Blessed

by S. J. West

  Thankfully my first class was with Brand. As long as I was with him, I could handle anything life put in my way, including a room full of curious stares and quiet gossiping.

  When Dr. Floyd entered the room I could see he was making an effort not to stare at me directly, but I did see him shake his head a bit as he handed out a set of papers to the class. When I looked at the papers, I realized it was a test. My heart began to pound inside my chest. Obviously I hadn’t studied or prepared to take the test at all. I did read the chapters he assigned, but I wasn’t sure I could remember enough detail to answer the questions laid out before me in perfect type.

  Everyone else around me was busily answering the questions while I looked down at the test in front of me with a despondent heart. I felt a lot like you do when you dream you’ve shown up to class without any clothes on, except I had shown up without enough knowledge inside my head. Great, I really was going to be the bottom of the bell curve now, so much for Brand’s grand idea that I was smart and going to ace my first test in this class, redeeming myself for not being able to find where the room was on my first day. I looked over at Brand and he nodded his head to me as if saying ‘Come on, you can do it’. He began answering his own test questions with unimaginable speed.

  I decided answering at least part of the questions I knew was better than not answering anything at all. I took in a deep breath and read the first question.

  And then it happened. Just like the phasing I’d been able to do to get out of the prison Justin kept me in, I instantly knew the answer to the question like I had known it all my life. Without knowing why or how, I realized I knew all of the answers to every question.

  It only took me half the class period to finish the test, and I knew I had done well on it. Almost at the same time, I noticed Brand look up from his work. We ended up turning our papers in together.

  As we walked hand in hand out the door, Brand asked, “How did you do?”

  “I think I aced it,” I answered. “It was like the answers just came to me out of no where but at the same time it was like I had known the information forever. Does that make any sense?”

  “Not really,” he said not being able to hide his worry over my new found talent.

  “It’s not an angel trait?” I asked, having already assumed that was the reason and finding it troubling that my conclusion was false.

  “No, not that I know of. We only know so much because we’ve lived so long. Having total recall about something you’ve never actually known? That’s not something I’ve ever known anyone to be able to do.”

  “So what can angels do besides phase?”

  “Well, we’re incredibly strong and agile.”

  “Hmm, I don’t think I’m either on of those. I’m about as agile as a slug.” I thought about it for a minute. “Will said phasing was more of a mental ability than a physical one. Maybe my abilities are more mental than physical. Is that possible?”

  “I think anything is possible with you, my love.”

  I smiled up at him and hugged his arm close. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”

  He stopped me on the sidewalk and turned me so I was facing him. He looked deep into my eyes, as if making sure I fully heard his next words to me.

  “You are my love,” he said bringing me in closer to his body, kissing me lightly on the lips, “and my life. It’s hard for me to explain to you how dark my world was before we found each other. I need you so much it scares me sometimes. I don’t think I can tell you with words how much I love you, but I’ll try my best to show you.”

  “You sure do make it hard on a girl,” I said, ready to throw my books down and ravish him on the spot not caring how such a scene might lower my already tarnished reputation.

  A roguish smile spread across his face and lit up his grey eyes. “Well I certainly hope so. Otherwise I would be concerned I was doing something wrong.”

  Brand walked me to my English composition class. He couldn’t go in with me but he stayed outside the door. All I had to do was yell if something happened.

  “I don’t think they would try to snatch you in front of so many witnesses, especially since they wouldn’t be able to slip in and out without you making a scene. It’s an unspoken code among the other Watchers that exposing their kind is unforgivable,” Brand tried to reassure me.

  I went to sit beside Tara in our usual desks.

  Ever since the whole Michelle incident, Nora kept as far away from Tara and me as she could get. She now sat up front close to Ms. Conner’s desk. Being the best friend of a psychopath had a tremendously adverse affect on Nora’s popularity. She pretty much kept to herself now days from what I knew. I’d heard a few of my classmates say she was just trying to get through the semester here and planned to transfer to a different college in January.

  I pretty much got the same reception in my English class that I had in biology. People stared at me and whispered quietly to each other but didn’t say much directly to me or Tara. Of course, it helped to have Tara sitting beside me like a guard dog ready to rip into the first person who even thought about making a snide remark to me or stare at me for too long.

  After class, Ms. Conner asked that I stay behind to give me an extra assignment to make up for the week I was out. Apparently I had missed a pop quiz so I had to take that in front of her too. Luckily, I had finished reading Taming of the Shrew and passed the quiz without much trouble.

  “Ms. Nightingale,” Ms. Conner said hesitantly while handing me back my graded quiz. “I’m not sure what happened to you last week, but you don’t seem like the type of girl who would just run off with a man to Las Vegas and not tell your friends or family. I know it’s none of my business but if you ever need to talk with someone, I’m here for you.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. Not even my mom had thought to disbelieve Malcolm’s lie. Why did a veritable stranger understand me better than my own mother?

  “Thank you, Ms. Conner. I appreciate that.”

