Chapter Two
Elena was surrounded the instant she stepped into the high school parking lot. Everyone was there, the whole crowd she hadn't seen since late June, plus four or five hangers-on who hoped to gain popularity by association. One by one she accepted the welcoming hugs of her own group.
Caroline had grown at least an inch and was slinkier and more like aVogue model than ever. She greeted Elena coolly and stepped back again with her green eyes narrowed like a cat's.
Bonnie hadn't grown at all, and her curly red head barely came up to Elena's chin as she flung her arms around Elena. Wait a minute-curls? thought Elena. She pushed the smaller girl back.
"Bonnie! What did you do to your hair?"
"Do you like it? I think it makes me look taller." Bonnie fluffed up the already fluffy bangs and smiled, her brown eyes sparkling with excitement, her little heart-shaped face alight.
Elena moved on. "Meredith. You haven't changed at all." This hug was equally warm on both sides. She had missed Meredith more than anyone, Elena thought, looking at the tall girl. Meredith never wore any makeup; but then, with perfect olive skin and heavy black lashes, she didn't need any. Right now she had one elegant eyebrow raised as she studied Elena.
"Well, your hair is two shades lighter from the sun... But where's your tan? I thought you were living it up on the French Riviera."
"You know I never tan." Elena held up her hands for her own inspection. The skin was flawless, like porcelain, but almost as fair and translucent as Bonnie's.
"Just a minute; that reminds me," Bonnie interjected, snatching one of Elena's hands. "Guess what I learned from my cousin this summer?" Before anyone could speak, she informed them triumphantly: "Palm reading!"
There were groans, and some laughter.
"Laugh while you can," said Bonnie, not at all disturbed. "My cousin told me I'm psychic. Now, let me see..." She peered into Elena's palm.
"Hurry up or we're going to be late," said Elena a bit impatiently.
"All right, all right. Now, this is your life line-or is it your heart line?" In the crowd, someone snickered. "Quiet; I'm reaching into the void. I see... I see..." All at once, Bonnie's face went blank, as if she were startled. Her brown eyes widened, but she no longer seemed to be staring at Elena's hand. It was as if she were lookingthrough it-at something frightening.
"You will meet a tall, dark stranger," Meredith murmured from behind her. There was a flurry of giggles.
"Dark, yes, and a stranger... but not tall." Bonnie's voice was hushed and faraway.
"Although," she continued after a moment, looking puzzled, "he was tall, once." Her wide brown eyes lifted to Elena's in bewilderment. "But that's impossible... isn't it?" She dropped Elena's hand, almost flinging it away. "I don't want to see any more."
"Okay, show's over. Let's go," Elena told the others, vaguely irritated. She'd always felt psychic tricks were just that-tricks. So why was she annoyed? Just because that morning she'd almost freaked out herself...
The girls started toward the school building, but the roar of a finely tuned motor stopped them all in their tracks.
"Well, now," Caroline said, staring. "Quite a car."
"Quite a Porsche," Meredith corrected dryly.
The sleek black 911 Turbo purred through the parking lot, searching for a space, moving as lazily as a panther stalking prey.
When the car came to a stop, the door opened, and they glimpsed the driver. "Oh, my God," Caroline whispered.
"You can say that again," breathed Bonnie.
From where she stood, Elena could see he had a lean, flat-muscled body. Faded jeans he probably had to peel off at night, tight T-shirt, and a leather jacket of unusual cut. His hair was wavy-and dark.
He wasn't tall, though. Just average height.
Elena let out her breath.
"Whois that masked man?" said Meredith. And the remark was apt-dark sunglasses completely covered the boy's eyes, shielding his face like a mask.
"That maskedstranger ," someone else said, and a babble of voices rose up.
"Do you see that jacket? That's Italian, as in Roma."
"How would you know? You've never been farther than Rome, New York, in your life!"
"Uh-oh. Elena's got that look again. The hunting look."
"Short-Dark-and-Handsome had better be careful."
"He isn't short; he's perfect!"
Through the chatter, Caroline's voice suddenly rang out. "Oh, come on, Elena. You've already got Matt. What more do you want? What can you do with two that you can't do with one?"
"The same thing-only longer," drawled Meredith, and the group dissolved into laughter.
The boy had locked his car and was walking toward school. Casually, Elena started after him, the other girls right behind her in a close-knit pack. For an instant, annoyance bubbled up inside her. Couldn't she goanywhere without a parade on her heels? But Meredith caught her eye, and she smiled in spite of herself.
"Noblesse oblige," Meredith said softly.
"What?"
"If you're going to be queen of the school, you have to put up with the consequences."
Elena frowned at this as they entered the building. A long corridor stretched before them, and a figure in jeans and leather jacket was disappearing through the office doorway up ahead. Elena slowed her pace as she walked up to the office, finally stopping to glance thoughtfully at the messages on the cork bulletin board by the door. There was a large window here, through which the entire office was visible.