Chapter Seventeen
It was Friday, and finally the day before the ball. Tonight would be the celebratory ‘night parade’ and all the people running for court would be given one last opportunity to sway voters by being on Ecole’s float. Since I was officially on the ballot, thanks to Nikki, that included me.
I woke up early, feeling more energized than I thought possible after the night before. I even went on a run around the neighborhood. I felt so alive afterwards; I could hardly remember that I had been so close to death in the first place. Hayden’s parents were there when I woke but Hayden still wasn’t back. We had a nice, yet quiet, breakfast together and I tried to cheer up Elizabeth by cooking with her. They gave me a ride to school and assured me Hayden would be back soon.
When I got to school, the atmosphere over was ecstatic, but I had a lot more on my mind than just the parade. Luke was gone and Hayden skipped school. Marie seemed like she was avoiding me and Nikki was everywhere, bouncing off the walls in her excitement. I felt alone and regretted telling Hayden about my diving accident last night. He would have been here with me instead of out searching for ghosts if I hadn’t.
I dragged myself to my locker before first period to kill time. When I opened it, something fell out. My heart stopped as I, once again, automatically suspected the worst. I looked at the floor, and my mood instantly improved. Laying on the floor by my feet was a single rose whose petals looked blood-red against the shiny linoleum. I picked it up between my thumb and forefinger, removing with my other hand a scrolled note tied to the stem. My heart filled with warmth and spread to my smile as I unfurled the note. The handwriting showed it was not from whom I expected it to be from, but was familiar nonetheless.
You are safe with me. Meet me in the parking lot during lunch.
Love yours and forever,
Luke
Why did I still have a ridiculous smile on my face as I walked to English? Why didn’t I leave the rose in my locker? Why did I keep rubbing the soft petals of the rose against my lip, inhaling the smell of flowers and the lingering scent of autumn? It didn’t even bother me how foolish I looked as I sat in my usual desk in Mr. Atkins' class, my daydream only interrupted by someone calling my name.
“Hayden is so sweet. You’re so lucky, Ana.” Bailey was smiling at me in a similar day-dreaming state when I finally woke out of mine.
“Hayden?” I wondered why she had brought him up. Did she know something? I thought briefly before realizing the rose I still held in my hand. “Oh. Right. Yes, yes he is.” I smiled at her reassuringly before Mr. Atkins started and she took her seat. Of course that was why she had brought him up. I was fondling a rose that wasn’t even from my boyfriend. Why on earth would that make me feel so giddy? Because that was exactly what I needed. I felt alone today, and after last night, scared. To know he was watching and I would be safe had given me the same feelings deep in my stomach that I get with Hayden. Wasn’t that one of the things I loved about Hayden? Did I even know what love was anymore? What was wrong with me?
As much as I wanted to listen to and distract myself with Mr. Atkins' lecture, I failed miserably. I even tried to get a head start on our final paper but couldn’t get past the first sentence. I thought about Nikki and Marie, but didn’t want to bore them with my problems. I didn’t have the heart to spoil Nikki’s good mood and Marie still seemed distant.
My heart leaped when Marie came to my side in the hallway during passing time. She nudged my shoulder and I smiled at her unspoken apology.
She examined my face and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
I explained to her my near accident at work and she instantly pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry I was acting weird the other night. I just needed some alone time; you needed me and look how I acted.”
“No, its fine Marie, you had a lot on your mind and I’m alive, aren’t I?” For now, the somber thought flashed in my head.
“Yeah, but you don’t look okay. Is there something else bothering you?”
“It’s not a big deal, I’ll be fine. Tell me what’s going on with you and, well, you know,” I tried to casually mention the voodoo. If she didn’t want to talk about it, I was okay with that, too, but I needed her to know I was there for her.
“Don’t you dare change the subject,” she said with a smile and a gasp. I was glad my mention of the other night didn't turn her cold. “Tell me what’s bothering you. You know I won’t judge you.”
“I…nothing, it’s fine.”
“Adriana Rae. I will not let you go to your next class until you tell me what’s up.”
I quickly clamped a hand over her mouth and drug her to the other end of the hall. “Shh! People are going to hear my middle name!” I stared at her, knowing that was her intent. “Fine,” I spoke as I exhaled. She smiled satisfactorily. “I feel so stupid saying this, but, well, you know Luke, right?” Of course she knows Luke. Gosh, I am not good at this sharing thing. “Well, I know you guys haven’t gotten the best impression of him, but you don’t see the side of him that I do. The fact is, he has a good heart, and he’s very sweet…”
“Oh my God, Ana!”
I hushed Marie before she could say anymore. “It’s not like that at all. But I do care about him. And everything that’s happened has just made my brain go in circles. I have felt more in the past few months then I have felt in my entire life. I guess I just don’t know what to do with it all.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say…”
“Nothing. I don’t want you to say anything. I’m sorry I even brought it up. I guess I just needed someone who would listen. Please, don’t think badly about me. I love Hayden, I know that for sure. I just don’t know if I love Luke as well.”
