Dark Seraphine (The Seraphine Trilogy) (18 page)

Beside the bleachers
,
Erica and the pep squad did their thing. She managed to talk about five or six of the other cheerleaders into coming tonight. Lacrosse didn
’
t get the same respect as basketball and football. Everybody knew that. It meant a lot to me that Erica went out of her way to set up my own little
cheering section
. Right now
,
everything that she did showed me a girl who was willing to stand by my side
, a
normal girl
as Gia put it.
Erica was s
omeone
who lived an ordinary life and who didn
’
t have weird stalker friends following me and pinning me up against a tree.

So what
’
s the problem
,
my man?

Why was I ready to pile drive Zeke and Ethan just because my blood boiled each time I glanced over at Gia and Thorne? Shoulders and helmets rammed into me
,
knocking me backward. I glanced up at the sky
,
and cleared the stars out of my eyes.

Okay, they got me; but our team scored a point.

This
rush of heat fired through me
,
along with something else I couldn
’
t finger. I lifted my body up off the ground
,
yet again
,
and dus
ted my pants. The opposing team’s score
was now tied with
ours
. As
the
defense
guy
,
my job was to change all of that. Zeke and Ethan exchanged a few words just before they glanced my way. I was pretty sure they intended to bum rush me again.

“
Not going to happen
,
my mans
,”
I muttered and assumed the stance in front of their goalie.

I had a different plan
,
though. These two tack heads were in for a surprise. They charged. I did too. A few of their teammates tried to block my way.
Not a good idea
,
dudes.
I plowed through the middle of the group
,
knocking
a few dudes
over as though they were babies. The only opponents left were Zeke and Ethan standing by our goal.

“
Go
,
Caleb!
”
Erica
’
s squad roared.

I ran until I collided with Zeke. I passed my stick across Ethan
’
s chest with a force that knocked him on his backside.
Whoa! What happened there? No time to think about it. Just keep moving.

My team
’
s ball zoomed past my hea
d and hit the net.
Just like that
,
we won the game.
I found myself lifted up in the air
,
hero style
,
the adrenaline rush I needed. Somewhere on the sidelines
,
Gia and Thorne stood watching
this
moment
,
my time to shine. Cheers roared around me. But wait
. Something
was wrong. A rumble worked its way through the team and the crowd.
The noise
sounded like a stampede.

Right away
,
the dudes who held me up
dropped me
. I thudded to the ground
,
landing on my bad arm.
Cursing, yelling, and a crap load of
unf
s
and other
scuffli
ng noises erupted around me.
A fight broke out. I was about to get my face caved in if I didn
’
t get up.

Glancing through the tangle of arms and feet
wrestling
around me
,
I attempted to cover up my face. S
omething feathery
brushed over
my hands. I moved
them away. The
thing that tickled me was actually long red hair
hanging down from a girl’s head
.
Oh boy.
Something that felt like either the
cleat of a shoe
or somebody’s lacrosse stick
struck the inside of my left leg
.
I cried out as my thigh was almost ripped open.
The culprit was Paige.

What I thought was
either
a cleat
or a stick actually
turned out to be a high heel. She stood in the midst of the fight with me pinned under that strange hold thing she placed on me before. A crazed grin mucked up her face. My head filled with an empty void
,
and all I could hear was her voice.
“
Did you get
the name
,
Caleb?
You should remember
it
now. Better hurry up and tell me
,
Love. Do you see these block heads fighting all around us? Guess what? They can
’
t see you. But you
’
ll feel their feet crushing your skull at any moment.
”
Her cackle echoed through me. 

At once
,
Raze
’
s face appeared over me. And then Marisa and Lelo shoved their way into the mix
,
tackling Paige like two football players.
Damn.
Everybody around me moved like they were inside of
a fight scene taking place in
slow motion. But my body came out all right.

Raze yanked me out of th
e heap just before the largest l
acrosse player on our team slammed another dude down on the spot where Paige tried to kill me. I slid across the grass
,
staining my purple and gold uniform.
A whistle shrilled into the air.
Coaches
,
teachers
,
and Principal Armstrong
all hustled around, pulling people off of one another.

