Hybrid

by TJ Hines

  “I told him that you and Abby got into an argument. We went for a walk and when we got back, she had locked you out of the apartment. That’s about it.”

  “Thanks for not telling him about what happened last night at the store.” I hated to ask the next thing of Drew, but I had no choice. I didn’t want to fight with Will when he got back, at least not until after the party. “Do you think we could keep my little lapse in judgment to ourselves?”

  “Kinsey, you know better than anyone how much Will values honesty. I can’t keep something like that from him and neither can you. And you know it,” he said shaking his head in disapproval of what I had asked him to do.

  “I know. I know. I just didn’t want him to get all mad at me, especially when nothing happened.”

  “Hell, I would be less worried about telling him than I would be telling Jack,” he said with a laugh.

  “True…Wait. How do you know my brother?”

  “Oh…I don’t…Not really. I was assuming that he would be madder at you for that stunt than Will could ever be. Will has told me that Jack is protective of you.”

  I nodded. “Will is protective…Jack is insanely overprotective. And I will definitely never tell Jack what happened last night because he would be on the next plane to carry me back home.”

  “So, you ready to go take care of the Abby situation or what?” he asked with a mischievous grin etched in his face. “I’ve been thinking about it all morning. She is going to be so pissed off.”

  He was going to enjoy this more than I was. And considering all the hell she has put me through in the last couple of years, I was going to enjoy this considerably.

  “Definitely.”

  After taking the deadbolt off the door, I got Drew to help me divide the apartment in half. I know it’s childish, but I couldn’t help myself. We started in the kitchen. We took everything out of the cabinets, moved everything that belonged to her into one, everything that belonged to me into one, and then split the stuff that we bought together between the two, with me, of course, getting the better stuff. We did the same throughout the entire apartment, with the exception of our bedrooms. After I had sufficiently got back at Abby for locking me out last night, I got ready to go to work. In a few short hours, Will would be home, I would be at the biggest party of the year, I would get to hang out with Tyler, and I would finally know what my surprise was.

  CHAPTER NINE

  After work I hurried home to get ready for the Halloween party, I couldn’t wait to let everyone see my costume. It was such an awesome costume. Thankfully, Abby was already at the party, so I didn’t have to deal with her at all.

  I was about halfway ready when I heard a knock at the door.

  “Who is it?” I yelled from the hallway because I wasn’t completely dressed yet.

  I heard the door unlock and then his voice.

  “It’s me, Kinz. Are you ready to go?” Will asked.

  “Not yet. Give me ten minutes. I am so glad you are back. I missed you like crazy. I have so much to tell you,” I said from my bedroom.

  “I missed you too. I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye before I left.”

  “It’s okay. I’m so happy you’re back. So, do you want to yell at me now or later?”

  “Have I ever yelled at you? Anyways why would I?”

  “Well, now that I think about it, besides the other day, you haven’t ever yelled at me. But I figured because of the argument with Abby and having to sleep in your room you would be upset with me.”

  “I don’t know why you would think I would be upset about the argument with Abby, you two will get over it. Unless…Drew didn’t mention any of the details to me…what went on between the two of you?”

  I zipped up my corset and peered at my ensemble in the mirror. I looked good. Tyler is going to flip when he sees me. I started putting my boots on. I may not wear this outfit anymore, but I was definitely going to wear these boots every chance I got. I better too because they cost a small fortune.

  “I’ll tell you on the way to pick up Addison because I kinda need to talk to you about something else.”

  “Okay. What’s up?”

  “My nightmare. I’ve had it for the past three nights,” I said as I started straightening my hair.

  “Really? Hmmm…well, I am sure it’s nothing to worry about. You might be stressed.”

  “Will…the last one really scared me. Drew said that I screamed for five minutes before he was able to wake me up.”

  “What happened in it that had you so scared?”

  “I saw my mom get killed by some guy they called Alec.”

  “What? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, this guy named Alec, who by the way made me feel strange, used some weird glowing white ball thingy to kill my mom,” I said finishing up my hair.

  “Did this guy say anything in your dream?”

  “Yeah. He called my parents by their names and then he said ‘tell me where she is’ and then my mom said ‘never’ but that was it…why? Do you think it means something?”

  “Have you told Jack any of this?”

  “No. I figured he would tell me the same thing he always tells me. You’re the first person I’ve mentioned it to.”

  “You might need to mention this to him. It’s probably nothing but still, I think you should tell him.”

  “I will. Hey, have you or anyone else in your dreams ever spoken different languages?”

  “Not that I can recall. But I don’t dream a lot either. Why?”

  “Well, I did some research on that word my parents said in my dream the other night. Equitum. It means horsemen in Latin. I know I’ve heard it somewhere before, but I can’t place it. Isn’t that the strangest thing?”

  “Yeah, that is definitely weird. Kinz, not to change the subject but are you ready yet?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be right out. And don’t laugh either I think my costume is awesome.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Well, here I go. I put my hat on my head. I gave myself a once over and walked into the living room. My first impression of Will was WOW! Seriously, he was drop-dead gorgeous. Every girl’s fantasy come to life. Vampire! He was dressed in solid black from head to toe. He had a long black cape on that hung almost to the ground. The blood-red lining of the cape was the only bit of color on him. With his black attire, he looked more pale than usual and he had those fake vampire fangs in his mouth. He was so hot that I almost melted right there on the floor.

