The Fallen Star (Fallen Star Series, Book 1)

  ***

  When the bell rang, I darted off to the library to eat my lunch. It was my typical lunch routine. Yes, it was a weird spot to eat lunch, especially for someone in high school, but I didn’t have any friends, and sitting alone in an overly crowded cafeteria was my only other option.

  There were always a couple of other kids eating lunch in the library. Sherman, this guy with extremely curly hair and tons and tons of freckles, was a regular. There was also Mrs. Bakerly, the seventy-something-year-old librarian.

  “Hello, Gemma,” Mrs. Bakerly greeted me from behind the counter. “How are you today?”

  “Good,” I replied. A total lie, but I didn’t need to share that with her. I adjusted the handle of my messenger bag higher onto my shoulder. “How are you?”

  She smiled brightly. “I’m good.”

  Smiling back at her seemed like such a huge project, but I managed to force a small one. Then I started off toward the far back corner of the bookshelves, my regular spot to hide out and eat my lunch. I selected the book I had been reading from off a shelf before settling down on the floor. Using my bag as a pillow, I relaxed against the shelf and opened the book to the page I had left off on from the day before.

  The book told a story of a girl who had a superpower. It got me wondering what it would be like to have a superpower of my own. What if I could have been some extraordinary person with the ability to help the world, instead of a loner/freak girl? Or what if I had the power to, let’s say, shield invisible, out of control, electric sparks?

  I sighed. It was such a nice thought.

  My stomach growled and in the silence of the library the sound was nearly deafening. I dug a granola bar out of my bag and a can of Coke, then commenced reading. I made it about halfway through a paragraph when I heard voices from the other side of the shelf. Whoever it was, was speaking too quiet for me to make out any of what was being said, yet still loud enough to distract me. I popped my neck and tried to block the voices out. It worked until I heard my name, as clear as day. “Gemma.” At first I thought someone was trying to get my attention. But when I realized this wasn’t the case—since no one was around—I wondered if whoever was chattering away on the other side of the shelf was talking about me.

  Now, I know eavesdropping is very bad. And I did feel a little bit bad for doing it. But who on earth would be talking about me? Me, Gemma Lucas, the invisible-barely-known girl that hardly spoke to anyone?

  I had to know.

  I scooted forward, straining my ears to listen.

  “You shouldn’t have left me there alone with her,” a voice grumbled. It was a guy’s voice, deep and almost recognizable.

  “What was I supposed to do?” It was another voice—a much higher voice—which belonged to a girl. “If we want to blend in, we have to act normal. If I get called to the office, I have to go. You should start doing this too, especially when you’re around her. I know we’re not supposed to get close to her, but still…it’s called tack. She’s not stupid. She can probably tell there’s something going on.”

  Were they talking about me? If so, who were they exactly?

  My skin began to tingle with a low buzz of electric static, and I had my answer. Alex. He was on the other side of the shelf. That meant that the girly voice most likely belonged to Aislin.

  This revelation sparked my curiosity even more. Holding my breath, I inched closer to the shelf.

  “You don’t understand.” Alex’s voice dipped lower. “Something weird is happening between me and her.”

  “What do you mean?” Aislin asked.

  “I’m not really sure how to explain it.” He paused. “It happened the first day we came here. I felt this weird electric feeling when she walked by me. And it keeps getting worse the more I’m around her.”

  So they were talking about me. Wow. It was amazing what eavesdropping could do. It made me want to listen more. But how long was I going to be able to listen without being noticed? All it would take was for Alex to feel the tiniest buzz, and I would be caught. He hadn’t felt it yet though, so…

  “Have you told Stephan about it?” Aislin asked.

  “No,” Alex snapped. “And I’m not going to. He already has too much to worry about. The last thing he needs is to find out that Gemma is causing some kind of electrical static thing.”

  Before I could stop myself, I let out a gasp. Crap. My muscles tensed as I sealed my mouth shut.

  “Yeah, but if it has something to do with the prophecy, he would want to know,” Aislin told him.

  It seemed like they hadn’t heard me. I quietly exhaled, my muscles relaxing a little…Hold on. Rewind. Did she just say prophecy?

  “Why would that have anything to do with the prophecy?” Alex said, clearly annoyed. “It’s not about the prophecy. It’s about her. She’s causing it.”

  “You don’t know that for sure. Maybe you’re the one who’s causing it,” Aislin suggested. “I mean, I know I don’t feel anything like that when I’m around her. For all you know, she might not even feel it.”

  “Trust me, she does,” Alex said with confidence.

  I pulled a face. How could he be so convinced I felt it? Ugh. He was so sure of himself. Of course, my constant gasping and inability to breathe when I was around him might have been a bit of a giveaway.

  “Alex, I really think you should—” Aislin started.

  Alex shushed her. “Just a second.”

  “What is it?” Aislin whispered.

  The air ceased to an eerie standstill. Had he felt the electricity? If he had, I was so busted.

  I scrambled to my feet and reached for my bag.

  “Gemma, can I help you find something?”

  I jumped back, my pulse racing with fear. But it was just Mrs. Bakerly. She had a small stack of books in her hands, and she was looking at me with wide eyes. My alarmed reaction must have scared her or something.

  “No, I’m fine.” Why oh why did she have to say my name? “I was just looking to see if I could…um…find something good to take home with me?”

  “Well, if you need anything,” she slid a book onto the shelf, “just let me know.”

  “I will,” I told her.

  She smiled and walked away.

  I whirled my attention back to the other side of the shelf—back to Alex and Aislin. Had they figured out I had been listening to them? Were they waiting for Mrs. Bakerly to leave so they could, I don’t know, jump me or something? Yeah, the idea sounded as stupid to me as it might to you, but hey, you never know.

  I couldn’t hear anything. My hands shook as I peeked through a sliver of space between two of the shelves. They were gone. Great. Now I had no clue whether they discovered I had been listening or not. Although I was pretty sure they had, which seemed like a very bad thing.

  This sucked.

  One good thing that came out of the situation, though, was that I learned a valuable lesson. If you’re going to eavesdrop, don’t get caught, especially when the people you were eavesdropping on just might be a little off of the rocker.

  The stuff they were saying…it was so weird. Like straight out of a science fiction novel weird.

  I shook my head and sighed. Something was going on and I needed to find out what.

  Chapter 5