My Soul For You Page 3

  He had a cleft in his chin and a tiny scar just above his left eyebrow, the only imperfection in an otherwise flawless masterpiece, and he was still holding her hand.

  Katie exhaled again, mentally shaking herself to snap out of it.

  “I should go,” she said at last, slipping free of his grasp. She gathered her things. “The bell rang, so…”

  Kaleb nodded. “Are you attending the assembly?”

  Leading the way to the door, Katie snorted. “It’s mandatory. Failure to appear is punishable by beheading in the cafeteria.” She glanced at him. “Are you?”

  He held the door open for her. “Yes.” He motioned her through and followed. “Would you like company?”

  Katie nodded and followed him down the hall to the sound of raised voices and mic feedback. At the gymnasium doors, she craned her neck and searched for Ashlee.

  “Do you want to sit with me and my friend?” she asked, spotting her friend high up on one of the bleachers already.

  “Uh…” Kaleb’s shoulders rose and fell in time with his deep exhalation. “Actually, I kind of can’t. But,” he said before she could open her mouth, “I would if I could.”

  Smothering her disappointment behind what she hoped was a nonchalant smile, Katie shrugged. “Next time. See you around.”

  With a wave, she went to join Ashlee, who was making frowny faces into her compact.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Finding wrinkles,” Ashlee replied around a duck face. “Do you see them?” She turned her scrunched face in Katie’s direction.

  “Do I see your crazy showing? Why yes, yes I do.”

  Ashlee snapped her compact closed and stuffed it into her bag. “I want to find the little vermin before they multiply.”

  Katie blew out a breath that had her dark bangs ruffling across her brow. “How do I tell you this…?” She faced her friend. “Ashlee, you’re only seventeen.”

  Ashlee glowered, smacking her in the shoulder. “Shut up! This is serious.”

  “Like the time you were serious about dying your skin purple?”

  “That totally would have worked if that stupid dinosaur hadn’t stolen my idea.” Ashlee pursed her lips. “I wonder if I could sue…”

  “Well, you look that up and let me know how it turns out.”

  Ashlee’s elbow caught her in the side. “Worst friend ever!”

  Katie’s laugh was swallowed by the jarring screech of feedback as Mr. Crouch thumped the mic with his fingers.

  “Attention! Attention students of Stony Creek High. Eyes forward, please. Thank you!” He waited until the gym had fallen into a lull of silence before lunging into one of his many speeches. “It is with great pleasure that I announce Stony Creek’s participation in this year’s Jump into the Future Program. Our school has been chosen to house a student from the university. For the remainder of this semester, our new student will work to earn educational credits by assisting different teachers throughout the day. If this trial program works successfully, we hope to make it a permanent arrangement. Now, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. I’d like to introduce our new student-teacher, Mr. O’Reilly.”

  The lukewarm welcome scattered through the gymnasium in a speckle of applause as a dark figure rose from the bleachers in front and made his way forward. Harsh lights spilled through dark hair, shimmering over strips of hidden blue. The attention heightened as he stepped up next to Mr. Crouch and the girls of Stony Creek got their first look at the new arrival.

  Katie froze. Her jaw slackened as she looked into the familiar rugged face. “It’s Kaleb!”

  Chapter Three

  Above the loud hum of excited chatter, Ashlee’s exclamation broke through loud and clear. “Kaleb? Your Kaleb?” Her enormous blue eyes shot back to the platform. “Holy crap! You weren’t kidding. God, where did his parents make him and does he have a brother? Hell, I’ll even settle for a sister.”

  Katie wasn’t listening. She stared, mesmerized as Kaleb shook Mr. Crouch’s hand. He looked so confident, not the least bit nervous about standing in front of an entire school. Katie wasn’t usually awkward in front of crowds, but she would have hated being up there.

  “God, I want a taste of him!” Ashlee moaned as Mr. Crouch walked back to the mic, arms raised for silence. “But I won’t!” she assured Katie when the other girl glanced at her. “Sister Code. All hands off. But still …gah!”

