But David only released his knees and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me sideways. “We shall be shunned!” he continued, squeezing me tight. “Driven from the lands of our birth, forced to wander the wilds—”

I was laughing now, even as I reached down to keep my skirt from riding up my thighs. “You are insane,” I informed David, twisting in his embrace.

He grinned at me, and in that moment, there was no gold in his eyes, no feeling of danger. No prophecies or powers or magic. Just us, laughing under a tree in the courtyard.

My laughter faded and I reached up to push a lock of hair off his forehead. “I like you kind of a lot,” I said quietly, and David’s arms tightened around me.

“You’re not so bad yourself, Pres,” he said, and I wondered when the nickname that used to annoy me so much had started sounding so sweet.

I was still pretty firmly anti-PDA, but when David kissed me—quickly, but firmly—I decided that every once in a while, it wasn’t so bad.

I was still smiling when I saw Brandon come out the front door, Bee right behind him. “Oh, there she is,” I said, standing up. I walked quickly toward the sidewalk where they were standing, and only then did I realize how pale Bee had gone, how big her eyes were.

And Brandon was staring at her in obvious confusion.

“Brandon, it’s me,” she said. “Why didn’t you wait when I called you?”

He flicked his hair out of his eyes, shifting his weight uncomfortably. “Um, because I don’t know who you are?”

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

BRANDON WAS BLINKING at Bee, his handsome face scrunched up in a puzzled frown, one hand running over the back of his neck. “I mean, you’re pretty hot,” he said with a shrug, “so I’d think I’d remember you, but... yeah, not ringing any bells.”

David had jogged up beside me, and I could hear him blow out a long breath. “Crap,” he muttered.

People were starting to stare. There was a group of freshman girls sitting at a nearby stone table, clearly paying a lot of attention to what was going on right now. All three had dark, shiny hair, and I watched one lick yogurt off her spoon before leaning in to whisper something to her friend.

Taking Bee’s elbow, I tried to draw her back from Brandon a little bit. “It’s okay,” I said in a low voice, but she looked at me and shook her head.