Dark One- The Khiara Banning Series Book 1

Three

(Sing, Skin, by BOY)

I'm looking into a really old mirror. It's all cracked and the sides are rusty. I stand in darkness, not sure where I am and not liking it. I'm afraid of the dark, I always have been. I keep staring into the mirror, unsure of what force holds my gaze. I certainly don't want to look at myself right now; I'm a mess of tangled, bloodied hair, cuts and scrapes. Just as I'm raising my hand to touch the mirror, a man who looks a lot like somebody I know appears...

And I'm jolted awake by the school bell.

"Ugh!" I groan. I must've fallen asleep in French. This is how it goes every time I'm in this class. I just can't stay awake because Madame Belle, her real name Miss Amanda Florence-Belle, just can't speak the language well enough to hold my attention. I think she's actually Russian, or something. My father was born in France, so I speak French fluently. Proper French, that is, not the stuff that they teach in school.

I pick up my things and slowly walk out into the hallway towards my locker. Thank god I get to go home, I think I'm just going to go to bed when I get there.

As I trudge through the hallway, I get the sense that I'm being followed. I turn around and see Lisa, the girl from before, standing behind me with a sheepish look on her cute freckled face.

"I'm sorry to bother you Khiara, it's just...I was wondering...I'm having trouble in French and I see that you just came out of the advanced French classroom and I was wondering if you could tutor me." She says.

I nod my head and reply, "Oh yeah, sure. No problem. Listen, I have to go now. My friend is waiting for me outside so I'll talk to you later okay?"

She smiles and runs off, happily skipping to her locker, but she turns around halfway there and yells a series of numbers at me, which I realize a little too late is her cell number. I'll try to remember it later, or I'll catch up with her and ask for it again.

Once I get outside, I head straight for Cara's car. Much to my chagrin, she's flirting with some boy in the front seat when I get there. I knock on the window of the shiny blue convertible and they both jump ten feet in the air as if being awakened from some sort of spell. Normally Cara is kind of promiscuous. I mean, she's a big flirt and when she dances at parties she gets a little too close and personal with whoever she's dancing with, but she never usually acts on anything. She was looking at him like she was going to devour him though.

Awkwardly, I slide into the front seat as Mystery Boy slides out. He has a look of shame on his face and I can tell he's extremely embarrassed. He's kind of cute, with his giant thick-rimmed black glasses and a mess of red curls on his head.

"Hey, dude. It's no use being embarrassed. Be proud. Being caught with me is an honour, really," says Cara, reapplying her lipstick in the driver's side mirror.

As Mystery Boy runs off, I say, "Cara, you ass. He looks so sweet, and he's got to be a member of the freaking chess club or something." It sounds mean and presumptuous on my part, but pocket protectors, thick glasses and the innocence of Bambi don't lie.

"His name's Paul Virtue. He is indeed in the chess club, the captain of it in fact. Sorry okay? I got bored waiting for you. He was cute though wasn't he? He tried to say no to me, but I'm just so irresistible. He made for a good companion while waiting for you."

"You were only talking right? Nothing else? Cara this isn't like you...well it is, but not this far. You looked like you were going to eat his soul or something..."

Cara turns to me and rolls her eyes but nods her head. "Let's get you home so you can rest up before the party. It's not like I was doing anything wrong, we were just chilling."