“It's not really my scene either.”
He looked at me mockingly, “You don't say?”
I shook my head and looked over the garden again.
“What is your scene?” He looked genuinely interested.
I shrugged. “I don't know. I don't really have one, I guess. We never left Richmond and there's not much to do here.” I eyed him, trying to figure out if I can tease him without stepping over boundaries. “But generally, I like to stay home, read, and cuddle in bed.”
“Sounds exciting.” His eyes were bright with amusement. “Especially the cuddling part.” He ran a hand through his hair which made me extremely jealous; I would have liked to do it for him.“Sorry about the book recommendation, by the way.” He was trying not to laugh.
I shook my head, pretending to scold him. “You're not sorry. And it was very inappropriate.”
“Blame it on the topic of the assignment. Sex in British literature can be quite kinky.”
I rolled my eyes and looked down. He was right but I didn't let him have the benefit of the doubt. He cleared his throat loudly and I looked up immediately. But now I was irritated. “You can't expect me to break a habit so easily. And you certainly can't expect me to always look at you. Maybe there is something I don't want you to see.” I knew vampires could read minds and I was always cautious about looking right at them. The general rule humans lived by was to never look vampires straight in the eye for a long period of time; it's their access to read you. To be honest, I never fully trusted Artie either.
His look was indifferent with his lips pressed tight. He turned with his front towards me and his side leaning on the ledge. He slowly uncrossed his arms and put his hands in his front pant pockets. “You think I don't want to see your cheeks turn rosy because something made you nervous?”
“Wow. Nothing gets passed you, huh?” I laughed sarcastically, though inside I felt sick.
He studied my face for a while before he began to speak again, “you find fault in something that is quite beautiful and different.” He shook his head in disbelief. “This generation is filled with over-confident women who always put on a facade when they are in front of men. It can be quite a turn off. Trust me, it's quite nice to see someone natural and still capable of being affected...” He looked like he was going to continue speaking. But instead, he turned and placed his hands on the ledge as he looked at the garden.
I wanted to know what he meant so I pressed on, “Affected?... by what?”
He didn't look at me but I could see him smirk. “By charms and just a man's presence.”
He was certifiably cocky, which was a quality I never really liked in a guy but I liked it on him. Somehow, it made him more attractive.
“Haha.” I never really had a man's attention before like I had his, which persuaded me to go on and tease him further. “Mr. Constane, if you look away one more time I 'll be very angry. I would like to see your face.”
He slowly turned his head towards me with his mouth agape. “Very nice, Miss Turner. I applaud you.”
Here we go again with the “Miss. Turner” nonsense. It disappointed me. I wanted him to call me by my first name even if I couldn't call him by his. The disappointment was apparent in my voice as I addressed him, “Why can't you call me 'Quinn'?”
He looked at me somewhat confused. “I'm sorry. It's just a matter of respect. I grew up during times of tradition when women were not addressed by their first names by those other than their husbands or direct family. And quite frankly, I prefer it.”
“Is that why we can't call you by your first name? Out of respect?”
“Would you prefer to call me by my first name?” he responded quickly with his voice softer than before.
I slowly smiled and pulled my hair behind my ears. “Yes and you can blame it on the fact that I grew up in a non-traditional society. So, yes I would. If that would be okay with you?”
“That's fine.”
Did I hear right? Was he allowing me to break one of the rules and so quickly too? “Really? Are you sure?”
He was amused at my shock. “Don't make me change my mind.”
“Okay.” I felt my heart beat faster than I ever thought possible.
After a few seconds, he looked at me seriously, “that doesn't apply to the others so you can only call me 'Josef' when we are alone but not around the others. I need to be fair. Understood?”
I nodded quickly. Hopefully, I'll never forget and slip up. I didn't want to lose this privilege.
“Were you really mad at me for being late?”
“I wasn't mad. I was worried.”
“Oh, well, thanks. But I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself.”
He gave me a quick stern look. “You are a vulnerable human girl who lives among vampires. And not all vampires are good. They're not all Arties.”
“You're good.”
Something in his demeanor changed; he became more stiff and his pupils appeared to have dilated. Was he thirsty? Was my scent finally effecting him?
“I've made mistakes. And I've seen what other vampires are capable of and they don't flinch. Just do me a favor and call Artie if you need a ride or something. Anything.”
His phone buzzed and he looked at it. “Now it's time to call it a night. It's getting late.” His stance and eyes returned to their normal appearance. But what set him off in the first place?...
“Why do I have to call Artie all the time? Can I call you instead?”
“What for?” he asked in a puzzled manner.
Okay, wrong move on my part. My over-confidence had taken a step too far and I was feeling that I was going to regret it.
He broke into a smile. He had been teasing me. “I don't really exchange my numbers with any of the girls I hire. I'm not interested in being woken up in the middle of the night to some drunken phone call or nude texts. It's happened before.”
“Ha. Yeah, that would definitely suck. It happens to me too – but with guys... obviously!”
