had been keeping his
distance from Edie. When she’d tried to hand him back his lectures
notes at the beginning of class, he’d shaken his head, telling her,
not now. The class had taken their pop quiz. Edie was sure that
she’d failed because even though she’d copied the notes, she hadn’t
studied them.

He was grading them at his desk while the
class was supposed to be writing down the day’s lecture notes, but
it seemed Edie was more fascinating than today’s topic: The History
of Sexual Attraction.

“
Take a picture, it’ll last
longer,” Diana snapped at Candie.

The pink-dyed, ponytail-wearing Candie
wouldn’t stop judging Edie with her narrowed eyes. Edie had learned
her last name was Sweets, but she was positively sour right
now.

“
I can’t,” Candie snapped
back. “Witches don’t show up on film.”

“
Witches?” Madelyn repeated.
She held out her hands. “Has all the girls in this school gone
completely insane?”

“
She is a witch,” Candie
reasserted. “She’s stolen Mason. She’s stolen Mr. B. She’s stolen
Quinn. She nearly killed Rochelle.” She’d been counting off Edie’s
offenses on her fingers. “And Ravenna’s been in a car accident,”
she added, bringing the total to five, as she held up her hand,
fingers splayed.