“Wow, that’s pretty serious, Ana. I have never, obviously, been in a situation like that. But I know that love is a powerful thing. It is also infinite. You can love another person without loving someone else less.”
My thoughts spun over her words. “But if I did, what does that say about me? What kind of person does that make me?” Marie said nothing as I answered my own question.
If Hunters really only had one person they could love, only one person their entire lives were meant for, then either Hayden or Luke would live forever alone. But it wasn’t fair to be doing what I was doing with Luke. I shouldn’t have given him hope that we could ever possibly be together. I did care about him but if he couldn’t see the difference between our friendship and something else, then we couldn’t be friends at all. I had made my choice, and in the beginning he'd made his. It could never be different, couldn’t he see that?
I got to my locker to put my books in before meeting Luke for lunch. When I opened it, I had yet another surprise inside. An oversized box now filled my locker. I pulled off the attached envelope and read the card. My heart fluttered again at the familiar penmanship.
Bring this with to lunch. You’ll need it.
Love yours, always and forever,
Luke
The excitement to know what lay in the box pushed any thoughts of canceling the lunch with Luke completely aside. I pulled out the giant white box and slowly popped the top off. I set the box down, shaking out a plush velvet blanket that was as red as the rose. I shook my head in awe and wonder at what exactly he had planned for lunch. I clutched the soft blanket in my arms. This is not a good idea I thought as I walked toward the parking lot in excitement.
Luke was standing outside his car waiting for me, just as I'd imagined. I hope Nikki won't be too mad I'm skipping out on lunch with her I thought as Luke opened the passenger door for me. As the car door shut with me in it, I kept telling myself to stop. But I couldn’t. I was like the proverbial moth to a flame. My head said one thing and my body did the other.
Luke was smiling victoriously as he drove away from the school's parking lot. I hit his arm to knock off his annoying expression. That only made him smile further.
I looked in the back seat to see a neat wicker picnic basket
and my heart stung. “So, what, a picnic? Oohh, how original,” I tried to sound like I wasn’t impressed.
Luke laughed at my attempt at sarcasm. “Yeah, something like that,” he said around a laugh.
When we didn’t stop after a while, I became skeptical. “Where are we going?”
“Just relax.”
“Please don’t tell me were going to Lafitte.”
“God, no.” He shook his head and I was glad he was as bothered by the memory as I was. “Just calm down. You’ll see in about ten minutes.”
I looked around and upon seeing we were in downtown, I started guessing again. “Are we going to get beignets?”
“Nope.”
“Are we going to my bench?”
“No. Geez, Ana. You don’t like surprises, do you?”
“I’ve just have had enough surprises in my seventeen years to last a lifetime.”
“Well, this is a good surprise,” he emphasized.
We parked in front of a meter around Jackson Square and I thought maybe Luke had lied about the beignet idea. I was getting out of the car when Luke came around to help me finish getting out.
“You don’t have to do that, you know.”
“I know,” he said simply. I noted he had never held the door open for me before which reminded me of Hayden, who always had been the gentlemen. I frowned at the thought. “But I want to,” Luke added, which made me frown even further. He handed me the blanket, then grabbed the picnic basket and my hand as he led me down Decatur Street. We passed the artists in front of the cathedral, pausing to laugh at a few caricatures.
“Samuel,” Luke stopped at a carriage, nodding to a man who acknowledged him. “Mi’Lady,” Luke joked as he held out his arm for me to enter the carriage.
I laughed. “You’re kidding right?”
“No, not at all.”
I shrugged, long past the point of return, and grabbed his arm to lift me into the horse-drawn carriage.
“You know you’re not from the 1800s,” I spoke when Luke sat down next to me.
“I know. But sometimes, all we have is our past.”
“Then I guess I should say, ‘thank you mi’lord.’ Even though that’s a different time period and location.” People really needed to start brushing up on their history lessons.
“Whatever works.” He winked at me and began to unfurl the blanket over me.
“Thank you.” There was sadness to my voice as I realized the intimacy of said picnic.
Luke started pulling out containers of food as the carriage pulled away, the sound of hooves on concrete breaking our silence.
“So, what is this all for?”
“You’re not very trusting of people are you? Can’t you just believe that I love you and want to do something nice for you?”
“No,” I said to all of his questions.
“Well, I wanted to bring you to the ball in a carriage. But since I’m not going to the ball, I guess we’ll just do the carriage.”
“What? What do you mean you’re not going to the ball?”
“Geez, don’t sound too excited about it, Ana. Have some restraint.” He laughed sadly. “But yes, to answer you, you didn’t want me to go to the dance, so I won't.”
I impulsively wrapped my arms around him. The feel of his thumbs caressing my back made me peel away.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to go. I am just scared. About what might happen. You know that, right.”
“It’s fine. I don’t care about a high school dance; I was just going for you, anyway. There is one important little detail you forgot in why this could never come true, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Why would your dad’s friend be at our school’s dance?”
I looked thoughtful for a moment. “Good point! Thank you so much. Thank you for all of this.” I held my free hand out to show the carriage and picnic.
