“Sure, honey. I’ll keep the pests away.” Julie grinned.
Eve nodded towards her room, and Zeph followed, happy to be out from under the microscope. He didn’t want to admit just how many things he had tried, and failed, to excel at.
“Would you like to watch the first couple episodes of Wings before the new one starts?” Eve plopped down on her bed and grabbed her laptop.
“Sure. What’s it about again?” Zeph glanced around the room, not sure where he should sit. If they were going to watch it on her laptop he would need to sit next to her, but he felt awkward joining her on her bed.
“It’s about these guardian angels who go around protecting their humans.” Eve scooted back against the headboard and patted the spot next to her.
Zeph climbed gingerly onto the bed, keeping a wide space between them. Eve pulled up the show’s website and started the first episode.
Forty-five minutes later, Zeph gasped as the show came to a dramatic end, and he startled again when he realized how close their bodies had shifted. Their arms brushed as they both reached towards the laptop in between them.
“That was really good!” Zeph gaped at her, pleasure lighting his features.
Eve smiled back as she stared into his bright blue eyes. His excitement made them sparkle like gemstones. Her eyes dropped to his mouth, appreciating his gleaming, straight teeth, and she wondered if he’d ever worn braces. Her own teeth were slightly crooked, and she sucked in her lips to hide them.
“Yeah, I really like it,” Eve agreed. “I know it’s just fiction, but I wonder if real angels are anything like that. What do you think?”
Zeph was so mesmerized by her closeness it was hard to think clearly. He was privy to more information about guardian angels than most humans, but being a lot lower on the angel totem pole, he didn’t know too much about them. His human eyes were blind to them, but he could sense them with his spirit, and he knew they were everywhere.
“I doubt angels fight and argue with each other like that, but I’m sure they do some of those same miracles. I mean, you hear about them all the time.” His own kind was capable of incredible things, so full-bloods had to be pretty amazing.
“I know; I’ve read so many stories. It’s really fascinating.”
“I’m surprised you believe in angels, since you’re so into science. Aren’t most scientists too practical to believe in the supernatural?”
“Yeah, I guess so, but there are so many things that science just can’t explain. Plus, I want to believe in angels. It’s… comforting. When my dad died, I used to imagine him as my guardian angel, hovering nearby me all the time. It helped me feel safe.”
“What was your dad like?” Zeph gazed into her eyes.
“He was really smart and kind. He was a professor of history at Butler University. He called me his princess, and he used to take me out for ice cream every Sunday night.” Eve stared at her lap, lost in memories.
“He sounds like a really great guy.”
“He loved me just as much as he loved my mom, and he treated me like I was his own daughter, even though I wasn’t,” Eve whispered, a tear dripping from her eye.
“What do you mean?” Zeph wrinkled his brow.
“He was actually my stepfather, but he’s the only dad I ever had. My real dad left when I was a baby. My mom married Steven when I was still in diapers. He adopted me right away — said we were a package deal.” Eve smiled at the memory.
Zeph smiled back, wiping her cheek and taking her hand. “I’m sure you were easy to love,” he said, then pulled back at her look of surprise.
Yikes! He didn’t really mean to say it that way. But it was true. Everything about Eve was totally and completely lovable. “Sorry, that was…”
“Really sweet,” Eve finished for him and leaned in to kiss his cheek.
Chapter 7
Zeph drove home from Eve’s house with a smile so big it took up half his face. He didn’t bother trying to hide it; he just let it shine, casting a bright white reflection on the night-darkened windshield.
As he entered his house, he tried to close his lips around it, but it shone through his face like a flashlight through fabric.
“I’m home!” he hollered into the living room as he tried to sneak by, but his mom wasn’t going to let him go that easily.
“Zeph, how was your evening? Come say goodnight.” Sappy music blared from the TV, muffling her voice. It sounded like one of those Hallmark movies she loved to watch.
“It was fine.” Zeph poked his head around the corner and pecked his mom on the cheek. “Goodnight.”
