Maverick (Maverick Academy Series) (15 page)

She really needed to stop noticing him.

Nolan
chose the moment Whit was rolling her eyes at him to look up. Before Whit could dodge his eyes, he caught her, wrapping her in a force she couldn’t control. She finally tore her eyes away and repeated to herself that this could only end in heartache. She needed to avoid getting involved with Nolan. He was just a flirt, nothing more.

Whit had only dated a couple of times, and only one of those date
s had turned into a boyfriend. It lasted all of one month. Tyler had been a great guy and super sweet, but he hadn’t been able to handle the accident and how it destroyed Whit. She didn’t blame him for ending it. He had tried to be there for her, but when she lost her parents, she hadn’t wanted to be around anyone. Unfortunately, that had included her boyfriend, no matter how supportive he was.

And that had been a good guy.
She still questioned whether she would ever be ready to trust someone she didn’t know. At times she felt lonely and wanted to have a boyfriend, especially when she was around guys who looked like Nolan. On the other hand, though, getting involved meant the chance of getting hurt, and Whit hated being vulnerable.

Mark saved her from sliding further down the
Nolan slope by tapping her shoulder and distracting her from the mesmerizing effects of Nolan’s eyes. It was obvious from his expression that he had been trying to talk to her. Whit looked once more in Nolan’s direction before turning to Mark.

He’d been asking about her
classes she realized. She told him briefly what classes she had and then gave him an overview of her mind class. Of course, she left out the part about Nolan. He looked interested in her dream, and Whit knew that if Mr. Marcus hadn’t started class, he would’ve asked more questions.

The teacher called them to attention then, though, starting
class by demonstrating the three volleyball skills he wanted them to practice: bump, set, and spike. He asked students to partner up and get a ball, then practice the first skill: bumping. Whit glanced in Rory’s direction but noticed one of her tall boys hovering close by, so she was out. Before she could look around anymore, Mark tugged on her arm and asked if she needed a partner. She nodded, grateful. As Mark headed across the gym to get them a volleyball, Whit noticed Nolan walking towards her.

“So you and Mark
are partners?” he asked, scowling.

“Yeah,” Whit answered lightly, frustrated that her heart thumped a little harder when he was near.

“I was going to ask you to be mine, but I guess Mark beat me to it,” he said with a flick of his eyebrows. Before Whit could reply, Darby called Nolan back over to her. It seemed to her that Nolan already had a partner, so why did he lie about asking her? Whit rolled her eyes again in Nolan’s direction.

“Something wrong?” Mark asked.

“Oh … uh … no,” Whit answered surprised that Mark had returned so quickly and silently. They started bumping back and forth, or trying to at least. Whit couldn’t quite keep the ball in their area. It seemed to have a mind of its own, and kept going all over the gym. They had to chase it so many times that they were both winded by the time Mr. Marcus call a halt to bumping and started setting practice. Whit and Mark were giggling so hard by that time that their setting skills were definitely the worst in the class. But they kept at it. Mr. Marcus finally challenged each pair to attempt a bump, set, spike rotation, and see how long they could keep the ball from hitting the floor. Whit and Mark were both grinning before they started, knowing that before long the ball would be back across the gym. When it happened, Whit took off to retrieve the ball, which was headed right toward Nolan and Darby. Nolan stopped her ball with his foot and picked it up. As Whit got closer, she heard Darby comment that some people just weren’t skilled at sports. Nolan laughed then turned his attention to Whit.

“Lose something?” he asked tossing the ball in the air.
Whit just smiled and tried to take the ball back, but Nolan held it out of her reach. “So if I give this back to you, what do I get in return?” he grinned.

“My thanks,” Whit replied
plainly.

“Hum, I was thinking something else.
Want to guess?” Whit knew he was just trying to be cute, but she decided he really needed to be put in his place. Show him that she wasn’t someone that cared to be toyed with like the other girls.

She
gazed in Nolan’s direction for a second before looking on Darby. “Hey Darby, would you mind giving me your ball so I can go back to my partner?” she asked sweetly. Darby tossed the ball lightly toward her, only too happy to oblige if it meant getting Nolan back to herself. “Thanks,” she said before jogging back toward Mark, who was watching with a baffled expression. She wanted to look back Nolan and see how he reacted, but fought the urge.

“What was that
all about?” Mark asked.

