by Sean Hayden
Jessie slid into the front seat and shut the front door. “Thanks for the ride, Claire.”
“My pleasure, Jessica,” she said and patted my girlfriend on the leg. She stopped after the third pat and gasped. I looked at her funny, but she didn’t say anything about it. I’d have to ask her later, when Jessie wasn’t sitting right next to her.
“Are you going to the dance tonight, Claire?” I tried not to giggle at Jessie’s question. It didn’t work out so well. Clarisse flipped me the bird over her shoulder. My giggle’s turned into full out laughter.
“Yes, I am. I’m taking Matt Briarson.”
“The quarterback?” This time I piped in. Okay. I was going out with Jessie, but knowing Clarisse would be going to the dance with the quarterback of our football team…Yes, I got a little jealous. No, I didn’t want to take Matt to the dance. I just didn’t want Clarisse to either. “That should make for some interesting conversation. Word has it he learned all his ABC’s last week.”
“Connor!” Jessie sent me a very disapproving look over her shoulder. The effect was kind of lost behind her sunglasses, but I got the gist of it.
“It’s okay, Jessica. He has a penis. They’re all naturally challenged.”
“I guess I’ll have to train this one better. So far he seems to be a keeper.”
“He is, but he can get a little moody.”
“Don’t they all? Whine, whine, whine. Thank goodness for girls' nights out.”
“Oh, we need to have one! What are you doing tomorrow? Come with me. We’ll go shopping.”
“Sounds good to me. You want to pick me up?”
“Sure, but meet me out front. That way I don’t have to meet any parents. They usually don’t approve of me.”
“Okay. Pick me up at noon?”
“You got it.”
Suddenly I regretted my decision to sit in the back. And get in the car. And show up for school. My regret ended up going all the way back to lifting the covers off my sleeping body this morning. Claire and Jessie being friends would never end well
“What’s the matter, Connor?” I looked up at Clarisse in her rearview mirror. I could see it in her eyes. Something was wrong.
“Nothing, just worried about dancing tonight. I’m not very good at it,” I lied through my teeth.
“I know what he’s worried about, Claire. Don’t worry, sweetie. We won’t talk about you. Too much,” Jessie said with a grin. I stared at Clarisse in the mirror.
“Just leave out the bad stuff, please,” I said and tried to keep the worry out of my voice.
The car jerked to the right as Clarisse pulled to a stop in front of my house. “You two want a ride to the dance?”
I opened my mouth to say, “No,” but Jessie beat me to the punch.
“That would be great. Thanks, Claire. I’m sure Connor’s parents will be happy. Come on, sweetie. Let’s go get dressed.”
“And eat. I’m starving.”
“You ate a mountain of food at lunch! What is with you lately?”
“Maybe I have a tapeworm?”
“Sure, let’s go with that. Come on. Thanks, Claire,”
“My pleasure. We’ll see you two at eight.”
I nodded and gave her a mumbled, “Thanks,” as I exited the bug. I grabbed Jessie’s hand and headed to the house. I didn’t have to pull her along, but she was having trouble keeping up. “Are you okay?”
I slowed down as we approached the front door. “Yeah. I can’t even begin to tell you how nervous I am about tonight. Me and dancing don’t get along well.” I hated lying to her, but it beat telling the truth. Um, my demonic friend felt something when she touched you. She wants to tell me, but couldn’t do it in front of you. So sorry.
I pulled in a breath of air and opened the front door.
“Are your parents home yet?”
“No. Not yet. We’ve got about a half an hour. My sister should be pulling in any minute. They cancelled cheer practice today because of the dance. It’s gonna take her a while to get into her witches outfit and fire up her broom.”
“Is that what she’s going as?”
“No. That’s what she wears on Friday nights,” I said smiling triumphantly. I told a funny.
“You’re terrible. Your sister has always been very nice to me.”
“Be careful. She probably wants something. Like your soul,” I said without thinking and stopped moving. Talk about the pot calling the cauldron black. Sheesh. Nice move, Connor.
