Toward the end, he grabbed my crumpled schedule. “Cool. We have bio together. Last period.”

“Cool,” I mumbled, knowing I sounded lame. Cory didn’t seem to mind though. I noticed he had a slight accent. Almost like a southern drawl.

“So what’s up with the gloves?” Cory asked after the bell rang and we were gathering up our stuff.

I felt my cheeks redden. “I was in an accident.”

“Oh.” Cory shouldered his backpack. “Are they messed up or something?”

The question wasn’t asked in a rude way, but I still wanted to run. “Yeah.”

Cory smiled easily. “Well, no big deal. See you later.”

I watched him lope out of the classroom. The gloves were no big deal? Since when?

By the end of fourth period, the muscles in my shoulders ached, but some of the tension edged away when I spotted Hayden. He stood outside my history class, a half-smile appearing when he saw me. “You hanging in there?”

“Yeah.” I fell into step next to him.

We headed into the cafeteria, and I grabbed what I thought was a slice of pizza and a soda. Then I turned toward the crowded room. Several students looked up, mostly girls—all staring at Hayden. He seemed to be oblivious as he pushed the tousled hair off his forehead.

I started forward, but he caught the edge of my backpack. “What?” I asked him.

“We don’t eat lunch in the cafeteria.”

“We don’t?”

Hayden tipped his head to the side and laughed. “Follow me.”

Following him didn’t sound like a bad idea, but I had no idea where we were going. We ended up outside, cutting across the campus, heading toward the rear of the school. “Are we allowed to be out here?”

“No.”

My pace slowed. “Are we gonna get in trouble?”

“Are you worried?”

I thought about that. “No, I guess not.”

That seemed to amuse Hayden. “Don’t worry. Teachers won’t say crap to us.”

“Why?”

He stopped beside the fence guarding the football field and faced me. “It’s not like it was at your old school, Ember. Things are different here.”

Several questions popped up, but I found myself smiling up at him instead. “That… sounds nice.”

Surprise flickered across his face. Glancing away, he stepped back. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.” He started walking away.

For a heartbeat, I stared after him. “You really haven’t been paying attention then.” I had to walk fast to keep up with his long-legged pace.

“I guess not.” He reached down, looping his arm through mine.

I stumbled.

Hayden grinned. “You’re too slow, Ember. You could use some help.”

He was a good foot taller than me, so I had to crane my neck. Right then, I forgot the last two years. Old Ember slipped through. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you wanted to hold my hand.”

Hayden opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Then he laughed, and the sun broke free from the clouds, highlighting his hair with a dozen shades of red and gold mixed with the brown.