Unspoken: The Lynburn Legacy by Sarah Rees Brennan Page A

generations. People still see them as having all the power. I know my dad does.” She glanced up at Kami. “You’re not going to put this in the paper, are you?”
    “And alienate one of my best reporters?” Kami said. “No way.”
    Holly laughed. “Thanks.”
    “How are you at English?” Kami asked. Maybe she could get rid of all this guilt with tutoring.
    “Scored an A last year,” Holly said with pardonable pride. “How about you?”
    “Uh, a B plus,” Kami confessed. “But Miss Stanley is really harsh. Who was teaching your class?”
    “Miss Stanley,” Holly said with a little smile.
    “Ah.”
    Kami decided to be enraptured by her pencil case. It was worse than being an idiot. She felt like a jerk.
    You’re not a jerk
, said Jared.
    Are you in class?
Kami demanded.
Go to class!
    If he did not go to class and concentrate, she did not know if she could. She felt so restless, his feelings all mixed up with hers, as if they were two rivers that had crashed together and now no separate course was possible. Kami pulled a hand through her hair and told herself she could fix this.
    Holly leaned against her a bit to get her attention. “Lunch together,” she whispered. “Should be fun.”
    Kami tried to put herself in Holly’s shoes. Holly—who’d had curves by the time she was eleven and all the attention from guys and hostility from the girls that went with them—looked happy, about a simple lunch. Kami felt more like a jerk than ever.
    Well, she could sit around torturing herself or use the time to make up for being a jerk. She nudged Holly back and grinned. “Should be.”

    “Oh no, oh no,” Angela moaned as soon as she walked into the headquarters at lunchtime. She drew Kami into a corner away from the others. “What are these people doing here, Kami? You know I don’t like people.”
    “Come on,” said Kami. “You know Holly. Didn’t you tell me you sat together in science class once?”
    “When we were fourteen. I doubt she even remembers my name,” Angela hissed. “And that new boy is crazy. Which reminds me: I want my explanation!” She glared across the room at Jared, who was sitting behind Kami’s desk.
    Jared eyed her back as if she was some sort of challenge.
    I beg you not to throw down with Angela
, said Kami.
    I know you want us to get on
, Jared replied.
But—
    She’ll beat you down until you cry. I’ll be so embarrassed for you
.
    Holly was sitting on Kami’s desk, her apple on top of Kami’s computer. She misinterpreted Angela’s glare entirely.
    “This is Jared Lynburn,” she said helpfully. “Angie Montgomery. We used to sit together in science class when we were fourteen.” Holly smiled. “It was always fun because the boys were sometimes so busy looking at our desk they walked into walls.”
    Angela scoffed, but the tips of her ears went a little pink.
    “Jared,” Angela commented. “Like the imaginary friend you have, Jared?”
    “I used to have an imaginary friend when I was seven,” Holly contributed. “A unicorn called Princess Zelda.”
    Kami gave Angela a wide smile. “Isn’t that a coincidence?”
    Angela spared a glare for Kami, and then resumed her marathon glaring session at Jared. “I’m not calling you that,” she announced flatly. “It’s too weird. I’m going to call you Carl.”
    Jared scowled. “I don’t want you to call me Carl.”
    “That’s interesting, Carl,” said Angela, cheering up.
    This distracted her from holding Kami penned up in a corner, so Kami ducked under Angela’s arm to freedom. She surveyed her headquarters with satisfaction: bright lamps and shining desks and good people. You could take over the world from a headquarters like this. “Be a lady, Angela,” she said. “No assaulting anyone until you get to know them.”
    “But I already feel so close to Carl.”
    “You’ll feel closer to him after the interview,” said Kami, flipping open her notebook and turning to a blank page.
    Jared grinned at