Human Read Free Page B

just can't remember hi... something he said."
    "Ah." Amadeo eyed me suspiciously, his face darkening. Had I done or said something wrong? Well, I was saying wrong things all the time, but why would that bother him?
    "What's his name?" he suddenly asked. "My sister talks so much about school that I kind of know most of your class. Not to mention they also come to see me perform."
    "Devin," I said, carefully inspecting his face for some sign. If he knew the guy, then I might as well start googling my symptoms as soon as I got home. "Devin Teneroli."
    "Never heard of him." Amadeo frowned. "What does he look like?"
    "Umm, short black hair, dark blue eyes..."
    "Impossible. Ita would have told me about him." He tightened his hands on the wheel. "You said dark blue eyes?"
    "Yeah," I said. "I mean, more like sky blue going to darker in the shadow."
    "So you've been hanging out with him?" There was something strange in his voice, but I dismissed it. This day was already full of strange, no need to add to the list.
    "Not really," I said. "Except we wrote a paper together... I guess."
    "Maybe you should stay away from him."
    "Why?" I looked at him in surprise. He didn't know the guy, so why would he tell me to stay away?
    "Well, you fainted because of him," he said. "That can't be a good thing."
    "I didn't exactly faint because of him ." I wanted to bang my head against the wall or something. While trying to avoid telling what had really happened to me, I managed to make Amadeo think I was obsessing so much about Devin that I'd fainted to get his attention, or God knows what he thought.
    "I know," he said, pulling the car into my snow-covered driveway. "But he must have added to it. Made you more upset than you had already been."
    "Possible, yeah." I nodded. Amadeo's worry for me touched me deep inside, chasing away all the uneasiness I'd been feeling.
    "Then stay away from him." He smiled. "Ignore him. Don't let him drive you mad."
    I looked up into his warm dark brown eyes, suddenly feeling like he knew what was wrong. But how could he?
    "Thank you for the ride," I said, unfastening my seatbelt.
    "Are you coming to see my band this weekend?" he asked so sweetly that it was impossible to resist him.
    "Sure," I said, getting out of the car and grabbing my backpack from the backseat. I offered him a smile as he brought the engine back to life and waved at me. This turned out better than I'd expected. Amadeo wasn't thinking I was crazy, at least not completely, and there was a chance that maybe, just maybe, Devin was some creature out of space who had toyed with people's brains this morning before I got to school.

    "I'm fine, Mom," I said for God knows what time. "It was nothing. I was cold and wet, and got into the hot classroom and fainted. The nurse didn't want to risk anything, so I just stayed in the infirmary. But I'm fine, really."
    "Are you sure, honey?" My mom's green eyes were full of worry. "Your sister is feeling better, but maybe you got it from her... We should take you to the doctor."
    Yeah, probably. Just not to the ordinary doctor, more like a psychiatrist or something.
    "No, there's no need," I said, breaking off a big piece of chocolate and stuffing it in my mouth. "I'll go if I start feeling sick."
    "All right." My mom sighed, going for the stairs. "I'm going to check on your sister."
    I settled on our soft cream couch in the living room and turned on the TV, switching through the channels. But I couldn't get Devin out of my thoughts. Who was he and why had he come here? And more important, how had he made people believe he'd been with us all the time? I closed my eyes. Did I believe in magic? I wasn't sure. What if things like this had happened before and I wasn't even aware of it?
    A beautiful woman with a long red hair and huge blue wings with golden strikes walks across the white marble floor, her long white dress fluttering in the wind. She looks up at the clear blue sky, the sun caressing her olive skin. A tall