16
Wine-A-Lot And Bring It
"Who should I text? I should text my hellhound stalker," I sang off-key before a round of giggles escaped me.
Lying upside down on the couch with my legs stretched out on the back of the it, I stared aimlessly at the phone.
"How much did you let her drink?" Dimitri sighed.
I answered him with another round of giggles. "Oh, Hellhound Stalker? Come here and kiss me," I serenaded.
"She's DRUNK drunk."
Glancing at the upside-down image of Wolfgang, I gave him a sweet smile. "I'm not drunk, Cutie Wolfie."
"Is she giving everyone nicknames?" Ryuu asked, walking over to look down at me.
"And someone take her phone before she drunk texts someone," Yuriel suggested.
"Nevahhhhh!" I vowed and hiccupped. "Go away Never-Smile-Hottie-Angel."
"Why does everyone have a nickname but me?" Ryuu questioned with an annoyed expression.
"I don't know if Hellhound Stalker, Cutie Wolfie, and Never-Smile-Hottie-Angel are good nicknames to have," Dimitri noted, walking to stand next to Ryuu, the two of them peering down at me as I looked back at my screen and continued my off-key singing.
OH! I should text Nikko!
Beginning to tap the screen, I found her name and quickly began to text away.
"Who is she texting?" Yuriel questioned.
"Silver?"
"I'm Princess Blossom of Rosé Wine-A-Lot. Wine-a-lot or whine-a-lot? That's actually funny. Get it? Whine. A. Lot." I laughed at my own joke, adding it to the text message I was attempting to write.
"Anyone know how much she drank after we finished those wings?" Dimitri asked again.
"I lost count after three glasses of wine, ten shots, five beers, and the shot of Soju we ordered," Wolfgang admitted.
"That's horrible," Ryuu groaned. "Next time we drink, keep tabs on Silver."
"Princess B—" I began, but Yuriel cut me off.
"Yes, Princess Blossom Rosé Wine-A-Lot."
I grinned and looked at Ryuu. "You're Party Pooper Dragon Butt."
He arched an eyebrow at me. "Really?"
"I've appointed you! Be grateful." I returned to my texting while Dimitri and Wolfgang snickered.
"Damn. The princess has spoken," Wolfgang began to laugh.
"I would rather be Hellhound Stalker than Dragon Butt. Do you smell like ass, too?!" Dimitri laughed.
I looked back to see Ryuu was rolling his eyes and Yuriel had a small smile on his face.
Finishing up my message, I grinned in triumph. "Finished!"
Sending the message, I lowered my legs to the side and slowly sat up, giving myself a moment to adapt to the spinning room.
"Round and round we go! Where will I stop, nobody knows," I sang.
"She's pretty cute when she's drunk," Dimitri admitted.
"She could be a vomiting mess and you'd call her cute," Ryuu muttered.
"Hmm. True," Dimitri replied with a shrug.
"Who did you just text?" Wolfgang questioned.
"My bestie in the entire universe!" I used the hand that held my phone in my tight grip to fist pump the air. "I was supposed to text her AGES ago. No, LIGHT years ago."
"And?" Yuriel questioned.
"I forgot," I said innocently with a wide smile. "But I made up for it by texting her."
Yuriel and the others exchanged a look, and Dimitri came to sit next to me on my right side. "Can I read what you wrote?"
"Sure!" I handed him the phone, sitting up with pride as Dimitri began reading my masterpiece.
Yuriel moved to peer at it from behind the couch while Ryuu and Wolfgang moved to stand on my left side.
"What did you text?" Yuriel asked for clarification. I cleared my throat and nodded.
"I said, ‘Hey, Nikko, my savage bestie. It is I, Silver Spell Solange. I've wanted to text you but knew you were busy getting accepted and all. I am now living my life at S.S.S. school. I hope to see you in the halls. Love you. Silver.’" I repeated what I'd typed with pride.
"If only the gibberish she wrote was half of that," Yuriel mumbled.
"At least she spelled her name right," Dimitri praised.
"Gibberish? My words were flawless!" I countered.
Ryuu moved over to Dimitri's side, taking my phone from his grasp to read it himself.
