by Nicole Thorn
“You should stop wasting your time on me. I’m a lost cause,” the truth in the words made my stomach feel hollow.
“No such thing.”
Little did he know.
He let me sit alone for lunch and he was quiet all during Art. He sat beside me while we sketched, but he didn’t try and talk to me. I didn’t know what his game was but I was sure that this was part of it.
I changed into my Gym clothes and put my normal ones in my locker, along with my boots. Then I headed to the gym.
Jay was already in there and she was setting up the stations for the day.
“What are we doing?” I asked as I approached her.
She glanced back at me. “Well, you get to pick. I’m making Fridays free play days from now on. So we’ve got a jump rope station—though I wouldn’t recommend it for girls as endowed as you,” her eyes dropped to my chest. “It hurts like a mother fucker,” she frowned. “Or you can walk again, play dodgeball. Whatever you want.”
She looked behind me and smiled. “Maybe you and your new friend can play together.”
I looked behind me to confirm that Hale was approaching. “You know I don’t do humans,” I looked back at her. “Too fragile.”
She put her hand on my arm. “Sweetie. Odds are you can wait a whole lifetime before you meet another immortal. Don’t waste your time being alone because you’re afraid of hurting.”
I took a step back from her. “I just can’t do it, Jenna.”
“Can’t do what?” Hale said as he caught me by the hips.
Jay laughed, “Speak of The Devil.”
I glared at her. “Funny. Bet he’d think you were a hoot.”
“You would know, Damian,” she stuck her tongue out at me and walked away.
“You’re friends with her but you refuse to be mine?” his nails dug into my hips and I got a little dizzy.
I turned around and forced his hands off of me. “She’s a friend of my mother.”
“Not a nice one if she’s joking about you being a child of The Devil,” he said with his eyebrow up.
My heart started beating faster. “Yeah, that would be terrifying, I’m sure.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. Depending on what person it was. I imagine the Antichrist, if he were real, would be more annoying that anything. Entitled.”
I scoffed. “You’re not off.” I’ve met too many of my siblings to disagree. Some can be real bastards.
He glanced around the room and said, “What shall we do today, Rory?”
“We?”
“Yes. We.”
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “I don’t know what I have to do to make you understand this.” I opened my eyes and put my hands on his face to pull him down to eye level. The closeness was unnerving. “Listen to me, Hale. I do not want to be your friend. Ever. Nothing you do will ever change how I feel about this because the reason will never change. I don’t have friends. I don’t date. And that is going to stay that way for a very long time.”
He smiled and grabbed my shoulders, pulling me right to him. I let go of his face. “Aurora, I hear you. I just think you’re wrong. I think you’re a little lonely. I think you can use a friend. I can too.”
Oh. I hadn’t considered that before. That this didn’t have much to do with me. He was new and all alone and he wanted a friend. He thought I was someone who could understand. But he picked the worst person in the world to try and be friends with.
I gently took his hands off of my shoulders. “I’m sorry that you’re lonely. But I wouldn’t be good company for you.”
He clicked his tongue. “I’m not so sure. And I never said I was lonely. I said that you were. I just said I wanted a friend.”
“Then find a better one than me,” I said.
“Allow me to rephrase. I don’t want just any friend. I’d like you to be my friend.”
“Why?” I’ve been extra rude to him all week and he just keeps coming back for more.
“I’ve told you already. You interest me.”
I crossed my arms. I wanted to say something rude to him. I wanted him gone from my life just as quick as he came into it. But I settled for leaving. I went straight to Jay and sat next to her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked the second she saw my face. Hale was approaching us and I needed him to stay away.
“Make him leave me alone,” I said as I fought off tears.
“What? Why?”
“Please?” I looked into her eyes. “Just make him go away.” She was fuzzy as I looked at her through forming tears.
I heard Hale coming and I closed my eyes so he wouldn’t see me crying.
“Rory,” he said. “Please, I don’t know why you—”
“Hale,” Jay said. “Sweetheart, she needs a few minutes. Can you go pick and activity please?”
I didn’t hear him make a move to leave. “Aurora,” I felt his hand on my face. I shut my eyes tighter. “I’m truly sorry for whatever makes you think you’re unworthy of having people in your life. But I promise you that whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” I whispered.
“Hale,” Jay said in a warning tone. His hand moved away from me and I heard his footsteps as he moved away. I opened my eyes to see him leaving the gym. “Guess his activity was going home.”
I sat there and tried to breath through my panic attack. “I don’t know what to do,” I said, breathy.
“What do you mean?”
“Him,” I said harshly. “He won’t leave me alone. I keep asking and he just keeps talking to me. He wants to spend time with me, he says.”
She sighed and eyed me like I was stupid. “Sounds like he wants to be your friend.”
“He does.”
“Okay…so?”
“I don’t need to tell you why I chose what I chose in that regard. I can’t handle loss like my mom can. And I don’t want to deal with it.”
She set her book down and turned to me. “That’s life. You love and you lose. Everybody loses people and you can’t choose to not live just because it’s easier.”
“So I’m just supposed to make friends and love them, then watch them die on me?”