  “I don’t presume to know you, but from reading your journal I think I have a fair idea of the type of person you are. I just wanted you to know how I felt.”

  I thanked her again and walked out of the room feeling a little better about the day.

  Brand walked me to my chemistry class and afterward took me off campus for lunch so I wouldn’t have to endure anymore stares.

  “Human’s have a short memory,” he told me as we drove back to campus for our physics class. “They’ll forget about everything in a few weeks.”

  “Well, to be honest, I thought I would be more upset about it than I am. It’s actually just irritating me. I don’t see any reason for people who I don’t even know to treat me like some pariah on society and their so wishy washy. After what happened with Michelle, I can’t tell you how many people came up to me and told me how sorry they were I had to go through that. Then I spend one week in Las Vegas with a gorgeous guy, and I might as well where a large red A on my chest.”

  “Do you think Malcolm is gorgeous?”

  I looked at Brand and couldn’t help but grin at the concerned look on his face.

  “You have nothing to worry about, Brand. You’re beyond gorgeous to me. But yes, Malcolm is very nice to look at. I’m not going to lie to you and say he isn’t.”

  “Well, as long as I’m better looking, its ok I guess.”

  The vanity of men. Just when you think their indestructible you find a chink in their armor that you wouldn’t have thought was there.

  Physics went pretty well. Luckily, the week I was out the night lab was cancelled due to the TA being sick. It was one of the few classes I wasn’t behind in.

  Brand walked me to Dr. Barry’s office after class. “I have something planned for us to do Friday night.”

  “Oh?” I said excited. “Are we going to do my blood test then?”

  “No, we have to wait on that. My friend said the earliest he could see us would be this Saturday. But we’ll get it done. I p
romise.”

  I was disappointed. I wanted to know what my DNA might be able to show us about why I had the abilities I did. It made me wonder even more about my father. Who had he been? But was that all that was different about me? From what Will had said, I should either be like Abby if my father had been a Watcher, or I shouldn’t exist because angels like him who only inhabited bodies basically became sterile after the possession. So where did that leave me? And as far as I knew, there wasn’t anything angelic about my mother.

  “Then what are we doing?” I asked standing outside Dr. Barry’s office.

  “It’s a surprise. And don’t even bother trying to get any details from me because my lips are sealed on the subject.” He made the motion of locking his lips and throwing away the key.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at him and sneaking in one more kiss before going into work.

  Dr. Barry was actually pretty cool about missing a week of work. She told me not to worry about it.

  “After almost being killed by that lunatic, it’s understandable you needed to get away for a while and blow off some steam,” she said. “Just try to remember to tell someone next time. Although, I can see how you forgot. That sure was a handsome man you had escort you to Las Vegas.”

  When work was over, I was glad to go home.

  Home. That word took on a completely different meaning for me now. It didn’t exactly represent any particular place anymore. When I lived with my mother, Utha Mae’s was more a home to me than the place my possessions were actually kept. Now, home was wherever Brand was. He was my center, the very core of my happiness and future.

  Will was at my apartment when we got there, waiting outside the door.

  “I asked Will to come over and help you practice your phasing some more,” Brand told me. “I need to go take care of some things for our date Friday night.”

  “Won’t you give me a hint, just a little one?” I begged doing my best to entreat just a small bit of information from him.

  “No, and don’t ask anymore, my love.” With a gentle kiss he sent me on my way. “I shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours.”

  “Hey,” Will said when I walked up to him. “Any news on when Brand’s friend can do those test?”

  I unlocked the door to the apartment with Will following me inside. “Yes, we’re supposed to go on Saturday.”

  “Cool, I’d like to go with you two when the results come in. I’m really curious about what they might tell us.”

  “Me and you both.” I laid my books down on the kitchen table and opened the fridge to grab a couple of sodas for us.

  “Oh, hey,” I said handing Will his soda and sitting down on the futon beside him. “I found another skill today.”

  I went on to explain how I had been able to answer the questions on my biology test so easily.

  “That’s not something I’ve ever heard an angel being able to do. I always knew there was something weird about you,” he said with a smile.

  I popped him on the arm with my fist for his little joke at my expense.

  Will tried to help me with my phasing but I ended up sitting in the same spot not being able to phase myself anywhere an hour later.

  “I just don’t understand why I can’t do it whenever I want to,” I said, frustrated by my inability to do what should just come naturally.

  “Well, I’m sure you were more focused the first time and you had a ton of adrenaline running through your system. It’s just going to take more practice. It was hard for me too the first time I took someone’s body over. It was like having to learn how to breathe again.”

  I heard a rattle of keys at the door and saw Tara step into the apartment. I jumped up in alarm as soon as I saw her.

  Her hair looked like a pack of raccoons had fought on top of her head and her shirt had been torn at the seam of both sleeves. There as a slight swelling across one of her cheekbones which indicated she’d been hit fairly hard and a scratch along the side of her neck which stretched from her ear to her collarbone.

  “What happened?” I asked taking her books from her hands and setting them on the table.

