Nancy picked Venus as the sixth player on her team. "New girl," Nancy hollered.

Venus walked over with a smile. At this point she was happy to be picked.

While she stood there waiting for the other girls to be chosen, she had to wonder if the girls in Alayeah felt the same when her mother chose one of them to sit next to her at a dinner, or spend time with Venus during music hour. If, no, when Venus returned to Kelari, she promised herself she'd pay more attention to those around her-to their needs.

In the past, more often than not, she'd engage them in small talk to appease her mother, but rarely enjoyed herself. The females tripped over themselves to outdo each other. In the end, Venus would only spend as much time with them as was required. By the time a special dinner at the Great Hall or music hour in the Drawing Room had been completed, she'd forgotten those silly girls and their names. Watching the girls now, she realized how wrong that had been.

When they finally started playing, she got the impression several girls, Tawny included, were after more than a friendly little game of soccer. They went after Venus with a vengeance. She'd never met the girls before today, but she sensed their loathing.

The girls on Tawny's team kept b.u.mping into her and saying mean things.

"You suck!"

"Watch it, bony!"

After about ten minutes, the fatal moment happened. Venus noticed the gleam in Tawny's eyes seconds before she said, "Welcome to South High, freak." Then she kicked Venus in the shin. If she'd had her boots on, it would've been Tawny who'd gone down in a pile of pain.

She gasped and fell. Her face reddening as she listened to the girls laugh.

Tawny bent toward her, pretending to be sorry. When her mouth was next to Venus's ear, she said, "You don't belong here, Venus. And I'm going to make sure you suffer." She pressed her forearm against Venus's neck, pushing down. Venus kicked and gagged, trying to get away. She couldn't breathe. The idea that this scrawny human could get the upper hand frustrated the helker out of her.

First that kid and now Tawny. She was beginning to take all the hate directed at her personally-like these people weren't happy she'd come to their planet. Well, they could join the club. She didn't want to be here either. At least not like this. Weak. Incapable of breathing right, and unable to defend herself.

"Get off me, Tawny or you'll regret it," Venus said as violently as possible. It wasn't easy with Tawny choking her.

A whistle blew. The teacher must've noticed. Tawny removed her arm from her neck, moved back and said, sweet as saccharine, "Venus, I'm sooooo sorry."

Venus suppressed a curse. Rubbing her throat, she rolled on her side.

The teacher came over and Tawny stood, moving out of the way. "Venus is it? Can you stand?" She helped Venus to her feet. She could feel her leg swelling, the blood pulsating under the wound. She tried to put pressure on that leg, but it hurt. Venus touched the floor with a toe, trying to act like she was fine.

"All right, you'd better go see the nurse." Mrs. Hamlin pulled a pink pad out of her back pocket, took a writing pen from behind her ear and scribbled notes onto the paper. Ripping it off, she said, "Go out those doors, make a left, head all the way down, turn right and the nurses' station is the second door on the left. Can you remember that?"

No! Pain seared into her leg. Her lungs burned and her neck hurt. Plus, she didn't know the school well enough to follow those directions. But Venus nodded anyway, taking the slip of paper from the teacher. Venus glared at Tawny which may have come out like a grimace.

Tawny stuck her middle finger up at Venus. "You're a lover not a fighter, right?" she taunted when the teacher moved away.

The other girls snickered.

"That's enough, Tawny. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that was an accident?" Mrs. Hamlin sounded stern. She must not have heard what Tawny said. At least Venus hoped not.

"Of course. All part of the game."

What a completely crazy human. On her planet, Tawny would be in a cell right now, down in the kelarian dungeons of Helker, awaiting her punishment. Death. And Venus would get to decide how it happened. There were so many choices.

At the thought, a smile crossed her lips.

Without breathing, she pushed the door opened and hobbled into the hall. Once the door clicked shut, Venus leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Tears welled up in her eyes. Tightness constricted her chest.

Everything hurts! She willed herself not to cry.

"You're making friends all over the place, aren't you?" The words were deep, yet smooth like velvet.

24. Tenderness.

Michael.

What did he want? She didn't want him to see her like this. With her hands, she angrily brushed at her tears. Then tried to use the wall to stand, but fell to the side, onto her arm. "Uuuhhh," she snarled, pushing herself to her knees and moving her feet to stand. The tennis shoes Tawny had given her were too big and one of her feet slipped. Her knee slammed against the floor, sending a wave of pain through her body. "Ouch," she whispered, a tear leaking onto the floor. Serves me right for taking off my boots. Venus wouldn't make the same mistake again.

