The alpha's bride

Episode 6

Her smile dimmed again. s**t. I should be smiling, too. I smiled, and she looked at me funny. I almost laughed at the awkwardness of the situation.

“Okay, well, I need to grab my lunch. Meet me here.” She strode off without waiting for a response.

Christ. This was going well. I made my way to my locker. It took me a couple of tries to get the combination right, but finally, the lock clicked. I shoved my books inside and grabbed the brown sack lunch Mom had packed for me.

Rosalyn was waiting for me when I got back to the door of our last class. She was holding a similar brown bag, and I said a silent thank you to Mom for being awesome.

“It’s a good thing you brought yours, too,” she said as we walked toward the cafeteria. “The food here is gross. No one eats it unless they’re desperate.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, but she didn’t notice.

She eyed my bag as if she could see through the paper. “What did you bring? Tofu? Sushi?”

Guess she had some ideas about what a proper Angelino should eat. “A turkey sandwich and some chips.”

“Oh.” Her mouth pressed into a firm line as she studied me from head to toe.

I nearly walked away right then. Mom and Dad were kind of right this morning. I couldn’t change who I was, even though I needed to hide my visions. I was a walking contradiction—equal parts wanting to fly my freak flag with pride and bury it in a deep dark hole.

“What’s up with the gloves? Are you a germaphobe or what?”

And there it was. This was why I didn’t talk to people. I needed a lie. A good one. Just my luck I was possibly the worst liar ever. “I guess it’s hard to stay current with fashion here.”

I held my breath, hoping she’d buy it. My cheeks weren’t heating, my usual “tell.” That was something at least.

“Ugh.” She stuck out her bottom lip. “We never get any of the new trends till they’re already over. I’ve got to get out of here.”

I couldn’t believe she bought it. If everyone here started to wear gloves because of this, I was going to laugh. Hard.

Rosalyn walked up to a round table that was almost full and sat down. Taking my cue, I slid into the chair next to her. Everyone stopped what they were doing, some in mid-chew, to gawk at me. One might think being a pariah at my old school would give me the ability to deal with these kinds of situations, but they never got any easier. I wanted to slouch, but didn’t dare. Showing weakness only made things worse.

“This is Tessa,” Rosalyn said. “She’s from LA.”

I counted eight other people besides Rosalyn sitting around the Formica. Two of the guys had on blue and white jerseys. Hiding my abilities from one person, hard. From nine? This could very easily be a disaster of epic proportions.

“Is that Tokidoki?” The girl to the right of me asked as she pointed to my bag. Her brown hair was done in some elaborate braid that would’ve taken me hours to attempt even though my hair was long enough to try it. I was jealous for a split second and then realized she must’ve gotten up at the butt-crack of dawn to get ready, a feat I would never dare to try myself.

“Cool hair.”

She grinned. “Thanks.”

I tapped my messenger bag. “Yep. I have kind of an obsession with Tokidoki.”

“Jealous! My dad won’t get me one. Says a teenager doesn’t need such an expensive backpack. But I found my Harajuku Lovers one on eBay for a sweet deal.” She rummaged around in it and pulled out a copy of Us Weekly. “Have you ever met any stars?” She flipped through pages, stopping on a picture of my favorite Scotsman.

I flashed back to the party before we left LA. The look on his face when he stared at me was something I wished I could erase from my mind. I could’ve probably impressed the group by saying that he’d been one of Dad’s clients, but that would’ve required a bunch of explaining and would probably come off as bragging. Not a good option.

I took a closer look at the photo. “That’s Larchmont Village, one of my favorite streets in LA.” I shrugged. “You see them every once in a while. I mean they’re normal people. Just like us.” I quoted the magazine’s tag line, but got a bunch of empty stares as I glanced around the still silent table. I quickly re-thought my no-bragging approach. “My dad had a lot of stars as his clients, including him.” I tapped the picture. “Plus, there were tons in my neighborhood—Bel Air.”

“No way!” Fancy Braid Girl said.

“Isn’t that where the Fresh Prince lived?” the boy across the table asked. His dimples winked at me as he spoke.

