A Million Points of Light
an excerpt

... from chapter 30 or so ...

After class, Elle hurried from the room, hoping to get ahead of Eric.

“Elle,” he called after her. She slowed. She wasn’t far enough ahead that she could pretend she hadn’t heard him. “Hey, Elle.” He caught up to her.

“I wanted to see if you would want to get together tonight to study? Sounds like next week’s test is going to be pretty intense. It might help if we review some of the fundamentals.”

“Oh, sorry Eric, I have newspaper tonight until after 8:00. Maybe another time.” She started to walk away, but he put his hand on her arm to stop her.

“Okay, well, what about tomorrow, after class? I know Friday isn’t a popular study day, but…”

“Sorry. You know, I’m not very good at studying with other people. I really prefer to study alone.”

“Is that so?”

“I just can’t concentrate if anyone else is around.

“Oh? For someone who likes to study alone, you spend an awful lot of time in the library with that lacrosse player. Max Dillon, is it? Are you his tutor? Or is he yours?” Eric leered at Elle and she took an alarmed step back. Eric had gone from cordial to hostile in a split second.

“What’s wrong?” he asked now, stepping towards Elle. She backed up another step and ran into the wall. She had narrowly avoided hitting the water fountain.

Elle glanced down the hall. There was no one to be seen. Eric put his left arm on the wall and leaned in towards her, effectively trapping her in between the water fountain and his arm.

“What’s wrong?” he asked again. “Why are you so nervous? You were nervous all through class. I could feel it.” He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Did I mention that every time I heal someone, I become a little bit more connected to them? It’s almost like a bond is created. I can start to feel their emotions. Sometimes I can even tell where they are. It’s like you’re in my head, now. I like it.”

That last bit came out almost as a hiss. She was panicked now. Where were all of the teachers and students? Adults were always there unless you needed one. The warning bell for the next class went off right above their head. Elle jumped a mile and let out a small shriek. Eric laughed.

“So jumpy. You need to calm down a bit.” He raised his right hand and placed it on her cheek. She cringed back, but there was nowhere for her to go; the wall behind her was cold and very solid. He was caressing her skin with his thumb. “So pretty, such perfect skin.”

His expression darkened.

“What’s this?” He dropped his left hand to her right side and before she could move or stop him, had slid his hand up the back of her sweater to where her injury had been a few hours before. “You were hurt.” He was running his fingers along the smooth skin. He leaned down towards her again. He was tall. What was with all of these tall guys? The next thing he said practically stopped her heart.

“I can still smell the blood.” He left where the mug shard had been sticking out of her and ran his hand up her back. He pulled her into him, their chests tight together, and pressed his lips to her ear. She was on the verge of tears now and desperate to get away. She struggled against him but his arm held her in an iron vise.

“How did you do it? How did you make it go away? Is that what you can do? The same thing as me?”

It suddenly came to her. Oh my god, I know what to do.

Elle forced both of her hands in between their bodies. She did it quickly and it caught him off guard enough that she was able to lay her palms flat on his chest. Then she shoved him. She shoved not just with her hands and arms, but with her mind, too.

Eric flew backwards across the hall as if someone four times his size had shoved him during a fight. He crashed into the opposite wall and Elle heard his head connect solidly with the wood paneling. He slumped to the ground and before he could even start to pick himself up, Elle had already taken off down the hall.

“ELLE!” he yelled after her. “You’re meant to be mine! You’ll see!”