The Goddess Test (Goddess Test #1)(4)
Author: Aimee Carter

“Do I?” His grin widened. “Y’know, Irene, if you keep doubting me like this, I’m going to start thinking you don’t like me anymore. Same time tomorrow?”

She chuckled, and finally James disappeared. I refused to watch him go, instead staring down at an announcement taped to the counter. Apparently Picture Day was in three weeks.

“Katherine Winters,” said the woman—Irene—once the office door closed. “We’ve been expecting you.”

She busied herself looking through a file, and I stood there awkwardly, wishing there was something to say. I wasn’t much of a talker, but I could at least carry on a conversation. Sometimes. “You have a pretty name.”

She raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows. “Do I? I’m glad you think so. I rather like it myself. Ah, here we go.” She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Your schedule, as well as a map of the school. Shouldn’t be too hard to find—the hallways are color-coded, and if you get lost, just ask. We’re all nice enough around here.”

I nodded, taking note of my first class. Calculus. Joy. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, dear.”

I turned to leave, but as my hand touched the doorknob, she cleared her throat.

“Miss Winters? I just—I wanted to say I’m sorry. About your mother, I mean. I knew her a very long time ago, and—well. I’m very sorry.”

I closed my eyes. Everyone knew. I didn’t know how, but they knew. My mother said her family had lived in Eden for generations, and I’d been stupid to think that I could get away with coming here unnoticed.

Blinking back tears, I turned the knob and hurried out of the office, keeping my head down in hopes that James wouldn’t try to talk to me again.

Just as I turned the corner, I ran directly into what felt like a wall. I stumbled to the ground, the contents of my bag spilling out everywhere. My cheeks burned, and I tried to collect my things as I mumbled an apology.

“Are you okay?”

I looked up. The human wall stared down at me, and I found myself face-to-face with a varsity football jacket. Apparently James and I weren’t the only ones running late that morning.

“I’m Dylan.” He knelt next to me, offering me a hand. I only took it long enough to sit up.

“Kate,” I said. He handed me my notebooks, and I snatched them from him, shoving them back into my bag. Two textbooks and five folders later, I stood and brushed off my jeans. That was when I noticed that he was cute. Not just in Eden, but cute by New York standards, too. Even so, there was something about the way he looked at me that made me want to pull away.

Before I could do just that, a pretty blonde girl attached herself to his side and gave me a once-over. She might’ve been smiling, but with the way she was leaning against him and clutching his arm, she might as well have peed on him. He was clearly marked territory.

“Who’s your friend, Dylan?” she said, tightening her grip.

Dylan looked at her blankly, and it took him a moment before he wrapped his arm around her. “Uh, Kate. She’s new.”

Her fake smile grew, and she stuck out her hand. “Kate! I’m Ava. I’ve heard so much about you. My father, he’s a real estate agent, told me all about you and your mom.”

At least now I had someone to blame for the leak in my room. “Hi, Ava,” I said, biting the bullet and taking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Everything about the way she looked at me screamed she wanted nothing more than to take me out into the woods and bury me alive. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

“What’s your first class?” said Dylan, craning his neck to look at my schedule. “Calculus. I—we can show you where that is, if you’d like.”

I opened my mouth to object, figuring there was no reason to tempt fate more than I already was by continuing the conversation now that Ava was here, but before I could say a word, he took me by the elbow and paraded me down the hall. I looked at Ava, about to apologize for hijacking her boyfriend, but when I saw the flush of red on her cheeks and the clench of her delicate jaw, the words died on the tip of my tongue.

Maybe my mother would outlive me after all.

CHAPTER 2

AVA

I wasn’t spectacularly pretty. I wished I was, but I was just me. I’d never modeled, never had guys drooling over me, and never looked like much of anything next to the genetically blessed socialites that attended my preparatory school back home.

Which was why I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why Dylan was still staring at me.

He stared at me all through History, all through Chemistry, and all through lunch. I ate alone at the empty end of a table, my nose buried in a book, not wanting to bother with making friends. I wasn’t going to be here for very long anyhow, so there wasn’t much of a point. Once this was over, I had every intention of going back to New York City and picking up what few pieces of my former life I’d be able to find.

Besides, I was used to eating lunch alone. I hadn’t had many friends back home either, since my mother had gotten sick at the beginning of my freshman year, and I’d spent all my time outside of school camped out next to her hospital bed as she went through round after round of chemo and radiation. It hadn’t left much time for sleepovers and dating and hanging out with people who couldn’t possibly understand what we were going through.

“Is this seat taken?”

Startled, I looked up, half expecting to see Dylan standing there. Instead, carrying a cafeteria tray full of french fries and wearing a huge pair of headphones that hid his elephant ears, James stared back at me, a jaunty grin on his face. I didn’t know whether to be horrified or relieved.

Silently I shook my head, but it didn’t matter anyway. He was already sitting. I stared at my book, trying my best to avoid looking at him in hopes he would go away. But the words blurred in front of me, and I read the same sentence four times, too aware of James to concentrate.

“Technically, you’re in my seat,” he said conversationally. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out a full-size bottle of ketchup, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I abandoned all pretense of reading. Who carried around a bottle of ketchup?

He must’ve seen my look, because as he squirted it all over the massive pile of fries, he nudged the tray closer to me. “Want some?”

I shook my head. I had an apple and a sandwich, but the arrival of James made me a little queasy. It wasn’t that I didn’t think he might be a sweet kid—I just wanted to be left alone. As an excuse to avoid talking to him, I took a bite of my apple, taking my time as I chewed. James started to dive into his fries, and for a few brief seconds, I hoped the conversation was over.