by C. A. Saari
The girl was eating crow already, and I hadn’t even been aware I was feeding it to her.
“Don’t sweat it.” I mumbled, suddenly no longer interested in making Darva squirm.
Darva’s queen bee mask was back on and she raised her eyebrows at me.
“Yeah. Okay.” She threw one last quick look at Jake and continued on her way.
“OMG!” Kendra said next to us. “Did Jake Wagner just hide behind a girl?”
I grinned up at him and he shrugged sheepishly.
“So?” He said with mock indignity. “I use whatever weapons are available.”
I grinned at him.
“Remi.” Kendra said spinning her locker combo. “You haven’t even mentioned your homecoming dress. And FYI, I’m really super pissed at you that you didn’t ask me to come shopping with you. Your first dance and you didn’t even ask me to help you pick out your dress.”
I frowned.
“What? When is homecoming?”
“When is…” Kendra stared at me as if I had just grew a second and a third head and they were in the process of eating my current head. “Saturday Remi. Jesus, Jake! You haven’t asked her to homecoming yet?”
If he looked sheepish before, now he looked downright embarrassed.
“I’ve been busy. And I thought…I mean I assumed that since we’re dating, I didn’t have to ask.”
Wrong answer. Kendra smacked him across the arm, pretty hard I might add.
“You always have to ask dummy!”
I had spent the last few years ignoring every single school function that it hadn’t dawned on me that our homecoming was upon us, despite the thousands of posters stuck to the walls that announced it. I saw them now.
Kendra smacked his arm again, Jake backed away from her, rubbing the sting.
“Ow, stop that.” He said, retreating behind me again.
“Well ask her stupid! You used to be good at this.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, apparently he didn’t want to be reminded of his past, at least not in front of me.
“Fine. Will you go to homecoming with me Remi?” He asked, still eyeing Kendra, keeping an eye on her swing, no doubt.
“Um, okay.” I said, not quite sure how I felt about school dances. I’d never been to one, much like I’d never been to a party…and my first had turned out to be a bust.
“Oh, that was just too romantic. Cue the white doves.” Kendra said sarcastically. She turned to me. “I’m skipping practice today, we are going dress shopping, right now.”
“I can’t tonight!” I cried, almost too quickly. “Um, I have plans tonight.” I forced my voice to calm. It was our second hunting shift. Luckily the week fell perfectly so that we had both Friday and Saturday night off.
“On a Thursday night?” Kendra asked skeptically.
“Yeah. Um, it’s a family thing. With Jake’s family.” Wow, I was not a good liar. Kendra narrowed her eyes at us.
“Fine. Have your secret. But first thing Saturday morning, we are shopping. Better yet, you’re spending the night with me tomorrow.”
Now Jake stepped forward but Kendra stopped him before he could argue.
“Please spare me some crap about plans tomorrow night too. You spend every night with my girl, I think you can go one without her.”
I practically heard Jake swallow. He looked to me and I shrugged.
“It’s fine.” I nearly whispered. Kendra was right, it’d been over three weeks now since I’d entered the Jake safety zone. Stepping out of it was going to be hard.
The game the next day was intense, I sat with Jake’s father again, but this time it was more comfortable, as if he were starting to accept me. Maybe my speech had more of a positive impact than I thought. He stood and cheered Jake on, encouraged me to as well. Near the end of the game the score was tight, 32 to 29, Webber ahead. The other team had the ball and they were slowly making their way down the field, despite the Wolves best efforts to stop them. Suddenly, the other team was running the ball up the sideline, he was only 20 yards from the goal line with only ten seconds left in the game. Every single person in the stands was on their feet. Jake –because he had skills no one else was even aware of- managed to break away. He ran at the runner with the ball, went low and threw his shoulder into the other player’s middle, wrapping his arms around his waist, Jake lifted the player off his feet and dropped him on his back.
Game over.
