Blest Page 12

  When the lights went dark for another song, Claire ducked out of the gym into the sudden stillness of the hallway. She clacked down the tiles to the football coach’s office and opened the door. She had barely taken a step when Jim’s arms were around her, pulling her close. He kissed her on the lips, then again on her forehead.

  “I missed you,” he whispered, cupping her face in his hands.

  “I missed you, too,” she breathed. She lost track of time as his mouth found hers again. They fell against the coach’s desk, scattering papers and pens. Everything else slipped from Claire’s mind as she pressed into him, never breaking the kiss, and he held her. After a few minutes, they came up for air.

  Jim stroked her cheek. “You look beautiful.”

  “You can’t even see me!” she teased. She could barely make out Jim’s features in the shadows.

  “I saw you earlier,” he said, giving her a squeeze. “I like the dress. A lot.”

  “Thanks.” She leaned in and they kissed again. He sat up on the desk and grabbed her around the waist with one arm, pulling her to him. She noticed muscles ripple as he moved. Had he always been this strong? It seemed like he had been lifting weights too.

  In the silence of the coach’s office, Claire could barely hear the dance. The music sounded like a dull pulse, a throb from some other reality. She felt like she had stepped through a doorway into another world. She wished they could stay here in the darkness all night, thinking about nothing but each other.

  Dimly, though, she started to register another sound. Someone was shouting. She broke away from Jim and whipped around. Had someone seen them? Had they been caught?

  “What is that?” She squinted against the dull glow of the hallway lights, her heart racing.

  “What’s what?” Jim tried to guide her lips back to his, but she backed away from him.

  “That shouting,” she said, her panic rising. “It’s coming from the gym. It’s—” She elbowed the door to the hallway open and ran. One of the voices sounded very familiar.

  14

  Jim followed Claire as she burst out of the doorway, sprinting back to the gym. “Stop!” she hissed, whirling around just as they were about to go inside. “We can’t be seen together, remember?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “Right.” It was so easy to forget that they were supposed to hate each other. Claire wrenched open the door and disappeared into the throbbing chaos of the gym. Jim counted to ten before tearing through the door and plunging into the crowd.

  A circle had formed at the back of the dance floor, where the demons were hanging out. Leo and Gunner stood in the middle. Gunner paced back and forth, his hands clenched into fists. For his part, Leo seemed to think the whole thing was a joke. Or maybe that Gunner was a joke.

  “Take it back!” Gunner roared.

  “I can’t take back the truth.” Leo chortled. “You were all right at the beginning of the year, man.” He jabbed his thumb at Shane, who was seething on the outskirts of the circle. “But now you’re just like the rest of them—boring, angry that you’re so boring, and trying to make the rest of us as angry and bored as you are.”

  Gunner’s crimson wings flapped in broad strokes, and his arms strained against the fabric of his button-down shirt. Jim wondered what all the humans at the dance saw. Just two kids, going at it. He hadn’t really seen this side of Leo, but then he remembered when Leo had slapped the books out of his hands last year. Maybe it made sense.

  No one was doing anything. They seemed to be captivated by the scene, like they were watching a movie. On the stage, the DJ was enraptured with his own music, playing a sticky electronica song that sounded like boots sloshing through mud.

  “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll play some Cannibal Corpse or some other crappy metal band at some point,” Leo said. He gestured at the other demons. “Then all of you can come out of your little holes and make that constipated look that passes for a smile. Man, you guys are so cool!”

  Gunner punched Leo in the stomach. Leo doubled over, huffing, but jumped back and quickly brought his fists up. The other kids scrambled out of the pair’s way, trying to push backward as the two circled each other.

  Jim didn’t wait any longer. “Break it up, break it up!” he hollered, grabbing a few random kids by the arms. That seemed to wake everyone up. Jim burst into the middle of the circle with his new allies and grabbed Leo as Gunner lunged again. Gunner’s fist snapped against the air, missing Leo’s face by a few inches. He stumbled back, swearing at Leo like he was breathing fireballs. Claire was right. He had definitely changed.

