Burning Hearts (9 page)

Jenna just smiled and nodded, glad to be
free. Well, almost free.

Officer Marlowe was blocking the exit,
looking confused. “But there was so much blood,” he reminded
everyone.

She acted cool, allaying suspicion. “It
looked worse than it actually was.” She turned to Principal Greene,
now tense. “Am I gonna get expelled?”

The petite administrator sighed. “Well, you
didn’t exactly hit anyone, but you did damage school property.”

“
I’ll pay for
it.”

She smiled, knowing Jenna didn’t have enough
in her piggy bank to cover such expenditure. “We’ll call it an
accident. It was an accident, right?”

Jenna nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“
So what
happened?”

The lie came quickly; she was becoming
proficient in deception. “I accidentally hit the mirror while
reapplying my mascara.” She shrugged. “I’m clumsy.”

Principal Greene turned to Officer Marlowe.
“Can you check on Maintenance? Make sure there are no students”—she
wiggled her fingers—“milling about?”

He nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

He left and the principal turned to Nurse
Nora. “Give us the room, please.”

Nurse Nora smiled and left, carrying her
issue of Modern Nurse and a half-eaten pack of saltines.

The principal sat on a roll-around chair near
a wall of pamphlets devoted to STDs.

“
I knew that when Daniela
and Emma came running and screaming about you trying to murder
them, that they were just blowing smoke, but…as I recall, you used
to be friends with them. And Sadie, Kit, Barrie, Aidan. You and Val
were the sweethearts of Oasis High. What happened?”

Jenna shook her head. She wasn’t going to
divulge the real reason to her principal.

“
We’re not friends
anymore.”

She chuckled. “Well, I can see that. Students
around here think we’re deaf, dumb, and blind, but we know more
than you youngsters think.” She gave a slight nod as if to say it
were really true.

When Jenna didn’t comment, the principal
continued, “So you and your former girlfriends were in the
restroom, words were exchanged, hand gestures were rampant, and
yours happened to collide with a mirror? Mistaking your accident
for malicious intent—because of course you have no desire
whatsoever to injure your fellow classmates—Daniela and Emma fled,
screaming bloody murder as they ran around the school? Is that
about right?”

Jenna snapped her fingers and smiled. “You
got it, boss. Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Principal Greene sighed, adjusting the silk
scarf around her neck. “Well, that’s the story for the report
because you’re not going to tell me the full truth, and I’m
forbidden to beat it out of you.” She smiled and waved Jenna off.
“Go on to class.” She glanced at the clock on the wall. “You can
still make the tail end of first period.”

“
Yay,” Jenna said
emotionless in mock cheer.

The principal escorted her to the closed off
hall near the restroom where Officer Marlowe was stationed outside
the door. He handed Jenna her backpack that was thankfully, blood
free; she’d left it in the restroom, distracted by the possibility
of her imminent arrest.

Jenna cradled the rose-colored bag against
her chest as if it might give her comfort in these troubled times.
Then she turned to Principal Greene. “Sorry for messing up the
restroom. It won’t happen again.”

“
Let’s hope not.” She gently
squeezed Jenna’s shoulder. “Next time…well, I don’t have to tell
you. You want to graduate on time, right? Get out of
here?”

Jenna nodded vigorously. “Yes, ma’am.”

As Jenna opened the hall door, Principal
Greene said, “Don’t let those girls get to you. I know you’re tired
of us preaching it, but it’s really better to just ignore their
comments, unless of course, they’re threatening you. You’re smart
enough to know which is which. Be smart. Don’t let your emotions
rule you.” She smiled. “Okay?”

“
Yes, ma’am.”

But keeping your emotions in check was easier
said than done when you had super strength and now speedy healing.
As long as the Stuck-Ups persisted in their Let’s Taunt Jenna daily
routines, she wasn’t so confident in keeping her desire for revenge
at bay.

WHAT GOES AROUND

“
Lemme see.”

“
Nurse Nora told me to keep
it on all day.”

“
And when did you start
listening to authority figures?”

Kylie chuckled. “Riddick, if Nurse Nora’s an
authority figure, then I’m the Queen of England.”

