Jennifer Murgia: Angel Star

Claire leaned on the next locker and sighed sympathetically. “Not again?”

“Yep. At least I keep someone up late at night.”

“It’s for the good of mankind.”

“S’cuse moi?”

“At least she doesn’t pick on me!” Claire smiled as she flicked my arm with her finger. She stared me up and down for a few seconds then said in a serious voice, “You need a boyfriend.”

I stuck out my jaw and sighed. Like that was going to happen anytime soon.

“You know, someone to save you from the evil witch who walks these halls.” Claire’s gaze drifted out into the traffic of students.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, the familiar pit-pat of leather flats came to an abrupt stop behind us.

“Get my message?” Brynn clucked her tongue against her front teeth. Her arms were folded against her crisp white shirt that was neatly tucked into her tartan skirt.

Her deep-brown eyes gazed at us maliciously.

“We go to public school, you know,” my forever smart-lipped friend quipped. “Perhaps you got lost and forgot to go to Saint Andrew’s across town.”

Brynn, ever so politely, gave us the finger, then spun on her heels and marched away.

“What?” Claire shoved a stick of gum into her mouth, then threw the wrapper into my locker without a care.

“You know you were thinking it. She dresses like she goes to some sort of prep school and we’re the dregs.

Just ignore her, Teagan.”

I heard Claire’s voice; in fact, I completely agreed with what she was saying, but I couldn’t stop staring after Brynn. I couldn’t stop looking at that end of the hallway, where kids were wrestling with their backpacks, where others were opening and closing lockers…laughing, gossiping, talking. It wasn’t humanly possible for me to tear my eyes away because at that precise moment the hallway was a dark, suffocating tunnel where I stood at one end and he stood at the other.

Is this possible?

I felt his black eyes on me just as I had felt them in my dream. I felt my skin reacting in an all-too-familiar chill.

My muscles had turned to steel and I was rooted, helplessly, to this one particular spot, yet all I wanted was to make a mad dash in the other direction.

Two large shadows extended from behind the figure.

Appendages so enormous that even from this distance I could make out the deep-charcoal wings, leatherlike in texture, beneath the fluorescent lighting.

I drew in a deep breath. Obviously, Claire wasn’t paying any attention to this dreamlike intruder down the hall. No one was.

Instinctively, I took a step back and then he was gone.

“She thinks she’s perfect,” Claire continued, her tone building gradually in my ears as if the volume had been muted and was now slowly rejoining reality.

Shivering, I grabbed my books and took a deep breath, feeling my head automatically nod in agreement.

“It’s a sign of insecurity. She has her claws in deep now. She knows what pushes your buttons. Besides, you know it only makes her feel more superior when she can make someone else feel like crap.”

I eyed my best friend as if she had just transferred from the moon.

“Claire, didn’t you see?” I turned to face where the dark figure had appeared only moments ago.

“Oh, yeah, I see. And he’s looking fine.”

Forget it. I had lost her.

Ryan Jameson yanked his leather Columbia bag a little higher onto his broad shoulders and stopped in front of us just as the first bell sounded in the hallway.

“Teagan.” He nodded, regarding me.

I smiled back, trying not to notice how quickly and comfortably Claire’s hand slipped into his.

“Maybe you should go to the nurse. You look kind of pale.” Claire’s eyebrows scrunched up in concern.

“See you at lunch, Tea.”

I watched her wave as she walked away with her new boyfriend and I slammed my locker shut, feeling the echo reverberate through my pounding head. Gearing myself up for class, I began the boring walk toward the gymnasium, passing lockers and a few obnoxious football players, but my eyes were pulled toward the far end of the hallway, still trying to make sense out of the unreal. Could it just be that I was still suffering from a horrible morning and my mind was playing tricks on me? My nightmare seemed to be lingering, crossing the median into reality and following me into school.

Maybe Claire was right. Maybe I needed a boyfriend — or the nurse for that matter — someone to help me keep my mind off my insane life.

Making a split-second decision to skip both the nurse and gym, I purposely wandered out to the courtyard for some fresh air. I dropped my backpack to the ground and slumped down onto a concrete bench. The morning was beautiful, despite the fact that I could still see my breath, but the crisp air was clearing my head, allowing me to see and think more rationally. I stared at the landscaping, the trees, the sidewalk leading to the south stairwell. It was all trimmed and clean and didn’t hide any creepy little niches from which a dark-winged creature could suddenly lunge.

I marveled at the pink buds emerging from the recently skeletal branches above me. Even the sky was a perfect, cloudless blue, the kind you see on postcards or commercials; and, yes, it was supposed to make me feel all peppy and cheerful but it just wasn’t happening. Cradling my face in my hands, I closed my eyes because somehow the pounding in my head just wasn’t going away.

Although muted, a voice managed to penetrate the throbbing. “Are you okay?”

I hadn’t heard anyone enter the courtyard, not a single footstep, making his voice seem as if it came from out of nowhere. I must have jumped or shrieked because the look on his face mirrored the uncertain pounding I was now feeling in my chest.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.”

I cleared my throat. “No, not at all. I mean, I’m okay.”

Looking up, I found myself staring into an unfamiliar face. The most beautiful face I had ever seen.

The tall boy stood in front of me, his features soft, yet chiseled, and I couldn’t help but notice the way the sunlight played with his sandy hair. The way it curled loosely around his face, capturing the specks of light that fell onto us from between the branches. But…his eyes. They were the warmest, most endless aqua — and inhumanly hypnotic. Suddenly, I couldn’t recall any sort of discomfort in my head, just a soothing warmth flowing within me, and the panic of the morning — the taunting, the winged mirage in the hall — simply melted away at the sight of him.

“I’m Garreth.”

I sat like an idiot, staring at his hand, which was extended toward me. To my embarrassment, I couldn’t speak. I tried desperately to find my voice but I was entranced. I had to speak soon or he would assume I was socially dysfunctional and at this particular moment that was a fate worse than death.

“Teagan,” I replied, at last finding my voice. I took his hand.

It was so warm I didn’t want to give it back. He smiled at me and I felt my cheeks redden. I guess I held it a little too long. He was staring at me and I quickly looked away, feeling panic rise in my chest. But it was a good panic. The nice kind.

Garreth unfolded a thin piece of paper that I recognized as a student schedule. His brow furrowed before he looked at me again.

“Would you happen to know how to get to room 303?”

he asked with a smile.

“Mythology’s actually my next class too. I’ll show you if you want.”

My hands were clammy as I reached down for my bag, which he politely picked up and handed to me. I stood up slowly to avoid any unwanted dizziness and was surprised to find I felt perfectly stable, despite the odd stammering sensation in my heart.