“How are you dealing?”
“Well, it seems as if every teacher has decided to give me a pity pass on my finals,” I say, rolling my eyes.
“Shut up.”
“It's true.”
“Not fair.”
Is she kidding? “Uh, Tex?”
Her eyes fly wide as she realizes her mistake. “Crap, sorry. That was mean.” She comes over to give me a hug. “I'm not good at being sensitive.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Hey! I'm getting better.”
I glance at Peter, and he and Viktor are watching our interaction like we're interesting animals in a zoo.
“Hey, don't stare. It's rude,” Tex snaps.
“I was not staring. I was studying the fascinating behavior of the American teenage girl,” Viktor says.
“Haha.”
Tex lets me go and we sit down on the grass again. “I'm still worried about Jamie. He's never been this mad at me,” I say.
“He'll get over it,” Tex says. That doesn't help.
“Remember how I wanted to get his truck painted? I should do that.”
“Do you have the money for that?”
“Not really.”
“I do,” Viktor says.
“What?” Tex and I say at the same time.
“I sell things online. It is a steady stream of income for when I need it.”
“Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?” Tex says, getting up and standing right in his face.
“I didn't think you'd care about something so trivial.” That makes Tex back down.
“Well, I don't. Um, it just would have been good to know. I guess. Not that I would care about something like that. Like, at all.” Subtle, Tex. Real subtle.
“If you want some of it, you can have it,” he says.
Tex backpedals. “I'm not asking for your money. I was just curious.”
I turn my attention back to Viktor. “It's pretty expensive. Are you sure about that?” I have most of the money, but I could use a couple hundred more. I'm fishing to see how much he's got. I mean Peter's got crap in his trunk that would fetch thousands of dollars at auction. Still, it would be interesting to know just how much.
“You can have what you need. I don't have much use for it.”
“Wow, Viktor, thanks. I really appreciate that. It means a lot.”
“What a nice boy you are,” Tex says, smiling at him. She tips her face up as if she's asking for a kiss. He leans his face down, as if he's considering it. Wow, that was fast. I give Peter a look and he blinks. Meh, I guess it was bound to happen.
“Well, I need to get to bed,” I say, giving a fake yawn. I put my arms up and Peter takes me into his arms for the trip back through my window.
“See you tomorrow,” Tex says, not looking away from Viktor.
“Okay,” I say, shaking my head.
~^*^~
“Love is in the air,” I say when we're back in my room. “Has everyone taken love drugs?”
“It would appear that way.”
“So can you help me with Jamie? I really want to do this for him. Sort of as an apology.”
“You don't need to apologize, but yes, I will help you. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“I need you to take me to his house so we can commandeer it.”
“I can do that.”
“Cool.” I leave the window open, letting in the cool night air. “You're a lifesaver.”
“Not really.”
“Haha. You're funny tonight.”
“I try.”
“You win.”
“I do,” he says, kissing me.
Seventeen
Peter
The rest of the week is uneventful, which is a nice break for Ava. She has been so stressed with everything; it is good to give her some time to be human. Her teachers compile all her schoolwork for the rest of the year, and I start helping her with it.
Helena continues to watch Jamie and Brooke. Every night she comes to give us a report, but all they do is spend time together and talk. They are aware that Helena is following them, but seem unperturbed by it. Helena comes to see me again, and we agree that the Di plan will be on hold until the Brooke situation becomes clearer.
Ava and her father plan a trip to visit Claire's childhood home for that Sunday, and the appointment for Jamie's truck is on Saturday. Texas gets in on the plan, offering to distract Jamie. I am not sure how she means to go about that, but she assures us that she can do it.
“I'm really good at distractions. Trust me.”
“Okay, if you say so,” Ava says. She has tried to call him several times and talk to him at school, but he is still angry.
“I hope this will help,” she says on Friday night. I am having a date with her on the couch, watching a movie from the 1980s called Stand By Me. “This is Jamie's favorite movie. Even though he'd never admit it in public. He has to be all manly and say some action movie.”
“He'll come back to you.”
“I've been thinking,” she says, looking up at me through her lashes. “Could you talk to him? I've tried and it hasn't worked, but maybe if you did?”
“I will try for you.” I am not sure it will do any good, but if she wants me to talk to him, I will talk to him.
“Do you want to go tomorrow?”
“Well, I thought we could do it when we return his car. I hope he doesn't call the cops or anything. I hope Tex's distraction works. Whatever it is,” Ava says.
“It will probably be something spectacular. She doesn't do anything by halves,” I say.
“No, she doesn't.” I have rarely seen a human who went full steam ahead like her. I would not want to be her Claimed. It would require a lot of emotion absorbing.
“So you'll do it?”
“Of course.”
“Thanks, baby.” She kisses my cheek. She is more open with endearments when her parents are around. I like it when she calls me by them.
“You're welcome, baby.” I kiss her back.
“Hey now,” Claire says from the kitchen. For a human, she certainly has good intuition about when her daughter's lips are on mine.
“We're just kissing,” Ava calls. “Tell her, Peter.”
“We are kissing,” I say.
“Let me see your hands,” she says. Ava and I raise our hands in the air. “Okay, okay. I just have to do my mom thing.”
