by H G Lynch
Reid grunted in exasperation. “No, I was trying to say that it could be a side effect of Turning. Your emotions are probably being magnified,” he explained. He sounded perfectly rational, and it did make her feel just a little less awful to think it wasn’t entirely her fault she’d lost all sense of control. But still.
As she so often did when she was humiliated, she got angry. It was a reflex; she reached for anger whenever unwanted emotions rose to the surface. “Reid, I swear if you don’t let go, I’ll break your hand,” she threatened. Of course, she wasn’t sure she could really do it, but she’d certainly try.
Reid sighed and released her wrist slowly. “Ember, come on, don’t get pissed off. That will not end well,” he said, resigned. But Ember wasn’t listening. As soon as her wrist was free, she bolted in to the trees at an amazing speed she wouldn’t have been capable of last week. She was sure she could match any Olympic runner, even as she ducked branches and trampled bushes and dodged roots. She was barely aware of the wind picking up, and she ran faster, needing to escape.
** Sherry **
There was a soft, hesitant knocking on the door, and Sherry sprang up from her bed, dropping her magazine. She opened the door and fell into Ricky’s strong arms. He chuckled lightly at her enthusiastic greeting. His warm, solid body was always a comfort to her, and she twined her fingers in his soft, chocolate-brown hair as he kissed her.
“Hey, babe, what’s up?” Ricky wrapped an arm round her waist as they stepped into the room. He kicked the door shut behind him.
Sherry shrugged nonchalantly. “Um, not much actually. Ember’s out and Reid went to look for her. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has to carry her over his shoulder to get her back here.” She rolled her eyes, and Ricky smiled his sweet, boyish smile, making her heart jump.
“How is she handling everything? She hasn’t smashed anything or tried to rip your eyes out or something yet has she?” Ricky asked playfully, but Sherry could tell there was a serious question in there somewhere.
She’d started noticing an edge in his aqua-blue eyes whenever Ember was mentioned, ever since the incident with the witches. She knew it wasn’t that he didn’t like Ember – he quite liked her actually, liked her fierce attitude that kept Reid under control, and liked her just because she was Reid’s first real girlfriend – but he was wary of her now. Worried that she might unintentionally hurt Sherry.
Sherry knew his concern was only for her safety, but no matter how much she tried to convince him that Ember would never hurt her – intentionally or otherwise – Ricky just stood firm and kept worrying. If Ricky had one fault, it was that he could be a little overprotective.
“No, she’s handled it really well,” Sherry said. “After the initial shock, she just slept it off and, to be honest, I think she’s going to be fine.”
“Good, that’s good,” Ricky murmured, nodding. Then his eyes narrowed on her. “How are you handling it? I mean, your best friend’s not human anymore. And we don’t know if she’ll have to drink blood yet. I’m sure you could get assigned another room if you want. You know, just until everything calms down…” Ricky looked like he had more to say but Sherry’s glare shut him up.
In an even and deliberate voice, Sherry said, “Ember won’t hurt me. Ever. And I’m not going to abandon my best friend when she needs me.” She crossed her arms stubbornly. “It doesn’t matter if she’s human or not, she’s still my best friend and I still trust her. I know you’re just worried about the danger to me, but I swear there is none. I think she’s actually happier being part-vamp now. Ricky, I promise you I’m safe with her. Stop worrying about me.” Sherry gave him a pleading look she knew he couldn’t resist and he sighed wearily, slumping.
“Yeah, I should know better,” he murmured. “You can take care of yourself. I just…I can’t help but worry about you.”
She smiled at him. “You worry about everything,” she pointed out.
He shrugged. “Maybe. But mostly about you.”
“That’s because you’re crazy.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s probably because I love you,” he said quietly. His eyes suddenly shone like gems lit from within, the astonishing colour so heartbreakingly beautiful against his dark hair and light skin.
Sherry’s heart stumbled, and she stared at him. “You…you love me?” she squeaked in a small voice. It was the first time he’d said the exact words and Sherry felt her heart swell until she thought it might burst.
