Chapter Eleven

The sun had finally set and the road was deserted. Luke hunched his shoulders and buried his hands deep into the pockets of his jacket, bracing himself against the cold wind. This had to happen tonight, he thought to himself glumly. Just my luck. The first time I had a legitimate reason to be alone with Jess and I had to bail on her. Typical.

He wrenched a hand out of his pocket and glanced down at his watch. Where the hell was she? He listened to the gentle sounds of the night, straining to hear something that would tell him how close she was. The abrupt sound of fluttering wings startled him. He spun around quickly, in time to see a large owl swooping down from a tree, grasping a small rodent in its outstretched talons. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, his shoulders relaxing - only for them to tense up again a second later as a slow condescending laugh drifted through the air like an invisible fog.

'Well would you look at that? Luke's afraid of a little birdy.'

Luke turned to face the owner of the voice. She was stood about twenty feet away from him, her soft dark curls blowing gently around her face, a vaguely amused smile curling her lips, black fire burning just below the surface of her gleaming eyes. Luke stared at her, his expression cold and unwelcoming. 'What? No hello hug? No 'hey baby, good to see you'? Luke, my feelings are hurt.' Her voice was light, teasing.

'What do you want Starla?' His voice was flat and hard, annoyance curling at the edges.

'Why, to see you of course,' she purred, slowly tilting her head to one side.

'You said you were in trouble,' he replied coldly.

'Did I?' she asked, mock confusion clouding her face.

'Damn it Starla, I told you not to follow me here! Now just tell me what you want!'

'But I already told you, I wanted to see you.'

She began to take slow steps towards him, her eyes fixed on him with a cool intensity.

'And I told you I don't want anything to do with you anymore!' He yelled angrily.

'Was I expected to believe that?' Her laughter flowed over Luke as she came to a stand still only inches away from him, her hands coming up to rest on either side of his neck. 'We both know you didn't mean it.'

'Oh I meant it,' his voice was quiet and intense, a steely conviction burning in his eyes. 'Every single word.'

The look of amusement slowly fell from her face and she took a step away from him. 'So is she here?' Her playful voice had turned icy.

'I don't know what you're talking about,' Luke replied. Starla made a sound that was half disbelief, half scorn.

'Oh of course you don't,' she said, her dark eyes narrowing, her face twisting into a scowl. 'Of course you didn't come running to this boring little town to look for her. Just like you didn't go running to any of those other places in a pathetic, misguided attempt to search for someone who doesn't even exist!' She spat the words out as if they were poison. As though if she didn't get them out she would choke on the taste.

'I came here because I wanted a normal life,' he began. 'What chance of that do I have if I've got you following me around all the time?'

'So I'm a burden? Is that what you're telling me?'

'Just get out of here Starla,' Luke said with a shake of his head, turning to leave.

'Oh you're pathetic!' She called after him. 'You're pathetic, and misguided, and selfish! And I'm not the only one who thinks so, either. Lavinia says exactly the same thing!'

Luke stopped suddenly, turning to face Starla. 'Don't call her that! That isn't her name!'

'It is now,' Starla replied, the twisted smile returning to her face. 'Things change Luke, I would have thought you'd have realized that by now.'

'I won't tell you this again Starla,' his voice was low and controlled. 'Stay the hell away from me.' With that he turned his back on her and hurried off into the night.

'Keep running Luke,' her voice carried on the air. 'Keep trying to make up for your sins. Try all you want, it won't make a difference. You're an animal. And even if you ever did find that elusive first love of yours, she'd tell you the very same thing!'

000

The clock struck three pm and the shrill sound of the bell pierced the air, signaling the end of the day. Finally, Jess thought to herself, snapping her notebook shut. She sprang to her feet, grabbed her backpack and hurried to the door. So far today she'd managed to avoid Luke, it would be just her luck if she bumped into him now. They'd only had a couple of classes together but Jess had made sure that she'd always been the last one to arrive and the first one to leave, never giving Luke a chance to approach her.

Her attempts at dodging him had been blatantly obvious, but that hadn't bothered Jess. She could not, would not speak to him, it was as simple as that. She weaved through the crowd of students in the hallway, head down, willing herself to be invisible.