"What's it to you?" she asked, acid ripping through every word. If he said anything rude, she'd find a way to destroy him and gladly suffer the penalty.

He sighed. "Nothing." He came over and picked her up, settling her into his arms.

Baffled, she checked his expression. "What're you doing?"

"Apologizing. Now hold still. Tawny kicked you good, didn't she?"

Venus nodded, too dazed to speak. How'd he know? She hadn't seen him in the gym, but that didn't mean anything. Soccer had her distracted.

"I ditched cla.s.s. Swimming isn't my thing. Water and me don't mix. Anyway, I was sitting in the bleachers. Watched the whole thing. What she did-that wasn't cool. Your first day at South High has been great, hasn't it?" he asked, grinning.

"Ha," she choked out bitterly. Didn't sound much like a princess, but she was in pain. On the surface, he stunk of cigarette smoke, but beneath, she smelled warmed earth, sunshine and . . . pears.

Michael's skin was soothing, like a summer breeze. She heard his heart beating, a steady thrum against her body. Venus couldn't take her eyes off his face. Everything she'd seen of his life came back in a flood. A sudden urge to put her arms around him, hold him and tell him everything would be all right crossed her mind. Strange. She remembered his memories from last night, and her strong desires to help him find someone worth his love.

"Do you wear contacts?" he asked, bringing her out of her reverie.

"No." Venus spoke before thinking. "Yes."

"Which is it? He chuckled. "Your eyes are amazing."

"Thank you," she whispered, unsure if she should say more.

"You know, I've received similar injuries during football practice. I doubt the nurse is going to be able to do anything for you. You're going to need heat then ice rotated back and forth for the next several hours. You'll want to wrap it too, that'll help with the swelling. You know, you ought to let me take care of you." He stopped in the middle of the hall.

"I'm really not sure what to do." And that was the truth. On Kelari, she wouldn't be in this situation. "I need my clothes." Mostly, she had to get her boots. No way would she leave without them. If she had her way, she'd never return to this helker of a hole again.

"Right." He started trotting back toward the gym.

Because of his pace, she had no choice but to put her arms around his neck, which pressed her body closer to his. When her hands touched his neck, she felt a hitch in the thumping of his heart before it started faster. Still unable to pull her eyes from his face, Venus watched his pupils dilate. A flush came to his cheeks. Deep inside, a change occurred in her as well.

Maybe he doesn't hate me so much after all. She couldn't hate him, not after what she'd seen of his life.

When they were in front of the girls locker room doors, he opened them. The acrid air smacked her, and she had to force a small breath.

"Which one's yours?"

"Twenty-seven . . . Should you be in here?"

"No." He set her down. "Do you remember the combo?"

"I do." Venus opened the locker and grabbed her clothes and her boots. She felt relieved. Turning, she hobbled over to the bench. The sooner she put her boots back on the better-even with the huge welt on her shin.

"Don't put them on. Wait until we can get some ice on that." He bent in front of her and touched the bruise with a hand, curiosity filling his face.

Ah, cret. The area Tawny had kicked was bruising. And her blood didn't look the same as humans.

Trying to stand, she asked, "Why are you helping me? You don't even like me."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" He smirked and continued, "I don't know, you seem to need someone."

Her first thought was to tell him she already had someone-Zaren. But he wasn't around. So she kept her mouth shut. Also, she wanted more of an explanation from him. He hadn't really answered her question, at least not to her satisfaction, but he didn't seem inclined to say more.

Venus was about to be bold and ask why he'd kissed her, but a noise distracted them. She turned toward the sound and saw Tawny dash around the corner and slide to a stop.

"You'd better get outta here. Now! Before I make you leave," Michael said.

"How about I-" Venus began, feeling her face flush with anger, but she couldn't finish. She closed her mouth around a cough, trying to hold it back.

"Leave, Tawny!" Michael yelled.

Tawny disappeared without a word.

He turned to Venus, "Hey, there's blood on your shirt?" Sincere concern blazed over his face.

Venus realized it must've come from her coughing. Her mind swirled in panic as she realized how quickly her internal organs were breaking down in this world's atmosphere. Hurry. I need to hurry! To Michael, she said, "Oh, it's nothing." Lying wasn't her thing, but she had no idea what to say.

He touched her bottom lip with a thumb and showed her blood. "It's strange, different." He rubbed his bloodied thumb against his first and second fingers. It looked more orange-red than the blue-red of humans.

