LITMIR.BIZ

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trudged to class, feeling lower than ever before.

      CHAPTER THREE

      Kate made it through her first two classes, though her mood didn’t improve. She was relieved when the bell rang and it was lunchtime and she could be reunited with her friends.

      Kate stood in line with her friends in the crowded cafeteria and tried not to look too closely at the selection of food. It was pretty dire. Nicole, as a vegetarian, had the hardest time finding stuff she could eat. Today she was having potato waffles and beans, while Dinah and Amy were faring slightly better with chicken tikka masala and rice. Kate thought the curry looked a bit too fatty but Dinah, slightly bigger than average, didn’t care because she was tall and well proportioned. Amy was stick thin and seemed to be able to eat anything she wanted without putting on weight. Nicole seemed to stay trim from her fussiness alone.

      In the end, Kate opted for a salad. Though she knew her mom’s taunts about her weight were unfounded, she still couldn’t help but feel like maybe, if she did just lose those extra couple of pounds, her mom wouldn’t be as harsh with her.

      “Girl,” Dinah said when she saw her plate, “don’t tell me that’s all you’re eating. Dang, it’s your birthday! Have a dessert at least!”

      Kate lowered down in her seat.

      “Actually, Tony said if he saw me at lunch he’d get me a cupcake,” she said.

      The other three girls all grinned and gave each other looks. Kate felt a little silly to have mentioned it.

      “Oh my God,” Nicole suddenly said.

      Everyone stopped giggling and looked round to see what she was looking at.

      A gorgeous boy had just wandered into the cafeteria.

      “Oh,” Kate said, turning back. “That’s Elijah. He’s a new senior, started about a month back. I’ve heard Madison talking about him.”

      “That heavenly man’s been walking around the school for a whole month and this is the first I’ve ever seen of him?” Nicole said without a slight bitter tone to her voice. She seemed transfixed by him, like she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

      Dinah seemed to like the look of him, too.

      “Oh hell yes. He’s got that whole Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic thing going on.”

      “But brooding,” Nicole murmured. “Dark and brooding.”

      Kate took another look. Elijah was strikingly attractive. But from what she’d heard Madison telling her mom, Elijah was a bit of a loner. He never seemed to have anyone to hang around with. Madison had tried to get him to join her gang when he started a month earlier but he’d been reluctant, something Madison took as a slight. She’d since decided he was a bit of a freak and not worthy of her attention.

      He did seem pretty elusive. In fact, this was probably the first time Kate had ever seen him in the cafeteria. San Marcos was a big school but someone like Elijah wasn’t the type to get lost in a crowd. She wondered why she hadn’t seen him more often.

      “You know what we were saying about prom?” Nicole said. “I take it back. I’d ditch you three in a heartbeat if it meant I got to go with him!”

      Everyone began to laugh. Except for Kate, that is. She’d been looking at Elijah, studying the way he moved through the crowds of people. He was so light on his feet it almost looked like he was floating. He had a graceful way of moving, like each step was part of a dance routine. It was mesmerizing.

      Just then, he turned his head as though sensing someone looking at him. Their eyes met across the busy cafeteria. In that moment, Kate felt a sensation wash through her like nothing she’d felt before. It was like a bolt of electricity striking her, like every nerve ending in her body had been set on fire.

      A group of younger kids walked past Kate’s table, blocking her view.

      By the time they’d passed, Elijah was gone.

      She craned her head, trying to see him exiting through the door he’d been headed toward, but she couldn’t see him at all. He’d disappeared.

      “Guys,” Kate said to her laughing friends, “did you just see that?”

      They all looked at her, confused.

      “See what?”

      “Elijah. He was there one minute, and then he completely disappeared.”

      She kept looking at the spot where he’d been a moment before. There was no way he could have left the cafeteria that quickly.

      “Elijah,” Nicole laughed, clutching her heart theatrically. Then she looked at Kate with mock aggression. “I will fight you for him, you know. Fists, hair pulling, nail scratching, the whole shebang.”

      The girls started laughing again, but Kate didn’t join in. Her gaze was transfixed on the spot where Elijah had once stood. Her mind was reeling.

      What had she just witnessed?

      CHAPTER FOUR

      Kate walked with the other girls back down the crowded halls, lost in her own world. Her mind was still reeling. The other girls didn’t seem to understand why she was so shaken, and every time she insisted that Elijah had literally disappeared in front of her face they found some way to explain it away. She’d gotten tired of trying to make them understand and had ended up leaving lunch in a huff.

      By the time the school day was over, Kate’s stomach was groaning. All she’d eaten was a plain yogurt and a salad, and a couple of chocolates from the box Dinah had given her. Along with her emotional morning, the angry, fast cycle ride here, and the weirdness of Elijah disappearing into thin air, it was converging to make her feel weak and lightheaded.

      She unlocked her bike and began her cycle ride home, making sure she took it easy; she didn’t want to fall. Her bag, filled with textbooks and gifts from her friends, was heavy, making the ride even more exhausting.

      The sun wasn’t quite as painfully hot at three p.m. and there was a cool breeze coming up off the ocean. In the distance, Kate could see the mountains of Rattlesnake Canyon Park. It was one of her favorite places to go. She loved nature, the quiet, the beauty of it. She liked to go up there on weekends and think about life. It always reminded her that the world was vast and that her home life was just one tiny slither of experiences the earth had to offer.

      Would she ever get to see the world though? Without college, how would she ever get to live the life she wanted? She couldn’t bear the thought of being stuck in California for another year, cleaning rich people’s houses like her mom did, stuck to her side like a shadow. It wasn’t fair! Why should she have to earn money for Madison’s tuition? Madison was nowhere near as studious as Kate; in fact, she probably only wanted to go to college to meet guys.

      Kate decided then that she’d have to find a way to keep back some of her earnings so she could save up for a plane ticket to the East Coast and then just disappear one day. It seemed like a dramatic solution but what other choice did she have?

      Kate was so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t noticed the group of people ahead of her before she was almost upon them. They were senior guys from her school and they were milling all over the sidewalk and road, shouting and shoving in a jumble. Kate was about to steer around them when she realized that there was someone between them. A boy was being battered around like a beach ball, jostled back and forth, from one guy to another. She noticed the guy’s dark hair and delicate features. It was Elijah.

      “Hey!” Kate shouted, slamming on her brakes beside the group. “Leave him alone!”

      One of the guys turned to her, scowling. “Run along, little girl,” he said, cruelly. “I don’t think your boyfriend wants rescuing from a girl.”

      Just then, Kate got a proper look at Elijah. He was downcast. There was a tear in the shoulder of his T-shirt. But as the boys ignored Kate and went back to pushing him back and forth, he didn’t even stick up for himself.

      “Elijah!” she shouted. “Fight back!”

      He

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