Read Wings of Darkness: Book 1 of The Immortal Sorrows Series for Free Online Page B

Gwen’s
mom, Missy, had been sending her to various self-defense classes since we were
ten years old.  It was probably a good thing.  Gwen’s main hobby was
offending as many people as possible.  She lived for it, in fact.  It was
a sure bet that eventually her mouth would get her into trouble.
         “Was that necessary,” I asked her.
         Gwen shrugged and flipped her
ponytail off her shoulder. “Probably not, but I enjoyed it.”
        “Good enough, then.”  We had to
fight our way through the crush of underclassmen to get to our lockers.  I
pressed my forehead up against my locker and savored the feel of cold metal
against my feverish skin. Maybe my dad was right, and I was pushing myself too
hard.  I was getting a little bit of a headache.
          “Hey, Maitland, are you ok?”
         I jumped back, startled out of my
thoughts. I chuckled weakly at my own stupidity.  “Um, yeah. I’m
fine.”  If I kept telling people I was ok, then maybe I would start
believing it myself.
         I looked up to find Alex Winters
watching me closely.  Alex, who had left a stuffed turtle in my hospital
room while I was still unconscious.  He was the closest thing to
perfection that our little town had ever produced.  He was the captain of
the football team, president of the student body, and volunteered at the local
soup kitchen at least once a month.  If that wasn’t enough, he was
remarkably nice to look at, and kind to old people, little kids, and animals. 
He was also Jenny Steven’s on again/off again boyfriend.  I wasn’t sure if
they were currently on again, or not; their little drama was just too much for
me to keep up with most of the time.  Also, I just didn’t give a crap.
         Alex and I had been friends in elementary
school, but then Junior high came and he got heavily into sports.  The
popular kids had snapped him up, and that was that.  I became a little
more anti-social with each passing year, until
Gwen was about the only person I wanted to hang out with.
         “You look kind of tired, are you
sure you’re ok?”  Alex and I hadn’t spoken more than a handful of words to
each other since Junior High.  The fact that he was acknowledging me now,
was beyond weird.
         “Yeah, I’m good. Just a little
headache.  Thanks for asking, though.” I got my locker open and shoved my
backpack inside.  I grabbed my history book for first period and a couple
of notebooks and pens.  Mr. Blessing was big on long, boring lectures and
he liked it when you had to take notes to keep up.
         Alex didn’t leave, like I figured
he would; he was still leaning up against the locker next to mine, watching me,
with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.  Gwen stood behind him making
lewd gestures and silently laughing her ass off.  I really didn’t want him
catching her behind him making kissy faces, so I had to keep him from turning
around. 
         “Oh, hey, thanks for the
turtle.  That was nice of you.”  I kept my tone even.  No sense
in coming off as rude, but I really needed to get to class.
         “No problem.”  Alex shifted
from foot to foot.  “Listen, Izzy, I was just, um, wondering… how you were
doing, is all.”  He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and smoothed
his perfectly ruffled hair back with his fingers.  It was sandy brown, naturally,
but years of being outside playing sports had given him perfect, golden
highlights that even Jenny Stevens would have killed for.
         Gwen was about to pee herself, for
some reason.  She did that thing where she laughed so hard that no sound
came out and she clapped like a drunken seal.  I pursed my lips and gave
her my best stink eye.  Thankfully, Alex didn’t seem to notice. It took
her a moment, but she finally took a hint and waved at me over her shoulder as
she took off for her first class.  I’m pretty sure she was wiping tears as
she walked away.  It would