I swallow hard. “Don’t flip, Mom.” Juggling explaining or introducing. Introductions win. “You know Scott and Glen. That’s Michael. We used to go to school with him. And this is Nathan, my boy . . . friend.” I break up the word, unsure if boyfriend is the correct term. Should I have said mate? Does it matter which term I use?
“You don’t sound certain about that, Tracey.” Mom looks past me to Nathan. “At least he’s cute.”
I blush.
Nathan steps forward, hand extended. “Hi, I’m Nathan Newcomb. I’m trying to earn the spot in your daughter’s life as her boyfriend, but it seems she’s still making up her mind. I would’ve taken it as confirmation had you not pointed out her uncertainty.” He chuckles, accommodating her laugh. “It’s nice to finally meet you. How would you prefer I address you?” His proud smile lightens his tone.
“Karen is fine. Nathan?” she asks as their handshake concludes.
He nods, and she gives him a motherly smile. “Hi, Glen.” She nods to her, then to Scott. “And hello to you, Scott. I assume, since you are standing near Glen, you are her boyfriend?”
Scott looks to Glen for confirmation, and when she nods, the world’s widest smile squints his eyes. “Yes ma’am,” he says. “Nathan is my cousin.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, Mrs. Warren, how was work?” Glen chirps.
“It was fine, Glen. Thank you for asking. And whose boyfriend are you?” Mom asks Michael.
I throw my palm in my face. Glen chuckles.
“Well, I used to date Tracey before I left for New York. I’m trying to get her back,” Michael states.
Mom’s gaze rests on Michael, and the muscles in her face relax. “I hate to say this, but Tracey has never introduced any of her male friends to me as her boyfriend. And considering she did it for him.” She nods toward Nathan. “I wouldn’t spend too much of my young life trying to get something back that is already gone.”
Michael’s confident expression falls. After one last glance at me, he heads out the front door, saying, “Thanks for the advice.”
“I hope I didn’t hurt that young man’s feelings, Tracey. I was being honest.”
“Don’t worry about it, Mom. I’m sure he’ll be okay.”
“Now that introductions are out of the way, care to explain why all of you are here? I dislike people in my house when I don’t know about it.”
“That’s my fault, Mom. Glen came over, and we were talking. Then Michael showed up all aggressive-like at the same time Glen and I were getting ready to leave with Nathan and Scott.” And within that lie, lies the truth. “Michael wouldn’t leave, and Nathan and Scott stepped in.”
Her perfectly arched eyebrows knit. “Why would that boy get aggressive? Did he act that way with you before?”
“No,” I hurry to say. “He was nice.” I shrug. “I guess he didn’t want to take no for an answer.”
Her gaze shifts to Nathan. “How do you feel about that?”
“It didn’t sit well with me. And if I may be honest with you, Karen?” She nods. “Before you arrived, he was about to get his face smashed in. I didn’t like the way he spoke to and treated Tracey,” he states.
I wince at his face smashed in remark.
The corners of Mom’s mouth tip down, then back up. With a quick nod, she chirps, “Okay. That works for me. Tracey, you said you were getting ready to leave, but would you all like a snack first?” She passes us, and we all relax.
“No, Mom. That’s okay. We’re heading out. I’ll see you when I get back.”
She comes back around the corner. “Okay, honey. It was nice to meet you, Nathan. Make sure you come back around so we can talk, okay?”
Nathan peeks at me. To Mom, he smiles, and says, “Yes, ma’am.”
“Oh, Tracey? Keep your schedule clear for the next couple of days. Your dad will be home, and we have some things we would like to discuss with you.”
My mind races a mile a minute as my worry spikes. “Okay, Mom.”
Nathan says, “Goodbye,” and closes the door behind us.
“So, who’s driving? I left everything in the house,” I say. This was not a part of my plan for today. I also wasn’t expecting Mom to come home this early, so I guess it’s a good thing Glen popped in.
Scott offers, “We can walk to my house and get my car. I don’t know what you all want to do, though. We can’t go to Nathan’s house. There’s a family meeting over there.”