“Well, she can’t have it. I already promised it for one glimpse of you,” she said and smiled. I wanted to throw up.
“Jessie, trust me. Don’t ever talk like that. Keep your soul safe. Very, very safe.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but I silenced her by pressing my lips against hers. It worked perfectly. Jessie’s arms reached around my neck and pulled me close. I clasped my hands behind her back and held her as tightly as I could without hurting her. Nothing ever felt more right in my life.
Too bad my sister ruined it.
Chapter 23
“Thanks for dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan. I love spaghetti.”
“You’re welcome, dear. You two better get dressed. Caelyn, why don’t you help Jessie?”
“Okay, Mom. Come on, Jessica. Do you have your costume?”
“She left it by the front door. It’s in the purple gym bag,” I said trying to be helpful. Caelyn shot me a very Caelyn-like look and I stuck my tongue out at her. Nice to know some things would never change.
“Thanks, Caelyn,” Jessie said and stood up, knocking her half empty glass of water over. “Oh, my God, I am so sorry!”
“Don’t worry about it, Jess. I’ll clean it up. Go get ready. Claire will be here shortly.” I happened to look over at Caelyn and I swear I saw her snarl when I mentioned Clarisse’s name. I really couldn’t blame her, sometimes I did, too.
I started mopping up the spilled water. Mom stopped me before I even had half of it up. “Go get dressed, honey. I’ll clean this up.”
Instead of doing what she said, I turned and gave her a hug. She was proud of me. Proud I'd met somebody. Proud I was going to the dance. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll be down in a few.” I left her there mopping up the spilled water and ran upstairs to my room. I passed by Caelyn’s room and stopped cold.
“What do you see in him?”
“What do you mean, Caelyn? He’s your brother!”
“He’s a slug. Beneath you. You are a lady. He has the attention span of a gnat and the brains that God gave a goat. Make that a goat’s ass. You could have anybody in the school, why did you pick him?”
“You don’t pick who you have feelings for. It just happens. Just so you know, I consider myself lucky for having them for him. Your brother is honorable, caring, and attentive. Trust me; I could have done far worse.”
“You love him?”
“I don't know. I've never been in love before. I will say I've never felt this way about anybody before.”
“I’m sorry. For meddling. It isn’t my place.”
I smiled at Jessie’s answer and scrunched my eyebrows at Caelyn’s. Not her place? Her place is under a rock, but I don’t think that’s what she’s talking about. I giggled and headed to my room. To “change”.
I closed my door and let my power loose. I turned and looked at the mirror behind my door and…oh, shit.
I'd gone full Fallen. I looked up and my face was only inches away from the popcorn ceiling. I turned and my wings scraped the walls of my tiny room.
“Connor, are you okay?” I spun and looked at the door. Mom must have come upstairs to check on the girls. I couldn’t let her see me like this. There’s no way she’d believe this was a costume.
“Yeah, I just tripped, Mom. I’m fine. Be out in a minute.”
“Okay, sweetie. Hurry up. I’m sure the girls are almost ready.”
I knew I hadn’t been in my room for over three hours. That’s how long it usually took a girl to get ready. Or at least that
was my experience. “Thanks, Mom.”
I stared at the mirror. I let my power loose but as soon as it slipped outward, I called it back in. Or at least most of it. I pictured myself with red (not glowing) eyes, smaller bat-like wings, and just a smidgeon of horn. I closed my eyes and felt it come. I opened them and there I stood. Just like I'd imagined.
“That’s friggin’ cool.”
I opened the door to a flash. I blinked my eyes twice and Mom standing there with a camera came into focus. “Oh, honey! Where did you get that costume? It is fantastic!” She reached out to touch one of my wings and I pulled it away.
“Careful, Mom. They aren’t too sturdy.”
“Oh, sorry,” she said and lightly ran her finger along the strong bone running from my back up to the first joint. I had to fight very, very hard not to laugh. It tickled. Bad. “They feel so real!”
“Yeah, amazing what they can do with latex nowadays.”
