Angelfire
Page 20

He seemed unaffected. "I've been your companion for five hundred years as your Guardian, your bodyguard. During the day, while you're at school, you're safe, so I'm usual y home until dusk. I need to rest too. I'm not fol owing you around constantly, but I can sense if you're distressed or frightened. If you're attacked, I'l know. It's part of the bond we share."
I wondered if he had sensed my fear during my hal ucination in the bathroom earlier at school, and if that was why he had come to find me. "So while I'm at school, how do you keep yourself busy? Got any hobbies?"
He smiled. "You're enjoying al these questions, aren't you?"
"I'm just trying to figure you out."
His eyes met mine chal engingly, but I was too tired to keep interrogating him.
I sighed. "I real y need to get home. I'm so exhausted."
He nodded. "I wil see you tomorrow after your movie."
"Yeah," I said, not particularly ecstatic about it. I understood what was happening to my life, but I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to accept it. At this point, there could be no denying that my life would never be normal again. 7
SCHOOL FLEW BY LIKE A BREEZE. FRIDAYS WERE often that way. Everyone, including teachers and staff, just wanted to get the hel out of there and enjoy the weekend. The night before, I had fal en asleep almost upon impact with the pil ow, and obviously I hadn't gotten any work done on my paper. Luckily, neither of my parents had looked closely enough at my car that morning to notice the giant claw marks in the paint. I knew it was only a matter of time and bad luck before they did, however. Kate, on the other hand, had noticed them right away. I went with Wil 's story and explained that someone had hit my car in a parking lot, but I wasn't sure Kate was convinced. I would stil need to figure out how to fix those the cheapest way possible and without getting caught by my parents. I drove home right after school to squeeze out three of the five pages needed for my lit paper.
That night I wore the winged necklace Wil had given me. It felt right wearing it, like reattaching a lost fifth limb. The feeling was comforting, and the necklace was beautiful. I loved it.
I met Kate and Landon at the theater, and we were soon joined by Rachel and Chris. As soon as I arrived, Kate noticed my necklace.
"Where did you get that?" she asked, gaping at the pendant and examining it closely. "It looks antique. So gorgeous."
"Yeah, it's pretty old." I didn't want to tel her Wil had given it to me, or that it was mine to begin with.
"I'm going to steal it," Kate said, and walked away. I smiled and fol owed her inside. It was chil y outside, so I was glad I was wearing a hoodie over my tank top. We wouldn't have many more seventy-degree days in September.
The movie was al right, with some pretty good special effects, but I couldn't focus enough to enjoy it as much as my friends seemed to. I had already forgotten most of the plot by the time we al left the theater, with my friends chattering about how sweetly some random henchman had taken a knife to the head and how the hero had escaped the burning train. The boys were pretty stuck on recal ing how hot the love interest was. Al I could think about was meeting Wil afterward and about how God only knew what other horrors I'd have to witness. I found myself looking in the darkest places around me, fearful of what might leap out from the shadows. I wondered if I would pass someone on the sidewalk who might be kil ed by a reaper that very night and lose his soul to Hel , no matter what kind of good life he had lived. If I was to be some kind of hero, how many people would I be unable to save? I couldn't even eat fries without dripping ketchup on myself. How could I be responsible for someone else's life when I couldn't even be responsible for my own shirt?
"You okay, El ?" Kate asked, lowering her head to whisper into my ear. "You seem so distant and quiet."
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've just got to get going."
"Huh?" Kate asked, surprised. "Are you ditching us early again?"
Landon overheard and jogged up beside me, throwing an arm over my shoulder. "You'd better not be thinking about bailing. It's only ten and your party is tomorrow. There's got to be a preparty and then an after party. And a day- after party. Stay out later. Your paper can wait. I haven't even started mine."
"No, it's not my paper." I didn't want to lie, but I couldn't exactly tel the truth, either. A partial truth would do. "I'm meeting Wil in a little bit." Landon's arm became stiff around my shoulder.
Kate's eyes bulged. "You mean that weird guy from Cold Stone? You're going on a date with him?"
I put my hands up defensively, not wanting them to get the wrong idea. "No, no, no. It's not a date, we're just hanging out."
"Honey, it's Friday night, and when it's just you and him hanging out, that's a date. He's hot as hel , so have fun, okay?" Kate winked.
Rachel nodded. "Yeah, he is. Let me know if you don't want him! I wil gladly take him off your hands." She laughed and playful y pinched me in the side. I twisted away uncomfortably.
Landon's expression turned dark and he withdrew his arm. "Are you serious? You're going somewhere with that guy? You don't even know him!"
"Yeah, do you think that's such a good idea?" Chris asked. "He's got to be, like, twenty."
"He's just fine," I said, scowling. "Yeah, he's a little strange, but he's actual y a real y nice guy. And so what if he's a little older than me?" On second thought, neither of us was sure how old I actual y was.