Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three (68 page)

Jacob leaned forward in his chair, paying close attention to the conversation between Gallus, his parents, and Aloren as Hazel flitted back and forth, delivering messages. He crossed his fingers, hoping everyone would agree that having Aloren attend school would be a good idea.

Hazel flashed back with Gallus’s final message, giving his permission just so long as Aloren made sure to follow the king and queen’s instructions closely.

“All right, Aloren,” Dad said from the phone. “It looks like you’re going to be Mountain Crest High School’s newest student.”

Aloren grinned broadly, getting to her feet. “Wonderful!”

Mom smiled. “I’ll take you to the school in a minute to meet with a counselor and set up classes—we’ll say you’re an exchange student.” She looked over Aloren’s clothes. “Those should work for now—the leather pants aren’t too different, and people here occasionally wear cotton tops like that. You won’t stand out too much, and I’ll take you shopping later.” She paused, thinking. “But we want to make sure your first day isn’t awkward. Jacob, how about you take her over to Tani’s after school lets out?”

Jacob knit his eyebrows. “Why?”

“It would be nice if she already knew someone outside of our family.”

“Oh, yeah. Tani’s great.”

Mom and Aloren left right away—Mom said it wouldn’t be appropriate for Jacob to go too, since she’d excused him for the day. Jacob shot hoops in the driveway until it started snowing, then he stood looking up at the sky, enjoying the feel of the falling snowflakes. They didn’t stick to the ground, and nothing would for probably another month.

He waited outside for a long time, then finally gave up when it got too cold and went to read in his bedroom.

An hour later, he heard the front door open and went to investigate. Dad was carrying several pizza boxes. He handed them to Jacob. “Matt’ll be home soon, and your mother took Aloren shopping. We’ll eat when they’re all back.” Dad went into his study and sat at the desk, opening up the laptop.

Jacob put the pizza on the counter, then sat in the living room, occasionally looking out the window. He jumped to his feet when a car pulled up, then sank back down with disappointment. It was just Matt.

“What’cha doin’?” Matt asked, plopping on the couch next to Jacob.

“Mom took Aloren to the school and signed her up for classes, and they’ve—”

“Wait, what? Really? That’s freakin’ awesome!”

Jacob crossed his right foot across the other knee and bounced it up and down rapidly. “Yeah, I know. Anyway, they’re out shopping now or something. I’m waiting for them to come back so I can take her over to meet Tani.”

Matt raised his eyebrows. “Why? You think they’ll fight over you and you want to be there to break it up?”

Jacob snorted. “Right. Tani isn’t interested in me—she’s like one of the guys. And I’m definitely not interested in her. She’s cute and all, but—okay, we’re not talking about this. It’s weird.”

Matt snickered, punching Jacob’s shoulder. “Two girls who’ll follow you everywhere.”

“Whatever.” Jacob shoved his brother, and Matt chuckled again.

“So . . . does she like you?”

“Who, Tani?”

“No, doofus. Aloren. Obviously.”

Jacob felt his cheeks flush. “Don’t know—and I’m not going to ask her.”

“I can, if you’d like. Give her a nudge in the right direction.”

Jacob’s jaw dropped. “Don’t, Matt. Please, please don’t.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Dude, you’ve got to get over this phase you’re in. Be the man—ask her out.”

“Not until he’s sixteen,” Dad said, entering the living room. He sat on the couch opposite the brothers. “What’s this I hear? Jacob, you’re looking for advice on girls? I’ve got plenty of experience—you know, wealthy, handsome prince. I courted a lot.”

“‘Court?’ Geez, Dad! We’re not in Eklaron, and I’m not courting anyone.” Jacob buried his face in his hands, and his dad and brother laughed.

Luckily, the garage door opened, signaling Mom’s return, and Dad jumped up to meet her by the car.

Matt turned to Jacob. “Okay, so I assume you want me to drive you and Aloren to Tani’s house?”

Jacob nodded. “If you could.”

