stopped me, but I didnât face her as she caught up with me. âWhyâd you do that?â
Unsure what to say, I settled for a shrug.
âYou know, if youâre trying to make people think youâre nice, it usually works better to have an audience to see it.â
âWhatever.â
She muttered something that sounded like âegomaniac.â
Man, Savannah had the worst taste in friends lately. I rolled my eyes and walked away.
CHAPTER 2
Tristan
I looked for Savannah at lunch the next day, even trading seats with Dylan so I could have a better view of her friendsâ table. But she never showed up. Wednesday, I traded seats with Dylan again, thinking sheâd have to be back by then. But she was nowhere in sight, and her seat stayed empty. She didnât show up for algebra that afternoon, either.
Algebra had never been so boring or lasted so long.
By Fridayâs lunch period, Savannah was still missing. Which didnât exactly put me in the mood to deal with Dylanâs latest show of attitude.
âHey, man, trade seats with me again,â I told him, keeping one eye on the cafeteria doors in case Savannah walked through.
Dylan didnât move, staying slouched in his seat. âWhy should I?â
âBecause your spotâs got the better view, and I need to watch out forâ¦something.â
Dylan smirked. âTrying to check out the chicks, huh?â
It was as good an excuse as any, and basically true. âYeah. Now are you gonna trade or what?â I tried not to show my impatience. Otherwise heâd take twice as long to move just to mess with me.
âAnd what if I donât? You gonna call Daddy and have him and the other elders spank me at the next Clann meeting?â
I glared at him. Man, he could be such a pain sometimes. It was just a chair!
He snickered. âOkay, okay, donât get your panties in a wad. Iâm moving.â Slower than a resident at the local elderly home, he peeled himself out of the chair, then made a big show of bowing over it. âYour throne, Prince Tristan.â
Letting out a long, slow breath, I sat down.
He took his time making the four short steps around the table to my old seat. Once in it, he proceeded to sit and stare at me for the rest of the lunch break, sorely tempting me to punch him.
What was with him lately? Weâd been best friends growing up. But something about starting high school this year seemed to have set him off. All year long, Iâd been getting more and more attitude from him. Like he resented me because my father led the Clann or something. Or maybe it was because my family wanted me to be the next Clann leader? Except that didnât make sense, either. Dylan knew better than anyone how much I just wanted to be normal and live my own life, not the one my parents wanted for me.
So why the sudden attitude from him all the time?
Whatever. Dylanâs issues with the Clann and its leadership werenât my problem. Right now, my problem was figuring out what was wrong with Savannah.
No way was it normal for her to miss a whole week of school. I couldnât remember a single day when I hadnât been able to catch at least one glimpse of her in the halls betweenclasses. Sheâd always been around somewhere, just waiting to suck the air out of my lungs and hit me with that ache in my chest and gut every time I saw her.
I needed information. Fast.
I waited till algebra ended, then followed Anne to the outer walkway. âHey, Anne. Wait a minute.â
She looked over her shoulder at me, huffed, then walked away faster.
Fighting back a snarl, I jogged to close the distance. She never stopped walking even after I caught up with her. Not that it was hard to keep up with her short legs.
âListen, Iâ¦.â Okay, how should I ask for updates about someone without giving the wrong impression?
With a sigh, Anne jerked to a halt. âYou know, your sense of