by ID Johnson
“Actually, they broke up,” he said, and I raised both eyebrows at him, “but I see your point. And Eliza wasn’t there. Your sister refused to ever work with her again after… after Christmas.”
“Good,” I muttered. I had a feeling that was probably the case.
“For that matter, Eliza is being transferred to California.”
“What?” I asked again. The shocks just kept coming. “Really? Why?”
“I think Aaron is just as sick of her as the rest of us. So… hopefully, she’ll go out there, and none of us will ever have to see her again.”
“Do you think that will be the case?” I asked, not sure how realistic that might be since it seemed like they did do a bit of traveling and working with teams in other areas.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Maybe wishful thinking. Something tells me she’ll find a way to worm her way back in. I don’t think she’s gotten over Aaron just yet.”
I shook my head, biting my tongue. I know the man is gorgeous, but I was not so impressed with him as a human being, or whatever the heck he was.
“Anyway, I need to head back, see if I can help Christian with that bullet or help track any of our missing persons. I just wanted to talk to you face to face.”
“Thank you,” I said, looking him in the eye. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you keep coming out here to check on me. And I really loved the Valentine’s gift, too.”
He smiled, and it seemed like a bit of the weight was lifted from his shoulders momentarily. “I’m glad you did. I hope this didn’t ruin your Valentine’s Day.”
The thought that not getting anything from Liam was what had ruined my day entered my mind, but I didn’t say it out loud. “No, Cadence is okay; that’s what’s most important. I’m sure she won’t let what happened with Jack go, but you said that’s not really him, right? And she knows that?”
“She’s been told, but I think you’re right. It will be hard for her to keep from blaming herself for what happened to him.”
I really didn’t want to hear that. I brushed my hair back off my forehead and took a deep breath.
Elliott pulled himself out of the chair, and I followed suit. “You’ve gotta pretend like you’re all happy now,” he reminded me. “Your parents won’t believe you if you’re not.”
“Great,” I mumbled, not sure I could pull it off. Suddenly, I felt a wave of joy wash over me, and even though I didn’t forget anything he’d said to me, my steps were a little lighter.
My mom was in the kitchen when we walked in. “Everything okay?” she asked.
I saw all of my roses on the counter, next to another bouquet, which I assumed were hers from Dad. Her worried tone let me know Elliott hadn’t done anything to make her feel better, but I was smiling like an idiot. “Great,“ I said. “Cadence is going to have such an adventure.”
Mom breathed a sigh of relief, and her smile morphed to match my own. I figured that meant Elliott had taken pity on her. “She is, isn’t she?” Mom agreed. “Elliott, can you stay for dinner?”
“’Fraid not,” he said, walking backward toward the door between the kitchen and the dining room, “but it smells delicious. I’ll be back in a week or two, though, I promise.”
“Well, you better be,” Mom shouted at him as he pushed through the door.
I ran to catch up with him and fell into stride with him as he turned around. “Thanks again for everything,” I said as we approached the front door.
“You bet,” he replied. With one hand on the doorknob, he looked back at me. “It’ll all work out, Cass. I’ve seen a lot of sh—stuff in my life, and I will be the first to tell you that it really does all come out in the wash.”
I nodded, not quite sure what that meant, but if he seemed confident everything was going to be okay, then I would be, too. I threw myself at him, and he let go of the door and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me on the top of my head. “See you, lil girl,” he said, and I managed to pry my arms off of him.
“Bye,” I said, watching him disappear out the door and then moving the curtain so I could stare at him as he walked down the walkway and over to his bike like a normal human being. He waved at me and then started the engine. I kept watching until I couldn’t hear the motor anymore. I knew that he wasn’t really a superhero, not like Superman or Batman or any of those other guys, but he was pretty special to me. Right then, he was the only person in the world who trusted me enough to tell me the truth, and I respected that.
