Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)(18)

“Hey,” he said as he pushed his glasses up with one finger. “Harper is a member of our staff now, and she might have a point.”

Michael nodded but Chie rolled her eyes and stood up. “David, please. She’s on the staff because, for some reason none of us understand, she’s your girlfriend. So sorry if I don’t exactly feel like taking advice from her.” Leaning down, she scooped up her bag and jerked her head at Michael. “Let’s go, Mike,” she said. “We can let our fearless leader and his first lady debate the principles of journalism without us.”

Michael’s blue eyes darted back and forth between me and David still sitting on the ground and Chie looming over him. Eventually, he gave a mumbled “Sorry,” and the two of them walked back toward the building.

David and I watched them go.

“I’m sorry,” I said at last, picking an imaginary piece of lint off my skirt. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I mean, she’s right. I’m only on the paper to be closer to you.”

But David shook his head, his gaze still on his friends. “No, you have every right to an opinion. They shouldn’t have been jerks.”

Over at their table, Mary Beth and Ryan were laughing. As we watched, she rested her head on his shoulder and he slung an arm around her neck, pulling her in to kiss the top of her head.

“Get a room!” I heard Amanda cry as she tossed a napkin at them.

“It’s not like my friends would be that much nicer to you,” I reminded David.

The wind was blowing softly through the leaves over our head, and I remembered earlier this morning, thinking what a pretty day this was. It was still gorgeous, but I had to admit, my mood was not nearly as sunny.

Then the toe of David’s ugly shoe nudged my thigh. I glanced up and David leaned closer. “Our forbidden passion has transgressed social boundaries, and now we pay the price,” he intoned with a somber nod, and I giggled, batting his foot away.

“Shut up.”

But David only released his knees and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me sideways. “We shall be shunned!” he continued, squeezing me tight. “Driven from the lands of our birth, forced to wander the wilds—”

I was laughing now, even as I reached down to keep my skirt from riding up my thighs. “You are insane,” I informed David, twisting in his embrace.

He grinned at me, and in that moment, there was no gold in his eyes, no feeling of danger. No prophecies or powers or magic. Just us, laughing under a tree in the courtyard.

My laughter faded and I reached up to push a lock of hair off his forehead. “I like you kind of a lot,” I said quietly, and David’s arms tightened around me.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Pres,” he said, and I wondered when the nickname that used to annoy me so much had started sounding so sweet.

I was still pretty firmly anti-PDA, but when David kissed me—quickly, but firmly—I decided that every once in a while, it wasn’t so bad.

I was still smiling when I saw Brandon come out the front door, Bee right behind him. “Oh, there she is,” I said, standing up. I walked quickly toward the sidewalk where they were standing, and only then did I realize how pale Bee had gone, how big her eyes were.

And Brandon was staring at her in obvious confusion.

“Brandon, it’s me,” she said. “Why didn’t you wait when I called you?”

He flicked his hair out of his eyes, shifting his weight uncomfortably. “Um, because I don’t know who you are?”





Chapter 8


BRANDON WAS BLINKING at Bee, his handsome face scrunched up in a puzzled frown, one hand running over the back of his neck. “I mean, you’re pretty hot,” he said with a shrug, “so I’d think I’d remember you, but . . . yeah, not ringing any bells.”

David had jogged up beside me, and I could hear him blow out a long breath. “Crap,” he muttered.

People were starting to stare. There was a group of freshman girls sitting at a nearby stone table, clearly paying a lot of attention to what was going on right now. All three had dark, shiny hair, and I watched one lick yogurt off her spoon before leaning in to whisper something to her friend.

Taking Bee’s elbow, I tried to draw her back from Brandon a little bit. “It’s okay,” I said in a low voice, but she looked at me and shook her head.

“It’s not okay, Harper. Mrs. Carter in English didn’t recognize me either. That didn’t seem like such a big deal, but then on the way to lunch, Lucy McCarroll stopped to welcome me to Grove Academy.” She reached out, wrapping her fingers around my wrists, her grip tight enough to hurt. “It’s like I never existed.” Her voice wavered on the last word, and there was real panic in her eyes. I stood there, helpless, and wondered where the heck Ryan was. This was his spell, after all. Maybe there was something he could do, some way to—

“Be a real shame if a girl as fine as you didn’t exist,” Brandon practically leered, and Bee whirled on him.

“God, shut up, Brandon!” She was scared and hurt and frustrated, and I think she only meant to swat at Brandon’s shoulder, like she’d done a thousand times before. Trouble was, all those other times?

She wasn’t a Paladin.

Her hand connected with Brandon’s collarbone, and he went flying backward, tripping over his backpack and landing hard on the grass with a startled yell.