"Yo, Nikko you savage b...uh. Banana. Let's go with banana," Ryuu began.
"Banana or bitch?" Wolfgang questioned.
"Banana,” Dimitri, Ryuu, and Yuriel suggested, but I felt like it was a coverup. Ryuu cleared his throat and continued.
"It's me, Princess Silver Spell Solange. The one you haven't checked on in seventy-two hours. Well, I'm here at S.S.S. Living the best of the best. If I see you, you'll wish I’d texted you earlier. P.S. I have four hot boyfriends. Ha. Hahahaha. From Princess Blossom Rosé Wine-A-Lot."
We were all silent and I slowly nodded my head.
"That's clearly gibberish and not what I wrote," I concluded.
"More like, that's Ryuu's amazing translation, for you had a spelling error in every other word," Yuriel acknowledged.
"Do you not like your best friend?" Ryuu asked.
"I love her!" I defended. "She's been my friend since forever. Our families are destined to be friends for all time. When we were babies we were already friends," I declared.
"Why does your message sound a little bitter?" Wolfgang questioned.
"It wasn't bitter," I argued, crossing my arms over my chest, noticing the half glass of wine on the table.
"It sounded like you were mad," Yuriel added.
"Or annoyed?" Dimitri suggested.
"Or you just wanted to make sure she knew you made it. Thanks for the boyfriend acknowledgment," Ryuu thanked.
I blushed slightly but leaned for the glass of wine. Since no one stopped me, I giggled and sipped a bit of it.
"Shouldn't we tell her no more alcohol?" Dimitri asked the others, who shrugged.
"She's already wasted. Let her live," Ryuu concluded.
"Awww. Dragon Butt got a promotion to Sexy Dragon Butt," I purred.
"I really don't think that's much of an improvement." Wolfgang chuckled.
Yuriel walked back to sit on my left side. "At least she's having fun."
"Are you enjoying yourself, Princess Blossom?" Dimitri asked.
"Yes," I said quietly. "Haven't had fun with friends like this."
The four of them glanced in my direction as I stared at the slightly pink translucent beverage, noticing the few little bubbles left of the sparkling, semi-sweet wine.
"Maybe deep down, I could be still upset with Nikko."
"Why?" Wolfgang asked, moving the coffee table back so he and Ryuu could sit down on the carpet while Dimitri and Yuriel remained on the couch with me.
"She's a succubus. To me...she's always had a good life. I'm not necessarily jealous or anything, but everything has been easy for her. She got to attend a really nice school for shifters, while I eventually was homeschooled because I was "too" powerful to be among my classmates. They envied me for my magic, but that was something I was born with. It didn't mean I deserved to be excluded from everyone else. I decided that drowning myself in learning the family business and helping my parents was the better option."
With a smile, I shook my head.
"Then I met my ex-boyfriend. He was nice in the beginning. Sweet, rich, older. He was like those bad boys that always got all the girls. He was attracted to me, or at least I fit the image he was looking for to match up with him. Almost like an accessory. A curvy, powerful witch from this family who'll make him look extra badass at events and get-togethers. I didn't think of it that way at the time. I was so absorbed in being acknowledged and having someone who wanted to be around me. Sure, I had Nikko as a friend and I cared about her, but I never necessarily felt accepted? I guess because I wasn't a succubus like her. I didn't fall into her category, but we were supposed to be best friends. Our families said so."
"But sometimes it didn't feel that way," Yuriel concluded.
I nodded, turning my head to look at each of them.
"Even now...I sometimes worry that I'll lose her as a friend, too. See...when my father got sick, the world felt like it went from in color to black and white. It was a dark time, and I assumed it would get better. I mean, it had to get better. We were witches. We had immense power and our bloodline had lived out many diseases in the past. We'd helped cure many diseases that plagued humans. Surely, we'd find the cure for my dad."
I stared back at the glass, swinging it around and watching the liquid swirl with the movement.
"There was a cure...I think there was, anyway. Problem was, it cost a lot of money. Even if we sold all our investments and shops, we wouldn't have enough time with the prognosis given to us. I asked my ex-boyfriend..." I trailed off and sighed. "He refused."