Dropping the curtain, I turned and leaned against the door. While I could still feel the lingering effects of his “joy bomb,” it was fading fast, and I hoped I could fool my parents over dinner. Would they know how disturbing I had found Elliott’s story of what went down with my sister?
I hung my coat by the door and grabbed my backpack, thinking maybe my homework would distract me. While it was tempting to call Lucy and Emma, I wanted to keep this information to myself for now. They really only needed to know that Jack was gone and my sister had struck out on her own. The details I could keep to myself. For now, I wanted Elliott’s trust in me to be founded, so I vowed to keep the secret for the time being. Something told me the wash he mentioned was only about mid-cycle, and there was a lot more that was about to come out, though I had no idea why I felt that way.
Chapter 16
I was lost in a sea of taffeta and tulle, silk and satin piled up to my eyeballs. Lucy knew exactly what she was looking for in a homecoming dress—at least she thought she did—but everything she tried on didn’t seem to fit right, or didn’t look right, or something….
This was our second weekend of shopping, and the first one had gone much like this. I had managed to find my dress within an hour on the first day of looking, but Lucy Burk was having issues, and after six more stores, I was about to suggest she just close her eyes and randomly pick one when she surprised me and said, “Hmmm, I think this one might be the one.”
The pile of discarded dresses was starting to get to me, so I began to casually put them back on their hangers while she wasn’t watching. The changing rooms at this particular store were pretty big, and they had a bench inside them, which not only provided me a place to sit while she went through the stack, she was also provided plenty of room to toss each dress when it didn’t work for her. “I like it,” I said, eyeing the form fitting pink satin dress that had a sprinkle of silver rhinestones across the bodice. “It looks great on you, and it’s not at all complicated.”
“You think it’s too simple then?” she asked, turning to look at me.
“No, I think it’s glamorous.” It was strapless, which told me her mom would probably insist on a wrap, but it was really pretty. It would also sort-of match the lavender gown I’d picked out last week, that is, if I decided to go. Lucy had gone ahead and agreed to go with Jason, despite hurting Jessica’s feelings, and I was still praying for a miracle that Liam would ask me. I had stopped holding my breath on that a week ago; otherwise, I would’ve either passed out or turned blue by now.
“Okay,” she said, looking at herself in the mirror again. “I guess… this is the one.” She looked at me and smiled, and I almost started to believe that the saga was over, though I wasn’t sure.
“Great!” I exclaimed. “Then, let’s hang these other ones back up and go get some lunch.”
Lucy groaned. “Don’t they have people for that?” She was taking the chosen one off and getting dressed in her jeans and sweater again as I fought the discarded dresses.
“I’m sure they do,” I replied, hanging another one up on the hook on the wall. “But I don’t want to leave a mess.”
She made another sound, like she felt sorry for me for not being a slob. I absently wondered if there was any chance Liam would be in the food court. We were at the same mall we’d seen him at a few times before, and I hoped he’d be there.
“What’s wrong?” Lucy asked. “You have that look on your face.”
“Oh, nothing,” I
replied, grabbing the last unwanted dress and adding it to the others on the rack.
“Yeah, right.” She slid past me to sit down on the bench to put her sneakers back on. “What’s up, Cass?”
“Well,” I began, picking up the dress she actually did want from where she’d tossed it and grabbing the hanger, “I was just thinking… maybe Liam’s not going to ask me to the dance.”
“It’s possible,” she agreed, pulling her hair out of her sweater. “Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe you should go with someone else. Anyone else.”
I tried not to snicker at her. “I know you hate him, Lucy, though I don’t know why. But… I was thinking… maybe I should ask him.”
Lucy’s eyes bulged out of her head, and her mouth dropped open. She stared at me for a long moment like I had announced to her that I had actually turned into a vampire overnight. “Uh, Cass, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she stammered.
“Why not?” I asked, bracing myself. She really didn’t think there was any way he could like me, did she?
