Winging It

by Deborah Cooke

  Until I knew how Jared would respond to seeing me there.

  Meagan’s mom did remember that I was supposed to be grounded and was all for saying no to the concert plan. Meagan’s dad argued in favor of musical education and was ready to let us go. Meagan insisted that it wasn’t fair to punish me for my parents’ having problems. I tried to just eat my dinner and look like a good girl while Meagan’s parents discussed it.

  So, my dad had said I was grounded but not why. Of course, it would have been a breach of the Covenant to explain the details.

  I had to like that the Covenant cut both ways.

  As a complete bonus, my mom did call me on Saturday morning, just like she’d promised. She didn’t have a whole lot to say, except that she was staying at my aunt’s and checking that I had the number. She didn’t mention my dad and neither did I. It was a short call, but made me feel less like everything was falling apart.

  The Falling Tower. Hmm.

  Meagan’s parents let us go shopping on Saturday, which I took as a good sign. They were still waffling about the concert at dinner on Saturday night. I got the impression that they liked to debate issues endlessly, but didn’t intervene.

  I just hoped.

  In the end, it was Isabelle who made the sale. She turned up looking even more perfect than usual. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a teal tweed jacket with her jeans. She was wearing glasses, even though I’d never seen her with glasses before.

  Meagan’s parents were sold with one look. How could it be bad for us to accompany such a respectable young adult anywhere?

  The sucker punch was Isabelle’s apparent delight that Meagan’s mom is a visioning counselor. Isabelle launched into this discussion of a lab experiment in one of her university courses, which was investigating the ability of people to psychically create their own realities.

  Meagan’s mom was completely entranced.

  Who says that only dragons can beguile humans? Some humans do pretty well at enchanting each other.

  We were out the door and running for the bus in record time.

  Heading toward Jared.

  My stomach turned somersaults all the way. What if he didn’t talk to me? What if he did talk to me? What if he kissed me again? I didn’t know what to expect and just couldn’t stand it.

  ‘What kind of concert is it?’ Meagan huffed after we’d piled onto the bus. ‘Classical? Chamber music?’

  Isabelle laughed as she shoved her glasses into her purse. She pulled out a little case and balanced it on her lap, popping in her contacts as the bus rocked down the street. Meagan watched with awe, even though her own glasses were fogged. Isabelle shook out her hair, doing that model thing again. Meagan’s eyes went round. ‘A rock concert, of course.’

  ‘You didn’t tell my parents that.’

  Isabelle smiled. ‘I know. Sometimes we fairy godmothers have to manage information.’

  Meagan looked between the two of us in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’

  Isabelle leaned close to whisper. ‘Zoë has a crush on this guy who sings in the band. They’re playing a concert in town tonight, so I decided to take her.’

  ‘So we can be pathetic needy fangirls,’ I added.

  ‘An early birthday present,’ Isabelle said. She nudged Meagan. ‘And I thought she should bring a friend.’

  Meagan glanced my way.

  ‘And only my best friend would do,’ I added.

  ‘Moral support,’ Isabelle concluded.

  Meagan teared up and had to clean her glasses. I hugged her and we had a warm fuzzy moment. It’s so easy to get along when you don’t have to lie to your friends.

  Then Meagan snapped her fingers. ‘Wait a minute. Is this the guy whose music you’re always listening to on your messenger?’ She gasped and grabbed my arm when I nodded. ‘The guy who kissed you on spring break? Is that the guy you’re crazy for?’

  I blushed from head to toe, which they both enjoyed far more than I did.

  ‘Now I know why you had to get that new bra,’ Meagan teased, and my face got even hotter.

  ‘And that purple shirt,’ Isabelle added. ‘Where’d you get a shirt that cool?’

  ‘I think you gave it to me,’ I admitted and she laughed.

  She leaned against Meagan. ‘I have such good taste, don’t I?’

  ‘It looks great on Zoë,’ Meagan agreed. ‘Makes her look both slim and curvy.’

  ‘He won’t be able to resist her,’ Isabelle said.

  I was so mortified that I wanted to sink into the bus floor. Given the slush and muck on it, that was saying something.

