Marissa’s eyes narrowed. “That excuse is starting to get real old, real fast.”
“Why do you care?” Sophie shot back. “I think you and Cece can survive a Saturday night without me.”
Suddenly the air felt thick, heavy with Marissa’s disapproval. It was like a living, breathing thing, “C’mon, Marissa,” Cece scolded. “Seriously.
You’re sucking all the fun right out of the room.”
“Sorry,” Marissa muttered. “Didn’t mean to harsh your squee. I can’t help it, you know.”
I felt it lift then, like a breath of fresh air had swept across us all. I shook my head, amazed.
“That’s better.” Sophie favored Marissa with a smile. “Anyway, I’m sorry I snapped like that. It’s just. well, I really want to do well this semester.”
“S’okay,” Marissa said with a shrug.
Kate swallowed noisily, one hand rising to her throat. “Hey, Soph, tell me if I’m coming down with something, will you? My throat’s a little sore, and I don’t want to swap spit with Jack if I’m getting strep.”
Sophie hurried to her side and reached for both her hands, clasping them in her own. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, while the rest of us waited expectantly.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and dropped Kate’s hands. “Nah, you’re fine. It’s not strep, tonsils are healthy and your lymph nodes are good. C’mon, are we going to go eat, or what?”
I tried my best to look nonchalant as I sat on one of the brown leather couches in the lounge, staring at the TV on the wall, waiting for Aidan. I had no idea what show was on — it was just a blur to me. I suddenly wished I’d thought to bring a book. Not that I would have read it, but I could have at least pretended to. I think by now everyone in the East Hall dorm had heard about my date, because the lounge was surprisingly full, and everyone turned toward the door with a hush every time someone came in.
The suspense was killing me. Why had he asked me out? I mean, okay, apparently the fact that he even noticed my existence seemed to prove interest on his part, according to Cece and her friends. My friends too, I realized with a smile.
Anyway, there had definitely been a. a moment of some sort between us that first night, when he’d helped me find my way back to the dorm.
And he had studied me pretty closely the first couple of days, but it had seemed more like curiosity than actual interest. Besides, he’d kept a polite distance during our tutoring sessions, and I had assumed that my infatuation was entirely one-sided. But, I don’t know, the way he’d held me earlier, comforting me, was pretty promising, and then there was that thing he said about my eyes.
I’d only known him for five days, so why did it feel like ten times that? Like I’d known him forever? Like we were. meant to be together.
Probably just wishful thinking, I decided.
I’d never had a boyfriend before. Sure, I’d dated a few guys, gone with them to homecoming dances and the movies or the mall to hang out. But nothing serious had ever come of it— couldn’t, really, because I knew that if I started to care, I’d start seeing all kinds of bad things happening to them in my visions. I didn’t want to go there.
Anyway, the guys I knew best were my fencing teammates, and how could they possibly think of me romantically when they faced me, day after day, across the piste — and usually found themselves on the losing end of my foil?
I glanced down at my watch, a stainless-steel Movado that Gran had given me for my sixteenth birthday. Two minutes till nine. Drumming my fingers against the couch’s curved arm, I suddenly wished I had waited in my room. I looked way too eager sitting here, watching the minutes drag by.
Just then awareness shot through me and I turned toward the door as Aidan strode in, ignoring the curious glances and excited whispers that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
“Hey,” he called out, and I stood up, nervously smoothing down my sweater.
As usual I couldn’t even speak — all I could do was stare at him. He looked great, wearing jeans and a blue button-down shirt left undone over a vintage rock T-shirt. There was a cut on his forehead, above his right eye, that hadn’t been there earlier in the day.
Wow, you look amazing, came his voice in my head.
I blushed, realizing that maybe he’d been checking me out while I’d been busy doing the same to him.
I took a deep breath, deciding to give it a try. Why not? You look great, yourself.
His smile let me know he’d heard me. He reached for my hand, and I let him take it.
Only then did I realize that the lounge had grown silent. Everyone was staring at us.
“You ready?” he asked, aloud this time.
“Sure,” I managed to mumble, dropping his hand so I could reach for my jacket.
“Great, let’s go.”
I followed him out, barely aware that he had taken my hand again, his fingers intertwined with mine. “So, where are we going?” I asked as soon as we left the crowded lounge behind.
“You’ll see. Here, you better put your jacket on.”
I shrugged into it as we paused by the door leading out.
Leaves crunched beneath my boots as we made our way silently across the quadrangle, lit by a full harvest moon. Kids milled about, some sitting on blankets beneath a sprawling old oak; others hurrying toward the theater. Their voices carried on the breeze — young, carefree voices, calling out to one another in greeting, laughing, chatting. Everything about it seemed perfectly normal, like any boarding school. It was easy to forget that everyone I saw had psychic powers of some kind, and that the gorgeous guy holding my hand could read my mind.
“I’ll stop doing it, if it’ll make you feel better.”
I rolled my eyes in frustration. “That’s really not fair,” I said, hurrying my pace to keep up with him.
“How are the blocking lessons going, by the way?”
An owl hooted in the distance. “Horrible. I’ve only had one lesson, but I can’t seem to get the hang of it.”
“Well, it takes practice. Okay, this is it, this path right here.”
I followed him toward a stone building up ahead, all silvery in the moonlight. “What is it?”
“An exact replica of the King’s College Chapel at Cambridge, only smaller. Can you climb a ladder in those boots?”
“A ladder?”
“Trust me, it’s worth it.”
As we drew closer to the building, I saw twin spires reaching up toward the night sky above a soaring arch of stained glass. I couldn’t wait to get inside.
I almost expected the big wooden doors to be locked, but they weren’t. We slipped inside without saying a word, and stopped in what I supposed was a small vestibule. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark.
Aidan led me farther into the chapel, toward the rearmost pew. As my eyes continued to adjust, the details came slowly into focus, stealing away my breath.
Tipping my head back, I marveled at the sight of the vaulted ceiling, the intricate design looking almost like lace. With only the moon casting its light through the rows of floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows, the stonework glittered like jewels.
In a split second, sconces lining both walls flickered to life, filling the space with soft, yellow-tinted candlelight. I gasped, taking a step backward in fright, prepared to flee. But Aidan held my hand tightly, preventing my escape. “It’s okay,” he whispered, his breath warm against my cheek.