“I will. And I’m sorry I didn’t this time.” He raised his chin and met Dan’s stare. “I just hope you’ll do the same for me. Give me the benefit of the doubt.”

Dan crossed his arms over his chest, another of those long silences taking hold. What was going through his head, Aden didn’t know. Whatever it was, though, caused his expression to change from suspicion to chagrin and finally to acceptance.

“Get in the truck,” Dan said gruffly.

Get in the—what? Did that mean…was he…

“Am I pretending the fight never happened? Yeah. I’ve been where you are, and I know what it’s like to be judged and convicted when you’re innocent. So I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt and trusting that you did what you did for a reason. But it better not happen again. Now, don’t just stand there. Move, move, move. You don’t want to be late for first period.”

Aden couldn’t help himself. He threw himself at Dan and gave a quick squeeze. Dan grunted and mussed his hair, and Aden grinned before jumping into the truck.

When they reached the school parking lot, Aden saw that Mary Ann was waiting at the double doors, watching the woods expectantly. For him? He wanted to believe it, but as many times as she’d run from him after school…

The moment the truck reached the drop-off lane, easing forward, that swift, jolting wind cut through him, straight into his chest. The souls groaned, disappearing into their black void. Aden’s guilt returned, although for a different reason. They had helped him get into this school and endured the pain of the darkness so that he could find them a way out, bodies of their own. So far, he hadn’t done anything to keep his part of the bargain.

That would change. Today. He’d already decided to force Mary Ann to talk to him, hoping to learn what was going on inside her head, but now, he’d take it a step further. He would reveal the rest of his abilities—no matter how he feared she would react—and find out how she sent the souls away.

He studied her more closely. She looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept in days, and there were shadows under her eyes. A frown pulled at the corners of her lips. Usually she was bubbling over with energy, had a smile for everyone.

Mary Ann’s frown became a scowl as her friend Penny approached. Penny looked worse than Mary Ann, her face swollen as if she’d been crying. Mary Ann said something, head shaking violently. Penny grabbed her hand. Mary Ann ripped it away and disappeared inside the building.

What had that been about?

The truck stopped at the curb. “Behave, boys. And Aden, do not resort to violence again. We clear?”

“Absolutely. And…thank you.”

Dan nodded, offered him a half smile. “See you later.”

Aden and Shannon slid outside and once again walked together as they entered the building. Aden couldn’t deny that he liked having someone at his side. Someone who might also watch his back.

“Y-you wanna have lunch together?” Shannon asked him.

“Aw, how sweet,” a nearby voice sneered. Tucker’s voice. Aden recognized it, hated it. Every time Mary Ann was out of range, Tucker had called him names, tripped him or thrown paper wads at him. “Sounds like Stutter and Crazy are dating now.”

A wave of laughter swept the hall.

Aden ground his teeth. He ignored the jock—no more violence, no more violence, no more freaking violence—and said to Shannon, “I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.”

Shannon gave a barely discernible nod, his gaze falling to the floor, his cheeks pinkening, and was off to his first class.

Tucker slammed into Aden’s shoulder as he walked by, knocking his backpack to the floor.

“Watch it,” the jock growled, then stopped and whistled, losing all traces of his anger as he studied Aden’s battered face. “Well, well, well. Someone must have been a naughty boy to have gotten such a spanking.”

How could Mary Ann stand this guy? He was like a pile of manure hidden in a shiny box.

Without a word, Aden picked up his bag and stalked off.

“That’s right. Run away, coward,” Tucker called smugly.

He could feel hundreds of eyes on him, watching, judging, maybe even pitying. They thought he was afraid of Tucker. He hated that, but couldn’t set them straight. Not just because he had to avoid violence of every kind—and that’s what would happen if he challenged Tucker, bloody, gruesome violence—but because of Mary Ann. She might not like it if he ground her boyfriend’s face into powder.

Bottling his anger cost him, though. He barely made it through his first class. For some reason, Mary Ann wasn’t there. He wished he could follow her lead. He almost stomped from the room a thousand times, his nerves too raw to deal with the lecture and the students. The souls were once again chattering in his mind, trying to comfort him but their voices were only growing in intensity, blending with everyone around him and finally culminating into a roar.

Of course, that’s when Mr. Klein pointed to him and asked him a question. He couldn’t decipher the words, much less form a coherent reply, so Mr. Klein decided to make an example of him and his inattention and had him stand beside his desk the entire class.

If one more person snickered at him, he was going to snap.

His second and third classes weren’t much better. The second, geometry, should have been pleasant, since he had that with Mary Ann, as well, but once again she wasn’t there. Had she left? Plus, there was a new kid who’d taken the open desk beside Aden and prattled on the entire hour. New himself, Aden sympathized with the need for a friend—but God, he needed a moment of peace.

“You better stop,” Aden whispered midway through the class. “You’ll get in trouble, and you don’t want to be on Ms. Carrington’s bad side. I hear she bites, and not the good way.”

“No worries, bro. No one cares what I do.” New Kid smiled. He had shaggy blond hair that kept falling into his eyes.

His skin seemed to absorb the room’s light, sparkling. Aden had seen that sparkle before, on someone else. But who—the old lady at the shopping center. That’s right. And just like the old lady, this kid made the fine hairs on Aden’s body stand at attention.

“I’m John O’Conner, by the way. And yeah, I’m highly aware that my name is similar to the guy in Terminator. It was my mom’s favorite movie.”

“Aden Stone.”

“Listen, have you seen Chloe Howard around the halls? A brunette with braces, lots of freckles. Very pretty.”

“No.” He’d been too preoccupied with his own brunettes to notice others. He tried to keep his gaze focused on the head of the class. That didn’t discourage John.

“Oh, man. You are missing out. But that’s okay. You have the rest of the day to hunt her down and—”

“Mr. Stone.” A palm slapped onto the teacher’s desk, rattling the coffee mug resting there. “Would you like to explain vectors yourself or should I continue?”

He sunk low in his seat as everyone spun in their chairs to face him. “You should continue.” Why wasn’t John in trouble?

She held his stare for a moment more before nodding with satisfaction and launching back into her lecture.

“Have lunch with me,” John told him. “I don’t want to sit alone, and I want to tell you about Chloe.”

“Fine,” he whispered, just wanting the conversation to end. And maybe talking to the guy at lunch would lead to a revelation about that glittery skin and those electrical charges that pulsed from his body. “I’ll wait for you by the cafeteria doors.”

“Sweet.”

Finally. Silence.

All through third period he wondered about Mary Ann, where she’d gone, what she was doing. When the bell rang, he grabbed his stuff and headed for the door, unsure of what to do. He was meeting Shannon—and now John—for lunch, so he couldn’t leave and walk to her house to see if she was there.

He’d memorized her number. Maybe the receptionist in the office would let him use the phone and call her. Except…