Free The Marked by Inara Scott Page B

the phone over the weekend. But it wasn’t the same, and I could feel the distance growing between us.

I DIDN’T
start getting nervous about Valentine’s Day until Esther brought it up on our way back from a soccer game. Anna’s dad had come to see the game, and he drove Anna and her friends back to school. That left me and six other players on the bus. It was a sunny day, so Hennie and Esther had decided to tag along as spectators. They were, of course, the only ones.
    I was exhausted but happy. Allie and I had each scored goals, and Anna, for once, had not. I sat across from Hennie and Esther with my gear on the seat next to me and tried to keep my eyes open. I didn’t get nearly enough sleep these days, and I usually ended up taking a nap on the bus ride home. But it was a rare chance to hang out with Esther and Hennie, so I pretended to be alert.
    “So, what are you two doing for the big day?” Esther asked me.
    I squinted at her through half-opened eyes. “What big day?”
    “Valentine’s Day. It’s next Friday. What are you and Cam doing to celebrate?”
    We hit a bump in the road, and I grabbed my bag to keep it from falling off the seat. This allowed me to avoid meeting Esther’s eyes. I didn’t want to think about what she’d be doing on Valentine’s Day.
    “I thought maybe I’d get him some chocolate?” I said tentatively.
    Esther’s mouth dropped open. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
    I leaned my head against the seat. It had, of course, occurred to me that Valentine’s Day was approaching. I could hardly miss it, with pastel candy hearts and yellow marshmallow chicks displayed in every corner of our grocery store. But I’d tried not to pay attention. The last thing I wanted was to be disappointed by whatever Cam did—or didn’t do—in honor of the day.
    “What’s so bad about chocolate? He loves the stuff.”
    “It’s boring,” Hennie said, leaning over Esther’s lap from her spot by the window. “Everyone buys chocolate. You have to find something different, something unique that shows how well you know him.”
    “Great. No pressure or anything. What are you doing for Yashir, smarty-pants?”
    “I bought him a new nose ring,” she said dreamily.
    “Oh, yeah,” I snorted. “Nothing says romance like an earring you wear in your nose .”
    Esther laughed, then sobered abruptly and shook a finger at me. “That does not get you off the hook. You need to come up with something good. Are you going out or anything?”
    I sighed. “Actually, Anna’s having a party. Cam and I just talked about it this morning. He’s borrowing a car to drive us out there.”
    Esther’s eyes widened. “That sounds amazing. Will your grandma go for it?”
    “I don’t know, probably,” I said. Grandma, strangely enough, was always bugging me to spend more time with my friends. I think it was built-up trauma from watching me having no friends for so long. I hadn’t exactly told her about Cam, but she knew. Just last week she’d given me one of those sly, knowing smiles and asked if I wanted her to drive us to the movies someday. Embarrassing, but sweet.
    “You don’t sound happy,” Hennie said. “Why not?”
    I crossed one leg over the other and hiked up my sweatpants, studying my shins. Purple bruises marked the spots where I’d been kicked during previous games. Today’s kicks were still lumps. It took them a few days to turn black and blue. Even with the shin guards, I was always a mess after we played. “It’s at Anna’s house.”
    “So?” Esther said.
    “So, Anna’s sure to do something to ruin it for me. She hates me. She hates me more and more every day.”
    Okay, probably an exaggeration. Anna had been lying low since school started and, except for a few incidents on the soccer field, hadn’t come after me directly. But all I had to do was think about our encounter in the stairwell and I could imagine the hatred directed my way.
    “Of course she does,” Esther said.