The Most Special Chosen

by Rachel De La Fuente

  “Thanks.” He calls for my mom, then there’s a quick scuffle as one phone is picked up and the other is set down.

  “Hello, Lys, Mija. It will be so nice to see you tomorrow. I know you’re busy, but we hardly see you.”

  “Um, about tomorrow, Mom.”

  “You are coming, aren’t you?” The sadness in her voice has me rushing to reassure her.

  “Of course I am! I just want to let you know to expect an extra person.”

  “Oh, is Shawn coming? That’s okay. I’ve planned your favorite, so we’ll have plenty.”

  “That’s great Mom, but no, not Shawn. Your surrogate son is actually having dinner with his biological parents.”

  “Then who, Lys?”

  The barely suppressed excitement in her voice makes me smile. “I’m bringing Damien.” I brace myself for the explosion of delight. It doesn’t take long.

  “Oh! How wonderful! We finally get to meet your Damien. But I must say, it took you long enough. You’ve been together how long?”

  “Just a few weeks, Mom,” I say quietly. “Now, I’m guessing by your reaction that he’s welcome?”

  “Of course! We’ll see you at five, still?”

  “Yes, Mom. See you tomorrow.”

  “Have a good evening, Lys.” I end the call and grin at Damien.

  “Tomorrow at five. My mom’s making her awesome fajitas with apple crisp for dessert. Are you ready?”

  “I will do my best. It will be nice to meet your family.”

  I sit back down on the bed next to him. “Speaking of . . . I wouldn’t mind meeting your family. You’ve mentioned brothers, though not how many, and a sister, but I don’t know anything else.”

  Damien tenses. “My family is . . . different. I am not sure you would like to meet them.”

  “Of course I would. My parents are a little odd, too. But their quirks are what make them family.”

  “It would be . . . uncomfortable for me, Chérie. You shall understand one day.”

  I briefly wonder if Damien is embarrassed by me, but push that thought aside. Even if he is, it won’t do any good to dwell on it. Maybe he doesn’t want me to meet them so soon. I can see how it would be different for a guy to bring a girl home. “Okay, Damien. Will you at least tell me about your family?”

  “I would, Chérie, but I promised my mother I would be home for dinner as we are having company. Remind me another day and I will tell you.”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”

  He grins, but it looks rather forced. “I am sure you will.” He stands to leave and helps me up, too. I walk him to the door, and he hesitates before taking my hand.

  “I think we’re a bit beyond that, now, don’t you, Damien?”

  He pulls me close, placing my arms around his neck. The kiss is searing, like he’s branding me, and I can’t stop the small moan that creeps up my throat. He suddenly stiffens and pulls away to look behind me. I know that Shawn is there.

  “One more, he can wait.”

  Damien leans back down with a grin. “I would not dream of disagreeing with you.” He dips his head and kisses me good-bye. It’s sweet, and lingering, turning me to mush. “I will see you tomorrow, Chérie.”

  “Bye, Damien.” I realize my voice is rather breathy when he chuckles. As I close the door, I lean against it and sigh with a stupid grin on my face.

  “Lys, what’s wrong with you? I’ve never seen you like this! Your reactions to Damien are completely different from your reactions to any other guy. You’re being . . . you’re being prurient!”

  Shawn’s harsh words, almost shouted, make me jump, having been lost in my own world. I can feel my face heat as I process what he’s said. “Prurient? Really, Shawn?” I don’t think I could inject more disdain in my tone if I tried.

  “Do you prefer slutty?” I’m shocked into inaction for a moment. Shawn and I have said some shitty things to each other over the years, but this takes the cake. Nothing gives him the right to call me that. I stalk forward, swiftly closing the space between us, and slap him. “How dare you, Shawn? What the fuck gives you any right to call me slutty?”

  He holds his cheek and glares at me. “Okay, fine, I deserved that, but it doesn’t change the truth. You act very different with Damien.”

  I can hear the implied apology in his voice, but I’m angry enough to ignore it. “What difference does it make to you how I act with him? I’m an adult and can act however the hell I want!”

