by SM Olivier
“Who’s Cooper?” I asked in confusion as I reached out to grasp his hand. I squeezed it.
He suddenly got a mischievous glint in his eyes and a little monkey came jumping up onto the table. He looked like one of those performing monkeys you saw in the circus. He had a little red jacket on and a red top hat. He was carrying a bowl of peanuts. I never wished more than in that moment that his illusions could be real. I wanted to cuddle the adorable creature immediately.
“Jaxson James, you did not!” I exclaimed as I giggled.
He chuckled. “I did. I wanted to get out early. I wanted to come home and crawl into bed with you and sleep some more.”
“Mr. Bates was not amused,” Jemmy said with a smirk from the hallway with her arms crossed over her chest.
“He so was,” Rachel giggled. “He was trying so hard not to laugh. I’m pretty sure Paul warned him that you may be up to your old antics.”
I watched as the monkey danced all over the table before he came over to hand me a peanut. I looked up at Jaxson. A real smile lit up my face. I had completely forgotten about last night for a few moments.
The smile on his face and his laughing grey eyes made me realize that that was his intentions. He had wanted to make me smile and he succeeded.
I decided to humor Jaxson as I held out my hand to the monkey. “Why thank you, Cooper,” I cooed at him in baby talk. What was it about animals and babies that made people act like complete idiots? Yes, I was an idiot. I admitted it.
My face dropped in shock as I felt the very real texture of a peanut in my hand.
The girls had been laughing at Jaxson’s antics and Drake had been smiling. They didn’t understand my shock until I closed my hand over the peanut. It was still there.
I opened my hand back up and started to try to crack it open.
“What are you doing, Blake?” Jemmy giggled.
I couldn’t speak for a moment as I continued peeling it. Then I popped it in my mouth. It was salty and crunchy, and it tasted just like a peanut.
Jaxson and Drake had been standing beside me. Their expressions shared the same look of shock.
I reached out my hand and cooed at Cooper. “Come here, Cooper.”
Jaxson looked at me questionably and I nodded. The little monkey moved forward, and I reached out my hand to stroke his little head. His hair was coarse but soft beneath my hands.
When he disappeared the nutshells still remained. The taste of the peanut was still on my tongue. I was beyond flabbergasted.
The sound of Jaxson’s chair clattering to the floor and Cooper disappearing made me break out of my stupor.
“You guys are so full of shit,” Jemmy snorted as she came into the room. “I’ve been fooled one too many times by your pranks Jax. I won’t do it again.” She looked over at me and sighed. “Why must you stoop to his level? I brought friends, movies, and snacks and you’re helping him pull my leg.” She then turned an unamused look at Jaxson. “I liked it better when you were refraining using your gift. It was a blissful, uneventful period,” she said with a longsuffering, dramatic sigh.
I ignored her look of disbelief and looked at Jaxson and said insistently. “I would like a blue pony and I think her name should be Petunia.”
A blue pony appeared in front of us. It wasn’t what I had in mind. “I want her to be short and chubby. Like that pony on that cartoon Ella watches.”
Seconds later, the pony I envisioned was in front of me. I slowly crept forward and tried to run my hands through her mane. It was silky and soft to the touch. Drake moved forward and began stroking her too.
We exchanged a look of awe.
“You guys suck!” Jemmy whined as she went to pet the pony too. Her mouth dropped opened. “You’re not supposed to be able to touch an illusion,” she said in a shocked whisper.
“It’s an illusion!”
“It’s their connection,” Sierra said in wonder. “It’s getting stronger.”
“I think you need to talk to Pops about this,” Jemmy stated as she continued to stroke the horse. “But can we keep her?”
Jace and Noah returned at that moment. “Keep what?” Noah asked as he entered the apartment.
Petunia decided to poop in the middle of the kitchen.
“Are you cleaning that up?” Drake asked Jaxson dryly as the smell immediately wafted up to us.
“I’ll do it,” I stated reluctantly; after all, I had requested the pony.
