Crossings: A Sovereign Guardians Novel (7 page)

Granger's deep voice broke into my swirling thoughts.

"So, if I weren't busy this weekend, would there be room for two in that cocoon of yours?"

His question caught me so off guard that I actually stumbled. If I hadn't been holding his hand, I would have fallen flat on my face.

Granger stopped beside me so I could catch my balance, and then before I could process what was happening, he pulled me around the corner of the hall, past a row of lockers, and into a small alcove. There were some old pipes jutting out from the wall where there had once been a water fountain, but now the space was empty. There was a privacy to the area that didn't normally exist within the walls of a high school.

For a moment I could forget we were even at school. I closed my eyes, and I could almost imagine we were totally alone.

That's how isolated I felt with him.

When my lashes fluttered open, I found myself staring into his green eyes. I blinked and Granger moved his body against mine until my back was pressed against the cool cement of the wall. When he leaned nearer to me, heat radiated from him like the sun breaking free from a cloudy day.

I knew this was crazy, but it was like my brain couldn't function. I couldn't form a single, normal thought. My common sense was yelling at me that I hardly knew Granger, but other, more demanding parts of me weren't listening. There was something so attractive about him. He was a magnet, and I was being pulled to him by some uncontrollable force.

Granger's face was only inches from mine.

So close.

For the first time I was near enough to him that I could see gold flecks mixed in with the green of his eyes. How could any boy that looked this beautiful be looking at me the way he was right now?

One hand reached out and tanned fingers grazed the side of my face. My own hands were trapped behind my back where he'd positioned me against the wall, but I didn't mind.

His fingers moved from the side of my face and slid underneath my chin, tilting my face closer to his. The look he gave me was so intense, so incredibly hot, I didn't know why I wasn't melting. It would take only the slightest inclination of his head, and his lips would brush against mine.

I bit my bottom lip, wondering if I should move away, hoping he wouldn't let me. I couldn't believe this was happening. I didn't care where we were. I didn't care if we
ever
registered for class. I needed us to be closer. Nothing could make me move away from him.

"That is quite enough!" a voice echoed off the walls.

Where only seconds earlier I couldn’t move, I was now suddenly in high gear. I used my palms to push away from the wall and away from Granger. Heat flooded my cheeks. My eyes found a spot on the floor and focused on it, not willing to look up. Unfortunately my obvious embarrassment did not stop the voice.

"We have a strict hands-off policy at JHS. I am sure you are aware of the school rules, young man. And you too, young lady."

I raised my eyes enough to identify the speaker. My mortification was amplified when I realized who it was.

I'd been yelled at during my years of school by plenty of teachers, but even for me there was still something horrific about being called out by the principal. As for his timing? Well, he'd definitely ruined an otherwise intense moment, even if the moment was during the middle of school.

Shaking my head, I tried to figure out what had just almost happened. In the space of a few seconds, I convinced myself that I really shouldn't be so embarrassed. Other than being late for registration, we really hadn't been
doing
anything. I mean, okay, so maybe we
would
have, and maybe in my mind we were doing a lot more than we actually did, but we weren't really doing anything when the principal arrived. The version I was creating should have been close enough to the truth to keep us both out of trouble, but I knew it didn't work that way.

I'd been in enough situations in the past to know that whether we had or hadn't been breaking the rules, that wouldn’t matter to anyone in authority.

How would I explain to Gran that keeping me with her was still a good decision when I couldn't even stay out of trouble for the small amount of time I'd been here?

When I dared to glance at Granger, he seemed completely unfazed. He winked, actually
winked
at me, before turning to face the man who I was now simply identifying in my head as
the voice of doom
.

Luckily Granger had no problem either in remembering the principal's name or forming words that were more coherent than what was tumbling around in my head.

"Mr. McNeely, sir, we were just headed to the library to work on next year's schedule. They called for us while we were at lunch."

Granger was staring at him, and I had the weirdest sensation that Mr. McNeely couldn't look away. The air in the hall felt charged with electricity. Ripples of energy ran up and down my arms, like goose bumps, only more intense.

I didn't know what was happening exactly. I knew I was anxious, but I'd never felt nervous energy like this before. The look on Mr. McNeely's face reminded me of someone in one of those comedy shows where a person gets called up on stage and hypnotized. I suddenly had this ridiculous picture in my mind of Granger asking the principal to bark like a dog or cluck like a chicken. From the glazed look in Mr. McNeely's eyes, I had no doubt he'd do just about anything Granger asked.

A part of my brain wanted to function normally. I was aware there was something different about Granger's voice. But the other part of me found it so calming and reasonable. I could already feel myself forgetting whatever was bothering me only a moment before.

Everything was fine. I was happy, and I liked it that while Granger was talking, he'd subtly moved to stand beside me. Just having him close calmed me.

Granger didn't appear upset except for perhaps the nervous gesture he was making as his fingers wound and unwound the chain he was wearing around his neck.

I had never noticed the silver chain before. It must have been tucked down in his shirt. Or it could simply be that I was so often distracted by his green eyes that I hardly noticed much else when I was with him.

But now that I'd noticed, I realized there was something familiar about it. I'd seen something like the design somewhere else. I didn’t understand why it even mattered. Everything was so muddled in my mind. Why was Mr. McNeely even upset with us?

