Bitter Sweet

by Lennell Davis

  “I got her a little something, that’s all.”

  He dropped me back off at home and my mom tried to get him and June to stay for dinner, but they politely refused. Just as she had grown attached to Alik, she had taken to June instantly. They only got away after promising to be back tomorrow. It felt good to be back in my own bed that night and I fell asleep easily.

  Sam’s birthday came and a bunch of our high school friends all got together at her house. There was cake, presents, music, dancing, and even a racy version of pin the tail on the donkey, which

  involved rope, condoms, blindfolds, and a picture of a chicken; don’t ask. It was the end of the night when everyone had left and the place was a mess. If Alik hadn’t been there, we would have been cleaning for a week. But thanks to Alik, it was done in about an hour somehow.

  “Sam, looks like you forgot a present over here,” Alik pointed out, tossing her a small box.

  “I wonder who brought this; no one said I missed their gift,” Sam said as she looked at the tiny box, confused.

  “Well, open it and we will find out,” he urged.

  She ripped the paper off and opened the box. Next, her mouth opened and eyes widened. She screamed and bolted for the door. She yanked it open and looked outside, then back inside, then back outside, and ran out the door. I looked at Alik who was laughing as he walked toward the door.

  “You’re not serious!” I could hear Sam shout.

  “It’s yours if you want it,” shouted Alik out the door.

  “I couldn’t accept this,” Sam said, already in the driver seat.

  “Looks like you already have,” laughed Alik. Sam got back out of the car and hugged him. I wasn’t sure, but it sounded like he whispered, “Consider it thanks for being on my side” into her ear before letting go.

  “What is that thing?” I asked.

  “A BMW M3!” Sam shouted in excitement.

  “Don’t worry about insurance, I have that covered.”

  “Can I drive it now?”

  “It’s your car,” he grinned.

  “I will be right back.” She ran inside to get her purse.

  I walked over to Alik who was leaning on the shiny white car and put my arms around his neck, looking into his eyes.

  "This might be a rude question, but just how much money do you have?" I asked him.

  "Let’s put it this way, when you have existed for a little over a millennium, you tend to collect a lot of things of value." I looked at him like I was confused. "Okay, put it this way, if I wanted to buy a place to build a house, the state of New York would be in my price range." My eyes widened and he laughed.

  "Are you serious?"

  "Completely."

  “Wow... well what was this 'small' gift for?” I assumed this was a small gift to him.

  “It’s just a birthday gift.”

  “How much was this birthday gift, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “You and numbers." I stared him down and he sighed. "This one was a little over $63000.”

  “That’s just a birthday gift to you?!”

  “It’s a little more than that, but it shows the extent of my gratitude towards Sam.”

  “Gratitude for what?”

  “Just being your friend.”

  “Can I ask you for a gift then?”

  “Of course, anything.”

  “Can I go pick up Phil alone?”

  “Can I ask why?” His tone changed from light and happy to low and cautious.

  “I just want to speak to him alone, that’s all.”

  “I see...” he said and I couldn’t tell if it was sadness or some other emotion he let slip out, but I didn’t have a chance to find out.

  “Alright, I’m ready!” shouted Sam, breaking the mood as she ran back toward us.

  “Have fun then,” Alik said, returning to his happier self.

  “You’re not coming with me?”

  “No, I have to go talk to June, but tell me about it later. We will play with the I-drive later also.”

  “Thank you again.” She hugged him and got into the car; I could hear her giggle as she started the engine and pulled away in a cloud of smoke and screeching tires. The definition of excitement should have a small video of that moment under it in the dictionary.

  “I will see you later.” He kissed me on the cheek. “Call me when you get back tomorrow?”

  “I will.” Then he was gone.

  That night, I didn’t sleep too well and in the morning, I was a mess. I spent almost an hour in the shower just wanting to relax in the warm water. I got out, got dressed, and went down to eat breakfast. My mother threw out hints at how great Alik was and how she would love to have a son-in-law like him. I got in the car and left all music off and just let the engine relax me until I got to Phil’s place. He lived alone in a studio apartment, which would make this easier. He came out carrying a bag, but he saw my expression and dropped it at the door. He then slowly walked over to where I was leaning against the car.

  “Hey Vanessa, where’s Alik,” he asked with apprehension in his voice.

  “I told him to stay behind.” I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to say.

  “Why?”

  “I wanted to talk to you alone.”

  He then sighed very Alik-like. “I should have known this was coming. Alik isn’t really your brother, is he?”

  “He’s closer than a brother, but he’s not a lover. Not yet anyway.”

