Free Blue Moon by Alyson Noël Page A

an end. We’re going to break these self-imposed barriers, push all the tables together, and have ourselves a party!”
    â€œIs that your prediction?” I narrow my gaze, trying to deflect all of his intrusive energy away.
    But he just laughs, not the least bit offended. A laugh that, on the surface, is so warm, engaging, and all-encompassing—no one would guess at the subtext beneath—the creepy edge, the hint of malice, the barely concealed threat meant solely for me.
    â€œI’ll believe it when I see it,” Haven says, wiping red crumbs from her lips.
    â€œSeeing
is
believing,” Roman says, his eyes right on mine.
    Â 
    â€œSo what’s your take on all that?” I ask, just after the bell rings and Roman, Haven, and Miles head off to class as Damen and I lag behind.
    â€œOf all what?” he asks, pulling me to a stop.
    â€œOf Roman. And all of his lunch-table revolution nonsense?” I say, desperate for some validation that I’m not jealous, possessive, or crazy—that Roman really is a creep—and that it has nothing to do with me.
    But Damen just shrugs. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather not focus on Roman right now. I’m far more interested in
you.
”
    He pulls me toward him, bestowing me with a long, deep, breath-stealing kiss. And even though we’re standing right in themiddle of the quad, it’s as though everything around us no longer exists. Like the entire world has shrunk down to this one single point. And by the time I break away, I’m so charged, so heated, and so breathless, I can barely speak.
    â€œWe’re going to be late,” I finally manage, taking his hand and pulling him toward class.
    But he’s stronger than I am, so he simply stays put. “I was thinking—what do you say we skip it?” he whispers, his lips on my temple, my cheek, then my ear. “You know, just blow off the rest of the day—since there are so many other,
better
places we could be.”
    I gaze at him, nearly swayed by his magnetism, but I shake my head and pull away. I mean, I get that he finished school hundreds of years ago and now finds it all rather tedious. And even though I mostly find it tedious too, since having instant knowledge of all the stuff they’re trying to teach really does make it seem pretty pointless, it’s still one of the few things in my life that feels somewhat normal. And ever since the accident, when I realized I’d never be normal again, well, it made me prize it that much more.
    â€œI thought you said we were supposed to maintain a normal façade at all costs,” I say, pulling him along as he grudgingly lags behind. “Isn’t attending class and feigning interest part of that façade?”
    â€œBut what could be more normal than two hormonal teens, ditching school and getting an early start on the weekend?” He smiles, the warmth of his beautiful dark eyes nearly luring me in.
    But I shake my head again and hold firm, gripping his arm even tighter as I drag him toward class.

nine
    Â 
    Since we’re spending the night together, Damen doesn’t follow me home after school. Instead, we share a brief kiss in the parking lot before I climb into my car and head for the mall.
    I want to buy something special for tonight—something pretty for Miles’s play and my big date—both of us starring in our own kind of debut. But after checking my watch and seeing I don’t have as much time as I thought, I wonder if I should’ve taken Damen up on his offer to ditch school.
    I cruise through the parking lot, wondering if I should try to find Haven. We haven’t really hung out that much since that whole weird thing with Drina, and then when she met Josh, well, even though he doesn’t go to our school, they’ve been pretty much joined at the hip ever since. He even managed to wean her from her support group addiction. Her