"No, actually, I couldn't care less about the football," Caine was saying. "They're just giving us P.E. extra credit for attending."
Astrid and her friends laughed.
"Only Dana actually cares about sports in general," Astrid said. "If you hadn't already figured that out by her constant yelling at the players."
Dana flashed her a look, like a sarcastic "what can you do?"
Astrid wasn't sure what to think of Caine. He was easy to like — charismatic, good-looking, smart, charming. He seemed very nice and sweet, too. But then again, he was from Coates, the troubled kids school. But he seemed so nice….
That was probably what he wanted them to think. Ugh, she was so paranoid. He was probably just sent here for one mistake, and was still a good person. That was probably most of these kid's situations.
But she still felt nervous, and she wasn't sure if it was completely about that. It was just… her friends wanted obviously wanted her to like him — like, like-like — and she might actually start to feel like that, which startled her. She'd always told herself that her schoolwork was her priority and boys were just a distraction, but now she was starting to question that.
If Caine was actually how she thought he might be, Astrid might have to consider bending that rule. Not that she'd every really had any romantic interactions, but her "type" would be intelligent and polite, which Caine seemed to fit.
Don't get too ahead of yourself, she told herself.
"So, Caine," Georgia said. "Tell us about yourself."
"Like what?" Caine asked.
"What's your favorite color?" Becka offered.
Caine thought for a moment. "Red," he decided on. "Like, a dark red. Maroon."
"What's your zodiac sign?" Dana asked humorously.
"Sagittarius."
Dana leaned in to Astrid and whispered in a singsong voice, "He's compatible," to which Astrid rolled her eyes.
"When's your birthday?"
"November twenty-second."
"Were you born in Perdido Beach?"
"No, I just go here."
"Are you single?"
Becka was the one who had finally asked the question, waggling her eyebrows at Astrid as she said it. Caine froze, looking back and forth at the four girls. He looked very thoughtful, like he was taking the simple question into careful consideration.
Finally, he said, "Yes."
All of Astrid's friends made noises of approval, and Georgia nudged her, smirking. Astrid blushed at how obvious they were being. If she actually would want to flirt with him or something, he'd probably be scared off by their obvious effort to get them together.
"What'd you do to get into Coates?" Astrid asked, taking a risk of offending him to get the subject off of his relationship status.
Caine shrugged. "My parents have a lot of money, and wanted to get rid of the responsibility of caring for me, so they sent me here." He didn't sound the least bit concerned about it, which was good, because it meant he hadn't taken Astrid's question the wrong way.
"Oh," the girls said.
"I'm sorry," Astrid added, on behalf of all of them, not wanting them to seem inconsiderate. She didn't like it when people got bad impressions of her.
"Eh." Caine shrugged again. "It's okay. They're not that great, anyway."
"I'm going to the bathroom," Becka announced suddenly, and she stood up.
"Same," Georgia and Dana said, and immediately stood up, too.
The three girls quickly began walking to the bathroom, not giving Astrid a chance to come with them. Dana looked back at her and winked. Astrid shot her a look like, "I won't forgive you."
That left Caine and Astrid alone. He smiled and scooted closer to her on the bleacher bench, a casual act, but one Astrid also registered as purposefully getting close to her for a reason that was more than just politely closing the space between them. She prayed silently that Caine wasn't actually sent to Coates for sexual harassment.
"So, tell me about yourself," Caine said, sounding harmless and friendly.
"What do you want to know?"
Caine thought for a moment. "Like, your hobbies and interests. Stuff you like."
"Well," Astrid started, "I like to read. I like math. I'm very organized. I have a little brother called Little Pete; he's four, and autistic." She eyed him, probing, as she mentioned her brother, to see if he would make a prejudiced comment or a disgusted face. When he didn't, she gave him some brownie points in her head.
Caine nodded. "Interesting. What kind of books do you read?"
"Fiction, mostly," Astrid replied. "Most often historical or science fiction. Do you read?"
"Sometimes," Caine said. "I don't get that much free time at Coates, but they do have a nice library for when I do."
"The only library in Perdido Beach is in the school," Astrid said, sighing. "There's a bookstore, though. But no public library."
Caine frowned. "That's too bad. I could take you to the Coates library, if you want."
"And do what, gaze upon it jealously?" Astrid asked. "I don't go to Coates, I couldn't check anything out."
