Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy #1)(90)

“You still like her or something?” Veronica asked. Green slipped out around her.

“Nah,” he said.

I looked back and forth between the two of them. Huh. When had that started?

I’d been obtuse when it came to my friends. That made me feel bad.

I leaned forward as much as the seat belt would allow. “Hey, guys? Can we hang out over break?” I asked.

Joyful relief poured into their auras, stabbing me with guilt.

“’Bout time.” Jay caught my eye in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah. Your toes are probably lookin’ shabby,” Veronica said.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so, you know, out of it.”

They were both quiet, glancing at each other as if drawing mental straws to see who would get to address the issue. Veronica lost.

“What happened on Halloween?” she asked.

“Kaidan and I agreed never to see each other again.”

“That kid totally messes with your head,” Veronica said. “I don’t like it.”

“Well, it’s officially over, and I’m ready to move on with my life, so yeah.”

Veronica sighed. “Some things just aren’t meant to be.”

I lifted my feet from the cluttered floor and curled them under me, making myself smaller in the backseat.

“Everything’s gonna be okay,” Jay said.

I swallowed hard and nodded at him in the mirror.

Christmas had come and gone with hardly a blip on my emotional radar. I half expected my father to call, but he didn’t. I wondered about him as much as I wondered about Kaidan.

A few days before the New Year I went to the mall with Veronica. Most of my winter clothes didn’t fit well and I needed a dress for the New Year’s party. Veronica loved shopping with me, because I let her pick out all my clothes, only now and then nixing something. But she figured out what I would and would not wear. I had cool clothes for the first time, and I liked how it made her feel good to see me dressed in outfits she’d chosen.

We went straight to her favorite store with the dimmed lighting and pop music blaring from speakers overhead. She sorted with expert speed through racks of shirts, clanging hangers as she went.

“Do you think Jay’s cute?” she asked. Her eyes concentrated on the clothes as if nothing were amiss, but her colors were going haywire.

“Um...” I had to proceed with caution. “Yeah, I’ve always thought he was a cute guy, but I’ve never had feelings for him or anything like that. Why? Do you think he’s cute?”

“No.” She stopped sliding hangers and looked at me. “I think he’s hot.”

We stared at each other for a second, and then we both started laughing, relieved to have it out in the open.

Jay and Gregory met us in the food court. I nibbled on a soft pretzel while the others had pizza. Jay and Veronica were flirting so much that Gregory rolled his eyes at me. We were throwing away our trash when Jay lifted the bill of his ball cap to peer across the food court.

“I’ve seen that dude before,” he said. “Where do I know him from?”

“Who? Where?” Veronica asked. Jay pointed him out.

Through all of the moving people there was a lone man next to the ice-cream stand, watching me. His skin was a smooth dark brown. His hair had grown into a poofy, short Afro.

“It’s Kopano,” I whispered, heart in my throat.

“You know him?” Veronica asked. “He’s, like, a man.”

She was right. Kope couldn’t be mistaken for a boy. He must have been nineteen or twenty, just a few years older than us, but he was so serious. Manly.

What was he doing here?

“I’m gonna go talk to him,” I told them. “I’ll meet you guys back here in half an hour.”

I stopped a few feet from Kopano, hands clasped behind my back. My pulse remained at a steady high as his eyes held me.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Everything is well. I hope I have not frightened you.” His gentle tone never faltered, and I wondered whether he’d ever raised his voice. How deep was his hidden wrath, and what would it take to unleash it? The thought prickled the back of my neck.

I tilted my head toward the corridor of shops. “Wanna walk with me?” I asked.

Kopano came to my side, and we moved together into the stream of shoppers who became like background noise as I concentrated on him. I was patient, hoping he would explain why he’d come.

“How have you been?” he asked.

“It was a rough semester, to be honest, but I’m doing better.”

He nodded down at the polished floor in front of us.

“How about you?” I asked.

Keeping his eyes straight down, he answered, “I have thought of you often since the summer.”

Heat tore through me at his blunt openness. My hands tingled. I had no idea how to respond.

We came to an open area where Santa’s shop had resided a few days prior. It was now naked in its emptiness except for a fountain with a thick marble ledge around it, where we sat together. Kopano stared down at the water, full of copper and silver coins on the bottom from years’ worth of wishes.

“The twins arrive tomorrow for a visit,” he explained. “They fly into Atlanta, and Marna requested me to come.”