The fingers on Granger's left hand continued to touch the length of silver around his neck as he faced the principal. I knew Granger was talking. I could see his mouth moving, but the world around me was fuzzy. His voice came at me from a tunnel, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make out what he was saying, but the tone of Granger's voice was confident and reassuring. He had Mr. McNeely's full attention.

The principal's face was relaxed, where only seconds earlier he had seemed irate and ready to recite a list of school regulations he perceived we were both breaking.

I shook my head to clear away the mental fog I'd developed. Granger's hands dropped to his sides, and he reached out with his right hand to me, his fingers brushing mine. Just like that his words were no longer muffled, and I could hear him perfectly as he finished talking.

"So, you see, Mr. McNeely, we were headed to the library for senior registration when she," he nodded in my direction, "felt like she had something in her eye. I thought the light might be better in this section of the hall, so I pulled her to the side to see if she was okay. I figured we'd find an eyelash or something else causing the irritation, but I didn't find anything. Her eye does still look a little red, but I think whatever was there managed to work its way out."

Was that true?

Had I told him there was something in my eye?

I remembered stumbling. Had I stumbled because I couldn't see? Why couldn't I remember? The feeling of calm was leaving, and now I tried to hold back the panic that threatened to overwhelm me. What was wrong with me? Why didn't I remember what Granger was saying?

"Well, then, Miss..." Mr. McNeely let the unspoken hint hang in the air.

I stumbled over my words before finally speaking my name.

"Saunders. Pagan Saunders." My voice sounded strained even to my own ears.

"Ah, of course," he nodded, recognition dawning on his face. "Ms. Ellie's granddaughter."

He rubbed one hand over his chin, and I could almost see his thoughts shift and then make the connection of who I was in the scheme of students at his school.

"And how is your eye now, Miss Saunders?" His inquiry seemed polite, but since I was always suspicious of anyone in authority and the past few minutes had been, well, weird, I immediately started acting out the part Granger had forced me to play.

My fingers curled into a fist, and I began rubbing frantically at my eye. If it hadn't been red before, I was certain it was now.

"I, uhm, well, it's only a little sore. I think it's much better, sir. Whatever was in there, well, it's gone now."

"That's good to hear," he said as if it the explanation Granger had given was the most plausible of anything else that might have been going on, and that two teenagers at his school were definitely not looking for a quiet corner of the building for any other purpose than to check for stray eyelashes. Because of course, that really was all we were doing.

"Sir," Granger cleared his throat, bringing the man's focus back to him. "If it's alright with you, we'll continue on to the library now for registration."

I stared at the two of them, careful to keep my
hurt eye
covered for the moment. Mr. McNeely reached out and shook Granger's hand and then patted him on the back.

"Of course; of course. You two kids hurry on to the library. You don't want to be late. We want you to be able to get every class you hope to have next year. If they give you any problems with what you want, come straight back to see me. We’ll get something worked out for you."

He stood waiting in the hall for a second longer and then motioned with his hands for us to hurry along.

Granger nodded his head for me to lead the way, and he fell in behind me. When we turned the corner and I felt certain we were out of sight of the principal, I couldn't wait for an explanation any longer.

"What the heck was that all about?"

Granger's eyes widened, and he took a step back. He held up his hands and shrugged his shoulders for his reply.

"Don't give me that," I hissed.

"What?" His voice sounded innocent and confused all at the same time.

"You know what! That whole
voodoo
moment where it felt like you were hypnotizing the principal to get us out of trouble. You know exactly what I'm talking about, Granger. You were there!"

My voice was obviously getting too loud because students outside the library were staring at us, but I didn't care.

Granger's hand went to his chain again, his fingers rubbing across the silver. I wondered why I'd never noticed the nervous gesture before today. And there
was
something about that chain. It definitely reminded me of something I'd seen before. I was sure of it now.

"You need to calm down, Pagan." Granger's voice pulled my eyes away from his chain, and I was staring at him again, the full force of my anger directed straight at him.

"Don't tell me what to do," I snapped. "We should both be in detention right now and you know it, but instead I'm surprised we're not sitting with the principal having lunch at his personal table. He seemed that enthralled by you."

Granger crossed his arms, and the look he gave me clearly said he thought I'd lost my mind even if he wasn't saying the words.

"You are totally overreacting, Pagan. Can't you just be glad we aren't in trouble?" He tilted his head to the side for a minute like he was considering something, and then the corners of his mouth turned up in a lopsided grin.

"Wait a minute." I could almost see the wheels spinning in his head as he drawled out, "Maybe you're not as upset about what happened with McNeely as you are that our moment alone was interrupted."

The smirk he wore looked like some move Keller would make, and my reaction to it was identical. My hands curled into fists. I wasn't sure if I wanted to stomp off and leave him there alone or attempt to knock that smirk right off his face.

"You," I spoke through gritted teeth, "have a very high opinion of yourself. Even if we
had
stayed where we were for whatever reasons we were there, I assure you that you were as close to me at that moment as you are ever going to get. You think the principal interrupted us? You've got that all wrong. The principal saved you from making an idiot of yourself."

Deep inside I knew the words weren't true, but it felt good saying them. If my words could stop the
I know you're lying
look
that was all over his face, I would be even happier.

"Alright."

Granger's voice was quiet now, and I almost didn't hear him. "You're absolutely right, Pagan."