"Is that why you're not together anymore?" Yuriel asked.
"Aside from him being a jerk," Ryuu grumbled, sounding upset.
"Asshole selfish jerk," Dimitri added.
"With a hint of self-centeredness," Wolfgang concluded. I grinned at their defensiveness.
"I guess it was the deal breaker. I wasn't dating him for the money. I was a Solange. Witches have their own currency but with the medical situation, it cost top dollar because they’d just figured out the cure recently. I was going to pay him back. I'd work every single day for years if I had to. He refused and said I was just his play toy. A doll to carry around to make him look good. Other than that, he didn't care about me or my family. I could drop dead and he'd move on to the next bitch," I mumbled the last part, a shiver running down my spine at the reminder.
A low growl came from my right, and I looked to see Dimitri's displeased expression. "You're not a bitch."
I smiled and nodded. "I know, but to him, that’s what I was. I resented him for that, but I hadn't had the courage to break up with him then. All I cared about was trying to save my dad. I even asked Nikko, but she said her parents wouldn’t be able to help because I wasn't a shifter. It would be 'frowned' upon."
The four of them were silent, which only confirmed their ways of living.
"Anyway, I found a witch who was willing to help. An elderly woman who'd been a healer among witches and shifters for centuries, but by the time I came to tell the hospital I had the funds, my Dad had passed."
Wolfgang reached up and lightly tapped my left knee.
"Sorry, Silver," he whispered.
I shrugged, taking a sip of my wine. "It's okay. It hurts to think about it sometimes, but it's in the past. Dad's at peace and not in pain. Sucks that I turned into a cold-hearted bitch, as Callister said."
"You're not a bitch," Dimitri affirmed with a firm tone. I looked at him and he reached out to stroke my cheek. "A cold-hearted bitch wouldn't have helped me. You don't know, but at least six other people passed by me when I was trying to find my way to the school. I had the courage to ask and they all said they couldn't help me. You approached me and offered your help. That was something most people wouldn't do for a stranger in this generation."
"You were also willing to tell us your reason for being here, giving us the benefit of the doubt to help out," Yuriel noted.
"Even with our whole dating agreement, you could have easily ditched us when we passed. Shifters use tactics like that all the time. You didn't," Ryuu pointed out.
"Silver." Wolfgang gave me a softened smile. "It may not mean a lot, but I'm sure glad we met you. Whether we end up as friends or lovers, please remember what a good person you are. Deep down in here." He pointed to his heart. "You have a big heart. If your ex-boyfriend or your best friend can't see that, well...they're missing out."
I looked at each of them, seeing their pleasant expressions as they nodded in agreement. "I really lucked out in meeting you guys." I giggled and sighed, drinking the rest of my wine. "See? I sober up fast."
"Are you really sober, or are you having one of those peaceful drunk moments?" Wolfgang wondered.
"What's a peaceful drunk moment?" Dimitri asked.
"It's when the drunk individual says the most intelligent things in a span of ten minutes before they're back to their usual drunk self," Yuriel explained.
"That's not an actual term, is it?" Ryuu asked.
Yuriel shrugged. "Who knows?”
"But you knew the meaning," Dimitri argued.
"Hey. Where'd Silver go?" Ryuu questioned.
"Mewr?"
I peeked over the counter to see my temporary disguise spell had worn off and revealed Star sitting in the middle seat of the couch.
It only lasted twenty seconds, but it was the perfect moment to teleport and grab more wine for my disposal.
I stroked the open wine bottle, taking a big chug and hugging it. "My precious."
It only took five seconds and a few sniffs for Dimitri to find me sitting on the floor, hugging my precious wine.
"The peaceful moment wore off," he announced, looking at me with a hopeless expression.
I gave him a dreamy expression. "You still owe me a kiss, Hellhound Stalker."
"As long as you change my nickname to Steaming Hot Stalker.”
I thought about it for five seconds. "Sure."
"Deal." He winked.
"I can't believe you're making deals with a drunk witch." Yuriel sighed.
"Isn't that like taking advantage?" Wolfgang questioned.
"Dimitri! You can't kiss her without consent!" Ryuu declared.