“Funny,” Noah stated. He, too, had been on the tail end of too many Jaxson jokes. Especially recently. The stronger Jaxson had gotten, the stronger his illusions had. The details had gotten sharper. You could smell and hear them more realistically.
Noah went to stomp on it and we all yelled NO! but it was too late. His shoes were now covered in Petunia’s poop.
Jace and Noah had installed the television on the wall in the corner of the room. Beth had insisted that we keep it since she had more televisions at home, and they didn’t use the one that she had brought as an extra. We just got done watching Sweet Home Alabama. It was my first time watching it (much to all the girl’s horror) and I had really enjoyed it.
I generally didn’t get too emotional over movies unless it involved a beloved pet dying, but there were a few lines and scenes in the movie that had tugged at my heart strings. Jemmy and Rachel had openly cried. I had to admit to feeling the burn at the back of my eyes.
I even found myself wondering if Melanie had the opportunity to keep them both. Would she have? After being thrust into my situation, and after seeing people like Gavin, Jemmy, and Sierra, it made me ponder all my preconceived notions on the definition of a relationship. I had secretly rooted for Jake the whole time, but Andrew had his moments, too. Could Melanie have lived happily ever after with both of them? Or would she be left wondering in the future about what if…
Jax had curled up in Drake’s bed with me and Dawn despite Jemmy and Rachel’s protest. They had insisted it was a girls-only girl’s day and he hadn’t listened. He was currently sound asleep on my stomach, his arms wrapped around my middle, and I was caressing his hair.
Jemmy, Sierra, and Rachel was curled up in the other bed, and we were all eating the loaded nachos that Drake had made us. It was delicious. I didn’t think I would be hungry after my omelette, but the chips covered in cheese, a meat mixture, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and jalapenos had beckoned me.
“So, what’s going on with Superior Seven?” Rachel finally asked cautiously as Jemmy shifted through her binder of DVDs for another movie to watch.
I sighed. I knew girl’s day was going too smoothly. “Superior Seven?” I asked dryly.
“Yeah, that’s what everyone’s calling you now. It’s a mouth full so I’m just gonna call you the Supesev,” Dawn waved a chip as she threw another one in her mouth.
“Oooh Supesev, I like that better,” Jemmy bounced up and down on her knees with excitement.
“You guys are helping her ignore my question,” Rachel moaned with a smile.
“Nothing,” I sighed. I didn’t want to get into it right now. “Are there any more jalapenos?” I asked.
Rachel handed me the ramekin filled with jalapenos. “You can’t hide anything from us,” Rachel snorted. “Jemmy told us that she saw them with that…witch and her friends, in the recordings. We also noticed how you guys were acting at dinner last night.”
I cut Jemmy an annoyed look, but she was suddenly too busy examining her nacho. Sierra gave me a sympathetic grimace of apology. I moaned. “Fine. We had a little argument. They were mad that I used my gift to force them to help me out. They weren’t talking to me and decided to hang out with Yaris and his friends. Apparently, the girls were at their little get together, but they were watching television while the guys played poker.”
“So…?” Dawn seemed thoroughly confused. “Were they flirting with them?”
I knew they hadn’t been. After their explanation, I believed them. They could be infuriating, overbearing, insuffera
ble, and downright stubborn, but they weren’t liars. The way Dawn was looking at me made me believe maybe I had overreacted, but they had hurt me by ignoring me.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jemmy huffed. “The moment they saw those girls, they should have left.”
Dawn shrugged as she took a drink. “I don’t know. I remember how Remy, Jaxson, Troy, and Noah were before Blake came into their lives. Remy was…well Remy. Jaxson and Noah were hopeless flirts, and Troy had a constant string of women throwing themselves at him. It was like a game for Troy. He entertained some of them, and he always seemed to be looking for…more. Now they’re like tamed lions. Their gazes never even wander anymore.” She gave me an apologetic look. “Before I knew you were in the picture, I tried. Believe me, I tried.”
I shrugged. It was all under the bridge now. I took a bite of my candy bar. “Should I just let them off the hook and forgive them?” I asked a bit skeptically. “I…I kind of blame them for last night,” I said shamefully. “If I wasn’t hurt and angry at them, I wouldn’t have been there.”