“How did you afford them?”
Well, I’d tell you, but I hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Jeremy is working part time at a costume shop. He got me a free rental. I just have to be sure not to break them.”
“He’s such a good boy.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “Yeah, he sure is, Mom. Are they ready yet?”
“Jessica is. Your sister hasn’t even started getting ready yet.”
“Shocker.”
Mom lightly slapped my arm but giggled anyway. I looked over Mom’s shoulder just as Jess walked out. My heart stopped. She stood there in very light robes that looked incredibly soft. She had fake angel wings strapped to her back. They were amazingly life like. Someone must have glued each real feather to the frame one by one. She looked like she could fly. She had a light dusting of glittery makeup on her face and exposed arms. She looked perfect. And beautiful. I gulped as I thought, “Mine.”
“My God, you look beautiful Jess.”
She blushed and almost hid behind her hand. The simple gesture made me smile. “Thank you! How does he look, Mrs. Sullivan?”
“You wouldn’t believe it, Jessica. As beautiful as you look, he looks simply evil. He’s the perfect demon to your angel. You two look stunning!”
This time we both blushed. “Are you ready, Jess?”
“Yup, I just hope we fit in Claire’s car!”
I groaned. I hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe we should just walk. It’s not that far. She might give us a ride home. We can take our wings off after the dance.”
“Good Idea. Maybe you should call her.”
Ding, dong.
“Or I can just run downstairs and tell her. That’s probably her.”
“Go ahead and answer the door, honey. I’ll help Jessie down the stairs.”
I planted a quick kiss on Jessie’s cheek and took the stairs two at a time. I forgot about Dad. He was just opening the door when I landed.
“Hi, um…”
“Claire, Dad.”
“That’s right. Hi, Claire. Come on in.” He opened the door and she walked into the room. Things got a little weird. I happened to be looking at my father, whose jaw dropped open as Clarisse walked into the room. I couldn’t see Clarisse yet, so I stepped around him. My jaw hit the floor.
She looked hot.
Her hair had gone from blonde to black. It cascaded down over her shoulders from underneath a cone shaped witch’s hat. She held a broom in one hand and a black cat in the other. The cat looked happy to be there, and I couldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t have minded being there either.
Her dress made her costume perfect. Black, but so loosely knit you could almost see through. It was tight in certain places and loose in others. I wanted to reach out and touch it to see if it felt as soft as it looked. That probably wouldn’t have been a good idea. My Dad looked like he was thinking the same thing. Dirty old man.
“Nice costume, Connor,” she said and gave me a funny look.
“I was just going to say the same thing to you. Always knew you were a real witch,” I said trying to make a joke.
She cackled. I shivered.
“You two ready to go?”
“Um, there’s sort of a problem. We forgot we would be wearing wings tonight. We’re not going to fit in your bug. Maybe we should just walk…”
“Don’t be silly. I figured it would be kind of cramped in there. I talked Daddy into doing us a favor.”
Daddy? Favor? I cringed at where this was going. She looked over her shoulder and I peered beyond her to see what she motioned at. There at the curb sat a limousine. Not just any limo. A stretch, ivory white, seats about fifty, Hummer limousine stood shining under the streetlight in front of our house. Some guy wearing a grey suit and funny looking hat stood by the open rear door, too.
“Nice,” I couldn’t help but say. “Yeah, I think the three of us will fit.”
“I should hope so!” My dad forgot all about Claire and stared at the limo.
“Go check it out, Mr. Sullivan. You should see the inside.”
He didn’t have to be asked twice. I looked down expecting little smoke trails to be floating from where he stood to the door of the limo.
I glanced at Clarisse, and she was staring at the stairs. I turned to see Jessie coming down holding my mom’s arm. Clarisse’s outfit became completely forgotten. I had it bad.
“Wow, Jessica! You look beautiful.”
“Thanks, Claire. Did I hear someone say limo?”
“Yes, you did. Claire’s dad rented one for us.”
“Sweet!”
“I figured you deserved it. Come on, let’s go dance.”
