Brodi Ashton: Evertrue

When he stopped to breathe, he said, “It’s not the CIA.”

“What?” I said breathlessly.

“It’s not the CIA who would conduct the government tests. That’s just silly.”

I squinted one eye. “ That was the silliest part of my whole Nikki-at-the-doctor scenario?”

“Well, the dancing was kind of silly.” Jack’s smile faded slowly into a frown as he touched the circles under my eyes. “I just hope you’re right. I hope it’s a human thing.”

“It is,” I said, the exhaustion settling back in.

Jack got out of the car and opened my door. I stepped out and stood up straight, and that’s when everything went black.

I came to a few moments later, on the ground looking up at the sky. And Jack’s face.

“Becks! Are you okay?”

I nodded and sat up.

“Take it easy,” Jack said.

“I think . . . I just stood up too fast.”

Jack’s brow furrowed.

“I’m okay,” I said, struggling to speak. “Really. That’s all it was. I didn’t eat very much this morning; all I had was coffee. I’m fine.”

I grabbed his hand, and he helped me up. He didn’t let go of my fingers.

“I’m fine,” I insisted. “I’m going to go to class. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

“You sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure. I’ve got a granola bar. I’ll eat it on my way in.”

He pressed his lips together and sighed. “Okay. I’ll be here.”

I left him standing there. I tried to walk with purposeful, steady steps; but the entire time, I knew that this was a symptom of my missing heart, and that nothing on the Surface would fix it.

I entered through the glass doors, a completely different person than I’d been one year ago, although you wouldn’t think it to look at me.

And that’s what the few people in the halls were doing right now. Looking at me.

I could understand why, after Jack’s disappearance last spring and my rumored involvement. I think the story went something like this: I had drawn Jack into my web of crazy, and then just when I’d had him in my trap, I’d chased him out of town.

I didn’t care as much about the rumors this time, though.

I was still skinny. Skinnier than I’d been when I’d returned to school last year. But back then my soul was weak. Now it was strong. I didn’t look it, but I knew what I was capable of. I’d traipsed through the three elemental rings of the labyrinth to reach the heart of the Everneath and save Jack. The trip had nearly killed me.

Rumors were nothing in comparison.

But I lowered my head as I remembered what the trip had cost me. Cole had tricked me into feeding on him three times in the Everneath. So in a way, maybe the trip did kill me.

I shoved my backpack farther up on my shoulder and wound my way through the halls to Mrs. Stone’s summer Creative Writing class. I turned a corner and nearly ran headfirst into Jules.

“Becks,” she said in that breathless voice she used when she was unsure about something. She was probably unsure about a lot of things when she saw me, starting with the fact that both of us knew I was keeping secrets from her. Secrets such as where I’d been when I’d disappeared last year. Where Jack had been when he had disappeared in the spring.

I had so many relationships to mend, and Jules was at the top of my list.

“Hey, Jules,” I said. “You look great.”

She instantly smiled, and I remembered how easily Jules could forgive, if she felt as if someone was willing to meet her halfway.

“Thanks. You look . . .” Her voice trailed off as she got a look at my face. “Are you okay?”

I nodded and turned to look down the hall, partly so I could check for Cole and partly so she couldn’t get a clear look at my face.

“Didn’t get much sleep. Are you doing Creative Writing?” I said.

She nodded.

“Do you want to sit together?” I asked.

“Great!” she said. I couldn’t tell if her enthusiasm was forced or genuine.

We walked together in silence the rest of the way. Things were nowhere near normal, but it was a start.

In Mrs. Stone’s classroom, I went down the second row, she went down the first, and we took two desks next to each other. Tara Bolton walked in moments later, and Jules waved to her, motioning to the seat in front of her. When Tara sat down, she smiled hesitantly toward me, then turned around to talk to Jules.

I caught maybe every third word she said, but I smiled as if I knew what was going on. Where was Cole?

The rest of the class settled in. My suspicions had been right: the students there were all the main competitors for valedictorian.

There were no bells since it was a summer class, but the moment the clock above her desk read ten o’clock, Mrs. Stone turned to the blackboard and wrote the words The Twelve Labors of Hercules .

“Welcome to summer school,” she said in that voice that sounded as if she were in a Shakespearean play. As a side job, she gave private voice lessons for aspiring actors at night, so she always enunciated her words clearly. “This is Creative Writing, and just because it’s a summer class, that doesn’t mean you won’t have homework tonight. So if you are not in the mood to work—”

She didn’t get to the threat part, because right then the door swung open.

If I had had a heart, at that moment it would have exploded in my chest. Cole had just walked in the doorway, only it didn’t look like him. Instead he was taller, darker haired. His alter ego, Neal. It was a disguise he used only when he needed to pass as a high school student. It took a lot of energy for him to change his appearance, so he used the disguise only when he really needed to.

But why would he need to today? I hadn’t seen Neal since before the Tunnels came for me, when Cole had enrolled as a student at Park City High just to get closer to me.

I wasn’t surprised he was appearing as Neal. It was my reaction to seeing him that shocked me. That spiral of hate that I’d been nurturing suddenly burst in my chest, running through my veins and reaching my fingers and toes. It was all I could do not to run at him, head and shoulder first, as if I were a linebacker or something, despite the fact that I knew that if I tried, I’d collapse in an exhausted heap on the floor before I even reached him.

What was my problem?

I’d known he would be here. I thought I’d been prepared. But now that he was in front of me, I wasn’t thinking about lost hearts or mysterious wrist shackles or the fact that I’d just fainted minutes before.

All I could focus on was the hate.

NOW

The Surface. Mrs. Stone’s classroom.

My hand froze with my pencil midair, as if I were posing with a dart, about to throw it at a target. The tip of the pencil pointed toward Cole.

He caught my eye and smirked, then turned to Mrs. Stone. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic.”

Mrs. Stone narrowed her eyes. “Not a great precedent to set on the first day of class, Mr. . . . ?”

“Black. Neal Black.”

I couldn’t move. Mrs. Stone nodded toward me, and for a moment I was terrified she would say something like You know Nikki, I’m sure.

But then I realized she wasn’t looking at me; she was looking at the seat next to me, on the opposite side from Jules. With dread I noticed it was the only empty seat in the room. And considering my uncontrollable reaction to Cole, I wasn’t sure I would survive sitting by him for the entire class.

I grabbed the sides of my desk, as if I were about to pick it up and move it. Like a crazy person.

Cole walked over and noticed how I was grabbing my desk. He raised an eyebrow. “I think when Mrs. Stone said to take our seats, she didn’t mean literally take our seats .”