Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4)

by Dune, Kyra

  “I don’t care. If she won’t open the door for you, I’ll blast it down. I can do that.”

  Brandy pulled away slightly and gave me the strangest look. “Listen to you. You aren’t the girl who used to come crying to me for every little trouble.”

  “I guess I’m growing up. Maybe even,” my next words were hard to say, but not as hard to imagine as they would have been a month or two ago, “growing away from you. That doesn’t mean I don’t still love you. I do. You’re my best friend. One of the most important people in my life. I need you here. It would break my heart to lose you. But I don’t want you to stay if it’s making you miserable.”

  “I think that may be the most mature thing I have ever heard you say.” Brandy shook her head. “I’m not going to leave you. My behavior last week was irrational. I’ve been upset. This situation is most trying. And yet, I couldn’t possibly go. This may not have occurred to you, but I need you too.”

  My mouth fell open. “You do? I kind of figured I was this weight around your neck. You’re always having to clean up all my messes. I’d think you’d be happy to be rid of me.”

  Brandy pursed her lips. “I’m loathe to say this, and ask you not to repeat it, but Hannah was not entirely incorrect as to the cause behind my ill mood. Though most of it stems from my concern for you, part of it does come from the alteration to our relationship. Our dynamic is shifting and I’m having some difficulty catching my balance. Change is no easy thing for me.”

  “You’ve been through a lot,” I said. “I got so wrapped up in my own stuff, I forgot about more than Curtis’ birthday. I’m sorry. I want to fix this. I want us to be good friends again. Tell me what I need to do.”

  “Don’t let Curtis know you forgot his birthday. That would be a nice start,” she said. “It’s a pity he can't have a party.”

  That sparked an idea. I bounced off the couch. “Hold that thought. And if anybody comes back, keep them here.” I started for the door.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Wait and see.” I grinned at her over my shoulder before leaving the room.

  It took almost no effort for me to find someone who could point me to where Luka lived with his family. I only hoped Curtis wasn’t already there, or that the two of them weren’t off somewhere together. I could probably have gotten Jonah to help me out instead, but I thought it would mean more to my cousin if it was Luka.

  When I got to his door, I found myself hit with a bad case of nerves. I didn’t know Luka very well. I wasn’t even sure he and Curtis were still hanging out. Which just went to further prove how I’d been ignoring my friends.

  I stood there for a good five minutes going back and forth in my head, before I finally decided to take a chance and knock on the door. The worst Luka could do was tell me to get lost. When the door opened I was greeted by the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. She looked up at me with these big chocolate brown eyes. I swear, she was like a living doll.

  “Hi, there sweetie,” I said. “Is your brother here?”

  “Uh huh.” She wandered off, leaving the door open. I thought about following her, but was afraid that would be way too intrusive. I opted to hang out in the hall instead, waiting to see if she actually went to get Luka.

  Luka did come to the door, looking a little uncertain until he saw it was me. “Oh, hey. Abigail, right? All Baily would say is a lady was at the door for me. We keep telling her she needs to ask who it is, but she always forgets. You need something?”

  “Are you still hanging out with my cousin?”

  “Yeah.” He said the word with a hint of hesitation. “Why?”

  “Today is his birthday. He’s turning fifteen and I’d like to do something special for him. I know it can’t be much, considering where we are, but I was hoping you might have some ideas.”

  Luka grinned. “Sure. We manage to do birthdays around here. Give me an hour and keep him out of the cafeteria.”

  “I can handle that.” Though I didn’t have the slightest idea where my cousin was at the moment. “Thanks, Luka. This will mean a lot to him.”

  “He didn’t tell me about his birthday or I’d have been on it already.”

  “Yeah, well, Curtis is kind of shy.”

  He gave me this little lopsided smile. “I noticed.”

  I started to ask him a question, then stopped myself. It wasn’t any of my business to ask. But Curtis was like my little brother, even though, in all truth, we weren’t even really cousins. I was adopted, after all. Not that finding it out had my changed my feelings for him one bit.