“Yes,” she said like it was obvious. “Everybody deals with that. Not just immortals.”
“Well I don’t want to deal with it. I want it to go away so everything can go back to normal.”
“You can’t just reject life because it doesn’t suit you. Hadley is immortal too. She has friends. She loves people. So does your mother.”
“Yeah. Mom’s loved a lot of people. Most of which are dead now. And she got to watch them die. Lose them and get left behind, never to see them again.”
“Pain is part of being alive, Aurora. You’d really rather miss out on all of the amazing stuff life has to offer, just to spare you pain later?
“That kind of pain? Yes. I’d rather not get the good if it means I don’t get the agony either.”
She looked so frustrated with me. But she just didn’t understand. She’d get to fall in love and grow old with that person. I didn’t get to get old. I was going to age a few more years and be frozen forever.
“Well then that’s what you’ll get. You’ll be alone and you’ll be miserable. You might not feel it now, but you will.”
No. I was fine before and I could be fine again. I already lost my dad. I don’t need a new person making me love them just so I can watch them get old. Weak…sick.
No. It won’t happen again.
Ever.
I left the gym in the middle of class and went to change. I wasn’t in the mood to stay for the rest of class.
I shuffled over to my locker and opened it, grabbed my backpack, and went into a stall. Just in case. I dug inside for my clothes.
And couldn’t find them.
I dug deeper and checked all of the zipper pockets. My shorts, tank top, and boots were all missing. In their place was a note.
Dear self-deprecating and very f
rustrating girl,
I’ve taken your things. Don’t bother asking why. One: I’m not quite sure. Two: this is a piece of paper and asking it a question simply wouldn’t do a thing. And you’d look quite silly.
Anyhow, you will be receiving a message by days end with proof of life for your belongings. Should you choose to ignore it, they will meet a terrible fate.
It wasn’t signed.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I sighed. Alone in the bathroom. Guess I was going home in my Gym clothes.
I popped down to Hell and was grateful it was empty. Mostly.
“You’re early,” the homeless man said. I turned and he glanced me up and done. “And in different clothes.”
“Well, it wasn’t up to me. Someone stole my clothes from my gym locker.”
He smiled and his eyes danced with amusement. “Yes. I’ve always found human effort to be so fascinating. Much like their motivations.”
“What do you mean?”
He chuckled. “You’ll know soon enough. Quite the ride you’ll have too. Should be fun for you. If not only enlightening.”
I just stared at him. He loved to speak in riddles.
“Don’t worry,” he waved his hand and crossed his leg over his knee. “Riddles are often solved. And might I add, your friend is right.”
“About?” He had to be speaking about Jay. She was the only person I could consider a friend.
“When she said pain is part of being alive. You have much more life than most. Shame if you spent your days locked in your room reading.”
I swear this guy must be a sage. He knew far too much.
“I said it to Jenna and I’ll say it to you. I don’t wanna deal with humans. What’s the point? You love them and they love you. Then they die and leave you behind.” Just like Dad did. I loved him more than anything and I had to watch him slowly die my whole life.
“You don’t get to decide who loves you. Most of the time you don’t even get to choose who you love. And wouldn’t it be so much worse to realize you love someone when it’s too late to do anything about it? You waste time and you miss out on living.
“This boy who keeps following you, you reject his attention because you don’t want to get attached to a mortal?”
I nodded.
He laughed. “Do you honestly think that you can go through your endless life and never get attached to a mortal? Your mother has tried. I’ve watched her after every loss swear it was the last time. Then life goes on. The wound scars over and you try again.”
“Maybe I don’t want to scar. Maybe I’d rather be alone.”
He eyed me. “Would you?”
I clenched my fist at my side. “Have you ever lost anyone?”
“Yes,” he said without an ounce of emotion. “Many, many people.”
“And did it hurt? The losses?”
“Yes.”
“Would you choose to go through them again? For all of the good that comes with it?”
“Yes.”
My body relaxed from pure exhaustion. “Why? And how do you deal with it?”
“I’ve already said it. Life goes on.”
“That’s it?” I shrugged. “You just get over it? Move on like nothing happened?”
“Better than a lifetime of loneliness. But it doesn’t matter, because you won’t have that.”
“How do you know?”
He smiled again. “Maybe I am a sage. Go home. You’ve got an interesting weekend ahead of you.”
I did as The Sage told me.
Chapter Five: On The Twenty-Third Day Of The Month Of September…
“Why the Hell are you still in your P.E. clothes?” Hadley asked when I popped into the kitchen and dropped my backpack on the ground.
Brom Bones jumped up on the counter and walked all the way up to her, getting right in her face and meowing loudly. “Shut up, Brom Cat. Nobody but Mom even likes you.”
So true.
The cat meowed at her again.
“FINE!” She screamed. “I’LL GET YOU YOUR BLOOD-TUNA, YOU SON OF A WHORE!” She turned around and shuffled through the cabinets for a can of tuna. When she opened it, the cat meowed louder and jumped to the floor to start biting her heel. “Stop it, Brom Cat!” she stared down and hissed at him. He wasn’t fazed. She started pouring the tuna juice into his bowl. But he was so eager to drink it, he moved his head in the way of the dripping juice. “BROM CAT! I’m not cleaning you off!”
