Silver: The Lost Royal

9 | Conversations in The Hallway

KARYN had never known a week like the previous one. In one week, four new students had barged into and upended her life. They'd shoved her into a sea of unfamiliar thoughts and sensations and left her with the one thing she detested. Disruption.

She'd spent the rest of her weekend scouring through her memories for anything that hinted Elowen had ever kept anything from her, and by Monday, she had got nothing. Every smile and every laughter appeared genuine, even in the hazy glow of her memories.

She'd combined her search with the endless questions raised from the event at Fast Foods. Could she have some sort of powers and could she be the person they were searching for? And if she was—

The sight of a familiar set of cool green eyes paired with a mess of dark blond waves caused her questions to melt into oblivion. Her brain still recalled how her heart fluttered when they were nothing but inches apart at Larry's. Her lips could still feel the warmth of his breath graze over them.

With all the thinking she had been doing, she hadn't even addressed the fact that they almost kissed and what it could mean. They'd only known each other for a week. Was that enough time to develop feelings?

She parted her lips to suck in a small breath before she let it out. She ignored the light fluttering in her chest as she made her way to meet him at the double-door entrance of Emerfield High.

"What are you thinking about so much?" he asked as they walked in together.

"Shouldn't you have a conclusion for that already?" she asked with a smile.

"You make reading you both simple and difficult at the same time."

She turned to find his eyes on her, and there was that little flutter in her heart again. But he broke the bubble he created when he trained his eyes forward. Before she could ask him to elaborate further, a familiar voice rang through the crowd.

Most people in Emerfield High had blonde hair, but Karyn could never mistake Elowen's hair for someone else. Her eyes met her best friend, waving wildly with a smile, and she redirected her steps. But then the meeting at Travellers hit her like a ton of bricks, and her smile faltered.

"Hey El, how'd your weekend go?" she asked, opening her locker to hide her half-smile from Elowen.

"Nothing exciting, but I can't say the same for you, right?" Elowen teased, and she froze while removing a book from her locker. Did Elowen know of the meeting?

She peeked behind her locker door, intending to gauge Elowen's facial reaction, but she had turned in time to see Zack walk past. There was a determination in his stride and she couldn't tell why until he crashed into someone. She watched him stutter an apology, and the person turned. Lindy.

Something about the collision seemed planned, but before she could go further in her train of thought, Elowen interjected herself into her mental process by blocking her from witnessing whatever interaction Zack was about to have with Lindy.

"What happened during the weekend that makes it impossible for you to take your eyes off Zack? I mean, I get that he's a hunk of gorgeousness, but—"

She cut Elowen off with a groan and turned back to her locker.

"Can you blame me for that conclusion after seeing you two walk in like lovers?"

She rolled her eyes at her best friend's choice of words. "We walked in as friends, that's all."

"So, nothing happened over the weekend?" Elowen paused. "'Cause Mom saw you on a motorcycle heading out of town with a guy."

"Oh, well—"

"I'm surprised you're here today. I assumed you realized that fate made you two for each other and had eloped together."