The stands erupted. Everyone went wild. Mr. Wagner actually hugged me and I laughed. Students rushed the field, everyone after Jake. He waded through teammates and fans, all trying to clap his back, or hug him and he came to the stands, and like a truly romantic movie moment, he took the bench seats up like stairs until he was standing on the one just below me. I smiled at him, he smiled back. Big and excited. He may be a big bad demon hunter, but he truly loved this game.
Mr. Wagner cleared his throat and drew Jake’s attention.
“Good game, son.” He clapped Jake’s back with a proud smile.
“Thanks, dad.”
Then his dad –gasp- winked at me and moved off. Jake finally threw his arms around me and lifted me into the air. I kissed him very publicly.
“I take it Homecoming is an important game.” I laughed as he very loudly went after my neck.
“Only the most.” He mimicked Kendra’s sassy voice and I laughed again. Then his smile cooled drastically. “It sucks you’re not going to be with me tonight.”
“I know.” I found myself wondering what kind of celebrating we would have done. I had to stop that, I was only torturing myself.
“There’s usually a party afterwards, but I never go. Dad grills up steaks, then we sit around and talk about the game for a couple hours, play some poker.”
That actually sounded like fun, but when I meant “celebrating” in my head, I had meant the more private variety. The celebration just between Jake and me. Again, I had to stop thinking like that, it was torture.
And if yesterday I had thought to myself that stepping out of Jake’s safety zone was going to be hard, I think it was harder for him. After he had changed with his team in the locker room he walked with me out to his truck, waiting until –with an over exaggerated eye roll- Kendra went to wait near her own car, her view of us obscured by the truck. Jake pulled a blade from under the driver’s seat and slid it into my backpack.
“Can’t risk a gun in Kendra’s house. But I’d feel better if you had at least this on you.”
“I don’t think we’re leaving her house tonight.” I said –Kendra hadn’t mentioned the party- wrapping my arms around his waist. But I kept the knife.
“I know. Just in case.” He sighed and kissed me softly. “But if you do go to the party, will you text me?”
I nodded my promise.
“Four weeks ago I went to my house on my own every day, slept alone in my bed every night. That’s a very unappealing thought now.”
“Come on!” Kendra called over the vehicles. “You’ll see her when you pick her up at my house for the dance. I think you two can handle being apart for 24 hours.”
Jake kissed me again, longer, deeper, harder this time, and probably would have went on kissing me all night if Kendra hadn’t finally reached her patience limits and came back around to pull me away.
“OMG.” She muttered. “Wave Rem, we’re leaving.”
Like an obedient puppy, I waved and Jake laughed. He blew me a kiss as Kendra backed us out of the parking lot.
“If you don’t stop staring at him in that mirror Remi, I am going to have to slap you. You two are gross. How do you even go to classes without each other?”
I shrugged.
“At least we know we’re in the same building together.”
Her head whipped around to look at me, saw my teasing face and rolled her eyes while trying not to laugh at her own gullibility. It only took minutes to get to her house, and we closed ourselves up in her room after Kendra called down to her mom to order us a piz
za. She explained why she had no intention of attending the party tonight; she did not party the night before a dance, she got her beauty sleep, that’s why her pictures were always the best the next day, while everyone else looked like they had permanent red eye.
“I don’t want to talk about Jake all night, so let’s get it out of the way now.” Kendra said flopping back on her bed as I rummaged through her closet –because I had finally developed a taste for fine clothing.
“Okay.” Came my muffled reply.
“What is it with you two? It’s like you can’t breathe if you’re more than two inches away from each other. I mean, I love romance just as much as the next girl, but it’s only been three weeks and you guys can’t live without each other.”
I came out of her closet, took a deep breath and said exactly what it was between Jake and me –at least on my end anyway.
“I think I’m in love with him.”
“Duh.” Kendra said, SO unsurprised by my admission that it surprised me.
“Like Twilight Saga in love.” I said. Now, she appeared interested.
“Really? So does that mean I’ll be shopping for a maid of honor dress by the end of the school year?”