  When I walked into the living room, he was texting someone, so it took him a minute to look up at me.

  “Wow! Kinsey, you look…,” he said with his mouth draped open.

  It would be like me, to have something go wrong with my costume. Or maybe he thought I looked ridiculous and couldn’t laugh because I already told him not to.

  “What? Do I look stupid?” I asked looking down at my outfit. I thought I looked quite hot for a witch. My skirt was short, not as short as Abby’s French maid costume because I am not a slut, but short, nonetheless. It was jet black with white satin trim. I had on a jet black corset that had white satin trim lacing up the front of it. The corset was sleeveless, but I had a black cape on (almost identical to Will’s except my lining was black). I had on a pointy black witch’s hat that had white satin trim and a white crescent moon. And my fabulous footwear. Oh, how I loved my new boots. They were black pointy-toed boots that came all the way up to my knees. They totally made the outfit.

  “Absolutely not. You look…so...gorgeous.”

  We stood there for a minute staring at each other. It was so weird. It was as if he was looking at me for the first time. I was actually starting to feel self-conscious.

  “So, um, anyway. I guess I will definitely have to protect your innocence tonight because I have a feeling that you will be getting a lot of attention,” he said giving me that sexy smile of his that I had not seen in two days. “You ready to go?”

  “Absolutely. By the way, you look hands
ome tonight,” I said blushing as I opened the door.

  “Thanks, I kind of feel silly. I mean I cannot tell you the last time I wore a Halloween costume. I’m a little surprised though.”

  “Oh yeah, by what?” I asked.

  “You haven’t said one thing about your surprise,” he said as he led me down the stairs to the parking lot.

  “Oh, man. Will I completely forgot. So…what’s my surprise?” I asked enthusiastically.

  “It’s right over there.”

  I looked over to where he was pointing and saw Ensley and Drew standing next to Drew’s Tahoe. Ensley was a doctor. He looked adorable. He had a stethoscope around his neck. And he was wearing a white coat with scrubs. Drew was, from what I assumed, a monk. I had to stifle a giggle at his costume because I couldn’t even fathom Drew being a real monk. Of course, it was Halloween and we could be anyone we wanted. He had this long brown flowing robe on that had a hood. You couldn’t see his arms at all because of the length of the sleeves. He had his hood pulled back enough for me to see his mouth, which was gaping open when he finally saw me walking towards the car. Seriously, this is my surprise. Will has to be joking.

  “Ensley and Drew are my surprises?” I asked bewildered. That wasn’t much of a surprise. True I didn’t know they were coming with us, but why would he surprise me with them.

  “No. Your surprise is behind them. Move guys.”

  Drew and Ensley stepped to the sides and a girl around my age maybe a little younger stepped forward. She was wearing a purple pixie costume. She had short brownish- blonde hair and was very pretty. She looked like she didn’t have a flaw on her body.

  “My surprise is a girl?”

  “Not any girl. Kinsey Adams, I would like for you to meet Ella, my sister.”

  “Your sister?”

  “Yes Kinsey, my sister. Don’t act so shocked. We have talked about my family before.”

  “Oh. Sorry. I’m just a little…it’s just…I didn’t think I would ever get to meet any of your family,” I said smiling apologetically to Will and his sister.

  “The family thing was that my parents are moving to Ohio. So, I had to help them pack the house up.”

  Will went on to explain that Ella was moving up here to go to college with all of us. She decided to go to a community college close to home for a year or two, but it was an awful experience. She said it felt just like high school and she wanted the real college life. So she decided to transfer a year early.

  Ella was staying with Drew and Will until next semester when she would get to live in the dorms. She was so excited about dorm life. I didn’t have the heart to tell her how not so great dorm life was. The rooms were tiny, most dorms had community showers and you could even end up with a crazy narcissistic roommate. I really didn’t have firsthand experience living in the dorms, but I had heard Addison talk about them enough to make a few assumptions. Of course, you don’t always have to live in a dorm to end up with a totally insane roommate—look at my situation with Abby.

  After Will’s explanation, I introduced myself to Ella and apologized yet again for my shock and awe.

  “It’s okay. I know exactly how Will can be. He probably only talked about his family on rare occasions. Like when you were talking about yours or something like that—am I right?” I nodded. “I am so happy to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you. And what is this I hear about a girl fight? You have to tell me everything. Did you kick her butt? What am I saying—of course, you did. You are Kinsey Adams after all. I mean how could she even compare to y—,” she was cut off when Will interrupted.

  “Yes, do tell us more about this ‘girl fight’ because it seems to me that someone has not been very forthcoming about this information,” Will said as he shot Ella a strange look and punched Drew lightly in the shoulder.

  “Well can we talk about it in the car because I’m freezing? I swear it was like seventy-five degrees today and now it’s like minus twenty,” Drew said as he got into the Tahoe.