“Wow. Really?”
“Oh, yeah. All the time.”
“I see. So, I assume I'll have some competition while your with me?”
Competition with you? No one could ever come close. Unless Ryan Gosling somehow found his poor self stranded in this town that sometimes didn't even make the map. But even then, you wouldn't have anything to worry about.
“No. I was lying. There's no one right now.” It's true. There was no one who was interested in me or that I was interested in. There hadn't been in a while. And being known as one of the town's good girls didn't really help. Guys actually want the opposite of that, which came to be known as a fact to me when I first entered high school. “Guys don't see me like that.”
He titled his head back and looked at the sky above him. “Damn it. We really need to work on your self-esteem.” He looked back down at me. “Frustrating. Absolutely frustrating. I'm going to have some work breaking you in.”
“Breaking me in?”
“That's for me to know and for you to find out. Now let's go.”
I shrugged and started to follow him back into the Club. I wished we could have stayed out here for longer. Heck, I would have stayed all night. Before we reached the door he turned to me, “Did I keep you up today from doing homework or studying?”
“No, it's totally fine. But if you're ever interested in coming over, I can totally use a tutor.”
He looked up and grinned as he touched the door knob and pulled open the door. “I'm not much of a tutor, though I'm sure I could teach you a few things.”
I raised an eyebrow as I stepped into the club in front of him. “Really? I'm intrigued.”
“Well, don't come tardy anymore and you might get a visit from me sometime.”
“Yes, Sir.” Though his lips were in a line, his eyes smiled and that was enough for me. He pointed towards the other girls who were now huddled right outside of the club's entryway. I did as I was supposed to do but I didn't leave without slightly tr
ipping on my way there on the slippery dance floor as I lost balance with my heels. After I straightened up, I turned back to give a reassuring smile to Josef who shook his head in a mix of exasperation and amusement.
I found Janel near the front door and she was shaking her head at me, too. “Oh, honey. This is our first night out and you already have your head over your Prada's.”
“They're actually Target. And I don't know what you're talking about.” I looked at her like I really had no clue what she was talking about. But there was no getting around her, she knew I liked him more than I should.
“Okay, sure. Whatever you say.” She winked at me before she changed the subject when Josef was approaching us. “We are all getting separate cabs. So, I guess this is it. Goodnight and I'll see you next time.”
“Goodnight.”
Josef and Artie said goodnight to each girl as they walked out of the hotel and went into their cabs. When my cab approached, Artie put his arm around by shoulder and walked me to mine. I wished it had been Josef...
When I came close to the cab door, I realized I didn't say “goodnight” to Josef. I quickly spun around, which prompted Artie to put his arm down. Josef was right behind us with his eyes on Artie. He didn't look happy. I suppose this would be breaking the “no flirting with other guys” rule. Shit.
“Goodnight, Artie.”
Artie gave me a high five before walking away.
Josef opened my door for me.
“Goodnight... Josef.” I whispered his name so no one around could hear.
His jaw was tense but his eyes showed the opposite. “Goodnight, Miss Turner.”
I got in and waved to him which awarded me a slight grin.
For once, I was happy I joined The Club.
CHAPTER six
I was sitting in my Art History class which I usually enjoyed but today I was immensely distracted. It had been three days since I'd seen Josef or even Artie. I was curious to know when we would all go out again. Heck, even if that meant having to spend a night with Gwen. I really didn't care anymore.
I sat near the end of the class, which consisted of around a hundred students so it was okay for me to text in class and get away with it. After checking my messages and email for any update, I finally took the initiative to text Artie myself.
Quinn: Hey :)
I waited for his response which made me even more agitated. After a minute, I began to bite the side of my pencil. The professor was in the middle of covering Impressionism and I could barely make out what he was saying between his mumbling and the sound of a pair of students whispering in front of me. I dropped my pencil onto my desk when my phone buzzed.
Artie: Hey! How's it going?
Quinn: Just in class. Super bored :( What r u doing?
Artie: In a meeting. Super bored too :(
Quinn: Ooops. Sorry for texting then....
Artie: No it's fine. It's not really important. Just going over our business schedules.
Quinn: Is Josef there?
Artie: Yes...he's the CEO. DUH.
Of course he was there. I'm an idiot.
Quinn: LOL. My bad. Can you tell him I said hi?
Artie didn't respond quickly this time. Oh no, did I cross a line? Did he suspect something? I let out a sigh and began biting my pencil again. The whispers in front of me continued and it increased my agitation. It wasn't until a minute later that my phone buzzed again.
Artie: I did. He said hi back. So you two are getting along?
Quinn: I think so... Which is good.
Artie: ???
Damn. He knew something was up. It was hard to lie to Artie but I had to in this case. He would kill me if he found out that I was crushing on his friend – and hard, at that.
Quinn: It would suck if he hated me and was mean. Would make me hate “The Club” more.
Artie: You hate it?
Quinn: I just don't like Gwen and some of the other girls. That's all.