Matt shrugged. “Shouldn’t be a problem. Let me put my stuff away.” He went up the stairs, lugging his backpack and gym bag with him, then returned just as Aloren and Mom came in, followed by Dad.

Aloren ran to Jacob, carrying all sorts of bags. “Look, Jacob, look! I’m going to school in
style
!” She glanced at Mom, an admiring expression on her face, and whispered, “You’re so lucky. The queen understands fashion. And you’re her son!”

Jacob didn’t know how to answer that. He was still adjusting to the fact that his parents were—
he
was—royalty. And he’d never noticed his mom’s fashion sense.

“How’d it go? With the school?”

Aloren held up a sheet of paper. “My classes!”

Mom turned, smiling at Aloren’s excitement. “She’ll be with you for most of the day, minus your first and third periods.”

Jacob nodded. “What classes is she taking during those times?”

Aloren read from her schedule. “Art while you’re in math, and math while you’re in the woodworking class.”

“Art, huh? That’s cool.”

Aloren nodded excitedly. “I love drawing and painting.” She sat on the couch, going through her bags.

Mom looked Jacob right in the eye, lowering her voice. “Honey, the counselors wanted to put her in remedial courses. I wouldn’t have any of that—she’s here to experience things as an ordinary teenager. You’re really going to have to help her catch up. Her grades might not matter so much, but I don’t want her to be completely miserable when she doesn’t do well. Plus, if she decides to attend college here, it would be good if she figured things out in high school.”

Jacob nodded. “Shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s not like my classes are super hard anymore.” And it was true. Math had been his most difficult subject, but Mr. Coolidge no longer required him to attend early, and had stopped giving him a ton of extra work to do.

She laughed. “Don’t get complacent.”

“I won’t,” Jacob said, trying to sound mature and calm while his insides were about to explode from excitement. Helping Aloren catch up meant more time with her. This semester was going to be amazing! They’d be spending nearly every minute together.

“What time is it?” Mom looked at her cell phone. “Let’s eat dinner, then you can head to Tani’s.”

The ride to Tani’s house after dinner went quickly—Jacob was very aware of Aloren sitting next to him, between the brothers. Aloren’s colors were so bright, it was difficult to see past them. She was seriously excited about meeting Tani and going to Mountain Crest High School. He smirked to himself—she’d probably get over her excitement once she saw how much homework she’d need to do to catch up.

“What’s this vehicle called?” she asked.

“It’s a Toyota—a truck,” Matt said. “Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yes! I love these things.” She hesitated. “They’re . . . so fast, though.”

Jacob sighed in disappointment. He’d missed Aloren’s first car ride when she went to the school with Mom—it would’ve been really great to see how she reacted.

Tani opened the door when they rang the bell. “Jake!” she squealed. Her smile grew when she saw Aloren and Matt. “Hey!” She turned, yelling to the back of the house. “Mom, the Clarks are here. Can we hang out for a while?”

Kim, Tani’s mom, stepped into the front room, drying her hands on a towel. “Only for a few minutes—you’ve got too much homework.” Her eyes sparkled when she looked at the brothers. “Jacob and Matt. We haven’t had you around for some time. And who’s your friend?”

Jacob introduced Aloren as their exchange student, and Aloren shook hands with Tani and Kim.

He turned to Tani. “We’re hoping you could help her in school when she’s not with me. Mom thought you two would get along well.”

Tani nodded. “Yeah! It’ll totally be awesomesauce. I’ll introduce her to Sheena and Jen and everyone.”

“So, Aloren, where are you from?” Kim asked. She must have noticed Aloren’s leather pants. Definitely not American.

“Eklaron,” Aloren said. “More specifically, the land of Gevkan.” She gasped, realizing what she’d just said. Her face turned white and she turned to Jacob and Matt.

“Huh?” Tani said. “Where’s that?”

Jacob mentally kicked himself. They hadn’t decided which country she’d be from!

Kim looked just as confused, and Jacob’s mind raced. Aloren wouldn’t know enough about Earth to come up with an appropriate answer. “It’s, uh . . . near Hungary. It’s a really small English-speaking province-region-place.”

