Angel Star (3 page)

“Teagan.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the two of them. I couldn’t stop staring.

“
Teagan.”

“God, what?!”

A dark shadow flew at me the second I turned around, resembling exhaust but more substantial somehow, and in an instant I couldn’t breathe. An invisible hand clutched my throat and my eyes began to water. The world around me blurred. A thunderous flapping of wings rang in my ears, as if a large bird had taken flight directly overhead, but it was coming from all around, bouncing off the pavement, bouncing off my skin. And then I lost my footing, my ankle twisting off the curb as if an unseen hand literally reached down and yanked on it.

Something warm and secure caught me by the arms, lifting me, steadying me. Seriously winded, I managed to focus on who seemed so concerned, on who had just saved me from toppling into the bus lane. Blue eyes looked back at me, inches from my own face.

Garreth.

He steadied me and I realized I was now standing on the sidewalk, a good six feet from the curb. The buses were slowly pulling up for the students, creating their usual formation,12A, 4B, and so on. The bustle around me appeared unchanged, as though no one had seen my little mishap. No one showed any concern except Garreth, whose hand still lingered on my elbow, reluctant to let go.

“Um, thank you,” I managed with a quiver to my voice.

Did that really just happen?

I could still feel the grip of fingers wrapping around my ankle but, leaning over, of course nothing was there. I felt baffled, disoriented really, and I tried to turn my thoughts away from the very real fact that I could have just been killed.

“Did you see…?” I started to ask, but the rest of my words stuck in my throat.

He looked at me closely. From the concerned look plastered across his face I couldn’t be sure. “Did I see what?”

Suddenly, I couldn’t remember and then I realized Garreth was asking me something.

“Um, nothing,” I answered.

“I was hoping to see you at lunch but I had to fill out a ton of forms in the office.”

I stared back at him, not saying anything in response, realizing I probably looked dumbfounded. Again.

“How’s tomorrow?” he asked.

“Tomorrow?”

“For lunch?”

“Weren’t you just talking to Brynn?” I looked across the parking lot where the two of them had been just minutes ago but she was nowhere to be seen.

Garreth paused. “For a moment.” The disappointment I projected must have been easy to read because he leaned closer. “I think she’s extremely ostentatious, how about you?”

I was beginning to realize that when I looked into his eyes I had trouble concentrating.

“Do you like ostentatious girls?” I asked hesitantly.

He smiled. “Not one bit. May I give you a ride home?”

My eyes detected Claire at Ryan’s car across the parking lot. “Um, thanks, but I sort of need to take the bus today.” After almost falling into their path, it would be a struggle to take one home. I found myself nearly taking him up on his offer, but I couldn’t, no matter how inviting it was. “My mom’s expecting me at the bus stop.”

The truth was my mom would flip her lid if I accepted a ride with a boy I had just met. Sure, he was nice.
And
hot. But rules were rules, and honestly, I didn’t know him yet. Not to mention, I was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I offered, heading toward my line.

“Sure. See you tomorrow, Teagan.” He winked as he started to back away. “Stay clear of those curbs.”

I was stunned for a moment. So he
did
pull me out of the way. I was beginning to think I had imagined it all. I watched him cross the lot until he reached his car and then I unwillingly made my way up the steps and toward the back of the bus, snagging an empty window seat where I had a decent view of him tinkering with his stereo. I realized that for the first time in my entire life I was on the brink of being absolutely and undeniably smitten.

Sinking down into the seat, I plugged in my earbuds as I fumbled with my iPod. It was easy to remember why I hated the bus so much. Buses had a plastic, sour smell to them that turned my stomach and bounced my insides so violently that it was all I could do to keep everything down. Motion sickness was normal, wasn’t it? I was positive bus drivers drove erratically on purpose, just for laughs, knowing full well that the precious cargo they carried had weak stomachs.

Brynn’s shiny black Beemer was positioning to cut in front of the bus and through my window I saw her sneer. For my sake, she pointed a manicured finger at the opening of her mouth and pretended to vomit, then erupted into waves of laughter with the other girls.

