Unforgiven (Wanderers #3) (48 page)

I would have rather wore it up, but she reminded me I
was to embrace my powers, not hide from them.
So much for all
those hats I bought to cover my streaks.
“So when do you have
to go babysit all the newbies?” Josie asked, while she still tried
to pull my skirt higher.

I smacked her hand away. “I’m not babysitting. I’m
their guide.”

“Whatever, better you than me.”

“What time is you first class?” I asked, while I
slipped on my ballet flats.

“It’s at ten and it’s with that horrible Mr.
Atkins.”

“Mr. Atkins?” I asked, not remembering him.

“Yeah, that hideous man that kept telling me I was
fallen and trouble.”

“Oh,” I said, remembering that atrocious meeting in
March when we had to tell all the teachers about the attack on the
school.

“And we have to spend half the day with him,” she
groaned.

“Why?”

“Because for some reason he’s the only teacher who
knows the most about our kind.”

“He didn’t seem to want to jump on the angel band
wagon.”

“I know,” Josie said.

We were interrupted by a light knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called.

“Good morning,” Roman said cheerfully, walking over,
and kissing me on the cheek.

“Good morning,” I smiled back, kissing him on the
lips, wanting more.

Josie cleared her throat and Roman pulled back. “Good
morning Josie.”

“Roman,” she nodded. “Say, did I ever tell you how
much I love a man in uniform,” she winked.

“Down tiger,” I warned her.

She shrugged, throwing me a coy smile. “Do you have
any cute brothers?”

“No,” he said curtly.

“Sorry I asked,” she said, noticing the sudden change
in his mood, and stomped off into the bathroom.

“Roman?” he ignored me. “Roman, what was that all
about?” I asked, not liking his sudden attitude toward Josie.

“Sorry, nothing. I just…I’ll go apologize,” he said,
heading to the bathroom.

“Josie,” he knocked on the door. “I’m sorry. I was
being a dick, forgive me, please?”

She opened the door with her arms across her chest.
“You’re lucky I’m a sucker for a boy with an accent.”

“And one in a uniform?” He threw her his most
charming smile, the one that few could resist.

She hit him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re
forgiven, but only this once. Don’t do it again,” she warned.

“How about I keep an eye out for any new potential
single men for you,” Roman offered.

“Good idea, just make sure they’re cute,” she said,
grabbing her bag and heading out the door. “See you at lunch,” she
called over her shoulder.

“Finally, alone,” Roman said, pulling me close and
kissing me. His hand slipped down to my behind and I pushed him
away.

“Tempting, but I’m going to be late,” I said.

“Would you like some company?” he asked, holding out
an arm.

“You want to help me show the new kids around?”

“How else am I going to make sure no one comes and
sweeps you off your feet?”

“And scope out potential hotties for Josie?” I added,
smiling. He rolled his eyes as he escorted me out the door and to
the quad where I had to meet the new students. Aidan told me I
would have seven students and gave me a list of their names. All I
had to do was give them a tour of the school and then drop them off
at the assembly.

Piece of cake
.

They were right where they were supposed to be, at
the entrance to the auditorium. Having Roman with me made me feel
better about not having to do this alone. I laced my fingers with
his as we approached the new students.

“You know,” Roman said, leaning in close. “I really
like this whole skirt look. I think you should wear one more
often.”

“Don’t get used to it,” I smiled, elbowing him.

We reached the students and I tried to remember what
Aidan had gone over with me on what to say. Drawing a blank, I
figured I’d start with the basics. “Hey everyone, I’m Ella and this
is Roman and we’ll be taking you on a tour of the school and if you
have any questions we’ll be happy to answer,” I said, smiling
kindly.

“Nice streaks,” someone sang.

“Um, thank you,” I said nervously, feeling the knots
start to twist in my stomach.

“So are you that girl everyone’s been talking about?”
they continued.

“Excuse me?” I craned my neck to look and see who was
talking. A blonde with a Barbie like figure, manicured nails, and
Gucci sunglasses stepped out from the crowd wearing a, I dare you
smile. My jaw dropped. I stood there speechless.

