Beckoning Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #1)(8)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“And now I can give Kevin a good report.”

“A report?” I asked, alarmed.

“Yes, I almost started laughing when you sat with us at lunch.” He raised his eyebrows a little.

“Laughing? Why? I didn’t mean to; Rachel and I used to be friends, so she was being nice. I can sit somewhere else tomorrow.”

“Wow, Charlotte, slow down there. I was laughing because of all the tables in all the lunch periods, you ended up at mine, a mostly senior table.”

“Yeah, well of all the lunch tables, in all the towns, in all the world, I sat down at yours, huh?” I couldn’t believe I had just made a Casablanca joke, but it was the only thing that came into my head. Somebody would probably say it was intentional, referring to a great romantic movie.

“Ha ha, wow, a Casablanca reference? You have a better sense of humor than I remember.”

I was pleased that Liam understood my joke, and I tried to relax as Monty called the room to attention. Luckily, he knew better than to introduce me, and he had the orchestra start at the beginning of a piece. It felt good to fall into the familiar rhythm of playing music, and the class period flew. At the end of the class, I packed my music and walked with Liam to put away our instruments.

“Have fun at practice,” I said quickly, as I waited for Uncle Monty to come to the back of the room.

“Yeah, thanks. You heading to the library?”

“Um, I think I might check out the school newspaper meeting, actually.” I was glad that I could at least act like I wanted to be involved in school activities.

“Did I hear what I think I heard? You’re going to the newspaper meeting?” Monty asked, smiling as he walked over to us.

“Yeah, I wrote some articles in Fairbanks, so I figured I would try it here.”

“Great! I mentioned to Ms. Wilson that you were into writing, and she’s always looking for new blood.”

“Where should I meet you after practice?” I hoped Monty wouldn’t tell me to go to the gym.

“Why don’t you come by the gym at around five o’clock?”

“Sure.” I agreed even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. The few times I had met Kevin in the gym after his practices had always been awkward—too many sweaty boys.

Just as I reached the door, I heard Monty say, “Good. I’m happy she’s making an effort.” I didn’t wait to hear Liam’s response. The newspaper meeting was fun, and I liked the people there. It came as no surprise when James walked into the room and sat next to me; I was starting to get used to him. I actually felt a little guilty for thinking so badly of him. Maybe he was just trying to be nice and wanted to make a new friend. I promised myself I would try to be more open-minded. I hadn’t really planned on signing up for an assignment yet, but when I found out that the sports editor needed someone to cover the next home basketball game, it seemed to make sense to sign up because I would be there anyway. I never missed Kevin’s home games.

When I met Monty after practice and told him about it, he was thrilled. “Great, my little sports reporter.” He held up his hand for a high five.

“Hey, you told me to join clubs.” I pretended offense at his surprise.

“I know, and you actually listened. Maybe this pseudo-parent stuff won’t be so hard after all.” He laughed.

“Ha ha. Don’t get too comfortable, Monty.”

Chapter Four

Charlotte

By midweek, I found myself enjoying school more than I expected. I was getting used to my new surroundings and the people. The only frustrating thing was being really early for school every morning because Monty had scheduled a bunch of morning practices for the team. On Tuesday morning, the weather was nice, so I sat outside and worked on some schoolwork. Wednesday, it rained, so I decided to go sit in the empty English classroom.

“Charlotte?” I looked up and saw James walking toward my desk.

“Oh, hey, James.” I noticed that a few drops of water dripped from his dirty blond hair; he must not have bothered with an umbrella.

“You’re here early, aren’t you?” he asked, as he took a pen and notebook out of his backpack.

“Yeah, both of my rides had to get here early for a practice today. What’s your excuse?” I asked, more to be polite than because I really wanted to know.

James smiled. “I just get so excited about learning that I can’t wait to get here.”

I glared at him; his sarcasm could be very annoying.

“You know, if you don’t want to get here so early, I could give you a ride. You’re on my way,” he offered.

“Thanks,” I said warily. “But how do you know where I live?”

He looked surprised. “You’re Liam’s neighbor, right?” He laughed. “A little paranoid, are you?”

“Oh, yeah.” I felt a blush creep into my cheeks. Why did I always have to embarrass myself? “Well anyway, if you drove me I would still be here really early, so no thanks.”

“I could leave later, just let me know.”

“Sure,” I responded, just to end the conversation.

“You’re just saying that,” he retorted accusingly.

“How do you know?”

James smiled. “So I was right.”

“No, I was just wondering why you assumed that.”

“Well, you can’t let me know if you don’t have my number.”

“Oh, yeah,” I admitted.

“Do you have your phone with you?” I pulled my phone out of my backpack and handed it to him. He quickly pushed a few buttons on my phone, then handed it back.

“Okay, now you can say ‘sure,’ because we have each other’s numbers.” He held up his cell phone, which displayed a missed call from my number.

Geez, I really could be gullible. Who actually falls for something like that? I just didn’t understand James. All he ever seemed to do was make me feel stupid with his sarcasm and weird smiles. Was he just trying to get me to make a fool of myself? In some ways, I was wary of him but, at the same time, I found him comfortable to be around.

“Have I met you before?” I asked, trying to figure out why he seemed so familiar.

“Yesterday,” he said with mock seriousness.

“Seriously.”

“Don’t you think you would remember me if we had met before?” He smirked.

This time, I didn’t take the bait. “I guess it’s nothing. I just thought you seemed familiar.”