I’d made the lunch-chair trade with Dylan permanent, though he wasn’t happy about it. But I’d had to pull rank on him; the view was better from his old seat. Or at least it had been, until the view showed a dark-haired boy, short and wiry, stopping at Savannah’s table.
Probably one of her friends’ boyfriends.
Except the guy was standing inches from Savannah and talking to her, not the others.
My knees stopped bouncing.
A classmate asking for help on an assignment? No, he looked too old to be a freshman like us.
I leaned sideways toward my sister. “Who’s that guy?”
“Huh?” Emily looked around then smirked. “Oh, you mean the one talking to a certain—”
“Yeah.”
She got the hint and whispered, “Tell you in a minute.” Then she pretended to return to her lunch. But I noticed her casually scoping out the cafeteria every few seconds.
The guy braced one hand on Savannah’s table, another hand on the back of her chair, and leaned down toward her.
I sat up, my hands clenching into fists on my thighs. Back off. Now, I thought to the would-be Romeo, adding a little magical push to the thought. Some humans were too thickheaded to pick up on Clann mental commands. This guy wasn’t, thankfully. His head shot up and he looked toward me.
I knew I should be acting more casual in case the Clann noticed. But I’d lost control. I glared back at him, willing him to take a silent hint and get lost.
After a few seconds, he straightened up and walked away.
I eased down in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. But I still wanted to hit something.
Once the guy was several yards away from Savannah, Emily leaned over and threw an arm around my shoulders. “That was Greg Stanwick. He’s a junior. Plays on the varsity soccer team, so apparently he’s good. I’ve heard he’s pretty charming and doesn’t mind dating younger girls. Like freshmen.”
A growl started in my chest. Not Savannah, he wouldn’t. She needed someone … taller. Someone who didn’t smile like a freaking game-show host.
“Youch. Want to ease up on the energy level there, little brother?” Emily peeled her arm from my shoulders and rubbed her skin through her shirtsleeve.
“Sorry,” I muttered and glanced around our table. Everyone was staring at me. “Sorry,” I called out to the entire group. Several of them rolled their eyes and rubbed their arms or the back of their necks, but everyone seemed to accept the apology and looked away again. Everyone except Dylan, who kept watching me with raised eyebrows. I shrugged in answer to his silent question. He could be nosier than a girl looking for gossip sometimes.
“You know that wouldn’t happen if you would focus on your training,” Emily said.
“And you know I don’t care about all that crap.”
“Too bad. The energy doesn’t go away if you ignore it. It only gets worse.”
I tried ignoring her.
“Tristan, don’t be moronic. If you don’t learn to ground better—”
She nagged worse than our mother. “I grounded all weekend.”
“Are you sure you’re doing it right?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. Then you might want to try grounding at school, too.”
“And how do I do that without looking crazy?”
She surprised me with a laugh. “Find a tree.”
“And then what, hit it?”
“No, make like a car and gas pump but in reverse. Siphon off some of your energy through the tree to the ground.”
“Good idea, sis. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” I faked a grin, hoping a little charm would convince her to drop the subject and get off my back.
She shook her head, seeing through me, but at least returned to her lunch.
Relaxing in my seat, I finished eating then headed for the trash cans. On my way back, I saw Stanwick at a table with two other guys. The soccer jerk was staring in Savannah’s direction with a look on his face. The kind of look that said he was thinking about asking her out.
I should hit the guy now and save time. Except Jacksonville High had a zero-tolerance policy against fighting on campus. I would get suspended if I got caught. It would go on my permanent record, and colleges weren’t thrilled about accepting students who went around beating up their classmates. And no college meant no chance of playing for the NFL.
Too bad Stanwick didn’t play football instead …
Scowling, I returned to my table and grabbed my books. Our entire table froze, their heads turning to stare at me.
“Tristan Glenn Coleman,” Emily hissed. “Outside. Tree. Now.”
“I’m going, I’m going,” I grumbled and headed out the door for the nearest tree.
I found one a few yards away between the cafeteria’s rear exit and the math building. Perfect. Now how to ground without looking like an idiot? I couldn’t exactly hug the thing, not with all those students at the outside picnic tables for an audience. But I had to touch the tree with my hands somehow for it to work.
And then I figured it out. Leaning back against the tree like I was waiting for someone, I held my books against my thigh with one hand and let my free hand hang at my side. A turn of the wrist and my empty palm touched the rough bark. Taking a deep breath, I mentally reached inside, found the boiling flow of energy and willed it out through my hand to the tree.
The bark heated up. Aw, hell, I was going to start a fire. I slowed down the energy flow until the bark cooled. Better. I felt the resulting calm as the excess energy left me, and grinned. Yeah, that was much better.
The cafeteria doors opened, and four girls exited, one of them with red hair that seemed to glow in the sunlight. Savannah. She was laughing about something when a nearby table full of boys yelled out a greeting to Anne. Anne yelled back, and the group of girls split up as Anne and Savannah walked over to the table.
I gripped my books tighter.
Anne did all of the talking, stopping at one point to lean over and point out something in an open math book. The boys nodded and looked up at her. I recognized them from our algebra class.
I could tell the exact second when the boys noticed Savannah. Almost in a wave, one by one they froze, their easy smiles melting into blank stares. If not for Savannah’s reaction and the fact that she wasn’t in the Clann, I almost would’ve guessed that she’d just put a spell on them. But her smile faded away, too, and her chin ducked down to her chest. She hugged her notebook against her stomach and tugged on Anne’s wrist. Anne studied the boys and scowled. Then the girls beat a fast exit.
Savannah looked back, maybe because she felt the boys still staring at her, and walked away faster. As the pair drew even with me, Anne glanced my way then muttered something to Savannah. I was no expert at reading lips, especially from a distance, but it looked like she’d called me a stalker.
I almost laughed out loud. Me, a stalker? Please. But a glance back at the table of boys made me frown instead. I might not be a stalker, but … they were still staring at Savannah, their expressions zombielike. Savannah might be earning a stalker or three, after all.
Great. As if that Stanwick guy wasn’t enough of a pain. If she kept this up, Savannah would have a line of dazed idiots trailing after her soon.
The tree bark started to burn again. I ripped my hand away and gave up on grounding for now. I’d