Free Shadow's Dangers by Cindy Mezni

the point where I preferred to be at school than home.
    Unfortunately, the uncomfortable routine was not limited to Annabelle. There was the long, daily ride of a quarter of an hour to get to and from school.
    The early morning was the embarrassing moment of the day. Garreth kept up common courtesies and I did the same, slightly hurt by his behavior towards me. Travis often threw me dirty looks when Leighton was taking the Deliah path and began talking about my life. Apparently, the sister had the absurd idea of me being a couple with her dark-haired brother. One day, she even said straight out that the two of us would make a good pair and he reacted immediately, saying that scenario was not likely to happen. I almost burst out with anger on the spot. After all, he may not like me, but he didn’t have to express it so clearly.
    And then there were the classes that I shared with Hayden, Leighton, Garreth and Travis again. Even those couldn’t distract me from my thoughts, which were mainly focused on the nightmares that wouldn’t give me some respite.
    My life had lost its flavor now, without Tess, and I was becoming a little crazier every day, with those dreams and bloody visions that I had in Garreth’s presence and that I couldn’t forget.
    Sitting at my usual table in the cafeteria, staring at Travis parade before an impressionable young girl, I really thought that I was at the lowest point of my life. Luckily, he at least didn’t have a boring life. In the space of a moment, as the girl Travis was flirting with giggled, I had the terrible feeling of having reached rock bottom, not having anything better to do than watch Leighton’s brother be the playboy of high school.
    I shook my head, exasperated by the reaction of the girl near me. She was behaving so foolishly, laughing at a joke Travis told. It was anything but funny...a blonde joke...and she herself was blonde. Ugh...And Garreth thinks that I am that kind of girl because of my stupid confession, I thought, annoyed.
    “I’m talking to a brick wall!” Hayden said by my side, her tone exasperated.
    I winced and looked at her.
    “I’m sorry, I was immersed in my thoughts.”
    “Really?” she said sarcastically.
    She didn’t speak any more. I gave her a suspicious look. Okay, there was a problem.
    “What’s going on?” I inquired kindly.
    “Nothing!”
    It was lie, no doubt about it.
    “And the truth is...?”
    “Nothing. I have nothing...,” she sighed, visibly disturbed.
    “Okay...What’s going on with you? You know you can tell me.”
    She let out a short and fake laugh.
    “This from the one who told me nothing at all. You know, I was delighted to hear from Leighton that you were in love with her brother.”
    In shock, I opened my mouth, but no words came out. What the heck was that? What was Leighton saying behind my back? The girl was adorable, but she had a big flaw: she imagined things that didn’t exist about her entourage. Especially about me.
    “I’m not in love with her brother.”
    My best friend gave me a disdainful look, not believing a word of what I’d said.
    “You’re not fooling anyone. The way you ogle him is obvious.”
    That was totally ridiculous. In any case, why continue to argue? Apparently, her mind was made up.
    “If you say so...”
    She shook her head nonchalantly, trying to remain calm with great difficulty.
    “And you continue to lie to me.”
    Her expression was outraged, but I wasn’t lying.
    “You think I’m lying to you,” I retorted calmly. “That isn’t the case. Leighton dreams up things. At my expense, of course.”
    Her eyes showed that she was more than reluctant to believe my words. Lord, how many more times would I have to say this sentence? I was tired of being forced to repeat myself. Yes, Garreth was good looking. Yes, it was not unpleasant to let my eyes wander over him, because he offered a pleasant vision, but I was not in love with him, damn it!
    “You really think that in the event