This one hurt- worse than all the others! I had been attacked by hundreds before and still been able to fight back. But not this one. For some reason, the pain was just too intense for me to even remember how to fight back, let alone do any lasting damage.

Seth moved so fast, obviously more than humanly possible, but I couldn’t care about that now. I needed him to save me. I needed him to pry my hand open.

His hands were covering mine in an instant and his inner Light was suffusing my skin like balm on an open wound. I lay there, saturated in his warmth and heat and finally pried open my hand. The Shadow escaped into the ceiling somewhere and disappeared out of this realm of existence.

A tear snuck out the corner of my eye and slid down my cheek, pooling in my ear. I was too traumatized to do anything about it. Mostly, I was thankful there was just one tear and I hadn’t broken down into a puddle of weepiness.

What just happened?

“Stella, are you alright?” Mrs. Merritt stood over Seth, staring down at me with true concern on her face.

I didn’t know how to respond. I was fine, at least now. But I had just freaked out in front of my entire class. I didn’t want to lie, but then again, I didn’t want to tell the truth. And any half-truth I could come up with would either make me sound certifiable or get me a trip to the doctor’s office, where they would find all kinds of abnormalities in my blood work.

“She electrocuted herself,” Seth covered for me. “I think.”

“You electrocuted yourself?” Mrs. Merritt asked skeptically. I didn’t exactly blame her for that….

I nodded weakly.

“How?” Mrs. Merritt demanded.

Seth bent over and picked up an oddly-shaped paper clip and held it up for Mrs. Merritt. “With this,” he answered confidently.

Our desks were next to the wall- that was the only way this was remotely believable. There was an outlet within arm’s reach. But still, a paper clip and an outlet was hardly electrocution worthy. Plus, wasn’t my hair supposed to be standing up or something?

Cartoons always showed the frizzed-out hair if someone got electrocuted.

“This would barely shock you,” Mrs. Merritt argued. Her hazel eyes narrowed on me and I could tell she was having a really hard time believing this, but she wanted to.

“It really hurt,” I said, my back still glued to the industrial strength carpet.

“This hurt you so badly you fell out of your desk?” she pressed.

I nodded, letting my chin tremble with the emotion I was desperate to hold back. “It did.”

“I thought you were tougher than this, Stella,” she shook her head at me with obvious disappointment. I didn’t expect anything less from the lady that made us do wall-sits for seven minutes straight while singing Christmas songs in pre-season.

“I am,” I argued, not willing to give up my tough-girl image. “It just surprised me.”

“You mean, you didn’t know what would happen if you stuck a metal object in an electrical outlet?”

“Not from firsthand experience,” I gave over fully to the excuse.

She just continued to shake her head at me, but then the bell rang and class was finally dismissed. Everyone rushed for the exit, conversation resuming again now that the drama I’d created was finally coming to a forced close.

“Try to hold onto some of that curiosity for when you’re at home, alright?” Mrs. Merritt asked somewhat sarcastically.

“I’ll try,” I sighed.

And then she walked away, leaving me on the ground. My gaze flickered to Seth who was still looming over me. His amber gaze was concerned and…. something else, but I couldn’t define it. I felt Piper and Tristan hanging around too, but my eyes were intently focused on explaining to Seth that I was not crazy.

“I’ll help her, guys,” Seth dismissed my friends with a tired breath, like I was somehow an inconvenience. They started to protest, but he waved them on.

“I’ll wait,” Tristan argued stubbornly.

“No you won’t,” Set growled.

“I’m not-“ Tristan started but I cut him off.

“It’s alright, Tristan,” I promised, feeling foolish. “Please. I’ll be right behind you guys.”

He didn’t argue anymore, although I could feel that he wanted to. Or at least that he didn’t want to leave me alone with Seth. But I needed to talk to my Counterpart and figure out what in the world was going on!

Seth helped me up, his strong hands taking mine and swallowing them almost completely. He pulled me to my feet effortlessly and then looked down at me, waiting for an explanation.

“Let’s walk,” I suggested. “It will be easier to talk.”

He moved to the side so I could lead the way and once we were past the classroom door we walked side-by-side down the wide hallways, letting people get out of our way, instead of the other way around. Our shoulders leaned into each other and our hands kept brushing, but I couldn’t pay attention to that stuff right now. I needed to focus.

“There was a Shadow on you during class,” I whispered just loud enough for him to hear through the clatter and chaos of everyone changing classes. “It kept floating over you and touching you. It would not stop. And it was driving me crazy! I thought it was hurting you but you didn’t want to acknowledge it during class or something.”

“Stella, I didn’t feel anything.” His voice was louder than mine but deep with meaning.

There was only one kind of Angel that wasn’t affected by the Shadows- the Fallen.

I laid my hand on Seth’s bicep and gave him a reassuring squeeze, “But I felt it too much. It wasn’t normal. That one Shadow hurt me more than the hundreds of them in the locker room. It’s not you. Something is going on.”

He stopped, right there in the middle of the hallway, and turned to look at me. Students veered out of the way like we were a boulder in the middle of a rushing river. And that was exactly how Seth felt to me- like he was my rock, like he was the only solid thing when the rest of my life was floating away. And maybe he felt the same way about me.

“We’re going to be alright,” he promised, leaning his face down so that we were only a breath apart. “Whatever they are doing, it’s meant to make us feel isolated….. inadequate. But we’re not either, Stella. We’re going to be alright.”

I dropped my head to his chest and let out a sigh. My chin trembled again, so I pressed my lips together to keep from exposing my emotion. I didn’t feel alright- I felt the opposite of alright.

“If they would just fight us…..”

“It’s the mind games. They want us crazy and lost first.”

“Well, they’re doing a really good job of it,” I grumbled.

“Hey,” he tilted my chin up and stared into my eyes- all the way in, all the way into my soul. “You’re not crazy and you’re not lost. Don’t let them win.”

I nodded, the press of his fingers firm under my chin.

“Are you Ok to go to class?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I tried to smile, but it was forced and unauthentic.

“I’ll see you after school.”

“I have practice tonight,” I reminded him. “Oh, and there’s this party tonight. Well, not really a party, but like a small get together at Lincoln’s tonight if you want to go. I know we have training but maybe we could get out of it? I could use a break.”

“Who’s going?”

“Piper, obviously. Rigley and Tristan…. you and me.” Finally I smiled when I explained, “Piper says it’s couples only.”

“And I’m your couple?” His voice was so full of hope my heart cracked a little.

An aching pain bloomed across my chest and my hands immediately reached for his, just barely entwining the tips of our fingers. It would be so much easier to be stubborn if he wasn’t so sweet.

“According to Piper,” I whispered.

“Then we’ll go,” Seth decided.

“Jupiter won’t care?”

“It won’t matter. If you’re acknowledging us as a couple, I’ll go anywhere.”