My body slid lower into the seat as giggles sprang up around me. I closed my eyes, pretending I didn’t see, that I was somewhere else…
someone else.
My pulse pounded in my ears and soon I was reliving dual moments, right before Garreth had come to my rescue today, and last night, the sound of dark wings thrumming. The two twisted and blurred in my head, becoming one and the same as the violent whipping to and fro echoed in my skull. I was going to be sick. I needed air.

I felt the bus moving, heard the honk that allowed Brynn to weasel her way in front. I knew I was seated back far enough that she wouldn’t see me through the window now. It seemed safe. I pulled myself up and pushed the levers sideways with my thumbs to unlatch the window, then pushed down, welcoming the rush of air that greeted my clammy forehead. I tried to focus my attention elsewhere, so I began to think of Garreth and felt the queasiness slip away.

Why hadn’t anyone else noticed my fall? What was that horrible black smoke that, in the pit of my stomach, I knew didn’t come from the buses? And how was it that Garreth had gotten there just in the nick of time? Regardless, I owed Garreth a lot. Maybe even my life.

I couldn’t help this connection, this attraction that was hitting me like a sledgehammer on the top of my skull. Maybe I had an overactive imagination and I was gullible enough to believe Claire and her recommendation that I needed a boyfriend. I shivered at the thought of my bizarre day. So far, the only worthwhile part was Garreth. Deep down, I knew this crazy dream wasn’t just a dream anymore. It was haunting me—and letting someone in on it would be absolutely boy repellant. Maybe a boyfriend wasn’t the answer. I needed protection.

The truth was, I needed a life.

I was inwardly laughing at myself when I realized the bus had been stopped for several seconds and a half-dozen sets of eyes were boring holes into my head. The bus had reached my corner and the driver was now directing an impatient stare at me from the gigantic rear view mirror.

I grabbed my iPod and my backpack and hauled myself quickly down the aisle toward the front of the bus, carefully avoiding the stares of the other kids who were now beginning to whisper in low, hushed voices. I mumbled, “Sorry,” to the sadistic driver and made my way down the steps to the curb without killing myself in my haste. I would have to speak with Claire about arranging permanent transportation from now on because there was absolutely no way I would ever ride the bus again.

I
woke up bright and early the next morning. My dreams of Garreth had been blissfully uninterrupted—no dark wings—and I found myself energetic and eager to make myself look decent for school.

Garreth Adams.

He was unlike any of the other boys I knew from school. For one thing, he carried himself with a level of maturity that ninety-nine percent of the boys in my school seemed to be lacking. He was polite, thoughtful, chose his words carefully, and no matter how sure of himself he appeared to be, he was cautious and I admired that. I thought of his deep-blue eyes and his strong jaw, the way his hands pushed his hair out of his eyes. Instantly, I felt my cheeks warm.

With Garreth in mind, I sneaked into my mom’s bathroom, raiding the medicine cabinet for mousse, gel, and shine spray, not having a clue how to use any of them. I was intent on transforming myself into something slightly more than ordinary, a task I was taking on blindly. A rather ordinary face, however, reflected back to me in the bathroom mirror, along with strawberry-blonde hair, light highlights from a box, a somewhat-clear complexion, save for the freckles that multiplied yearly, and green eyes so light they were almost the color of water and framed by thin, very light-colored eyebrows and lashes. I was often told I was pretty, but somehow the mirror always seemed to lie to me.

I sighed, not convinced the wild array of cosmetics would do any good but I was determined to try. My next victims, the drawers, silently waited and I pounced on them, excitedly uncapping lipstick tubes and popping open eye shadow cases. I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

I bounced downstairs with unusual enthusiasm, catching my mother’s shocked look. This was quite a switch from my absentmindedness of last evening when I simply couldn’t help my thoughts being elsewhere.

“You look beautiful, sweetie.” She eyed me suspiciously, though her compliment was honest. “Big day today?”

“Hey, Mom. Just in a good mood. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed some of your makeup. Did I tell you we have early dismissal today?”

“I have to work until five, Tea. It’s Friday.” I knew I had blown her away with my chattiness.