'Hey Jess!' Caleb called. She looked up and saw him standing by some lockers a few feet ahead of her. Luke was with him. She stood in the middle of the hallway, cursing silently. She glanced around quickly, looking for a good excuse not to join them. A tall boy with messy black hair, the colour of ravens wings was striding down the hall quickly.

'Can't talk now!' Jess yelled in her boyfriends direction as she took off after the dark haired boy. 'Gotta speak to Jared!' Caleb raised an eyebrow, as if he were silently asking if he'd heard her right, a confused frown furrowing his brow. 'Jared! Hey, Jared!' Jess said loudly as she fell in step beside him. The tall boy whipped off his headphones and gave her a quick sideways glance.

'Jessica,' he said in a bored, flat voice. Jess could sense Caleb and Luke's eyes on her as she walked away from them.

'So...' she began uncertainly, not sure exactly what she was going to say to him.

'What do you want Jessica?' he asked with a light note of irritation. He looked down at her as though she were an annoying dog yapping at his heels.

'Well,' Jess mumbled feebly,' I just thought I'd say hi.'

'If you're trying to dig for information on your little sister, forget it,' he said, slipping his headphones back on. 'I'm Tally's friend, not yours.'

He sped up, obviously trying to leave Jess behind, but she quickened her pace matching him step for step, knowing that they were still in full view of Caleb and Luke.

'What's you're problem?' Jared snapped, once he'd realized she wasn't going away.

'No problem, we're just going in the same direction that's all.' Jess replied. He veered off to the right and Jess followed him, before realizing he was about to go into the boy's bathroom.

'You going to follow me in here too?' He asked sarcastically. Jess shook her head and backed away. At least she'd put some distance between her and Luke, now she could make a quick getaway. He and Caleb had no chance of catching up to her now, unless they sprinted down the hall, which she doubted they would.

Jess made her way out of the building and waited for Caleb by his car. She hadn't thought he'd bring Luke with him, but a few moments later she could have kicked herself when she saw Caleb enter the parking lot, happily chatting to Luke as if they were old friends. Jess let out a disgruntled sigh and ran towards the nearest car, a few spots away from Caleb's. She ducked down behind it and waited, pretty sure that they hadn't seen her. Seconds later she heard Caleb's voice approaching.

'I don't know what's wrong with her, she's been acting weird all day.'

Just then the engine of the car she was hiding behind came to life with a low growl. No! Jess thought desperately. No, no, no no! She hadn't noticed anyone in the drivers seat. The car suddenly pulled away, leaving her crouching on the floor in plain view of Caleb and Luke.

'Jess?' Caleb said, doing a double take. 'What are you doing down there?'

'I - I lost an earring.' The second the old cliche had slipped out of her mouth she wished she hadn't said it. But what else could she have said? Why, I'm hiding from Luke of course! She'd rather have them think she was a liar than have them know the truth. Although from the look in Luke's eyes she could see that he already knew the truth.

'You're not wearing earrings,' Caleb said flatly.

Jess stood up and clutched her hands to her ears. 'Yes I am,' she replied. 'They're tiny little studs, you probably didn't notice them.'

Caleb shrugged his shoulders. 'I told Luke I'd give him a ride home. You coming?' Jess hesitated. If she told them she'd suddenly decided to walk they'd know she was up to something. Jess didn't really care what Luke thought, but Caleb? Caleb wouldn't let her odd behavior slide, he'd press her until she told the truth. She sighed and nodded her head, walking to the car.

'You go in front,' she told Luke without looking at him.

'Uh... thanks,' he replied. Caleb looked at her, his eyes narrowing with suspicion, before walking around the car and getting in the drivers side.

Across the parking lot the dark eyed girl stood and watched the three of them climbing into the car. He was with a boy and a girl. A girl. Starla shook her head with disbelief. She was the one. Even from so far away Starla could tell it was her. So Luke had finally found her. Little Miss Perfect. A swell of jealousy surged through her. She wasn't going to let Luke get away with just dumping her the way he had. Luke belonged with her and the others, not with a bunch of pitiful humans. And if she couldn't convince him of that, then maybe someone else could.

She pulled a small phone out of her jacket and punched a couple of buttons. She held the phone to her ear as she watched them drive away.

'Hello?' said a voice on the other end of the phone.

'Lavinia, it's me. You're never going to believe what I've found out.'