“Nice to see you too,” she said, noticing my shocked
expression. “You can close your mouth now, unless you plan on
catching some flies?”

“Cassidy, I…what are you doing here?” I was so beside
myself at the sight of her my brain wouldn’t function properly.

“This is a school, isn’t it?” she said sarcastically.
I nodded not wanting to make a dumb comment. “Okay,” she said,
drawing out the word. She took a step forward and pulled her
sunglasses down to the tip of her nose, exposing her baby blue
eyes. She gave Roman the once over and my hand tightened on his.
“Nice arm candy,” she smirked. “I see you traded up.”

“Cassidy you’re –”

“Witch,” she finished for me, pushing her sunglasses
back up and skipping over to me. She linked her arm with mine,
pulling me away from Roman. “So how about we skip this little lame
tour thing and get to the dirt.”

“Cassidy, I’m sorry,” I said, pulling my arm away
from hers. “I’m glad to see you, but we’re going to have to catch
up later. And as lame as this little tour might be I can’t get out
of it.” I walked back over to Roman and the group, leaving Cassidy
where she was. Now was not the time to dwell on why or how Cassidy
was here. I decided I would get to that later.

“Okay so before we start I’d –”

I was interrupted again. “Oh my god, you’re the one
everyone’s been talking about,” one of the boys said.

My hand tightened around Roman’s again. “Look, I
think there’s been a mistake.”

“You’re the girl with all the powers,” he said, not
caring that this was clearly making me uncomfortable.

I looked to Roman for what to do. This was exactly
what I hoped wouldn’t happen. Roman stepped forward and spoke for
me. “Look, when we said we’d answer your questions we meant about
the school and to make things clear, yes she has multiple powers so
I wouldn’t piss her off.” Roman turned and smiled at me.

“Thanks, I think.” I turned back to the group. “Okay
so again my name is Ella and this is Roman and yes I have lots of
powers and with every new power I get it turns parts of my hair
blue and any other rumor you heard is not true. So how about we get
back to the tour?” I said, turning with Roman and hoping the rest
would follow. I thought if I just put it out there they would shut
up.

The group followed suit without any more questions
regarding me and the many rumors and for that I was thankful. I
decided to skip the introductions, seeing no one else seemed to
care. When we finished the tour of the school, I dropped them back
off at the auditorium and waited for Josie like I promised. The boy
who had asked about me in the beginning came and stood beside me.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to offend
you,” he said sincerely.

“It’s fine,” I said, not wanting him to feel guilty
about being curious.

“I’m Trevor by the way,” he said, extending his hand.
I took it and smiled politely at him. “That’s Jason over there,” he
gestured over his shoulder. Jason did not seem like the socializing
type.

“You and Jason know each other?” I asked, trying to
be polite and keep the conversation going.

“We’re cousins,” Trevor said. “He doesn’t talk much.
He just keeps to himself. He’s a
‘loner’
,” he air
quoted.

I looked back over at Jason. He kind of resembled a
younger Mark Wahlberg, while Trevor looked more like Chase
Crawford. No resemblances between them accept for their dark hair.
There was something about Jason though, I couldn’t stop staring at
him. He caught me and the look he gave said he didn’t appreciate my
staring.

Embarrassed, I quickly looked away. “Just ignore him.
I always do,” Trevor said.

I saw Josie waving at me from the door. “It was nice
talking to you Trevor. I’ll see you around,” I said, excusing
myself to join Josie and Cameron.

“Hey, who was that?” Josie asked.

“One of the new kids I had to show around today.”

“Lucky you. Check out my 90210 crew,” Cameron pointed
behind her. Standing there, were four blondes with the latest
designer hand bags and all texting on their phones. Anyone that
passed them they gave nasty looks and dissed their appearance. I
just shook my head. “Where’s Roman?”

“He’s talking to Justin. He said he’d meet me
inside.”

“Well isn’t it the dynamic duo,” Cassidy cooed.

“Cassidy, holy shit,” Josie said.

“Sup, Jo.”

“Wait, you’re not freaked out?” Josie and Cassidy
looked at me confused. I leaned in closely and whispered, “You do
know that Josie died?”

