The Original Crowd (A Whole New Crowd 0.50)

“We’re not selling tickets. Shoo, fuckers,” I barked.

“I’d pay.” Carter held out his wallet.

“Carter, what the hell are you doing here?” Tray asked, moving towards him to punch him in the shoulder.

“Orientation, baby. Orientation.” He gestured to Tristan. “Guess that’s why she’s here too. I’m transferring.”

“Let me guess, your files were destroyed in a freak accident.” Tray said wryly.

“Something like that.” Carter sent me a grin. “Thanks for the idea.”

“I’m leaving,” I announced, and walked out. This was pointless. If Tristan, her royal fucking highness, hadn’t been helped, yet Tray and I shouldn’t have to stick around when all we were doing was making out. The principal will probably just throw out some bullshit about appropriate boundaries, and I’d tell him that Tray and I knew exactly how appropriate our boundaries were. Then we’ll get detention. Or I’d get detention. This was not what I needed right now. Not when I planned on using every free minute either hunting down Props or threatening Props.

At my locker, Molly proclaimed, “Is it true? Is it true? Is Carter Sethlers going to school here now? I’ve, like, heard it from eight people.”

Who does she talk to? Is there a secret underground of Invisibles that just see and hear everything? Seriously.

“Yes,” I bit out, grabbing my second period book now. Tray still had my first period book.

?

??Oh my God! This is great!”

I said, “You have a boyfriend. Sethlers is off limits.”

“Oh.” She blushed, how unusual. “Well…yeah, I mean…I spent the weekend with Garrett and it was…”

I couldn’t handle another full-body blush, so I asked, impatiently, “Did ya have sex or not?”

I literally thought, for an actual second, that her eyes would pop out of her head.

“Taryn,” she whispered, horrified she glanced around, “I…oh gosh…no. We didn’t have sex.”

“Did you want to?”

“Taryn!”

“Come on. That was the whole reason you were apprehensive about going to the cities for the weekend, right?”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to announce it.”

“I asked a question. Announcing would be different. I’d use the PA system if I wanted to announce something.”

“Hey, bitch!”

I looked up—that is my name after all.

Aidrian Casners was pushing her way through the crowd, wearing a frilly pink halter-top over a black leather miniskirt. She had white hoop earrings dangling to her shoulders, which looked like they were about to rip her ears off from the speed she was zooming my way.

I grinned at that thought.

Molly shrieked and melted away. Literally. She had mad Invisible skill.

Crystal was following Aidrian, but I saw the grin she was biting back. She was only there for entertainment. Hell, Aidrian entertained me too.

“What up?” I asked easily, standing to face the firing squad.

“You sent that freak nerd to my house Friday night. I had to baby-sit his ass at Third Wave,” she hissed.