Page 2 of Claimed by the Fallen
Joey is frowning. “Please, I can smell the pheromones rolling off of you and every teenage girl in thisplace.”
“Ew, Joey.” I grimace, hoping no one actually tries to smell me. The humid heat doesn’t exactly make me smell like roses. “That’sgross.”
“Well, stop drooling over Preston and I won’t make those jokes. He is notthatgoodlooking.”
I face forward, unwilling to have the same discussion with my friend. Joey hates when Annie and I talk about boys, but that is the risk he runs by only being friends with twogirls.
Though, I had noticed Joey started hanging out with some other guys on the soccer team lately. Joey’s played the sport our entire high school career, but he rarely spent time with his teammates in the past. Other than hanging out with his big brother and us, Joey prefers to be alone. I wonder what’schanged.
We approach the stage. I hold my breath when I reach the bottom of thestairs.
“VeronicaMessenger.”
My ears roar and my hand trembles as I grab onto the railing. I can barely hear Joey yelling behind me. I focus on not tripping and making a fool ofmyself.
The stairs shift as I walk up. I reach the landing and force my back straight, exhaling as I prepare to cross the stage. Putting one foot in front of the other, I close the distance between me and Principal Navarro. He is smiling. Behind him, several of my teachers also smile. One, in particular, catches myattention.
Mr. Cohen, my honors physics teacher, notices my attention. He dips his head and gives me an encouraging smile. I can practically hear him saying, “You can dothis”.
I reach the podium. Vice Principal Yates steps forward and hands me my leather-encased diploma. My clammy hands almost drop the item, but I swiftly adjust myhold.
I give her a wobbly smile. “Thankyou.”
The corner of Vice Principal Yate’s eyes crinkle. “Congratulations, Veronica.” Her sentiments are genuine. She’s known me, as well as many other students, the majority of ourlives.
I move toward the line ofteachers.
All of my core teachers from my senior year shake my hand, murmuring their own congratulations. I smile and bob my head, thanking them. Then, I reach Mr.Cohen.
My mouth dries out, and I will myself to remain calm, fighting the urge to wipe my hand on my gown. Mr. Cohen smiles broadly and stretches out a hand. “Congratulations, Messenger.” He always calls students by their lastnames.
Behind me, I hear Principal Navarro call Joey’s name, but I barely registerit.
I place my hand in his, and my skintingles.
“Thanks, Mr. Cohen.” I sound breathless. I pray he doesn’tnotice.
Mr. Cohen joined the staff of Valley Lake High School at the beginning of my senior year. Our small lakeside town was over an hour from any decently-sized city, and we rarely got new teachers. Right away, all of the girls gushed over him. Not only was he a new teacher, he was anattractivenew teacher. Mr. Cohen can’t be older than twenty-five, and his stunning black hair and crystal blue eyes almost always take my breathaway.
So many girls switched into physics for the chance to ogle Mr. Cohen on a daily basis. Unfortunately for them, they were forced to drop out of the class or ruin their GPA. Needless to say, the class wasn’teasy.
Only me, Annie, and another semi-nerdy student named Laura managed to stick it out. The other nine students in the class were guys. I held the opinion the school should try to recruit more girls to the science programs, but I was secretly happy so many had dropped. It allowed me to interact with Mr. Cohen morefrequently.
I realize I’m staring at Mr. Cohen, lost in my thoughts and his stunning eyes. I blush and pump his hand firmly before quickly pulling it back. I hurry to the end of the stage and walk down the stairs. I’d become less tongue tied around Mr. Cohen as the school year progressed, but he could still unravel my composure with onelook.
I return to my seat with no incident, relieved my clumsiness hasn’t decided to rise up and embarrass me in front of all of my classmates and theirguests.
Two rows in front of me, Annie turns around and gives me two thumbs up. “You didn’t fall,” shemouths.
I chuckle and mouth back, “Iknow.”
She shakes her head, grinning, and turns backaround.
I see Joey walking towards me to head back to his row. I reach out and squeeze his hand before he can pass. “Congrats,Joey!”
His lips part. “Thanks, Ronnie.” He squeezes my hand before he lets go and moves down the row to reach the metal chair on the otherend.
I feel a pair of eyes on me. I look towards the stage, and I’m surprised to see Mr. Cohen watching me from the line ofteachers.