  “I’m trying to look out for you, Lys!” he says, getting in my face. “You aren’t acting like yourself, but you aren’t willing to acknowledge it! I’m worried about what’s going on with you!”

  He’s yelling, and I raise my voice to match. “Everything’s fine, Shawn!”

  “It’s not fine! This relationship is a disaster waiting to happen!”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I spit at him.

  “He’s hiding something Lys.” Shawn’s abrupt return to a normal speaking voice surprises me.

  “You don’t know that,” I say calmly

  “Yes, I do. You’ve said he won’t talk about his family. And the way he speaks is odd. Very formal.”

  I don’t really have anything to say about his reluctance to speak about his family. How many times have I found it odd myself? But I can defend his speech. “English isn’t his first language. He’s bound to have some anomalies in his speech patterns.”

  “Whether you want to admit it or not, there is something wrong with him.” Shawn runs his hands through his hair and sighs. “Look,” he says, staring at his shoes. “I’ve been trying to figure out whether or not to tell you this. Earlier, when Zane called and I interrupted you in your room, his eyes were almost completely black. There was no iris! It was uber creepy!”

  “Black eyes?” I snort. “Come on Shawn, that’s ridiculous. I’m sure it was a trick of the light.”

  “Why are you so hell bent on ignoring my concerns, Lys?” he asks, sounding hurt.

  “Why are you so determined to find something wrong with him?”

  “Because there is!” he shouts, sounding exasperated.

  My temper, which had cooled down a bit, erupts again. “Unlike you, Damien is perfect! There is nothing wrong with him!”

  You must calm yourself, Elysabeth.

  The voice is louder and clearer than ever, but it’s too late. The lava is already bubbling over Mount Lys. “He treats me like a princess. He doesn’t question my decisions or call me names. He doesn’t question my friendship with you, even though you treat him like crap. In fact, despite you acting like a jealous asshole around him, he’s never even said a word against you.” I take a deep break and continue my onslaught.

  “I have no idea why you’re such a dick about Damien. Hell, you treated Zane better, and look at what an asshole he turned out to be! You know, maybe if you’d find someone to go out with you, you wouldn’t be so obsessed with me and my choices!”

  He reddens, but doesn’t back down. “I don’t need a girlfriend; I’m focusing on school. And I’m not obsessed! I’m worried!” he pauses. “I’m trying to protect you,” he says quietly.

  “I neither need nor want your protection.” I mockingly draw air quotes, and I can tell I’ve pushed Shawn too far when he straightens up and frowns.

  “Just because you don’t like that I’m protecting you doesn’t mean I have to stop,” he says flatly. “My advice to you,” he points at me, eyes narrowed. “Stop seeing Damien. It’s going to end badly. You’ll thank me for this one day, you’ll see.”

  “Over my dead, rotting corpse!” I storm out of the kitchen and up the stairs, fuming. What the hell is wrong with him today?

  “I’m not done with you!” Shawn yells from the foot of the stairs. “I want you to keep Damien out of my house!”

  “Well too bad!” I yell down to him. “I’m done with you, you . . . you overbearing, meddlesome prick!” I slam my bedroom door behind me with enough force to make the wall shake. Sh
awn’s door slams moments later. I throw myself into my desk chair, causing it to spin. My eyes land on the photo of me and Shawn on my dresser.

  I stand and walk over to it. Our grinning faces stare up at me, seconds away from laughter. I remember the day perfectly. Shawn had helped me pick the perfect outfit for my first college date, only for me to call him a half hour in when my dipshit of a date got pissed that I stopped him from putting his hands up my skirt. To cheer me up, Shawn treated me to dinner at my favorite restaurant.

  I force myself back to the present and set the photo down. What have I done? I let Mount Lys erupt again. The thought of Shawn’s nickname for my explosive temper makes me feel worse. Have I destroyed our friendship?

  I crawl into bed sadly, but toss and turn for several hours, finally going downstairs around two. I obviously don’t succeed in my attempts to stay quiet, because Shawn comes into the kitchen as I’m mixing my hot chocolate.

  He rubs his eyes and squints against the light. “Lys? What are you doing? You went to bed hours ago.”

