Obsidian (Lux 1)

“Daemon can be nice when he wants.” Dee pushed back on the swing, using one foot on the floor to keep it moving. “Where did you guys go for a walk?”

“We followed one of the trails and talked, but then we saw a bear.”

“A bear?” Her eyes widened. “Holy crap, what happened?’

“Uh, I sort of passed out or something.”

Dee stared at me. “You passed out?”

I flushed. “Yeah, Daemon carried me back to the porch and yeah, well, the rest is whatever.”

She was watching me closely again, curious. Then she shook her head. Changing the subject, she asked if she’d missed anything else while she was gone. I filled her in while my mind was completely elsewhere. Dee mentioned something about watching a movie later before she left. I think I agreed.

Long after I’d gone inside and pulled on a pair of old sweats, I was still confused over Daemon. He’d seemed almost likeable during our hike before flashing back to Super Douche. Flushing and frustrated, I flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

There was a network of tiny cracks in the plaster. My gaze traveled over them as my mind replayed the events leading up to the “almost kiss.” My stomach flipped thinking about how close his lips had been to mine. Worse yet was the knowledge that I had wanted him to kiss me. Like and lust must not have anything in common.

…

“Let me get this straight.” Dee frowned from where she’d perched herself on the old recliner in desperate need of being reupholstered. “You have no idea where you want to go to college?”

I groaned. “You sound like my mom.”

“Yeah, well, you’re entering your senior year.” Dee paused for a second. “Don’t you guys start applying as soon as school starts?”

Dee and I were sitting in my living room flipping through magazines when my mom had oh-so-casually walked in and dropped a stack of college brochures on the coffee table. Thanks, Mom. “Shouldn’t you be applying? You’re one of ‘us,’ too.” The interest that had been sparkling in her eyes dulled. “Yeah, but we’re talking about you.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I haven’t decided what I want to do. So I don’t see the need to pick a school.”

“But every school offers the same thing. You could pick a place—any place you wanted to go. California, New York, Colorado—oh, you could even go overseas! That would be awesome. That’s what I’d do. I’d go somewhere in England.”

“You can,” I reminded her.

Dee lowered her eyes. She shrugged. “No, I can’t.”

“Why not?” I pulled my legs up and crossed them. It didn’t seem as though money was a problem for them, not when you looked at the cars they drove or the clothes they wore. I’d asked her if she had a job, and she’d said she had a monthly allowance that kept her cushy. Parental remorse at always staying in the city for work and all. Nice gig if you can get it.

Mom was great at giving me cash if I needed it, but I sincerely doubted she’d ever pony up three hundred bucks a month for a fun, new car for me. Nope. I’d have to keep on loving my little sedan, rust and all. Point A to Point B, I always reminded myself. “You can go wherever you want, Dee.” Dee’s smile was tinged with sadness. “I’ll probably stay here when I graduate. Maybe enroll in one of those online universities.”

At first I thought she was joking. “You’re being serious?”

“Yeah, I’m kind of stuck here.”

I was intrigued by the idea of someone being stuck anywhere. “What’s sticking you?”

“My family is here,” she said quietly, looking up. “Anyway, that movie we watched last night gave me nightmares. I hate the whole idea of a haunted house with ghosts in it, watching you sleep.” Her swift change of subject didn’t pass me by. “Yeah, that movie was pretty creepy.”

Dee made a face. “It reminds me of Daemon. He used to stand over me when I was sleeping, because he thought it was funny.” Her delicate shoulders shuddered. “I’d get so mad at him! I don’t care how deep of a sleep I was in, I could still feel him staring at me and I’d wake up. He would laugh and laugh.” I smiled at the image of Daemon as a little boy teasing his twin. That picture was completely replaced by the full-grown Daemon. I sighed, beyond frustrated, and closed the magazine.

I hadn’t seen him since the evening on my porch, but it was only Monday. Two days without seeing him seemed commonplace. And it wasn’t as if I wanted to see him.

Looking up, I watched Dee flip to the back of her magazine. She always did that, going to the horoscopes in the back. She held her right hand against her chin, tapping her lips with one painted purple nail.

The finger blurred, nearly fading out. Air around her seemed to hum.

I blinked several times. The finger was still there. Great. I was hallucinating again. I threw the magazine aside. “I need to go to the library. I need new books to read.”

“We can plan a trip and go book shopping.” She hopped in her chair, excited all over again. “I want to check out that book you reviewed on your blog the week before you moved here. The one with the kids with superpowers.” My little heart did a happy dance. She’d read my blog. I didn’t even remember telling her the name. “That would be fun, but I was thinking about going to the library tonight. I can’t beat it when it’s free. Do you want to come with me?”

“Tonight?” she questioned, eyes widening. “I can’t tonight, but I can go tomorrow night.”