  Leo struggled for a second before pushing Jim away. “Okay, I’m good, man, I’m good.” He kept his eyes locked on Gunner. “Hey, Gunner! I challenge you, man. I challenge you to a Drop, if you even know what that is!”

  Gunner’s eyes narrowed. Shane broke through the crowd, shoving a few students aside. “He’ll do it,” Shane hollered over the pounding music. “Tomorrow night. Downtown.”

  “Ah, yeah!” Miles chattered beside Jim.

  “What’s a Drop?” Jim asked, backing away, watching as the students filled in the circle and gradually filtered back to the dance floor like nothing had happened.

  “Something you’re not ready for,” Sydney said, coming closer to him. “But it’ll definitely be fun to watch.”

  The demons turned as one toward the back of the gym, melting into the shadows. Jim watched them leave. He tried to make eye contact with Claire, but she was staring at the floor. Gunner was the only one who looked back. And when he did, his eyes shot straight into Jim. Not Leo. Gunner’s face stayed expressionless as they stared at each other. For just a second, Jim thought he might have seen a flash of the Gunner he’d been those first few days, a kind, accepting, funny guy. Then Gunner seemed to startle out of the trance. His focus shifted to Leo, his face turned into an ugly sneer, and he backed up against the bleachers, where he huddled with the rest of the Scale in the darkness.

  “Pleasant bunch.” Nora sighed.

  “Jim,” Sydney said, sliding next to him, her arm brushing his. “Where were you? We couldn’t find you anywhere. That’s why we sent Leo over there, to go check if the demons had done something to you.” She sighed. “And then he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”

  “Oh,” Jim said, “Um . . . I was in the bathroom. I always, uh . . .”

  “Have to pee when you get to a dance?” Miles suggested. “Come on, Sydney. Who cares? The point is we’ve got what we all wanted—a Drop. Hopefully we can take those idiots down a peg tomorrow. They’ve been walking around like they own the place since Gunner and what’s-her-face joined. But tonight, let’s dance!” He whooped eagerly and barreled into the crowd again, doing some mix of disco and The Robot while hopping up and down.

  “He’s an embarrassment,” Nora said, but she was smiling.

  “Ah, don’t be so harsh. Boys just want to have fun!” Leo exclaimed. He thundered back into the thick of the dance floor, and soon, he and Miles were both jumping up and down at the front of the stage, laughing and chest-bumping. Every so often, the lights caught their wings, making their pearl-white feathers sparkle.

  Nora went off to join them after another minute. Jim was surprised to see her release her long red hair and start banging her head to some country song.

  “Sometimes I don’t understand them,” Sydney said after a moment. “You’d think we didn’t just almost break the Pact.”

  “Do you think that’s what was about to happen?” Jim asked.

  Sydney shrugged and whipped her blond hair out of her face. “Anything’s possible. Miles is right about Shane getting more aggressive. I think that he’s a lot more confident now that he has Gunner. They seem like they were made for each other.”

  Jim bit his tongue. He wanted to defend Gunner, to say that it was all a mistake. He still remembered how accepting Gunner had been,
even after Shane had probably told him that Jim was a pathetic loser. But Gunner’s wings had changed him. No wonder Claire sounded so scared when she talked about him.

  “It was really cool, the way you just went in and broke things up,” Sydney said, raising her voice as the country song broke out into a bunch of yodeling. She tapped her silver heels. “I guess I’m more like my mom than I thought. When the demons start provoking us, I can barely think straight. I just think about my dad, and the War of the Broken Wall, and I get so angry.”

  Jim rubbed the back of his neck, trying again to catch a glimpse of the Scale in the shadow of the bleachers. “I wasn’t really thinking straight, either. I just didn’t want those two idiots to start pummeling each other in the gym.”

  Sydney laughed. “That’s reasonable.” One of the roaming spotlights shifted onto her, making her white dress glitter. She looked mesmerizing, beautiful. Neither of them had mentioned their kiss by the lake since it happened—Jim had worried it would be awkward, but if anything, Sydney seemed more comfortable around him than before. And she hadn’t done anything to indicate that they were anything other than friends.

