"Hey, you ready?" I looked up at the doorway to see Stark stood there with a look of sympathy on his face, his arm around Zoey. Zoey seemed to notice my awkwardness and subtly moved away from him mouthing 'not now'. She crouched down in front of me so close that I could see every line of detail on her intricate vampyre tattoo. She gently held my hand,
"It's gonna be okay." She promised, looking into my eyes. I wanted so badly to believe her. I could feel my eyes welling up with tears again, why do I have to cry so much lately?
"C'mon" she smiled standing and pulling me up with her. I sighed. On the way to the door I grabbed my school bag from my almost vacant room and slung it over my shoulder, wiping my eyes as I went.
Stark led us through the tunnels, pausing outside his and Zoey's room as she dashed inside to cover up her mark because, let's face it. The public aren't the biggest fans of us vampyres. Fledgling or adult, red or blue. Normal or Zoey. We then continued to venture up to the depot entrance. It's so easy to get lost in the mass of tunnels if you don't know where you're going; thankfully we do. I squinted as the early morning sun glared down on my pale complexion, making it rather warm within the walk from the door to the hummer. I climbed into the back where a tired looking Aphrodite was sat stroking Stark's golden lab Duchess.
"Not a morning person, are we?" Stark asked her, smirking. She glared at him,
"Shut it. You haven't been up all night with a damn awful headache and no warrior to comfort you." She pouted. Stark glared at her,
"At least you have a warrior. Damien – "
"STARK" Zoey warned. He immediately cut off what he had been about to say. It didn't matter, though. We all knew what he'd meant. Zoey gave me a sympathetic look similar to the one Stark had used back in my room. I love Zoey and the guys but they're trying too hard to protect me. Not talking about Jack isn't going to make me forget him or 'get over' him, it's one of those things that I'll never be able to do.
There was an awkward silence which lasted for the remaining part of the journey into town.
"Where are we going?" I asked Zoey dully as I slammed the hummer door shut.
"To take your mind off of things" she said simply, pulling me along.
"And as usual, I am required to join the nerd herd in their quest of geekiness…but I really could do with a coffee….Guys can we stop off at Starbucks?!" Aphrodite rambled to herself.
"Me me me" I heard Stark mutter from behind me and Zoey giggled quietly, making me smile for what must have been the first time in weeks. The first time since Jack…..
I remember being in the paddock with the twins….. We were helping clear up after the last class of the day….. Erik had just come in to tell us that there was going to be a meeting in the tunnels after Stevie-Rae and everyone had finished up talking to Neferet and Dragon…
"Hey, Damien? Pass the brush please?" Shaunee asked, with her little puppy dog expression she likes to use to bribe me to do things.
"Whyyyyyy?" I teased, smirking.
"Because you love me and think I look really attractive today?" She tried pretty unconvincingly.
"Since I'm as gay as a gazelle…. nope. Although your outfit is pretty cool…."
"Okay then… Because you're a kind human being?"
"Sure" I leaned over and passed the tail brush to her. Erin stared,
"By the time you two finished flirting I could've gotten up and fetched it for you, twin."
Shaunee jumped and dropped the brush as we heard a loud ear shattering scream. "What the-"
"DAMIEN!"
"Huh?!" I looked up from my disturbing nightmarish flashback to see Stark and Zoey staring at me and Aphrodite who was right in front of my face, staring into my eyes.
"wha-"
"Welcome back to planet Earth. Coffee?" Aphrodite gestured to the long line of people qued up in front of us. So we made it to Starbucks, then?
"Oh uh regular please" I asked, staring at my muddy boots on the pristine white marble floors. The line moved frustratingly slowly and we edged closer to the front. I was becoming increasingly bored and my legs were beginning to ache by the time we finally reached the front of the queue fifteen minutes later, after which length of time Aphrodite had forgotten all of our orders and caused the people around us to tut with impatience as we re-told her.
Once outside, she groaned. "Remind me never to go on a quiz show with you" Stark teased, poking her lightly.
"Shut it, okay? I'm tired. It's hard work being this fabulous all of the time" She said, giving her hair a little flick. Zoey caught my eye and I knew we were thinking the same thing: the hag from hell we all know and hate is still in there somewhere. I trailed behind slightly as the arguing pair led us back to the hummer. I gazed around me, not really concentrating and I saw a small golden fuzz ball over the back of a nearby bench. I sighed, everything reminds me of Jack. The fuzz ball stood up and turned to pick his bag up. I froze. He looked at me.
"Damien? You okay?" Zoey's voice drowned out as I stared at the petite boy across the street. He seemed to compose himself very quickly because two seconds later he was running in the opposite direction of us.
"Wait!" I passed Zoey my coffee, running to the curb of the road. He's disappeared. No sign of him whatsoever. Like he was just a figment of my imagination. Was he? Was I missing my boyfriend so much that my mind had begun to play tricks on me?