Page 33 of Autumn Secrets
“Well,” I said, sometime later when we were all sitting on the couch in the living room, watching TV. I couldn’t wait to get home and try to wrap my head around everything that had happened over this bizarre weekend. “I should probably get going, but I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Lex?”
“Absolutely.”
“Nice to meet you Luca.”Maybe.
“Same, Aurora. Be safe.” He smiled as I got up from the couch.
I left Lexi’s house, reassured that she was okay. I thought about what she’d said about last night. It was too much of a coincidence that she felt something was off with the evening as well, and I couldn’t wait to talk to her more about it. I called Mum, but she still needed a few more hours at the office, so I headed back to the house by myself.
Back home, I did my best to put all the pieces together, but as always, nothing made sense. I felt like I’d just added more pieces to an unsolved puzzle I was desperate to solve. I climbed onto my bed and started to check my emails to distract myself but, exhausted from last night and today, I fell asleep way before Mum returned home for our girls’ night.
Chapter 11
After a restless night, I decided to catch the bus to school for the first time. It was a twenty-minute walk out to the main road, but the sun was shining, and it was an unusually warm morning for September. Mum offered to drive me to the bus stop, but I needed some fresh air and some quiet time to myself, so I politely turned down her offer.
I had so many things happening right now that I felt the need to be alone, just until I had a chance to wrap my head around everything. I was actually relieved that she was spending so much time at the office. I mean, how could I explain what was going on, when I had absolutely no idea myself?
I’d spent all night going through every single event that had happened to me since I’d arrived in Angel Falls. I’d almost forgotten about the mysterious book that kept reappearing in front of me,FallenAngels and Demons, so this morning I’d decided to finally have a proper look at it before I went to school. Except, the book wasn’t in my drawer anymore. It had disappeared. Add that to the list of unexplainable events in my exciting life lately. I knew Mum would never go through my drawer, and I was sure I’d put it in there. Still, the book was now missing. I couldn’t even find it in my grandmother’s library.
I arrived at school only a few minutes before the bell rang, and I had to run to get to my first lesson on time. Lexi was already there; this was one of the few lessons we actually had together. I couldn’t wait to talk to her properly about the weekend. Unfortunately, I had to wait until after class as we weren’t seated next to each other. The lesson dragged on for what felt like forever. I must have looked at the clock at least ten times before it finally ended. “Lexi!” I called as I gathered my books. “Do you have a minute?”
She put her books in her bag and walked up to me with a big smile. “Of course; I have about fifteen minutes before my next lesson.”
“Me too, let’s go outside.”
I put my arm in hers and moved towards the door. I really needed to finish our conversation from yesterday. I needed it for my own peace of mind more than anything.
We made our way quickly through the corridor, avoiding any possible distractions along the way. I felt like I was dragging her with me, but I was so desperate to talk to her without anyone interrupting us. Just when we reached the exit, I heard Luca’s voice.
“And where are you two going?”
Lexi immediately reacted to the sound of his voice and stopped us abruptly. She let go of my arm and turned to look for him.
“Hi, Luca. We were just going outside for some girl talk.”
I cursed under my breath. Why did he have to be here right now? I turned around and was greeted with a smirk. I cleared my throat. “Hi, Luca.”
“Aurora.” He nodded, then shifted his attention back to Lexi.
“I missed you.” He smiled at her.
I could see Lexi melt right in front of me, and who could blame her? He was gorgeous, and he had obviously developed a crush on my friend – just like she had for him. I sighed. There was no way I could get these two lovebirds to separate right now. “I’ll leave you to it. Let’s catch up later, Lex.”
Frustrated, I left them and walked up to my visual arts class. Luca seemed to be glued to Lexi, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, I couldn’t steal a minute with her alone. It was like every time I found her, he was there. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that he had some kind of radar, detecting me coming her way.
I unintentionally scanned the corridors as I made my way to the classroom, looking out for Adrian or Julian, but I couldn’t spot either of them. I hadn’t seen Adrian’s car this morning, and I wasn’t sure if I felt relieved or disappointed. I think it was disappointment more than anything that frustrated me. He was who he was, and if I wanted to guard my heart, his absence was just what I needed. At least that was what I tried to tell myself.
I didn’t get another chance to catch up with Lexi, so when school finally finished for the day, I texted her to meet me outside in the parking lot before she left. It didn’t take long before I spotted her walking across the lawn, and I waved to her excitedly.
“Lexi.” I gave her a hug as she came to meet me. “How was your day?”
“Good,verygood. Now, tell me what you wanted to talk about. It sounded urgent.”
“Yes…” I looked around the lot and there was no Luca around for a change. “I just wanted to finish our conversation about Julian’s party. You know, how you told me that it felt like something happened that night?”
She nodded, with a serious expression on her face. “It’s so weird, but—”
“Hi, girls, what are you two whispering about?”