Unfamiliar (Unfamiliar Series #1)

Chapter 25

The girl is bad news, Indigo's voice echoes in my head, refusing to go away as I hear it over and over again.

Why would she get banned from her last school? I wonder silently as I struggle to get through my classes and focus, but much of the lectures go over my head as I aimlessly drift through them.

"Hey."

I look up as I'm walking through one of the hallways to my last class to see that Violetta is standing not too far away down the hall like she was waiting for me outside of my classroom.

"Hi," I murmur as I force a brief smile.

"You coming to the meeting tonight?" she asks as she falls into step beside me.

I think back to Indigo's warning as I shake my head, I needed to talk to Astrid and hear the truth from her.

"I can't, I need to do some studying tonight," I fib, the lie shaky on my tongue.

"I understand, sophomore year can be a little...overwhelming," Violetta assures me, "we have more meetings on Saturdays and Sundays when there are no classes."

"I'll try for Saturday then," I say as I pause by the doorway to my next classroom.

"Great! Maybe we'll get to see if you have a special affinity," she adds before she turns away and melds with the students milling about in the hallway.

My phone suddenly buzzes in my skirt pocket and I pull it out and glance at it to see that I've gotten a text from my mother.

"I love you, be careful," is what her text reads and for a moment, I'm afraid that she's Seen something.

I'm not sure what all her powers cover when it comes to Seeing, though I shake off the needling sense that she has Seen something because she would likely be here to tell me in person rather than send me a foreboding message.

"I love you too, I will," I promise before I head into my last class.

My class goes on without a hitch as I brood over Indigo's warning at dinner, Astrid, Tessa, and Luke sitting around me, unaware at our table.

I reach out tentatively in my mind, hoping that there may still be a telepathic connection as I carefully try to focus my thought to just Astrid.

"We need to talk."

Astrid doesn't acknowledge that I've said anything and for a moment, I believe that she hasn't heard me as she continues to eat. I can see Indigo sitting at a table with a few of her friends not too far away as she looks in my direction. She's yet to introduce me to her friends, but I'm fine with that, they're her friends, not mine. But I feel like they're almost plotting something among themselves as Indigo exchanges a few secretive glances in my direction.

"What about?"

It's Astrid's voice and I startle at the sudden intrusion as I drop my fork into my dish of pasta. I almost don't catch onto the fact that her voice sounds cautious, though I can see her eye me as I resume eating.

"Saint Augustine's."

She stiffens like she's been slapped but she's quick to cover it up as she relaxes into her seat. Her nostrils flare as she sighs softly, irritation furrowing her brows.