Everyday Angel #2: Second Chances by Victoria Schwab

Author:Victoria Schwab
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2014-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

But Caroline wouldn’t let it go.

The first thing out of her mouth after they got their trays was, “Well? Are you going to help me?”

To which Aria said, “I’m starving.” Even though she wasn’t.

When they were standing in line, Caroline asked the question again. To which Aria said, “Should I get applesauce, or an orange?”

But once they sat down, there was no escape.

“Aria, are you going to help me get my friends back or not?”

Aria looked up, holding Caroline’s gaze through the ring of blue smoke.

“No,” she said.

Caroline frowned. “What do you mean, no?”

Aria hadn’t used the word very often. She didn’t even realize she was going to use it until it tumbled out. “No,” she said again, “I can’t do that. Or, I guess, I won’t.”

“I don’t understand.”

Aria thought about how to explain, that even though Caroline wanted to get her old friends back, it wasn’t what she needed. There was a difference.

Yes, Aria could technically help Caroline get her friends back, but she knew in her bones and her shadow and the beginnings of her wings that it wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t make the blue smoke go away and it wouldn’t make Caroline any happier. Going back wouldn’t fix things. She had to go forward.

Aria was about to say this to Caroline, but Caroline didn’t give her a chance.

“I thought you were supposed to be on my side,” she said.

“I am on your side,” insisted Aria.

“No, you’re not.” Caroline looked like she was about to cry. “You act like you’re my friend, you say you’re here to help me but you won’t give me the only thing I want.” She pushed up from the table. “What kind of a guardian angel are you?”

Aria felt like she’d been struck. “Caroline, listen …” she started, but the other girl was already storming away. Aria sighed. This could have been such a good day.

Now, sitting at the table by herself, the eyes of the other girls in the cafeteria turning toward her, Aria discovered how it felt to be abandoned. She could see her reflection in the waxy apple on her tray, distorted, but there. She poked her fingernail into the apple, drawing two small crescents just above the shoulders. Like wings.

What kind of guardian angel are you?

The single feather on her charm bracelet jingled faintly as she set the apple down, and stood up.

She was carrying the lunch trays to the return station when she heard Erica say, “Aw, did you two have a fight?”

Aria looked up to see Erica, Whitney, and Lily standing there.

“I told you not to waste your time on her,” said Lily. “She’s hopeless.”

“She’s a loser,” added Whitney, a little halfheartedly.

Aria had had enough. “Why?” she asked Whitney. “Because she stood up for you?”

Whitney frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Aria felt her face get hot. “You were supposed to be Lily’s victim this year. But Caroline stood up for you. That’s why she is where she is, and you are where you are. Think about that the next time you decide to call her names.

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