  “I was thinking about our fight earlier,” I say sadly, head hanging. “Shawnie, I’m really sorry about what I said.”

  Shawn takes my mug from me and pulls me into a hug. “I don’t deserve an apology. I’m sorry I was such an ass to you.”

  “‘s’okay,” I mumble. My voice is muffled by his shoulder.

  “It’s not, but let’s forgive and forget. We both said shit we shouldn’t have.”

  I nod and pull away from him. “Shawnie? Why do you hate Damien?”

  “Let’s go to the living room, Lys. I think this is going to be a long conversation.”

  We settle on the sofa, each leaning on an arm, our legs pulled up and feet touching. We sat like this when we were younger and called it our sharing secrets position. I remember being convinced I could tell if Shawn was lying by the position and tenseness of his feet.

  “Lys?” I look up and meet Shawn’s expectant gaze. “Where’d you go?”

  I grin. “I was thinking about when we used to do this in high school.” He grins, too, but when I fix him with an expectant stare, he sighs.

  “I don’t hate Damien,” he says reluctantly.

  “But—”

  “No, let me have my say. I don’t hate him. He hasn’t given me a reason to hate him. But he sets my teeth on edge.” His forehead creases. “I feel uncomfortable around him. On top of that, you act so incredibly different with him.” He shoots me a quick, apologetic look. “I know that you let your fantasies run away with you, and that’s not healthy or fair to Damien. You should like him as he is, not for what you imagine him to be.”

  I sigh, feeling guilty. “You’re right. I do. I imagine he’s a vampire sometimes—I know, vampires don’t exist—and yes, I act differently with him. Hell, I came close to having sex with him on our first date. But that’s because I feel different.” I glance up at him nervously. “I need to tell you something, but you have to keep it a secret.”

  “Okay, I can do that. What’s going on?” His voice becomes softer, concerned. “Has he done something to you?”

  “No! No, nothing like that. I just . . . ” I sigh. “Look, I’ve never felt this way for anyone. He makes me . . . feel . . . things.”

  “What things?” I can tell he’s genuinely confused, so I continue despite the burning in my cheeks.

  “Look, before Damien I’d never felt . . . desire.” Holy crap this is embarrassing.

  “What, you mean you’ve never been turned on by someone?” His tone conveys his obvious disbelief.

  “Exactly. Why do you think I’ve never slept with anyone? You know I’m not religious, and I don’t exactly have really high morals. I thought it was stupid to do it just because. I wasn’t ever attracted to anyone.”

  “Is that why you stopped dating?”

  “I didn’t really stop; it slowed down . . . but yeah.”

  “And Damien . . . has . . . ” I can tell he’s uncomfortable with that line of thought.

  “Yeah, he, um . . . ” I wave my hands, and Shawn nods his understanding. “But we haven’t gone that far. After I got carried away that one time, I told him I wanted to take things slow, and he’s respected that.”

  Shawn snorts. “Oh, sure.”

  “Don’t judge a situation you don’t understand, Shawn.” I snap. “If I say stop, he stops.”

  Shawn holds up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, sorry.”

  “I just . . . Damien makes me feel normal. I mean, I have normal reactions to him, which I haven’t with anyone else. I always felt so odd, like a freak, that I’d never been . . . attracted to someone. For a while, I wondered if I was a lesbian, but I wasn’t attracted to women. It was confusing, and difficult.”

  “I can imagine, but why did you never tell me?”

  “Because, Shawnie, I was embarrassed. This is awkward to talk about, even with you.” I stare at my fingers twining in my lap. I don’t want to mention that I felt it was cruel to talk to him about this back when he still had feelings for me.

  “And now Damien’s helping you with that,” he states plainly. I nod. “So . . . you’re what? Making up for lost time?”

  I shake my head. “No, not at all, but I’m going with my instincts and following my heart.” I try to ignore the little voice that tells me it’s odd that I’ve suddenly found someone who awakens these feelings in me. I don’t want to think about it, I want to live in the moment.

  He nods slowly. “I suppose I can understand that. But doesn’t it concern you that you’ve suddenly started experiencing . . . these feelings?” Trust Shawn to bring up exactly what I want to ignore.