“
I just wanna see if she’s
all right,” he defended.

“
I am,” Jenna
insisted.

Before she’d even sat down at lunch to eat
her turkey-and-tomato-on-wheat sandwich, Riddick started pestering
Jenna about her supernaturally-healed wound that would leave mental
scars if she let it bug her brain.

Riddick had tried to enter her first period
chemistry class to see if she was all right. Mrs. Quinn had gently
pushed him into the hall, telling him to go back to class. Jenna
had made an effort to smile and wave at him, to show she was indeed
not about to die. But she wasn’t aggravated; she knew where his
worry was coming from: he loved her.

Sitting next to him on the bus ride that
morning had felt strange. She’d wanted to wedge herself between the
dirty window and Pru, but Riddick made a point of actually grabbing
Jenna’s arm and seating her himself—right smack dab against his
twitchy leg that made the floor beneath them vibrate.

She still thought of him as
a great friend, but that kiss…well, that kiss changed the game. It
was like she was saying:
Yes, I love you
too. I’ll express it physically. I hope you don’t mind.

Pru kept silent on the kiss that everyone had
witnessed from Caleb’s mom’s minivan. Jenna suspected Kylie would
want to gossip, but after the near murder in the bathroom, she’d
kept silent throughout chemistry; she gave Jenna slight, reassuring
smiles that everything was going to be okay.

Of course, Daniela and Emma
were too distraught to take the scheduled quiz, so Mrs. Quinn let
them read her collection of
Science!
kid-friendly magazines. They
enjoyed connect-the-dots and coloring.

And then there was Malcolm:
the mysterious, alluring foreigner, who was hiding a secret.
Everyone had secrets. But his would be explosive with a
capital
S
. And she
didn’t mean that in a stereotypical he’s-wearing-a-suicide-vest
kind of secret. It was explosive as in life-changing; a truth
exposed amid a mined field of disinformation.

Everyone thought they knew everything. In
realty, they knew nothing.

Malcolm seemed to know a lot, though. He’d
kept staring at Jenna’s bandaged hand during the remainder of first
period. His fiery blue eyes seemed to be on her all the time, even
when he was looking away. His presence was something more than just
knowing another person was near her. It was as if an invisible taut
string had been tied, connecting them across the chasm of the lab
tables. If she tilted, he tilted.

When the class had dismissed for second
period, he’d spoken to her for the first time that day: “Sometimes,
it’s best to humiliate the leader than to strike at his
followers.”

And with those weird cryptic parting words of
wisdom, he’d exited her life, to only return hours later in the
cafeteria, sitting with the Stuck-Ups—which she found weird,
considering he’d been exiled on Val’s orders. But she had other
concerns—like gently dodging Riddick’s hand on her back and
informing the group about her grandpa’s letter.

“
You didn’t read the
journal, right?” asked Riddick.

“
No, but it’s in my
backpack. We’ll go over it at the game unless y’all feel the sudden
urge to cheer and then, well, we gotta do that.” She rolled her
eyes, not serious.

Everyone smiled, agreeing it was foolish to
cheer, but Kylie. “Well…I kinda made this poster…what?” She looked
at everyone. “There was leftover glitter from my sis’s project.”
She held out her hands. “What else was I supposed to do with
it?”

“
Donate it to the Fairy
Guild,” Riddick suggested in a serious tone.

Kylie gave him a mischievous smile. “What’s
their number again? I’m sure you have it in your cell’s
contacts.”

He smiled back, unaffected by her sting.
“Yeah, sure. It’s right before Kiss-My-Ass, followed by
You’re-a-Tool.”

She grunted at him, aggravated. “It’s not
being a tool to show school spirit.”

“
The only thing I wanna show
this school is my ass when I graduate.”

“
It’s a pretty poster,” said
Pru, speaking up. “Kylie showed it to me last period.”

Kylie smiled, glad she had a supporter. “Yes,
it’s in my locker, in one of those tubes people put blueprints or
drawings in. You know, to keep it protected. I brought extra
glitter and glue just in case I need to touch it up before the
game.”

