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“No, I guess—” A fresh round of grunting interrupted me. We stopped talking to watch a throng of guys tackle another throng of guys, followed by raucous cheers. The dog pile gradually broke up, and the Trainee who’d been pinned at the bottom of it emerged with a bloody nose and what looked like a dislocated pinkie.
I looked back to Yasuo, raising my brows. “I mean, yeah. Yeah, I do still think you’re a lot of meatheads. ”
Josh startled me by laughing. Wasn’t he supposed to get pissy and walk away, grumbling about the freaky girl? The fact that he didn’t made me panic.
Yasuo never walked away on me, either, but that was different. And neither did Ronan, but he was a teacher and had to deal with me no matter what. But this Josh, he was one of my peers, and his affability threw me.
I glued my eyes to the roof of my dorm peeking over the buildings in the distance. “Look, I’ve gotta go. ”
“We’ll walk with you,” Yas said.
“Yeah,” Josh added. “To protect you from the dangerous meatheads, eh?”
“That’s right. ” Yasuo put his arm casually around my shoulders, whisking me along. “Otherwise another boy might try to talk to you. ”
I elbowed him in the gut. “Shut up. ”
He let go, getting in step with Josh, laughing it off the way guys do. And simple as that, I had two male companions.
At first I was unsettled, but they made idle chatter as we walked. I could tell Josh kept slowing his pace for me, but I still had to do a quick half skip every few steps to keep up with my long-legged escorts. The meaningless chatter flowed, though, and it actually began to feel nice.
Before I’d come to this island, things had never felt nice. It made me wonder if this whole messed-up scene might possibly be worth it someday. I thought of the Initiates escorting the survivor from the pool. Recalled Ronan whispering with his fellow Tracer. There were relationships to be had, trust that could grow.
Very few girls ascended to Watcher status, but I imagined the higher you went, the tighter you grew. And if you actually did make it all the way, it must become something like a family. I’d never had a family, not really. The whole process was sick, sure, but there was something in it that had me yearning, a little bit, to be a part of something bigger than myself. Part of a family.
I tuned in when I felt Josh’s eyes on me. “I told you, mate,” he was saying to Yasuo. “She’s not your typical sheila. ” What did that mean? Had they been talking about me? “Sheila?” Yas screwed up his face. “Is that a girl?”
Josh nodded, but his eyes were still on me.
I squinted at him, suspicious. “Are you teasing me?”
His gaze finally broke from mine. “Yeah, a sheila’s a girl. Learn to speak English, mate. ”
“That’s not English,” Yasuo said. “It’s Australian. ”
“Wait,” I said. “Go back. ” I was so not done with the whole not-your-typical-sheila thing. “What were you guys talking about?”
Yasuo heaved a sigh, like I was putting him out. “I told Josh you came by to spy on the guys. To see what we’re up to; satisfy your natural curiosity and all. But Josh guessed that wasn’
t your thing. ”
I put my hands on my hips, ready for battle. “How is spying a typical girl thing?”
“It’s a fact,” Josh said. “Ask any girl what superpower she wants and it’s invisibility. Girls want to eavesdrop and learn secrets. ”
I glared at him, looking for the fault in such a random statement. Sentences that began with it’s a fact tended to put me on my guard. “And what do guys want?”
“Guys all wish they could fly, of course. ” He gave me a mellow grin. “Really. There’ve been studies. ”
Was that why a guy would want to become a vampire? For the power of it?
I realized I had to hand it to Josh. He was a pretty pleasant human being, and even this random topic hadn’t stopped the conversation from flowing. I shrugged, deciding to take the bait. “I get that girls like gossip. But me? No way. Who cares about secrets? I just want to pass my next fitness evaluation. So no, I’d definitely want to fly. ”
“Who knows?” Yas said, tugging my braid. “Maybe flying would help with your pull-ups. I hear test time is coming up. ”
My mood plummeted. “God knows I need all the help I can get. ”
“You’re doing palms away, right?” Josh asked, instantly intent on giving me tips. “You should practice with negative pull-ups. Start with your chin over the bar, then get used to the feel of lowering yourself back down. ”
