Aspen and the Dream Walkers (2 page)

Aspen cringed and looked away as her
stepsister kissed him eagerly. After a few seconds, she risked
another glance and saw the group moving toward the school building.
Justin had wrapped his arm around her stepsister’s shoulder, and
she had her thumb tucked into a loop on his waistband. When they
disappeared into the building, Aspen sighed in relief.

The bus came to a halt in the parking lot.
Inside, the air was hot and smelled of diesel fumes and spray
deodorant, and she waited until the last person was gone before
exiting the bus. She hurried to reach her first class of the day as
the morning bell clanged loudly.

English was one of her favorite subjects, and
she thumped her backpack on the desk and removed a pen and book
before sitting down. The class was rowdy as the students waited for
the teacher to arrive. Someone shot a spitball past her head, and
she ducked just in time.

“Nope, that was definitely not me.” Aspen
shook her head vigorously as a girl with short black hair in front
of her whirled around with accusing eyes. Her cheek was pink and
sticky from the soggy ball.

Miriam sat at the other side of the room and
popped bubbles with a new piece of gum. When she’d failed her grade
the previous year, Stephan had blamed her teachers, and now she
shared many of her stepsister’s classes as she repeated the
year.

Aspen fanned her face quietly. The day had
only just begun, but she could already feel the humidity of the
Indian summer day.

Her fellow students were so noisy, talking
loudly and laughing, they barely noticed when their teacher
lumbered into the room.

Mr. Wright was enormous. He was bald, his
nose and cheeks rosy, and his chin was rounded with folds of skin.
He always wore baggy pants, which made his oversized shoes appear
clown-like, but he was her all-time favorite teacher. Because of
his size, she didn’t see the person trailing behind him at
first.

“Settle down now, students,” Mr. Wright
called out, his voice booming against the classroom walls. Everyone
stopped talking and rushed to take their seats.

When they had settled down somewhat, he
stepped aside and said, “We have a new student. This is Dylan
Powers.”

Aspen sucked in a sharp breath and whispered,
“Oh my word
.
” As soon as the teacher had moved, she exhaled
and stared at the handsome boy standing behind him. His looks were
so striking that she blinked twice and focused all her attention on
him.

Mr. Wright clapped the boy on the shoulder,
then said, “Take a seat in the third row,” while pointing to the
empty desk behind her.

Miriam’s eyes widened with pleasure as the
good-looking boy walked slowly down the aisle.

He was tall and slim and wore khaki cargo
pants, a white T-shirt, and thick-soled boots. A half-filled school
bag was slung over his left shoulder, and she noticed a dream
weaver charm attached to a suede cord around his neck. His black
hair was cropped short at the back and longer in the front, and
stray strands partially obscured his sapphire-blue eyes.

Aspen caught his gaze as he walked down the
aisle. Suddenly his face lit up, and he smiled at her as if he’d
just seen his best friend for the first time in years.

She dropped her gaze instantly and stared at
her desktop, feeling her cheeks flame with embarrassment. After
hearing the scrape of his bag on the floor, a clean, soapy smell
enveloped her, and she leaned back to breathe it in.

Something sharp, possibly a pen, jabbed her
in the arm, and she stiffened and tilted her head sideways.

“Do you have a spare notepad?” a deep voice
whispered close to her ear.

“Huh? Sure, hang on.” Reaching into her bag,
she whipped out a few sheets of paper and handed them to him over
her shoulder. Her hand lingered as he took the papers, and their
fingers touched accidentally.

Suddenly, a delicious heat filled her palms
and zinged through every cell in her body. It spiraled over her
shoulders and tingled down her spine.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. A blue flame licked over
her skin in that instant, and she turned around to face him with
wide eyes.

“Are you all right?” The new boy looked at
her with concern. “What just happened?”

“I’m sorry, it’s nothing. Just, um, static
electricity, I guess,” she stammered.

He studied her face for a moment with sharp
blue eyes. “Don’t worry. It’s probably the shoes you’re wearing.
The soles generate friction when you walk. You should get thicker
soles like mine.” Without warning, he lifted his boot for her
inspection. “I used to shock people all the time until I got
them.”

