Mourning Sun Read Free Page A

past and have that past walk into my present. My premonitions didn't work that way, or at least they hadn't up to this point. I must have had some odd look on my face because when I looked up, Cecelia was frowning at me.
"What's wrong?" she mouthed.
    "Later," I waved her off. I couldn't form coherent thoughts, let alone attempt to share anything with her without getting caught by Mr. Stevens, or worse, Stephanie and her cronies.
    What kind of name was Mathias, I wondered idly. I'd never met anyone with that name before and didn't remember even reading it in one of the scores of romance novels I'd read in my life. Mathias...It sounded classy and classical and it certainly fit the reserved and beautiful boy who sat comfortable and silent behind me while the whispers of my classmates erupted around us the moment Mr. Stevens turned his back to continue his lecture.
I jumped when a hand settled on my shoulder. "May I share your book?"
    When I turned, Mathias had leaned forward to whisper his request to me and I found myself staring into his dark eyes with little distance between us. I pulled in a deep breath to attempt to calm my thundering heart and caught a whiff of something dark, earthy and tantalizing. The scent caressed my senses, bringing up visions of deep forests and dark nights and it took a moment for me to realize Mathias was still waiting for me to answer him.
"Um, sure," I said. I put my book on his desk.
    Mathias lowered his head and began to read along with Mr. Stevens. I stared at the tumble of his loose black curls and was struck by an almost insane desire to run my fingers through his hair. I wondered if his hair was soft or coarse. If it would feel like silk against my fingers. If he would kiss me.
Jeez, where did that thought come from? I blinked and forced myself to return to the present only to realize Mr. Stevens had been trying to get my attention.
    "Mairin, would you please pick up with Abigail's lines?" Mr. Stevens said. Stephanie snickered and wound her index finger in a tight circle next to her temple. Great, I thought. One more reason for Stephanie to think I was losing my marbles.
"Yes, Mr. Stevens," I said and then realized I had no idea where we were in the play.
     
"Here."
    I followed the long finger Mathias laid on the page and began to read. I kept my head down, but kept sneaking glances at the boy beside me. He watched me silently, barely glancing at the page to read John Proctor's lines as the characters fought over whether or not John loved Abigail. His voice jolted me each time he spoke, sending little electric thrills down my spine. Mr. Stevens finally started in on his lecture again and I was able to lean away from Mathias. The distance gave me some clarity and let me breathe. What was it with this guy?
    I wasn't normally a boy-crazed teenaged girl. Between my desire to go to a good college to escape Highland Home and my efforts to be invisible in order to avoid the Golden Ones, I had rendered myself almost entirely unseen by most of the male population of Highland Home. When you factored in my refusal to act like a stupid twit in order to stroke the egos of the boys who did see me, it left very little interaction with the opposite sex.
There was something about the way Mathias had looked at me in the hall and as he'd walked down the aisle to his seat that made me feel as though he saw more than others. It was as though he could see past the walls I'd built and into the transparent parts of me to find the deepest and most secret places in my soul that I didn't share with anyone. Being seen like that, after years of transparency, left me breathless. I wanted to be near him, to hear his voice, to be lost in the deep chasm of his eyes.
When the bell rang, Mathias rose and stalked from the room, moving with a catlike grace. He was gone before I was out of my seat.
     
"Well that was weird," Cecelia said as we headed down the hall to the cafeteria. "What's up with you and the new guy?"
    "I wish