Taking a deep breath, Lucy scooted over and signaled for me to sit next to her. I hung the chosen one on a hook on the back of the door and sat down. “Look, Cass, I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings, but I heard he… asked someone else.”
I felt my breakfast lurching upward, searching for an exit and started gagging, trying not to throw up all over the sea of taffeta. Lucy reached for a water bottle she had in her bag and handed it to me as I began to sputter. I took a drink, swallowed a few more times, and then asked, “Wha—what?”
“I’m sorry. I mean, I know the girl said no, so I don’t think he actually has a date. It’s just… he did ask someone else.”
I inhaled deeply, trying to keep my composure as tears stung the backs of my eyes. Trying to stay rational, I asked her, “How long have you known?” It would be stupid of me to get mad at my best friend when she was just trying to protect me.
Quietly, Lucy replied, “Since Valentine’s Day.”
I turned and stared at her again, my eyes bugging out. “That’s been, like, two weeks!”
“I know,” she replied. “I’m sorry. As much as I don’t like him, I was hoping maybe he’d go ahead and ask you, since you wanted him to so bad. So, I didn’t mention it. Besides….” Her voice trailed off.
“Besides what?”
“Nothing. I’m sorry, Cass.”
We sat in silence for a really long time while I debated whether or not to ask any more questions. She was trying to protect me, but it seemed like everyone in the world thought I was some sort of fragile little snowflake and couldn’t handle the truth about anything. But then… I was the one who’d almost vomited and burst into tears in learning that Liam had asked another girl to homecoming. So maybe they had a point.
I had to know one thing. “Who was it?” I asked, not even turning my head to look at her.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lucy replied. “She doesn’t like him. She said no. She’d rather run her arm through a meat grinder than go to the dance with that pig.”
My forehead crinkled together. Liam was a pretty popular guy. He was cute, a good basketball player, friendly. I couldn’t think of anyone who didn’t like him. Anyone at all. Except…. Suddenly, everything made perfect sense. “You?” I asked, turning to look at my best friend. Lucy didn’t even look up from the floor. “It was you, wasn’t it?” My voice didn’t sound accusatory or angry, just shocked.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice weak. “I don’t know why he keeps trying. I thought I’d made it clear to him I didn’t like him. At all. But…”
“He’s asked you out before?”
She nodded. “That’s why I kept telling you to stay away from him, to stop helping him with his homework.” She swiveled so she was almost facing me. “He’s just one of those guys who can’t take a hint, Cass. Even if you didn’t like him, he’s not my type. And I don’t want to date him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” My voice was borderline angry now. “How could you keep that from me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you,” she replied. “I didn’t want you to think I’d done anything to make him think that I was interested.”
I was up off of the bench now, standing across from her. “Lucy! If I had known how he felt about you, maybe I wouldn’t have spent the last few months thinking I had a chance!”
“Maybe you do have a chance! Surely, he’ll get the hint eventually!” She wasn’t angry at me, but she did sound exasperated.
I ran my hands through my hair and stared at the floor for a moment. I thought back over the last few months. Was there any indication at all that Liam liked Lucy? Had she ever said anything to give me the impression that he was asking her out? “The flowers,” I said quietly. “Valentine’s Day—that bouquet you got, the one you said was from a secret admirer. It was from Liam?”
Lucy’s head bobbed up and down.
“You should’ve told me right then, Luce. You should’ve said something. It might’ve hurt, but at least I wouldn’t have thought there was a chance.”
“You’re probably right,” she said, and I could see tears forming in her eyes. “I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want there to be one more thing for you to be upset about, not right then. Not ever.”
Tears began to cascade down my cheeks. “My whole life is about secrets right now, Lucy. It seems like no one wants me to know anything, and the things I do know, I’m not allowed to say.”
“I know.” She stood up and took a few steps toward me.
