Read The Stern and Wild Ones (The Seeker Series) for Free Online Page A

whispered. "Are you ok? You look like you're gonna pass out."
    "Jack, Ally, is everything alright here?" Ms. Gonzalez was standing at the front of our row.
    Jack looked at me questioningly. I shook my head very slightly and gave him an imploring look.
    "Yeah, Ms. Gonzalez ," he said without looking away from me. "Just had a minor misunderstanding with my girlfriend. Sorry to bother you. Let's go, Ally. We can talk about this later." He started to gather up our belongings.
    "Oh, well," Ms. Gonzalez stuttered. "I'll just let you..." she retreated back to her desk, apparently unwilling to get involved in any of our teenage drama.
    We made our way out of the classroom as quickly as possible. Jack put his hand on the small of my back and guided me into a fairly deserted side hallway. Although I was still fuzzy from the vision, I couldn't help thinking about how much I liked being described as Jack's girlfriend.
    "Listen, Ally. What's going on with you?" he backed me against the wall as he confronted me.  "This is not normal. It doesn't seem like you're sick, but something is wrong. I really wish you'd tell me. Maybe I can help. Did that girl do something to you? I mean, yesterday you got all weird when she was presenting and today she practically knocks you down and you get all hot and look like you're gonna pass out."
    I looked up into his sweet, caring eyes and thought it was amazing that before yesterday I had never spoken to him. Today I felt like we had been friends for a while, yet I still didn't know very much about him.  I shook my head slowly. "No, I'm fine, Jack. Thanks for that, back there,” I motioned vaguely toward the classroom.
    He just looked at me, staring, really. It was unnerving. "Come on, Ally. What is up with you? Something's going on. I've never seen you like this. Let me help." He reached out and pushed my hair behind my ear.
    Well, when he did that, I was putty in his hands. "Listen, ok. I'll tell you what's going on. I don't know if you'll believe me or if you'll think I'm insane and never want to speak to me again, but I'll tell you. It's just... is there somewhere we could go? A bit more private? I don't mean to be creepy or anything." I didn't know what I planned to tell him, but I figured he deserved some sort of explanation.
    He looked deeply into my eyes , searching. "Sure. How about if we go grab a Coke or something and then I can drive you home. I have a class at CNM in a couple hours, but I've got some time." I nodded and he shouldered my backpack and his and led the way out to the parking lot.
    Wow. This guy is super sweet and polite and everything wonderful. Too bad I'm about to completely scare him off with my freakishness.
    A surprisingly short time later (how time flies when you are dreading something), he pulled into the parking lot at Flying Star, a local gourmet coffee chain restaurant. Our high school is conveniently located in the Northeast Heights area of Albuquerque, which means that we are really close to several malls and lots of restaurants. I love living in this area of town because, as a girl without a car, I appreciate being within handy walking or bus distance of a lot of choices for shopping, etc. It's not exactly like we live in major metropolitan area like Chicago or New York. This is New Mexico, after all, but for Albuquerque this is a great area of town. As we approached the glass case full of baked goods and the counter, Jack turned and asked if I was hungry. I shook my head, "Just coffee, thanks."
    He ordered two coffees and a piece of Rio Grande Mud Pie with two forks. "You like chocolate, don't you?" he checked. I assented with a slight shrug. Sweet, but I doubted I would be able to keep down any kind of food right now. I was so nervous about the forthcoming conversation I thought I might actually throw up.  He picked up our tray and carried it to a booth beside the windows. He placed a cup of strong, steaming coffee in front of each of us and placed the pie in the