Ricky’s shy smile broke into a devastating grin. “Yes, I love you. How could I not? You’re beautiful and smart and brave and compassionate. And you’re the first girl I’ve ever met who’s known my secret, known what I am.” Ricky’s voice was so warm and full of love that she couldn’t help but believe every word. Her heart thrummed in her chest, and a smile spread across her face helplessly.
“I love you, too.” She realised as she said the words that she really meant them. She really did love him. It was more than an infatuation, more than a crush…she loved him.
Ricky caught her face between his palms and kissed her, sending thrills all the way to her toes. She looped her arms around his neck, pulling him back toward the bed. Her legs hit the edge of the mattress, and she tugged Ricky down with her, his legs tangling with hers.
And then Ember burst into the room like a gasping bullet, shattering the moment.
** Ember **
Ember burst into her room and slammed the door behind her. She squeezed her eyes shut, leaned back and slid down the door, breathing heavily as she sat on the floor. Her hands were in fists, trembling. God, she was so angry and humiliated she could just…she could just…
Suddenly something smashed and books toppled off the shelves. She could feel her body thrumming, vibrating with fury and power, and she heard Sherry’s gasp. Ember blew out a breath, trying to calm down. “Ember, what’s wrong?” Sherry asked.
Ember looked up to see Sherry stepping toward her, but Ricky grabbed her wrist to keep her back. That hurt, and it made Ember more furious. The mirror over the dresser cracked, and Ember ground her teeth together, trying to breathe slowly through her nose. The pulsing of rage in her chest was barely containable, but it cooled off just slightly when Sherry snatched her wrist free of Ricky and rushed to her.
Sherry knelt in front of her, putting her hands on her shoulders, and not saying anything. Ember had always had a short temper and Sherry knew by now that there was nothing that aggravated Ember more when she was angry than people telling to her to calm down.
When Ember stopped shaking so much, Sherry finally spoke in a very cautious tone. “Ember, what happened?” she asked, green eyes concerned. Ember met Sherry’s gaze and felt the rage slowly seep away. She let out her breath slowly, calming down.
She ignored Sherry’s question for the moment and glanced instead at Ricky, who was half-crouched as if he might leap and snatch Sherry away from her. Ember sneered, showing her fangs. Ricky flinched, but Sherry snorted quietly and Ember shot her a smile.
Ricky looked unhappy, and still very tense. Sherry turned to him. “She’s being a bitch because you tried to keep me from her. She’s not going to attack you or anything. If you knew Ember the way I do, you’d get it. Acting evil is just what she does when you piss her off. I told you before, she won’t hurt me.” Sherry was laughing helplessly but Ricky just blinked, a blank expression across his face.
Ember smirked at him, vindictive. “Trust me, if I was going to hurt someone, it would be the witches, not my best friend,” she said to Ricky. He just continued to frown at her, but he did move out of his pouncing position.
“Are you going to tell us what’s up?” Sherry relaxed back onto the carpet, sighing.
“Nope.” Ember shook her head and crawled around Sherry to pull her bottle of Coke from under her bed. She dragged it back to her spot by the door and twisted it open, guzzling down six or seven gulps before sighing in ecstasy at the caffeine hit. She could think more clearly with caffeine in her
system.
“Will you tell me if Ricky leaves?” Sherry asked knowingly. She could interpret the things Ember didn’t say so easily. Ember supposed that was what best friends were for.
She nodded. “Maybe.”
Sherry sighed and turned to Ricky, who was still scowling. Just for a moment, he reminded Ember of Brandon, and she scowled back at him. Sherry made a shooing motion at him. “Shoo, Ricky. I’ll deal with you later,” she said to her boyfriend, who looked stunned and reluctant. When he didn’t move, Sherry added, “Seriously Kee, you’ll just piss her off again if you don’t leave. She won’t hurt me. How many times do I have to say it? Now leave. I love you, but you’re a little slow if you can’t work this out: EMBER IS MY FRIEND.” She said the last part slowly, as if talking to someone mentally incompetent. Ember let out a harsh laugh and Sherry just gave her a warning look.
Ricky sighed. “Fine. But I’m sending Reid,” he grumbled. Oh, that was a stupid mistake.
Ember tensed, jumping to her feet and pointing a finger at him warningly. “NO! Don’t you dare send him in here!” she spat. She did not want to see Reid right now. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see him for like a week.