Dawn frowned. “Bradford was a predator. If he set his eyes on you, he would have found a way to get to you somehow, someway. It was just coincidental that it so happened to be with the day that you guys were in a disagreement.”
“They would die before they let anything happen to you,” Sierra added quietly. “When I watched the recording earlier, I could see that it was tearing them apart.”
I felt my heart sink. I really couldn’t stay mad at them forever. I had acted out of line yesterday. They had acted out of line last night. Maybe we were even. Life really was too short to hold grudges against the ones you love. “Maybe I owe them an apology,” I said slowly.
Rachel snorted. “Don’t let them off that easy,” she snapped her fingers and smiled her evil smile. “Let’s make them suffer a little more, but first, another movie.”
The second movie we chose was a romantic comedy. It was funny with the right amount of romance in it. It wasn’t overly sappy. I never had the desire to watch romance movies. As a child, when my dad was alive, I wasn’t interested in watching non-animated movies. By the time I wanted to branch out from it, Heidi and her mom always took over the television.
They had horrible taste in what they watched, in my opinion. I couldn’t stand the numerous reruns of Murder She Wrote or The Golden Girls (Heidi’s mom’s preference) or endless reality television that seemed to glorify women that had one too many plastic surgeries, excessive drinking, and spending all their men’s money (Heidi’s preference).
I tried to avoid them at all cost and most of my entertainment came from a book. A book didn’t yell at me to go get the remote or to get up and change the television. Instead, I got lost in books. I read a few PG tween ‘romances’ but most of my interest lied in books with adventure and dystopian novels. The school library always allowed me to rent and return books at my heart’s content, much to my relief.
“Lincoln Hudgens is so hot.” Rachel sighed as she took a sip of her pop.
“He definitely floats my boat,” Jemmy added as she grabbed a handful of popcorn.
“He can more than float my boat,” Dawn made a suggestive motion making Sierra, Jaxson, and I groan in revulsion.
“Maybe I’m over girl’s day,” Jaxson groaned as he buried his head in my neck.
“Well you weren’t invited,” Jemmy said tartly. “So, Sierra and Blake?”
“So, what?” Sierra asked in confusion as she unwrapped a Reese’s peanut butter cup.
“What do you think of dreamy Lincoln Hudgens?” Dawn prodded with a mischievous smile as she looked over at Jaxson.
I looked at the actor on the screen. He wasn’t conventionally handsome. He was cute in a different sort of way. He was more rugged looking, like he belonged on a farm throwing bales of hay as opposed to acting. He had exotic looks, definitely hinting at a mixed heritage, maybe Asian or Native American with his jet-black hair, tan skin, and super high cheekbones. His eyes were really pretty with an almond shape to them but they were a unique shade of bluish green. His physique was toned and chiseled but he didn’t have the thick muscles that Remy, Jaxson, and Noah boasted of.
“He’s alright,” I joked as I kissed Jaxson’s mouth. “But he has nothing on my guys.”
“Good answer,” Jaxson murmured as he kissed me sweetly once more.
Dawn made retching noises. “Gross. I mean, your guys are cute but no hot-blooded female would kick Lincoln out of her bed.”
“I would,” Sierra said with a sly smile. “I’m content with Gavin.”
“Gavin is perfect in so many ways,” Jemmy added. “But if we found out tomorrow we could add another man to our group, I wouldn’t complain, especially Lincoln,” she joked.
“That’s not how it works,” Rachel guffawed. “You are so greedy! You have a great nucleus. Meanwhile, Dawn and I wished we could have been marked.”
“True story,” Dawn piped up.
“It’s not always as easy as you think it is,” Jemmy said cryptically.
“It’s definitely a work in progress,” Sierra shrugged with a smile.
“Can we just watch the movie?” Jaxson groaned. “We’ve missed about fifteen minutes of it.”
“Are you sure you don’t need to turn in your man card? You’re enjoying these movies too much,” Jemmy teased.
Jaxson shot her a look. “I assure you, I am confident enough in my masculinity to admit I like a good romance every now and then.”
