Underwater Read Free Page A

do that,” she hissed down to me.
    “He should. It’s rude.” Casting an evil glance at Ian’s back as he strutted away with his friends, I shifted in my seat. “I can’t stand watching crap like that.”
    “He says that when they’re at home, Ian is cool. That’s why Hayden doesn’t get mad.”
    I watched as Hayden shoved his way past a group of staring girls, keeping his head down. “I’d say he’s plenty mad. He’s just not saying anything because his brother is Mr. Sandpoint High.”
    A hand came down on Hayden’s shoulder, stopping him as he barreled toward the corner.
    His startled voice carried down the hall. “Sorry. Didn’t see you.”
    I leaned back in my seat so I could see which teacher would lecture poor Hayden. I couldn’t see what faculty member it was, but the color drained from Hayden’s face. Poor guy was having a crap morning.
    The surrounding kids scattered like mice, their eyes wide with unabashed curiosity. When some girls scuttled past Evey and me, I heard one of them say, “Where did he come from?”
    Evey peered around her locker door, and her mouth dropped open. “Holy cow.”
    I reeled my head back in Hayden’s direction. “What’s all the fuss about? I…oh.”
    It was if things were suddenly moving in slow motion as he came around the corner. The first thing I noticed was his arm connected to the hand on Hayden’s shoulder. It was so defined that it looked as though it’d been Photoshopped. When my gaze rolled upward, I saw that the guy was cut enough to stretch the armholes of his worn black T-shirt. The knees of his faded black jeans were torn to shreds, as were the ankles, which were slit at the sides to make room for his dirty, scuffed boots.
    When his face came into focus, my stomach tangled itself into a figure eight. His square jaw was dusted with whiskers; his cheekbones looked like something carved out of marble. On the each side of his neck were three tattooed lines, drawn at a diagonal just below his earlobes. Dark brown hair the color of chocolate hung in waves around his face. His mouth pulled upward atone corner in a smirk that made my heart grind to a halt.
    “Who’s that?” Evey said.
    I couldn’t focus on my sister. The hot dude was monopolizing my focus. “I…uh…I don’t know.”
    Evey’s eyes locked on him as he sauntered down the hallway. His head was half a foot above everyone else’s. “Well, whoever he is, the girls are all staring at him the way Dad looks at a prime rib.”
    “Huh.” I fingered a long strand of my dark hair, faking indifference while my heart coughed and groaned to a reluctant restart. She was right. Every single set of female eyes in the hallway was locked on the mystery boy.
    He approached us, and the air around me filled with the aroma of the water grass that grew between the rocks along the edge of the lake.
    Evey immediately turned to her closed locker, pretending to check and recheck the padlock. My fingers froze as soon as he fixed his gaze in my direction.
    His eyes were the clearest, most crystal blue I’d ever seen. They looked ethereal, the same color as a robin’s egg, and slightly iridescent. I swear to all things holy that they could see right through me to the metal lockers behind my chair.
    He scrolled his gaze down to my scrawny legs, which were covered in dark gray tights and propped on the footrest of my chair. His stare strayed from my legs, travelling over the metal framework of my chair as though he’d never seen one before.
    The side of his mouth dropped, and his smile faded away. It was as if the sun slid behind a cloud, and I was inexplicably disappointed. I waited for his nerves to take over. The shifting eyes. The fidgeting. I’d seen it all.
    None of that happened. Instead, he held out his hand. Whether he knew that he was setting off tingles up and down the back of my neck, I had no idea. But he did, and it felt amazing.
    “Hello, Luna.”

 
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    After The