Reborn (Shadow Falls: After Dark #1)(23)

Jenny looked up again at the fae table and then back at Della. “He asked you to talk to me, didn’t he?”

“No,” she said, and didn’t like how the answer felt on her tongue. “I mean, he didn’t ask me to talk about him.”

“What did he ask you to talk to me about?”

Okay, she’d really put her foot in her mouth now. So she stuffed the rest of the bacon in there with it. After swallowing, she said, “He didn’t ask me to talk to you.”

“Now who’s lying?” Disbelief flashed in Jenny’s green eyes, and for some reason Della thought about Chase’s green eyes. “Just tell me the truth,” Jenny said.

Della debated being completely honest, then realized what she’d said wasn’t a lie. “I’m not lying. He didn’t ask me to talk to you.” Being nice and talking were two different things. The look on the girl’s face said she still wasn’t convinced. Oh, what the hell. “He asked me to be nice to you.”

Her shoulders slumped a bit. “And that’s why you sat next to me.”

“No,” Della said. “Okay, maybe, but it’s not as if I don’t like you.”

“Yeah. I’m just different, chameleon, and it weirds you out?”

“Why would you say that? Kylie’s my best friend and she’s a chameleon. I don’t give a toad’s butt what you are.”

Jenny glanced up. “Then why are you always so … distant?”

“Because … that’s just me. I don’t make friends easy.”

Jenny glanced around the dining hall. “Everyone here just keeps staring at my pattern as if I’m a freak.”

“Not everyone. But what can I say, there’s a few idiots here.” Della’s gaze shifted around the room and found Chase. She still needed to find a way to have a powwow with him. He turned and looked at her. Was he listening to her conversation? She took another bite of bacon and looked back at Jenny staring down at her plate. “You really don’t like it here?” Della asked, in almost a whisper.

“I don’t fit in here. But I didn’t fit in at home, either.” Emotion filled the girl’s voice.

Jenny’s words did laps around Della’s head and then dropped to her heart. Damn if Della didn’t know how not fitting in at home felt—as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to your whole foundation of life. You simply felt broken.

“Give it some time,” she offered, feeling empathy for the chameleon. “This place ain’t all bad.”

“I didn’t say it was bad. I just don’t fit in.” Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes. “I gotta go.” Jenny stood up and left.

Della watched Jenny walk away, and the girl turned invisible right before she walked through the door. Gasps filled the lunchroom from those who’d seen her. The whole turning-invisible thing that chameleons did—which, like chameleons themselves, was super rare in the paranormal community—still freaked some people out.

Disappointment pulled at Della’s mood. She wasn’t sure this being-nice encounter had helped Jenny. She might have even made it worse. Someone stopped at the side of her table, and the fact that she didn’t hear them walking up took her mood down another notch.

“I said be nice to her, not hurt her feelings,” Derek said. “What did you say?”

Della exhaled and stared up at the guy. Being fae, he could reach out with his emotional fairy wand to pick up on the feelings of others. Had Della hurt Jenny’s feelings? She hadn’t meant to. She honestly felt bad for Jenny. I don’t fit in here. But I didn’t fit in at home, either. She reheard Jenny’s words. “I didn’t … I mean, all I … Oh, hell, I told you I wasn’t good at being nice.”

Derek shot out as if to find Jenny, and Della tossed her last bite of bacon on her untouched tray, her heart aching for the chameleon. But damn if she couldn’t relate to how it felt to suddenly not fit in with your own family. To have the people you assumed would never turn their backs on you, turn away. But bloody hell, she had enough on her plate right now and didn’t need to start worrying about someone else’s problems.

See, that was the reason why she didn’t want to start being nice to someone!

“Make sure you come to the campmate-hour announcement.” The voice came out of nowhere. A voice belonging to another person standing beside her who she hadn’t heard step up. What the frack was wrong with her hearing?

Della looked over at Chris, the blond vamp who ran Meet Your Campmate hour. Campmate hour basically being a tactic to encourage campers of different species to spend an hour together. Names were randomly drawn and paired together. The only way to secure an hour with someone of your choosing was to donate a pint of blood.

The tall, blue-eyed California-surfer-looking dude stood there smirking like a cat who’d just swallowed a bird. A very big bird.

“Why?” she asked the semi-hot-looking, overconfident vamp.

“Why? It’s written in the rules that vampires have to attend campmate hour. It’s our blood drive. Check your rule book, Miss Sass.”

He said the words with honesty. Yes, it was a rule, but one that had never been enforced. Add the fact that his blue eyes twinkled mischievously, and she suspected he was leaving something out. Something that had to do with her.