Free Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One by Karen Lynn Bennett Page A

possible.
    I pulled into class with time to spare and spotted an empty chair on the far left of class, near the windows. Zander didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight, but as I settled in, I heard Zena’s loud whisper.
    “He’s sooo hot!”
    A bevy of whispers followed.
    No need to look up. It had to be Zander. Please, please don’t sit behind me, I prayed. I buried my face in the textbook and sent up another desperate plea. Footsteps neared me, but I didn’t look up.
    A backpack thudded against the floor.
    “Hey, Tru.” Yes, Zander had picked the seat behind me. Why? There had to be at least eight other seats further away! I tried for a calming breath, but it came out ragged. I couldn’t ignore him. He would guess something was up, and then he would guess that I was into him. And that could NOT happen. Calm. Calm. Act normal , I counseled myself.
    I turned around with a fake smile plastered on my face.
    “Hi Zander!” I cringed at the higher pitch to my voice.
    He stared at me, eyebrows drawn together.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    Great. He thought there was something wrong. And if he noticed that, then he’d wonder what it was, and then he’d rewind the day to lunch and realize the looks I gave him were pathetic and stalker-ish.
    “Yeah, sure!” I assured him. “What’s up?”
    “Hey, Zander!” breathed Zena. Speaking of stalkers , I thought. Looks like she’d packed up her backpack and moved closer to Zander. His jaw tightened.
    “Zena,” he said. And that’s all he said. It looked like he was bent on ignoring her the rest of class. I turned toward the front just as Mr. Mac welcomed the class.
    As soon as the bell rang, Zander was overwhelmed by Zena and her groupies. They actually shoved me out of the way as I stood up to collect my things. Wow. Being so irresistible was not what it was cracked up to be. I met Zander’s scowling eyes over the girls’ heads and shook my head at his frustration. Besides, why was he acting like he wanted to hang out all of a sudden? He was hot and cold and most certainly bad for me. I hurried out of class.
    Today it was just Ruthie and me on the way home. We stopped for frozen yogurt and I couldn’t resist telling her about Zander’s fan club attack. She choked on her water.
    I think I actually heard her self-absorbed bubble pop.
    “No way!”
    “Yep!”
    “That’s awesome. About time someone didn’t fall for her.”
    “Yeah,” I said, “he’s obviously into Phoebe, anyway. She could kick Zena’s butt, I think. Should get interesting.”
    “Huh? He likes Phoebe? Where did you hear that?”
    “Well, duh! Didn’t you see them at lunch?”
    “Lunch… Yeah…I was there… How did I miss it? What did you see?”
    “He sat by her, closely.” It sounded lame, but I knew I was right.
    “Oh yeah! Close sitting!” she said sarcastically. “That sure gave it away!” She snickered. “Really. Anyway, it’s not like he was chasing her down and kissing her in front of the whole school!” she sputtered. “That was awesome, by the way!”
    I blushed, fresh embarrassment washing over me.
    “I thought it was weird.”
    “Seriously? Believe me, your reputation score went up about fifty points with that stunt, especially when he went all caveman and dragged you off to a dark corner. Ahhh! Young love.” She sighed loudly.
    “No, really it wasn’t like that. At least not for me.”
    “Girlfriend, you are being handed a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card. After last year, you need this kind of cred. Isaac is way up there on the popular scale—big points for you—and he’s bringing you up there with him. This is what I was talking about before! No one is going to remember last year after a few more episodes in the Isaac and Tru series. And the more public, the faster this is going to happen. Seriously, you are so lucky! It’s like you have your own guardian angel/cupid working for you. It’s a beautiful thing. Man! I love this stuff!” She dipped her spoon into her