“
Nolan was giving me a hard time,” she explained. “What’s the deal with him and Darby, anyway? I mean, why would she want to be with someone that flirts with other girls right in front of her face?”

“That’
s just how he is, and Darby’s not his girlfriend anymore, so she can’t really stop it. She’d like him to be,” he mumbled. “I think they still
hang out
a lot though,” he said with a grin and flick of his eyebrows.

Whit
understood from Mark’s grin what ‘hang out’ meant, and it was obvious that it wasn’t a secret. Nolan seemed to
hang out
with a lot of girls.

“Yeah, I understand
.” Whit
sulked. Why couldn’t he be a nice guy? It was such a disappointment. “I guess it doesn’t really surprise me that Nolan is like that. Everyone’s warned me about him.” Whit was unsure if Mark had heard her, because he started bumping the volleyball again. She sighed and bumped it back.

By the end of class, Whit was sweating and tired.
Her day had been a doozie, and it wasn’t over yet. She still had to make it through dinner and whatever happened later in the dorms. She wished she had her own room to disappear into, where no one could bother her or expect her to talk. Instead, she headed into the locker room with all the other sweaty girls.

As
she changed back into her regular clothes, Rory sat down next to her. She asked about Whit’s classes and friends from her previous school. Whit felt embarrassed by her lack of friends, but told her about Seth and the cross country team. She knew she was making herself sound a whole lot more social than she’d actually been, but couldn’t help it; she didn’t want to sound like a loner. Rory mentioned that Maverick had a running club that met several times a week, and wondered if Whit would like to join it with her.

They
were still talking about meeting up with the running club as they crossed the gym to leave, when Whit saw Nolan and Mark playing basketball on the other end. As the boys played, Whit noticed how muscular and good looking both guys were. Of course, that was the moment Nolan decided to glance up, catching her checking him out.

He
stared at Whit for a moment before smiling back cautiously. Whit knew he was still smarting from her earlier treatment during Movement Performance, but thought he’d get over it soon. He looked away then and continued playing. Whit felt a bit guilty about being so standoffish with him, but knew that it would keep him at a distance. And that was the best, safest thing. Rory stole her attention away from Nolan by asking if she wanted to meet up for dinner in a couple of hours. Whit nodded, but couldn’t resist one last look at Nolan, though she knew it was a waste of energy.

Chapter 13

After a very entertaining dinner with Rory and Ellie, Whit felt caught up on all the major happenings and gossip at Maverick. It had been a really long day, and she just wanted to go up to her room, relax, and be alone. As she opened the door to her room, she realized that luck just wasn’t her friend today. Darby and Nalini were already there, laying across Nalini’s bed and gossiping.

“Hey,” Whit
said as sat down on her bed and started pulling books out to do her homework. She felt Darby looking at her, but chose to pretend it wasn’t happening.

“H
ow was your first day?” Nalini asked with what appeared to be genuine interest.

“It was okay, I guess
,” Whit replied, trying to be polite but avoid getting into a conversation at the same time.

“Well, that’s good
.” She paused, as if she was waiting for Whit to say something else, but then mumbled, “Darby and I were about to head off to a little get together in another room, so I guess I’ll see you later.”

Whit
looked up, feigning interest. She could tell from their outfits that boys were going to be at this get together, and had to stifle a smirk. Darby was wearing a spaghetti strap top and the tiniest skirt she had ever seen. She was amazed that she could move without flashing anyone. Nalini covered a little more skin with a tight t-shirt and pair of jeans. Whit wondered for a moment about curfew and how the boys were going to get in. She also wondered when Nalini would be back, and whether she’d be alone. She’d liked to talk to her roommate for longer than five seconds without Darby there, since she didn’t know anything about her. She didn’t say anything, though, merely nodding in response.

When
Nalini and Darby left, she surveyed Nalini’s side of the room and tried to learn something about her roommate. After ten minutes of snooping, all she’d figured out was that Nalini had a crush on someone named Tom and that she really liked jewelry. After looking around for several more minutes, Whit finally gave up and tried to concentrate on homework.

She
struggled to focus for an hour, and finally felt like she’d completed everything she would need for the next day. She was exhausted, and decided to crawl into bed, even though it was only 9:30. Whit pulled the covers over her head and laid perfectly still, allowing the emotions of the day to wash over her. Then, when she felt like she was really alone, she finally allowed herself to cry. For missing her parents. For leaving Mona. For being at a new place.

