Free Haven by Kristi Cook

several gulping breaths of air, and before I knew it, Aidan had crossed the small space and taken me into his arms, my face pressed against his chest.
    “Hey, it’s okay. Shhh. Just tell me what you saw.”
    “It was you, in some dark alley, and there was blood,” I said, my voice breaking pathetically. “That’s all.”
    “Blood?” he asked, his voice rising. “On you?”
    “No, on you. I think. Anyway, it’s not like it means anything.”
    “I know you don’t believe that.”
    “Maybe I want to believe that. Can’t you understand? I don’t want to be a . . . a freak. A sideshow act,” I said, choking on the words.
Oh no, not the tears
. I pulled away from him in humiliation as my eyes began to spill over.
    He reached for my hand and pulled me back toward him. “You’re not a freak, Violet. Hasn’t this place taught you that? The true freaks are the ones who don’t believe, the narrow-minded people who have no faith, who can’t see what’s right in front of their eyes.”
    I sniffled, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. “You have no idea how much I wish that were true,” I murmured, hoping I hadn’t gotten snot on the front of his shirt.
    “I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said. “I heard you scream, and I ran right over.”
    Well, that’s one way to get a guy’s attention, I thought.
    “Trust me,” he said, his voice tinged with amusement, “you don’t need to go to such extremes. I have a tough enough time as it is, trying to figure out what it all means.”
    I swallowed hard before raising my gaze to his. Big mistake, because as soon as our eyes met, every rational thought flew out of my head. I was frozen, almost paralyzed.
    “Your eyes are beautiful—the color of emeralds.” His voice was a husky whisper.
    My heart began to race. No one had
ever
said anything like that to me before, and it made my knees a little weak, my insides gooey.
    And then I remembered that he could hear what I was thinking. Averting my gaze, I stepped away from him in embarrassment.
    “What are you doing tonight?” he asked, retrieving my bag from the floor.
    I cleared my throat before I answered. “Um, nothing really.”
    “Good. I’d like to show you something. Will you meet me in the East Hall lounge after dinner? Around eight? Actually, you better make it nine.”
    “Sure,” I murmured. Was he asking me out? On a date?
    You could call it a date.
His voice, in my head.
    Would I ever get used to all the weird stuff here at Winterhaven?
    “You’ll get used to it soon enough,” he answered aloud. “Everyone does. Come on, I’ll walk you to the gym.”

7 ~ Anticipation
    O h. My. God. Aidan Gray asked you out?” Cece didn’t even attempt to hide her surprise as she plopped down on the bed across from me. “On, like, a
date
?”
    “I don’t know. I guess. He said he wanted to show me something.”
    Cece’s eyes suddenly twinkled with mischief. “Hmm, now
that
could be interesting.”
    “Get your mind out of the gutter,” I chastised.
    “Wait till I tell everyone. They’re not going to believe it, especially Marissa.”
    “I wish you wouldn’t. It’s kind of . . . I don’t know. Embarrassing.”
    “You’re only here a week and the hottest guy at Winterhaven asks you out, and you want to keep it a secret? Are you crazy?” She tugged off her boots and tossed them toward the closet.
    “You really think he’s the hottest guy here?”
    “Well, yeah. Duh. Don’t you?”
    “Yeah, but I guess he’s not, you know, good-looking in the normal way. I mean, he’s so pale and his nose is a little crooked. His eyes are gorgeous, but there’s something . . . I don’t know, something kind of strange about them, don’t you think?”
    “Hah! I can’t think
anything
when he’s around.”
    “Me either.” At least, not when I got too close to him.
    “What time are you meeting him?” Cece asked.
    I glanced down at my watch. “Not till nine.”
    “And?” she prodded. “What are