Free Reckless Magic by Rachel Higginson Page A

Nothing…. I got lost,” I
gave a sheepish grin and slowed down to a fast walk, hoping to make
it to the stairs before them. I felt much better after I had
discarded the electricity and felt an entirely new kind of energy,
a natural kind.
    “ I don’t believe you,” Kiran
said bluntly, eyes squinted accusatorily.
    “ Kiran, let’s just get to
class,” Talbott interrupted.
    “ Good idea,” I agreed over
my shoulder, passing them while they still stood in the lobby. I
made it to the stairs, sprinting the remaining distance to class.
By the time I reached the door to English I was completely out of
breath.
    “ Oh, Ms. Matthews, late
again I see,” Mr. Lambert acknowledged my entrance with disdain and
irritation. “At Kingsley we try to make promptness part of our
daily routine. I hope this will not be a regular occurrence.” He
gave me a snide smirk, but allowed me to take my seat in the back
without further commentary. Lilly looked back and rolled her
eyes.
    A few minutes later Kiran and Talbott
arrived to class. They were both a little red in the face and had
clearly continued their argument after I left them. Mr. Lambert
gave them both a genuine smile and said nothing about their
tardiness as they took their seats. Now I was the one that was
irritated.
    English seemed to drag on under Mr.
Lamberts lecture; I had a terrible time paying attention. He was
going on and on about Shakespeare, but my only thoughts were on the
evidence I left in the theater. At the time I had been dreading the
consequences of being late to class over the consequences of what
would happen to me if the school figured out who trashed the
theater…. literally. I groaned inwardly, as I realized I should
have cleaned up my mess and destroyed all evidence first and
worried about class second. “Pssst,” Kiran whispered in my
direction, when I refused to look at him he tried again, “Pssssst,”
I pulled my hair over my shoulders and blocked my view of
him.
    “ Eden,” he tried a little
louder, causing several students around us to turn and glare.
“Eden.”
    “ What?” I whispered back as
sharply as I could, peeking out from behind my wall of
hair.
    “ Why were you late this
morning?” he smirked, proud that he was able to get my
attention.
    “ Why were you?” I avoided
his question. The theater incident was just one of the many reasons
I was running late that morning.
    “ I’m allowed to be late.
Didn’t you sleep well last night?” his grin widened into a smile
and his perfect, straight and white teethe glistened at
me.
    I let my hair fall quickly back in
front of my face, and slouched a little lower. My cheeks burned
with the memory of my dream from the night before; being near
Kiran, my hand in his, his eyes piercing me, as if looking into my
soul. Thoughts of how inviting and seductive Kiran was in my dream
conflicted with my fears of him finding out how crazy I was and
more specifically about the trash can. I heard him snicker softly
and a surge of electricity made my blood feel hot beneath my skin.
He had my emotions completely confused…. I didn’t even know what I
was feeling.
    The bell finally rang and I took my
time standing up out of my seat. I gathered my books slowly; all of
the time my dark hair masked my face. Eventually, the next class
started to file in and I looked up, relieved to be the last junior
left. I headed for the stairs, just as slowly, afraid of
Drama.
    Unfortunately, I didn’t need to wait
until class for the drama to begin because Kiran was casually
sitting on the black and white marble staircase, blocking my path.
He sat in the middle of the fifth step, looking like a model
waiting for the photo shoot to begin. His face wore the familiar
smirk I had grown accustomed to seeing as he watched me awkwardly
approach. I was not totally sure I understood his infatuation with
bothering me.
    “ I was worried you would get
lost,” he said smugly as I walked closer.
    “ Where’s Talbott?” I