“If I have my way? Definitely.” I laid down in the bed next to her and laughed when she gaped at me. So gullible. “Seriously though, I just want to be with him. Just be. I don’t care what everyone else says or expects. I don’t care if people think we’re too young to be in love. I’m happy with him, and what the hell is too young anyway? Why is there an age limit on love?”
“Whoa.” Kendra laughed. “Slow your roll girl. You love who you want as much as you want, I’ve got your back.”
There was that phrase again. And she did have my back. I should have thought of that when I’d argued with Mr. Wagner. I was way neglecting my friendship. I’d have to do something about that.
“I think I want to tell Jake how I feel, but I’m not sure how. Will it freak him out do you think?”
“Probably not, since he clearly feels the same way.”
“What? Really?”
“Really. He’s so Twilight Saga too.”
“The vampire or werewolf?” I asked, I expected her to say vampire.
“Is there a way to combine the two?” She deadpanned.
“Seriously?” I asked, my heart did an excited turn.
“Oh for Christ sake. I’m only going to say this once, then we are changing the subject. I knew that boy before you and him. He serial dated, and I don’t mean in a man-whore kind of way, I mean, he never let anyone get attached. And he didn’t really seem to be interested in getting attached. And now, he’s all about Remi Dexter. And it’s not just like, oh Remi sleeps with me so she’s mine; it’s everything. He doesn’t let people talk about you, he doesn’t let people touch you, and he doesn’t let you out of his sight. And before you, PDA’s? Forget about it! Now, he can’t seem to stop himself. The boy is in love with you Remi. If you, for one second, even think you can sit here and tell me that you haven’t noticed any of this then I’m making you an appointment with the nearest head doctor tomorrow.”
And he had stood up to his dad for me. I kept that to myself though.
Kendra blindsided me with what she said next; “And that tattoo on his neck? When were you going to tell me about that?”
My eyes probably looked like they were going to pop out of my head. Could she read Norse?
“I asked him about it today.” Kendra explained, examining her nails. “And he told me freely. Unlike you, my best friend.”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know if he wanted people to know.”
“Okay, first off, I’m not people. Secondly, he got the damn thing on his neck, you don’t think people are going to ask about it?”
I eyed her curiously.
“Have others asked?”
“Only the whole entire football team. They think he’s nuts, by the way. I mean, not nuts because he’s dating you, just nuts for getting a girl’s name tattooed on him in general. Oh, and you should have seen Darva almost shit a brick when she found out. It was precious!”
“Darva knows?”
“Well yeah, the guys asked him at prayer before the game. Of course us cheerleader’s were there. I wish I’d taken a picture of her face for you. If there were ever a time when a person finally admitted defeat, that was it. I think it’s safe to say that Darva will no longer be pursuing your man.”
Well, that was a relief. Not that I was worried about it, but I did hate the way she was constantly finding excuses to touch Jake. It was a very irritating thing.
“And now this conversation is concluded. We will not talk about Jake anymore tonight. And you’re not texting him all night either. I’ll allow you a few minutes right now, because I know you’re dying to after this convo; and once more before we catch our Z’s. But that’s it. I don’t get nearly enough time with you because of him, so he’s not going to intrude on the time I do get.”
I pressed my lips together. She knew me to well.
“Well.” She said expectantly. “Text now or forever hold your peace.”
I dove for my phone.
U told ur teammates about ur tat?
He must have been watching his phone and waiting for me to text because his reply was almost immediate.
I did. U ok with that?
Yes. Still not regretting it then?
Hell no. Miss me?
Depends…wuw?
A few minutes passed and he still hadn’t replied. I frowned. Was that a question only guys got to ask? I mean, Jake text me that nearly every morning after the first class we didn’t have together, but I had never asked him. Maybe I shouldn’t have. When my phone finally chirped I felt relief, but when I pushed at the screen a message did not pop up, a picture did. And he wasn’t wearing anything. I gasped and held the phone to my chest, away from Kendra’s prying eyes.