She stared at his long leg as he brought his
foot back down to the floor, before dragging her gaze back to his
face. “I’ll remember that the next time I’m shopping.”

“My name is Dylan, by the way.” He smiled,
displaying pearly-white teeth.

“Aspen.” Her face burned again, and she
looked away abruptly.

“Class,” Mr. Wright announced, “open your
books to page thirty-nine and we’ll start.” He stood in front of
the chalkboard and waved a textbook in the air. “Dylan, please
share with the girl in front of you for now. I’ll arrange a book
for you tomorrow.”

Her heart pounded—he was going to sit right
next to her. With a discreet sniff in the direction of her armpit
to make sure she smelled fresh, she angled her thick ponytail over
her right shoulder.

Dylan’s chair legs scraped loudly on the
floor as he dragged his desk next to hers, then dropped into his
seat. His shoulders were broad and she was too scared to touch him.
What happened if she felt the same burst of heat again? It was like
nothing she’d ever experienced before. He looked at her
expectantly, so she pushed her textbook over the edge of her
desktop so it overlapped his, then pointed out the place on the
page.

He kept his distance and after a while, she
relaxed in the chair and tried to concentrate on the lesson. The
classroom was hot and stuffy. Tiny beads of sweat dotted the back
of her neck, but the new boy seemed completely unaffected by the
heat.

Thirty minutes later the bell rang, and she
closed the book and shoved it into her bag. Rather than move his
desk back, he stared at her meaningfully, as though she should
recognize him.

“Um, do I know you?” Her voice croaked and
she cleared her throat self-consciously.

A weighty look followed by a short sigh was
all that she got.

“I’ve got calculus next,” he said instead,
and stood up to drag his desk back into place, then held out a
schedule to her. “Do you know where I’m supposed to go?”

Carefully, she took the paper from him and
studied it.

Students milled noisily around them as they
filed out of the class, and someone bumped her from behind.

“Watch out!” Dylan scowled at the offending
boy.

She steadied herself and then continued to
look at the piece of paper. “Mmm, looks like you’re in all my
classes. You can walk with me. I’ll show you where to go.”

As he retrieved his schedule, she looked up
and her stomach did a tiny somersault at the megawatt smile
lighting his face.

“Lead the way.” His outstretched hand urged
her forward.

The new boy towered over her tiny
five-foot-two-inch frame and he followed her to Mr. Preston’s
calculus class in a comfortable silence.

“Ah, a new student,” Mr. Preston commented as
they entered his class.

“Yes sir.” Dylan straightened his shoulders.
“If you don’t mind, sir, could I sit with my friend and share her
book until I have my own textbooks?”

Mr. Preston regarded him for a second before
he nodded his blond head and pushed tiny glass frames up onto his
nose. “I don’t see why not.”

Dylan smiled broadly. “Thank you, sir.”

Once again, he dragged the desk from behind
her until it sat right next to hers. He dropped his bag under his
desk and slid into his chair, leaning so close that he almost
touched her. The clean fragrance that she’d smelled earlier
enveloped her again.

Blood pounded in Aspen’s veins and her heart
began to race. What was wrong with her? He made her feel
light-headed. Even though she battled with static electricity and
would shock anyone close to her, she’d never felt this way before.
It was best not to touch him. She balled her hands into fists to
avoid contact and shook her head, wondering how to keep away from
him.

“Is something wrong?” Dylan asked,
interrupting her thoughts.

She looked up into his eyes and her stomach
flip-flopped again. “With what?” she asked.

“Your hands are clenched like you want to hit
someone. Have I done something wrong?”

“No, it’s not that. I’m just not a huge fan
of calculus,” she lied.

“Don’t worry. I’m not crazy about it
either.”

He winked at her and she thought that her
heart would explode at any minute.

After they’d shared two more classes, she was
relieved when the lunch bell rang. Her nerves were strained. Each
time his jeans scraped against her leg, she jerked, and every time
his hand turned the page for her, she stiffened. She needed the
break.

“Do you mind if I follow you to the
cafeteria?” he asked as the last ring of the bell faded away.

Aspen packed her books into her bag. “Sure,
but I’ve brought lunch, so I’ll just show you where it is.”