“
Caleb
,
are you alright?
”
Erica threw her arms around me. I searched the bleachers for Gia and Thorne. Nothing. Kyle was busy calming a few of our h
ot-
headed teammates down.

“
I
’
m good
,”
I lied and limped toward the
field house located beside the playing area
.
Erica
was
right on my heels. I plopped down on the benches just
in
side the doorway
,
pain ripping through the hole in my leg.

“
What the freak
,
Caleb? Did somebody ram their pole through your leg?
”
Erica asked
, her face all screwed up and her eyes filled with worry
.
“
Here
,
apply pressure directly over it. I
’
ll grab the
First Aid
K
it.
”

I nodded. The pain from my stiletto wound wasn
’
t anywhere near as piercing as the stab in my heart. Erica trotted back over to me and set to work cutting the fabric away from around
the gash
.
In a matter of minutes she stopped the bleeding and dressed the
area
.

“
There you are
,”
Coach Pitaro
’
s voice said as he approached Erica and me.
“
What the hell
just happened out
there
?
”

“
I think it was called me winning
a
game
,”
I answered
,
standing up to face him.

“
Is that right? Well
,
I think you
’
re suspended for the rest of the season
,”
he announced. I scoffed a laugh.

“
You can
’
t be serious
,”
I said
,
even though I knew he was. Beside me
,
Erica
placed a hand on my shoulder
.
“
But it wasn
’
t my fault. Those two dudes on the other team
attacked me first. It was either me or them at that last play
,
coach.
”

“
You purposely set out to hurt those two boys. Do you even realize how strong you are?
”
he asked
,
staring at me kind of like he
’
d never seen me before.

“
Coach
,
this is lacrosse
,
not ballet. Violence is part of the game
,”
I answered.

“
Contact
,
yes
, c
alculated
moves to injure others
,
no. I
’
m sorry. You
’
re out.
”
He gave me that hard look that he always used when benching someone. Only I wasn
’
t about to be warming my butt cheeks on the steel. I was kicked off of the team. I stood there and stared at him for the longest moment.
“Next time you need to consider your actions before making an angry mistake.”
He
turned and walked away. This was yet another thing I love taken away from me.

Even though I knew Erica stood beside me
,
I still felt a million things rush through me: anger
,
fear
,
neglect
,
jealousy
—
extra emphasis on that last word. Spinning around
,
I slammed my fist into the
dry
wall
,
denting it.

“
Caleb
,
stop it!
”
Erica said putting her arms around my waist and burying her face against my chest. My heart throbbed so hard I thought it might burst through my ribcage and smack her one.

“
What
’
s going on with me?
”
I hissed through gasping breaths. All I could think about was what Paige said a couple weeks ago. She told me that the change had already happened
,
but I just
didn’t
see it yet.

“
Let
’
s get out of here
,”
Erica suggested. I allowed her to lead me out of the
field house
and to my Challenger parked outside in the school parking lot.

* * *

Gia disappeared for one full week of school. To be as deadly as he was in the ring and on the football field
,
Thorne walked around like a lost puppy. The two classes that she and I shared felt dull and lifeless without being able to see her smile light up the room when she walked in. I needed some serious get-over-Gia therapy.

So
,
when Kyle and Shani suggested a Friday evening beach trip
,
I jumped at the chance.
He
took Shani in his car
,
and Erica rode with me in mine.
It was the privacy thing. At least it was for Kyle and Shani, anyway.
About twenty or so other kids met up with us at the spot
where we intended to set up the bonfire
.

Sitting on a hill about fifty feet away from the ocean
,
Erica and I watched all of our friends play
Light-Up Frisbee
in the cold dark night. The only
other
lights
shining on our little gang
were the ones line
d up along the walkway behind the place where Erica and I were sitting
.

“
Will you get mad if I say something?
”
Erica asked.