  Sydney tugged at his wrist. “Hey,” she said softly. “Want to dance?”

  Jim glanced over his shoulder, one more time. He did want to dance, but he wanted to dance with Claire. He wanted to dance with her all night. For a second, he wished he hadn’t even come out of the coach’s office.

  “As friends,” Sydney said, giving him a light punch on the arm.

  Jim couldn’t see Claire anywhere. “Sure,” he said, and Sydney’s green eyes lit up.

  She led Jim through a maze of couples and groups of laughing freshmen, finally stopping at the front of the stage and twirling around to face him. Her blond hair twirled with her. Nora, Miles, and Leo appeared near them, laughing and yodeling in time with the song, and to his surprise, Jim joined in.

  Then the country song ended, giving way to a slow dance—“Stairway to Heaven,” by Led Zeppelin. As couples started to pair off, Jim felt a momentary stab of panic.

  “This used to be my dad’s favorite,” Sydney said. She pulled Jim toward her and fell into a sleepy step with him, rocking back and forth. He held his breath and put his hands stiffly around her waist, swaying with the music. Beside them, Nora was scolding Leo for stepping on her feet.

  As the song drew out, Sydney rested her head against Jim’s chest. Her blond hair poured over her face like a waterfall of gold, strands of it rocking in their steady rhythm. She smelled nice, like vanilla and lavender, calm and relaxing. Neither of them said a word for the whole song as they rocked gently back and forth. Jim wondered what she was thinking. She didn’t like him, did she? She had been acting so normal lately . . . until now. He felt a tightness in his chest when he thought of their half-kiss under the willow. Sydney was the undisputed leader of the Feather, but sometimes she seemed so lonely.

  “Stairway to Heaven” ended and there was a moment of silence, before another pounding hip-hop song broke out across the gym.

  “Thank you,” Sydney said, pulling her arms down from around his neck.

  “Yeah,” Jim said stiffly. He desperately searched the back of the gym where the demons had retreated, but they were already gone.

  15

  When Gunner and Claire roared into the driveway in the Range Rover, Claire saw her mom’s silhouette in the kitchen window. The figure paused for a second, looking down at them, and then bolted. As Claire got out of the car into the chilly night air, she heard the door to her mom’s bedroom slam, a distant echo from far away.

  “Good,” Gunner growled. “She won’t get in the way of the party.”

  Claire could practically feel Gunner’s rage burning beside her as he stalked up the wooden staircase leading to the kitchen. A few seconds later, the rest of the demons piled into the driveway. Shane’s Range Rover, then Julia’s Beamer, and finally Erik’s Escalade.

  “Where’s Gunner?” Shane slammed the door to his car shut and strutted in her direction.

  Claire shrugged. “He already went inside.”

  Shane clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Awesome. I bet he’s preparing the”—his eyes glinted—“supplies.”

  “Supplies?” Claire repeated. Most of the Scale paid her no attention, marching up the steps after Shane. Julia stayed outside but kept her distance, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag. Claire watched the smoke curling up toward the moon like a lazy dragon’s breath. She liked Julia more than the rest of the Scale, but couldn’t really figure her out.

  “Did you see Sydney dancing with Jim Blest?” Julia asked, leaning against her car.

  Claire almost choked. She had seen Jim and Sydney disappear into the crowd, but had they been dancing?

  “Birds of a feather flock together, I guess,” Julia said, taking another puff on her cigarette. The little red flicker of the tip made her sharp, mousy features glow for a second, then fade back into the gloom. “I wouldn’t touch any of these dopes, though. Except maybe Gunner—he’s the hottest.” She glanced at Claire. “Sorry.”

  Claire laughed uneasily. “It’s fine.”

  Julia flicked her cigarette onto the driveway and stamped it out with her heel. She had dressed in black jeans and a slim, black shirt for the dance, so Claire barely even saw her until she was standing next to her. Julia looked past Claire, up into the kitchen where the Scale was rattling around in the cupboards and laughing.

