We had to go back to the real world. And Daemon wishing he’d never met me.
Neither of us spoke until we were on my porch. The light was on in the living room, so when I did speak, I kept my voice low. “What happens now?”
Daemon’s hands were fists at his side as he looked away, not answering.
I started to turn, but in the time that it took for me to blink my eyes, Daemon was already gone.
…
“You didn’t do anything for Labor Day?” Lesa pointed at Carissa behind her. “You live a life as exciting as Carissa.”
Carissa rolled her eyes as she straightened her glasses. “Not all of us have parents who whisk us away for a quick weekend in North Carolina. We aren’t as cool as you.”
It wasn’t like I could tell them I did have an exciting weekend, one involving almost getting hit by a truck and proving the existence of extraterrestrial life forms, so I shrugged and scribbled in my notebook. “Just hung out at home.”
“I can see why.” Lesa tipped her chin toward the front of the classroom. “I would too if I lived next to that.”
“You should’ve been born as a man,” Carissa remarked, and I hid a smile. Those two were a riot; one as oppressed as the other was ballsy. I always felt like I was watching an insane tennis match between the angel on my left shoulder and the devil on my right.
But I didn’t need to look up to see they were talking about Daemon. Last night I’d barely slept. Only thing I was certain come Tuesday morning, I wouldn’t act like anything was different. I ignored him, which was what I did before I found out he was from far, far away.
And it worked right up until he sat behind me and I felt his pen poking against my back. Slowly, I set my pen down and casually turned around. “Yes?”
Sooty lashes lowered, but not before I saw the sparkle in his eyes. “My house. After school.”
Lesa’s audible intake of breath was sort of embarrassing.
I knew I had to hang out with Daemon until the damn trace thing faded, but I didn’t take well to being ordered around. “I have plans.”
His head moved an inch to the side. “Excuse me?”
A small, evil part of me reveled in his surprise. “I said I have plans.”
A second of silence passed, and then he smiled. It wasn’t as devastating as I expected, but pretty damn close. “You don’t have plans.”
“How would you know?”
“I do.”
“Well, you’re wrong.” He wasn’t. I didn’t have any plans.
His gaze slid to the girls. “Is she hanging out with either of you after school?”
Carissa opened her mouth, but Lesa cut her off. “Nope.”
Some friends. “Maybe I wasn’t hanging out with them.”
Daemon tipped his desk forward, closing the space between us. “Besides them and Dee, what other friends do you have?”
I cut him a death look. “I have other friends.”
“Yeah, name one.”
Dammit. He called my bluff. “Fine. Whatever.”
He gave me a sexy smirk and settled back in his seat, tapping his pen on his desk. Sending him one more look of pure hatred, I turned back around. Yeah, nothing had changed.
…
Daemon followed me home after school. Literally. He tailed me in his new Infiniti SUV. My old Camry, with its leaky exhaust and loud muffler, was no match for the speeds he wanted to go.
I’d brake-checked him several times.
He’d blown his horn.
It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
As soon as I stepped outside of my car, he was right in front of the driver’s side. “Jesus!” I rubbed my chest. “Would you please stop doing that?”
“Why?” He leaned his head down. “You know about us now.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t walk like a normal human being. What if my mom saw you?”
He grinned. “I’d charm her into believing she was seeing things.”
I shoved past him. “I’m having dinner with my mom.”
Daemon popped in front of me, causing me to shriek. I swung at him, but he moved to the side. “God! I think you like to do that to piss me off.”
“Who? Me?” His eyes were wide with innocence. “What time is dinner?”
“Six.” I stomped up the steps. “And you are not invited.”
“Like I want to eat dinner with you,” he retorted.
I flipped him off without looking back.
“You have until 6:30 to be next door, or I’m coming after you.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” I went inside without looking back.
Mom was standing by the window in the living room, holding a picture frame she was dusting. It was her favorite picture of us. She’d stopped a random teenager and asked him to take our picture while we’d been at the beach. One smile from her and the kid couldn’t help but obey. I remembered being embarrassed she’d stopped the boy. I looked sullen next to her, put out and frustrated. I hated that picture.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Just long enough to see you give Daemon the middle finger.”
“He deserved it,” I grumbled, dropping my backpack on the floor. “I’m going over there after dinner.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Do I even want to know?”
I sighed. “Not in a million years.”
…
When I did show up next door, at 6:34, it sounded like World War III had erupted in the house. I’d let myself in since no one answered the damn door.