Cursed by Wendy Owens Read Free Book Online Page B

fell on deaf ears.   He went on down the hall towards Sophie’s room in silence.
    At last he arrived, but the room was empty.   After their tense meeting in the hall earlier, he did not want to be the guy who stalked her at work.   Gabe decided rather than checking in the library, he would find her in the dining hall later that evening.
    Over the summer, Gabe had grown used to spending time in the Gardens where he and Sophie had shared that dance under the stars so many months ago.   It had become his go to place to clear his mind and find peace.   On this particular day, the place had seemed to have lost its charm.
    Gabe bent over and picked up a smooth pebble.   As he stood again, he began to roll the stone between his fingertips.   He stared off into nothingness, replaying the past couple of days in his mind.
    “Gabe?” The small voice rang out behind him as he was leaning over the bridge.   He loved to come and watch the Koi passing underneath, but their magic failed to capture his attention this evening.   When Gabe turned around, he saw Neru walking towards him grinning.
    “Oh hey, Neru.   How’s it going?”
    “Great, except this new friend I made completely ignored me in Artifacts class.” Neru jested as she came to rest next to Gabe, arms folded on the railing of the bridge.
    “Yeah, sorry about that.   I guess I am a little distracted.” Gabe apologized with complete sincerity.
    “I was kidding.” Neru replied, leaning forward to catch Gabe’s gaze in an effort to show him she wasn’t upset.
    Gabe smiled at Neru.   With everything on his mind, he was having trouble deciphering sarcasm.
    “Distracted huh?   Care to talk about it?” Neru probed.
    “No, I’m fine.” Gabe quickly put her off.
    “Oh, I understand,” Neru said.   “Well, you did just meet me.”
    “That’s not it.” Gabe retorted.   “It’s just silly stuff.”
    “I doubt that.   If it has you this perplexed it must be important to you at least.   Who knows?   Maybe talking about it will make you feel better.”
    Gabe had never been the type of person to open up about his feelings.   Before he came to the manor, he had lived a life of secrecy and pain.   Even since coming here, he had only confided in his close circle of friends.   Something about Neru impressed him.   Her friendliness and persistence seemed to disarm him.
    “Yeah, I guess.”
    The two continued to stand in silence for a moment longer while Gabe debated if sharing anything with Neru would help.   Something was strange about her, but Gabe thought perhaps it was exactly those things that drew him to her.
    “I know almost everything that is bothering me is probably myself reading into stuff and being irrational,” Gabe smiled trying to show humor.   “I tend to do that.”
    “I’m sure you’re not that bad,” Neru said, giving Gabe a slight nudge.
    “Take the tests for example, I studied all summer.   I skipped nearly all the social events going on so that I would be prepared when the time came for my tests.”
    “And so you were.   Are you annoyed you had to give that all up?” Neru asked, pulling a strand of hair back from her face to reveal a confused expression.
    “No,” Gabe quickly interjected.   “I didn’t mind any of that.   I was actually happy to do it all if it meant catching up to the rest of my friends.”
    “So what’s the problem?   Seems like you nailed the tests.”
    “You would think so, wouldn’t you?” Gabe asked, looking off into the distance again.
    “Didn’t you?” Neru asked.   “That’s what it looked like to the rest of us.   I could have never come up with half the ideas you did.”
    “Well, I thought I did really well, but then…” Gabe thought better of revealing his frustration with Michael to this girl he barely knew.   Instead he revised his statement.   “Then some friends pointed out that I could have done better.”
    “Gabe, you can’t let a few friends make you doubt