Surprised by her vehement reaction, Ricky’s eyes widened. He ran a hand through his hair in agitation, rocking back onto his heels. Eventually, he sighed. “Fine,” he muttered, shooting Ember a glare that she gladly returned.
Once Kee was gone, Sherry sighed tiredly and slumped down on the bed next to Ember. “So, do you feel better for bitching out my boyfriend?” she asked lightly, and Ember rolled her eyes. They both moved to sit on theirs beds. Ember twitched the duvet with her fingers and shrugged.
“He’ll get over it,” she muttered, “But sorry anyway. He’s your boyfriend; your guy to bitch out. But even you have to admit he was being stupid.” Ember grabbed a pillow and lay back, covering her face with it. She was developing a headache.
“Yeah, I know. But I can’t be too mad. He did tell me earlier that he loves me,” Sherry said quietly.
“What?” Ember flew upright, dropping her pillow to stare at her friend in surprise. “He actually said those three fateful words?” she asked, only a little mocking.
Sherry blushed and Ember grinned at her. “Hey, so we’ve both got good scandal. So, what next, the marriage?” Ember smirked, and then, in a high-pitched voice, squealed, “Oh, can I be bridesmaid? Please, oh please! Please let me be your bridesmaid!”
Sherry laughed and threw a pillow at her, but Ember just continued to grin. She really was happy for her friend, even if it made her anxious to watch a blood-and-gore horror movie to kill the icky romance vibe. Tossing the pillow back to Sherry, she wondered briefly what she’d do if Reid ever said the three magic words to her…she decided quickly that she’d likely run away and hide for a while. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that sort of commitment.
“Okay, so it’s all fantastic and romantic, whatever,” Sherry said, waving a hand dismissively, embarrassed. “What’s your scandal? Why were you so pissed? No, wait, better question: what did Reid do?” Sherry was sort of right, and Ember felt a blush creep up her face. She didn’t really want to explain what had happened in the forest. She still felt kind of skanky about it. She’d never done anything like that before. Ever.
“It wasn’t exactly something Reid did,” Ember said slowly, chewing her lip. “It was more like what I did. I think…well, I think the whole vamp thing is ramping up my emotions, and that’s why I’m sort of all over the place, and my temper…” Then she remembered something. “Oh, bugger! The mirror!” She clamped a hand over her mouth as she looked to the cracked mirror and then to the books on the floor. Whoops. “Seven years of bad luck,” she muttered to herself and couldn’t help an insane little giggle. It wasn’t really funny, but she already had such awful luck that it was ridiculous.
“What smashed?” Sherry added vaguely and then answered her own question. “The light bulb.” She held up a shard of glass from the bedside table where the lamp sat. Oh, damn. Ember covered her face with her hands, sighing.
“Oh Dear Lord, I’m going to have to be freaking sedated every time I get angry,” she groaned. And I thought my mood swings were bad before. Sherry laughed and Ember arched a brow at her questioningly, peering through her fingers. “Don’t you worry I’m going to destroy something important? Maybe you should room with your husband-to-be,” Ember suggested, but Sherry shook her head vehemently.
“No. No matter how out of control you get, I am not abandoning you. Now tell me what happened with Reid.” Sherry made an impatient gesture for her to continue.
Ember sighed, stalling. Then she blushed again as she opened her mouth to, reluctantly, explain what happened with Reid. “Well, like I said, I think Turning is messing with my emotions…which I suppose could include my hormones,” she added, the thought striking her suddenly and making sense. “Anyway, we were out by my tree and I just kissed him, and we were, you know, making out and I…” Ember bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, not wanting to continue.
“Continue,” Sherry encouraged, quite obviously biting back a fit of giggles. Of course this was amusing to her, hearing that Ember had actually lost control of herself. Aside from her temper, Ember didn’t lose it like that – not in the oh-god-I-want-him sort of way. At least, not before Reid she hadn’t. That boy just pushed all her friggin’ buttons.