“My, don’t you look happy tonight. What did you boys do that got you so excited?” Faith took note of his unquenchable smile.
“We just watched some TV, that’s all.” Zeph ignored the remark about “you boys.”
“TV gave you that big of a smile?” Faith pursed her lips and squinted her eyes, and Zeph shrugged noncommittally.
“So how are Cheydan and Maddock? Did they have a nice summer? I heard they went to Zimbabwe. That must have been exciting. Did they tell you all about it tonight? I’d like to hear the story.” Faith turned off the TV and patted the couch beside her.
Zeph signed and sat down next to his mother. “They’re fine, Mom, but they didn’t tell me about their trip tonight.” They had told Zeph about it on the first day of school, but he’d been too busy staring at Eve to listen to them.
“Oh really? I would have thought that would be foremost on their minds.”
Zeph sighed again and gave up the pretense. “I wasn’t hanging out with Cheydan and Maddock tonight, Mom. I was with… another friend.”
Faith smiled knowingly and nodded. “I know. Their mother called to chat tonight. Why did you lie?”
“I didn’t lie!” Zeph insisted, but his face begged for forgiveness. “I said I was hanging out with my friends. I just didn’t specify which ones.”
“You know your father and I assumed you were with the Engels. Now tell me who you were really with, Zephaniah.” Faith tried to twist her face into a disapproving scowl, but it ended up being comical. With her bright blonde hair and unlined face, she looked too young to be motherly.
“It’s nobody you know. Just this girl named Eve Jones that I met at school the other day.” Zeph dropped his eyes, dreading her reply.
“A girl? Zeph, that’s fantastic! Do you like her? Would I? Tell me all about her!”
“Tell you all about who?” Zeph’s father replied, coming out of the bedroom. He hadn’t aged as gently as his wife. Streaks of gray highlighted his otherwise dark hair, and his belly protruded quite a bit past his belt. These features made him even more intimidating in Zeph’s mind.
“Zeph met a girl at school the other day, Geoff. They were hanging out together tonight.” Faith winked.
“Didn’t you tell us you were going to the Engel’s tonight?” Geoff frowned.
“No sir, I just said I was hanging out with friends.”
“Hrummpphh.” Geoff plopped down in his recliner and pulled the handle, propping up his feet.
“So tell us about this girlfriend of yours, Zephy.” Faith’s eyes twinkled mischievously.
Zeph rolled his eyes. “She’s not my girlfriend, Mom. She’s just a girl I met, and she invited me to come over and watch this show about angels with her.”
“Why did she think you’d be interested in a show about angels? You didn’t tell her you were a Celestia, did you?” Zeph’s dad scowled.
“No, she just saw me reading a book about them and thought I liked them. Turns out she’s really into angels, and we started talking… anyway, she invited me to come over, so I did.”
“Oh sweetheart, that’s just wonderful!” Faith put down her knitting and reached out to embrace her son. “And you must have had a good time because you came home all smiles. Tell us what she’s like.”
Zeph’s grin returned as he thought about how to describe her. How do you describe the feeling of a sunny day? Wo
rds can’t do it justice.
“She’s really pretty. She has this amazing red hair. And she’s really smart — like way smarter than me, I’m sure.”
“And you think she likes you?” Geoff raised an eyebrow.
“Well, she kissed me.” Zeph dropped his head to hide his enormous grin.
“Zeph, that’s your first kiss, right? That’s so exciting! I can’t wait to meet her. You have to invite her over here next time. Why don’t we have her for dinner on Saturday?”
“Mom, that’s a little soon, don’t you think? I just met her two days ago.”
“Well, you met her family tonight, didn’t you? What are they like?”
“Yeah, I met them. They were really nice. It’s just her mom and her two younger brothers. Her dad… died.”
“Oh, how sad,” Faith cooed. “I feel so bad for those poor humans who lose their loved ones early.”
“Well, that’s the weird thing. I’m pretty sure she’s Celestia, not human.”
Faith and Geoffrey both tilted their heads and scrunched their eyebrows.
