CRYSTALLUM (The Primordial Principles Book 1) (18 page)

"G—"

She held up a hand.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Kade said in a hushed voice. "No one has asked me anyway."

"No one's asked you what?" The sound of Cole's voice rolled over the back of Kade's neck like warm honey. She was so fixated on what Giselle was saying, she didn't even notice him standing against the wall.

Unsure what to say, she said, "Nothing." But as usual found it impossible to stop staring at him once his gaze penetrated hers. Those eyes did something weird to her brain. Like a magnet that refused to release its iron grip, it just kept pulling her forward.

"Didn't sound like nothing." Cole typed something with his thumb into his phone. "Stop staring." He grinned without looking
up.

"I wasn't."

"Keep telling yourself that, Sparrow." He dropped his phone back into his pocket and gazed at her. "We both know it's a lie."

"Why are you such an ass sometimes?"

"'Cause I can be." He pushed away from the wall and sauntered down the hall.

Damn, why was he so arrogant one minute and sweet the next? Kade bet he knew how he affected girls. Clearly, he knew.

***

The only thing on Kade's mind as she rounded the door into Pre-Calculus, besides how much Cole got under her skin, which was annoying, was Giselle confronting her dad about the dance.

So not a good idea.

He'd probably ban her from ever seeing Giselle again. Not that Kade could explain that to her. She had the feeling Giselle would be crushed if she knew.

Jake's face lit up when Kade sat in front of him.

"Hey, Kade."

"Hey." She didn't mean to sound so unenthused, but her tone was flat.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because I wanted to ask you something."

Crap.
"You did?"

He rubbed his hands down the front of his jeans, over his thighs. "I know we just met and everything, so it's cool if you say no, I'll totally understand, but..."

She raised a brow.

"Do you want to go to the Fall Dance with me?" His face reddened, and Kade couldn't help but wonder why he was so
nervous. He clearly had a lot going for him, and she hadn't missed the looks girls gave him the halls.

It made her hate herself for what she had to say. "Um...see, the thing is..."

His smile fell.

"I'd like to go the dance with you." Maybe. "But my dad won't let me date."

His blond eyebrows lifted and he grinned.

"Not that it would be a date," she backtracked. "I didn't mean it like that." She knew her face was reddening as much as Jake's.
What am I saying?
"I know it's just a causal thing, the dance. Not like prom, or…"
Please, just shut your mouth, Kade.

Jake's smile morphed into a lopsided grin. "What if I asked your dad if I could take you? If I got his permission?"

Like a marriage proposal?

"Uh...I don't know. No one's ever tried that approach before, and..."
And it's a terrible, but awfully sweet, idea.

"Maybe no one wanted to take you to a dance as much as I do." He glanced toward his hands, and Kade blushed. Hard.

His gaze found hers again. "Is that a yes?"

How could she say no? "If my dad agrees, it's a yes."

"Cool." Jake reached inside his pocket and withdrew his phone. "We should exchange numbers."

"Okay." Kade retrieved her phone.

Mr. Thomas came into the classroom, and with a mixture of excitement, and an unexplained sinking in the pit of her stomach, Kade turned around in her seat.

What was that? Guilt?
That's stupid. Why would I feel guilty?

***

Class dragged by with Kade staring at the disarray of numbers on the whiteboard that she had no clue how to decipher. Everyone scribbled away, pencils scratching against paper. She wondered what part of her brain lacked what theirs clearly grasped.

"So you were sick yesterday?" Jake's voice shook her out of her reverie.

"Just tired."

"Why aren't you writing this down?"

She swiveled to face him, slightly dizzy, the base of her head throbbing. A heavy weight crept over her body, up her spine, and she suddenly felt exhausted.

"You feel okay?"

"Just tired." She yawned. A big, mouth-wide, all teeth, kind of yawn.

Jake chuckled. "Can you do coffee after school? Since we missed yesterday? Looks like you need it.”

She smiled a little. ”Sure." Her heavy eyelids closed of their own accord as she turned around.

Warmth enveloped her. The sweet scent of clean cotton and fire swamped her senses, and a voice echoed in her dream,
"You're safe now. Sleep."

***

"Miss Sparrow?"