She
didn’t realize it at the time, but it was the first night since she turned sixteen that she’d fallen asleep without being afraid that the dreams would haunt her during the night.

****************************

It was pitch black. She felt excited and scared at the same time. But this fear was different from her previous dreams. This fear felt okay. Whit felt a person move closer to her until she could feel their body heat. The person was tall and broad. It was a guy, a big guy. All of a sudden, a hand slipped around her waist and drew her up against the unknown body. Whit smiled and knew he was going to kiss her soon. While the one hand tightly held her around the waist, she felt his other hand run lightly up her arm until it reached her shoulder, then her neck. He tipped up her chin and BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

Whit jerked awake.
Now
that
dream had been different, but was it a vision or just a dream? It had been pleasant and thrilling, but not scary. Why couldn’t she have finished that one?

She darted an annoyed look at her clock
– and its alarm – and headed off to start another day at Maverick.

Chapter 14

By the end of the first week, Whit had figured out the campus and no longer felt so lost. She had called and talked to Mona several times about her classes and the students here, but overall her classes felt normal, and very much like the ones she had taken at previous schools, with the exceptions of Mind, History of Specials, and Cooperative Learning. Those three classes clearly focused on allowing students the opportunity to explore and understand their gifts.

History of Specials
was actually very informative, but then again, Whit was clueless. The class had already started a unit on the Redeemers when Whit joined, so she felt a bit behind. To tell the truth, though, the more she learned about the Redeemers the more scared she became. So far she’d learned that this group was well informed when it came to the many types of powers and skills. They believed that anyone who had powers or supernatural skills was committing a crime against nature. It was their mission to hunt down these “monsters” and exterminate them. Her class learned about several attacks orchestrated by the Redeemers, one of which had occurred at a school similar to Maverick only two years earlier. Only a few of the students had survived the attack. Most had been massacred.

The Redeemers were
started around 1800 by a man named Nicholas Crane, who, according to the story, lost his wife to either a vampire or werewolf. After her death, it became his obsession to find and destroy these soldiers of the devil. He recruited members throughout his life, and it was believed that a relative of his was still leading the group. In the modern age, its members numbered close to five hundred worldwide. There was a special group within the Redeemer organization that searched and attacked preparatory academies. According to the teacher, Mrs. Tiller, a total of ten schools had been found and destroyed since the group’s creation.

Every day so far in
History of Specials, Whit had left the room feeling shaken and worried about being discovered and killed by this fanatical group. She hoped at some point that the class would discuss procedures put in place in case of an attack. That would definitely be some information she’d memorize.

While learning about the Redeemers were scary,
Mind was tough and a very new experience. Mrs. McFaddin made them discuss their dream diaries, which had become a nightly assignment to Whit since she had so many dreams and visions. The other students dreamed about normal things and had visions about classes and their families … nothing scary. Whit felt really lucky for several nights because the visions had centered on Maverick. She’d assumed that they were actually just dreams brought on by the stress of being in a new place with new people. After much discussion, Mrs. McFaddin and the boys had agreed, with the exception of one dream. That particular vision still haunted her.

She had been trapped inside a box.
Her knees had been folded against her chest and her head tucked down. There was no room. It felt like there was no oxygen. Whit had pushed against the top and sides of the box, to no avail. She was trapped. The feelings during the dream had been overwhelming sadness, hopelessness, and isolation.

Whit had hated the vision.
Being trapped in such a small place in the dark had been more terrifying than any other vision she’d ever experienced. Her mind class had discussed it at great length until finally concluding that it could be a vision or just a dream. Mrs. McFaddin suggested that the dream might represent Whit’s stress in starting a new school and learning about her abilities. She advised Whit to talk about her feelings, stating that bottling them up would only cause more dreams. She reminded Whit of her office hours, in case she wanted to talk, and proposed that the dream diary could also help with relieve of the tension caused by the visions.

Other than the dream diary, Mrs. McFaddin had
also been trying to help Whit get sound in her visions. She tried playing music and soothing sounds while Whit napped and slept. So far, there was still no sound in the dreams. Mrs. McFaddin’s newest theory was that Whit could control the volume, she just didn’t want to turn it up. She had told Whit that one night, immediately before going to sleep, she wanted her to visualize a huge volume dial and picture herself turning the volume up. Whit thought it sounded ridiculous, but said she would try it.

