Willow (Blood Vine Series) (2 page)

             
I squared my shoulders. “Rueben Massie has no affect on me,” I told my reflection firmly. “None.” I would have been scared half to death if my reflection had answered but I still stared stupidly at the girl in the mirror, daring her to contradict me. I rolled my eyes and turned the water on. I splashed my face and reached blindly for the towel I had hung on the doorknob.

             
“Here ya go.”

I jumped and gasped at the sound of Ivy’s voice. “What are you doing in here?” I demanded angrily.

             
She pursed her pretty lips. “You thought he was cute, huh?” she asked.

             
“Who?” I turned away. Of course I knew who.

             
“Hmm,” she murmured. “That answers that.” She didn’t turn to leave. “I think it’s cute, really,” she said, trying to butt me out of the tiny bathroom.

             
I didn’t need to ask. “I am not finished,” I told her. I put my hand on the doorjamb stubbornly.

             
“I bet he has a girlfriend.”

             
“So?” I was not going to give her any ammo.

             
She stood there smiling at me from the hallway. “You almost done?”

             
I sighed. She wouldn’t leave me alone anyways. “Yeah,” I mumbled as I brushed past her.

             
“Sleep tight, Sis,” she taunted. I didn’t respond.

             
I had a hard time falling asleep that night. I wondered if he did have a girlfriend. Then, in the next moment I was angrily telling myself that it didn’t matter anyways. I had enough to worry about with moving to a new town without the added unease of Rueben Massie and his relationship status.

Chapter Two

Grover High

             
Schools everywhere were basically the same. Ivy had told me that this morning when we pulled into the parking lot, but now it came crashing down on me as I entered the office to sign in. The morning so far had passed awkwardly with blatant stares and nervous hellos. The school was small, the student body only being about 300. The junior class I was joining had 76 members. Ivy had on a dangerously short skirt with a tight fitting white shirt.
No wonder the boys like her,
I thought bitterly. I had decided on wearing jeans and a tee shirt. I questioned my choice all the way to school. Once we got there, though, I was glad for it. Everyone was basically wearing the same thing I was. Ivy was delighted at the prospect of standing out and I was delighted at the thought that I could blend right in. I just hoped that no one would realize we were sisters.

             
We separated as soon as we got out of the car. I didn’t even turn around to make sure she was ok, I knew she would be. I was surprised when I heard my name called just inside the front door. “Hey Willow,” came the shout. I turned and my breath caught somewhere between my stomach and my throat. It was Rueben Massie.

             
“How did you know my name?” I asked when he caught up to me.

             
“Small town.” He smiled widely to reveal white, even teeth.

             
“Oh.” I half smiled and tucked a stray hair behind my ear; I always did that when I got nervous. I looked at the floor, and the walls, and the door behind him - anywhere but actually at him. “So,” I began.

             
“What’s your first class?” he asked hurriedly before I could dismiss him.

             
We had come the Friday before and registered. They had given us our schedules then, but I consulted it now, even though I had it memorized. “English,” I told him.

             
“Cool! Me too. Come on, I’ll walk you to class,” he said as he began to steer me through the crowd.

             
“Thanks.” I smiled at him in gratitude and he smiled back. He was a good-looking boy, I decided. He had a full head of unruly blonde hair. I figured that he must have messed it up on purpose. His blue eyes twinkled at me in amusement. I grew self-conscious under his stare and found myself wishing he would run into something just so he would look away.

             
“You are really pretty,” he finally said. I didn’t even look at him, but I felt my eyes widen in surprise.

             
“What?” I asked, still looking away.

             
“Well, I just mean,” he laughed a little.

             
I finally gathered enough courage to look at him. At least he was blushing. I rationalized his sanity to myself thinking that I was pretty to most people. I had lived in Ivy and Bella’s shadow for so long that I couldn’t think of myself as pretty. But to others, I might be. I laughed softly. “Ok,” I said.

             
He beamed down at me. I had to admit that he appealed to me a lot more yesterday when he was ignoring Ivy. I looked away again so as not to encourage him too much. “Well, here we are,” he said, pointing his elbow towards a door.

             
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked in surprise when he didn’t follow.

             
He stammered and looked at his feet. “I don’t actually have this class,” he admitted sheepishly.

             
“Ok,” I said again. I turned and entered the classroom alone. Seconds later, my ears burned bright red when Mrs. Retting introduced me to the whole class as Ivy Bennett from Michigan. “I am actually Willow Bennett,” I told her.

             
“Oh!” She appeared startled and looked down at her notes. “Yes, of course you are, dear. Yes,” she repeated for emphasis. “Class,” she said turning me to the room, “this is Willow Bennett from Michigan.” She smiled at me proudly. I managed a small smile back to her before I shuffled to the first empty seat.

             
“Willow? Like the tree?” I heard a whisper behind me and whispered giggles. I groaned inwardly.

             
By second period my stomach had finally quit churning from embarrassment. I sat quietly in the back of the room. Chemistry had to be the worst subject ever. At least Mr. Payne had not made any embarrassing introductions. He probably assumed I had met everyone already. I set my lips in a straight line and kept my head down. I just hoped that no one approached me. I wasn’t prepared with a fake smile or some happy words.

