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Tristan

When I strolled along the catwalk toward algebra class an hour and a half later, I knew the descendants would all be feeling the power spikes yet again

The creeps fro

The closer I got to the building, the better I could see her face Any other girl who had three guys flirting with her would probably have been thrilled But she wasn&039;t She looked murderous

Yards away now, I noticed that her face was even paler than usual Her movements were jerky, her shoulders hunched, her hands fisted around her notebook and backpack straps Her fans seeh, their pathetic faces eager as they continued to colanced past them to me for a second For help? Her cheeks turned red just before she looked past me like I was invisible

She took a step sideways toward the building door The creep on that side leaned against the wall, blocking her escape She said sohed but didn&039;t uy in the et through

What the?

Her eyes widened, and I was close enough now to see the between her and the building entrance He acted as if he earing steel-toed boots and couldn&039;t feel a thing

Time to step in, whether she wanted ot a problem here?" I stopped a few feet away

Herto answer But then she shut it and shook her head Her chin rose a notch, and she looked through irl

"Hiya, Sav, sorry I&039;ed up to us from the catwalk Ah, so that&039;s who Savannah had been looking at "Excuse rabbed Savannah&039;s ar entrance like a bulldozer without brakes "I got held up in English Thanks for waiting for , Anne playing bodyguard at Savannah&039;s board-stiff back Huh So it was okay for Anne to come to the rescue but not

I stared at the three guys They didn&039;t notice nets, they sha Whoa, now that was extra creepy They looked like a bunch of possessed zoht Savannah soirls&039; restroo door open, wincing as the et it under control, Coleman

I took a deep breath as I entered the classroom Mr Chandler had just started class Great I&039;d have souys left Savannah alone for good Or etting rid of creeps without their ever knowing it It was one of the first things our dad had taught her once she&039;d startedstrands of Savannah&039;s ponytail and thinking about how best to convince Emily to break the rules and teachthat it took twenty minutes to notice the difference

Savannah had done sohting in the cafeteria earlier But her hair was definitely different It used to be ish-red Noas darker, with strands of deep red and brown running through it And it was shinier, too

And oh, ood

She still ser, warood today Especially right above the collar of her sweater

I gulped and leaned back in ht To re that curve where her neck and shoulder met would be a bad idea

I had to pity the three creeps then There was so about Savannah that ay beyond the normal attraction I was only surprised that every athered around her outside the building today

A foot kicked

My head shot up and I looked around The lecture had ended, everyone orking on the assignmentand Anne see letters across her paper, Quit staring!

I wasn&039;t, I wrote on h so she could read it

Yes, you are All you guys are such creeps, she added on her paper

Confused, I looked at her andabout?

Her head jerked to the right and back before she pretended to return to her work But I could see she was just doodling on her paper

I waited a lance behind us at the rest of the class Sure enough, three pairs of male eyes were all locked in Savannah&039;s direction Their dark expressions said their thoughts were anything but nice

The guys had gone well beyond stalker level straight to "lock me up, I&039;m a serial killer" in just two hours

Oh, yeah, I was definitely going to have to do so about this The question waswhat? And how much time did I have to ith? I wrote, I am NOT like them But don&039;t worry about those creeps I&039;ll take care of it

Anne&039;s eyebrows shot up, but she didn&039;t write anything else on her paper

When the bell rang, I tooktoward our group of desks A quick glance behind me showed it was the Creepy Three I spun out and aroundmyself between Savannah and the the varsity teauy seated in front of Anne at Savannah&039;s left I wasn&039;t surprised by Abernathy&039;s confused expression as he looked around at h we&039;d both played offensive JV football this year, Ron&039;s family had just moved to Jacksonville last year, and he hadn&039;t made many friends yet He seemed like the quiet type, and until today we&039;d never spoken to each other outside of team time

Ronpolite, though, because he didn&039;t blowdesperate for so players on varsity"

I could feel three people hovering at rin, I spread my feet, crossed my arot et any actual field tied "Probably You kno it is Between grades and injuries, we uts to tap nored theht be rades

Unfortunately, Savannah and Anne appeared to be too deep in their ohispered conversation to notice the priiven them to escape Girls They picked the worst tirab his books, I cleared my throat Anne looked up I shot her a look that hopefully told her to get her skinny rear in gear She got the hint, grabbed Savannah, and within half a

Just as I started to relax, I sensed the Creepy Three shifting as if to follow the girls

"See you at practice," I said to Ron then headed for the door, lengthening my stride so I would reach it before the creeps At the doorway, I turned and gave thelare back at ood half a foot shorter than hed more than a hundred pounds co what I think you&039;re thinking," I growled Behind ed shut

They stared up at er they were in I could beat all three of them into pulp in ten seconds flat and not even work up a sweat

"Is there a problem, boys?" Mr Chandler said fro not to smile "I could&039;ve sworn I just heard these three call you a fat, bald-headed little pig"

Mr Chandler stood up "Well Sounds like maybe you three should stay for a little chat with me"

Confused, they turned to the teacher and started sta enough for the girls to reach the parking lot and their rides Satisfied, I headed outside in tirand was to see Anne stalking back toward the

Curiosity ?"

The building door opened behind us I glanced back The Creepy Three slunk through, giving me pathetic excuses for scary looks before they headed down the catwalk

Anne&039;s glare wastoad hunting"

"Uh, I think the situation&039;s under control now"

"They ave you? Do you really think they&039;re going to leave her alone now?"