Breakfast time usually consisted of a) silence, b) the occasional sleepy caveman grunt, or c) silence. I tried not to look her in the eye over my bowl of cereal since I could feel her staring at me and I could sense her jaw must have dropped a mile at my attempt to look like a normal seventeen-year-old girl. I only hoped she wasn’t perceptive enough to guess it had something to do with the opposite sex, though I had my doubts. A familiar honk faintly sounded outside. Claire to the rescue!

“See you later, Mom!”

I rinsed my bowl and dropped it into the sink, then grabbed my backpack and was out the door in a split second. The mental picture of my mother speechlessly staring at the door stuck with me and I wondered briefly if she needed medical attention.

I opened the door to Claire’s white Cabrio and hopped inside. Pink was in the CD player and the car was saturated in the scent of the new vanilla-roma tree hanging from the mirror. Claire was rechecking her porcelain complexion then turned in my direction. The look in her eyes mimicked my mother’s.

“Do I know you?” She feigned seriousness. “I only give rides to people I know. Please step out of the vehicle and back away slowly.”

I let out a small chuckle.

“On second thought,” she continued, “who are you and what have you done with my friend?” Claire took my hand in hers and examined my palm with exaggerated interest.

“Aha! Madame Woo says makeup is good idea for landing hunky new boy at school. It also serves as a good disguise for riding the bus again. No one will recognize you.” Her eyebrows wiggled up and down.

“You’re a nut!”

“You look great!” She was definitely thrilled to acknowledge my attempts to look beautiful. “I never understood why you never wore makeup. Hmm. I guess all it takes is a boy.”

I faked a look of innocence, but as the seconds passed the look on Claire’s face showed me I had no chance of pulling the wool over her eyes.

“Is it that obvious?” My voice suddenly a timid whisper.

“Only to me.” Claire smiled knowingly as she shifted the car into gear and headed down Church Street. “Today, you’ll look like the new girl in school and Garreth Adams won’t know what hit him.”

I smiled to myself as I looked out the window at the passing houses. I could always count on Claire to boost my confidence.

“By the way.” The devilish smirk lingered on her face. “Do you think your mom will let me borrow that lipstick?”

The sunlight streaming through the moonroof was warm and comfortable and so I allowed last night’s dream of Garreth to sneak into my thoughts once more before school. It was the first pleasant dream I could clearly remember in a long time and I closed my eyes, savoring the moment. His eyes, the deepest ocean blue, peered out from beneath his hair. He smiled radiantly as my heart pulled toward him and then he faded, as if my dream was revealing to me what it truly was. Just a dream.

Then the mist cleared slightly, revealing him once more as he held his hand out, beckoning me to join him. I stepped forward, momentarily blinded by the beautiful colors swirling around me. As I reached out to place my hand in his, the air quickened…electrically charged…static. I stared in wonder as the lines on his upturned palm swirled into a single, continuous thread and transformed into a beautiful eight-pointed star before my eyes, formed from beginning to end in one graceful, sweeping motion. Endless. Gateless. Eternal. Garreth spoke my name softly and the moment I stepped into the mist I knew I was in heaven. Though reluctant to let the dream fade, I forced it to the back of my mind and tried to focus on the day ahead of me.

Claire was singing along to the next track. “Sorry about yesterday. Did you get home okay?”

“That’s a topic you and I have to discuss. I made it home okay, but public transportation is truly humiliating. I’m employing you as my chauffeur.”

“Worse than putting up with Brynn and her posse?”

“Hmmm. A close second.”

About a block before school, I pulled down the built-in mirror underneath the sun visor above my head. I noted the transparent purple circles surfacing beneath my eyes from lack of sleep and made a mental note to experiment with concealer.

I decided to change the subject and tell Claire about the other night, about the dreams and the wings. Claire was my best friend, the obvious choice to hear all my concerns, but as much as I loved her, she was such a jokester and I didn’t know how she would react. I dove in before I could change my mind.

“Um, the night before last I heard some really strange noises.”

“What kind of noises?”

“Well, sort of like an animal or a bird flying around my room. I’ve been having these weird dreams about wings and…Well, I felt a draft.”