Ava laughs and settles against my chest, and we lose ourselves in the movie again.
The next morning Ava gets into her car to pick me up for a date. She tells her mother that we are hanging out with Jamie. Her aunt Jenny is coming over that evening for dinner, so Claire reminds her to be back by then and to invite me. The last time I met her aunt was interesting. I'm not sure if I am looking forward to it or not.
“I'm nervous,” she says when I get in the car at the end of the driveway.
“I know.” Her emotions sizzle, and I try to absorb as much as I can.
Her phone vibrates with a message from Texas.
“She's on her way to Jamie's house. She says we can get the truck in ten minutes. God, what is she up to?”
“We shall see.”
Ava parks her car in an abandoned driveway not far from Jamie's house. This is the poorer part of Sussex, with a lot of smaller and more run-down homes. I put her in my arms and we run through the woods to the back of the house, staying under cover of the trees. Jamie's truck is the only one in the driveway, and there is one person in the house, but there is one person and one noctalis in the front yard.
“Jamie! Get out here!” Texas yells.
“What the hell, Tex?” he says, coming out of the house.
“Brooke isn't here,” Ava whispers to me as we watch the action at the front of the house.
“You're coming with us. Right now,” Texas says.
“No way. Get out of here.”
Texas crosses her arms and stamps her foot. “I'm not taking no for an answer. Get in the damn car.” She poi
nts at it.
“Tex, go away.”
“I swear, if you don't get in this car right now, my Russian is going to throw you over his shoulder and put you in it.”
“Do not make me do that,” Viktor says.
“Fine! Fine.”
Jamie goes down the steps and gets in the car, and Texas kicks up the gravel in the driveway as she speeds away.
Ava stares at me, bewildered. “Really? That was her plan? Kidnapping him?”
“It worked,” I say. She considers for a moment.
“True.”
We walk to the truck, but the keys aren't in it.
“Hold on,” Ava says, going into the house. She comes back moments later with his keys. “I'm glad they were easy to find. God, that house gives me the shivers. Like the negative energy seeped into the walls or something.” She rubs her arms as if she's cold. I take her hand and give her some happy energy. “Thanks, babe.”
“Anything for my girl.”
“I like being your girl,” she says. “Would I still be your girl even if I wasn't human?”
“You'll always be mine, human or not.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I like thinking I belong to you.”
It is not in a possessive way. I simply meant that she will always belong to me as the one girl, human or otherwise that is mine. That I can... No. I can’t think the word, or let myself feel it.
“Are you okay?”
“I am fine.”
Close. I am getting close to the flame that will end my existence. I will have to be careful.
Ava
Peter drives my car to the car place and I drive Jamie's truck. He takes me out to lunch and we walk around Brunswick while we wait. He holds my hand, lets me steal kisses and makes me laugh. We sit in the park and watch people play with their dogs.
“This is a nice human afternoon,” I say, my head on his shoulder and his arm around me.
“I like our human time.”
“Me, too. I wish it could be like this all the time,” I say without thinking.
“Do you wish I were human?”
“No! I didn't mean that. I love you and who you are. I just meant —” He silences me with a finger on my lips.
“I know. I wish that, too.”
I get periodic messages from Tex, and I ask her what they're doing with Jamie, but she won't tell me. I even try calling her, but she doesn't answer.
“I really wonder about that girl sometimes.”
The truck looks amazing when we go to pick it up. Instead of a white/gray, it's now a shiny black, complete with a wax coating that will resist rust. The sales guy was very persuasive and I had quite a bit of cash from Viktor. He shelled out hundreds like he was handing out candy. Tex's eyes went wide at the amount, but she kept her mouth shut. I have no doubt that plenty of those hundreds are going to be spent on buying her shiny things.
We meet back up at the high school because it's the best central location. I pull in with the truck and Peter comes in behind me with my car.
Tex and Viktor are by her car, and I see Jamie, arms crossed, looking surly. He also looks sad. Helena and Brooke are MIA, which surprises me because I thought Brooke would be attached to his hip. Something has gone on between those two, and I intend to get it out of him.
“What's this?” he says when I hop out of the truck.
“Your new/old truck. I had it painted. Surprise.” I gesture to the truck like a car model. I should have made a sign or had some confetti or something. I always forget these things if I don't write them down.
His mouth drops open. “You did what?”
“I know you've always wanted your truck painted. I wanted to do the interior, but I didn't have the funds.” Well, I could have the funds if I asked Viktor for them, but I didn't want to be a gold digger.
“Is that why Tex kidnapped me?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Why didn't you just ask to borrow the truck?” he says, coming closer and running his hand over the paint job. “That would have been easier than forcing me to go see a special screening of Dirty Dancing.”
“Tex, you did not.”
She puts her chin in the air. “I will not give up until he says that Patrick Swayze has talent and that nobody puts Baby in a corner.”
“I'm not going to say that if you make me see it a million times.” Jamie's still going over the paint job, and I can see the flicker of happiness on his face. “It's good. Where did you take it?”
“That place over in Brunswick. You know the one that's always on TV?”
