***
“Ailia!” Mikayla’s voice drew me from my daydreaming. I looked up to watch her enter the house with Samuel close behind her.
“How’s the secret keeping going?” she asked with a wink, causing Egan to groan. Brenden shifted uncomfortably where he sat on the sofa next to Andy.
Mikayla smiled at Egan. “It’s going well then, huh?”
Egan ignored her, instead choosing to throw an object at Andy.
Andy’s face lit up when he caught the game which he’d asked Egan to fix. “I love you, man!” he said, turning the game on.
Brenden smiled at Andy and shook his head. He turned to speak to Samuel, who’d just sat next to him. I wondered if Samuel knew Brenden’s secret, and if Brenden spoke to Mikayla yet.
Mikayla touched my shoulder and beckoned me to follow her. She walked into another room. In the time I lived in Egan’s house, this was one of the rooms I used the least. It was, for lack of a better word, a library. Bookshelves lined nearly every wall. Books ranged in subjects from scientific works to ancient folklore.
A wooden cross sat on a small coffee table. These were in nearly every room of the house. Egan claimed they made him feel safer. There were a couple of chairs in a corner and Mikayla chose to sit in one. I sat next to her in the other.
“Egan said you had a nightmare last night.”
I nodded. “My ex showed up, and he wasn’t really a nice guy.”
“Nothing else happened in this dream?” Mikayla asked.
I looked towards the window and wondered whether or not I should tell Mikayla about the wedding dream.
Mikayla smiled. “I’m not here to judge, Ailia.”
I turned back to her. “I was getting married.”
“Egan?” Mikayla asked with a raised eyebrow.
I nodded.
Mikayla smiled, a knowing look on her face. “So you were getting married to Egan and your ex showed up at the ceremony?”
“Yes. Everyone else disappeared.”
“Is there anything else you can remember?” Mikayla asked, leaning forward in her chair. “Even little things can have a lot of significance.”
I cast my mind back, trying to remember the dream, “I don’t know,” I admitted. “I think my dress ripped.”
“The dress was white?” Mikayla assumed.
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“Well, I think perhaps you’re worried about your past with this guy affecting your relationship with Egan.”
“I don’t have a relationship with Egan.”
“Yes you do,” Mikayla smiled. “Egan just holds back a bit.”
Her statement confused me, but I didn’t seek an explanation. I knew that if I asked, Mikayla probably wouldn’t answer. “Why would my relationship with Joel affect anything with Egan?”
“I’m not sure,” Mikayla placed her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know a lot about your past really, but it could be any number of things. I doubt anything that happened in your past will bother Egan.”
“Why was I getting married to him?” I asked suddenly. It’s not important I told myself, but knew that it might be. I wasn’t able to get the idea out of my head the entire day.
“Ailia, in the dream, was the wedding more significant to you than your ex showing up?”
“Yes,” I answered reluctantly.
Mikayla looked downwards, biting her lip.
“What?”
“Nothing,” she said looking up at me with a smile. “There are a few different meanings for getting married in a dream, but in your case I think it would just be the obvious one.”
“Which is?”
“You,” Mikayla had a knowing look in her eyes, “Like him. A lot.”
I shook my head, smiling slightly. “It’s not like that.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Mikayla grinned.
“It’s not!”
“Ailia, you’re living in the same house as him. Sleeping in the same bed.”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t really mean anything.”
“You two are exactly the same, you know that?”
“What do you mean?” I would never think I was the same as Egan.
“Neither of you will admit it.”
“There’s nothing to admit,” I shrugged.
“I assume your relationship with your ex wasn’t a good one.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re holding back your feelings, Ailia. At the rate you two are going, you won’t get anywhere until your time runs out.”
“I only met him a couple of months ago.”
“The way I see it, it only took you a couple of months to get to know him better than anyone else could ever manage.”
I shot Mikayla a look of confusion.
“Put it this way, he told you how he got into the demon hunting thing, right?”
I nodded.
“I asked him that question years ago. He still won’t tell me.”
Mikayla stood while I pondered what she just told me.
“C’mon,” Mikayla held out her hand. I took it and she pulled me up, leading me back to where the others were laughing in the lounge room. I wondered if Mikayla was right. Did I really want to be with Egan... like that? After Joel I was never really sure I’d have another chance at romance. My eyes flicked towards Egan. I imagined his arms around me, his lips against mine.
No I told myself, cutting off the vision. It didn’t matter if I wanted Egan. Egan didn’t want me. I wouldn’t even be living here for much longer. As soon as the demon was gone I’d be moving out. I couldn’t allow myself to think like that.