  Katie chuckled, facing forward.

  “Before you head on to your first classes, we have a few more announcements,” Mr. Crouch began, and Katie zoned out as the chatter of upcoming fundraising poured through the speakers.

  She propped her elbow on her knee and slumped forward, resting her chin on the heel of her hand. She stared wistfully over the lethargic crowd and counted the minutes until she could leave.

  “I sent the letter off,” Ashlee murmured, leaning over so their shoulders touched.

  Katie turned her head. “What letter?”

  “The letter,” Ashlee stressed. “For the party.”

  “When?”

  “This morning, when you were breaking your neck racing to school for homework,” Ashlee replied shortly.

  Katie shook her head. “It’s not going to work you know. That thing was probably like decades old.”

  Ashlee shrugged her shoulders. “So? At least we tried.”

  “You tried,” Katie corrected. “Instead of doing your homework no doubt.”

  Ashlee’s athletic frame stiffened. “Why must you always pee on my parade?”

  “Because I’m cruel and vindictive. Plus, I hate parades,” Katie answered simply.

  Ashlee folded her arms. “What kind of sadist hates parades?”

  “The kind that hates noise and rude people shoving their way around. Also, I really hate being touched by other people’s sweaty bodies.” Katie shuddered. “Not to mention they keep holding those things outside. I don’t do nature.”

  Ashlee narrowed her eyes. “That right there is the makings of a serial killer.”

  “Or a twisted shut-in.”

  “Or a pervert.”

  Both girls nodded slowly in agreement.

  “Do you two ever listen to yourselves talk?” said an amused voice from behind them.

  Both girls turned their heads, only Katie smiled. “Hey, Larson!”

  Tall, lean and shaved bald, Larson Powell grinned back at her. The harsh lights caught the ring piercing the right corner of his lip and glinted. He raised a hand studded by chunky, silver rings and saluted. He wore no jacket and his artwork was more visible up his toned arms in half-sleeved tattoos to the elbow in all the places his Marilyn Manson t-shirt couldn’t cover.

  “Morning, ladies.”

  “You’re up unusually early,” Ashlee snipped. “Did you fall out of bed?”

  “Nah, I thought I’d grace the halls of Stoner High with my awesome presence.” Warm, brown eyes settled on Ashlee. “Miss me, LeeLee?”

  “Oh I missed you like getting a root canal without a numbing agent.”

  The barbell spearing through his tongue glinted as he rolled it over his teeth. “You can deny it all you want, but you know you’re in love with me.”

  Ashlee barked a laugh that was just a little too loud. “You and I will never happen.” With a definite bob of her head, she snapped around.

  Katie gave Larson a sympathetic smile. She patted his knee just above the tear in his jeans. “You almost had her that time.”

  Unfazed by Ashlee’s rebuff, Larson grinned. “I’m wearing her down. You can only deny all this,” he said as he gestured up and down his body, “gorgeousness for so long before the lust kicks in.”

  Katie chuckled. “Right you are. It’s only a matter of time.”

  A sharp elbow stabbed her in the gut, knocking the wind from her lungs.

  “Ow!” she hissed, clutching her middle. “That was my spleen!”

  Ashlee glowered at her. “Stop encouraging him!”

  Rubbing her stoma
ch, Katie glared back. “Stop pretending you don’t like him.”

  Her friend huffed. “I don’t like him.”

  “Right and I poop gold bricks,” Katie muttered.

  Ashlee’s blue eyes went round with feigned surprise. “That explains it. Do you have a clog in your plumbing? Why else would you be such a pain in the ass?”

  “Don’t be a hater. It’s in the best friend handbook, right under me kicking your butt for being so pigheaded.”

  “Well, I vote we have a bonfire where we dance naked while the demons are unleashed from within the pages of this stupid handbook,” Ashlee countered.

  “I am all for watching you dance naked.” Larson sat forward, rubbing his hands. “When do we start? We can use my bedroom.” His gaze flickered over to Katie. “Sorry, love. There’s only room for two.”

