Ashes and Ice by Rochelle Maya Callen Read Free Book Online Page A

smile.
    She looks back. Her eyes shift from Jared to Dominic and then to me. To me? Her face remains as plain as stone, staring me down.
    She winks, then snaps forward and walks right off the field.
    No smile betrays her, but that wink was for me. A dizzying rush flushes through me and I feel exhilarated and… happy.

Chapter 11
    Jade
    He beams yellow rays of light all around him—brilliant, blinding, and beautiful. And something insides me explodes. From happiness? From satisfaction? From victory? Yes, from victory. Victory over Connor’s whispering pale gray disappearing into a bright, flaring glow. I love the warm feeling of pulling light from him.
    He’s smiling at me.
    I wink at him, promising myself I will never be the source of that bitter grayness. I will pull out his light, because he is too beautiful to be without it.

Chapter 12
    Connor
    My nerves thrum like hummingbird wings. I can almost hear the buzzing. I smile to myself, replaying the glorious moment Jared and Dominic tumbled to the ground in a fantastic, unglamorous thud. My heart flip-flops as I think of Jade’s wink at me, which , perhaps, the sexiest gesture directed at me in my life. Still smiling, I take a bite of my food. As I bring another sporkful to my mouth, someone tugs my earphones. “What the…”
    “So, have you let the fame go to your head?” my head snaps up toward the smoky, soft voice to my right, “Or can humble, average, non-youtube-able people sit beside you now?” I think my heart stopped and is mangled somewhere in my throat. Her long legs extend, netted and crossed at the ankles. She props her elbows on the cafeteria table, her eyes fix on the pencil between her fingers. Jade.
    “I, uh, um…” Speak, you idiot! “Uh, I mean…”
    She raises an eyebrow.
    “Um, I mean, of course you can sit here.” I’m embarrassed the sound could have been defined as a little more than a chick’s peep—quick, sharp, and high. Dom or Jared would have probably made it a point to ask if my balls had dropped yet.
    “Thanks.” She doesn’t look at me. She twists and brings her leather boots under the table. Throwing her book bag onto the table, she opens it, rummages through it, and pulls out an apple and her notepad. She flips the book open, takes a bite out of the apple, and spins her pencil over her fingers, flipping it down her knuckles like some mini-sized acrobat. I don’t know if I’m staring at her flat out or just leering sideways. “So, Connor,” my name tumbling from her lips doesn’t sound like a dead fish, “what’s up with your lame-ass excuse for running?”
    I deflate.
    What the hell? Did she just come over to insult me? I can run. I run damn good. If only she knew, but I knew she had seen the video by now and I didn’t want to argue with her. I just shrug and start pushing around my rice.
    “Not trying to tick you off.” She doesn’t look up from her notebook. “I just know that you can run faster than you are letting on.”
    “What?” That surprises me.
    “You run.” She shrugs. “And you run fast.” She cocks her head toward me. “But when you are on the track you seem to be a combination of Blonde-boobs and Wheezer.”
    Who? “What?” I feel my eyebrows furrow together, as I get caught in my confusion.
    “I don’t know too many names yet. So, I give them nicknames.” She waves her hand toward Courtney, nicely tucked under Dominic’s arm, “Meet Blonde-boobs and,” she slightly tilts her head backward motioning to Matt heaving in his next sloppy breath, “Wheezer.”
    I laugh. Out loud. I’m surprised by the unfamiliar sound and snap my mouth shut.
    “So?” She nestles her chin in her palm, “what’s your deal?”
    “I can run.” I say abruptly.
    “I know,” she sounds exasperated, “but why don’t you run well on the track?”
    I’m quiet. How lame would it be to say that I don’t want to end up face-planted on the track, upside down in a dumpster, or on the internet?
    “You