“Yeah.” I fell into step next to him.
We headed into the cafeteria, and I grabbed what I thought was a slice of pizza and a soda. Then I turned toward the crowded room. Several students looked up, mostly girls—all staring at Hayden. He seemed to be oblivious as he pushed the tousled hair off his forehead.
I started forward, but he caught the edge of my backpack. “What?” I asked him.
“We don’t eat lunch in the cafeteria.”
“We don’t?”
Hayden tipped his head to the side and laughed. “Follow me.”
Following him didn’t sound like a bad idea, but I had no idea where we were going. We ended up outside, cutting across the campus, heading toward the rear of the school. “Are we allowed to be out here?”
“No.”
My pace slowed. “Are we gonna get in trouble?”
“Are you worried?”
I thought about that. “No, I guess not.”
That seemed to amuse Hayden. “Don’t worry. Teachers won’t say crap to us.”
“Why?”
He stopped beside the fence guarding the football field and faced me. “It’s not like it was at your old school, Ember. Things are different here.”
Several questions popped up, but I found myself smiling up at him instead. “That… sounds nice.”
Surprise flickered across his face. Glancing away, he stepped back. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.” He started walking away.
For a heartbeat, I stared after him. “You really haven’t been paying attention then.” I had to walk fast to keep up with his long-legged pace.
“I guess not.” He reached down, looping his arm through mine.
I stumbled.
Hayden grinned. “You’re too slow, Ember. You could use some help.”
He was a good foot taller than me, so I had to crane my neck. Right then, I forgot the last two years.
Old Ember slipped through. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to hold my hand.”
Hayden opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Then he laughed, and the sun broke free from the clouds, highlighting his hair with a dozen shades of red and gold mixed with the brown.
Laughter bubbled up and would have broken free if we hadn’t rounded the corner. Sitting on an outcropping of several large, sandy-colored rocks were the gruesome twosome. Taking a deep breath, I slipped away from Hayden and ignored the urge to run in the opposite direction.
Gabriel spared Hayden a wave, but when he turned to me, his smile faded. I was sure he was picturing me flying back through the goal post.
Phoebe sat on a rock beside him, her hands balled into tight fists. “Hi,” she managed.
Considering that was the first time she’d said a word to me, I thought she could do better.
Hayden elbowed me.
I exhaled slowly and glanced around. Tall grass covered whatever lay beyond the rocks. I sat down on a relatively flat surface. “Hey.”
“Sometimes we eat out here,” Hayden explained, “when the weather is nice.”
“Or at the diner across the street,” Gabe interjected. “Or wherever. Sometimes we go home for lunch.
We don’t always come back. Did you used to eat the cafeteria in your school? Like the rest of the Norms?”
“Norms?”
“Normals,” Hayden sighed.
“Yeah, we weren’t allowed outside.” I placed my plate in my lap, ignoring the fact Hayden chose to sit on my rock.
“Neither are we,” Phoebe said, her voice cold. “But it doesn’t stop us.”
They were talking to me only because they had to, I realized. Hayden had probably made them, but there wasn’t an ounce of civility in their tone.
Hayden took a bite of his pizza. “Things were different at her old school, Phoebe.”
Staring down at her nails, she shrugged. “Whatever.” She nudged Gabe’s arm and whispered something.
I nibbled on my pizza, keeping my eyes on the patchy field grass, trying not to show how uncomfortable I was with them.
“So what’s it like to have the touch-of-death gift?” Gabe rolled up a wrapper and shoved it in a fast food bag.
“She’s not gifted,” Phoebe snapped before I could respond. “Not like us.”
“Phoebe,” Hayden warned.
“What? I’m just stating the truth. She died. We all know that. She wasn’t born with a gift.”
Between Gabe’s question and Phoebe’s obvious bitchiness, I lost the ability to speak.
“She’s just like us, Phoebe. It doesn’t matter how she got her gift,” Hayden said. “Give it a rest.”
Phoebe flicked her hair over her shoulder. “The only reason she’s here is because of his failure. He’s obsessed, like you. Do you think that’s fair to any of us?”
Finally, I found my voice. “Whose failure? And how is it unfair to you?”
Phoebe wouldn’t look at me. “None of us want her here, Hayden. Do you understand that? She’s going to screw everything up—ruin everything.”
Hayden’s eyes snapped fire. “Phoebe, just shut up.”
“Ruin what?” I asked, but no one was listening to me.
“Don’t. Tell. Me. To. Shut up! You’re the only one who wants her here!” She paused, finally looking at me. “Kurt should’ve wiped her.”
Wiped me like he’d wiped Adam. Pure rage blasted through me. I shot to my feet. The moment her cockiness dried up and fear took over, a wild, vindictive smile spread across my face.
Moving lightning-fast, Hayden was in front of me. The heat from his body blocked the chill in the breeze. “Don’t.”
One word spoken so low, so powerful—everyone froze.
Then Hayden turned to Phoebe. “Get out of here.”
Blazing green eyes locked onto Hayden’s. “You’re going to be sorry, Hayden. All of us are going to be.” Then she grabbed her bag and stalked across the field.
Gabe stood, his eyes were wide and lips thin. “Well, this went just as planned, huh?”
Hayden whirled on the younger boy so quickly my head spun.
Gabe threw up his hands. “Don’t blow anything up, Hayden. I’m just sayin’.” He turned to me, actually looking sheepish. “Sorry. I think your little sis is pretty cool, but we all got a lot to lose.”
I barely heard him. I was still fighting the urge to take off after Phoebe and sink my hands deep into her glossy black hair.
Lunch quickly fell apart after that. Gabe followed Phoebe; only Hayden and I remained on the rocks.
Fury still radiated from him like gusts of hot air. I stared down at my half-eaten pizza.
“I’m sorry about Phoebe—about all of them.”
Shaking my head, I picked up my bag. “What am I ruining being here? Like, is the world going to implode or something because I’m here?”
“No,” Hayden said as he ran his hands through his hair.
“Why is she freaking out so bad?”
He pushed off the rock and folded his arms. “They’re worried you’re going to do something that will draw attention to us.”
I stared at him. “Like what?”
“All of us have been trained to control our gifts, Ember, and Olivia’s gift isn’t dangerous, but…”
“But mine is?”
“They’re afraid the Facility will come, and we’ll all have to go to South Dakota—to the Facility. We like it here, and trust me, you wouldn’t like it there.”
A cold shiver lifted the fine hair on my neck. “What happened there?”
His face turned distant, cold even. “Nothing—it’s nothing to worry about now. Look, all of our lives are affected. I mean, we all have to be careful.”
“I don’t get it. How am I supposed to care about the Facility if I don’t know what or who they are?”
“Okay. The Facility is like… like the police of the gifted. I know that sounds stupid, but they kind of create the rules and make sure we follow them.”