Free Seers by Heather Frost Page A

familiar light jeans, and button up shirt—only instead of the usual blue, it was dark green. His brown hair was a couple inches long, and some locks were curling onto his forehead. It was somewhat raggedly cut, but it looked good. I wondered why I’d never particularly noticed, but then my eyes caught his and I remembered why I got distracted around him.
    “She doesn’t really know all these people, does she?” He sounded almost concerned.
    I chuckled lowly and shook my head, forcing my eyes from his. “No. I doubt she knows half.” He nodded once, and then held out a Sprite. At my wondering look he shrugged. “I was only going to make the trek once, so I got two. Trust me, you’d die of thirst before reaching that cooler.” I took the can with a quick thank you, and proceeded to pop it open. We both sipped our drinks for a moment, letting the music and the roar of the laughing crowd wash over us.
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    h e a t h e r f r o s t K • • •
    Finally I found my voice. “So, how are you liking school?” He shrugged. “Some classes are better than others. I’ve never really liked math.”
    “I’m with you on that,” I chuckled, and took another quick drink before continuing. “It’s a pretty good school, though.”
    “The teachers are good,” he agreed. “And the students are really quite nice.”
    Something seemed weird about the way he said that, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Besides, his accent made everything he said sound a little different.
    “Have you lived here your whole life?” He asked.
    “Mostly. I was born in California.”
    “That’s a beautiful state,” he commented.
    “Yeah. I wish I could remember more about it, though. I moved here when I was seven or so.”
    “Not too long ago,” he shrugged, taking another drink.
    “I guess.” I straightened, and forced myself to look at him.
    “So, have you started our reading assignment? In Lit?”
    “The House of the Seven Gables, yeah. I finished it this morning. Sort of bored, I guess.”
    “You finished the whole book?”
    He nodded. “It was a slow day. What about you?”
    “I’ll be done with chapter ten by Monday,” I laughed, slightly breathless for some reason. The drink was cold, so that was probably it.
    He grinned. “What do you think of it so far?”
    “It’s pretty good,” I admitted slowly, considering. “Better than I thought it would be. The symbolism is pretty cool.”
    “There’s a lot of that,” he agreed. “It’s a good book. Not the best, but not bad.”
    “So . . . What is your favorite book?” He bit his lower lip and squinted into the crowd. “Hmm . . .
    could you have picked a harder question?” He shook his head, then shrugged. “Would you laugh if I said Peter Pan?” 58 K • • •
    • • • K s e e r s
    “Seriously?” I asked, completely shocked.
    He nodded, still looking toward the deck. The Christmas lights shined and reflected in his eyes, making them appear all the more mysterious. “Sure. It’s got a boy who never grows old. What could be more fascinating than that? Forever young and happy.
    You have to admit, it’s a great idea.”
    “I agree, I just . . . I’ve never heard anyone pick that for a favorite.”
    “You’ve read it?” He sounded a little surprised.
    “It’s one of my favorites,” I admitted. “The Disney version isn’t so bad, either.”
    “I haven’t seen that,” he said, before hurrying to take another drink. For some reason I got the impression that he’d said something he hadn’t meant to.
    I pressed my lips together, then decided to ignore that for now, and just enjoy the conversation. Though I knew he wasn’t normal, I was really enjoying his company. Of course, I told myself that I was only pretending to be friendly. This was all part of the plan to make him slip up and reveal something devious. “You’ve never seen Peter Pan?” I tried. “That’s like, child abuse. It’s a classic. I think they really captured