I needed to get the Hell out of here. “I’ll talk to you later, Had. I’m taking a bath.”
“Bye,” she yelled as I started walking.
I walked into my room and dug up a fresh pair of jammies to put on and headed into the bathroom. I dropped my new clothes on the counter and started the bath, adding extra bubbles, as always.
After I shed my clothes, I put my phone within reach and turned on music.
The weather was starting to get a little colder, so a warm bath seemed like the worlds best idea at the moment. If only this room had a TV in it. Then this would be perfect.
My music cut out for a second when I heard the text tone for an unfamiliar number. I groaned and checked to see what it was. I got the odd wrong number text from time to time and I assumed it was just that.
Unknown number: It’s time for our game to begin.
Creepy. I bet I was in for a bunch of sexts. Better let this weirdo know I wasn’t up for it.
Me: You’ve got the wrong number.
Unknown number: I don’t, Lamb. Trust me on that. It was quite difficult getting this number. I had to break several laws.
Jesus…the homeless man was right. I was in for a Hell of a weekend.
Me: Leave me alone, Hale. I’m not interested in knowing you.
Unknown number: So you say.
Me: It’s true. Just save yourself some trouble and get a new hobby.
Unknown number: Oh, I have one.
A picture came through and I looked at it. It was a picture of a wall in a bedroom. The wall had the picture I drew pinned up next to the unmade bed. The focus of the picture was the missing pair of boots and the rest of my clothes. They were resting on a chair and there was a copy of today’s newspaper on the pile.
Me: You…are…awful.
Unknown number: I promised you proof of life.
Me: I think I hate you.
Unknown number: Try all you want but it’s too late. You find me delightful.
Me: I find you annoying.
Unknown number: Lovingly so.
Me: Bite me.
Unknown number: Where?
I slammed my phone down and decided that murdering him would probably be cruel. It wasn’t his fault. He was just dumb.
Unknown number: No answer? Okay, then. I’ll take that as you saying I get to pick. And I know just where I’d like to take a nip at you. You look quite soft. What are you wearing? It’ll help me decide for sure.
Me: Bubbles. Leave me be.
Unknown number: Bubbles?
Me: I’m wearing bubbles. I’m taking a bath. One that you’re ruining, by the way.
Unknown number: Other than that, how’s your day going?
Me: Bad. Some British guy stole all of my clothes and now he’s annoying me while I’m trying to relax.
Unknown number: What a dick. I’ll beat him up for you. Just give me a name.
That, I laughed at. I couldn’t help it.
It didn’t seem like he’d be letting up anytime soon, so I added his number into my phone. I still wanted to know how he got my number. Something shady, I’m sure.
Me: Are you going to tell me why you stole my stuff? By the way, you’re not allowed in the girl’s locker room.
Hale: You keep shutting me down. And I needed a reason to get you to speak to me. Just until you realize you enjoy my company and then want to talk to me of your own accord.
Me: Never gonna happen. Keep the clothes.
Hale: Well, that’s one way to have your clothes crumpled in the corner of
my bedroom.
Ah, well that clears some things up.
Me: Okay, I get it now.
Hale: Do you?
Me: You just want to get in my pants. Not happening. So you can move on to one of the brain dead girls that have been following you all week.
Hale: If all I wanted to do was fuck you, trust me when I say I wouldn’t be trying this hard. And I would have taken the hint days ago and moved on. But that isn’t what I want from you.
Me: I’ve got nothing you’d want.
So, please just leave me be.
Hale: I’d just like a bit of your time. One day. After that, if you don’t want to speak to me anymore, I’ll never try again.
Tempting, but I didn’t believe him.
My phone rang and because I was stupid, I answered it. “Yes?”
“Hello,” Hale said, sounding far too pleased. “I decided that I’d rather hear your voice than a text tone. Your false annoyance is far cuter when I can hear the inflection.”
I sighed, “You’re trying so hard for something that you’re never gonna get. Why don’t you just hang up and go find another way to waste your time.”
He laughed. “Well, I would have, but what I find truly fascinating is how hard you’re fighting. It’s sparked an interest in figuring you out that is far too strong to shake at this point. So strange, you are. An innocent looking Lamb with some kind of darkness in her? How can I resist?”
The bubbles in my bath were starting to disappear and the water cooled. I wasn’t any closer to being relaxed than I was when I found my clothes gone.
I softened my voice and tried to sound as nice as I could, “Hale, it really is best for you if you let this go. I’m not the kinda girl you wanna get tangled with. It would get messy. And it would end with a lot of pain.” I didn’t mention that it would be my pain. Not his. I knew that if I let myself, I could grow to really like him. I wasn’t willing to do that.
“You keep proving to me that you are exactly the kind of girl I want to get tangled up with.”
“I’m hanging up now,” I said but didn’t do the action.
I heard his light breaths on the other side of the phone while he waited. “Are you?”