“I saw it.” Kendra grinned, next to me. “And now I totally see why you are in love Twilight style.”
“Kendra!” I squealed and hit her with a pillow. I rolled off her bed.
“What? The guy is ripped! Does he work out like ten hours a day or something?”
I blushed, I needed her mind on me right now.
“How do I reply to that?”
“In kind. Duh.”
“You mean, with a picture?”
“What else?”
“I can’t do that!”
“Are you a prude like this behind closed doors, too?”
“No! I mean, Kendra! Have you ever sent a picture like that?”
“Hell no! Sexting is bad Remi! Very bad. But then, I don’t have a Jake. He’d never pass your picture around.”
I chewed my bottom lip. Kendra sighed.
“I’m going to leave the room for ten minutes. Get it done, you will forever be his fantasy if you do. Just FYI.”
I stared at the closed door for a moment after Kendra left. I took a deep steadying breath and another look at Jake’s picture.
God he was beautiful.
A slow smile caught my lips and I got it done.
I did a slow turn in front of the mirror and came to a stop front and center again. I sighed and stared at myself. I’d spent the last four hours shopping with Kendra, trying on countless dresses, we were at the last store in Portland that carried the kind of dresses we were looking for, so I needed to find one here or I’d be going to the dance in jeans. This one was by far my favorite. The steel gray sleeveless dress was “hot” by Kendra’s standards, but she still claimed it wasn’t “the one” and had ran off to find yet another dress for me to try on.
I didn’t know where she’d find one, we’d been through this store –and all the others- with a fine tooth comb. I agreed with Kendra, this dress wasn’t “the one”, something just felt like it was missing. But I was tired of shopping and I liked this one enough. I looked good it in. Working out was starting to pay off. I was no longer skin and bones skinny, but I
had some shape to me. My stomach, while still flat as a board and nowhere near fit like Ana’s yet, was hardening, the muscles under the skin starting to take shape. My arms were no longer toothpicks but had subtle lovely curves where the muscles there were also taking shape. My legs…still hot as ever if I would say so myself and still my favorite feature. Though Kendra would insist it was my butt. It was curvier than ever. I ate like a fiend now and Jake sometimes joked about where I put it all -maybe it was going to my butt- but I still managed to burn it off the second it hit my system. I also no longer wore my hair in my face, it was rare I didn’t push it back with a barrette or a headband, or pile it on top of my head, and if I did leave it loose in thick flowing dark waves, I usually had it pushed back behind my ears…or Jake pushed it back behind my ears, it seemed to be a habit of his. Yes, a boy like Jake could really bring out a girl’s confidence. Well, that and killing demons with really big guns didn’t hurt.
“I found it.” Kendra said behind me, jolting me out of my own admiration of my new self –not that I stood around and admired myself often, but it was nice to see that my hard work was paying off- I looked at her reflection in the mirror. “The one.” She smiled and held out a dress as blue as my eyes. I inhaled sharply and turned to face her, and the dress.
“Where did you find that?” And how had we overlooked it? I went to her and fingered the silky material.
“Some douche bag stashed it in with the pant suits, I’m assuming they were coming back for it. Sorry suckers, you snooze, you lose.” She thrust it at me. “Put it on. Immediately!”
I didn’t ask her what she was doing in the pant suit section, but I did put the dress on as she asked. And oh, how I loved it. It looked as though it was poured on. The silky material hung to every curve. The top right shoulder was bare, toga style, and the same side of the bottom of the dress was higher up my thigh than the left side. The left side went almost to the knee while the right side was a few inches higher…and I paused. If it weren’t for that it would have been so perfect. But I wouldn’t be able to bend down or sit properly all night without showing off bits of myself that should always remain hidden. But when my eyes flicked back up to my own reflection in the mirror, I had my own eyebrows winging up. The dress seemed to amplify my eyes. It was almost like they were glowing,