  They laughed together at me, enjoying my discomfort, and then Meagan demanded that I do her eyeliner for her. She likes the way I do mine. More importantly, she can’t apply eye makeup with her glasses on, and can’t see to apply it without them. She took off her glasses and I took advantage of a red light. Two flicks of the wrist and it was perfect.

  ‘You should get contacts,’ Isabelle said. ‘You have such great eyes.’

  ‘And a mouthful of steel.’ Meagan did her shark smile.

  ‘Gives the rest of us a chance,’ I said and she smiled for real.

  She put her glasses back on, then borrowed Isabelle’s mirror to check out the eyeliner. ‘I am so getting contacts as soon as my braces come off. I don’t care what my mom says. I’ll figure out a way to buy them myself.’ She then demanded an earbud to listen to Jared’s music. ‘What’s your favorite song?’

  ‘“Snow Goddess”. Here.’ I gave her one and put the other in my ear. I did not present my theory that this song was about me, even though it had appeared for download on the band’s site only after Jared and I had met – and we had met in an unseasonable snowstorm.

  Kind of like the one that was starting now.

  Hmm.

  More importantly, Meagan and I were both listening to the same song at the same time as the bus rocked toward downtown.

  Like we were best friends again.

  It was sweet.

  Knightshade, the club, looked smaller than I’d expected. In fact, it looked kind of like a restaurant, but with dark drapes over the windows and lots of people standing outside.

  There was a steady thud of bass carrying through the open door past the bouncer, and there was a line forming along the sidewalk. I think the city’s entire allocation of black leather, shiny zippers, and facial studs had been claimed by the people who were already waiting there.

  Never mind the tattoos. The bouncer was wearing only a tight black T-shirt despite the weather, the better to show off his muscles and the seriously fabulous koi tattoo that wound down his left arm. One look and I had a major case of tattoo lust.

  My fascination with tattoos had started the previous spring when, yes, I’d seen the end of one on the back of Jared’s left hand. It had protruded from the cuff of his leather jacket, although I hadn’t actually seen all of it.

  I’d seen the tip of a newt’s nose and one little webbed foot.

  I liked it a lot. And I’d done a ton of research since – easier than it would be for most people, because the partner of one of the Pyr is a tattoo artist. I’d nearly driven Rox crazy with my questions about tattoos and tattoo art, about design constraints and hygiene and everything else tattoo-related. I was sure that one of my own dragons would make a perfect tattoo.

  His head would come over my left shoulder, eyes looking front, one wing spreading across my shoulder blades, the other down my arm, and his tail twirling around my upper arm to the elbow.

  This was the one I wanted for my birthday.

  Rox had endorsed the design – and she should know, being a fab tattoo artist herself – but she refused to put it on my skin. Being sixteen meant needing parental approval, and my mom wasn’t giving it. Rox knew my mom, so there was no way around it. I didn’t have the balls to go to another tattoo artist, because I had done my research.

  But I had the drawing safely saved on my messenger, ready for the day I c
ould have it transferred to my skin.

  Like Meagan and her contacts, I was going to find a way to make it happen.

  Somehow.

  The bouncer was huge and he was casting a fierce eye over the line. He looked inclined to be picky. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t let Meagan and me in, we being minors and all, despite there being no alcohol in the place. He would turn us away just because we wouldn’t look good enough for the crowd he was building to suit himself.

  But Isabelle turned a bright smile on him and he visibly melted. That was before she opened her mouth and her accent turned him to a puddle of acquiescence. Then she stretched up and whispered in the guy’s ear. I thought he would fall to his knees in delight.

  Maybe swoon.

  ‘Wow,’ Meagan murmured and pushed up her glasses. I could almost sense her taking notes.

  ‘I so want to be Isabelle when I grow up,’ I said under my breath.

  ‘Absolutely,’ Meagan agreed.

  Isabelle turned then, smiled and beckoned to us. The bouncer unclipped the red velvet rope that held the line at bay and gestured us in. Those in the line – most of whom were older, better-dressed, more stylish, and better-looking than me – watched hungrily.