  Katie covered her mouth to stifle her laugh.

  Ashlee made a sound of disgust. “Ew! Dream on, Metal Mouth.”

  Larson sighed. “Oh I do.” He leaned even closer so his face brushed Ashlee’s hair. He murmured something that Katie couldn’t hear, but had Ashlee’s eyes widening and her jaw going slack. A moment later, he sat back and smirked wickedly.

  “You can’t … that isn’t even physically possible!” Ashlee sputtered, her cheeks a fierce pink.

  “Ooooh, but it is, and it’s fun.” He winked. “I could show you.”

  For a full heartbeat, Ashlee looked almost intrigued. Then the crowd around them began getting to their feet and the moment was broken. Ashlee darted up, clutching her bag to her chest as though it could serve as some kind of protection.

  “You are nasty!” Snapping around on her heels in a graceful way Katie could never pull off, Ashlee flounced down the bleachers.

  Katie gathered her things and rose, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “You almost had her that time.”

  Larson rubbed a hand over his smoothly shaven head as he watched Ashlee disappear from sight out the doors. “I’ll have her. It’s only a matter of time.”

  Shaking her head and chuckling, Katie picked her way carefully after her friend with Larson a step behind her.

  “Are you sticking around for the rest of school?” she asked him as they hit the bottom step.

  Larson wrinkled his nose. “Nah, I did my duty for the day. Think I’m going to go home and crash for a few hours before the foster folks get home.”

  Katie eyed her friend. “You know, you should probably hit a few classes, since you’re already here and all.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Not feeling it, but I’ll catch you later, right?”

  He gave Katie no time at all to respond before he disappeared through the crowd, leaving her to elbow her way to first class.

  It wasn’t so much that she’d forgotten about Kaleb, because that was impossible, but she’d forgotten the assembly and the announcements until she walked into mandatory Art and found him scrawling his name across the blackboard.

  Kaleb O’Reilly.

  She was still standing in the doorway, watching the fluid grace of his penmanship when he set the piece of chalk down, dusted his hands and turned.

  Crap.

  Until that moment, it hadn’t dawned on her how complicated her feelings for him had gotten since that morning. When he’d been nothing but another student, it hadn’t been so bad or so immorally wrong, but he was a teacher now and crushing on a teacher was … disgusting, right? But then again, teachers should not be allowed to look as devastatingly gorgeous as he did.

  His eyes, the tawny gold color of liquid honey, met hers and Katie lost all feeling in her knees. Her fingers and toes tingled and she had to swallow to generate spit in her mouth. She rubbed her damp palms on the thighs of her jeans and quickly looked away, breaking the connection.

  Head bent, she hurried to her seat at the far back and sat, huddling low behind the tilted table doubling as an easel. She pulled out her sketchpad and pencils and waited for further instruction.

  “Hello.” Kaleb’s baritone voice carried with very little effort through the spacious room. “I’m Kaleb O’Reilly and I’ll be temporarily filling in for Mr. Nauling.”

  “For how long?” a female voice cut into his speech.

  “Only for today,” Kaleb said and a few groans rang out. Kaleb smiled. “But I will be rotating through several classes every day until the end of term, so you’ll be seeing a lot of me.”

  “What will you be doing?” another girl asked.

  “Assisting the teachers in lessons.”

  “So this is like training or something?” a boy asked.

  “Do you want to be a teacher?” a girl asked.

  “It is like training,” Kaleb answered. “And no, my goal isn’t to become a teacher.”

  “Then why are you doing this?” the same boy demanded.

  “Because it’s good experience.” Kaleb started around the room, wandering through the neatly set squares clustering around the room. “It’s like interning at a company. My time here will go on my resume and could make the difference in what I do in the future.”

  “Did you volunteer?” a girl asked.

  Kaleb nodded, drawing dangerously close to where Katie sat. “I put my name in for the exchange.”

  “You say exchange, did someone from our school get sent there?” another girl asked.

  “No, this is for university students only.”

  “How old are you?” a boy asked, suspicion thickening his question.