Riddick squealed, clapping his hands. “Oh,
joy! And then afterwards we can go out for root beer floats with
the Stuck-Ups! I’ll bring enough change for the jukebox! Ladies,
don’t forget your poodle skirts!”

Kylie sighed and folded her arms over her
chest, defeated.

“
Calm down, Riddick,” Caleb
advised. “It’s just one poster at one game. Besides, a little
cheering never hurt nobody.”

Pru smiled. “Yeah, Kylie. We’ll cheer with
you.”

“
I’ll cheer for Deadfall,”
Jenna half-joked.

She knew Pru and Caleb were trying to support
their longtime friend, but Jenna had her reasons for hating the
football team with Val, Barrie, and Aidan as prime players.

Riddick grinned, finding a soul mate in
Jenna. “Yay, go Vultures!”

“
You can’t cheer for the
opposing team,” Kylie whined.

Jenna waved her hand in the air. “Don’t
worry! I’m gonna be more concerned about the contents of that
journal.” She took a bite of her sandwich, chewed it up, and then
swallowed it down with some soda. “And the secret life of my
grandpa.”

“
I went surfing on the web
last night,” Caleb informed, “and I looked up this Jinn and Magi
stuff.”

“
And?” Jenna
inquired.

He shrugged. “Well, there’s lots of
information. I dunno what’s real and what’s fairy tale.” He nodded
to her backpack, where the journal was. “That’s the truth.”

“
Yeah, but what if I don’t
like what I read?”

Riddick put his arm around
her shoulders. “Don’t worry, Jen. We’ll never abandon you.
I’ll
never abandon
you.”

Even though she should be shaking his
affections off, it felt good to be loved and touched. “Thanks.”

He smiled and released her, but his smile
faded into a pained contortion as he slyly rubbed his hurt arm.

“
Lemme see,” she
urged.

He smiled, nodding to her bandaged hand.
“Show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”

She rolled her eyes. “How bad is it?”

“
It’s healing. A faint
bruise now.” He shook his head at her. “No worries.”

“
So you’ll still be my
friend even if I occasionally give you welts and break your bones?”
she half-joked.

He nodded. “Yes, but I cross the line at
decapitation.” He swiped his hand in the air. “I just won’t be able
to look at you anymore.”

The cafeteria erupted in laughter.

“
Damn,” said Riddick. “I
didn’t know everyone had super hearing. Must be something in Lunch
Lady Doris’ mush patties.”

“
No, it’s that,” said Kylie,
pointing near the front of the cafeteria.

The target of everyone’s laughter was Val.
He’d stripped down to his underwear, doing a handstand, singing the
children’s song “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” while blood
rushed to his face. While everyone was laughing, the Stuck-Ups were
in muted shock, telling Jenna that Val didn’t plan this
attention-getting performance.

She noticed that Malcolm was neither laughing
nor seemed shocked. In fact, he wasn’t even staring at Val. His
fiery blue eyes were targeting Jenna. He gave her a gentlemanly nod
before grabbing his backpack and walking away.

Principal Greene exited the rarely-seen
administrative wing of the school. “What’s going on here?!” she
demanded to know. The howling ruckus died down, but a few chuckles
could still be heard; she stood with her hands on her hips,
scanning the cafeteria, and eventually locking her administrative
sights on Val’s half-naked body. “Valentine Lockhart!” She snapped
her fingers in an ear-piercing sound of authority, creating an echo
that traveled across the cafeteria. “In my office, now!”

Val seemed to break out of whatever hypnosis
that he’d been in and fell to the floor. Shaky, he managed to stand
up, grab his clothes, and hide himself as he trailed behind
Principal Greene; she was click-clacking furiously in her stilettos
toward the administrative offices. She pushed him into a dark
narrow hall and slammed the door behind them.

The cafeteria’s noise level went back up as
students chatted about the recent strip show and singing debut of
Valentine Lockhart. Embarrassed, the Stuck-Ups left, running away
from all the points and stares.

What goes around, comes
around
, Jenna thought gleefully.

“
Phew!” Riddick shook his
head. “One more second of that low-budget one-man act, and I was
gonna be scarred for life. That dude was so close to revealing why
he’s nicknamed ‘
Serpentine
.’”