“So her mother is Celestia?”
“No, and neither are her brothers, but I’m almost positive she is. I don’t think she knows anything about it, though.”
“But I thought you said her dad died?”
“Well, technically her stepdad died, but he’s the only dad she knows. Her real father left when she was a baby.”
“Celestia don’t abandon their families, Zephaniah. You know that.” Geoff shook his head and pointed the remote at the TV.
“I know; there must be more to the story, but I’d bet anything that he was Celestia.”
“Why do you think that, Zeph? I don’t understand. Does the girl have powers?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know; that’s another weird thing. If she does I can’t recognize them. But she looks exactly like a Celestia!”
“Nonsense. You can’t tell a Celestia just by looking,” Geoffrey insisted.
“What do you mean, ‘she looks like a Celestia’?” Faith pressed, turning down the volume and ignoring her husband’s answering scowl.
“You know, she just kind of glows like a Celestia.” Zeph traced a body-shaped outline with his hands.
“What do you think we are, lightbulbs?” Geoff readjusted the volume. “That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Faith gave her husband a gentle frown and turned her attention back to Zeph.
“Not like an actual light, just that special presence that tells you who they are,” Zeph explained.
“Zeph, you already know all the Celestia in the area; I’m sure that’s why they stand out to you. But Celestia look exactly like humans. They have to so they can blend in,” Faith answered.
Zeph disagreed, but there seemed no point in arguing, so he just shrugged. Maybe they’d understand once they met her.
“Are you going to see each other again?” Faith asked, hopeful.
“I’ll see her at school tomorrow. Maybe I will invite her over. You don’t mind?”
“Of course not, sweetheart! You can have your friends over any time.”
Zeph skipped up the stairs to his room and barely had the door closed before his sister came barreling in through their shared bathroom and flopped herself onto the middle of his bed. “Zephy! How was your date? You have to tell me everything!”
Zeph kicked off his shoes into the pile near his closet and tossed his jacket onto his desk chair before plopping down next to Risse and pushing some junk off the side of the bed so he could stretch out. He propped his head up with his arm and gave her a cheshire grin. “It was amazing.”
At the memory of Eve’s kiss, Zeph’s cheeks turned the same color as Risse’s Love Pink pajama bottoms. Risse’s eyes grew wide, and her mouth fell open.
“Zephaniah, what did you do?!”
Zeph chuckled and closed her mouth with a finger under her chin. “I didn’t do anything; I was a perfect gentleman. She’s the one who kissed me.”
Risse’s mouth fell open again, and her heart squeezed with a confusing mix of emotions. She was thrilled for her brother — he’d never even been out with a girl before, let alone kissed, but a little gremlin of envy soured the moment.
Lots of guys had asked her out, but so far none of them had inspired even half the sense of attraction that Risse could see shining in her brother’s eyes. She had a little crush on Zeph’s friend Cheydan, but she didn’t really think he was the one, and he was either too scared or too uninterested to pursue her. Even though Zeph was older, Risse always assumed she’d be the first one to find love. In fact, she almost wondered if Zeph ever would.
Risse squished down her jealousy and forced out a smile. She really was happy for him, and he deserved his moment of joy. “Tell me all about her, Zeph.”
Zeph flopped over onto his back and stared at the ceiling, his eyes glazing over as he remembered every little detail about the girl he was officially in love with.
“She’s so smart, Risse. And pretty. Well, you know, you saw her.”
“Add some volume on top and some loose curls at the ends, and that hair would be amazing,” Risse replied, but Zeph just rolled his eyes.
“She’s perfect just the way she is, Risse.”
Risse stretched out on her side facing Zeph and took a turn rolling her eyes. “Nobody’s perfect, Zeph. If you put her on a pedestal, you’ll be disappointed when she falls.”
Zeph rolled onto his side again to face his sister, his expression making it obvious he’d given it some serious thought. “I know she’s not perfect, Risse, but she’s perfect for me. She’s everything I’m not, but she’s also kind of shy and insecure, which is the only reason I even had a chance with her. She’s had some tough breaks — her real dad left her, her stepdad died, and it sounds like her mom has struggled to take care of them on her own.”