Just thinking of the ridiculous made Whit recall her Cooperative Learning class.
The purpose of the class was to allow the differing gifts to interact with one another. They were placed into groups and then given challenges in which they had to work together using only their gifts. Whit giggled to herself when she remembered her class from the other day.

It
had only been the second class, and Whit was already a little upset with her luck. Groups were assigned by gift and each had five members. Her group was made up of a vampire named Thomas, a seeker named Bethany, and a fairy named Linda. The last member of her group, much to her dismay and excitement, was a caster named Nolan.

In t
he first class they spent the time introducing themselves and just talking. The instructor, Mrs. Ledford, had explained that trusting and getting to know each other was very important if a group wanted to be successful at cooperative learning. During the second class, they were given their first challenge. Their group was told that they were to use all of their gifts, collaboratively or separately, to steal a paperweight out of the headmaster’s office without getting caught. After hearing the instructions, the group sat in silence. Nolan and Bethany had been in Cooperative Learning before, so they were ready for the challenge. The rest of the students were new to the school this year, and were caught slightly off guard.

After much discussion,
they finally decided on a strategy. Nolan and Thomas’ job was to create diversions. Nolan could use fire while Thomas could mesmerize people. Bethany was the spotter or lookout, since she had super senses, which left Linda and Whit with the responsibility of stealing the paperweight.

T
he plan went off without a hitch. The group successfully got the baseball paperweight without being caught. However, even though they had been successful, Whit had felt useless. She hadn’t really done anything other than sneak into the headmaster’s office and snatch the paperweight. She hadn’t used her gift once during the theft. Not that she could have, since she couldn’t control it yet, but that wasn’t the point.

If she was going to do anything useful, she needed to figure out what exactly her gift could do and how she could manipulate it.

She’d
been reading up on the gift of mind and knew that some people could move objects with their mind or bend minds to their will. If she had those skills, she could be more useful. She had spoken to Mrs. McFaddin, but after much discussion had been told that any additional skills would probably develop on their own. Whit was dissatisfied, though, and impatient. She started trying to develop her telekinetic skills by focusing on an object and picturing it moving across the room. So far it had been a complete failure, but Whit was positive that with a little work she could do it.

When she mentioned to her Cooperative Learning group that she was trying to
develop her telekinetic skills, Nolan had immediately started making jokes about wishing his mind could make her do things. He constantly made comments that caused Whit’s checks to blush, and her attraction was becoming stronger every day. But she was fighting it. She didn’t like how he flirted and lead on so many girls, but there were moments when she was so attracted to him. It was just his looks, that was really the problem. He was too good looking. In the end, she felt like a moth being attracted to a flame, it didn’t matter how much she resisted.

Several times s
he caught herself watching him and wishing she could touch him. She just wanted to push the hair away from his face, since it was constantly falling into his eyes. Wanted to run her hands over his chest, which she had seen in the gym one day. It was completely drool worthy. And she definitely wanted to fit her lips to his and kiss him. Sadly, she had even started dreaming about him. The dreams were so hot, she’d started finding it hard to make eye contact with him during the day, which led to a lot of blushing on her part. She’d never reacted like this to a guy, and didn’t know what to do with these feelings. It seemed especially crazy since she didn’t even like him. But like every other Maverick girl, her heart beat faster when he was close and she just couldn’t make it stop.

She only knew that she
needed to figure it out soon, before her hormones got the better of her and she jumped him during class.

Chapter 15

Over the course of the first few weeks at Maverick, Whit
discovered that she loved being challenged. It never failed that she found the biggest challenges in Mind and Cooperative Learning. Art was still helpful too, as it became an outlet for all of her emotions, many of which revolved around a certain muscular heartthrob. Mona was excited that Whit was starting to enjoy school again, and seemed less stressed when they talked on the phone. Whit tried to call Mona at least every other day, but since it was a dead zone for cell phones, students had to use a phone in the lobby of the dorm. To do that, you had to sign up for a fifteen-minute time slot, and that meant racing downstairs every day before breakfast in hopes of beating the younger girls.

When she spoke with Mona,
she didn’t tell her about the dreams or how she cried occasionally at night. She usually focused on things that happened in Mind and Cooperative Learning, since it was exciting. Or boring topics, like all of her other classes which seemed normal, and most of the time she had to force herself to complete the homework.

