“He shouldn’t have said that.”
I shifted, knowing I should move away… but I didn’t. “Look, it’s just his way.”
“He shouldn’t have said that,” repeated Adrian, eerily serious. He leaned his face toward mine. “I don’t care if he’s not the emotional type or the complimentary type or what. No one can look at you in this dress, in all that fire and gold, and start talking about anachronisms. If I were him, I would have said, ‘You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth.’”
My breath caught, both at the words and the way he said them. I felt strange inside. I didn’t know what to think, except that I needed to get out of there, away from Adrian, away from what I didn’t understand. I broke from him and was surprised to find myself shaking.
“You’re still drunk,” I said, putting my hand on the door knob.
He tilted his head to the side, still watching me in that same, disconcerting way. “Some things are true, drunk or sober. You should know that. You deal in facts all the time.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t-” I couldn’t argue with him looking at me like that. “I have to go. Wait… you didn’t take the cross.” I held it out to him.
He shook his head. “Keep it. I think I’ve got something else to help center my life.”
CHAPTER 15
I FELT SO BAD for Brayden the next day that I actually called him, as opposed to our usual texting and e- mailing.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Running out like that… it’s not my usual style. Not at all. I wouldn’t have left if it wasn’t a family emergency.” Maybe that was stretching it. Maybe not.
“It’s okay,” he said. Without seeing his face, I couldn’t tell if it really was okay. “I suppose things were winding down anyway.”
I wondered what “things” he meant. Did he mean the dance itself? Or was he talking about us?
“Let me take you out to make up for it,” I said. “You always do everything. I’ll handle it for a change. Dinner will be on me, and I’ll even pick you up.”
“In the Subaru?”
I ignored the judgment in his tone. “Are you in or not?”
He was in. We made the necessary arrangements, and I hung up feeling better about everything. Brayden wasn’t mad. Adrian’s visit hadn’t ruined my fledgling relationship. Things were back to normal-at least for me.
I’d kept to myself the day after the dance, wanting to catch up on work and not stress about social matters. Monday morning started the school week again, back to business as usual. Eddie walked into East’s cafeteria when I did, and we waited together in the food line. He wanted to know about Adrian’s visit to the dance, and I gave a glossed-over version of the night, simply saying that Adrian had gotten drunk and needed a ride home. I made no mention of my role in getting the queen to act on his behalf or of me being “the most beautiful creature walking this earth.” I certainly didn’t mention the way I’d felt when Adrian had touched me.
Eddie and I walked over to a table and found the unusual sight of Angeline trying to cheer up Jill. Normally, I would’ve chastised Angeline for what she’d done at the dance, but there’d been no damage done… this time. Plus, I was too distracted by Jill. It was impossible for me to see her down without immediately assuming something was wrong with Adrian. Eddie spoke before I could, noticing what I hadn’t.
“No Micah?” he asked. “He was out the door before me. I figured he would’ve beat me over here.”
“You had to ask, didn’t you?” Angeline grimaced. “They had a fight.”
I swear, Eddie looked more upset about this than Jill. “What? He didn’t say anything. What happened? You guys seemed to be having such a great time on Saturday.”
Jill nodded morosely but didn’t look up from her uneaten food. I could just barely catch sight of tears in her eyes. “We did. So good that he actually talked to me yesterday and asked… well, he asked if I wanted to have Thanksgiving with his family. They’re from Pasadena. He thought he could either get permission from the school or talk to you guys.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” said Eddie cautiously.
“Thanksgiving with his family is serious! It’s one thing for us to hang out together here, but if we start expanding that… becoming a couple outside of school…” She sighed. “It’s going to go too fast. How long would I be able to hide what I am? And even if that wasn’t an issue, it’s not safe anyway. The whole point of me being here is that it’s a safe, controlled environment. I can’t just take off to meet strangers.”
It was another step of progress to her accepting the difficulties of a “casual” relationship with Micah. I offered a neutral comment. “Sounds like you’ve thought a lot about this.”
Jill looked up sharply, almost as if she hadn’t even realized I was there. “Yeah. I guess I have.” She scrutinized me for a few seconds, and weirdly, her distraught expression softened. She smiled. “You look really pretty today, Sydney. The way the light hits you… it’s kind of amazing.”
“Um, thanks,” I said, uncertain as to what had prompted that comment. I was pretty sure there was nothing remarkable about me today. My hair and makeup were the same as ever, and I’d chosen a white shirt and plaid skirt uniform combo today. I had to make up for this weekend’s color splurge.
“And the burgundy trim in your skirt really brings out the amber in your eyes,” Jill continued. “It’s not as good as the bright red, but still looks great. Of course, every color looks great on you, even the dull ones.”
Eddie was still focused on Micah. “How’d the fight come about?”
Jill dragged her gaze from me, much to my relief. “Oh. Well. I told him I didn’t know if I could do Thanksgiving. Probably if I’d just given him one reason, it would’ve all been fine. But I started freaking out, thinking about all the problems, and just went off on a ramble, saying we might go back to South Dakota or maybe family would come here or maybe you wouldn’t let me… or, well, a bunch of other things. I guess it was pretty obvious I was kind of making it all up, and then he outright asked me if I didn’t want to be with him anymore. Then I said I did but that it was complicated. He asked what I meant, but of course I couldn’t explain it all, and from there…” She threw up her hands. “It all just kind of exploded from there.”
I’d never thought much about Thanksgiving or meeting one’s family as a rite of passage in dating. Brayden’s family lived in southern California too… would I be expected to meet them someday?
“Micah’s not the type to hold a grudge,” said Eddie. “He’s also pretty reasonable. Just tell him the truth.”
“What, that I’m one of the last in a line of vampire royalty and my sister’s throne is dependent on me staying in hiding and surviving?” Jill asked incredulously.
Amusement flickered in Eddie’s eyes, though I could tell he was trying to stay serious for her sake. “That’s one way, I suppose. But no… I meant, just give him the simplified version. You don’t want to get too serious. You like him but just want to watch how fast things are going. It’s not unreasonable, you know. You’re fifteen and have been ‘dating’ for barely a month.”
She pondered his words. “You don’t think he’d be mad?”
“Not if he really cares about you,” said Eddie vehemently. “If he really cares, he’ll understand and respect your wishes-and be happy at just any chance of spending time with you.”
I wondered if Eddie was referring to Micah or himself, but that was a thought best kept quiet. Jill’s face lit up.
“Thanks,” she told Eddie. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. You’re so right. If he can’t accept my feelings, then there’s no point to anything.” She glanced over at a wall clock and jumped to her feet. “I think I’m going to go try to find him now before class.” Like that, she was gone.
Angeline watched Jill dart out of the cafeteria, her blue eyes narrowed in thought. “Even if they make up, I don’t think it’ll last. With their situation… it can’t work.”
“I thought you were all about vampire and human relationships,” I said.
“Oh, sure. Back home, no problem. Even out in your world, no problem. But Jill’s a special case. She’s got to stay out of sight and stay safe if she’s going to help her family. Dating him won’t do that, and she knows it-no