  “Gunner might get Shane syndrome, though. The rest of the Scale follows those two around like they’ve been ordained Scale leaders by the Slag High Council themselves,” Julia said. “Gunner’s been a demon, for what? A month?”

  Claire nodded. “I’m not really sure how he . . .” She stopped, wondering if she could trust Julia. “I’m not sure how he adapted so well, but I guess it isn’t much different from moving to a new school and becoming friends with everyone in that group. We’ve both always been good at that.”

  “Moving to a new school is the same as growing demon wings?” Julia asked, her eyebrow arcing in the pale orange light of the kitchen.

  Claire laughed. “Not exactly the same, I guess. But you know what I mean.”

  Julia nodded. “He’s a chameleon. Adapting to situations is a good thing. Unless you become a puppet for what people want you to be.”

  A thin breeze slipped through the air. Claire shivered and rubbed her arms, looking out at the lake beyond the trees, remembering when she and Gunner had gone to the beach with Jim to grow their wings together. Was Gunner just becoming a puppet for the other demons?

  “You’re not the only who feels lost, you know.” Julia’s hazel eyes reflected the silver moonlight.

  Claire looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m not blind, Claire. Shane and them, they might not see, but I know how you feel. Because I feel the same way.” Julia sighed. “You know that empty space in your heart, where you feel like just anything, one thing, should mean something? That’s where Glisten’s supposed to be.” Her voice turned hard. “Because a few of us had different ideas about the Field than the angels, we were banished from Glisten and almost all of our powers were taken. If we don’t suffer on the Field, we get banished to Slag. That’s why I’m part of the Scale and that’s why I follow them. To recover that part of me that’s waiting, somewhere in Glisten.”

  Was that why she felt lost? Claire wondered. Or was it because of Jim? Her thoughts soured as Sydney came to mind. She wondered if Jim had really danced with her, and wished she could ask Julia more about it—but that would show that she cared, that she was weak. Claire bit her lip angrily. She felt like she might explode, trying to keep everything bottled up.

  “I’m just telling you this so you can at least try and understand the rest of the Scale,” Julia said. “Just remember, it’s all so we can get back home, and be whole again.” She started walki
ng toward the stairs but stopped and turned around. “Are you coming?”

  Claire stared back at Julia. She realized she was still trying to resist liking any of the demons because of what they had said about Jim and because of what she had to think about angels if she was going to be one of them. But Julia had a point. Claire understood the feeling of loneliness, and looking for a home. Besides, Jim wasn’t exactly going out of his way not to be friends with angels.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said, and followed Julia up the stairs. But when they tried to walk in the kitchen door, they were stopped by an already-drunk Ben.

  “Claire bear!” he hollered joyously, his round face growing pink. “And Julia . . . uh . . . Julia—”

  “Don’t you dare nickname me, Ben,” Julia said, shoving her way past him and taking Claire with her. “Try to pretend he doesn’t exist. You’re going to wish he didn’t every time he gets drunk.”

  “We’ve got beers for you guys!” Ben called behind them, leaning against the kitchen counter and grabbing two cans. “Lots and lots of beers!”

  Claire realized that the “supplies” Shane had been talking about were two twelve-packs. And two bottles of vodka.

  “Where did you get all this?” she asked Gunner, who was leaning in the doorway and watching Shane, Maria, and Erik play a card game on the floor of the living room.

  “Oh, some weird old dude bought them for me.” Gunner waved his hand dismissively. “I told him we needed stuff for a party and gave him some money. Easy.”

  “Gunner’s the man!” Ben chortled, following them into the living room. His buzzed head looked like a shiny bird’s egg in the bright ceiling lights of the living room. One of the beers in his hands hissed as he cracked the can. He quickly chugged it, then crunched it in one of his huge hands and threw it at the wall.

  “Ben!” Gunner snapped. He straightened, his hands clenched in fists. “What are you doing?’