C
ooperative Learning, though, was exhilarating and unpredictable. Sometimes they were given an assignment similar to getting the paperweight, while other classes were spent learning more about the various types of gifts students had. One class required all students to perform one of their gifts for their assigned group. Whit had felt absolutely worthless, as she still couldn’t do anything. She did bring in her dream journal and recounted some of her more interesting dreams, like with Seth and the cross country meet. But her gifts were clearly not as exciting as watching Nolan throw fire around or Thomas, who could use his vampire magnetism to mesmerize people. Bethany showed off her super senses, while Linda was able to hover over the ground because of wings that magically unfolded from her back. Compared to those performances, Whit’s had been a bore. It had been very educational, though, and Whit was enjoying getting to work with the others, especially Nolan.

Mind continued to force Whit outside her comfort zone.
There had been a few new developments to her skills. One improvement was sound. Whit wasn’t sure why there was sound all of a sudden, but she thought it was because she wanted there to be. She believed that in the beginning her mind had known she could only handle the vision part, and had blocked the sound. Her mind had been protecting her, or at least that was Whit’s opinion. She felt that as she became more adept at dealing with her skills, they’d continue to improve or expand. Mrs. McFaddin didn’t agree or disagree, just nodded along when Whit expressed this particular belief.

And s
ome dreams had started repeating themselves. Just this week Whit had experienced the dream of being trapped in an enclosed area for the third time. She had also had variations of the warehouse dream, showing different areas and obstacles she had to pass. Those dreams made her feel uncomfortable, but only one dream had filled Whit with terror lately.

It started with a man leaving an apartment building.
He was very nondescript, and carried a duffle bag and wore running clothes. He walked toward the entrance of a park and continued on until he reached a playground area. There, he sat casually on a bench, close to the swings, and watched the children. After a little while, he got up and walked away, leaving the duffle bag on the ground under the bench. The farther from the park the man got, the more elation he felt. He finally stopped at a coffee shop. After getting his coffee, he sank into a chair next to the front window. All of a sudden, there was a flash of light and the window vibrated. The man glanced toward the park and saw flames and smoke engulfing the area he’d just left. People ran by screaming, and the cops showed up quickly. The whole time the man sat at the window of the coffee shop, watching, with a small smile on his face.

Whit had
started searching the internet daily for news about a playground bombing, but hadn’t found anything. That only meant one thing: it hadn’t happened yet. She had discussed the dream with her mind class and Mrs. McFaddin. They had all been sympathetic to her feelings and agreed it was a future vision, but Mrs. McFaddin told her there was really nothing she could do with the information. Though she knew it’d be difficult, she would need to put the dream behind her.

Whi
t had been struggling with that. She felt like it was her responsibility to help those people, those children. She already had so much guilt over all the over visions that had come true. All the people she had seen in trouble and then read about in the newspaper or saw on the news. She knew Mrs. McFaddin was right; there was probably nothing she could do. But that didn’t make her feel any better about it. She was trying to release the emotions brought on by the dreams into her artwork, but it wasn’t working either. She felt useless, and had spiraled into a depression that Rory and Ellie definitely noticed.

“We
’re worried about you,” Ellie said at lunch one day.

“
You’ve been down so much lately, but we have a plan to cheer you up,” Rory said with a huge grin.

“Guys, I’m fine.
I just need some time to get over this dream,” Whit told them with sad eyes and a forced smile. She had told them about the dream and they had tried to help her search the internet, but after a week they obviously thought Whit needed to move on, just like Mrs. McFaddin. Whit knew they were right, but it was easier said than done.

“Well, surely you’ve seen the posters for the Halloween Ball.
It’s this Saturday. So we thought that we could all work on getting our costumes together. The school offers costumes for rent from some costume shop in the city,” Ellie said as she waved her hands around with excitement.

“Ellie
, of course, is going with Rosco, but it doesn’t matter if we have dates or not because we’ll be in costumes and no one will be able to tell who we are. I mean if someone asks you, great, but if not there are plenty of cute guys that go stag to the dances here. I speak from experience,” Rory said gleefully. “That’s actually how I met most of my guy friends.”

Whit looked at the two girls
, who were filled with excitement, and pushed her feelings of guilt and unhappiness to the back, smiling as big as she could manage. After planning to meet up after classes to discuss their costumes, they left the cafeteria and headed off in different directions, which meant Biology for Whit.

Whit
entered her class and headed to her seat beside Mark. When class started, Mr. Peyton explained that it was time to change lab partners. All the boys drew a name from the jar where the girls’ names were folded separately. This way it’d be random.