  ‘How’d you do that?’ I whispered to Isabelle.

  ‘I said we knew the band. It’s true.’

  Both of us were crowding behind Isabelle, trying to look cool and blowing it. ‘We know Jared,’ I pointed out.

  Isabelle laughed. ‘I’ve read the album notes, and done a little research. Fairy godmothers need to do their prep. We’ll meet the others now.’

  It was dark and smoky inside. Everything was painted either black or deep purple, except the floor, which was black-and-white checkerboard. There was no furniture, just people standing in clusters.

  Jared had chosen this place so I could come to hear him play – or to see him. Either way. I shivered with anticipation.

  Isabelle scanned the dark interior, then pointed to the back, where the kitchen should have been. Instead there was a stage and a glittering curtain. ‘Backstage would be there.’

  She headed off at a purposeful clip, cutting her way through the crowd easily. Meagan followed, mimicking her new idol. I considered the irony of my having worried about Jared being my dragon stalker, particularly when I appeared to be stalking him, then pushed that thought out of my mind.

  I’d keep our conversation focused and friendly. I needed a reference guide, and he had the closest thing to one.

  This was about the book.

  After all, if he’d wanted to see me before this, he would have made it happen. My dad and Isabelle were right about that. Jared was a get-stuff-done kind of a guy.

  I decided to try for cool, elusive, and mysterious. I’d never manage indifferent, but this was a step in the right direction. Besides, mysterious seemed like the right attitude for a Wyvern, and I knew he was a dragon fan.

  That plan went right out the proverbial window as soon as I saw him. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt so tight that it could have been painted on. Every muscle was delineated, and he had a bunch of them. He was bent over his guitar, listening as he tuned it, completely lost in his task. He looked tons older than me, than all the guys at school, and I heard my dad’s words all over again.

  Like a warning.

  One that I had no interest in heeding.

  It’s impossible to be cool, elusive, or even mysterious when your heart is racing. Just so you know.

  ‘Wow,’ Meagan murmured. ‘Forget Derek.’

  And I had to agree.

  I could see the entire tattoo on Jared’s left forearm, too. It was a good one. Rox would have admired it.

  It was a newt or a salamander, head on the back of his wrist and tail wound around his arm right above the elbow. It was looking up, as if surprised at its newty business. It had a red forked tongue that stretched down to his middle finger, which I knew hadn’t been part of it before. The newt seemed to move as he plucked the strings of the guitar, as if it were possessed of a life beyond ink and skin.

  Was it a Wyvern salamander? I dared to hope.

  I had just enough time to realize I had no smooth intro before Jared suddenly glanced up. His eyes lit – those eyes are greener than any deity should allow – and he smiled at me.

  My heart stopped.

  Then galloped.

  I was a goner, and we were still twenty feet apart.

  Chapter Five

  Jared’s gaze flicked to Meagan and back to me, and I sensed that he was choosing his words. ‘Zoë! Awesome. And Isabelle, too.’

  Isabelle stepped toward him, perky as only she can be, and gave him kisses on each cheek.

  ‘So Euro,’ Meagan sighed, her desire to be Isabelle visibly doubling again.

  I could relate to that.

  I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, and couldn’t bring myself to do the cheek kiss as casually as Isabelle. I stuck out my hand. ‘Hi.’

  Jared took my hand, tugging me closer to kiss my cheek. ‘Glad you’re here, dragon girl,’ he murmured when his lips were right against my ear. His words were so quiet that only I could have heard them and they gave me palpitations.

  ‘This is my friend Meagan,’ I said and she blushed.

  ‘Nice to meet you,’ Jared said with an easy smile.

  I was a mess. He still had my hand and I was still standing close to him. I could hear his pulse, courtesy of my sharp hearing, and it had accelerated.

  Like he was glad to see me.

  And mine was doing that spooky dragon thing of matching its pace to his. Believe me when I tell you that’s a dizzying sensation. I managed to stand there, blushing like crazy, but clever conversation was completely out of the current range of my abilities.

  Fortunately, Meagan was not impaired in that regard.