  “You’re starting to see those lines blur?”

  “I am.” It took all my strength to look him in the eye then.

  “Me being around would just make things complicated?” he was trying to hold on to me; that was hard to bear.

  “The strange thing is, it hasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I like you, a lot. It’s just that with Alik… everything just transcends everything else. My time with you has be great, and don’t take this the wrong way, but it has shown me that I just can’t be with anyone other than him.”

  "He is something special then?"

  "You couldn’t imagine."

  "I always got the hint that he was dangerous, he hasn’t threatened you or anything, has he?"

  "No, no... This is my choice."

  "I’m pretty sure all his invites for gaming and car talk were to get me away from you."

  "You thought that, too?" We laughed.

  “I did sort of rush you into this whole relationship; I’m lucky it lasted this long.”

  “I’m lucky you were ever interested in me in the first place.”

  “Guess I’m going to Japan with Sean and the others for New Years then,” he said with a false sigh.

  “Is that it?”

  “I’ve been wanting to go for a while. It will be cheaper with a group.”

  “You don’t want to yell at me?” I asked, feeling guilty.

  He smiled. “No, but…” He leaned in to kiss me one last time. “Do you mind if we stay friends?”

  “Do you think that’s possible?”

  “I do, Alik is my friend now, too. At least I think he his.”

  “He is, I can tell when he is lying. He likes you a lot, dating me was the only thing he had against you.”

  He walked back to his door and went inside and I got back in the car and drove home. I just sat outside for a moment when I got there. Alik opened the passenger door and got in. I drove over to the beach where he first brought me after Alisa’s 'toys' attacked me. I got out and he followed me to the water’s edge; I picked up a rock and attempted to skip it across the water, but failed as it sank with a plop.

  “I will never be good at that,” I said.

  “Never say never.” I could hear his smile without looking at him.

  “You weren’t expecting me to bring Phil back, were you?”

  “I didn’t know what to expect, actually; you did seem conflicted over the last few days.”

  “I don’t know what I’ve been over the last few days,” I sighed, tossing a stone
into the water, this one just made a soft clunk when it hit.

  “Then are you okay now?”

  “You’re here with me, aren’t you? Why wouldn’t I be?” I smiled.

  “Have you made a choice then?” he asked timidly.

  I turned to him and put my arms around his neck.

  “Does that answer your question?”

  “No.

  “Then what will?”

  He leaned down to kiss me; that familiar chill ran down my spine and I kissed him back. When it ended, he looked me in the eye. “Okay, that answered my question.” And his face broke into a wide grin.

  Samantha Marie Castillo

  Chapter 29.0

  I let myself get swept up in the thrill for a moment and I'm ashamed to say that I wasn’t thinking about my friend for a long time. It took me maybe a good three days of driving around in my new car until I realize that I was in a sixty thousand dollar car bought by a nineteen year old boy who my friend has been dating for maybe two or three days officially and a few months unofficially. You have to meet Alik to really understand this, but just being near Alik made you feel that he was dangerous, like he wasn’t a guy you say no to and was never bothered by anything. I started to think that maybe Vanessa had gotten herself into a dangerous relationship. I had to know!

  “Hey Vanessa, are you busy?” I called her as I was thinking all of this.

  “No, I’m just watching TV.” I could hear the TV in the background.

  “Have you had dinner yet? I’m really hungry and my mom said I would have to fend for myself tonight.”

  “I could use a snack.”

  “Okay, I will be over in a sec,” and then I ended the call.

  I started to get nervous in the short time it took me to get over to Vanessa’s house. When Vanessa came out and got into the car I didn’t bring up Alik right away. I was new to this and wanted Vanessa to be in the best mood possible for when I messed this up. So first we started talking about food options. We decided on a hot dog vendor as we walked around Time Square. There was nothing better than a New York style hot dog at night.

  “What can I get for you young ladies?” asked the vendor.

  “Umm... Beef,” I said.

  “And for you?” he asked, handing me mine and looking at Vanessa.

  “Veggie please,” she said and he handed her a steaming hot dog. We moved to dress the hot dogs.

  “No young men out with a pair of beautiful ladies like yourselves?” asked the vendor.

  “Not tonight,” smiled Vanessa.

  “Such a shame,” he said as we finished dressing our hot dogs. “Well, you two ladies have a good night,” smiled the vendor as we started to walk.

  I watched Vanessa out of the corner of my eye for a while as we walked and ate, trying to find the right time to bring it up and finally just dove in head first.