My panic rises. “Wait, Nathan. Your bag was sitting on the chaise.”
“I’ll take care of it, Tracey,” he reassures.
Glen swells her chest and walks up on him, snapping, “And how are you going to take care of it? Walk back to the door and say, oh, hello Karen, I left my clothes in Tracey’s room, excuse me while I go get them?”
Nathan pinches his nose, and annoyance darkens his eyes. He looks over Glen’s head at Scott, saying, “I wish you would talk to your lady.”
Scott slips his arm around her waist and pulls her with him to the sidewalk. “Let’s head to my house while Tracey and Nathan try to get his stuff out.”
“I’ll stash my things. Be back in less than three minutes,” Nathan whispers.
“Kay.”
routine
Nathan meets me on the sidewalk on the next block after sneaking out of the house. “Hey, I got it.” I sigh with relief. “Your mom didn’t notice anything. Does she have an accent? I overheard her talking on the phone and it peeks through. I didn’t hear it when we were talking earlier.”
We head on the walk to for Scott’s house six blocks over. “Yeah, she does. She’s Australian. She moved to America after she met my dad. Because she dislikes her past so much, she hides her accent. I think she believes doing so erases her history and helps her forget about her family. They disowned her for dating my dad, frowned on mixing races.”
“Your dad is from Virginia, right?”
“Born and raised.”
“Humph. I’m the first guy you’ve ever introduced to your mom as your boyfriend?”
My cheeks burn. “I don’t introduce my parents to my boyfriends. I haven’t cared much about her meeting them, especially if I wasn’t sure they’d stick around. No one’s been worth wasting their time.”
“So,” he sings, “you met my family, and I met your mom. I think we can make this thing official so the next time you’re introducing me and what I am to you, you won’t be unsure about it.”
“Us meeting each other’s family is what makes us official? What about the whole having sex part?”
“Hey!” He defensively throws up his hands. “You’re the one who’s uncertain. I know what you are to me.”
“What’s that?”
Draping his arm over my shoulder, he casually informs, “You’re my mate, my lady, my heart, and my future wife.” He double steps. “No confusion here.” This is free-and-relaxed Nathan, light voice and not as intense. This side of him makes me so comfortable, like he’s normal. I love this side of him.
“Clearly,” I murmur. “But I wasn’t confused. I didn’t know how to introduce you to her. Like I said, I’ve never done it before, and I didn’t know how she’d react.”
“She was cool about it. Not a hair out of place. I think she likes me.”
“She might. I think she thinks you’re cute.”
“Do you think I’m cute?”
“I think cute is an understatement. When God made you, he was breaking all the limitation rules.”
Humor gone serious, he asks, “You think God made me?”
“Of course.” I shrug. “Who else?”
“Well,” he drags, “I am half demon and all.”
“It’s not what you’re made of, it’s what you make of yourself. We are not who we are because of where we come from or what people make us out to be, but because of what we want to be. You may have the misfortune of a demon within you, but you know that and you don’t let it consume you, and you’ve bettered yourself. This means you’re made up of God a
nd you’re not made by a demon. Or . . . you know.”
He doesn’t respond. I grab his hand hanging over my shoulder and lock our fingers, then let the silence have its way.
I’m stoked Dad is coming home, but I can’t imagine what it is they’ll want to talk about. And what was that about keeping a clear schedule for two days? When Dad comes home, we would go cabining for a few days or spend the entire day together.
“Why are you worried, Tracey?”
Clingy me breaks through. “I won’t see you. And I can’t figure out what they could possibly want to talk about.”
“Maybe they want to talk about where you’ve decided to go after you graduate. This means tomorrow, you’ll come by and we’ll figure it all out, the speech, the schools. So tonight, gather up all your offer letters and think about if you want to stay around here or if we’ll be traveling. Ohh, ever thought about going to school in England or Dubai? That’d make for an interesting experience.”
I laugh. “Thanks for your willingness to help.”
“You got it, babe.”
We round the corner to Scott’s block. “What are we doing?”