"Maybe I should go to the nurse. Or, you know, I'm sure I'll be fine." She tried to walk forward and fell.

In response, he lifted her into his arms and headed toward the exit.

Furious that her body wasn't working properly, she wanted to sulk. But she was grateful Michael had come along. "So, where are you taking me?"

"To my secret, evil lair." A mischievous sparkle brightened his face. This close she marveled at the warm chocolate color of his eyes, with gold glitter surrounding the edges. They were stunning and much different than the day she'd met him. Different even, than earlier today. What has changed?

"Scary," she said, giving him a small smile.

When they reached his car, he let her feet touch the ground, but kept one arm around her waist as he dug the keys out of his pocket with the other.

"You can let go of me." She tried to squirm from his grasp.

He held onto her. "Almost got it." He unlocked the door, helped her in, and buckled her into the bucket seat. Before he shut the door, he said, "Stay put." Then walked around the front of the car to the driver's side.

As Michael got in, Venus heard a loud clap. It sounded like a whip snapping or a large tree breaking, the trunk ripping apart. He fell back hard into his seat with a grunt.

"What was that?" Venus asked. Michael held his shoulder.

He slammed his door shut, turned over the engine and started to drive. "c.r.a.p, that hurt." He reached inside his shirt. When he pulled his hand away, his fingers were rounded, in a fist.

"Are you all right? What happened?" She scooted closer to him, worried.

He tucked a hand in his jeans pocket and then pulled it out, flexing his fingers. He seemed to be looking for answers. "A rock hit me in the shoulder. That's all. Everything's fine." He seemed stunned.

"Are you sure?" Venus asked, leaning against the head rest.

"Yep. I'm all good. Love the necklace, by the way. Macaroni is so in this year." He grinned.

"Ha. Ha." She wanted to rip it off and toss it out the window, but the memory of Mrs. O'Hare's growling kept it on Venus's neck.

Relieved, she glanced around at the car's interior. It smelled like leather. She rubbed the soft, shiny seat. She knew this car. This particular model had been made over forty years ago, yet it looked new. Stunning, black leather interior, supple and in perfect condition. The dash was covered in chrome and wood. It gleamed, immaculate. She couldn't hold in her astonishment any longer. Plus, she needed to take her mind off the excruciating pain that'd resurfaced.

"I know this car," she said, stroking the dash.

"You do?" The look he flashed her said he was doubtful.

"Of course." She closed her eyes and went into detail, giving him probably more information on the beautiful corvette's history than he'd expected or wanted. He took care of it. That much was apparent. Funny, though. She hadn't seen it once in his memories last night.

When she finished her run down on the car's finer points, she looked at him.

He gazed back in astonishment. "You really are different."

"Well, where I'm from, we don't drive ca-that often. But if I had the opportunity, this is the car I'd pick. One difference, I would've chosen a different color. Definitely dark blue."

"What? I can't believe you just said that in Red." He patted the dash. "There, there, girl. It's okay. I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"You named your car Red?"

"Yeah. It's the perfect name for this beauty. And I'll have you know candy-apple red is the best color ever for a car, especially one of this caliber." He smiled, teasing, though his face remained guarded. Michael kept looking in his rear view mirror.

"I disagree. A deep blue is much more fitting. It'd make the front look more cla.s.sic, cooler, as you hu-er, guys, say."

He snorted. "This isn't about gender, this is about what's right and you're totally wrong." He parked in front of a two-story house. The lawn looked brittle, yellow from the cold weather. Hedges lined the half porch, where three stairs went up to a white front door. The house was made completely of red brick. Black shutters lined the windows. One window had a little landing coming out of it with wrought iron surrounding it. Upon further inspection, Venus noticed it wasn't a window, but French doors. A chimney stood dormant on the left side of the house, extending from a slanted roof. The house looked huge from the outside. Much too big for two people.

Michael came over to her side and lifted Venus into his arms. She noticed he babied his left shoulder, but didn't mention it.

"Is . . . anyone home?" she asked while he unlocked the front door. She didn't want to meet his mother if she didn't have to.

"No. It's normally me and my mother, but she won't be home until late tonight."

"Oh." Her arms had naturally gone around his neck. The feel of his warm skin under her hands ignited a quiver low in her belly. By the G.o.ds, what's wrong with me? These feelings were uncontrollable. It felt like they'd taken over.

Once inside, he went to the stairs and started up.