Artie: Not gonna argue with you on that one. Janel is nice though.
Okay, this time I was gonna tease him. I noticed how he looked at Janel at the club. He couldn't keep his eyes off her after their conversation about law school. He was a huge flirt and I knew he wouldn't back down for anything if he really liked a girl, not even if it meant breaking the club's rules.
Quinn: ???
Artie: What?
Quinn: So...Janel...huh?
Artie: You lost me.
Quinn: You're breaking the rules. #BadBoyArtie
Artie: Don't know what you are talking about? #HashtagsAreStupid
I was about to respond when he sent another text.
Artie: Gotta go. Meeting clients for lunch. Talk later.
Damn it. I wanted to ask him whether there were anymore plans. I'd have to ask him later. I couldn't go on being constantly distracted over it all.
I ran my fingers against the sides of my pencil, and all the dents and holes gave the once-smooth yellow piece of wood a new textured surface. I added more to the new landscape as I bit on it once again.
***
When I got home, my mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen. Nicholas was sitting at the bottom of the stairs enjoying a slurpee while reading a comic. I winked at him as I past him to go upstairs to my room.
When I came into my room, I closed the door behind me and threw my bag on the bed. I quickly got my phone out of my coat pocket and jumped on the bed. I was about to call Janel to see if she wanted to hang out.
Just as I was about to dial her number, Artie was calling me. I quickly responded.
“Hi”
“Hey, are you free this weekend?”
“Yes.” I said it way too quickly.
“Good. Because we want to get out of here for the entire weekend.”
“The entire weekend?” Where were we going?
“Yep. We are dying to go golfing. How does Oahu, Hawaii sound like?”
My heart stopped. “Get. The. Fuck. Out.” He had to be playing me.
He laughed. “I knew you would say that. You'll love it. Start packing. It's all been paid for and when I pick you up on Friday afternoon I'll compel your parents.”
“I can't believe this. Hawaii!” I was practically jumping up and down on my bed like a little kid. I had never left the state of Illinois before, let alone to a place like Hawaii. I had only ever dreamt of it.
There was a knock on my door and I immediately knew it was my mother. “Hey, I'll call you back later. It's my mom.” Just as we hung up on each other, she walked in.
“Mom, I didn't say 'come in'.” She always did that. There were no boundary rules with her.
“I'm sorry, I just heard you yell and I wanted to see if everything was okay.”
I'm just going to a dreamy island with a dreamy guy for the entire weekend, that's all. “Everything's fine, just heard a funny story, that's all.”
She started to fold the clothes that had been thrown onto my arm chair. “Oh, okay. By the way, how's work?”
She didn't really care about how my work was going. The only thing she really wanted to hear about it was that I would officially quit and work elsewhere. “Work is fine. Still there.”
“You know, they will need a coordinator for some of the teen programs at the center. I think you would be good at that.”
“Which programs exactly?”
“There will be vacant spots for the Theater club and Abstinence for All. I think you would be perfect for that. All the young girls would look up to you.”
Goodness, no! “I'm not sure about that.”
She finished folding up the remaining clothes and turned to face me with her hands on her hips. “Quinn, you should really start to look into other arenas you could get yourself involved with, other than just dancing. What are you going to do if you can't make a proper living as a dancer? Be a housewife?”
“That depends on how handsome my husband will be.”
“It's not a joke, Quinn. If you don't end up going to coll
ege then you need to find a new career path.” She patted her hands against her cheeks as she realized something. “You know what, think of opening up a small business here in town. You once said you wanted to own your own bakery. Think of how lovely that would be in the town center. Especially with your taste in style, I can already imagine it being a hip place.”
Hip? She clearly spent way too much time at the youth center. “Mom, I said that after you got me an Easy Bake oven and that was when I was... 8?”
“Well, it doesn't have to be a bakery. Just think about it. Don't just write it off completely.” The house phone rang which, thankfully, prompted my mom to leave.
How would she react if she knew what I was doing now? What would she say if I told her that I liked a vampire? My career status was difficult for her so recent current events would most likely not go down well with her. Artie would be able to compel both her and my dad, but that's not a forever solution.
Would she forever accept me and my decisions, no matter what?
***
It was Friday afternoon and I was packing things for the trip. I spent hours trying to figure out what to bring; which dress, which shoes, etc. And throughout the whole process, I could barely contain my excitement. I couldn't really believe that I was going. I thought, any minute now I was going to receive a call that the trip was canceled for some reason.
Nicholas came into my room and pointed to my luggage.
I smiled at him. “I'm going on a little trip. I'll be back Sunday night. I'll bring you back something nice. Make sure you take care of mom and dad.”. He gave me a thumbs up and at that moment it hit me that I was going to miss him terribly while I was going to be away. I wish I could take him with me. He would have liked it. We never went anywhere as a family, not even Disney World which was something I always wanted for Nicholas. I just figured it would cheer him up and more.
The Touch Series: Initiation Page 5
