“Hiya g-guys,” he mutters.
“Hi Colton,” I say, tipping my chin upward and extending my hand. “I’m Autumn, by the way.”
“Yeah, I know who you are,” he mutters without looking up.
“Okay, good.” I nod to myself, pulling my hand back, and turning to his sister. “Cat, you gotta explain the guy from earlier. How do you know him? How can I find him? He’s gotta pay for the damages to my vehicle.”
Cat pulls up short, staring me in the eye for a moment before sighing loudly. “Look, Autumn, I get it. I would be pissed, too. But I wouldn’t go after Dom. He’s not the kind of kid you want to mess around with. He’s popular and rich—not to mention he’s got some mental powers that could cause some serious problems down the road if you get on his bad side.”
“Popular and rich. That explains the idiotic, entitled behavior then,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I don’t care who this guy is, or thinks he is. I want to know why the hell he would do that to Blue and I want him to pay for it. If he’s got money, he should be able to afford it, right?”
“Dominic won’t confess,” Colton says, raising his intense, dark eyes to mine for the first time since we met.
“Uh, okay. I don’t know why that matters. Maybe it’s time someone teaches him to take responsibility,” I say, crossing my arms.
Cat rolls her eyes. “Yeah, okay. I know you’re new and all, but that’s…”
“…not wise,” Colton finishes.
My nostrils flare. “Why is everyone protecting this asshat?”
Colton and Cat exchange a significant glance.
“Oh, fine—yeah, yeah. I get it. Autumn’s an outsider, so why bother filling her in. You know what? Whatever. I’m outta here,” I say, turning on my heel.
The farther away from the two of them I get, the more panic begins to build in me. Not only because of the odd exchanges and bizarre attitudes, but also because I still have no idea how the hell to get to my Powers & Technology class. Cat brought me the other day and I totally wasn’t paying enough attention. I’ll be damned if I give them the satisfaction of knowing that, though. Instead, I find a quiet offshoot and quickly pluck the crumpled map from my backpack and try to orient myself.
“Ah, so you like dark, quiet halls to yourself?”
My head jolts up, and I come face-to-face with Dominic’s flashing blue eyes.
Thoughts tumble around in my head like one of those BINGO letter pickers.
“You know, if you wanted to be alone with me, you coulda just asked,” Dominic says, taking a step closer like a predator on the prowl.
Suddenly, the air in the space around me is extremely suffocating.
“Do you mind?” I say, thrusting an arm out to keep him at bay.
He chuckles. “Ah, playing hard to get, huh?”
“What in the hell are you even talking about? The only one playing at something is you,” I spit.
“Oh, come on,” he snickers. “Don’t be like that.”
There’s a heady sort of energy surrounding him and despite myself, I can’t help but want to lean into it. It’s almost as if he’s drawing me closer with just a look. Somewhere in the back of my mind, music radiates, like something from a different time in history.
Shaking my head, I gather my headspace and let it wash off me without sticking.
“I know it was you,” I say, jutting out my chin.
He shrugs nonchalantly. “So what if it was?”
“Why?”
He arcs a perfectly trimmed white eyebrow. “That’s for me to know and you to…well, you know the rest.”
I roll my eyes.
“You don’t even know me. We hadn’t even met. Why did you target my car? You know I have to have the back end repainted now, right? You’re gonna have to pay for it,” I say, clutching the school map in my right fist.
“Oh, I do, do I? Who’s gonna prove it was me?”
“Really? That’s how you wanna play this? My boyfriend was there and saw you, too. Are you really that much of an entitled ass? You think you can just do stuff and never pay the price?” I say, taking my own step toward him. Anger wells in my gut and I want nothing more than to make this creep cry ‘uncle,’ regardless of how unlikely it might be.
His eyes widen for a split second, almost as if something I said actually hit its mark.
“Look, Autumn, it might do you a little good to worry less about me and about, well, what I carved said it all,” he says, his voice dropping to practically a whisper.
“How did you know my name?” I say through clenched teeth.
He grins. “Just follow the message. It has meaning.”
“The truth shall set you free? What truth?” I fire back.
“Ah, so you did your homework?” Dominic says, leaning back in surprise.
“Of course I did,” I spit back.
“Good,” he says, nodding.
“Would you stop with the cryptic and explain what in the hell you’re getting at?”
The hallways start to clear around us.
“Shit. I gotta get to Astral Projection,” Dominic says, twisting around toward the main hallway before turning back to me. “Look, meet me at the back of the cafeteria at lunch.”
“And why in the hell would I do that?” I say indignantly.
“Because if you wanna know why, you’ll be there,” he says, flicking his eyebrows in acknowledgment.
With that, he’s gone—racing down the corridor with expert precision.
Finding my classes throughout the rest of the morning is tedious, at best. But, regardless, it flies by, despite my constant state of confusion. Before I know it, lunchtime has rolled around.
“So, whatcha gonna do?” Cat says, meeting me outside History of Supernaturals.
I hike my backpack up and shake my head. “Go talk to Dominic, obviously. I need answers…”
“Just…be careful, okay?” Cat says, tipping her head toward the salad bar as we reach the cafeteria.
My eye catches Dominic’s white head of hair in the back of the cafeteria and we lock gazes. For