  “Yes, and no. Yes, because it is odd, but I know that everything is okay.”

  “How, Lys? How are you so certain? What do you know that I don’t?” he asks earnestly.

  “My intuition keeps telling me everything is okay. It’s the reason I looked up and saw him in the library that day.”

  His eyebrows creep up his head. “You’re saying your intuition led you to him?”

  “Yes, and you know it’s never been wrong.”

  “Yeah, it’s actually kind of scary.”

  “So will you leave me alone about what I choose to do with my boyfriend?”

  Shawn has the grace to look ashamed. “Yeah, now that I understand what’s going on. Sorry I’ve been overreacting.”

  “It’s okay, I forgive you. Just, really, no more. Promise?”

  “Yeah, I promise.”

  “Thanks, Shawn. I don’t want to throw away our friendship over a guy, and I don’t want to stop seeing Damien when he’s done nothing wrong.” I give him a tight hug. “You’ll always be my best man, Shawnie. I love you.”

  “I know, Lys. I love you, too.”

  “Night, Shawnie. I’m going back to bed.”

  “Night, Lys.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Later that morning, Shawn and I sit down to cereal, as neither of us feels like cooking after staying up so late. “So . . . dinner with the parents today,” he says slowly. Things are still a bit awkward after our big fight.

  “Yeah,” I answer. “Parents like to see their children.”

  “Do you expect to hear more about meeting Damien?”

  “I doubt it. I asked my mom to give me some time.” Despite my blasé answer, I blush, and he knows immediately that something’s up.

  “I can’t believe it. You gave in!” he exclaims. “You two have barely been together a month and you’re taking him home to meet your parents.”

  “Yeah, but Damien said he’d be happy to meet them,” I say defensively. “So . . . yes, he’s going with me today.”

  Shawn snorts. “That will go well. He isn’t exactly a normal guy. And your parents don’t know about your obsession, so they won’t understand.”

  “Shawn!” I say loudly, annoyed. “We’ve gone over this! Besides, I’m sure Damien will dress appropriately.”

  “I was just saying, while I understand your attra
ction to him, considering you’ve always wanted a v—”

  “NO!” I cut him off. “We are not discussing this.”

  Shawn sighs. “All right. Don’t worry, Lys, I’ll take your secret to the grave.”

  “Thank you. So . . . what time are you leaving for your dinner, Shawnie?”

  “I told my mom I’d be there by six. But I think I’m going to work on my finals until then. Some of these classes are killing me.”

  I give him a quick, one-armed hug as I pass by him to put my bowl in the dishwasher. “But you’ll make it through with a perfect, or near perfect, score just like you always do, you brainiac.”

  He grins. “Thanks, Lys. But you know, I’m sure you could do just as well in any of these classes.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t like math. There’s only one right answer, and you have to get to it a certain way. With design, there are hundreds, if not thousands of right answers, and any millions of ways to get to them. So much nicer to not be confined to a box.”

  “I will have you know that I am NOT in a box. It has at least 20 sides. Heck, I may even be nearing a circle!”

  I roll my eyes good-naturedly. “But you’re still confined. I left my box years ago.” A knock on the door brings an abrupt end to our easy conversation. “That’ll be Damien.”

  “That’s my cue to go do homework. I’ll see you tonight, maybe. If not, tomorrow morning.” He gives me a hug before disappearing into his room. I sigh sadly, wondering if he’ll ever consider being nice to Damien. I had hoped, after our conversation last night, that Shawn would be willing to give him a chance. I abandon the thought to the eternal repository of “what ifs” and hurry to the door, pulling it open with a huge smile on my face. Unfortunately, it’s not Damien standing at the door. It’s Zane. My smile falls into a sneer. Apparently, he doesn’t notice.

  “Don’t you look happy to see me? Missed me, huh?”

  “Yeah, this is my sneer of joy.” I roll my eyes. “What do you want, jackass?”

  “Oooh, touchy. And to think I let you kiss me with that mouth,” he says snidely.

  I shake my head already tired of dealing with him. “Look, just leave, I don’t know why you’re here and I don’t want to know.” I move back to close the door, but he puts out a hand to keep it open.