  “Vanessa, is Alik good to you when I’m not around?” The moment I said that I thought I could have phrased it better.

  “Of course,” she answered. She took it better than I thought she would, but that could have just been confusion. “Why do you ask?”

  “I probably put that wrong. It’s more. Who buys his girlfriend’s best friend a car when he hasn’t bought his girlfriend a car?” That was a lie for the most part. When I went to pick her up, I saw the beautiful DB9 parked in her driveway. But it’s all I could think of, she is usually the one looking after me so I was new at this. She surprisingly laughed

  a little and smiled.

  “He told me he told you why he bought you the car.”

  “How did he buy it? Masteria can’t be doing him that well.”

  “No, it isn’t Masteria, that’s more just a pastime for him.” She took another bite of her hot dog. “What do you really want to know, Sam?”

  “I’m not good at this, I guess,” I said with a sigh and Vanessa laughed. “It’s not funny, it’s normally you the one looking after me.”

  “You haven’t done this before, and I have had other boyfriends, like Phil.”

  “Phil was a friend with very few benefits. Alik is something else just from how you look at him or gravitate towards him.”

  “It’s true that I have never felt the way I do about Alik before.”

  “So what’s his last name; I don’t even know that about him.”

  “Alik is his last name. His first name is Alyon.”

  “See, I’m such a bad friend. I should know this stuff...” Vanessa just laughed and let me struggle. “Okay, fine. Don’t help me out here. Can you at least let me know if you really love him?”

  “I love him so much.” I could tell that she meant it.

  “You don’t get that feeling that he is dangerous when you let your guard down?” I asked and she really laughed at that. “What did I do.”

  “A feeling like you’re scared for some reason but have no idea why, still the feeling is slowly creeping up your spine,” her voice slowly got lower and creepy and then she ran two cold fingers under the bottom of my shirt and sent a chill up my spine.

  “Yes, just like that actually.”

  “Yeah, I get it too. I don’t know how to describe it really. By no means am I scared of Alik, but how he makes others feel isn’t his fault.

  "But you don’t like it?”

  “Like fear?”

  “Okay, this might sound stupid, but a small part of me likes that feeling, it makes me want him. I fought it for a long time, but if it is what I like, then it is what I like.”

  “I think I read somewhere that that isn’t healthy for a relationship.”

  “I’m not sure that came out right. This might sound stupid as well, but Alik isn’t most guys, or better he isn’t like any guy I have ever seen or heard of outside a book.”

  “The book guy is never good though, he is always hiding something for the girl he is dating.”

  “True, but any guy can hide anything from you. We all have secrets we keep from everyone.”

  “I’m not talking about not telling a guy your breast size.”

  “Neither am I. I’m not going to say you have to trust me on this one. If you want to know something, ask him.”

  “I’m asking you. There is something about those golden eyes that’s hard to look into, I can’t keep the contact, I just want to...” I almost said something stupid.

  “You want him, like to touch him or have him touch you?” Vanessa asked.

  “Okay, don’t hate me, I’d let him do whatever to me, that is what scares me. Watching you deny him at times made me want to scream at you for how stupid you must be.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Sam. I’d know if he touched another girl.” She was so confident when she said that. ”You’re cute when you worry.” I still looked unbelieving, ”You have his cell phone, try calling him. It might make you feel better?” It didn’t make me feel any better to call him.

  “Nah, I will just watch out for you.”

  “Like I would for you.” We both smiled at each other and somehow we ended up outside a Victoria’s Secret.

  “Well, time to make Alik happy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You will figure it out,” and I pulled her into the store.

  Vanessa Stanton

  Chapter 30.0

  My mother unsurprisingly didn’t put up a fight when I told her that Alik wanted to take me to Africa for New Years. What was surprising was that my father didn't either. "He has kept you safe up until now, why shouldn’t he keep doing so," my father stated matter of factly.

  Alik seemed to have won my parents over so completely; they were his since the first time they met him. I had made a mental note to ask him if that was a vampire thing or just natural charisma. Then I thought on it more and I just got angry; ‘just how much time did he spend over here while I was at school’, I yelled in my mind as my mom folded one of the uglier shirts I got from an aunt one Christmas. I gave Sam a look and she instantly understood. My mother placed the shirt neatly in the ba
g and turned to get another, Sam grabbed it and I placed another where the ugly one had been.

  "Ive seen him around you, you are his sun. At first I thought it might not be healthy, but I have had time to talk with him. He is trapped in your gravity like the planets. He really loves you, Vanessa," my mom said seriously while we packed for the trip.