  “You would think that Ella and I would be the ones freezing, seeing how you are in a huge robe,” I said to Drew as I climbed into the back seat, realizing that when we picked up Addison one of us would have to sit in someone’s lap.

  “I’m not used to wearing a robe. I’m unnerved by the draft and lack of clothing under this thing,” he said moving around like he was adjusting….

  “Wait, Drew. Are you saying that you are going commando under that thing?” I asked horrified at the thought. Going commando in public is gross. I don’t care how famous you are. It’s not sanitary and very disturbing.

  “Dude, that’s wrong. So wrong,” Ensley said from the passenger seat.

  “Yeah man, Ensley is right. What is wrong with you?” Will said as he settled down between Ella and me.

  “Can I take a peek?” Ella said flashing a huge grin at him.

  Well, I won’t have to worry about her confidence level. She seemed like she had enough to spare. It was a nice change to be joking with the guys with another girl around. Addison didn’t have the confidence that Ella had and Abby, of course, is a total bitch so the guys never wanted to hang out with her.

  Drew smiled back at Ella in such a naughty bad boy way that I blushed. There was definitely something between those two. I looked at Will to check his reaction. He laughed at Drew. Huh. Weird. Jack would have come unglued if some guy had just given me that look. I shook it off. Maybe it was me. I was so wound up with sexual tension that I was surprised I didn’t think that look was for me. I really needed a good make-out session with Tyler tonight.

  “What dorm does Addison live in again? And by the way, I’m wearing boxers,” Drew said pulling out of the parking lot.

  “Hudson Hall,” Ensley said before I could even get the words out of my mouth. Ensley really did like Addison after all. I smiled at my devious little plan finally coming together. Addison and Ensley would get together tonight. There would be plenty of people now to distract Will for me now. And I would get a totally hot make-out session with Tyler. I love it when a plan comes together.

  When we picked up Addison, she had all three of the guys, especially Ensley, speechless when she walked down the steps of the dorm looking like Princess Leia from StarWars. I knew from Jack that all guys had fantasies of Princess Leia, especially since StarWars was one of those movies that all guys had to watch — it was almost like their initiation into manhood. Of course, most of them really liked the metal bikini outfit Leia had wore when she was captured by that big blob guy. But we decided to go with the more kick-ass Leia in the white dress. We did manage to find a really sexy version of that dress though. It was very form fitting with slits up to Addison’s thighs so she could show off her knee-high platform white boots. We even did her hair like Leia’s while we were at work. She looked awesome.

  I had to sit in Will’s lap on the way to the Delta Chi house because there wasn’t enough room in the Tahoe for all six of us. Ensley volunteered to ride in the cargo area because there were pillows and blankets back there just in case someone wanted to crash before everyone was ready to leave. But Will told him it was no big deal and pulled me onto his lap to make room for Addison.

  Once I managed to make coherent statements again, Drew and I told everyone exactly what happened between Abby and me last night and what I, with the help of Drew, did to the apartment today.

  “I can’t believe she actually pushed you,” Addison said. “She is so hateful. You know I only put up with her because of you. She’s always been mean to me, but I didn’t want to say anything because I thought you two were friends.”

  “Well, besides the whole last part about halving the apartment up, which by the way is a little childish. It sounds like you didn’t blow things out of proportion,” Will said with one arm wrapped around me so I wouldn’t fall in the floor.

  “I wish that I would have stood up to her before we signed that lease. Now I’m stuck with her,” I said crossing my arms over my chest.

  �
��I’m sure everything will work out. Abby might even apologize to you,” Ella said.

  “Not likely. Abby doesn’t have a forgiving bone in her body,” I said.

  “I’m sure that if Abby saw things clearly, she would realize that her behavior last night was wrong. I’ll have a talk with her tonight at the party,” Ella said smiling brightly at me.

  “Ella.” Will, Drew, and Ensley said in unison.

  “What? I promise to be on my best behavior.”

  “You better be,” Will said glaring at her.

  I was beginning to like Ella more and more. She seemed to be a lot like me. If I could somehow get Abby to move out, Ella could become my new roommate. For that matter, if I got Abby to move out, Addison could move in with me. She hated living in the dorms. But I seriously doubted Abby moving out, but who knows maybe she would. Yeah, I know. Not likely.

  CHAPTER TEN

  When we got to the Delta Chi house, it looked like every student on campus was there. It was so packed that most people were standing around outside. I don’t think the Deltas realized just how many people were going to show up at this party. I saw a couple of frat guys moving cars to make room for everyone. Will paid for everyone to get in plus he gave a little more saying ‘it’s for a good cause’. Will said that he would be the designated driver, so everyone else could have a good time.

  Drew headed straight for the keg followed by Ella. The rest of us hung back.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” Ensley asked Addison.

  “Yeah but nothing with alcohol in it,” Addison said back to Ensley.

  “I’ll go with you,” I said giving Addison a look to let her know I was going to find Tyler.

  I had already talked to Addison about keeping Will distracted so I could talk to Tyler. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened the other day. Will had already promised to be on his best behavior, but I didn’t want to push my luck. I headed towards the area where the bar was set up with Ensley scanning the crowd of people.