I laughed as I kissed him once more. “I, for one, would like to know what’s going on,” as Dawn and Rachel opened their mouths I quickly added. “For the movie, not the man!”
They all laughed at me and I rolled my eyes.
****
“I’m not sure about this,” I muttered as I smoothed down the black dress I had borrowed from Rachel.
We had turned girl’s day into girl’s night. Dawn ‘knew’ someone and they were delivering us wine, lobster, and steaks. Drake didn’t know what the complete plan was but after Jemmy asked him to cook for us, he was game. Dawn and Jemmy had told Ford and Gavin to meet us here at six for dinner.
“I am,” Jemmy smiled as she slipped on her red dress. It was just as form fitting and short as mine.
“Is Gavin on his way?” I asked as I looked at myself in the full-length mirror in the girl’s room.
I was wearing a dress that I would be unable to bend over in and it hugged me like a second skin. The dress had no straps and clung to my breasts. I felt I was completely out of my comfort zone, but even I could see that this dress looked great on me.
I slipped on a pair of boots that zipped up to my thighs. I had to wait for Gavin to get here so he can mimic my healing ability and heal my contusions. I had put on makeup, but it only partially covered my bruising.
“He said he was,” Sierra said as she slipped into her own little black dress.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Dawn opened it in her white dress that made her tan skin glow. I was expecting to see Gavin on the other side, instead it was Will, Micah, and Alex.
Alex and Micah looked worried and withdrawn. Will stopped short as he saw how made up we all were. “I’m sorry to interrupt whatever you girls had planned but Kade’s reached out to Alex, and we need to extract him right now.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I embraced Alex. Kade had been on my mind a lot lately. I was wondering where or how my brother was.
“Horatio is getting ready to move again, and he suspects that Kade has been helping us,” Will stated brusquely. “The boys should be here any minute, and then you’re leaving with Micah. Sierra, can you go with them?”
“I want to go, too,” Jemmy commented as she put her red lip gloss down.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Will shook his head. “The less people we can take in, the better. We have no clue what they’ll be walking into.”
Gavin came in, followed by Jaxson, Drake, Remy, Jace, Troy, and Noah. They we
re all dressed in their combat gear. I looked down at my clothing.
“You don’t have time to change,” Will grimaced as if he could read my thoughts. “Kade managed to slip off, but he doesn’t know how much longer he can stay hidden and unmissed.”
I sighed. “Okay let’s do this,” I looked over at Micah. “Are you ready?”
Micah nodded and grasped Sierra’s hand.
“I need to go, too,” Alex stated resolutely.
“Buddy−” Jaxson started to say slowly.
“Ella says he needs to go,” Will said with a frown. I could tell he didn’t like the idea either.
“Okay, let’s do this then,” Remy stated as he took Micah’s other arm. “Are you prepared to do this? This is the most you’ve ever taken.”
“We can do it,” Sierra stated resolutely.
I took Sierra’s other hand and looked up at the guys as we completed the circle. I felt a riot of butterflies’ release in my stomach. It had been some time since I had been on a real mission. The last one we went on, we lost Steven. I was filled with dread. I couldn’t lose anyone else.
Jace must have felt my anxiety, because he stepped beside me and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. My anger and hurt were forgotten in that moment. I had no clue what situation we were transporting into, and I didn’t want our argument and disagreements to cloud our minds and throw us off our game.
I closed my eyes in preparation. I couldn’t even describe the feeling of teleportation without doing it justice. It was the most indescribable feeling. It was an out-of-body experience, for sure. When I opened my eyes, we were standing in some kind of opulent library, a private one. I could see the confusion and wariness I felt reflected in everyone else’s expressions.
“Can you let Kade know we’re here?” Jace instructed Alex as he went to the windows in the room.
Remy took a spot next to the only door in the room. He cracked it open and peered out into the hallway. I made my way to the desk, understanding that they were trying to get any clues as to our location and if we were in imminent danger.
It was moments later that Alex opened his eyes. “He’s on his way but they’re looking for him.”