by Michael Dean
“Nope, seems fine to me. Are you ready?”
“Let’s hit it!”
I knew I’d have to see her parents again. I would probably be spending a little extra time with them alone, but that didn’t bother me at all. I really liked her mother and father and wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was the first time I met them, but I knew they’d wonder about my ride.
“What should I tell your parents about my car situation? Last time I was here I had the Mustang,” I questioned as we pulled in front of her house.
“I told them that you had to get your car fixed, so it’s in the shop.”
“That’s what I was going to tell them.”
“Great minds think alike…You know, this covering for you crap is getting pretty old, Demon Boy,” she added as she jogged up her front steps and swung open her front door.
“Mom! Can you come help me get dressed, please?” Shade yelled for all occupants in the house to hear.
“Coming!” her mother answered.
Shade asked me to have a seat in the living room. Mrs. Lewis walked through on her way to help her daughter and said hello.
“Hi, Leo.” She walked over as I stood up from the couch and gave me a polite hug. “You look handsome, young man.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Lewis.”
“I told you, call me Anne.”
“Yes, ma’am…I mean Anne.”
“Hang tight, Richard will be in here in a moment to keep you occupied until we finish getting Shade ready.” She smiled and walked away.
“Sounds great.”
I sat back down on the couch and started watching the basketball game on television that I assumed they, or at least her father, was watching before I got there. I realized that I left the corsage out in the car so I quickly scampered outside and snagged it. When I came back in, her father was walking into the living room with a short glass of something dark and “stout” in his hand.
“Leo, how are you, son?” We met in the center of the living room in front of the couch and shook hands.
“I’m good, sir, thank you. How are you?” I cleared my throat.
“Fantastic.” He smiled, lifting his glass, shaking the ice cubes around in his drink. “Here, have a seat.” He pointed to the couch.
I sat down again and placed the corsage in my lap. Mr. Lewis sat in his recliner across from me and let out a groan.
“So, Shade told me that you had an issue with that good lookin’ car of yours.”
“Yes, sir. Fuel pump went out. It’s getting fixed as we speak.”
“Sorry to hear that. Do you have to cover the expenses or do your parents?”
“My parents.” I grinned sheepishly. It sounded like the logical thing to say. Most teenagers don’t have a job, and if they do, they don’t make a ton of money, so I figured that this answer was more believable.
“I bet they love that. Speaking of parents, Leo, we have yet to meet yours.”
“I apologize, sir. They’re saying the same thing on their end. I’ll make sure it gets done soon.” All I can do is buy time, but Mr. Lewis was about to lay down a parental ultimatum.
“I hate to put it out to you like this, Leo, but if we don’t get to meet soon, I’m gonna have to restrict you from seeing my daughter until it gets done.” He sipped from his drink.
“I understand completely…I’ll make sure it happens as soon as possible.”
“Good.” He breathed out heavily and gritted his teeth due to the powerful taste of what he was drinking.
“Where will you be taking my daughter tonight, Leo?” He looked at me with suspicious eyes. It kind of made me unsettled. I wiggled a bit in my seat.
“Well, we’re going to the Mountain View gym for the dance and meet up with some friends. Afterwards, we’ll probably just hang out, probably at Bean N Burgers or something.” I knew full well Shade and I were going to have some alone time tonight and we were going to BNB’s before the prom, but there was no way in Hell I was telling him that. The look on his face told me that he didn’t believe a single word I said anyway other than going to the dance itself.
“I’m letting her stay out a little later than usual tonight because I know what a special night it is for her. Make. Sure. She. Comes. Home. On. Time. Got it?” He sat forward in his chair and dangled his drink between his legs.
“Of course, sir, yes sir.” I cleared my throat nervously again.
It is almost ridiculous to think that here I am, a demon from Hell, on a quest to kill the most dangerous entities the world has ever known, and he is making me more on guard than the Lords of Hell.
“Treat her with respect, son. She’s my daughter. I love her, and I have no problem making you disappear.” He winked and sucked in another drink.
All I could do was nod my head in agreement with a smile. I knew he was kidding, to some degree, but he was also making it a point that he wanted his daughter to remain “honest” and to keep me thinking…and it was working.
We talked a bit further before Anne came stomping down the stairs, alerting us that Shade was dressed and about to come down.
“You boys ready?” she announced at the base of the stairs. I gripped the corsage and stood up at the same time as her father.
One by one we watched her black heeled shoes come gliding down the staircase. The more of her voluptuous frame that came into sight, the more my draw dropped. When she reached the last stair, she stood, placing her hands on her hips and modeled for us.
“Well, what do you think?” Shade spoke in anticipation, looking down and gliding her hands along her dress.
“Uh-ummm-it—it…looks great,” I stammered, trying to pull myself together.
“Richard?” Anne asked her husband. I turned to look at him and his jaw was wide open too, but for fatherly concerns, and with good reason. Shade’s black dress, cut just above the knees, looked as if it was painted on her body. It accented her features very, very, nicely, if you catch my drift.