"Well," Caine said, "if there's a book you want, you could check it out on my account. I'd have to get it back from you eventually, but it would give me and excuse to see you again." He smiled hopefully.
"Or," Astrid responded, "you could just ask me on a date without manipulating me into giving you a valid reason to see you again."
Caine blushed, turning away. "I could," he said, his voice not betraying his apparent embarrassment. "Would you want to do that?" he asked, looking back to her.
Astrid studied him. Her friends would never let her forget this if she turned him down, but they would never let her forget it, either, if she took up his offer. And what her family think? They would probably be suspicious at first, since he was from Coates, and he shared the same name pronunciation as Cain from the Bible, the first killer, but Caine might win them over with his charismatic charm he'd demonstrated to Astrid and her friends.
Had he won her over?
"Sure," Astrid said. "I'd like that. I'll give you my number so you can call me."
The end of the game bell rang.
Sam had said goodbye to Diana, and gave her a hug. She smiled at him and told him to text her. He'd agreed, obviously. After they'd left, Quinn had told him he should've kissed her. He argued that he didn't want to rush it, and, though he didn't tell Quinn, he was too scared.
"That Drake was kid was so messed up," Quinn had also told him. "He microwaved a puppy! He just put it in the microwave and killed it! Who does that?"
Now he laid in his bed, trying to figure out how to text Diana. He'd texted Quinn first, but he told him he had no more experience with girls than Sam did. In the end, he just decided on, Hey, Diana. Now he had to wait for a response.
He looked over at his closet, where the inexplicable ball of light was hidden. The strange, glowing, green-white orb that gave off light, and never seemed to run out. He'd created it one night when he was alone in his room at night, scared of the dark. It was embarrassing that he was still afraid of the dark, but he was, and this ball of light had come out of that.
And then there was the incident with Tom, his mother's ex-husband and Sam's ex-stepfather. Sam had thought he was threatening her, going to do something bad, and he had panicked and created the same kind of light, but it came out of his hand like a beam, and burned Tom's hand off. He burned his hand off. How could he do that?
What if he hurt someone else with it? His mother? Quinn? Diana? Would he be able to live with himself?
His phone buzzed, bringing him back from his thoughts. It was Diana. Hey, Sam, she said. Sam smiled. Now he had something good to distract him from something very bad.
Caine sat on a chair in the library, staring at his phone. He was also trying to figure out how to text a girl he'd just met. He could ask Drake, who was sitting in chair next to him, but Drake would probably advise him to tell her he wants to hear her screams of pain, or something equally as disturbing. He could also ask Diana, who was also sitting in a chair on the other side of him. She would either give him actual advice, or make fun of him for needing help. He'd have to just try his best.
Hey, Astrid, it's Caine, he sent. He hoped that wouldn't sound weird.
"Is that that blonde girl?" Drake asked suddenly.
Caine jumped, realizing Drake had been looking over his shoulder at his phone. He blushed, and used his telekinetic power, previously unrivaled with a strength of four "bars," as Diana called them, to push Drake back into his seat.
"Yes, it is, actually," Caine said.
"Ooh," Diana said. "Caine, texting a girl? And we all thought he'd be hung up on me forever, didn't we, Drake?"
"We did," Drake agreed, grinning like a shark at Caine's awkwardness.
Caine, trying to divert the subject from him, said, "What about Sam? Huh, Diana? You're texting him, too."
"This is business," she answered, unfazed.
"Is it only business, though? Or do you like him, too?" Caine pushed, hoping Drake would help him out.
"Mmm, does Diana have a crush?" Drake said.
"Oh, you got me. I'm in love with him," Diana said, heavily sarcastic. "He's a four bar, Caine. The only other one besides you. We need intel on him. You don't want a rival for the throne, do you?"
She was right, Caine wanted his power to be unrivaled. Sam was a threat. "You're right," he resigned.
Diana went back to her phone, satisfied.
He looked back down at his own phone. Astrid had texted him back. Hi, Caine. What's up?
He responded with, Nothing really. And about our date, I was thinking we could go out to eat? He pressed send, holding his breath. What if she didn't want that? What if she would change her mind?
She said back, That sounds nice. Where would we go?
Caine sighed with relief, and smiled to himself. Anywhere you want, he told her.