  “Do you... Oh god, I can’t believe I’m really asking you this. Do you like Curtis?”

  “Sure. He’s cool.”

  “No. I mean...” I cleared my throat. “Do you like him?”

  Luka leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah.”

  “So are you guys... a couple? I don’t mean to be butting into your business, I barely even know you. I just... I...”

  “You’re looking out for him,” Luka said. “I get that. We’re not together. I’d like us to be and I’m pretty sure he would to, but he’s not ready to admit it. I figure he’s never had a boyfriend.”

  I shook my head. “I shouldn’t say this to you. Curtis would kill me. But I want him to be happy. He’s never going to make the first move. If you like him then you’re going to have to give him a push. Take that as a bit of sisterly advice.”

  “Okay.”

  “See you in about an hour.”

  Heading back to my room, I felt some of my guilt for forgetting Curtis’ birthday start to lift. I was trying to make it up to him and that counts for something. Right?

  My plan was to get Brandy to help me hunt Curtis down and bring him back to our room so he couldn’t stumble across whatever Luka was going to be doing. But I didn’t have to worry about it, because my cousin was already there. Sitting at the kitchen table messing around with his laptop.

  Brandy looked up from her book and raised her brow. I nodded. She went back to reading. No matter how far apart we might have drifted, we could still talk to each other without saying a word.

  “Hey, there.” I sat in the chair opposite Curtis. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing.” He shut the computer down. “Why are you done with training already?”

  “I asked Megara to cut it short so I could have dinner with you. It is your birthday, after all.”

  Curtis stared silently back at me for a moment. “Brandy told you, huh?”

  Heat crawled into my cheeks. “I am so sorry I forgot.” I laid my hand over his on the table. “Are you mad at me?”

  He shrugged. “You have a lot on your mind.”

  Not an answer to my question. “That’s no excuse. I’ve been doing a poor job at being a friend. I know that. But like I told Brandy earlier, that’s going to change. I promise. I’ve been way too wrapped up in this whole dragon thing, and it’s past time for me to step it down a little. It’s not worth losing my friends over. It’s not worth forgetting important things like my cousin’s birthday.” I squeezed his hand. “You know I love you, right?”

  “Yeah. Yeah.” He smiled. “I love you too.”

  “Okay then. Brandy, would you round up the gang and we’ll meet you in the cafeteria in a bit?” What I was really asking was if she’d give me and Curtis some alone time.

  And of course, she got that. I swear sometimes it was like she could read my mind. “All right.” She put the book aside and left.

  I sat back in the chair. “Well, we don’t have a TV to watch, so how about you show me the movie you’ve been working on.”

  “This is my birthday and I think you owe me something for forgetting.” He unplugged the camcorder from the laptop and turned it around toward me. “I haven’t gotten any footage of you in a long time. The camera demands to know all your secrets.”

  I laughed. “What secrets?”

  “Come on, Abby.” His expression turned serious. “Maybe you've got
the others fooled thinking you’re spending all your time training with Megara, but not me.

  “Every day, it’s like you’re two different people. You meet us at lunch and you’re spaced out half the time, but you’re happy. Then at night you’re all tense and upset. And then this past week, you’ve been completely avoiding us. But every time I see you around, there’s this little smile. Something’s going on. The camera demands answers.”

  “I thought when you turned fifteen you might transform from this weird little nerd into a regular guy,” I said teasingly.

  “I’m not the ugly duckling. Besides, I like being a weird little nerd. And we’re not changing the subject. Secrets, now. Inquiring minds want to know.”

  I started to talk. I didn’t mean to give away much, just enough to satisfy him, but once I got started it was like I couldn’t stop. I told him everything. The words poured out of me like a river. And you know what? It felt incredible. I hadn’t even realized how all the secrets and lies and sneaking around were weighing down on me until I let it all go.

