When He Said My Name

The "Old Tank" let out a final, agonizing wheeze before Ethan killed the engine.

We were parked a block away from Blackwood High, mostly because Ethan didn't want to be seen being towed into the school parking lot on the first day.

"Stay close to me," Ethan said, his voice losing its playful edge as he stared at the iron gates of the school.

"And Liv, if anyone looks at you funny, you find me or Elara immediately. Got it?"

Liv rolled her eyes, clutching her backpack. "I was here all last semester, Ethan. I know where the exits are."

"Just checking," he muttered.

We walked toward the entrance, a trio of siblings trying to look like we belonged.

But as we crossed the threshold, I felt that strange vibration again—the one that started at the base of my skull and settled in my marrow.

My skin felt tight, buzzing with an energy I couldn't explain.

"ELARA!"

A weight slammed into my back, and a pair of arms wrapped tightly around my neck.

I didn't need to look to know it was Maya. She smelled like strawberry lip gloss and a summer spent at the mall.

"You’re alive!" she shrieked, pulling back to grip my shoulders. "I literally checked the local obituaries three times this August."

"Why didn't you text me back? I had a three-week crisis involving a bad haircut and a guy named Chad who only talked about his protein intake."

"I needed you! Do you know how hard it is to listen to a man explain the difference between whey and casein for three hours?"

"It’s soul-crushing, Elara. Soul-crushing!"

I laughed, the tension in my chest loosening for a second. "I’m sorry, Maya. I just… I needed some space. It was a weird summer."

Maya narrowed her eyes, leaning in so close her nose almost touched mine.

"A weird summer? Is that what we’re calling it? Because you look like you spent the summer being touched by an angel."

"Seriously, did you get work done? You look like you’ve been airbrushed. Your skin is… glowing."

"It’s just a new soap, Maya," I lied, stepping back.

"Whatever it is, it's working," Maya muttered, linking her arm through mine as we walked down the hall toward the gym.

"Now, spill. Since my summer was a wasteland of protein shakes and bad hair, tell me yours was better."

"Did anything happen? Any mysterious strangers?"

I hesitated.

I hadn't told anyone about Kael. Not even my best friend. But the memory of him was like a secret fire I couldn't put out.

"Actually," I whispered, leaning in so the passing students wouldn't hear, "there is someone."

"But I don't even have his number. He’s… he’s everything, Maya."

"He looks like a shadow that protects you from the sun. He’s silent, but his eyes speak a language only I can hear."

"He’s lethal, but when he looks at me, it's like he's seeing something precious."

Maya stopped dead in the middle of the crowded hallway, causing a Freshman to trip over her heels.

"Elara, you are describing a character from a web novel."

"Is he a real person or did you have a heat stroke in the garden?"

"He's real!" I defended, my face heating up.

"I’m telling you, he's the most fascinating man I've ever seen. He makes everyone else in this town look like they’re made of cardboard."

"If he doesn't have an I*******m, he's a ghost," Maya joked, her eyes scanning the crowd.

"But I'll believe it when I see him. Until then, you're officially hallucinating."

"Well, look what the cat dragged in. And it looks like the cat did a terrible job."

The hallway seemed to drop ten degrees.

Seraphina didn't just walk; she dominated. She was flanked by her usual three followers—girls who breathed only when she gave them permission.

She stopped inches away, her nose twitching slightly as if she were smelling something she couldn't quite identify.

"You look different, Elara," Seraphina whispered, her voice like silk over a blade.

"Did you finally find a way to hide that 'lost puppy' look? Or are you just trying harder to pretend you belong here?"

She laughed—a sharp, cold sound—and swept past us, her followers trailing behind her like a pack of well-groomed hounds.

As soon as they were gone, Maya stiffened her posture and began to sashay down the hall in a ridiculous, pinched walk.

"Oh, look at me," Maya hissed. "I’m Seraphina. I have a daddy with a yacht and a heart made of expensive plastic."

Then she tilted her head to an impossible angle and blinked rapidly.

"And I'm the followers! We don't have brains, so we just follow the meanest girl in school!"

"Is it time to be a jerk yet? I forgot the schedule!"

I snorted, clutching my stomach. "Stop! They’ll see you!"

"Let them," Maya said, leading me toward the gym.

"But for real, Elara—she’s just pissed because you actually look beautiful today. She’s threatened."

We took our seats in the bleachers for the opening assembly.

The air was thick and suffocating.

Then, the lights dimmed.

Vice Principal Grimmer walked onto the stage.

He didn't use a microphone. He didn't need one.

His voice was a low, gravelly rasp that seemed to vibrate in the very marrow of my bones.

"Silence."

The gym went dead.

In the front row, a freshman was so terrified he actually wet himself.

A boy from the football team let out a tiny, involuntary snort of laughter.

Grimmer stopped.

The silence stretched until it was agonizing.

"Mr. Thompson," Grimmer said. "Step forward."

The football player’s bravado vanished.

He walked to the edge of the bleachers.

Grimmer didn't yell.

He simply spoke with a cold, precise cruelty that stripped the boy of every ounce of dignity.

By the time Thompson sat back down, he looked like a broken man.

"This school is a place of order," Grimmer continued, his gaze sweeping over us like a searchlight.

"We have no room for distractions. We have no room for the broken."

He began to walk down the stairs of the stage.

Each thud of his boots felt like a hammer hitting a nail.

"And most importantly," Grimmer said, his eyes locking onto mine as he reached the floor,

"we will no longer tolerate or keep wolves in sheep’s clothing."

The phrase sent a jolt of ice through my stomach.

What does he mean? My grades? My absences?

He walked down the center aisle, students shrinking away.

He stopped at the end of my row.

"Miss Elara."

My name sounded like a death sentence.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I’m a good student. I didn't do anything.

"Stand," he commanded.

My legs moved before my brain could process the order.

I stood up, my knees shaking, feeling the eyes of the entire school burning into my skin.

"Come to the front," Grimmer said.

"Step out of the shadows, Miss Elara. I believe you have something to show us."

As I began the long, agonizing walk down the bleacher stairs, my head started to throb.

The "glow" on my skin felt like it was catching fire.

I didn't know why I was being called. I didn't know what I had done.

All I knew was that as I stood before the silent, watching crowd—

the Vice Principal wasn't looking at my face.

He was looking at my throat.