I looked at Clarisse to see what she meant. She gave me a sad smile and stepped outside the front door. I shrugged and met Mom and Jess at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as she touched my arm my stomach started doing strange things I don’t think had to do anything with her outfit.
Chapter 24
We walked into a graveyard. It was really the school gymnasium decorated to look like a cemetery, but it was still creepy. I looked around and counted no less than thirteen zombies dancing on the covered hardwood floor. They were surrounded by seven witches, three devils, and a plethora of costumes ranging from Darth Vader to the devil himself. The three of us looked better than all of them. Huh, I hope they have a costume contest this year.
“I’m going to go get some punch,” I told Jess and Claire.
Claire started laughing. “What is it with school dances, boys, and punch? It’s like genetically encoded for you to ditch your date the moment you get into the dance and go get fruit flavored beverages. I swear boys are morons. You stay here with Jessica. I’ll go get the punch.”
“Thanks, Claire,” Jess said with a musical giggle. I tried to hide behind her. “You were completely wrong about her you know. She’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Except for you of course.”
“Nice save,” I whispered in her ear and kissed it for good measure. She laughed and bent her head to keep me from doing it more. “Oh, somebody’s ticklish!” I buried my face in her neck as she squealed.
“Knock it off, Sullivan.” I looked up and saw Coach Cobb standing in front of us.
“Sorry, sir.” I straightened up but left my arms around Jess.
He nodded and moved on.
“You ready to dance?”
I looked down at Jess in horror. Thank God, she can’t see me. “Um, we have punch coming.”
“Which will be here after we’ve danced a little. Come on, Connor. It is a dance.”
“Oh, yeah.”
I sighed, put on my big-boy pants, and led her out onto the dance floor. I could feel hundreds of eyes on us as we began to move with the music. Okay, Jess started moving with the music. I just fought very hard not to look epileptic. I’m sure I failed miserably.
“You’re a good dancer,” Jess said with a smile.
“You wouldn’t be saying that if you could see me,” I said lightly trying to make a joke. From her frown, I guess I didn’t do such
a bang up job. “Sorry, Jess,” I said and kissed her cheek.
“It’s not you. I just really wish I could see you. This is sort of my first dance.”
I nearly stumbled. “Really?”
“Yes, really. Don’t tell me you’ve gone to tons. I’ll call you a liar, Connor Sullivan!”
“Well, no. This is my first one, too.” I said it both to make her feel better and to make her smile. I don’t think she did either of them. She did lean in, wrap her arms around me and begin to sway as the DJ switched to a slower song. She sighed against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. I could feel her start to relax.
“Your heartbeat is slow, but it’s almost making my head bounce back and forth. I always knew you had a big heart.”
“It’s not mine. It’s yours.”
“No, my heartbeat has always been fast. I mean your heart. I’m listening to it.”
“I know what you meant, Jess. I’m saying the heart beating in my chest isn’t mine. It’s yours. I gave it to you.”
A flash of lighting and a loud thunderclap outside shook the gym. Several girls around us gave out a yelp of surprise. I looked down at Jess and she stared up at me. I couldn’t see her eyes behind her sunglasses.
“What did you say?”
“I said I gave you my heart. It’s not mine anymore.”
She reached up and pulled the glasses off her face. She stared at me with milky green eyes. I could see tears glistening in the corners of them. She tucked her glasses in the front of my pants. I'd been trying to be sweet, not make her cry.
Either way, I won. She ran her hands up my chest and cupped my face to pull me down until my lips met hers. I felt the power of her kiss from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.
“Sullivan!” I heard Coach Cobb’s voice from across the gym, even over the music.
I pretended not to hear. Jess started laughing at all the ooh’s and ahh’s around us. I ignored them, too.
“Connor, will you take my heart in exchange for yours?”
“It would be my honor,” I said and another clap of thunder shook the walls around us. There were a few more cries of surprise, but I ignored them again. For the first time in my life I danced with the music. I held Jess close and didn’t care how I looked while I was doing it.