“Yeah and she’s an angel,” Cassidy said, like it was
no big deal. Seeing my stunned expression, she continued. “Ella,
I’m a witch and have been for a while. I’ve always known about
angels so seeing Josie is no big surprise to me.”

“Then why are you just coming here now?”

“Right, so my parents think I have no control and are
tired of me
‘misusing’
my powers,” she mocked. “According to
them there were too many incidents that could have been avoided if
I knew how to use my powers properly.” She shrugged, not caring.
“So Josie, I noticed Ella already has a new boy toy. How about you?
Am I flying solo?”

“You definitely have a partner in crime,” Josie
smiled, leading Cassidy into the auditorium.

“Okay, so who was that?” Cameron asked.

“Come on, I’ll explain,” I said, walking inside. I
panned the room in search of Roman and instead I found Riley. I
waved at her and she came running up and threw her arms around
me.

“Ella, I missed you so much. How was your summer?
What happened? Are you and Roman okay?” she said in a rush.

“Riley, take a breath.” She stopped and inhaled
deeply and then let it out and smiled. “Summer was good and yes
Roman and I are back together and I missed you too,” I said. With
everything going on and everyone coming back to the school I didn’t
get to see any of my friends yet because it was so hectic, but I
knew I would see everyone today.

I found Roman near the middle with Justin where he
saved us seats. Shortly the auditorium was filled and the teachers
were filing in. The students quieted as Aidan took the podium. He
went into welcoming all the new students, rules and regulations and
blah, blah, blah. I tuned out somewhere around dress code
violations. In my defense I was too distracted by Roman’s hand on
my knee and the way he would slowly move it up and down wandering
dangerously close to the inside of my thigh. Not able to take
anymore I grabbed his hand and held it tight in my lap. He looked
at me from the corner of his eyes and I could see the cocky smile
pulling at the corners of his lips.

I elbowed him and turned back, trying to pay
attention this time. “And one last thing,” Aidan announced. “Will
the following students please rise. Roman Ashby,” I looked at Roman
while Aidan rattled off more names. Roman just shrugged, not
knowing any more than I did.

“Lauren Becker, Josh Dickenson, Cameron Cowell…”

Someone mooed and Cameron turned to the culprit.
“Good job Kerns. I see Playskool made a toy easy enough for even
you to learn. Now can you make an oink, oink sound? You know it’s
that sound your girlfriend makes when they fill her trough.” The
boy glared at Cameron as she earned a few snickers and cat calls
from her classmates.

“Enough,” Aidan yelled, silencing everyone. When he
had everyone’s attention again he continued reading the names.
“Mackenzie Hilliard, Dean McCallister, Ella McCallister…” My
stomach churned at the sound of my name as I stood up wondering
what the hell this was all about and why we were getting signaled
out. By the time he was done, there were about twenty students
standing total.

“For those of you who are new this year, these
students standing will be your advisors. Any questions you have or
assistance you need you can ask anyone of these students.” Aidan
paused for a moment, letting everyone get a good look at us and
making me want to crawl under my seat. “You are all excused and may
proceed to your classes.”

I turned to Roman. “Okay, I know why I have to be an
advisor, but why are you?”

“They asked me and I said yes,” he shrugged. I didn’t
argue. I could understand why they asked him. Roman was the type
who got along with everyone and was very outgoing.

We walked together to our first class and sat in the
back as usual. The day went by slowly. All our teachers just did a
review of last year and explained to us what we’d be working on
this year. Having just spent the summer catching up, I zoned out
during the reviews.

I had spells and casting with Dixon and Cassidy this
year. Dixon nearly flipped his lid when he saw Cassidy. He
instantly linked to her side and made her his partner. Roman wasn’t
in this class with me this year and I was a little disappointed. In
fact, as I looked around the room I started to notice that I was
the only one in there who wasn’t a witch. I pulled out my schedule
to double check and see if maybe I got my classes mixed up. Nope,
according to this I was supposed to be there.

Unsure of what was going on, I walked up to Ms.
Kraft, who was sitting behind her desk observing the students.
“Ella, how can I help you?” she said, smiling pleasantly at me.

“I think there might have been a mistake,” I said,
referring to my schedule.