The Lost Witch

Chapter twenty

Paige walked into History just as Mr. Withers was instructing everyone to gather their textbooks. She was late and Mr. Withers didn't appreciate the tardiness. He let her off with a warning though and sent her to her desk. As Paige wandered through the room to her usual desk, she couldn't help but seek out Aaron.

He was at his usual desk, Tess sat beside him, latching onto his forearm. Like Paige, he chose to dress in dark colours today, mostly black and navy blues. Unlike Paige's woollen navy turtleneck, he wore a black shirt that adhered to him like a second skin.

She couldn't help but stare at him as she passed, his eyes locked on her, with almost as much intensity in his eyes that her own held. Tess whispered something into his ears, seeking his attention once again. When she failed to get it, her hateful eyes swirled towards Paige.

Paige barely even acknowledged the angry female werewolf as she sat down. She knew that sooner or later, Tess and Joanna were going to become a real problem.

Paige could still feel him watching her. Peeking out through a curtain of dark hair, Paige saw that Aaron wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was watching her. As always, it reminded Paige of a lion stalking a pray.

Paige had tried hard in the past few weeks not to let her emotions towards Aaron show. She didn't run from him, she didn't look away from his penetrating and intrusive glare, but this time, she ducked her head, her eyes intent on the bare desk before her. Keeping up the pretences, trying to appear calm and rational in front of Aaron just wasn't going to work out today. Not after she spoke to Joshua.

She was so goddamn sick of it. All of it. She was at a complete loss with no idea what to do next.

Perhaps Kendall was right. She should report Aaron to the police. Or the Council. But what would she say? She knew Aaron wasn't what he claimed to be, but no one else did. Kendall was still on the fence about Aaron, despite Paige's many arguments. There was the whole breaking and entering thing, but she doubted much would be done about that. Aaron was just too well-liked, and she wasn't well-liked at all.

Kids started putting their textbooks aside as Mr. Withers handed out a sheet of paper to each desk. Paige had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts and completely missed the instructions.

Kendall must have seen the panic cross Paige's face. "Pop quiz," she said. "You should pay better attention in class."

Paige shrugged. "Doesn't really sound like something I'd do," she said, accepting the quiz from Mr. Withers, who only gave her a stern expression. He undoubtedly noticed that her attention had been elsewhere.

The quiz was on last week's readings. Paige hadn't even cracked the textbook since last lesson. It was going to be an automatic fail, but she couldn't hand in nothing, so she sprouted out a bunch of half-ass answers, hoping to at least appease the teacher when he marked them.

Her fingers were stiff when the lesson ended. She knew the quiz was poorly answered, but she should have at least lessened her grip on her pencil. She had gripped it so tightly that her fingers turned pale.

Trying to shake some sensation into her numb fingers, Paige spotted Lucas down the hall. A quick glance around confirmed that Aaron had already vanished to his next lesson. Leaving Kendall's side, Paige bolted down the hall, catching Lucas just as he was about to enter another classroom.

Lucas was happy to follow Paige away from the open doorway. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Paige only rolled her eyes. She couldn't tell if Lucas was becoming some kind of friend, a weak acquaintance, or just another jock in this school. Either way, she felt oddly safe around him. "I went to Mayan over the weekend."