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Chapter 6 of Banished for Love

We had only missed two days of school while taking our little field trip into the underworld, but with all that had happened in that short amount of time, it felt like an eternity. By the time I walk into lunch, I have enough make-up work to last me a week. I scan the cafeteria for Jeremy, and of course, Brittney is there making flirty eyes at him. I grit my teeth, but for once I am a bit relieved to see her there. It means I don’t have to hunt her down later. I set my lunch tray on the table and sit across from her, next to Jeremy.

 

“Brittney, I need to ask you something,” I say as rationally as possible. The girl still irks me, but in order to get what I need, I have to at least attempt not piss her off.

 

“What could Kelsey James possibly want from me? Fashion advice?” she sneers, making it harder to stay calm.

 

I lean across the table and lower my voice. “How long have you been a fallen angel?”

 

Her eyes widen slightly and her mouth pops open in shock; shock that quickly shifts into suspicion. “What makes you think that, there’s no such thing,” she retorts, flipping her hair back and turning her head away. I hear a note of worry in her voice tipping me off that I’m not wrong.

 

“Save it, I’m one too, as of recently. Last night to be exact,” I reply, crossing my arms over my chest.

 

She stares at me for a moment, noting the darkness of my eyes, and the truth lying within them. She turns back toward me, some of her outer shell of mean cracking away. “3 years. They brutally tore my wings off because I fell for a human who was just using me for pleasure. Unfortunately, I only figured that little detail out after I had been branded as fallen,” she says, bitterness coloring her tone. I feel a note of sympathy for her at the bottom of my heart. Not enough to blind me to her bitchitude, but sympathy all the same.

 

“I got mine torn off for falling in love with him,” I say, pointing a thumb at Jeremy who shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

 

“Well then, we have more in common than I thought James,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest, mimicking my own position.

 

“Then we have a lot to talk about,” I smirk.

 

“Let me guess, you want to know about all the super cool powers you’re going to get?” she says in a mock imitation of my voice.

 

“I just don’t want to be surprised by it again. I already found I can speak into minds,” I reply, trying very hard not to smack her.

 

She snorts. “That’s the least of your powers.”

 

The bell to end lunch rings and we rise from the table.

 

“Why don’t you come over after school and you can clue me in on the rest?” I offer. Jeremy glances at me in shock, probably thinking I had gone completely bonkers, but I ignore him for the moment.

 

She shrugs. “Whatever,” and with that she shimmies away. I shake my head, thinking that Barbie needs a bit of an attitude adjustment.