Dark Promise by Talia Jager (free novel 24 txt) 📖

Chapter Five

I woke up feeling strange: lightheaded and foggy. I really didn’t want to get up, but I kicked the blankets off and stood. The room spun, and I put my hands on the wall to steady myself. What the hell was going on? Just my luck. My birthday was tomorrow, and I was going to be sick for it.

I carefully crossed the room, my sights set on simply making it to the closet, but something in the mirror over my dresser caught my attention. I stopped and stared.

My skin looked different—smoother. Confused, I moved closer to the mirror and leaned forward to study myself. Usually my face was a little red and blotchy when I first woke up. Today, it was pale and had no imperfections—not even the little whitehead that had been coming up on my nose.

My eyes drifted to my ears, and my breath caught in my throat. I took a step closer to the mirror. They looked different, too, as if they were pointed. Oh, c’mon! I rubbed my eyes and looked again, and then let out a deep breath. I looked perfectly normal.

I told myself either I was still dreaming, or I could be going crazy.

After a hot shower, I dressed in a pair of my favorite jeans and a white cami with a floral blouse over it. I leaned over the sink in the bathroom, wielding my concealer stick. Staring at my birthmark, I pursed my lips and asked it, “What should I do with you today?”

Strangely enough, it looked like it was pulsing.

I blinked and stared, sure I had imagined it. It looked normal. Maybe I really was coming down with something.

Sierra picked me up as usual and talked about Ian the whole way to school. I smiled as I listened to her, and when the excitement drew to a close, I said, “It’s good to see you so excited about someone. Been a long time.”

She glanced over at me, frowning. “I don’t want to talk about Trent. We are never to mention his name again? Understand?”

“Umm, sure, but I didn’t even say his name.” Trent and Sierra had dated for almost all of ninth grade. Over the summer, she found out that he had cheated on her, and she dumped him. Even now, nine months later, she was still hurt and didn’t like talking about him. I was just glad she was moving on, and steered the conversation into safer territory. “What movie are you and Ian going to see?”

“I don’t know yet. We’ll decide when we get there.” She shifted in her seat and flicked the air conditioning on. She didn’t have the top down like she usually did. “You feeling better today?”

Not really, I thought, but said, “A little.” Seemed like I was doing a lot of lying lately.

“Good. You can’t be sick for your birthday. That would really suck.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Did your mom get everything for your party?” she asked as we turned onto our school’s street.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “You know how she is. I’m sure she’ll have every detail covered. She loves birthdays. She’s probably been planning my sixteenth birthday since I was a baby.”

Sierra laughed and whipped into her parking spot. “I’ll be there early to help set up.”

“I know. You always are.” She had spent the past seven birthdays with me, and vice versa. I didn’t even know if a birthday could ever be complete without her.

“Maybe by then, you’ll have a new boyfriend,” I teased. I gripped the strap of my backpack and pushed open the car door.

“We haven’t even gone on our date yet. Maybe he’s a jerk,” she said with a laugh, exiting the car on her side. She slammed her door and met me at the front of the car. “You going to Adam’s game later?”

“Yup, wouldn’t miss it.”

We met Adam in our usual area out front, where he was talking with Colin. Colin was a long, lanky guy with dark hair that swiped across his forehead, and a freckled face that always seemed to be smiling. I gave him a wave as I slid in next to Adam, bumping him with an elbow.

He put his arm around me. “Hey, babe.”

I chuckled. He only called me “babe” when he was around his baseball buddies. He also developed a ridiculous jock swagger and deepened his voice. It was silly, but it tickled me.

“Hey, slugger,” I teased back and punched him on the side of his arm.

He rolled his eyes and planted his lips on mine. “Mmm. Cinnamon?”

I blushed. “I had cinnamon toast for breakfast.”

The bell rang, signaling the start of our school day.

“I’ve gotta get goin’,” Colin said in his deep, southern twang. “Catch y’all later.”

“Bye, Colin,” I told him, and Sierra waved, even though her face was pointed down at her cell phone. That girl was always on Facebook.

We walked inside hand in hand, and Sierra split to go to her locker at the other end of the main hall.

“So, Sierra and Ian? That’s kinda strange, isn’t it?” Adam asked, yanking open his locker. It always seemed to get stuck.

“I guess. She seems to really be into him.” I was jostled from behind as a crowd of football players in orange and white letterman jackets rushed past, their raucous yells echoing off the ceiling. I rolled my eyes at Adam, and he chuckled.

“Interesting, though,” he went on. “Ian’s a strange one.”

“As long as he’s good to her, I don’t care how he looks or what he wears,” I responded with a shrug, locating my books in my locker. I’d forgotten to take my biology notes home, but luckily, I didn’t think we had any homework last night.

Adam nodded like he agreed, but he didn’t say anything.

“You be nice to him,” I warned. Not that Adam was the kind of guy to be mean to anyone.

“Of course.” He slammed his door and gave me a wicked grin, turning to press me against my own locker. His body leaned into mine, hard and muscular, and his eyes drifted to my lips and back again. His kiss, when it came, took my breath away.

“Mr. Garner, Miss McCallister, break it up and get to your classes.” The teachers always posted up in the hallway during breaks, watching for misbehaving students. We’d just been caught.

I felt the heat rush to my face, and we broke apart guiltily. Adam relieved me of my books, and we took off towards our first-period class.

It turned out to be a long day. My headache came and went a few times, and I spent all of sixth period arguing with myself whether or not I should ask my mom to take me to the doctor.

Thankfully, my head stopped pounding by game time. If it hadn’t, the packed bleachers and the loud, discombobulated sound of the announcer would have killed me. Plus, I wouldn’t have been able to cheer as loudly for Adam—tonight was an important game for the playoffs.

Adam glanced up from the pitcher’s mound and waved, looking so cute and sexy in his uniform. There was something about the tight white pants that gave me shivers. He struck the next batter out, and the crowd screamed and stomped on the bleachers, the thuds reverberating through me. I felt like jumping up and yelling, He’s my boyfriend! but figured that might be a bit much, and Sierra would never let me live it down.