Risse’s brow wrinkled with sympathy. “That’s so sad. Do you think you can help her?”
Zeph’s Celestia gift still hadn’t revealed itself, but Risse was one of the few people who believed he had one, buried somewhere inside. Maybe he just needed to find the person he was meant to use it on first.
“That’s the weird part. Even after all that, the only thing she seems to be lacking is self-confidence. But God knows I’m not the one to help anybody with that; I’m the poster boy for low self-esteem!”
Risse chuckled and ruffled her brother’s hair. “Maybe we’ve got it backwards, Zeph; maybe she’s supposed to help you.”
Her tone was teasing, but her words gave Zeph pause. What if Risse was right?
Chapter 8
Zeph glided through school the next day on a cloud of happiness that blinded him to anything but the pleasure of remembering his time with Eve. Even Señorita Santino couldn’t burst his bubble.
“Zeph,” she called from her desk as she was grading papers. The rest of the class was working on an assignment, pencils scratching furiously on papers, but Zeph was too busy daydreaming. Lunch was next and he couldn’t wait to see Eve.
“Uh, sorry, Señorita.” She must have caught him staring into space.
“Zeph, will you please come here?” Zeph scrubbed his face as he slunk to her desk.
“I just graded the assignment you turned in today, and I have to say I’m amazed. I’ve never seen you do so well on a worksheet. You must have been practicing over the summer!”
“Oh, uh, no, not really,” Zeph stammered, surprised.
“So how do you explain this dramatic improvement?”
“I, uh, I had some help.” Zeph stared intently at the speckled tile floor. They must have chosen the pattern for its dirt-camouflaging properties, not its attractiveness, he thought offhandedly.
“Is that why your answers are exactly the same as Eve’s were?” She raised a bushy eyebrow and pursed her lips, pushing her long, dark curls behind her shoulder.
“Yeah, we were doing it together last night. Sorry.”
“I didn’t know you two we
re friends.”
It wasn’t exactly a question, so Zeph didn’t feel compelled to give an answer. He shrugged instead.
“So, did you do this together, or did she do it, and you just copied?”
“No! I didn’t cheat! I swear, Señorita! We were working on it together!”
“Okay, Zeph, I believe you. Hopefully your friendship will improve your Spanish grade.” She smirked, and Zeph breathed a sigh of relief.
The bell rang, and Zeph looked to his teacher for permission to leave. Her nod sent him racing out the door and towards the cafeteria. He barreled down the hall, weaving through the crowds, the books he hadn’t bothered to drop off at his locker swinging wildly in his arms.
“Ow! What the heck?” The cry followed the loud thwack of books against flesh.
“I’m sorry!” Zeph glanced briefly over his shoulder but screeched to a halt when he recognized his victim. Cheydan was rubbing his elbow, his face pinched in a grimace.
“Is it taco day or something? Why are you in such a hurry?” Cheydan flexed his arm experimentally. “Where have you been, anyway? We missed you at lunch the last few days.”
Zeph’s lips popped open in a proud grin. “You remember that girl I was looking at on the first day of school — the redhead?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, her name’s Eve and we had a date last night. I’ve been sitting with her at lunch.” Zeph hung his thumbs from his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
“Zeph! That’s awesome! When do we get to meet her?”
“Meet who?” Maddock’s identical face popped up next to his brother’s.
“Zeph’s girlfriend.”
Maddock wiggled his eyebrows. “Do tell!”
“Maybe I’ll see if she wants to sit with you guys today. Then you can tell me what you think later. I’m pretty sure she’s Celestia, but I don’t think she has a clue.”
“Intriguing.” Maddock nodded excitedly. “We’ll save you two a spot.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you later, okay?”
The twins nodded, and Zeph raced off, careful to avoid whacking anyone else with his Spanish book.
Date with Destiny Collection: Angel Romance Series: Books 1 - 4 Page 5
