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Alistair couldn’t take his eyes off the new girl.
He felt gross and weird about it, but his eyes kept being drawn to her, to the way she sauntered down the hall like she owned it, the way her red-brown braids swayed with each step, the way her elven ears glittered with small gold hoops. Her shoulders were thrown back confidently, and he straightened his own posture to match her. Eamon was always berating him for his slouch, but this girl made him stand taller without even saying a word.
She had a black leather jacket. His letterman jacket felt gauche compared to it.
They were both heading in the same direction. He kept looking down at his class list to make sure he was actually going the right way and not giving in to a subconscious urge to follow her like a creep.
It was during one of his compulsive glances at his list that he heard the smack, the thump of books hitting the linoleum, and he looked up sharply. The new girl’s books were on the floor, and Vaughan Kendells was laughing as he kept walking past her.
Well, tried to walk past her, because quick as a snake the girl whipped around and slammed the back of his knee with her heavy work boot. Vaughan buckled, throwing his hands out to catch himself as his knees hit the floor. Alistair hurried to get there, but the girl had already slammed her boot down on Vaughan’s hand to pin him like a bug.
“Pick those up,” she said, her voice low and husky.
“What the fuck!”
“Pick up. The books.”
Vaughan’s weasel-faced friends had stopped, too, ready to shove the girl back, and that was when Alistair arrived. He put himself between Vaughan’s lackeys and the girl, shoulders hunched but lips pressed into a determined line.
“Do you know who I am?” Vaughan spluttered, and he yelped when the girl ground her heel into his knuckles.
“You’re the asshole who knocked my books out of my hands,” she said. She bent at the waist, peering into Vaughan’s red face with wild golden eyes. “Do you know who I am? I’m the bitch who won’t put up with your shit today. Now. Pick up. The books.”
“Fine,” Vaughan said, “fine, fine, let me go!”
The girl removed her foot, and Vaughan scrambled to pick up the books and papers. He stood up and shoved them out to her, but the girl just gave him a cold look. “They’re out of order.”
“What?” Vaughan spat.
“You’ve got the chemistry book on top. I’m not going to chemistry right now. History book on top.”
Vaughan ground his teeth as he rearranged the pile, and the girl took it from him with a smile. “Thanks for the help, sweetheart. Now get going.”
“This isn’t over,” Vaughan snapped, and the girl laughed and waved him off. “My father is Urien Kendells!”
The girl was too busy looking over her class list, and Vaughan shoved past Alistair to stalk off with his friends.
Alistair edged closer to the girl. “Um. Did you say you have history next? Is it with Professor Aldous?”
The girl looked up at him, sized him up with a flick of her eyes, then smirked. “Yeah.”
“Oh!” Alistair felt almost lightheaded with excitement. “Um, me too! Can I walk with you?”
The girl thought about this, then shrugged and nodded. Alistair fell into step beside her, clutching his own books close to his chest. “That was… impressive, before.”
“Thanks,” she said. After a moment she cast him a mischievous look. “School’s like prison. Gotta exert your dominance on day one.”
“Good philosophy,” he said with a chuckle, and the girl grinned. “I’m Alistair, by the way.”
“Tabris.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said, and Tabris laughed as they walked into the classroom.