Freezing my facial muscles into the coldest expression I could manage, I looked up at his nose. "I'm sorry, was there something to actually see?"
Tristan snickered at my right, threatening my self-control.
Dylan's sneer tightened in anger. His eyes squinted. "You know, I was wrong. You're not just a princess. You're an ice princess. Must be why Greg Stanwick dumped you. You were too frigid for his taste."
If he only knew the truth. That thought curved my lips into a smile. "Ice Princess. Hmm, I kind of like that one." It was better than some other possible names. Like monster.
Scowling, Dylan shook his head and walked away, muttering something that sounded like "freak."
Like I hadn't heard that one before. I didn't even blink.
The Brat Twins giggled at Dylan's remark before they got up from their desks behind Tristan.
Two more reasons to play the Ice Princess in here.
I smiled to myself as I gathered my things and joined the traffic exiting the classroom. Dylan didn't realize it, but he'd just given me the perfect strategy for the rest of the year. I could still be myself everywhere else. But in history, I would play the Ice Princess-cold, emotionless, untouchable. Dylan would get no reactions from me to feed his sadistic-bully side. The Brat Twins would be deprived of their entertainment.
And Tristan wouldn't see how I really felt about him.
Tristan
My new plan was backfiring, and I had Dylan to thank for it.
I'd thought that playing things extra cool around Savannah for a month would make her realize I wasn't going to stalk her, so she could relax around me. And she'd almost seemed to at the beginning of this week. But then that idiot Dylan just had to mess with her and call her an ice princess. Ever since, she'd seemed to take the jerk's teasing to heart. Her face was like a mask, her body moving so little during class that I sometimes wondered if she were miming a statue. She blinked, breathed, took notes and read. But there was zero visibility into her real personality.
If possible, she'd become even more untouchable.
Having four fellow descendants in class with us didn't help, either. With Dylan one row to my left and back, the Brat Twins directly behind me, and Mr. Smythe running the class, my every move was under watch in history. I might as well have not even had a class with Savannah this year, for all the opportunity I'd had to talk with her. I couldn't even look at her for two seconds without the Clann knowing.
By Friday, all the hope I'd started the week with was morphing straight into frustration. I'd have to come up with a new plan.
Mr. Smythe was late getting to history class today for some reason. The bell had rung, but with no teacher in sight, everyone was talking. A few people stood around, adding to the low-key party atmosphere. Dylan was one of the few walking around. His movements were casual as he flirted with some of the girls two rows over. But something about the look in his eyes set me on edge.
"Hey, Tristan." Vanessa laid a hand on my shoulder.
I turned in my desk to look at her. "Yeah?"
"I was wondering, do you have a date for the Fall Ball yet?"
As if I'd ever be stupid enough to date her again. "Not interested, Vanessa."
Something slammed to the floor hard enough to shake the entire building. All conversation stopped.
I jerked my head to the right in time to catch Dylan's smirk.
"Oops." He laughed and strolled away from Savannah's books and papers, which now covered a three-foot span of floor in front of her feet.
What the...
"Did you want to help me pick up all the stuff you just knocked off my desk?" Savannah muttered. In the dead silence of the room, her every word was as loud as if she'd shouted.
There you go, Sav, don't take any of his crap.
I gripped the edge of my desk, too aware of the giggles the Brat Twins didn't bother to hide. Evil witches; they must have been in on Dylan's plans and distracted me on purpose. They knew I'd never let Dylan bully anyone. Though I'd thought he'd outgrown this crap back in junior high. Unless he'd just been hiding it from me for the past few years.
He stood by his chair with an arrogant grin. "Who says I knocked your books off, sweetheart? They probably just fell off on their own."
"I have eyes. I saw you, Williams," Savannah replied in a calm voice.
His grin turned nasty as he slid into his desk sideways, stretching his legs across the aisle. "Yeah, I've been hearing some strange stories lately about those freaky eyes of yours, Colbert."
I started to lunge out of my chair, but Savannah was faster. She seemed to glide down the aisle, reaching Dylan's desk in three long-legged strides.
Planting a hand on his desk and another on the back of his chair, she leaned over one slow inch at a time until her nose almost touched Dylan's. "Better to have freaky eyes than an entire face that looks like you were dropped on it as a baby," she murmured.
Someone giggled on the other side of the room.
Fury filled Dylan's eyes, and I felt light prickles race over my forearms. Son of a... Dylan was going to use power on her.
I let my own energy level shoot up, knowing Dylan would feel it as even sharper prickles on his skin. My ancestors hadn't led the Clann for four generations based on their good looks. Just because I had no intention of following in my father's footsteps for Clann leadership didn't mean I didn't have the strength for it. And it was time Dylan remembered that.
He glanced at the twins with raised eyebrows. They answered with tiny shakes of their heads. Then his angry gaze shot over to me.
That's right. Now you're getting a clue, I thought.
He sighed, and his energy level backed down. But he still didn't look sorry.
Then Savannah leaned over and whispered something in his ear.
He jerked away, scowling again. "Pick up your own crap, Ice Princess."
Smiling, she straightened up and strolled to the front of the room to gather her things. I wanted to help her, but I could feel three pairs of spying eyes watching me.
So I stayed stretched out in my chair, staring at the dry-erase board that ran the length of the front wall. But to punish and warn the other descendants, I kept my energy level high. Vanessa hissed my name, wiggling in her chair, and I grinned. Maybe this would teach her and her sister not to help Dylan mess with innocents anymore.
Strangely, Savannah's forearms broke out in goose bumps. Frowning, she paused to rub them for a few seconds, then finished gathering her papers and books and returned to her desk.