“Ahh, it looks…different.” He batted his eyes, trying to think of something to say that didn’t make him sound overprotective. “They didn’t have anything a little…longer…looser maybe?”
“Riiiichaaard,” Anne scolded him.
“You look lovely, hunny.” He approached her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you, Daddy.” She hugged him.
“Leo, she’s all yours tonight.” Anne walked her over to me by the hand.
“Aahh, within reason, there, Leo.” Her father pointed to his eyes with two fingers and then pointed them to me, saying nonverbally, I’m watching you. Then he winked again at me with a nervous grin as if to say that he trusted me enough. Anne turned around with a grimace, telling him to knock off his shenanigans.
I was so engulfed by the way Shade looked that I forgot I was holding the corsage.
“Umm, Leo.” Shade moved her eyes to the case where the formal piece was hiding.
“Oh, yeah.” I fumbled to get the keepsake out of its case, “you really do look sensational.” I slid the memento onto her wrist.
“Thank you.” She smiled with those glowing eyes as she fumbled with the pure white corsage that was now strapped to her wrist. “It’s beautiful.”
“Just like you.” I smiled at her. I was so mesmerized by her that I forgot we were still in the presence of her parents. I looked over to see her mom tearing up a little with her hand over her mouth while her father rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead nervously.
We stood together in front of their fireplace as Anne took a series of pictures and Richard got another drink. After a little more well-wishing for a good night, Shade and I headed out the door on our way to BNB’s.
Chapter 11
RHYTHM
We reached BNB’s after I flirted with my unbelievably hot girlfriend the whole ride there. It was packed. Everyone in school seemed to be meeting there before the dance. Shade wasted no time in finding where her best friend was parked at and made me pull in next to her. Sandra waved a
t us and Scruffy just stared briefly before turning around to some other friends of his.
We got out and greeted Sandra. Scruffy made it a point to say hello to Shade but not me. I could only shake my head. I was already agitated with him.
“What happened to your car, Leo?” Sandra asked.
Suddenly I realized that Shade didn’t tell her best friend a cover story about my ride.
“Ah,” I looked to Shade who shifted her eyes around as if to say answer her, “it’s in the shop. Fuel pump went out.”
“Oh, I see.” Sandra tilted her head.
All of a sudden Scruffy spun to us with a suspicious look on his face and finally broke the silence between us.
“A brand new car…already having mechanical issues?” He squinted his eyebrows in investigation.
“Yeah, so what?” I responded in a firm tone.
“Well, first, you’re gone for months and no one seems to even notice…then your car is nowhere to be seen, no one besides Shade has met your parents. Seems a little odd to me.” He flung his hands up in a condescending fashion.
“I’ve got an idea, Mark,” I called him by his name because I never did that, another way I let him know that his nickname was for friends only, “how about you mind your own business. Worry about cleaning your own porch and stay off of mine.”
“Okay, enough of this childish crap. Sandra, hun, I’ll see you at the dance.” Shade pushed me in the chest towards her car while Scruffy and I eyed one another.
“Okay, hun.” Sandra sounded frustrated.
“Geez, can’t you two knock it off for the sake of your girlfriends?” Shade scolded me after shoving me into the driver’s seat of her car, once we both were inside.
“I’m sorry, what do you want me to do? He purposely said those things just to get under my skin.”
“Yeah, well, this needs to stop because I can’t keep limiting my involvement with Sandra because you two can’t cooperate…and neither can she. I’m tired of this fighting. Figure it out.”
While Shade was lecturing me, my gaze was set out the window. I noticed about five guys in letterman jackets, from a school I wasn’t familiar with, standing around a truck just glaring at us. My senses immediately went off. Something wasn’t right about them. I wasn’t sure if they were human or not.
“Did you hear anything I just said, Leo?” Shade’s voice faded into my attention again.
“Look at those guys over there.” I brushed off her nagging.
“What guys…where?” She sounded annoyed that I had ignored what she was trying to tell me and squinted to see what I was talking about.
“Those ones.” I pointed using my head.
“What about them?” she scoffed.
“They’ve been watching us like a hawk the entire time we’ve been here.”
“How can you tell? Leo, there are tons of people all around us. They could be looking at anyone.”
“Really?” I turned to look at her with sarcasm, reminding her that I can sense things like this.
“Okay, maybe you’re right, it does seem like they’re locked onto us. What do you think they want?”
“I don’t know, but I can sense the darkness coming from them. They aren’t being confrontational, just looking at us so, let’s just get to the dance.”
I started the car and left. On the ride to Mountain View we kept an eye out to see if we were being followed, but nothing was out of the ordinary.
We arrived a few short minutes later and went inside the school gym. I kept a vigil eye out for those guys but never saw anyone follow or anyone in the parking lot monitoring us. Once inside, signs were hanging everywhere that had our school year and name of the dance, “Time of our Lives,” written on them. We were stopped at the door and directed to a spot where Shade and I posed for a picture. We held hands, smiled, got the picture taken, then went all the way in.