She rose from the desk and then sat back down
when she saw Miriam. Her stepsister was headed straight for her,
and it was pointless to try to avoid her.

Miriam turned to Dylan’s side of the desk at
the last minute. “Well, hello and welcome,” her sister purred. She
sat down on his desktop, subtly blocking him in his chair with her
legs.

“Why haven’t you introduced us yet, sis?”
Even though she spoke to Aspen, she kept her focus on him. Cherry
lip gloss gleamed on her mouth, and she tapped coquettishly on the
laminate flooring with one high heel.

Dylan looked up at her and grinned. He
relaxed back in the seat and spread his arm over the back of
Aspen’s chair, which caused her heart to thump all over again.

Miriam glanced impatiently at her when she
remained silent.

“Dylan, Miriam. Miriam, Dylan,” she said
flatly.

“So nice to meet you. I’m Aspen’s sister.”
Miriam beamed.

“Stepsister,” Aspen corrected.

With a glare, Miriam turned back to the new
boy again. “I’m sure you must be tired of my sister’s boring
conversation. You seem like someone used to excitement, and you’re
definitely with the wrong person for that.” She waggled her
eyebrows suggestively. “Let me take you to the cafeteria and
introduce you to some real people. You know, the popular ones.”

Aspen’s mouth fell open. “There’s nothing
wrong with my conversation, Miriam.” She felt her cheeks heat up.
“Besides, he’s coming with me.” With that, she reached up and
grabbed the hand that dangled over the back of her seat. An instant
wave of warmth coursed through her body as she touched him, and her
limbs tingled deliciously. “He asked me to take him to the
cafeteria already.”

Dylan tilted his head and studied Aspen’s
grip on his hand, then a slow smile traveled across his face.

Miriam ignored her stepsister and stared at
Dylan, waiting for an answer.

Dylan nodded. “Your sister’s right. I did ask
her.” The satisfied look on his face made Aspen suspect that he’d
had girls fighting over him before, and she cursed her
eagerness.

Her stepsister’s lips thinned. “I guess I’ll
see you there next break.” Sliding her leg over the desktop, Miriam
sauntered away with a calculated swing of her hips.

As soon as Miriam was out of earshot, Dylan
asked quietly, “Are you fighting with your sister, or do you two
usually speak to each other like that?”

“It’s my stepsister,” she repeated. “And no,
I’m not fighting with her.”

Dropping his hand, she jumped up. Once she
was standing, she snatched her backpack and walked out of the
classroom. Dylan called out her name, and she stopped as his
fingers circled her wrist and tugged her back around. When the
tingling returned, her legs almost collapsed beneath her and she
grasped his other arm for support.

“Hey, it’s all good. I did ask you to take me
to the cafeteria anyway. Don’t be so upset.” Dylan released her and
stepped back, and at once her body stilled.

“Let me carry that for you.” He lifted the
backpack from her shoulder.

After staring at him, she took a deep breath.
“The cafeteria is up ahead. I think we should go before it gets too
packed.”

They followed the exodus of students and
headed toward the cafeteria. Dylan didn’t speak and trailed her
into the already crowded room.

Aromas of cooked vegetables and grilled meat
wafted in the air, and the din of conversation was almost
overwhelming.

“I’ll grab a table for us,” she said once
they’d entered the cafeteria. “Get some lunch from the counter. My
mom packed something for me already, so I don’t need anything.”

She pounced on an empty table and Dylan
pulled out a chair for her. Placing their bags on a vacant chair,
he turned to face her.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he promised and
then disappeared around a long line of kids.

She watched him glide effortlessly through
the packed hall and saw the way that girls stared at him as he
passed. He truly was handsome; his white T-shirt showed off tight
biceps, and the brown leather strap on his wrist looked good
against his dark tan. A small sigh escaped her lips and she
wondered how she’d been so lucky to befriend him. The tingling that
she felt each time he touched her was weird, though. Awesome, but
weird.

After a while he returned and placed an apple
and juice in front of her.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

“You’re welcome.” The plastic chair moved
slightly as he sat and peeled cellophane from a huge muffin. He
wolfed it down in seconds.