             
Unlike Ivy, all I wanted to do was fit in. I wanted it so desperately. I knew I never would, so the most I could hope for was to become invisible. It was always hard for the first few days, until everyone realized I wasn’t very people friendly. I tried, because I always thought it would be different at every school. Really, it was always the same. It was easier for me to be ignored than to open myself for ridicule. I sighed and for a horrible moment I thought I was going to cry. I shook myself out of my Eeyore-like glum moment immediately. I reminded myself in a no nonsense way that I was not human and therefore I didn’t have to adhere to their standards.

             
Once the teacher got the class under control I took stock of this new student body. Jock. Cheerleader. Nerd. Brains. Art-freak. Burn-out. Skater. Yeah … typical.

             
I gave my best haughty glare when a brown haired girl with bright green eyes looked my way. Green eyes darted quickly away. I sighed, not for the first time that day, and looked back down at my desk. I didn’t bother to open the book. Pass or fail, what did it matter to me?

             
The morning passed slowly enough. I didn’t have any classes with Rueben and for that I was thankful. The green-eyed girl was in every one of my classes. That was how it was in small schools, though, a lot of the faces were familiar. The girl’s name was Carlie and she was definitely on the cheerleading squad.

             
There seemed to be a whisper that followed me down the hall when the bell rang. I hugged the big textbook closer to my chest, as if that would defend me against cruel teenagers. Once at my locker I had to look again at the combination the office lady had given me. “Thirty-two left,” I mumbled to myself while I turned the small dial, “sixteen right, eight left.” I pulled hard on the latch but it didn’t open. Last period I was late to class for this very reason. I knew I should have just left it unlocked. I groaned and slammed the palm of my hand against the cool metal.

             
“You all right, newbie?” a low voice, sounding very amused, asked.

             
I scoffed under my breath, not bothering to raise my head to look at the boy who had come to mock me. “Just peachy.”

             
“The school here is cheap as hell. Pretty sure that same lock was here when Pebbles Flintstone graduated.”

             
I turned my head just enough to get a glimpse of him. His face was split by a huge grin when he realized I was looking. He was short and not nearly as good-looking as Rueben, but there was something extremely attractive about him.

             
His sun-bleached hair hung just below his ears and his blue eyes sparkled mischievously. He reminded me of a surfer from California, not that I had ever been to California, but he is what I imagined a surfer would look like. But we were in Massachusetts. Once I finally realized I was staring, I looked away quickly. “Yeah, it’s stuck,” I said stupidly.

             
“I’m Jed Flannigan,” he inserted quickly.

             
“Jed?”

             
“Yep. Like Jedi, without the I.” He flashed his too white teeth and wiggled his eyebrows.

             
A small chuckle rose to my lips and escaped before I could stop it. “I’m Willow, like the tree.”

             
His hand rose up to offer me a handshake, as if this were a business meeting. “It’s nice to meet you, Willow,” he said stiffly.

             
I noticed the way his muscles made the sleeve of his shirt cling to his arm when he raised it. “Likewise, Mr. Flannigan,” I replied in the same tone. We both laughed. My laugh sounded forced, as if my throat wasn’t used to making such strange sounds.

             
“Where are you heading?”

             
“Um … I have to be in Algebra.” I wrinkled my nose. Who could possibly find enjoyment in looking at numbers for an hour?

             
“With Mr. Cluck?”

             
“Uh …” I shuffled my papers so I could see my schedule again. That wasn’t his name. “No, it’s Mr. Cruff.”

             
“Yeah,” he grinned again, “just wait, you’ll see what I mean.”

             
I blinked and looked away, flustered by his cute smile. This school definitely had some potential. “That is, if I can get into my locker. Think he’ll notice if I have a psych book?” I waved the textbook from my last class.

             
“Probably not.” He made a fist and pounded it into my locker in a series of punches. The door popped open.

             
“Wow, I thought that lock was supposed to keep people out.”

             
He winked. “I’ve been around for a while.”

             
“I guess so.” I made a face that sent my eyebrows to my hair.

             
He leaned in closer while I bent to switch out my books. “Can I walk you to class?” He sounded almost nervous to be asking, afraid I would tell him no.

             
“Are you going that way?”

             
“Absolutely.” He rose up again to stand at attention.

             
“All right, but this isn’t a date, right?” I smiled widely so he would know that I was only kidding.

             
“Just a walk.”

             
I closed my locker with a loud bang but the door just flung back open. “Ugh!”

             
“Allow me.” Jed punched the metal again, this time securing the door shut.

             
“You’ll have to show me how you did that.”
             
Jed stiffened when a large group of boys passed us in the hallway. I looked up and regretted it instantly when I locked eyes with Rueben. He was in the middle of a loud group that were all sporting their letterman jackets. “Hey Willow,” he called with a nod.

             
I waved back at him and quickly shoved my hair behind my ears. I hoped he wouldn’t come talk to me. Then everyone would stop and stare. “Hey,” I called back weakly. My ears burned red.

             
With growing horror I watched as Rueben broke free from the crowd and approached me. “How are you doing?” His deep brown eyes shifted over to take in Jed, suddenly standing way too close to me.