"Kadence?" A nudge to her shoulder made her arm slip out from under her cheek.

"Miss Sparrow, are you all right?"

Kade lifted her head, blurry-eyed, still able to feel the lingering warmth of someone lying next to her in her dream. "Yeah...sorry."

"Maybe I should take her to the nurse, sir," Jake said.

"I don't need to see the nurse." Kade yawned. "I just..." Passed out cold in the middle of Pre-Calculus. At a new school. Around a bunch of total strangers. Maybe she did need to see the nurse. She glanced at Jake. "Thanks, though."

Mr. Thomas gave a stern glare. "I suggest you pay attention, Miss Sparrow. I've seen your previous grades in Geometry."

Giggles rang out in the otherwise silent room, and Mr. Thomas turned on his heel and strode back up the aisle

A low vibration shuddered in Kade's core. The pencil on her desk rattled and rolled onto the floor. She clamped down on her tingling jaw, and reached inside her coat pocket. Fingers found hard stone. Grasping the smooth rock into the palm of her right hand, she
squeezed, and tried to shut the rising anger down. Losing her temper—especially over something as trivial as being humiliated in front of room full of strangers—wasn't an option.
Never expose what
you are.

Jake grabbed her fallen pencil. "Don't listen to him. He's an asshole."

Kade nodded without a word, and took the pencil from his
hand, still able to feel warmth wrapping her body like a protective hug.

KADE'S HEAD WAS POUNDING
by the time lunch arrived. Starving, she piled her tray with salad, tater tots, chocolate milk, and a grilled cheese.

"Hungry?" Lindsey sat across from her, eyeing the food.

"Very."

Giselle took a seat on Kade's right, mumbling something about how the cafeteria could possibly have run out of ketchup. She poked at her hamburger. "How am I supposed to eat without ketchup?"

"It's one meal, G," Lindsey said. "You can eat one meal without ketchup."

"No." Giselle stared at the hamburger. "I can't."

"Maybe they have barbecue sauce," Kade offered.

"Yuk. That's like thick syrup. I'd rather eat my hamburger off the floor."

Kade's gaze tracked across the lunchroom toward the Fall Dance posters. Cole's jacket lay over the bench next to him, and his bicep had a large brown bandage on it. She was glad for that. No more gauze meant he was healing. He and Danny seemed to be having a heated conversation. Cole kept thrusting his arms out and running a hand through his hair.

"Are you going to eat that?" Giselle eyed the cup of ranch dressing next to Kade's salad.

"Do you want it?"

She gave a pitiful nod, like she was starving to death and only the ranch dressing would save her.

"I'll get you some ranch if you want ranch," Lindsey said. "You don't have to steal Kade's."

"I'm not
stealing
it. She isn't eating it. And they won't give you ranch unless you buy a salad." Giselle pointed to her tray. "I didn't buy a salad."

"Do you
want
a salad?" Lindsey asked in too calm a tone.

"No, I want ketchup, but they don't have ketchup, so ranch is the only other option, but they won't give me any ranch without a
salad!”

Lindsey shoved her tray away and stormed toward the cafeteria line. "I will get you some damn ranch even if I have to
buy you a salad to get it."

Giselle grinned at Kade. "I could've just eaten yours."

Kade shook her head. Lindsey and Giselle were like...like... She glanced across the cafeteria again. Cole sat with his back against the wall, tracing his finger over his palm. He glanced up and held Kade's gaze. Something in his eyes smoldered and made heat flood through her body. Why were girls always attracted to jerks?

"Here." Lindsey sat back down. "TWO ranches and a salad. Eat."

Giselle grinned and opened the ranch, dipping the edge of her hamburger in it before taking a big bite. "Thank you,” she said, with her mouth full of food.

"You're welcome.”

Kade veered back toward the wall again. Cole stared at the ceiling. She wondered what he and Danny had been arguing about and why he looked so...upset. Taking another bite of her sandwich, she shifted her eyes away, and opened her chocolate milk.

“So you're getting coffee with Jake later?" Lindsey asked.

“Uh…I—”

Lindsey’s eyes shifted up, over Kade's shoulder. "Can we help you with something?" Her words dripped with sarcasm.

