Chapter 8

One of my favorite places in Valley Academy is the common room. It’s big and cozy, and the stained glass windows are always covered in a fresh blanket of snow. There’s an endless amount of comfortable places to sit, too, and today I’m sprawled out on one of the couches near the staircase. Violet and Hudson are sitting beside me, quizzing each other on Latin homework- they both take eleventh-grade Latin, even though it’s not a required course. Pearson calls them Valley Academy’s favorite power couple.

            I’m about to take a nap when I spot a bright red head near the fireplace. I can tell its Brighton right away, because of his height. He’s long and wiry, and you can always see him looming above a crowd. “Brighton!” I call. “Over here!”

            He locks eyes with me and lopes over to where we’re sitting. “Have any of you seen Pearson?”

            “No,” Violet and Hudson say in unison. I shake my head.

            “He was supposed to meet me in the junior building- I was dropping something off for my little sister- but he didn’t come.”

            That reminds me of Madeleine, the lonely little girl from tutoring. “I met her yesterday,” I tell him. “Madeleine, I mean.”
            Brighton smiles at me, and his grin is surprisingly sweet. “She told me,” he says, laughing. “She wouldn’t stop talking about you. Says you look like a fairy.”

            I suddenly feel self-conscious, and I pull down my kilt so it covers my knees. I’ve always been aware of my height- endless years of sitting in the front row of school pictures made it very clear that I was small. It’s not just that, either; I inhabited a slender frame from my mother, so I have arms and legs like twigs. And my black hair, long enough to reach my waist, doesn’t help matters.

            “She’s pretty cute herself,” I tell Brighton, determined to turn things back around to Madeleine. “She looks just like you.”
            “Are you saying that I’m cute?” Brighton asks, just as I realize the mistake I’ve made. He’s smiling, in a joking way, but his eyes make it look as if he wants an answer. Or maybe I’m reading too much into this.

            “Of course,” I say. I give him a pat on the head, the way you would pat a golden retriever. “Didn’t you know that already?”

            Brighton laughs. He is kind of cute, now that I’m looking at him in the right light. Not as handsome as Pearson, obviously, with his black curls and bright green eyes. But still…cute. Very much so. “Well, thank you for the compliment. And thank you for working with my sister. Reading’s never been easy for her, and Valley Academy’s curriculum is way harder than her old school’s.”

            My curiosity gets the better of me again, and I can’t help but ask more. “How does she like the Valley?” I fiddle with the hem of my skirt so he can’t tell I already know the answer.

            Brighton sighs and leans back on the couch. “It’s been difficult,” he tells me. “Madeline is very shy. Back in Seattle, she had lots of friends, because she’d known everyone since kindergarten. But now…I don’t know. She’s always alone, and I want to help her, but I just…I don’t know.”

            Suddenly I get an idea. “Brighton,” I say, fighting back a smile, “Come with me.”

***

The junior building is more modern than the rest of the school, and much smaller. The classrooms range from kindergarten to the fifth grade, and the dorms are at the back of the building.

            Brighton shows me Madeleine’s bedroom, and I step inside to get her. She’s lying on her bed with a sketchbook in front of her, her feet resting on the back wall. Looking at her makes my heart swell. I’ve only known her for a day, but I can’t help it. “Hey, Madeleine,” I say.

            “Holly!” Is it just me, or did her eyes light up? Oh, you dear little girl, I think, and instantly feel like some sort of creeper. But I push those thoughts away.

            “Brighton’s waiting in the hallway,” I tell her. “We want you to come to our common room for a few hours. Is that okay?”

            “Okay?” Madeleine jumps off her bed and sprints out of the door, and Brighton envelops her in a big hug. It makes me feel warm and cozy, seeing how protective Brighton is of his little sister. “Of course it’s okay!”
            It’s started snowing again, and our trek back to the main building has my vision clouded with white spots. Brighton gives Madeleine his hand so we can run faster, and after a few awkward seconds I take his other one. His hand is warm and soft, and it feels strange to be this close. It’s for Madeline, I tell myself. Nothing more, nothing less.

            When we get back to the common room, Madeline is ecstatic. We introduce her to everyone in Wilfred, and she’s practically bubbling with happiness. When the dinner bell rings, she stays close beside us, and we sit at a table near the back of the dining hall. Her bedtime is right after supper, so she has to head back to the building as soon as we’ve put our dishes away. She gives us both a big hug before dashing across the courtyard and disappearing behind the entrance doors.

            Brighton walks me back to my dorm. I’m about to open my bedroom door when he clears his throat. His hands are stuffed into his pants pockets, and he won’t stop looking at the floor.

            “Uh,” he says.

            Now he’s looking at anything but me. The expensive door tiling is now a thing of upmost interest. Same goes for the carpets and the mahogany tapestries. “Brighton?” I ask, getting a little worried. Is there something on my face? “What’s wrong?”

            “I was wondering,” he says, clearing his throat again. “If you wanted to hang out this weekend. On activity day. We could, you know, go out to dinner. Or see a movie. Or something.”
            Activity day is next Saturday. Everyone from Valley Academy is busing into town, where we’ll have a few hours of free time. I’ve been looking forward to it all week. “You mean…a date?” I ask, and my face turns red the minute I say it. Date. It reminds me of the fig cookies my grandmother used to bake for me, back in Long Island.

            “Yes. I mean, if you want it to be. I mean…”

            “Okay,” I say. “That sounds…good.”

            Brighton grins, and we both turn around at the same time. He has to go back to the Boy’s Dorm, and I have to go into my bedroom. But we both see him, right away.

            Standing at the end of the hallway is Pearson. And it looks like he’s been there for a long, long time.

            

Author's Note

This chapter introduces some new problems between the characters. Enjoy!

Reviews

[T. Logan]

There are no words for how addicted i'm getting to this. I love how not only is Brighton shown more, but there's a new issue with him and Pearson. It can only get more interesting now.

[BillyGirl]

Hmmm... Cliff hangers, I do hate 'em. Lol. I dunno why, but Peason's always struck me as the jealous type. This was a great read, as your work always is :) Keep it up!