The Talents by Inara Scott Read Free Book Online

leather and probably cost as much as my grandma’s Volvo. There was a trunk a few feet from us that matched perfectly. I figured it probably cost as much as our house.
    â€œDancia.”
    â€œWow, that’s a really cool name. What does it mean?”
    â€œI dunno. I guess my mom made it up.”
    Esther laughed. “Well, it sounds cool. So, are you as nervous as I am? I think I slept about thirty minutes last night.”
    Unwittingly, I smiled. “I think you have me beat. I slept at least an hour.”
    She sighed dramatically, her dark eyes twinkling. “I’m jealous. Will you poke me if I fall asleep during something important? With my luck, I’ll end up in detention before school even starts.”
    Esther, I suspected, had never spent a day of her life in detention.
    We chatted for a few minutes. Esther asked all sorts of questions—where I was from, what my middle school was like, what I was looking forward to at Delcroix. It took me that long to realize that she had used my own tactic against me. It was impressive, actually, the way she drew me out. The difference was that Esther alternated between asking questions and telling me all about herself. Before I knew it, we were talking like old friends.
    Except, I wasn’t supposed to be making friends.
    Just as I was realizing I needed to put the brakes on the conversation, a bus pulled through the huge black gates at the far end of the parking lot, and both our mouths snapped shut. The bus was shaped like the old yellow cheese that had picked me up every day for middle school, but this one had been painted steel gray. It ground to a stop by the gates, so I hitched my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed the end of my trunk, and started dragging it in that direction. Even though I should have ditched Esther then and there, I guess I was just too nervous at the thought of handling this all by myself.
    I turned back around to her. “Are you coming?”
    She nodded quickly and picked up her backpack. Her trunk had a handle on one end and wheels, and she started pulling it behind her. She grinned at me, and I reluctantly smiled back. Esther had an air of confidence, like she assumed we were now best friends, and it was strangely magnetic.
    She started talking again right away. “Do you think we’ll all fit on one bus? Or maybe they make two trips? I can’t believe they don’t let you drive up to the school yourself. My dad says that’s a good safety precaution, but I think it’s a little much, don’t you?”
    I gave her a nod, but didn’t speak. I focused on dragging my trunk and not letting it whack me on the back of my heels with every step. She barely seemed to notice, talking about how her mother was a lawyer who worked in the district attorney’s office, and how her dad had driven her to orientation, which was a really long drive because they lived outside Seattle, but he said he’d take her because it would be such an incredible experience. According to Esther, six people in the United States House of Representatives and two in the Senate had gone to Delcroix, not to mention the guy who’d just become the new Supreme Court justice. Naturally, I had known nothing about this, but Esther actually seemed to know and care about politics.
    Besides that, Esther clearly liked to talk. I mean really, really liked to talk.
    I decided that was okay, because if she kept talking, I wouldn’t have to.
    We joined the group of kids milling around in front of the bus. The door opened with a hiss, and two guys jumped out. I stopped and stared. It was Cam and another guy I didn’t know. Just looking at Cam erased all my doubts and fears, and brought back that hopeful feeling I’d been left with at Bev’s.
    Cam shook his shaggy hair from his eyes and held up his arms. His biceps bulged impressively from under a dark green T-shirt. A gold dragon hovered over the word delcroix on the