Much to Aiden’s relief, Ms. Yang didn’t call on him to face off against Dylan. Instead, she called up one of the sophomores. Dylan’s face lit up like someone had given him a present. As they took their places, Aiden wondered what the older boy was.
“Go!”
A sharp crackle rose and the older boy shot a blue bolt of lightning at Dylan. For just a second, his friend looked surprised, then he brought up his hands, blocking with fire.
Aiden’s stomach lurched, the spot on his chest aching, and he had to look away. He remembered just how much it hurt. It can’t get through the wards. It’s just like watching TV. Harmless. Aiden took long, slow breaths. Farther down the bench, his classmates gasped and cheered as the match went on. Aiden glanced up a few times, but he couldn’t watch for long.
It’ll get better. It’s just too soon.
Ms. Yang called for an end to the match, and a moment later Dylan joined him. “Did you see that?” he panted. “He’s as good as the fox sisters.”
“Great match,” Aiden agreed. He spent the rest of the class nervously awaiting his turn.
Ms. Yang called him to face off against a girl with chin-length black hair, two bright pink streaks framing her face. He remembered seeing her in the lunchroom a few times. The streaks had been purple at the beginning of the year.
“The changeling boy. I’ve heard about you.” She gave him a wicked grin. “Let’s see what you got.”
At the start of the match, she didn’t lift her hands but left them clenched at her sides. The grin became a smirk. The air between them shimmered with a faint hint of blue, and then Aiden was knocked off his feet. He hit the floor with a grunt, the air rushing out of his lungs.
“Give him a chance to get up,” Ms. Yang warned.
“It would suck for the match to be over so soon,” the girl said.
“Kick her ass, Aiden!” Dylan yelled from the bench.
Gasping, he scrambled up and summoned a shield. He’d gotten pretty good at it and could make one even when he was scared. Although he hadn’t been able to block when Dylan attacked him… His stomach tightened and his heart pounded in his ears.
The girl shifted her feet slightly. Another blue shimmer filled the air, and something slammed into his shield. He held it, barely. Breathing fast, he tried to think of a way to counterattack, but he didn’t even know what she was using against him.
What he wanted to do was run. If he did, everyone would wonder what was wrong. They’d question him, maybe call his parents. Eventually he’d crack and tell someone he was afraid of magic, and what if they kept pressing? Would he tell them what happened with Dylan?
He couldn’t tell, he could never tell anyone, or they might put Dylan in jail. They might kill him.
For several minutes, Aiden stood with the shield up while the girl hurled magic at him.
Ms. Yang blew the whistle. “All right, that’s enough.”
Aiden made it back to the bench on shaky legs.
“Hey, you all right?” Dylan asked.
“I’m okay,” he lied, telling himself to relax because it was over. At least for today. But what about tomorrow and every day after that? If Aiden failed Major Magical Control, he wouldn’t graduate, and that meant he wouldn’t get certified. He’d be stuck in Shadow Valley forever.
“I guess I let it get to my head that they’re a year ahead.” Aiden flinched on the inside. Lies on top of lies.
Dylan clapped him on the back. “Don’t think like that. You’re just as good as any of them. We can practice if it’ll make you feel better.”
Practice, meaning going out to the pit and watching Dylan throw his fire around. “No, I’ll be fine.” Even if he told Dylan the truth, his friend couldn’t do anything about it. It would just make Dylan feel bad.
* * *
Hanna pressed close to Aiden at lunch again. It made him almost as nervous as gym class, but for a very different reason. Should he say something?
She’d been chattering away about the book she had to read for English. After taking a few bites of her chicken sandwich, she fell silent, frowning. Hanna cast a guilty look at Dylan. “Conner’s saying you stole me from him.”
“Oh really?” he snorted.
“I guess it sounds better than me leaving him. People saw that fight you had with him and the pack, so the story fits.” Faint pink colored her cheeks.
Something tightened in Aiden’s chest. But Hanna was sitting next to him, not Dylan.
“So people think I’m your boyfriend?” Dylan laughed and took a swig of his pop.
“Um, I guess.” The blush deepened and the tightness in Aiden’s chest grew worse.
“Is that what you want them to think?” Aiden asked.
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” She glanced at him, then dropped her gaze. “I just want to be safe.”
He laid a hand on her arm. “You are safe.”
She took a deep breath, shoulders rising and falling. “I don’t know if you can understand. You’re not werewolves. I need a pack. I need to belong.” Another quick look. “I know it’s a bad idea, but sometimes I think about going back to him so I have a place where I fit.”
A spark of green lit in Dylan’s eyes. “Stay away from him.”
Aiden squeezed her hand. “We can be your pack.” He knew what it was like to feel lost, to not fit in.
“I don’t know if that will work, but thank you.” The corner of her mouth turned up.
“Why wouldn’t it work?” Aiden asked.
“Because you’re not werewolves.” She shrugged. “You don’t understand what it means to be a pack, the kinds of things a werewolf needs.”
Was that what the touching was? Not a sign that she liked him, but some kind of werewolf need to be physical? Was he just, well… more touchable than Dylan? “Maybe you can explain it to us.”
Hanna frowned, looking down at her tray. “I don’t know.”
If she got lonely enough, would she go back to Conner? “What about the other pack?”
Hanna’s face scrunched up like she smelled something awful. “No way. A pack with a ghoul and a vampire? That’s disgusting. And my parents would kill me.”
Aiden dared to touch her hand again. “I just want to help in any way I can. Tell me what I can do, and I’ll do it.” Anything to keep her away from that girlfriend-beating asshole.
She smiled and squeezed his hand back. “I know. You’re so sweet.”
Maybe she did like him.