  “Wow.” Curtis set the camcorder down on the table. “It’s like you’ve been living a double life. How does Zack feel about you hanging out with Jonah?”

  “He doesn’t like it, but it’s not for him to say who I can and can’t be friends with.”

  “But you and Jonah, you’re not... You know. Are you?”

  I sighed. “You too? Why is it if two people hang out alone everybody automatically assumes they’re doing something they shouldn't be? Zack is a major pain. We fight all the time about the stupidest things. He makes me crazy. Jonah is so sweet and calm and patient. It would make way more sense for me to be into him. But I’m not. Zack owns my heart. There’s no room in there for anybody else.”

  “Oh, man.” Curtis rolled his eyes. “You’re such a girl.”

  “No kidding.” I laughed. “So, how does it feel to be fifteen?”

  “I don’t know.” He fiddled with his camcorder. “I guess it doesn’t feel much different from fourteen. No big changes. Not like your last birthday.”

  “You should be happy. If I could go back and have a normal sixteenth birthday I’d do it like that.” I snapped my fingers.

  “Really?” Curtis asked. “You’d give up your powers?”

  “In a heartbeat.” I stared at my hands resting on the table. “I miss my parents. My home. My life. If it wasn’t for you and Brandy I could have never made it this far. I hope you know that. You guys are my family. I’d give anything if I could take us back and make this right again.”

  “You wouldn’t have met Zack.”

  I let his words roll over in my mind a few times before I replied. “I don’t care. I mean Zack is... Well, I guess I’m in love with him. But so much bad has come from me finding out I'm a dragon. Kyle is dead. We have no idea what’s happening with Trudy and Steve. You and Brandy are in constant danger. Derek and Stephanie and Zack have gone rouge. And I can’t even imagine what my parents must be going through. No, I can’t say I wouldn’t change things if I could. Not for a guy. No matter how much I feel for him. I’m not that self centered.”

  “Yeah. I guess I know what you mean.”

  “Do you?” I raised my head. “Because of Luka?”

  A hint of red crept into his cheeks, but he smiled. “Maybe.”

  I shook my head. “If you like him, why don’t you tell him so?”

  “It’s too soon. Besides, I don’t know if he likes me back.”

  “You would if you asked him.”

  “You’re one to talk. How long did it take you to get with Zack?”

  Dang, he made a good point there. And I couldn’t even tell him about my talk with Luka. Not without spoiling the surprise. “Okay, I get it. Not my business. Come on.” I got up from the table. “Let’s go eat. They’re probably waiting on us.”

  We chatted about nothing important on the way to the cafeteria. I will never forget the look on Curtis’ face when we walked through the door to find one corner of the room had been strung with streamers made of toilet paper rolls and blue construction paper. All our friends (except for Zack, but I can’t say I was surprised he wasn’t invited) stood around a table filled with food and drink, and even a birthday cake complete with candles. Hastily cut out letters spelling Happy Birthday Curtis were taped to the wall behind them.

  “You guys did all this for me?” Curtis asked.

  “You are the birthday boy.” I nudged him with my elbow. “But it’s Luka you should really thank. He’s the one who put this all together.”

  Luka shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

  “It’s a big deal to me,” Curtis said. “Thank you.”

  I put my arm across his shoulders and started in with the birthday song. The others quickly picked it up. Curtis covered his face with one hand. He cheeks were flaming red, but he was grinning from ear to ear.

  “All right, birthday boy,” I steered him toward the table, “time to blow out the candles.”

  “Make a wish, kid,” Hannah said. “A good one.”

  Curtis leaned over and blew out the candles. We all cheered, which only made him shake his head.

  “What did you wish for?” Stephanie asked.

  “He can’t tell you that.” Derek slid his arm around her waist. “It interferes with the birthday magic.”

  Stephanie laughed. “I guess I forgot.”