  ‘I’ve h-h-heard some of your band’s music,’ she said. ‘Do you write your own s-s-songs?’

  Jared indicated a tall woman with orange hair and yellow leather pants. ‘Angie usually writes the ones she sings and I write the ones I do. A couple of our songs are collaborations between us.’

  Meagan nodded and bit her lip, thinking. ‘So, you’re the one who l-l-likes minor keys so much.’

  Jared looked at her then, really looked at her. I knew he was surprised. ‘Yeah. They’re kind of ethereal.’ He smiled that crooked smile, the one that drove me crazy, and his gaze flicked to me. He winked and the bottom fell out of my world for a moment. I held on to his hand a bit more tightly. ‘I like a bit of mystery, maybe a dreamy quality.’

  I said nothing, trying to maintain my mysterious air.

  Actually, I was trying to find some equilibrium again. Just being in Jared’s vicinity made it difficult to remember to breathe.

  Meagan nodded with excitement, then pushed her glasses up her nose. ‘I like the way you transitioned from the minor key for the chorus in “Snow Goddess”.’ She wasn’t stammering anymore, and I liked that Jared made her feel comfortable.

  They talked about music and keys and timing for a couple of minutes, the two of them clearly finding some common ground. It might as well have been Greek to me. I had no idea what they were talking about. I just liked the song.

  Isabelle, meanwhile, went to talk to the drummer, a tall skinny guy with dreadlocks who had been openly checking her out.

  ‘Sorry!’ Meagan said abruptly, glancing at me and blushing again. ‘It’s just really interesting to talk to someone about the structure of music.’

  ‘You don’t have to apologize,’ I said and bumped her arm. She smiled again. ‘Meagan plays piano,’ I told Jared, then glanced at her. ‘But I didn’t know you were so into composition.’

  ‘It’s math. I love math.’ She smiled sunnily, then elbowed me in a very unsubtle way. ‘Hey, I’m going to talk to Isabelle and the drummer.’

  ‘Rick,’ Jared said.

  ‘He has those new syntho drums, doesn’t he?’ Meagan’s eyes were shining and she was nearly salivating at the prospec
t of checking out new gadgets.

  Jared nodded. ‘And the traditional percussion, too. He says the syntho drums don’t replicate all of the sounds.’

  ‘Oh, but they should,’ Meagan said, frowning as she pushed her glasses up again. ‘The sine waves were perfectly matched by the engineers behind the project. It was a really interesting initiative and—’ She glanced between us, flushed and smiled again, then excused herself.

  ‘She’s nice,’ Jared said, watching Meagan.

  ‘My best friend.’

  ‘Cute,’ he said, surprising me. I thought I was the only one who saw beyond Meagan’s glasses and braces. He winked at me, appreciation in his gaze as he glanced over me.

  Okay, I was having heart failure again.

  I tried to look mysterious and was pretty sure I failed. Instead, I watched Meagan.

  It was better than losing myself in the green of Jared’s eyes.

  Rick seemed a bit condescending when Meagan first spoke to him, as if he was entertaining a fangirl, but within seconds, Meagan’s technical questions brought out his enthusiasm. He started to show her the syntho drums and tapped out a couple of beats so she could compare the sound. She was riveted.

  ‘They’ll be buddies before the night is through,’ Jared said with a smile. ‘Unless Rick talks her ear off about the specs.’

  ‘Meagan will love it.’

  He slanted a long look at me, one that was simmering hot and ten thousand shades of green. His voice dropped low, to that pitch that makes me shiver. ‘I missed you, dragon girl.’

  My knees went weak right on cue. I couldn’t even look at him.

  And maybe because I wasn’t looking at him, I thought more clearly. If he’d missed me, then why hadn’t I heard from him? His words simultaneously made me feel special and fed my own doubts.

  ‘Funny I never heard from you, then,’ I said, trying to keep my tone light.

  It didn’t work. I sounded desperate.

  He gave me a steady look, like a warning. ‘I don’t answer to anyone.’

  That didn’t sound promising. I pulled my hand out of his and folded my arms across my chest, needing to keep a bit of distance until I had things straight. ‘You left before we could talk last spring.’