“It’s nothing,” he shook his head, looking away. “I didn’t know what you liked so I just brought a bunch of stuff. I hope it’s okay.” We regarded each other in silence as we ate. I watched him quizzically as he ate, knowing he was just doing it for show. I frowned at the thought. “So, are you going to tell me what happened?”
I finished swallowing a bite of my vegetarian muffaletta. “Tell you what?”
“C’mon, Ana. When you were diving?”
“Oh.” Now I remembered. “I actually had almost forgotten.”
“I’m sure,” he smiled darkly.
“What about it?” I asked, not understanding his concern or how he knew about it in the first place.
“You think I would leave you? I would never leave you, Ana. If I’m gone, it is to protect you. But I am always watching you from afar.”
“Ok, stalker,” I joked, but he wasn’t kidding.
“Hayden had left you. His Hunts are more important to him than you. But I was there. I’ll never leave you.”
“Where were you when I almost drowned?” I bit my lip in anger at the mention of Hayden. How could he say that when he knew the consequences? But I didn’t ask that. Instead I only wanted to know why he hadn’t rescued me like I'd hoped someone would.
“I was there, I swear. I tried to get to you, I can’t explain it but when I did you were already safe.”
“Do you know what grabbed me?” I prepared myself for his answer.
“No. Not yet.”
I nodded. Nothing was ever just black and white.
“What’s with that guy you were with?”
“What?”
“Zack. I don’t like him. You need to stay away from him.”
“Excuse me?”
“I swear, Ana. Hayden is one thing. He can’t die, but Zack… I don’t think I could control my anger around him.”
“You’re completely insane, Luke! Stop the carriage.” I called to the driver and threw the blanket off of me. “For one, Zack is a family friend. For two, it’s not even like that. At all. For three—stop the carriage, please!” I yelled again as we were not yet stopping.
“You can’t leave, yet. Please, Ana, sit down.”
“Please let me off.” I turned my attention back to Luke. “No, Luke. And for three, you are not my boyfriend and have no say in who I can and cannot be friends with.”
“Ana…”
“No, Luke. This was a mistake. And thank you for making me realize that. Goodbye.”
The carriage hadn’t stopped completely as I hopped off. What was I doing? I had never been more indecisive in my life. I was so hot and cold. I was completely turned upside down by Luke and the only way to stop it was to avoid him for good. I didn’t know where I would get the willpower to do so, but I knew if I kept this up, I would fail. Marie said that love was infinite but it didn’t feel that way. It felt the more I opened up to Luke, the more I was pulling away from Hayden. Most of all, it felt wrong.
I knew what I had to do. I had to avoid Luke until I could figure out was going on with my emotions. The only good thing that came from this lunch was that I now knew Luke wouldn’t be going to the dance. Now I just had to garner the strength to avoid him for another day-and-a-half.
Luke caught up to me as I made my way toward the cabs parked on St. Charles Ave. “Ana, stop. Go back to my car, now.” He was trying to steer me by my elbow in the opposite direction.
“No, thanks. I’ll just take a taxi back to school.” I pulled my arm away as if he’d burned me.
“That is ridiculous, Ana, I will give you a ride.” His voice rose as he spoke until he yelled the last part at me, causing a few nearby tourists to turn their heads.
Luke was distracted by the attention and I used that opportunity to jump in an awaiting cab.
“Just drive, I’m going to Metairie,” my voice shook with haste as I spoke to the cab driver.
Sure, I could have saved twenty bucks and made Luke bring me back to school. But having some time away from him and giving my willpower a break was worth the expense.
I handed the
cab driver, who didn’t seem too happy about my destination, some cash and told him to keep the change.
The parking lot was full again with no students in sight, so I assumed lunch period was over. I looked at the time on my phone and it was already over fifteen minutes into my next class. Since I had my phone out anyway, I dialed Hayden’s number. The wind blew a chill about the same time I heard Hayden’s generic voicemail pick up. Where was he? I didn’t think I ever remembered hearing Hayden’s voicemail before. Suddenly, I felt very alone. It was the perfect moment to doubt myself because everything was starting to take a turn for the worse, it seemed. I thought I knew my friends but there was a part of Marie’s life that was a mystery. I thought I knew Hayden but he never shared anything about Hunting with me and now, when I needed him most, he had disappeared. Most of all, I thought I knew myself but apparently I couldn’t even trust that.
I walked back into school, heading straight to my locker, thinking I really didn’t have anything better to do and I certainly not wanting to go home and mope.
I waited for Nikki outside her class. And she took one look at my face and said, “Oh no you don’t.”
“What?” I raised my shoulders, just as surprised as I was confused.
“I know that look.”
“What look?” Was I that transparent?
“It’s the look you give when you are trying to get out of something. I’ve seen that look right before you talked yourself out of going shopping with me and I am telling you right now Adriana, I am not letting you get out of doing this parade.”
My mouth dropped open a little at how well she knew me. “What do you mean, doing this parade? I thought we were just taking our usual post on Canal Street?” There was definitely something she was not telling me…
“C’mon Ana, you know all the students running for royalty get to go on Ecole’s float in the parade. You have to sway your voters!”
Aftermath Page 12