  We settled in to eat and Luka started up some pop tunes on his portable CD player.

  “Oh, this is heavenly,” Jonah said around a mouth full of chocolate cake. “We don’t often get sweets down here.”

  “Dude, don’t talk with food in your mouth.” Hannah wadded up a napkin and threw it at Jonah. It bounced off his forehead. “It’s rude.”

  “And we all know Hannah is little miss manners,” I said.

  Which of course got Hannah to flip me off.

  “Classy,” Brandy said drily.

  I tensed, afraid they were going to get into again. But Hannah just laughed it off and Brandy even smiled a little. That’s how the night went for us. It’s kind of magical, really, the way a birthday cake and some music changed us from a group of fugitives with targets on our backs hiding out in a hole in the ground, to a bunch of kids goofing off at a party. Even if it was only for a few a hours. It was a break from reality we were all badly in need of.

  When the food was all gone and laughter died away, Luka put a slow song on the CD player. He looked over at Curtis. “Do you want to dance?”

  Silence fell around the table. I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I was the only one in our group who knew Curtis was into guys. I think I might have been the only person he’d ever told, period. I can understand why. You never know how people will react to a thing like that.

  All the color had drained out of Curtis’s face and I could practically see him about to say no, even though I was pretty sure he wanted to say yes. And I didn’t know how to help him.

  “Now there’s an idea.” Hannah got up and held her hand out to Brandy. “What do you say, brainiac? Want to bury the hatchet someplace besides in each other’s backs for a change?”

  Brandy pursed his lips. “I suppose it couldn’t hurt this one time.” She took the offered hand. “But don’t get any ideas.”

  Hannah grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “I want to dance too.” Stephanie grabbed Derek’s arm and pulled him out of his seat.

  He groaned. “You know I have two left feet.”

  “So long as neither of them step on mine, we’ll be fine.”

  I knew what they were doing. So did Curtis. I could see it by how shiny his eyes had gotten. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from tearing up myself. Did we have great friends, or what?

  Luka was still sitting there, waiting patiently on an answer. I kicked my cousin under the table. He jumped a little. “Yeah. Okay,” he said. “I’d like to dance.”

  I was grinning so hard it made my cheeks hurt as I watched them step
into each other’s arms. I had never seen Curtis look so happy. And seeing him happy made me happy.

  Jonah leaned over to me. “Are we going to let them have all the fun?”

  I smiled at him. “No way. Though, I’m not much of a dancer.”

  “Neither am I.” He offered me his arm. “So we ought to make a good pair.”

  How more perfect could a night get? We were all there, together, happy and safe. Everybody was having fun and nobody was biting each other’s heads off. If only life could always be that way. But I guess if it weren’t for things getting messed up all the time, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the really good moments.

  We all switched partners every time the song changed and I soon found myself dancing with my cousin. “Are you having a good time?” As if I needed to ask, the answer was already written all over his face.

  “Yeah.” He looked me in the eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Luka told me about how you came to see him about my birthday. And what you said about..." His color deepened. "You know... us."

  I winced. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn't have said all that, but I...”

  “No,” Curtis said. “Don’t be sorry. If I was mad I wouldn’t be thanking you. I mean, yeah, it’s kind of embarrassing to think about you talking to him about that, but if you hadn’t said what you said Luka would never have asked me to dance.

  “He was worried, you know, about rushing me into something I wasn’t ready for. But you were right. I needed the push.” He glanced over at Luka, who was dancing with Hannah. The look in his eyes reminded me of the way I felt whenever I was around Zack. “This is the best birthday I ever had.”

  “I’m glad. I hope the two of you will be so happy together.”

  “Are you happy?” Curtis’ gaze met mine again. “With Zack, I mean?”

  A slow smile spread across my lips. “Yeah, I am. When I don’t want to throttle him.” We both laughed. “But seriously, it’s good with Zack. It really is. Nice to know a couple of good things came out of this whole crazy mess.”