“Wow,” he says, feeling the slickness of the coating. “Why did you do this?”
“I've wanted to do something for you for a while. To apologize for being such a crappy friend the past couple of months. I lied to you and hid things from you, and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Jamie,” I say, walking over and putting my arms around him. I don't care if he hugs me back, but I need him to know that I love him and I need him in my life. I don't really care if everyone else sees me.
“I'm sorry too, Jamie. I knew Ava's secret and I didn't share it with you. But you knew about her mom and didn't share it with me. So I guess we're even, yes?”
Jamie finally returns my hug, kissing the top of my head and messing with my hair. “You went all out, Ave. Thank you.”
“You're not still mad at me, are you?”
He sighs. “I'd be a horrible friend if I said yes, so no. I am not mad. Just disappointed that you didn't feel like you could confide in me about something like that.”
“Forgive me, too!” Tex throws herself into our hug, and Jamie puts his arm around her.
“What am I going to do with you two?” We laugh and fall against the truck, Jamie struggling to keep both of us upright. “What do they think of this?” He means Viktor and Peter.
“They do what we tell them,” Tex says. “We wear the pants. Right, baby?”
“If you say so,” Viktor says. I just wink at Peter and he blinks back.
“Whipped. They're totally whipped,” Jamie says.
“We could say the same about you,” Tex says, jostling his shoulder.
“I guess,” Jamie says, blushing. I tickle him in the stomach and he wiggles away. “You're the best, Ave.”
No, I'm not, but he smiles and I almost believe him anyway.
~^*^~
“Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes!” Aj calls when I walk in the house. She dives at me and gives me a huge hug. Her blood overwhelms me, but I braced myself before I walked in, and I've got Peter's hand on my back.
“Hey, Aj. Can you let me breathe now?”
“Sure, kiddo. How are you?”
“Same old, same old.” I just have a psycho immortal after me, both of my best friends are involved with immortals, my mother has terminal cancer, and I have finals. Nothing major.
“Oh come on, school's almost out. What shenanigans are you going to get up to? I'm sure they'll involve this guy,” she says, pointing to Peter. “Hello, again, Peter.”
“Nice to see you, Jenny.” He keeps his hand on my back and Aj notices. I give her a look and she stops staring.
“I brought whoopie pies. Sorry, Peter. I forgot about the lactose-intolerant thing.”
“That is fine. I will watch Ava enjoy them.”
“Okay, then,” Aj says, giving him a weird look. I guess I'm so used to Peter saying strange things that I'm immune.
We have dinner, which Peter doesn't eat, and whoopie pies, which Peter doesn't eat. The last time Aj was over, I purposely stabbed myself with a knife because I felt so guilty. Peter keeps squeezing my hand and I know he's trying to tell me not to do it again.
“So I heard the cat is out of the bag,” Aj says, gesturing to the wilted flowers that are starting to make me sick with their sweet smell. I want to throw them from the roof and watch them smash on the ground, but I don't tell Mom that. They make me sick. Just a reminder of the fact that everyone who's
anyone knows that my mother is going to die.
“It's a relief to finally tell everyone. Although, the phone has been ringing off the hook and we have more tuna casseroles than you can shake a stick at,” Mom says.
Aj throws up her hands, as if pleading to the gods. “Why do they make tuna? Does anyone like tuna casserole?”
“Well, I might like it if it didn't make me violently ill. I'm sick enough as it is,” Mom says, trying to make a joke, but it falls flat.
“So you're doing okay, though? Otherwise?”
“I'm feeling as well as can be expected. I'm going to start having appointments once a week to see how I'm doing and do tests and so forth.”
“So you're good, though?”
“It's not happening yet. We'll call you when it gets close.”
“I'll be here as soon as I can. I'd fly here if I could,” Aj says, taking Mom's hand.
“I know you would.” They hug and I want to cry. I look at Peter.
“Everyone wants wings,” I say so low that only he can hear me. He pulls me in for a hug.
“You can't always get what you want,” he whispers in my ear.
“What are you two whispering about over there?” Aj says, breaking our embrace.
“Nothing.”
“Don't you get all lovey-dovey on me, Ava. You're not that kind of girl.”
“What kind of girl am I?”
“You're my awesome niece who doesn't give boys the time of day and would rather read a book than get wasted.”
“Well...” I say. I was that girl once upon a time, but that was a long time ago. “People change, I guess.” I'm uncomfortable with everyone staring at me.
“I guess,” Aj says.
“Dessert?” Mom tries to get up to get the whoopie pies, but collapses back into her seat, clutching her head.
“Claire?! What's wrong?” Dad holds onto her as she groans. Aj gets up and goes to her other side.
“Claire, talk to me.”
“I'm fine,” she says, opening her eyes and looking at all of us. “I just had a little head rush. I'm fine. Nothing to fuss about. Everyone sit down. You're being ridiculous.”
“Call Dr. Chase,” Dad says, snapping his fingers at me. I look at Mom for confirmation.
“Sam, I'm fine. Just let me have some aspirin and a little rest. I have an appointment on Wednesday. There will be plenty of time for him to poke and prod me. Things like this are going to be normal near the end.” I hate how she says, 'the end.'