Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 6

                 

Jett's bike was no longer parked where it had been. No matter how much I denied it, I had been hoping he would be there.

"I'll see you for lunch?" Lilly asked when we got inside the gate.

"Yeah, sure," I answered automatically. Then I realised I didn't want to go anywhere near the cafeteria. "I'll give you my number. Maybe we can go out for lunch?"

Lilly smiled as she took her phone out of her bag. I gave her my number, then she called it so that I had hers on my phone.

"See you," she said, walking off in the opposite direction.

I headed to maths class, hoping I didn't know anyone there and, more importantly, that no one knew me. I didn't want to have to deal with any more bitches thinking I was trying to crack onto their boyfriends.

My wish came true, and surprisingly, no one seemed to be talking about me. I slid into a chair in the back row as a message came through on my phone. It was from Lilly.

Sorry but I forgot I have to go see the principal about something during lunch. See you after school?

I replied, No worries. I'll see you then.

I pulled out my tablet and checked my email while I waited for the teacher.

I had four emails: one from my math teacher, Mr. Harvey; two from a couple of close friends, Maddie and Cassidy; one from my best friend, Jessica, who was also my cousin.

Hey, Zara. I hope the reason you haven't called or replied to my FB messages the last four days is because you're busy lining up some hot guys for us for when I get up there in two weeks.

I can't believe you're not here anymore :( It sucks big time!!!!!

Josh has been asking about you. Don't worry, I haven't told him anything. He can go fuck himself after what he did to you.

Gotta go, Maddie just turned up.

Jess xxx

My eyes glazed over with threatened tears. I missed her so much, but at least she was coming up to the Coast in two weeks, and then we were going to work out which uni we wanted to go to together.

I was about to open my email from Maddie when Mr. Harvey entered the room.

"Sorry I'm late, class. We've got a lot of things to go over today, so I need everyone to take their seats so we can get started." He dumped his bag on the desk at the front of the room. "Now, I've just sent everyone their marks from the practice exam. Some of you are going to be surprised, and some of you are going to be disappointed." He stared pointedly at the blond-haired guy in the second row who was wearing earphones. "So, I want everyone to open your exam." He sat down on the edge of his desk. "And if anyone has any questions or needs help with anything, come and see me. Otherwise, I want everyone to use this period to study for your exam next week."

Great. I opened the email from Mr. Harvey, holding my breath as I looked for my result. One hundred percent. What the hell? There was no way I could've gotten such a high score. Something was definitely not right.

Mr. Harvey looked over at me, smiling as he gave me a quick nod.

Wow. I had no idea how the hell I'd managed to get that, but I sure hoped I'd be able to do it again on the actual test. I apparently didn't need to study, so I opened my email and replied to Jess.

Hey, Jess.

Somehow this move has been good for my grades. I just got 100% on the prac maths test!!

It looks like I'm going to be having two Schoolies this year. A friend... I guess I can call her that... anyway, a friend has asked me to do Schoolies with her, too.

As for hot guys, there are plenty of them up here, but so far they're all assholes!!

Seeya xxx

Oh, and thanks for telling Josh where to go. :)

Putting down my tablet, I leaned back in my chair and stared absently at the pen I was twirling around my fingers. I was happy to hear from Jess, but the mention of Josh made me feel sick. The memory of finding my boyfriend of almost a year with his hands on my slurry of a friend's boobs still gnawed at my insides. And that he tried playing the "it's not what you think" card was even more unbelievable. Not what I thought! How the hell could he say that when he had her naked ass straddling his naked body?

The snap of my pen brought me out of my tunnel-visioned anger. Feeling eyes on me, I looked over to see a freckly-nosed, red-headed girl with her mouth wide open, staring at the broken pen in my hand.

I shrugged and turned my attention back to my tablet. I Googled "superhuman strength" and "black eyes." What I came up with was anything but useful. Demons? I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing out loud.

The rest of the day was uneventful, just how I wanted it. Walking out to my car, I was met by Lilly.

"Sorry about lunch again," she said. "Mrs Elliott had to give me my recommendation for my uni application."

I waved her off. "Did she give you a good one?"

She nodded. "It should help me get into accounting as long as I don't screw up my exams next week."

"So you've decided what you're going to apply for?"

"I think so," she said, although the way she said it made me think it wasn't set in stone.

"So, what are you doing this afternoon?" she asked as we walked through the school gate.

I wasn't going to be studying, but I didn't want to lie. I had no idea where the little bitch in my head had come from, but I had to shut her up before she had a chance to take up permanent residency in my mind.

Lilly started fidgeting with her fingers. The poor girl probably thought I was trying to come up with a reason to ditch her when she so clearly wanted to hang out.

Unlocking the car, I opened the passenger door and stepped to the side. "Want to come over for a while? I can drop you home later."

A smile spread across her face. "Yeah, that would be great." She hopped into the car.

As we left the parking lot, I saw the guys from the canal standing next to the driveway. Lilly's smile dropped as Tyler blew her a kiss. Something swept over me-not fear but a predatory feeling. All I wanted to do was jump out and show him what he was, and even more, who I was. He needed to learn that he was at the bottom of the food chain and that I could crush him where he stood.

As I glared at him, Tyler's face grew pale then he dropped his gaze. Submission. He may not have known that was what he was showing, but I did.

A beep from the car behind me broke my concentration. Holy shit! What the hell was wrong with me? I looked up into the review mirror as I waved my apology to the beeper. I caught a glimpse of my reflection-my irises were black. I did a double take, and sure enough, they were still the same.

On the odd chance it wasn't an illusion, I quickly grabbed my sunglasses out of the holder and put them on before Lilly looked in my direction.

"I can't wait 'til next week is over and I never have to see their faces again," Lilly said as I pulled out onto the road.

"Are they that bad, then?"

"You should know." She gave me a pointed look.

I didn't want to go there just yet-even if she did. It was one thing to talk about what had happened to her, but it was quite another to discuss my situation and that some mysterious black-eyed, possibly demon guy had saved me. "I don't know what you mean."

I turned back to face the front. I could feel her eyes boring into the side of my head, but I refused to look in her direction.

She sighed. "If you say so. But just so you know, I'm here to talk whenever you're ready."

"Okay, thanks, I guess," I said, pretending to have no idea what she was on about.