Sacrifice for a Dream

Chapter 17

We made it to lunch without any more events, the boys were anxious when I had to go to Ms. Stacey's class but seeing that Mika was in there, they relaxed a bit. They each left me with a parting hug and a peck on the cheek. Everyone, including Ms. Stacey eyed them curiously but they ignored the weird looks. After class they were waiting in front of the door before I even had a chance to put my things away.

I smiled at them as Luck grabbed my bag, he snuck in a quick kiss on my cheek when he leaned forward. I could feel all eyes on us again, I was sure my self-consciousness showed.

We walked into the cafeteria as a group. The whole room smelled amazing, the aroma of fresh baked bread, garlic and basil floated through the air. I took in a deep breath not only to steady myself but to enjoy the savory smells. The boys had been right, the food here was nothing like the pre-cooked, pre-packaged food from my old school or the school at the group home. It wasn't as good as Anne's cooking, but it did smell amazing.

As we walked in Phoenix's arm snaked around my waist and Saint grabbed my hand. I could tell after this morning that they wanted everyone to know, I was with them. Just like it was when we left Ms. Stacey's class, every eye in the room was on us, one guy's mouth hung so wide open I was sure I saw a bug fly into it.

My eyes sought out Glimmer. It wasn't hard to spot her in the crowd of students. She was not the kind of person that was easily missed. She sat at the table she normally shared with her friends and the Lost Boys. One of her friends leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. Glimmer's head jerked up and sought us out. Her glare could have brought back all the melted glaciers, it was that icy.

"I'm gonna get us some food." Saint laughed and walked away. Stone stayed near me, a small comfort.

Phoenix sighed, "Can't we just eat lunch in the courtyard?"

"We can't stay in the courtyard forever, plus we still need to talk to Anchor." Stone explained this to Phoenix, laughter in his voice too. There was some joke I was just not getting.

We all looked around the room but couldn't spot him in the crowd.

"Maybe he's with the Coach?" Luck supplied.

"I think I heard the football players say something about practice this week during lunch to prepare for that game," Legend told us.

"Fine, let's eat lunch, then we can find him in study hall," Phoenix led us to the table.

Glimmer glowered at me. Ash and Blaze sat quietly and watched the show about to take place. Star just looked uninterested as usual.

"Ladies!" Phoenix greeted them, he pulled out a chair and stood there and I sat down in the chair to the left of his. I kept my eyes on the ground, maybe if I was quiet enough, they wouldn't notice me.

"Oh, great, she's back. Didn't you learn your lesson the first time? No one wants you here," Glimmer spat at me. Nope, no such luck!

I would have ignored her mean words, but the next words out of her mouth made me lose my temper, "I'm sure that freak Fala will let you sit with her."

"Fala isn't a freak," I stood up. I was going to storm away but Stone caught my hand and pulled me back to my now vacant seat.

"Glimmer give it a rest! Phoenix is not yours; he's never been yours, and he never will be. Leave Wren alone," Stone's voice was hard. The entire school held their breath, I could imagine they were all sitting on the edge of their seats.

She stood up and stomped her foot. "Phe!" Her voice came out in a whine. My back burned as I remembered the last time, she had gotten mad at me. This time I wasn't flying against the wall, but tables, chairs, bags and plates started to shake. The whole area felt like it was vibrating.