Ember frowned and continued her recounting of what happened, albeit reluctantly. “Well…he sort of pushed me away–” At that, Sherry’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and Ember winced. “He was saying stuff like how it wasn’t like me to act so…forward. But I wasn’t really listening and…I kind of…” Ember shut up, biting her lip so hard she was sure it would bleed, feeling her face burn with humiliation. She decided she couldn’t tell Sherry after all. She’d thought she could, but she couldn’t. It was too embarrassing. God, I can’t believe I did that! She thought, cringing all over again. “No, I can’t say it.”
Sherry gave her an encouraging, questioning look but Ember just shook her head. She kneaded the blue duvet cover in agitation, chewing on her lip. Seeing her agitation, Sherry broke into a grin. “Ember, what did you do?” she asked, her voice light and taunting. Ember wasn’t sure she could say it without either bursting out laughing or bursting into tears. But this was Sherry. And she knew Sherry wouldn’t leave her alone until she told all.
“I told him…I said I knew he wanted it too,” – cringe – “and I sort of said I could, uh, feel it and then I kind of…” Ember spluttered, choking on the words and refusing to meet Sherry’s eyes now. She squeezed her eyes shut, replaying the whole thing in her head and smacking a palm against her forehead.
“You what? What did you do, Emz?” Sherry asked teasingly, a sly note in her voice. Frowning, Ember opened her eyes and stared at the cracked mirror so that she wouldn’t have to meet Sherry’s eyes. Damn it, she was just going to have to say it and get over it.
“I…kind of took my own words literally and…um, felt him.” Ember cringed, slamming her pillow over her face again and biting it hard.
Sherry immediately burst into giggles. “You WHAT!? Seriously.” Sherry chuckled, though Ember thought it really wasn’t funny. It was mortifying.
Ember groaned in horror, clenching her fists around the ends of the pillow. There was silence for a second, and then Sherry asked, “So…were you right?”
Confused, Ember murmured through the pillow, “What?”
Sherry giggled again. “Did he want it?”
Ember lifted the pillow to glare at her, swallowing a bubble of giggles of her own. It might’ve been funny if she hadn’t been the one who’d gotten all ravenous for her boyfriend and completely lost her mind. “I’m so not answering that,” she scoffed, and then pulled the pillow back over her face.
But Sherry just laughed more and said, “I’ll take that as a yes.” Then she tilted her head, her gaze probing. “Have I ever told you you’re sort of a prude? You haven’t done
anything more than making out with him, have you?”
Ember pulled a face. She wasn’t answering that – she didn’t want to talk about what she had or hadn’t done with Reid. Just the idea of anything beyond making out made her nervous, but Reid was being surprisingly patient. Aside from grabbing her butt sometimes, he was behaving himself – as much as Reid Ashton ever behaved.
Suddenly, Sherry said, “You do know that in a couple of days your mum will be here and you won’t be able to get your hands on the boy for two whole weeks, right? Maybe you should take advantage of the time you have.” Sherry sighed, looking at Ember expectantly. Ember scowled at her. She’d forgotten about her mother’s impending arrival on Monday. And today was already Saturday. Crap!
Pushing that worry aside for a second, Ember said, “So what? I am not going to just storm over to his room and tear his clothes off just because I won’t have the chance to for two weeks.” That’s what her mouth said but her mind was saying that that was exactly what she wanted to do. Her body was whispering to her that it was stupid to be embarrassed, that she should just go and find Reid and apologise for running off like she had, and try to make it up to him... Shut up, she told her out-of-whack hormones. She knew Sherry was right; she was a prude.
“Fine,” Sherry said with a shrug, thankfully dropping the subject. “Whatever. Just don’t think he’ll be able to keep to himself so easily. You know what he’s like.” Sherry rolled her eyes and Ember snorted. Sherry was right again. Especially after what had happened today, Reid was going to have trouble staying away from her for two weeks. But he had to. Otherwise, her mother would kill them both. Ugh.
Sherry looked like she was about to say more but she was interrupted by a knock at the door. Oh, damn, I bet I know who that is, Ember thought. She jerked her head toward the door, indicating for Sherry to see who it was. “If it’s Ricky again, tell him that the only person I’m likely to rip apart right now is him. And if it’s Reid…” She hesitated, then said, “Tell him I’m not here.”