Heat quivered up Kade's neck, and her gaze traveled to her left toward faded jeans hanging low on slim hips, and the hem of a blue T-shirt. Strong, muscular arms curved around on either side of her head, a hard stomach pressed against her back, and Cole placed his hands on the table in front of her. She sucked in a breath.

"No, Lindsey, you can't help me," he said with a cocky edge.

A powerful vibration sung through Kade's core as he leaned closer, his mouth next to her ear.

"I can't help but notice that you keep staring at me," he
whispered. "And although I'm not complaining
at all
, it makes it very hard for me to ignore you when you do that." She could swear she heard a trace of pain in his tone.

Ignore me?

Goosebumps rose across her arms and she had an overwhelming urge to lean back against him. "I...wasn't staring." Kade cleared her throat, or she thought she did. She wasn't entirely sure. Her body seemed to have been deboned.

Cole leaned even closer, arms muscles flexing as he did, and his lips brushed her neck. She shivered. "It's not nice to lie, Sparrow." He pushed away from the table and sauntered off, and Kade couldn't stop herself from watching him go.
Damn
.
He was way too hot.

"How's the face, Jake?" Cole smirked as he walked past Jake's table. "Gotta watch out for those mountain lions. They're known to kill."

"What. The. Hell. Was that about?" Lindsey's eyes were wide, and Kade had no idea what to say. What
was
that about?

"I told you, she's been flirting with him." Giselle popped one of Kade's tater tots into her mouth.

"I have not!” Kade wanted to tell them that she and Cole had met before school even started, and in a sort of intimate way, at Crystalline, but how could she?
Uh, guys...I sort of jumped Cole to protect him from the Shadows that were stalking me. The one's you know nothing about, and can't see.
Yeah, no.

"Yes, she has," Giselle's voice carried into Kade's thoughts. "And he stared at her the entire time in American History on the first day of school."

"How do you even know that? He sits behind you," Kade countered.

"Trust me." She winked. "I know. And today he wedged his desk next to yours."

Lindsey gave Kade a questioning glance.

"Well, yeah, he did do that, but—"

"You do not want to mess with this," Lindsey said. "Trust us." There was a real warning in her tone which Kade found odd.

"I don't even know Cole." Not really. "Not to mention, I'm not down with the whole fighting thing." Not like
any
of it mattered. Even if there wasn't a no dating rule for her, no one would want to date something
like her
. "He seems really conceited, anyway, and you both said he was an ass."

Giselle popped another ranch-covered tater tot in her mouth. "Oh, he's an ass, but everyone loves that ass, and he knows it. Every girl in this school wants a chance at that." She grinned in a devilish way, making Kade wonder if she was a part of “every girl.”

"Well, I don't." She chugged the rest of her chocolate milk.

***

Kade switched her books out of her locker after school in the thinning hallway, shoving the larger ones in the back, and a meaty hand pressed against the wall just above her head. Brows cinching, she glanced up. Kyle or Alex, whichever one he was, glared, his left eye swollen shut and purple, his wide mouth in an ugly sneer.

"I know you're new here." His voice was deadly low and his dark eyes, as she glanced into his wide face, took up her whole world. "But let me give you a piece of advice." Thick arms crossed over his chest, and one of his hands was wrapped in gauze.

Kade shoved her book into her locker. "And what might that be?" She might not have known his name, but she knew he was the guy who'd glared at her on the sidewalk outside Crystalline on Saturday night and that he'd followed Cole and Danny after she'd left. Likely got in a fight with Cole. She shut her locker door. One thing she'd learned moving from state to state, school to school: new kids were targets. Easy prey for bullies and assholes. This guy was clearly both.

He grinned, and it did nothing to compliment his broad, stubbly face and wide set, deep eyes, especially the swollen shut one. "Maybe you don't know how all of this works yet, so I'll be nice...today." The guy leaned in. Kade wanted to back up, but held her ground. "We have alliances here. You need to stick to yours."

She stared at him. “What, is there a union I need to join?"

His thick brows crunched like he was confused, which was likely. "Another smart ass? That explains it. Watch that mouth
and
who you associate with." The thug turned and walked off.