Ever since Brian had the little chat with Summer she changed. It was as if we picked up a different person the next morning. The rambling, shy Summer no longer existed. The way she talked, walked, even the clothes she wore spoke confidence.
I couldn't help but smile at the transformation.
One score for Summer and a middle finger was given to Brian.
"I've got fifty-six messages for you," she greeted, matching my footsteps.
Summer has been waiting at the door for my last lecture to be over. As soon as I was out of the room, she bombarded me with her yapping. As usual. My eardrums had gotten used to it by now. Well, sometimes.
Summer unzipped her backpack and plucked a notepad from between books before returning her attention to me. Small fingers skipped through several pages while she spoke, "Twenty-four messages are from males asking you out on dates, twenty-one are from females requesting to be your second Advisor while the other eleven are from club leaders enquiring if you'd like to join their clubs." Finished, she clamped the pad shut with a loud clip.
"Why are all these people talking to you instead of me?"
The role of an Advisor was different from a Secretary. Yet, at this very moment, it seemed Summer was my Secretary rather than an Advisor. No doubt, I shared a class with some of these people. So why did they avoid me and went to Summer with messages?
"Yeah, because I'm your advisor slash drudge. To prevent unexpected chaos, a regular student is not allowed to interact with an Elite, unless the Elite requests it."
What?
"That's just stupid. How are we even going to make friends?"
Not that I have seen Brian with friends other than the football players. Not to mention, Kyle. He probably didn't even have friends, other than the goons by his side.
She giggled. "It is kind of stupid. But, everything has to go through the chain of command. I'm sure a regular man can't walk off the streets and walk up to the President in the White House, can he?"
She had a point.
"No, he can't. Everything has to go through the proper channels. He might have gotten shot or arrested, and in our case, get the crap beaten out of him." She shivered at her words.
"Right."
She fanned herself then went back to educating me about their culture. "The rule is so important that not even two elites are allowed to meet up alone."
The comment triggered alarms in my head, light bulbs flickered on and off. "What do you mean?"
"On numerous occasions in the past, Elites had caused catastrophic damages in fights. So, now, Elites are forbidden to meet up without the supervision of Advisors and other Elites."
Hmmm?
"To send a message, an Elite provides the info to his or her Advisor who then relays it to the other Elite's Advisor who delivers the message to his or her Elite. If a meeting is to be held, the same procedure is taken."
Was that so? Then why were Brian and Kyle having secret meetings? What was important they couldn't share with their Advisors?
Sure, it was not done on school grounds, but weren't the rules supposed to be obeyed at all times? I was certain neither had supervision, except the butterfly.
"Even when an Elite is on a date, he or she is never alone. Their Advisor is always close. The only time I know for a fact they are alone with either a regular person or another Elite is if they are having sex," she whispered the last word. Her cheeks grew a soft shade of pink.
I would have laughed if my mind wasn't preoccupied with analyzing the mystery in my backyard.
"That is why all the Elites have two Advisors," Summer carried on. "Kyle has Colin and Josh; Brian has Eric and Drew; and Amy, Kyle's cousin has Heather and Lindsay." She stopped in front of Brian's Civic. "This is the reason you need a second Advisor. There will be cases where I'm absent or where I might forget something." She smiled and tapped her head. "As they say, two heads are better than one."
There was no point in starting an argument I would never win, so I asked, "Okay, how are we going to find this Advisor?"
Her eyes narrowed while her mouth opened as if she was about to say something but thought better and clamped it shut. Instead, she went scanning through her notepad again. "I went through the twenty-one request you got and picked out a few names. We can…"
The remaining of her sentence vanished when a familiar scent consumed my senses.
Why was it so hard to forget his scent? Why could it rattle me?
Ever since the first day of school, I could tell every time Kyle was near. All would be well until he showed up. To make matters worse, he always showed up at the worst times.
My eyes roamed the parking lot.
How was I going to manage when he was near if I could tell where he was from a distance. It was hard enough I smelt him every morning when I got to school. Now it plagued me in the afternoon. Couldn't he give me a break?
Snap! Snap!
A hand appeared in my vision.
"Hey, what are you doing? Your eyes are glowing. Are you okay?"
It took me two minutes before my brain ciphered what Summer said.
Ugh, darn him.
I shook my head in an attempt to regain normality. "Sorry, I got distracted."
"You don't say," she drawled. A low long breath left her lips. "Anyways, what do you think about Friday?"
A brow arched. "What's happening Friday?"
Summer threw her hands up and knitted her brows together. "Had you heard anything I said before?"
Of course, I heard what you said. I was listening before I got distracted. "Yeah, you said you had a few names lined up for the Advisor job."
Her expression softened at my response. "Yes, this Friday would be a great day to have interviews for the position."
"Interviews?"
These people took this Advisor stuff too seriously.
"Yes, like you sit down and talk to them, get to know them a little. Then you can select the right candidate. What do you say?"
Ugh, I've got a headache.
Brian and his friends, oh, I mean, Advisors came into view.
"So," Summer insisted.
"I don't want to —" My speech got interrupted by the weird aroma drifting by.
As Brian approached, the odor got stronger. It crept up my nostrils and stifled any other aromas. The scent wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't something I would love. It was like a tangy, fruity fragrance.
Ugh.
I wriggled my nose. "Good, please don't tell me while I've been waiting out here, you've been shagging it up with...with...with whoever you've been shagging up with."