Frowning, I watched the toads in question stop at the other end of the catwalk and huddle No telling what ideas they were coht, I see your point But why don&039;t you let et hurt?" She sneered

"No I&039;m sure you could take them But I think a simple man-to-man talk is a better solution" I felt s I&039;d like that talk to include

Her eyes narrowed "You really like her, don&039;t you?"

I blinked a few times "Why would you think that? Just because I want to help someone out"

"Jeez, all you boys are the sarow up on stories about Ca? You know, contrary to popular Southern male opinion, not every fe to be rescued by Lance lot, or whatever We can take care of ourselves"

"Actually, I&039;ve always thought of e, lead the troops and all that," I joked

She snorted "Oh, of course your ego would be king-size"

"Hey, whatever it takes to get the job done"

"Uh-huh Okay, Arthur, we&039;ll see how you do with the toads"

"That&039;s King Arthur to you"

"Don&039;t hold your breath for that one" She headed for the parking lot, then stopped after a few yards and turned back "You really think I could&039;ve taken thehed "Oh, yeah Easily"

"Good answer, Coleh for her solanced around, but thankfully no one see attention

I checkedtoward the field house, bracinglate Laps, probably, at least five of the on Coach Parker&039;sthe way, I tried to figure out what I would do about the Creepy Three Or the toads, as Anne had called the Part ofpaired up with some wimpy kid who needed a spotter to save him from the evil bench press every few seconds But as soon as practice ended and I finished all ten laps around the outdoor track that ringed the practice field,aside, Anne&039;s claim that she could take care of the boys herself was overconfident Sure, maybe she and Savannah could handle one boy Maybe two But three at a time? No way And what about when Savannah wasn&039;t with Anne?

I had options, though none of the up the toads would ot the point But there was that whole probleain

I could settle for threatening theh to listen and stay away from Savannah

That left me with only one solution that couldn&039;t be traced back to me, at least by normal methods, and would take the choice away from the creeps For that, I&039;d need ot to the car before E back, I propped my feet on the dashboard and waited I must have drifted off

"Hey, sleepyhead" Erubby feet off ically lifted my feet in the air for a few seconds Man, I hated it when she used telekinesis on me! It made me feel like a puppet Seriously creepy Not to mention the sic aroundaway the annoying piles of plastic, I sat up The sun was already setting "What took you so long?"

"Cheerleading practice Remember? Cheerleaders have to train hard, too"

"Uh-huh" I frowned at the fast-sinking sun then glanced atout of tiet rid of Savannah&039;s stalker club "Listen, sis I really need your help And I knohat you&039;re going to say, but hear me out first, okay?"

Her eyebrows rose, but she nodded and started the car

As we drove, I gave her a quick rundown about Savannah&039;s newest fans and how scared she&039;d looked I ht have played it up a little, but they had acted half crazed over her, and she&039;d seemed pretty upset at the end of class "So, I need your help"

"You want me to use my power to make them leave her alone?"

"No I want to do it" With Savannah&039;s looks, this could becoo to my sister for help every time

Emily didn&039;t even hesitate "No"

"You won&039;t teach me?"

"No You know the rules Not just Mom and Dad, but all the elders would killI know You can only learn froroaned and ran both hands through my hair

"Oh, calm down, you spoiled brat You&039;re a Coleet your way in the end You&039;re justthis way too hard" Emily pushed a button on the re open ahead of us at our driveway&039;s entrance and we pulled through, the gravel crunching like potato chips under the car&039;s tires

"Oh, so you think I should just beat thee and break our mother&039;s heart? Okay, but remember, it was your idea"

"Of course not, you idiot I meant that you need to learn froe and let estion while the door slid shut behind us

"Yeah, I guess I could ask Dad But you know their rules about her They would killto help her"

"Who says they need to kno the infor for you to start taking your training seriously So why not e?"

I stared ahead into the gloo Eht Dad did want me to "buckle down and train harder"-harped on it, in fact And self-defense was the first thing he&039;d taught Ey So the odds were pretty good that I could get him to start on the sa ready to focus and needing help in the self-defense area should do it But would I learn what I needed to fast enough to help Savannah? The Creepy Three ht come to their senses with a little distance, tiht not What if they were ht now to catch her alone soht?"

Elanced at her watch with a s e"

"Don&039;t you need your books?"

I shook rim smile "I&039;ll be too busy Got a different kind of hoht"

"Okay Just be sure to ask Dad how to do a targeted et near Savannah, they&039;ll beco small to hide in her backpack, and you&039;re all set"

"Thanks" I shot her a grin then ran inside and up toebra class But they all seemed stressed about me already I knew if I told them, Dad would have to tell the vaht I was a ticking ti already, ould they do? Would they take me out of school? Would they take me away from Nanna and Mom and my friends?

So on the way hoive it another day and see what happened Then if I felt like I really couldn&039;t handle things, I would ask for help

"Hey, hon, hoas your day?" Mom called from her couch office as Nanna and I entered the house Mom seemed tense, her elbows braced on her knees, her cell phone strangely quiet for once Had she been waiting for me to come home and report?

"It was fine But I really need a shower now Ballet and jazz class were" Great Fabulous A "Brutal" I made a beeline for the bathroom so neither of them could see my face while I lied "What&039;s for dinner?"

I should have known avoiding them wouldn&039;t be so easy