Zola Flash (The Zola Flash Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

numbers but the schedule is outrageous. I slide Pin back his own schedule. “School starts when?” I ask, my voice small.
    “Thirty minutes.” He pushes to his feet and gestures for me to follow. “Which means it’s time for us to leave.”
    Pin holds the door open, and once I’ve exited, he locks before joining me. Neither of us speak as we walk, and I let my sight absorb the town.
    Around us, girls dressed exactly like me race by, some of them climbing into a yellow transport devices on wheels. Moments pass and the silence between Pin and I becomes uncomfortable.
    I glance sideways up at him. “So . . . um . . . are you going to tell me anymore about my life?”
    Pin’s lips press together for a moment, and then he gives a small nod. “The other night, when you ask me why you needed a Guardian, I didn’t think it was the right time, because you’re only sixteen. But as you’re out on your own, you need to know.” Pin glances down at me as we walk on the school campus. “When you were first born, my people invaded your planet and killed all the shape-shifters. All except you. You were just a baby at the time, and the rulers of Victian, your parents , made a deal with the Payohlini rulers. The Victians agreed to put you into hiding until you were eighteen. I guess my people never intended on keeping their end of the deal.”
    I frown. “If my parents were the rulers of Victian that would make me a princess. That’s why you call me Princess.”
    “Yes.”
    I don’t know what to say to the enlightenment. A princess . It’s always been my parents, my sister, and me. Nothing royal. No rules to abide by, and it never felt like we were in hiding. Granted, I could never go beyond the wall without supervision, but it never felt like hiding. Yet now, I discover I’m a princess .
    A princess!
    But wait!
    If my parents were the rulers and they’re dead … wouldn’t that make me the new ruler of Victian?
    The new ruler of Victian, and I just left my people to die.

Chapter Eleven
    “I LEFT MY PEOPLE to die, Pin. They are never going to forgive me.” Voicing the words makes it sound even worse.
    A loud bell rings, and Pin hushes me and pulls me toward the entrance. “You don’t want to be late on your first day. We can talk about this later.” Pin points me in one direction and heads for his class in another.
    As I pull out my schedule, another bell rings, and everybody comes darting in my direction. Pushing and shoving me left and right. A harsh shove sends me face-first towards the floor, and just as the crowd seem to finally be dispersing, a boy comes running towards me.
    Closing my eyes, I kick myself back against the wall and only lift my lids when I realize I haven’t been trampled. I find him towering over me with his head tilted to the side.
    He offers me a hand. “You must be new.” It isn’t a question.
    “How’d you know?”
    “’Cause what you did to that uniform is against school policy, even though it looks hot on you.” He tugs me up when I take his hand and smiles. “And the fact that you don’t know how things work makes it very obvious.”
    Unable to think of anything else to say, I simply respond with, “I’m Zola,” though I’m rethinking the whole casual approach as soon as I’ve spoken.
    “I’m Trevor, and I think we should be heading off to class.” He grabs my schedule off the floor and takes a quick view. “What do you know? We have all the same classes. That’s great. I’ll show you around.”
    As we walk to Calculus together, I’m hyper aware of how often he glances across at me, how often he seems to be watching my every move. He pauses outside a door and holds it open. As soon as I step inside to the full classroom, everyone’s head turns toward me, their eyes wide and mouths open.
    My cheeks instantly warm, but Trevor just grabs my hand and escorts me to the teacher’s desk.
    “Mr. G, this is Zola. She is a new student.” Trevor emphasizes the word and