  “Got in a fight,” she said slowly lowering herself onto the futon next to Will as if it pained her to move so much.

  “With who?” Will asked.

  “Some nosey body girl outside the library.”

  “You weren’t fighting about me were you?” I asked, but already knew the answer to my question.

  “She was mouthing off about stuff and I just lost my cool.”

  “What was she saying?” I asked.

  “You don’t wanna know, girl. But she’ll think twice about saying anything about you again, that much I can tell you.”

  “Tara, you need to just let it slide next time. I don’t need you getting kicked out of school because of me. How do you think that would make me feel?”

  “I know,” Tara said chagrined. “I just have a hard time letting fools call you names in front of me. It just ain’t right, Lilly Rayne.”

  I sat down beside Tara and hugged her close. I couldn’t lecture her too much about trying to defend my honor. She had always been my protector. It would have been like asking the sun not to rise the next morning.

  As a treat, I called in for Tara’s favorite pizza and invited Will to stay with us for supper. It felt so natural for the three of us to be together again. I’d missed the days when we would just hang out and talk about anything and everything. I hoped the new found understanding between the three of us would last forever.

  True to his word, like I could always depend on him to be, Brand came back to the apartment exactly two hours after he had left. He’d already made a trip back to his house to bathe and brought back some toiletries and extra clothes to spend the night at my apartment.

  I saw Will raise an eyebrow at Brand’s overnight bag but he didn’t say anything. He knew I needed someone to be with me who could phase me away from danger at a moment’s notice.

  As if knowing Tara would need a pick me up, Brand brought over the dirt he’d bought for her online from Georgia. She loved it of course and even got Will to try some of it. At least Will was on my side and agreed it was the worst thing he had ever put in his mouth.

  When bedtime rolled around, Will left. Tara looked at Brand and I with her arms crossed in front of her.

  “I just want it made clear that I expect you to act like a gentleman with Lilly,” she said, looking at Brand with her no nonsense stance. “I understand why you gotta be close to her and all but if I hear anything going on in her bedroom that shouldn’t be, I’m coming in, is that understood?”

  “The door will be open. And after she falls asleep I won’t be staying in the bed with her,” Brand said. “I have no intentions of disrespecting Lilly, Tara. You know how much she means to me.”

  Tara dropped her arms to her sides. “I know. But you know I have to say what’s on my mind too.”

  Later in bed, Brand asked me, “Why is it so important to Tara for you to remain a virgin?”

  “She lost her virginity in our senior year of high school. The guy ended up being a real jerk about it and she wants me to be the one who keeps to the purity pledge we took. I’m not sure why it’s so important to her exactly. I think it’s just that she had such a bad experience with losing hers she’s put more importance on me keeping mine until I’m married.”

  “I’m glad you have someone like her in your life, but she needs to understand I wouldn’t do anything you didn’t want to do.”

  “I think she does,” I said tightening my hold around Brand as he lay next to me. I decided to change the subject. “So not even a hint about what we’re doing Friday night? Can you at least tell me how to dress?”

  “I’ll arrange that. All I need for you to do is be ready for me to pick up at seven that night. I’ll ask Malcolm to come here and watch over you while you’re getting ready.”

  “You trust him to do that?” I asked surprised. “What about Will? I’m sure he’d
be more than happy to come over.”

  “I’d rather Will didn’t,” Brand said cryptically.

  “Why?”

  “Having Will around would make the night feel odd for me and I think it would be disrespectful to him in the long run.”

  Well, that certainly made me even more curious. What could he possibly have planned?

  The next morning I asked Brand to take me over to Malcolm’s before my first class.

  “Why?” He asked not understanding my motives.

  “He’s my friend. I want to make sure he’s all right. And I want to make sure he knows he can come see me when he needs to.”

  To be honest, I was worried Malcolm might fall off the wagon and kill someone because of the new rule Brand had made about seeing me. I knew I should be worried more about an innocent life being taken, but if I was honest with myself, I was more concerned about Malcolm’s well being. He had confessed to me he didn’t like the monster he had become. Killing people and drinking their blood was a weakness he detested about himself. I loved Malcolm as a friend and didn’t want to see him backslide into his old ways. I almost felt like I was his personal AA sponsor except instead of alcohol I was responsible for making sure he didn’t indulge in his vampiric cravings.

  Brand phased us to Malcolm’s house. When I knocked on the front door, a young man who looked closer to Brand’s age than mine opened it. He was around six feet tall, with short cropped white hair, hair exactly like Abby’s. I could see a resemblance to Malcolm right away but there was also a softness I had to presume came from his mother. I’d only seen Sebastian once before: the night Malcolm had come to Lakewood to kill me. At the time Sebastian had been transformed into his werewolf self. It was nice to see the human part of Malcolm’s son before me.

  “Lilly,” Sebastian leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “It’s so good to see you again. My dad will be glad you came.” Malcolm’s son looked at Brand and just nodded. It wasn’t a friendly nod, just one of acceptance that his presence was necessary.