“Sam,” Mikayla said. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
Samuel pulled himself out of his chair and walked into the hallway with Mikayla.
“Everything okay?” Egan asked.
“I think so,” I muttered, taking a seat on the floor facing the others.
“Ailia,” Brenden said in a low voice, “Is it okay if I talk to you for a moment?”
Andy shifted himself sideways along the couch to get a better view of Brenden, “Why do you need to have a secret conversation with Ailia?”
Brenden ignored Andy. I stood up and he followed.
“Brenden?”
“Leave it, Andy,” Mikayla advised returning to the room.
She smiled at us. Brenden walked out the back door and into what was left of the garden. The slowly dying plants sat on the edge of Egan’s fence. The ground was muddy from rain and rocks lined the garden bed. Brenden stood on a path between the plants. I made a mental note to ask Egan about the garden. Perhaps I should try and fix it up a bit.
“I spoke to Mikayla,” Brenden told me, staring at one of the few flowers in Egan’s garden which was still alive – a rose.
“And?”
“She thinks I should tell Andy.” Brenden carefully inspected the flower.
“What do you think?”
Brenden grimaced. “What if he hates me?” he asked. “What if he doesn’t want to be anywhere near me? What if it’s wrong or disgusting or…?” his voice trailed off.
“Are you talking about Andy or Kieran?” I asked.
Brenden looked at me. “Mikayla says that people influence others. What if Kieran influenced Andy to believe that... I can deal with him not loving me. It hurts, but I can deal with it. I’m not sure if I could handle him hating me.”
“Do you honestly think he’d hate you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you’ll just have to decide. Are you better off hiding the truth from him or would it be better to take a risk so that you can be yourself?”
“Hmm,” Brenden touched the rose. “I never thought about it that way.”
“Do you want to tell him?” I asked.
Brenden nodded. “I’m just too scared to do it.”
“You know,” I said, looking at the rose, “Roses are the flowers of love.”
“I never really un
derstood why.”
“Roses have thorns.”
Brenden looked up at me.
“A rose without thorns may seem perfect, but maybe the thorns are there for a reason.”
“That’s deep,” the voice came from behind me. I turned to see Andy staring at me.
“Don’t worry,” Mikayla walked through the door behind him. “He’s only been there for a second.”
“What’s with the secret talks guys?” Andy asked.
“Always secrets with us, Andy,” Egan grinned, stepping through the door.
“Yeah, but not with Brenden. Brenden doesn’t keep secrets.”
“You have no idea,” Brenden sighed.
“Since when do you have secrets?”
“Since ever,” Brenden replied.
“I didn’t think you kept secrets from me.”
Brenden looked at Andy and then avoided his gaze altogether.
Andy looked between Brenden and me. “Wait. Are you two in a secret relationship?”
“No,” I told him. Brenden shook his head.
“Just leave them alone,” Mikayla advised.
“Are Ailia and Egan in a secret relationship?” Andy asked, suddenly.
“No, Andy. There are no secret relationships here,” Egan stated, casting a quick glance at me. I looked down hoping I wouldn’t blush.
“Unless you and Brenden are in a secret relationship?” Mikayla suggested.
Brenden stared at Mikayla.
“We’re not,” Andy replied simply, brushing it off.
“Well I’m glad that’s cleared up then.” Mikayla smiled at Brenden.
“You know what happens now right?” Andy asked.
“What?” Brenden asked cautiously.
“I tickle you until you tell me your secret.”
“I’m not ticklish,” Brenden breathed, shrugging.
“Want to prove that?” Andy asked with a mischievous grin on his face.
“Um, I’ll go away now,” Brenden backed away.
“No you won’t!” Andy cried, running to Brenden and pulling him to the ground, tickling him. Brenden laughed.
“They would be cute together,” Mikayla spoke into my ear.
I nodded.
“And by the way, you’re going shopping with me after this.”
I looked up at Mikayla, “Why?”
“Your house burnt down. Don’t tell me you don’t need clothes.”
“I already went clothes shopping.”
Mikayla looked at me with a smile. “A girl can’t live on three outfits, Ailia. Besides, you need to have some fun.”
“Clothes shopping isn’t really my idea of fun.”
“That’s because you’re not doing it right,” Mikayla argued. “It will be fun. I’ll make it so.”
Samuel leant around Mikayla. “She’s been deprived of feminine company for ages. I think it’s what she calls female bonding time. Basically she wants a friend.”
Mikayla shook her head. “He doesn’t understand. So, come with me?”
I smiled. “Alright.”