Jacob looked forward to taking Aloren to school with him. He keyed to the tree to get her, but she wasn’t ready yet, so he waited by the door. When she came downstairs a couple of moments later, he sucked in a breath of air. Something was different about her face—her eyes were even prettier than usual. It took him a second to figure out why. She was wearing makeup. Wow. She looked so . . . so . . . hot.
“Is this going to be okay?” She waved at what she was wearing. “Queen Arien picked it out.”
Jacob nodded. She was wearing jeans and a bright pink T-shirt. He’d seen clothes like that at school before. “I think so. Girls wear jeans all the time.”
She laughed. “You probably don’t know much about fashion.”
He shook his head.
“I kept up with it very well in Macaria. I was sad when your mom told me that Macarian fashion wouldn’t be helpful while attending school at Mountain Crest.”
“She’s right. ‘Course, there are dances throughout the year where you’d probably be fine wearing one of the more fancy dresses.”
Her face lit up. “Really? Great!” She motioned to the door. “Let’s get going.”
Aloren peppered Jacob and Matt with questions the entire ride into town. Math was interesting. Shirley nearly freaked out when Mr. Coolidge made her move to an empty chair two seats behind Jacob and Aloren took Shirley’s spot.
“This is stupid!” Shirley said, throwing her bag on her new chair. “I’ve sat there the entire semester! Why do I have to move? Why can’t she sit here?”
“I’m truly sorry,” Aloren said. “I’m fine with going back there.”
Mr. Coolidge shook his head. “No. The note from the front office is very specific. She’s to stay near Jacob.”
Shirley pouted, pushed her bag off the chair, and plopped down. “Ridiculous.”
Instead of continuing to make Jacob come early, Mr. Coolidge simply gave him other material to study during the period. Jacob had given up trying to convince Mr. Coolidge to let him just transfer to a different class.
Luckily, things weren’t frustrating anymore—his relationship with Mr. Coolidge had changed. They had an understanding that worked for both of them. Jacob helped out in the class whenever needed, and Mr. Coolidge didn’t ask him about anything odd he’d noticed—including Jacob molding wood and metal with his bare hands.
Math ended and Jacob walked Aloren to English, and the teacher rearranged the seating so Aloren could sit next to him. Being an attractive “exchange student” who wasn’t shy and spoke perfect English really helped her fit in with the others.
Jacob reluctantly left her as he headed to history and she to art. When the period finally ended, he ran to the locker room to get his gym clothes, excited for Aloren to see him play basketball.
Kevin was in there too. “Hey, no more ball during lunch.”
“What? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Dad told me this morning—the principal decided it was time to end the tradition. He thinks more work will get done if the admins aren’t reffing games.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Totally.”
Jacob’s stomach churned at the thought of no longer being able to play basketball, but he set the feeling aside, determined to find out for himself if what Kevin had said was true. He wouldn’t put it past the guy to lie just to prevent Jacob from playing.
Jacob grabbed his clothes anyway and jogged to the orange gym. Tani, Josh, and Aloren waited near the doors. Jacob stopped when he saw their expressions.
“Is it true? No more ball?”
Tani nodded. “Stupid principal.”
Jacob dropped his stuff. “Why, though?”
“Oh, the usual. They want to be ‘more efficient.’” She flipped her hair back. “It’s dumb, I know.”
“Now what?” He wasn’t sure where to eat lunch if it wasn’t in the gym. He’d only eaten in the cafeteria once since starting his junior year. It felt weird, thinking about eating there again.
“We could try the commons area,” Josh said.
“Yeah—that’s where Matt and his girlfriend usually eat, right?” Tani asked.
“And the rest of the football team.” Jacob wasn’t sure he wanted to eat with all the football players, but he and his friends turned and walked there anyway. Matt scooted over when Jacob, Aloren, and the others sat near him and Sammy.
“Heard about basketball,” Matt said. “Sorry ‘bout that, dude.”
Jacob rubbed the back of his neck and didn’t respond. He didn’t feel like talking about it anymore.
