Heirs of War (1)

Chapter Two

"Taking pictures." Ariana gestured to the stadium in front of her and turned to her best friend in exasperation. "That's what my life has come down to. Taking pictures."

"Oh, it's not that bad," Emma, ever the pure-hearted optimist, lifted her shoulder to the edge of her light blonde bob. "I mean, I know your parents are a little strict—"

"I'm a spectator of life." Ariana gestured angrily to the cheerleaders she was photographing from the bleachers as they went through their practice routines. "I should be cheering with them, not sitting here watching."

"Well, at least you have a social life at all," Emma countered. "I can't even get my pupil to show up for tutoring. I'm that lame."

"It might help if you didn't refer to them as a pupil," Ariana laughed. "It's a little degrading."

"I'm simply practicing now before I'm a wildly successful professor teaching the brightest minds in the world."

Ariana shook her head, not wanting to hear all about the wonders of Harvard waiting for Emma. She was already facing an uphill battle just getting her overly-strict parents to let her apply for colleges an hour away. She turned to say something to Emma, then caught sight of a young girl heading toward them, cautiously stepping down each bleacher as though it might cave in on her at any moment.

"I think your pupil was only tardy."

Emma brightened and turned to greet her. "You must be Sheridan! I'm Emma." She reached out to shake her hand and Sheridan looked at it curiously before her eyes lit up with understanding and she shook it.

"Sheri is fine. Or Sheridan. It doesn't matter. People here seem to have a hard time pronouncing 'Sheridan' so I shortened it," she babbled nervously and then looked at Ariana expectantly.

Ariana held out her hand as well. "I'm Ariana. I'm not tutoring you, but Emma is—"

"Oh wow," Sheridan breathed and pulled Ariana's hand closer to inspect her wrist. "Is that a tattoo?"

"What? Oh, no," Ariana mumbled and pulled away gently and rubbed her wrist against her jeans self-consciously. "It's a birthmark. Most people don't believe me when I tell them that, but it is. It's gotten clearer over the years. It used to just be a circular blob." She hated talking about her birthmark, which she felt marked her as a complete freak for life. It was a misshapen five-pointed star, but the circular pattern of freckles around it made it look more akin to a pentacle. She was totally planning on lying about it being a tattoo once she got to college.

Sheridan turned back to Emma. "I'm so sorry I was late. I know I have a lot to catch up since transferring here, but maybe we can pick back up again tonight after dinner? Unless you have plans, I mean. Friday night, most teens have plans. Not me, of course. I don't know anyone yet, so I'll be free." She paused to catch a breath. "Wow, that sounded so pathetic, didn't it?"

Ariana felt a pang of sympathy for her. "Not at all. And I think we should fix that. You not knowing anyone."

Emma frowned. "I'm okay with studying."

"Or we could go meet Tate at this party he texted me about," Ariana said with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.

Emma looked tempted—like she usually was with anything concerning Tate. "I don't know. Your parents..."

"What they don't know won't hurt them. Come on, Ems! We only live once, right?"

Emma's normally tan complexion turned a bit green as her wide eyes focused on someone crossing the football stadium. "Living once will be a stretch if he finds out."