Quite a few people had already arrived, but it was apparent that the BNB’s crowd had yet to file in. We walked over to a large, long tablethat had various snacks and punch cups lined around a gigantic punch bowl on it. We grabbed a drink and took in our surroundings. Under the various sparkling, student-made banners hanging all over the place, stood a D.J. standing atop of a large stage overseeing the dance. Rock music, more of the mild form, graced the airwaves within the gym as people mixed and mingled. No one was dancing yet, but merely finding friends and exploring who was with them while checking out what one another was wearing. Shade and I had a few acquaintances approach us, but mainly we stood together privately, enjoying each other.
It didn’t take long before the place filled up, along with the dance floor. We saw Scruffy and Sandra come in but they hadn’t noticed where we were at yet.
“Wanna dance Demon Boy?” She smirked with a playful attitude.
“I’ll do what I can.”
I know I’m not the best dancer, well, to be honest, I can’t dance at all. I was hoping for more slow songs than fast. Right now, there was nothing but up-tempo music being played so I knew it would require me to dance.
“You’re just going to have to knock the cement off your shoes, babe.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me out to the dance floor.
Next thing I knew I was out there doing my best. Shade could move amazingly well, where I, on the other hand, paled in comparison. The only thing I could do was stay in one centralized location and jog in place. It was all I had. Shade laughed at me pretty hard.
“You better quit, girl. I’ll walk outta here,” I vowed with a hollow threat.
“We have to teach you how to dance,” she struggled to speak through sporadic laughter while staring at my awkward feet. “Especially before senior prom next year. We can’t have this.” She giggled.
“That’s it.” The music changed to a slower number as I started to playfully walk off the dance floor. “I’m done.”
“Get your cute butt back here.” She pulled me back and held me close.
I resisted innocently as she placed her arms around my neck and began to sway with soft movements. I followed suit, placing my arms around her waist, meeting her eyes with mine.
“You’re already planning for next year’s prom…the big one?” I inquired.
“Of course,” she said in a low tone.
“What if I don’t…”
“You will,” she interrupted, “you’ll be there for me.”
I could see the worry in her face. Here we were in a moment that was supposed to be celebratory making uncertain plans for an uncertain future. A dark cloud always hung over us.
“Do you ever think that, well, I know what you are and how extraordinary our circumstances are, but, I can’t help think, and hope, that maybe one day it could be just me and you. No Heaven, no Hell, no feuding friends, no cover stories, no fear…just you and I.”
I knew what she was trying to tell me. She wanted a normal boyfriend, a normal life. It would have hurt my heart, if I had one.
“I like the fact that you’re different; I mean, what I’m trying to say is, I want what I have in you now, just…”
“Normal?” I finished for her.
“Yeah, I guess.” She shrugged.
“That’s something I can never give to you, as much as I wish I could…normalcy. You know this. I’m always going to be a demon and will constantly have to deal with the circumstances that come with that.” I leaned in a little closer, speaking to her in a near whisper.
“I know, it’s just, how can we have a future…if we have one, together?” She looked sad.
It was apparent that Shade was coming to the conclusions that I had thought about right from the get-go. Being with me, for a lifetime, if it was possible for us, was near impossible given who we were and what we were involved in. That’s why being together, right now, was so important. I knew, deep down, that I only had a short period of time with her. Even if I did beat the remaining council members, it wasn’t a guarantee that I could stay on earth to be with her. I didn’t know what the spiritu
al realm, good or evil, would have in store for me in such an event. It was uncharted territory, I had no idea what could come next after a victory, but I knew exactly what would happen to me in defeat.
“If seeing me, or being with me, causes you heartache, Shade, I—”
Before I could finish, she knew what I was going to say.
“Being without you causes me heartache.”
I leaned into her and kissed her softly as the slow song came to an end. The D.J. switched gears with an announcement and played another fast song. Just briefly, as the tempo picked back up again, Shade and I just stood there, not moving, not dancing; only looking at each other. It was as if no one else was there, the music went silent to my ears, only the elegance of Shade’s eyes mattered. I would slay a thousand demons and angels to be with her.
We kissed passionately, completely oblivious to our surroundings.
“Ummhmmm, um, kids, keep it respectable in here.” An arm touched me on the shoulder, causing the music to fade back into my hearing and break our embrace.
“This is a dance, young people, let’s keep it PG.”
It was our school principal, making sure we kept things “clean.” We apologized to him and watched him walk away through the students, keeping a keen eye out for more inappropriate behavior.
“Oops.” Shade smiled and wiped her lip with her hand.
I grinned. “I love you, baby girl.”
Shade smiled back. “I love you…lackey.”
I rolled my eyes.
We didn’t dance too much the rest of the night. We visited with people, Shade spent quite a bit of time with Sandra while Scruffy and I did our best to stay away from each other. We also sat on the bleachers together talking and holding hands. When the D.J. announced that he was playing the last tune of the evening, Shade and I shared another slow dance with the rest of our peers. After the song was over, our principal got up on stage and thanked us all for coming and wished us a good evening. One by one, people slowly filed out of the gym. There was word of an after-party, but Shade and I were sticking to plan and going to spend the evening together without any distractions.