“Normal stuff since Glen will be around. And Scott, being a coward, erased the details of what he told her from her mind, only leaving that he had wanted to talk to her about something and she became upset thinking whatever it was, was a lie.” We shake our heads. “And we’ll probably be around a lot of people so we don’t risk being attacked.”
Speaking of being attacked. “Why aren’t you at this family meeting, number one?”
“Because we’re bound and you now have a distinctive scent. Which means where you go, I go, and vice versa, for now. And don’t call me that.”
I knit my brows. “A distinctive scent, huh?”
“My mark’s on you and you are covered in my scent.” He sucks in a deep breath through his nose. “By the way, your scent is extremely potent, and it screams you want me.”
So, I’m potent with Nathan? That’s interesting. I lift the back of my hand to my nose, only smelling the lotion I applied earlier. I sniff his hand, and it smells like my perfume. I mean, when I inhale I catch a whiff of him in the wind, but I don’t smell him on me. “Whatever. I’m adding that to the list of Sephlem details I need to dive into later. Think your mom wouldn’t mind going over some of this stuff with me?”
He snorts. “My mom would love it if you did.”
We make it to Scott’s house. He and Glen are waiting for us in his car. We climb in the backseat of his cramped coupe, and he drives away.
The fair’s in town and is crowded, as it is every year during spring break. There isn’t much to do around here in Bennington besides attend a carnival, concert, and county fairs when they’re here. So, when Scott suggests we should go, we all agree. We have everyday activities like the mall, boating, bowling, some hike, but this is our town’s entertainment. Though I’ve never been a big fan of the fair; I don’t like the rides or the overflow of trash, but the games and performances are decent. But it’s different being here with Nathan.
Glen and I eat our popcorn and candy, watching Nathan and Scott go head-to-head shooting basketballs. Neither of them misses a shot.
Bystanders admire them, girls giggling and crowding around.
Nathan and Scott tie the game, winning stuffed bears bigger than Glen and me.
Nathan takes his orange-colored bear and attempts to hide it behind his back. All the bear is peeking out from behind him. He laughs. “It looks more awkward through your eyes than it did in my head.” Bringing it to his front, he hands it to me.
I shake my head, laughing. “This is way too big to walk around with,” I tell him, holding it back. “And it’s not going to fit in Scott’s car.”
Glen’s disappeared from my side, nearer Scott, declining the purple bear he hands her. They laugh together, looking so cute.
“Hey, Scott!” a familiar voice shouts over the noise.
Scott pulls his loose hair into a ponytail, seeming to know something bad is about to happen. Judging by the flirtatious voice requesting him, and the animosity wiped across Glen’s face, our evening is about to take a wicked turn.
I pull Nathan to hurry as I charge across the grass. Glen isn’t relaxed in any confrontational situation. I can already see her mouth twisting, ready to spew out a string of cuss words at her target. Pepper, our longtime enemy.
Smacking cherry red lips, Pepper props her immaculately thin arms on her tight hips. “You can’t speak, Scott?” she sneers in her annoying high-pitched voice.
“I didn’t know he was obligated to,” Glen snips, clamping her hand over Scott’s mouth.
Crap. Here we go.
Pepper pouts at Glen as if she’s a cute puppy. “Aww, Glen, you’re hot over Scott.” She giggles and flicks a glance over to the two friends at her sides. “You and about all the other girls at school. What is it, Scott? First, you don’t talk to anyone, and now you’re talking to Tracey and Glen?”
I step forward, but Nathan holds me back with his arm across my chest. “Wait,” he instructs. We stop a few feet away from them.
“You were supposed to pick me up for Andrew’s party, and you never showed,” Pepper continues. “What’s up with that?”
“Pepper you―”
“No!” Glen whips around to Scott. “Don’t talk to her.” She points at Pepper. “I recommend you not speak directly to him. You have something to say to him, you say it to me.”
Pepper laughs at her. “Okay, Glen.” She pauses, and with a wicked smile, sings, “So, Scott, what are we doing when we leave here?”
The purple bear hits the ground as Scott snatches Glen back, catching her inches from her fist connecting with Pepper’s face.
Pepper jumps back, stumbling into her clique of girlfriends.
