Duality: Vol 1, Melancholia (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) Read Online Free Page B

rang.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Four: Rae
     
    THIS WAS ALWAYS THE WORST part - walking into a classroom of a new school on the first day.  Twenty-odd pairs of eyeballs stared me down and searched my face, hair, and clothing, all the while making judgments.  And if that was all it ever was, I’d probably be fine with it.  But always, always there was the beginning of the Rainbow connection, too - the first tendrils of energy or whatever it was flowing out of me and into them.  I’d been hoping today it wouldn’t happen … that today would be the first day I could walk into a room of strangers and not feel them warming to me instantly.  But I knew immediately that today was not going to be that day.
    Mr. Adams lit up the room with his smile, and from the expressions on the other students’ faces and the giggling I heard, it wasn’t his normal reaction to a new student.  I resisted the urge to sigh.  This is my life, and I just have to deal with it.  At least for now.  There was no point in getting mad at any of these people or the teacher; they couldn’t help themselves.
    No less than six boys stood and offered me their chairs.  No girls this time .  I gazed out across the room, hoping I’d see some Neutrals there.  Jasmine was an awesome find, right there on my first day before I even started classes.  Maybe I’d win the lottery and stumble into a whole room of them.  A girl can dream.
    The happy faces staring back at me said, no - no Neutrals in here .    I would just have to hold out hope that in one of my other classes I might get lucky.  Everyone here was giving me the Rainbow vibe.  Except …
    I frowned.  There was a blank space in the Rainbow network, somewhere out there in the classroom.  Someone who wasn’t like all the rest was sitting there amongst the others.  I scanned the room, stopping when I found the spot where there wasn’t a feeling of need and want coming at me.  There you are.  Got ya!
    It was a boy, the one who Jasmine had said was a ghost.  Malcolm Mac…something.  He was sitting towards the back of the room on the far side nearest the windows, looking at me.  First he was smiling, but then he wasn’t.  I couldn’t believe it when his expression turned sour.  As if he’d smelled something nasty.  And now he wasn’t checking me out at all; he was staring at his desk.
    I wanted to jump up and cheer, but I had to control myself.  If I got too happy about being scowled at, everyone else’s emotions would just get that much more amped up.  I took a deep even breath and let it out slowly.  Just chill.  You can talk to him after class and see if he’s a Neutral .
    I’d gotten distracted with my thoughts, and realized I’d missed something.  A boy was skipping to the front of the class, coming towards me with a goofy grin on his face.
    “Oh.  Yeah, okay.  I can do that,” he said, flexing his arm and pumping his bicep muscle for effect.  It was pretty impressive, but I schooled my features to remain impassive.
    “Be right back,” he promised.  But he was so focused on staring at me, he walked right into the door.  I laughed along with everyone else; it was impossible not to.  He left the room with a goofy grin on his face.
    “Miss Livingston, please take Mr. Kucharski’s seat.  He can have the one he’s bringing in.”  Mr. Adams gestured out into the room.
    I went into panic mode.  I don’t know why, but suddenly the idea of being next to the boy who might be a Neutral had me freaking out.  I’ve never seen a Rainbow do what he did before, but neither have I seen a Neutral do it either.  People either fawned over or disregarded me … at least in the beginning.  No one had ever gone from smiling to angry in such a short period of time.  Usually it took Neutrals a solid couple weeks to start hating me.
    “Oh, no, that’s okay,” I said.  “I don’t want to steal anyone’s spot.”  I scanned the room, hoping I’d