  Kaleb was at Katie’s desk now. He paused just over her, making her painfully aware of his proximity and the heat burning into her shoulder. “Twenty-one.”

  Twenty-one. Only three years older than her, and only her as most of the girls in her year were still seventeen. She told herself to stop feeling smug about that.

  Realistically, Katie should have already graduated high school the year before. But after losing a year of her life to the psych ward after the deaths of her parents, she had to repeat grade three; something only she, her aunt, Ashlee and the school records knew about. It wasn’t as though she was ashamed, but it wasn’t something she advertised either. Except, at that moment, knowing she was fully legal to secretly fantasize about the sexy new teacher, she couldn’t help feeling giddy, until she was forced to remind herself he was still a teacher and there were still rules against such a relationship.

  Kaleb maneuvered around the cluster of desks to regain his position at the head of the room. He looked like he belonged amongst the drying paints and blank canvases. It was a simple thing to envision him at an art gallery or some smoky coffeehouse, reciting poetry. He looked the part. He had the artistic presence.

  “Mr. Nauling tells me you all already have your assignments.” Kaleb looked over the group. “Why don’t you pull those out while I circle the room?”

  Katie didn’t move. She stared at her sketchpad, the one not nearly as worn or used as everyone else’s. The pages were still crisp and clean in the majority of the book. She wondered what that said about her.

  It wasn’t enough that she had no artistic ability whatsoever, but the whole fiasco was mandatory to achieve her diploma in a year. Katie could never fathom how people could slather themselves up in paint or slap a few strokes on a canvas and consider it art. The whole process annoyed her. She was a girl of facts and numbers. She liked putting things into columns and seeing the answer with her own eyes, something that eluded her when it came to theater and art.

  Relenting to the inevitable, she flipped open her book to their last assignment, a pathetic shadowing attempt of a fruit bowl. She was almost certain a child could do a better rendition. Her bowl was a round hole in the middle of her page with a cluster of smaller circles to represent the fruit. It was the closest to success she’d ever come, but she would need to do better if she wanted to pass.

  “How are you making out?”

  Katie jumped. She smacked the sketchpad off the table and flipped it upside down onto her lap as Kaleb circled her table. “Good! I’m d
oing good,” she lied.

  He folded his arms and looked down at her. “Do you need help?”

  She shook her head. “No, thank you.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

  Assuring him that she would, Katie watched as he wandered to the next set of tables. She expelled a lungful of air and slumped back in her seat. Now if she could just turn invisible for the next forty-five minutes.

  Katie didn’t breath right again until she stepped into AP Law and she was no longer required to pretend like she knew what she was doing.

  Mr. Carmichael sat on his habitual stool at the head of the class, watching as students filed in with a welcoming smile.

  “Good morning, class.” He waited until everyone had stopped shuffling before speaking again. “I know we were discussing Criminal Law yesterday, but I’m sure a majority of you would much rather discuss the Canadian age of consent. This has been a very popular topic of conversation since the arrival of our guest this morning.” He grinned as though sharing a secret with the class. “Can anyone tell me what the legal age of consent is here in Canada?”

  Katie raised her arm.

  “Ms. Claremont?”

  “Sixteen, sir.”

  “Right!” Mr. Carmichael rose to his feet and paced the front. “May of two thousand and eight, the age of consent was raised from fourteen to sixteen. But what does that mean for relationships? Can a sixteen year old be with an eighteen year old when the legal age is eighteen?”

  An arm shot up in front. The girl began to speak before being called upon. “Isn’t there a five year rule?”

  Mr. Carmichael rocked back on his heels. “Explain, Ms. Herar.”

  The girl in front wiggled straighter in her chair. “That a relationship is legal so long as there is no more than five years between the pair.”

  Mr. Carmichael took a deep breath. “True, but you’re missing something.” He paused for a split second before turning to the rest of the class. “What is Ms. Herar missing?”

  Katie’s arm shot up. “It’s legal only if the one responsible isn’t someone of authority.”

  “Meaning?” Mr. Carmichael prompted.