“Yep.” He was cute, but nowhere near Dastien’s level of hotness. Perfect. I was obsessing over a boy I didn’t even really know. That made me officially ridiculous.

Fancy Braid Girl grabbed the corner of my T-shirt. “Who’s this? I’m Lindsay, by the way.” She c****d her head, waiting for me to answer.

It took me a second to realize she was talking about my shirt. “Um…The Orb is one of my favorite groups.”

“It’s really soft. Has to be printed on something better than American Apparel for sure. Lemme check.” She reached toward me, but I leaned away. “Don’t freak. I’m just checking the label.”

Her fingers brushed against the back of my neck.

“Oh, Lindsay. You’re so soft,” Dimple Boy said. His voice was muffled as his lips moved along her neck.

Ew, gross!

The seatbelt dug into Lindsay’s back. She was giddy as his wet lips pressed against hers.

I banged my elbow on the table, jolting me back to the lunchroom.

“Yup. Printed on Splendid,” Lindsay said.

I looked around as I rubbed my elbow, but no one seemed to notice anything weird. At least I hadn’t said anything to give away the vision.

“Her jeans are J Brand,” Rosalyn said. “I bet she has good stuff stashed in her closet. She’ll be a good addition.”

I slowly inhaled and exhaled to let the aftershocks of the vision fade from my body, before trying to speak. They were going to be sorely disappointed if they thought they were going to raid my clothes. I’d never be able to wear anything they borrowed again, and shopping really wasn’t my thing. “I don’t really pay much attention to brands, but I like to do screen printing. Splendid’s shirts are my favorite to work with.”

Lindsay made a face at that, but then Dimple Boy asked a question. From then on it was a solid twenty-five minutes of being barraged with a million and one questions about LA. By the time the bell rang, my palms were sweating. I itched to take off my gloves and let my skin breathe, but that was so not an option.

Rosalyn and I left the cafeteria together since it turned out we had almost the exact same schedule. We’d better end up being actual friends, or else this school year would be really painful. Someone shouted my name. Dimple Boy was chasing after us.

“I wanted to let you know we’re having a party on Saturday night. You know, to celebrate the start of a new year. You should come.” He winked at Rosalyn. “She knows where I live.”

Rosalyn took a step forward and linked her arm in mine. We were both wearing short-sleeved T-shirts. Our skin touched.

Rosalyn’s face was red. “I can’t believe you’d do this. You know Lindsay is coming over later, and look at this place!”

An older woman was laying half-on, half-off a couch. Beer cans littered the floor. A grease covered pizza box was on a coffee table in front of her. Cigarette butts covered the rest of the table. “I’ll clean up. Don’t you worry, baby.” Her words were slurred.

The stench of alcohol filled the air, stinging my nostrils. Rosalyn’s anger and frustration consumed me.

I stumbled, and my arm pulled free from hers.

Rosalyn stared at me. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Just a little clumsy. Sorry,” I managed to say. Rosalyn might seem normal, but from what I just saw, her home life was a hot mess. I was starting to feel bad for her.

“Carlos’ parties are always crazy.”

Wait. Did I get invited to a party? Nice.

“Just so you know, Carlos and I are together. He’s probably only inviting you because you’re new. No offense.”

…and not feeling bad for her anymore.

I barely contained my eye roll. I hated when people said “no offense” or “I don’t mean to be rude.” If someone is going to say something rude or offensive, they should just say it or not. Trying to pawn it off as something not rude or offensive when it clearly was, was beyond insulting.

She might have thought she was doing herself a favor by warning me off her manwhore of a boyfriend, but she really should’ve been more concerned about what her “friends” were doing behind her back. When I thought about it, the whole thing was kind of sad. And damn it. Now I was feeling bad for her again.

“Anyway. I’m sure we can find something to make you look presentable for the party.”

Every time I started to feel a little bit of sympathy for the girl, she hit me with a backhanded comment. I officially decided to cut off my feelings for her. She was clearly using me to feel more “LA,” whatever that meant, and I was using her to get to the party. With any luck, I’d make some actual friends there.

