The Guardians (3 page)

Chapter Two: ELIJAH

The instant we started down the hall, all eyes riveted to us. Time crawled by like in a movie when everything went to slow motion. Kids stood at their lockers, gaping with their mouths hanging open.

I averted my gaze to the floor. “Why is everyone staring at us?”

Cassie nodded. “Yeah, I thought Harrison was one of the largest schools in the state. By the way they’re acting, you’d think they’d never seen a new kid before.”

Rafe grinned. “I guess I can’t blame them. It isn’t every day ya see a black kid, a beauty queen, and a giant lumped together in the hallway!”

With plastered smiles on our faces, we continued down the hall. I became uncomfortable not from the stares I was getting, but from the ones Cassie was. Guys sized her up and down like a piece of meat. I didn’t like it, but Rafe was livid. I cringed as his protective vibe shot into overdrive when a guy brushed against Cassie to steal a glance down the front of her shirt.

“What’s the matter?” Cassie asked, oblivious to the guy’s intentions.

Rafe gritted his teeth. “You don’t wanna know.”

I quickly reached out and touched his arm. “Relax, man. Save the aggression for the football field,” I said, with a shy grin.

Rafe raised his eyebrows. “Dude, somebody write it down. Elijah made a funny!”

“Whatever,” I murmured. But it was just what we needed, and our mood changed. We deposited Cassie at her first class. “Meet me after?” she questioned.

Rafe nodded. “And until then, we’re just down the hallway.”

“All right.” She drew in a deep breath and headed inside.

Rafe and I entered our British Literature class just as the tardy bell rang over our heads. We quickly scanned the room for two empty seats. Immediately, the teacher started rattling off names. “Elijah Christenson?”

“Here,” I mumbled.

“Rafael Christenson?”

Giggling resounded in the classroom at the mention of Rafe’s name. I was relieved when Rafe took the laughter good-naturedly. “Actually, I go by Rafe.” He flashed a grin at the sea of faces staring at him. “Yeah, when my parents named me, they kinda had a thing for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

As laughter erupted around us, I couldn’t help but notice the teacher, Mr. Brown, peering disdainfully at Rafe from his podium. “Perhaps your parents had more of an aesthetic appreciation for Renaissance artists such as Raphael,” he said.

“Perhaps,” Rafe said, perfectly mimicking Mr. Brown’s pretentious air.

“Knock it off,” I murmured under my breath.

Rafe shot me a look of pure innocence. I chose to ignore him and focus on Mr. Brown as he droned about the syllabus and class readings. I didn’t know if Sophie still continued filling me with courage, but miraculous, by midday, I actually started
enjoying
school. It wasn’t necessarily any one thing like my schedule or my teachers. It was more a reassurance pulsing through me that I was where I needed to be. And that felt wonderful.

When lunch rolled around, I followed Rafe and Cassie to the cafeteria. We grabbed trays of culinary delights before heading into the blazing sunshine of the courtyard. Metal picnic tables were lined up along the lush grass, so we picked an empty one and sat down.

After Rafe took a hefty bite of his sandwich, his face contorted with a horrible expression, and he quickly tossed the rest of it back onto the plate. “Man, forty years in and out of schools and the only consistent thing is the cafeteria food sucks!”

I laughed. “At least some things never change.”

“Unfortunately not,” Rafe muttered.

Cassie, however, wrinkled her nose. “The food is the one thing that’s been the hardest getting used to.”

Rafe glanced from Cassie to her purse. “Please tell me you have some manna or at least some honey in there?”

“Was I the only one who thought ahead?” Cassie replied, as she dug in the massive blue bag. She pulled out a zip-lock bag filled with manna and a bottle of our brand of special honey.

Rafe clapped his hands together. “Jackpot! Thanks, Cass.”

Instead of eating, I gazed around the crowded courtyard, surveying the student body. I took in every aspect of the kids—the way some talked and joked with each other while other preferred being alone. Suddenly, the crowd parted, and I saw
her
.

Abby Thomas—my assignment.

To say she was beautiful would be an understatement. Breathtaking seemed like a better word since she stripped me of my breath, causing my chest to tighten and heave. Abby was everything any guy with a pulse would find attractive. But because I could see through to her core, I knew she was more than just a pretty face with wavy blonde hair cascading down her back. Like everyone else, I would tower over her since she was only a little taller than Sophie.

Although I’d seen her picture in the file the Dominion had given me, it didn’t compare to seeing her in person. I suddenly flushed with mortification when I realized how ridiculous I must’ve looked, frozen like a statue with my jaw hanging open. The rational part of me argued this was what the Dominion had alluded to in the file I’d been given.

Infatuation.

I knew the Dominion sometimes even called angels to fall in love with their assignments in order to have them grow in their powers and abilities. It seemed like the severest form of punishment an angel could possibly go through, and I’d thanked my lucky stars I was always working with children.

But now as I stared across the courtyard at Abby, I wondered if my luck was up, and that this was the true horror of my Gideon test.

Rafe waved his hand back and forth in front of my eyes, but I didn’t even blink. “Earth to Jay-Jay!”

“Huh?”

“I assume that’s Abby, right?”

“How did you know?”

“Well, first off, she and Chaz look alike. And second, you look like you’ve just been hit by a thunderbolt.” Rafe shook his head. “Can’t say I blame you. She’s a real knockout.”

“But I’m supposed to be drawn to her pain, not her beauty,” I argued.

“Looks like her beauty’s gonna cause you some pain and suffering.”

I quickly ducked my head and blushed. Leave it to Rafe to make a joke out of what I was feeling. As my chest continued tightening, I found it harder and harder to breathe, and I found my mind whirling with guilt. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, nor was I supposed to be
feeling
this way. I realized I needed something to take my mind off Abby.