Dimitri looked back at the couch, while I took another long chug of my bottled wine. Star was now at my left thigh, walking onto my crossed left leg and lying there happily.
"She said I could!"
"Actually, if my ears were working correctly, she said you owed her a kiss but you combated with an offer of exchange. That's not consent," Yuriel elaborated.
"And she's drunk," Wolfgang concluded.
Dimitri groaned. "Fine! I'll kiss her when she's sober." He looked back down at me as I began to sing.
"It's the best day EVER!" I sang.
"Isn't that from that show about a sponge?" Dimitri muttered.
I paused in my swaying movement and giggled. "It's about a sponge named Bob. Get it. SpongeBob." I began to laugh hysterically, and he just stared at me like I was crazy.
"Let's just leave her with her bottle of wine. I'm sure she'll pass out at some point,” Dimitri concluded.
"We agreed we'd keep eye on her."
"She's beyond drunk." Yuriel shook his head.
"At least she's a cute drunk. We didn't get one that's psycho or breaks things," Wolfgang pointed out.
"True," the other three agreed.
I closed my eyes and drank the remaining wine in the bottle, feeling content. Star's purrs were so nice and soothing. I wondered if Nikko was upset I hadn't texted her sooner.
I'll check my texts in the morning and text her again saying I miss her.
Even if we'd been put together as best friends, I didn't think I'd be okay with not being her friend anymore.
I was just dealing with one of those questionable moments in life where you don't know who your friends are.
Yes. I'll see her at school and we'll still be best buddies.
I stirred slightly at the feeling of being picked up. Opening my heavy eyelids, I looked up slightly to see Yuriel's calm expression.
Did I fall asleep?
My head was pounding, and my body felt achy, but I was curious as to why Yuriel was holding me.
"Yuriel?"
He glanced down to meet my gaze. "It's not Never-Smile-Hottie-Angel?"
"Who gave you that stupid nickname?" I asked.
He smiled then, a full one that made my stomach churn in excitement. "Princess Blossom Rosé Wine-A-Lot."
My cheeks burned, and I'm sure my face was red, but he looked forward as he carried me up the stairs.
We reached the master bedroom, but I was focused on staring up at him. There was just
something about his eyes that looked so enchanting but was also filled with a bit of darkness I couldn't describe.
A spiral of loneliness and self-hate?
He noticed my gaze, looking down at me when we reached my bed. "What?"
I didn't know what got into me, but I reached my hand up to press against his cheek, leaning up to seal his lips with mine.
A weird sensation ran through us. His lips were cold at first, but began to warm as I kissed him tenderly. Whatever spark ran through me affected him, for he kissed me back, as though he couldn't pull away.
Ten seconds of blissful unity.
He broke the kiss and sighed. "You really shouldn't fall for me, Silver."
"Why not?" I didn't understand, not sure if it was my hazy mind or the alcohol buzzing through me. He lowered me to the bed, reaching for the blanket to cover me.
"I'm not a good person to be around."
"You've been nice to be around so far," I mumbled, fighting off sleep. He stared into my eyes.
"I bring trouble to those I love. It won't change because I'm dating a witch."
"That sounds like a challenge," I mumbled, unable to fight my heavy eyelids as they came to a close.
He didn't say anything, and I could see the light that shone behind my lids darken until there was none.
Something soft pressed against my forehead, something I couldn't recognize in my exhausted state.
"I'll date you until we graduate, Silver. After that..." He trailed off. I heard his fading footsteps but I mumbled.
"I never...back down...from a challenge. Bring...it..." I didn't know if I finished my sentence or not, but I heard a quiet chuckle in my dream.
"You really do have a big heart."
17
Steamy Intruder
"Why can't I play?"
I looked at the other kids, who glared at me with hateful expressions.
"We don't want to play with you," one kid said.
"Yeah. You're the teacher’s favorite. Go play with someone else," another kid said. I glanced at the others, wishing one of the eight kids would accept me, but they all looked away when my attention landed on them.
With a defeated sigh, I turned around and walked away. I continued to walk, deciding I'd try to find someone else to play with while I waited for Dad.
SSS: Year One (Supernatural Spy School Book 1) Page 18