Kim looked confused, but Tani accepted the explanation immediately. “That’s why you don’t have an accent. Cool!”

Aloren nodded, clearly still panicked.

“Exactly.” Jacob rushed to change the subject. He already felt bad enough for leading them on. “So, Tani, if you could help her feel welcome in school, that would be cool.”

“Sure.” She grabbed Aloren’s arm. “Just hang with me and Jacob and you’ll be fine!”

Jacob blew out a breath in relief. “Tani, you’re so great.”

“I know.”

Everyone said goodbye, and Jacob, Matt, and Aloren returned to the truck.

“That was close,” Aloren said, doing up her seatbelt. “We’ve got to find a better story than that.”

Jacob nodded. “Yeah, especially since Kim is probably going to Google Eklaron now. Hopefully she’ll get distracted on her way to the computer.”

Chapter 2. Mushroom Beetles

J
acob was excited to take Aloren to school with him. He Keyed to the tree to get her, but she wasn’t ready yet, so he waited by the door. When she came downstairs a couple of moments later, he sucked in a breath of air. Something was different about her face—her eyes were even prettier than usual. It took him a second to figure out why. She was wearing makeup. Wow. She looked so . . . so . . .
hot
.

“Is this going to be okay?” She waved at what she was wearing. “Queen Arien picked it out.”

Jacob nodded. She was wearing jeans and a bright pink T-shirt. He’d seen clothes like that at school before. “I think so. Girls wear jeans all the time.”

She laughed. “You probably don’t know much about fashion.”

He shook his head.

“I kept up with it very well in Macaria. I was sad when your mom told me that Macarian fashion wouldn’t be helpful while attending school at Mountain Crest.”

“She’s right. ‘Course, there are dances throughout the year where you’d probably be fine wearing one of the more fancy dresses.”

Her face lit up. “Really? Great!” She motioned to the door. “Let’s get going.”

Aloren peppered Jacob and Matt with questions the entire ride into town. Matt showed Aloren to her first class—it was near his—and Jacob reluctantly left her so he could get to math.

Instead of continuing to make Jacob come early, Mr. Coolidge simply gave him other material to study during the period. Jacob had given up trying to convince Mr. Coolidge to let him just transfer to a different class.

Luckily, things weren’t frustrating anymore—his relationship with Mr. Coolidge had changed. They had an understanding that worked for both of them. Jacob helped out in the class whenever needed, and Mr. Coolidge didn’t ask him about the journal or anything else odd he’d noticed—including Jacob molding wood and metal with his bare hands.

Math ended and Jacob rushed to history, hoping Aloren would find her way. She did, and the teacher rearranged the seating so Aloren could sit next to him. Being an attractive “exchange student” who wasn’t shy and spoke perfect English really helped her fit in with the others.

Jacob reluctantly left her as he headed to woods class and she to math. When the period finally ended, he ran to the locker room to get his gym clothes, excited for Aloren to see him play basketball.

Kevin was in there too. “Hey, no more ball during lunch.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Dad told me this morning—the principal decided it was time to end the tradition. He thinks more work will get done if the admins aren’t reffing games.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Totally.”

Jacob’s stomach churned at the thought of no longer being able to play basketball, but he set the feeling aside, determined to find out for himself if what Kevin had said was true. He wouldn’t put it past the freshman to lie just to prevent Jacob from playing.

Jacob grabbed his clothes anyway and jogged to the orange gym. He’d had an interesting relationship with Kevin over the past few years, and it definitely wasn’t one of friendship.

Tani, Aloren, and Jacob’s friends Gus and Josh waited near the doors. Jacob stopped when he saw their expressions.

“Is it true? No more ball?”

Tani nodded. “Stupid principal.”

Jacob dropped his stuff. “Why, though?”

“Oh, the usual. They want to be ‘more efficient.’” She flipped her hair back. “It’s dumb, I know.”

“Now what?” He wasn’t sure where to eat lunch if it wasn’t in the gym. He’d only eaten in the cafeteria once since starting high school. It felt weird, thinking about eating there again.