I sighed. “I think I’ll go do some research.”

Rafe nodded. “Hey, if you hear anything from Cassie’s lost soul, take a message so she can get back to him.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “Very funny, Rafe.”

Ignoring them, I hurried to the center of the courtyard. Research for me meant using my angelic power of emotional divination to connect with the suffering around me—to read the hearts and minds of the student population to see if there was anyone else I could help. We may have had assignments, but we were never meant to be blind to the suffering of others.

Warm rays of sunshine beat against my back. I closed my eyes and tilted my head, silently concentrating on the feelings around me.

First it came as a humming buzz until I could separate the emotions from person to person. The more I took on their pain, the clearer picture of them formed in my mind. Their heartache crashed against me like rolling waves. I had to steady myself, or I would have been bowled over. Each person who passed me had a separate issue.

“I can’t believe I got rejected from Penn State. Where am I going to go now? That’s the only place I applied.”

“Ugh, she is such a bitch! Why does she pretend to be my friend when all she does is talk about me behind my back?”

“
I
swear, if she looks at that other guy one more time, I’m gonna kill her
!”

“
88? My dad’s going to kill me. Geez, nothing I ever do is good enough
.”

“
Nothing happened with him, so why does everyone look at me like I’m a slut?”

A sudden
presence of unadulterated evil caused my eyes to snap open. Gazing wildly across the courtyard, I honed in on someone lounging under a tree. I shivered. No, it couldn’t be. What would a demon be doing here at school, especially one as black-hearted as him? Of course, demons could be in high school just as easily as we were, but it would be hard to imagine it could be him.

Lucius.

My mind went back to how angry he had been when Sophie had saved Hannah’s life, and how we’d infringed on his territory. Could revenge be the reason why he was here? Would he really waste the time just to pay us back? Regardless of the reasons why he could be here, I knew he was only there to hurt and destroy.

Abby’s face flashed before me. Could his mission be one of hurting those we were assigned to? Or would his influence on others affect them?

Protecting her became my only thought. I weaved in and out of the groups of mingling kids to get close to her while fighting to still the racing of my heart. When I felt in a safe enough distance of her, I closed my eyes again and momentarily put Lucius’s image aside.

Not only did I feel the eyes of Abby’s friend bearing on me, but now I was on the fringes of their conversation. “Check out the new guy,” one of Abby’s friends said.

“What a weirdo!” the other girl snorted.

I felt the intensity of Abby’s gaze on me even though my eyes were pinched shut in concentration. “Meditating, maybe?” Abby suggested, with a hint of a smile in her voice.

“He’s kinda cute,” one of the girls said.

“Geez Andrea, you think any guy that moves is cute,” the other girl snickered.

“Oh, get over it, Kim!” Andrea snapped defensively.

“Oh, it’s
so
true, and you know it!” Kim said.

My eyes snapped open at the sound of Abby’s shriek followed by a guy’s laughter. “Landon, why did you scare me like that?” she exclaimed.

“Aw, I didn’t mean to scare you, babe. I was just walkin’ by with some of the crew, saw you over here lookin’ hot as hell, so I thought I outta say hi.” He planted a kiss on her lips. “Apology accepted?”

A flush entered Abby’s cheeks. “Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t know if we were still talking or not.”

He arched a blonde eyebrow and grinned lasciviously. “After the time we had at Justin’s parents’ cabin in June, how could I not still be talking to you?”

Confusion clouded my mind as I watched the scene before me. Who was this guy? There was no mention in the file about someone named Landon. For guardian angels it’s hard to ever dislike someone on sight. But if I had ever disliked anyone besides a demon or the demon possessed, it was Landon. The way he stared—or leered--at Abby reminded me of the looks the guys had given Cassie earlier. Anger seethed through me like I had never known before, and violent thoughts filled my mind.

Abby ducked her head. I felt her mortification from where I was. She didn’t like he had mentioned the party, and I wasn’t sure why. But she quickly recovered as she tucked her hair behind her ears. “Wanna walk me to class?” she asked.

Landon’s hungry gaze roamed to a scantily clad girl who was passing him. He appeared to be mentally weighing his options. When Kim noisily cleared her throat, he snapped his head back to Abby. “Yeah, uh, nah, I better say no this time. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later.”

Abby’s face fell. “Okay, sure. See you later.”

She and her friends watched as Landon jogged to catch up with the girl who had caught his eye. I didn’t know if I should feel glad he had rejected Abby or upset for her. Kim shook her head. “Please tell me you’re not trying to start something with him.”

“I’m not starting anything with anyone,” Abby protested.

Kim placed her hands on her hips. “Look, we all know you’ve had this ginormous crush on him since like ninth grade, but you know how he’s played you before. He’ll just hurt you again.”

Abby sighed. “Can we please not have this conversation?”

“Whatever,” Kim grumbled.

The bell rang, and I watched them gather up their stuff and leave. After lunch, the rest of the day crawled by in slow agony. I tuned out the teachers while they rattled through the first day procedures. I couldn’t help it. My heart raged with feelings, and all of them concerned Abby. Unfortunately, most weren’t directed at her grief over her mother’s death.

To say I was thankful when the bell rang was an understatement. Cassie was waiting for me outside of class, and we hurried to meet Sophie in her classroom.

By the time we waded through the teeming student body and ventured into the parking lot, we found Rafe already in the driver’s seat of our new, or almost new, SUV with the radio blaring. Always an 80’s fan, Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth” echoed through the parking lot.

Rafe surveyed the look on my face. “Come on Jay-Jay, lighten up, man. Seriously, you can’t go all emo on us yet.”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I slid into the leather seat searing with intense August warmth. Rafe leaned over to sing in my ear.