Pathetic as it was, my mind drifted back to Dastien. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be there. The chances seemed slight, but still, a girl could dream.

When Saturday finally came around, I didn’t even want to get out of bed. Rosalyn’s friends had tentatively let me in their group, but they grew even more touchy-feely with every day that passed.

What was it with Texans and invasion of personal space?

It was exhausting keeping my visions under control. I’d thought about ditching my new friends, but there was no mistaking that my family had moved here for me. I owed it to my parents and myself to give it my all. When I hit my breaking point, I’d reassess what my goals were. But for now, I could handle it. I would try to be a normal kid. And normal meant having friends and hanging out with said friends.

Still, a little escapist therapy in the form of a new book would help cleanse my brain of all the unneeded background information I’d gotten over the past few days.

I rolled out of bed at noon, and got ready as quickly as my sleepy body would allow. I threw on a pair of well-worn yoga pants, the first T-shirt I could find, threw my hair up in a messy bun, and headed downstairs. Axel was in the kitchen digging into a bowl of cereal.

“I’m hitting the bookstore. Wanna join?” Bookstores were my kind of place. All those shiny books, lightly touched by only a couple of people. Each one held a different world, a different life to disappear into.

That said, libraries were a total nightmare scenario. Too many hands touched those books and turning pages with gloves on was a bit too cumbersome.

“You want me to go to a bookstore?” Axel narrowed his gaze at me. “Yeah. Not going to happen.”

Axel hadn’t ever read anything cover to cover. I wasn’t sure how he was going to do the whole college thing when I wasn’t there to help him with his homework. I grabbed my purse and dug through it for my keys. “It’s at the mall, dork.”

“In that case, yes.” He put his now empty cereal bowl in the sink. “But I get to drive your car.”

He made a grab for my keys, but I dodged around the center island. “What! No way. Only I get to drive my car.”

“I picked it out, but Dad drove it here. I should at least get a turn before I leave. Deal?” He held out his hand, as if I’d just hand over the keys.

“No deal. I’m not having you imbue the driver’s seat with whatever stuff you’ve got going on in your head. There’s such a thing as TMI between siblings. I’ll go by myself.”

He sighed dramatically. “Fine. You can drive, but I pick the music.”

“Fine.” Now I just had to let my parents know where we were going. “Where are Mom and Dad?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. They were gone when I got up.”

Weird. They were usually around on the weekends when Dad wasn’t working. I headed for the door.

“Wait. You didn’t eat any breakfast.”

“Not hungry.” I usually didn’t get hungry until after I was up for a bit. Today was no exception. I had too much on my mind to be hungry.

The bookstore was attached to the only mall in town. It was a brown blob of a building, with a JCPenny’s and Macy’s on either end. The bookstore branched off the mall on the Macy’s end, and had an entrance from the outside. I left Axel to his search for a new pair of jeans, and pushed open the glass doors to the bookstore.

Fans blasted me with cold air, refreshing after the 110-degree weather outside. The scent of flavored coffee wafted over me. The baristas were hard at work, making yummy caffeinated concoctions. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the calm seep in. There wasn’t much to this town, but at least I had this bit of zen, and that was nothing to look down upon.

I veered over to the science fiction and fantasy section, and searched for any new epic fantasy releases. I was still looking through titles when I bumped into a body.

That wasn’t like me. I was usually hyper-aware of the people around me. “Excuse me,” I said without looking up. “I didn’t hear you.”

“It’s okay.”

That voice made goosebumps spread over my skin. I spun.

He was taller up close. At least a foot taller than me. But it was his golden eyes that held me captive.

Dastien.

It took me a second to speak. “Hi.”

“Are you okay?” He asked.

It took me a second too long to answer. “I’m sorry. My mind seems to be MIA.”

Then he smiled, his eyes scrunched at the corners and his lips spread to reveal perfect teeth. His black hair was flecked with auburn highlights. And there was something sexy about the way he held himself, standing up straight with his right hip slightly c****d.