Nathan and I push through the now-forming crowd. I make it to Glen’s side, urging, “Calm down, Glen. She’s not worth it. Let’s just go.”
“Scott, let me go!” Glen shouts.
“Hi, Tracey,” Pepper sings obnoxiously.
I face her, and the smile is back on her face. Pepper’s about to take this to the extreme. I step in before it gets worse. “Just stop it, Pepper! Everyone is here to have a good time. You don’t have to go there tonight.”
With my hand in his, Nathan throws his arm over my head. It crosses my chest, and he pulls me against him, whispering in my ear, “step back.”
Pepper follows the arm and looks him over. “Wait. This is not your guy, Tracey,” she insists, admiring him. “Nice!” she praises, flipping her bone-straight hair and extending her hand. “Hi, I’m Pepper. We should hang out sometime.”
I smack her hand away.
Nathan’s arm tightens around me, pulling me against his chest. “Don’t go there, Tracey,” he says.
Pepper’s eyes widen when he speaks. “Damn, Cey! He sounds good too!” She winks at him before looking at her nodding friends murmuring in her ear.
Glen nears me, still being held back by Scott. “I told you to let me get her. But, noo,” she sings near my ear. “Calm down, Glen. It’s not worth it,” she mocks.
Pepper’s always had some issue with Glen and me. Throughout middle school, we were at each other’s necks, and in high school things calmed down, but she continued with the taunting and teasing. Teasing me about the wild hallucinations I used to have that forced me out of school for a bit. They were out of control and would always seem to happen in front of people. Mom and Dad had to take me to a psychiatrist because it took a toll on my ‘behavior’ they believed. Pepper teased Glen about her dad who’d committed suicide before she moved to Bennington. Around Sophomore year, Glen got tired of her bullying and put a mildly violent stop to it. But Pepper still makes sly comments and tries to get under our skin. Now, she’s just more prudent.
Pepper boasts and brags about how she’s going to steal Nathan and Scott. All of which I could have ignored had she not added, “Poor, Tracey. Hot new boy toy replacing di
sappearing daddy? Be careful, she’s a freaking mutant,” she says to Nathan.
I hit her before I realize it. She stumbles back into the crowd, falling to the ground.
I didn’t put much force behind it, but by her yelp and the pain in my knuckles, I must’ve.
“Time to go!” Scott exclaims. Glen laughs, talking smack to Pepper as we hurry to Scott’s car.
“You lost it,” Nathan scolds low and disapprovingly.
I roll my eyes, ignoring his chide. That’s the last thing I want to hear right now.
“Tracey, how can I expect you to keep me in control if you can’t even maintain your own? You could’ve killed that girl.”
“She’s okay. I saw her breathing,” I say, pointing over my shoulder.
“You’re stronger now, Tracey.” He looks away from me. “Things like that are going to happen.”
“No,” I cut in. “You didn’t hear what she was saying? She stepped past her limits.”
He shakes his head. “You cannot let shit like that get to you. Even though I wanted to beat the shit out of your ex-boyfriend―the insults and disrespect he slung my way, and his violence,” he growls the word. “I didn’t merely act the way I wanted. Yeah, it was disrespectful and she might have deserved it, but she wasn’t worth your anger or your rage. You shouldn’t have let her get to you is all I’m saying.”
“You are in no position to tell people how to handle rage, or when someone should or should not react. You may not have beaten up Michael, but let’s not forget what happened when you did freak out. Don’t scold me for reminding you of yourself, Nathan,” I say, earning an indignant glare from him. His jaw locks, popping out its bone, squaring his jawline. Relaxing his face, he tears his gaze from mine.
I tightly cross my arms. I’m temperamental when it comes down to Dad and my imperfection. I hate anyone to bring that stuff up, and she just had to mention it in front of Nathan. This entire time I’ve been trying not to think about it, so he couldn’t read my thoughts around that horrible part of my life. Pepper knows just how to get under my skin.
Glen and Scott go back and forth, but their disagreement involves a lot of pointing and shoving. All by Glen.
Plight: A Dark Paranormal Romance (The Sephlem Trials Book 1) Page 22