I’d told her about Jack, that he was really dead now, that my sister had been shot and almost died, too, that she’d left her team, and while Cadence had called a few times, I could tell how much all of this was weighing on her. Elliott had called to let me know they thought Laura shot my sister on purpose, that they were trying to track her before she could hurt anyone else, that Giovani, the vampire who’d shot my sister first, was still out there somewhere, and he was also a threat. I felt like my entire life was going on behind closed doors, without me, and all I could do was check in with other people to see what was happening.
I opened my arms, and Lucy wrapped hers around my waist. I buried my head in her shoulder for a moment and finally let all of the emotions I’d pent up over the last few months come out. She just hugged me and let me cry, and I’m pretty sure she was crying, too, which made me cry even more because I knew she was the best friend a person could ever have, even if Liam White had asked her to homecoming instead of me.
Finally, I was able to pull myself together and took a step back, sniffling and wiping at my nose with the back of my hand. “I have some tissues,” she said quietly, turning to her purse. She pulled out a few for me and kept a few for herself, and before I knew it we were both drying our tears and actually laughing a little bit at the absurdity of it all.
“I am so sorry,” Lucy said, once we could breathe well enough to talk.
“No, don’t be,” I insisted. “I’m sorry. I should’ve realized Liam was being such a jerk. You kept telling me….”
“I did,” she agreed. “But I understand that you have your own opinion of him.”
I shook my head, trying to figure out how I could be so blind. “I thought… he was different.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, grabbing her bag off the floor and slinging it over her shoulder. “But they never are.”
“What about Jason?” I asked.
A small smile formed at the corner of her mouth. “He’s okay,” she shrugged. “We’ll see.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I wish I had Lucy’s approach to guys. She was definitely of the opinion they needed to prove their value to her, and I envied that. I was more of the, “please notice me!” camp.
Grabbing the hanger off the back of the door, I tossed her dress across my arm. “Let’s go,” I said, pushing all thoughts of Liam out of my mind and now praying he wouldn’t be in the foo
d court.
“I’m starving,” Lucy said, one arm around her midsection, as she headed toward the checkout counter. “Thank God Mom gave me her credit card.” She pulled it out of her back pocket. “Lunch is on me!”
Most of the time, I tried not to mooch off the Burks too much, but today, I would definitely let her cover lunch. And something told me I’d be eating a lot of it, trying to shove my sorrows back down my throat along with a large orange chicken and some fried rice. And after that, we just might have to have a cookie or two. I let out a sigh. Just when I thought life was as complicated as humanly possible, something else came along….
I opted out of staying at Lucy’s that night, even though it probably would’ve helped take my mind off of the craziness. Instead, I went home and stared at my homecoming dress, trying to decide whether or not I should even go. Thankfully, we had not seen Liam at the mall, but I knew he’d be sitting behind me in history class Monday morning, and with only four more days after that until the dance, I didn’t know if it was enough time to get over it.
Calling Cadence really wasn’t an option. She had enough going on right now. The last thing she needed was to hear my sorrows. I’d considered talking to my mom, but she had been so distracted since Cadence was shot and went off on her own, she probably wouldn’t even listen to me anyway. So… I called Elliott. I know it sounds dumb. Why would he want to hear about my problems with a boy in class? Unfortunately, he was really brief with his response, and when I hung up, I didn’t feel any better at all. I got the impression he had somewhere he had to be, and I supposed that made sense because vampires probably like to party on Saturday nights, too, right?
I decided to stay in my room and watch a movie on my laptop. Dad had invited me to watch The Blues Brothers with him, the old one, and even though he loved that movie and I’d watched it with him before, it wasn’t exactly my jam. Tonight, I needed something to make me feel a little bit more like this bit of drama with Liam wasn’t the end of the world, like it could be a whole lot worse. So, I watched The Fault in Our Stars, and by the time it was over, I was bawling like a baby again, not just for their tragic love but for my own as well. At this point in my life, I felt that everything was unfair, that no one would ever love me, my family didn’t mind keeping secrets from me, and I would always live in a web of lies.