While they ate, Aloren and Tani got on the topic of guys. Jacob rolled his eyes, but his heart froze when Aloren mentioned seeing a cute one.
“What did he look like?” Tani asked.
“Tall. Very pretty eyes. We don’t have a lot of blue-eyed people where I’m from.”
Was she talking about him? But then she continued, and his heart fell.
“And his hair was blond.”
Jacob’s hair was dark brown. Really dark brown.
Tani nodded. “I’d have to see him to know who he was. Did he talk to you?”
“Oh, yes. Quite a lot. We sit next to each other. He’s an athlete—he spoke of some sort of sport. I think Jacob plays it as well.” She turned to Jacob. “What’s the name of the sport you play?”
“Basketball,” Tani said before he could answer.
“Yes! That’s it.”
Jacob tried to control the feelings of jealousy that hit him in the pit of the stomach. He’d never once considered that Aloren would crush on someone else. He felt like kicking himself. What had he been expecting? That he’d save her life and she’d melt all over him? He sighed in frustration. None of that gave him a claim on her.
No one seemed to notice him withdraw from the conversation. That irked him, which, in turn, bothered him even more. He’d never been the type to get worked up like that.
Everyone cleaned up and Jacob walked Aloren to class, neither saying anything.
***
The ride back to Mendon went quickly—Aloren babbled about her first day of school, Jacob stared out the window, and Matt sang along with the radio.
Dad was home when they got there, waiting on the front porch. “Jacob, take Aloren to the tree, then come back.”
He looked upset. Had something happened? Jacob did as he was asked, then found his dad. He was already speaking with Matt, but filled Jacob in on what they’d discussed.
“Someone left the chicken run and coop open last night, and the chickens wandered away this morning. Since they usually come back on their own, and haven’t, I was just telling Matt they’re either dead or stolen by now.” He glared at Matt and Jacob, daring one of them to deny what he’d just said.
The brothers exchanged glances. Matt looked extra guilty. “Sorry, Dad, it was probably me—I put them away last night.”
Dad nodded. “Thank you for your honesty.” He sighed and didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “You won’t do anything else until every chicken is found—alive or dead.”
Matt looked at his feet, but didn’t say anything.
Dad turned to Jacob. “I’m home early because we were planning to have a meeting in Eklaron today. That’s still going to happen. I need you to round everyone up and take them to Kenji’s place. When you’re done, return here to help your brother.”
Jacob’s mouth popped open. He’d never been left out of a meeting before! “But—”
Dad put a hand on his shoulder, addressing both him and Matt. “Come as soon as you’ve found all the chickens.”
Jacob nodded, and took Mom, Dad, and Amberly to Taga Village. Amberly surprised him by rushing up to Kaiya, Akeno’s little sister, as soon as she stepped through the door. They giggled, jumping up and down, then ran off to play. Jacob looked at his parents.
“She knows Kaiya really well.”
His mom laughed. “Yes. We figured it would only be a matter of time before we were able to come here as a family, and I started taking Amberly for walks a couple of months ago while you were at school and Dad at work. We wanted her to get used to the Makalos, and have a good experience on Eklaron.”
“Good idea.”
Jacob keyed to Macaria and the Fat Lady’s cabin. After he’d dropped her and Gallus off at Kenji’s place, he returned home and found Matt.
It took the brothers an hour to locate the chickens and get them back to the coop. Luckily, none were injured, but it was dirty, frustrating, and annoying work. Matt apologized several times.
When they were done, they cleaned up and keyed to Kenji’s.
“We’re nearly finished here,” Dad said. “But come—have a seat.”
“Where’s Aloren?” Jacob asked, looking around. He ignored the slight pang that hit him when he remembered what had happened in school that day.
Kenji motioned out the window. “In the tree.”
Jacob frowned. “Why isn’t she here?”
“Are we positive she should be a part of these meetings?” Brojan asked.
“Of course,” Jacob said. He couldn’t believe the patriarch would even ask something so . . . stupid. “She already knows everything that’s going on—plus she’d be able to help a lot.”
“All right. Go get her.”
Jacob got to his feet and opened a link to the tree, inviting Aloren to join them.