Thanks to all my reviewers! Y'all keep me motivated!
And now, on to the story....
~*~
Nicole rolled over and glanced at the clock, it was six-fifteen. She had another half hour before she had to be up, but she was wide awake and didn't feel like going back to sleep. She decided to go ahead and take a long, hot shower. For once, she'd be able to take her time getting ready instead of throwing on something clean and maybe having time to put on her make-up at home instead of in the car or at her locker. She paused on her way out of the bathroom to look at her room, it was a wreck as usual. Plush white carpet was covered in spots with silvery throw rugs. Her queen-sized bed was nearly four-feet off the ground with soft, white jerzy-knit sheets and a silky silver comforter. A silver lamp and clock stood on the white bedside table. As usual, the door on the front of it was wide open with books and loose papers tumbling out of it. There was an unused white desk under the window with a brushed metal chair before it. A chrome lava lamp full of silver glitter kept her laptop company. Clothes tumbled from the half open drawers of her dresser. A miniature forest of picture frames and candles had taken over the top of that. Maybe I'll clean up when I get home from school, she thought. Cleaning usually made her feel better.
Nicole spent ten minutes in her closet deciding what to wear for the day. She finally settled on a knee-length denim skirt, a lacy celery colored tank, and an army green, three-quarter sleeved button-down shirt over it. She'd wear her comfy black flip-flops with it. She grabbed the clothes and emerged back into her room still wrapped in her towel to find Vitaliy sitting on the edge of her bed. His black clothes and dark coloring contrasted with his surroundings. Only Kali, peeking out from under a white sheet, matched him. "Holy crap V! Don't do that!" She exclaimed.
Vitaliy took the clothes she held and set them on the bed, then put his hands on her hips and pulled her close to him. "Ooh, I like this," he said, kissing her.
"Not that I'm complaining," she said, breaking the kiss, "but what are you doing here?"
"I was hungry and was on my way to SingleEarth. I thought that you might like to join me."
Nicole thought about it for a moment. It would be nice to go to SingleEarth with Vitaliy, but then she would have to come up with something to tell her parents as to why she was leaving so early for school. "How about we go after school?" She suggested.
"We could do that. In that case, I'll get out of here before someone notices that I'm here. I love you, and I'll see you in a little while after Alexia comes to get me," he kissed her again.
"Oh? Is it Alexia's turn to drive? I thought I was picking everyone up this morning."
"She said last night that she was going to drive this morning. I think she has to bring some massive project to school today or something. I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she replied before he vanished.
She retrieved her clothes from the bed and got dressed. Mary was in the bathroom when Nicole went to go put her make-up on. "Good morning," Nicole said.
"Morning," Mary mumbled around her toothbrush.
Nicole rummaged in her drawer to find her foundation. It had somehow gotten buried under everything else. After she found that, she went hunting for her favorite green eye shadow. It was missing. "Hey, where did my eye shadow go?" She asked Mary.
Mary shrugged. "I don't wear that stuff. Ask mommy."
Nicole rolled her eyes. She found her mother sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, and wearing a familiar green eye shadow. "Aha! You stole it. Where did you hide my eye shadow?" She teased.
"What are you doing up so early?" Her mother countered.
"I dunno. I just woke up. Now, answer my question please," she answered.
"I'll go get it. I think your father is in the shower."
"Yeah, 'cuz I really don't want to see that. Thanks Mommy," Nicole said.
She thought about fixing some waffles since she had the time, but didn't really see any point. It wasn't like they'd stop her hunger. Aw, what the heck, she mused. They'll still taste good. As her mother came back in the room, she was taking her blueberry waffles from the toaster and buttering them. "What are you doing?" Her mom asked as she nuked the waffles for ten seconds.
"The butter doesn't ever melt unless you microwave them for a few seconds," Nicole explained. "It makes them taste better."
"Ah," was all her mom said.
Nicole ate her waffles, then ran back upstairs to finish putting her make-up on. She had just put her stuff in her backpack when she heard Alexia honk out front. "Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" She called, thundering down the steps and out the front door.
Vitaliy graciously surrendered the front seat to Nicole so that the girls could talk easier. He had changed since he'd shown up in Nicole's room--now he was wearing dark straight-legged blue jeans, a white button-down T-shirt over a wife beater, and white tennis shoes. "Hey sexy," he said as she sat down.
"Hey," she returned with a grin. "You look good today,"
"So do you."
"Okay, okay. That's enough! Don't make me sick this morning," Alexia interrupted.
Vitaliy leaned forward and whispered "I think she's just jealous," into Nicole's ear, which prompted Nicole to burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Alexia demanded as she stopped at a stop sign.
"No-thing," Nicole sing-songed in answer.
Alexia glared at her, and then grinned. "You're a nut, you know that?" Everyone laughed at that.
~*~
Devon was woken by the sound of a saw. Since his mattress was currently propped against a wall in the kitchen, he had fallen asleep on the couch. Someone was doing construction behind the couch. "What the...?" He asked tiredly, sitting up to see what all was going on.
"Morning Devon," an entirely too cheerful Gabriel said as he was making another measurement to cut some more.
"Morning. What are you doing?"
"Building your bed. I'm surprised that you slept as long as you did. I've been here for hours. Go look at your room and tell me what you think," Gabriel nodded toward the open door. When Fritz walked into his room and was shocked by what he saw. Nothing had been painted yet, but most of the bed was there. Gabriel had obviously taken some liberties with the design because the beginnings of an architect-style desk occupied the far side of the shelf area. A black futon frame had been scavenged from somewhere and was now on the other side of the bed. He smiled as Gabriel came into the room carrying a length of wood. "It's awesome! Thank you so much!" Devon exclaimed.
"You don't mind the changes that I made?"
"No, they're great! I just cant figure out what I'm going to put on the edge to hide everything," Devon's mind was whirring frantically with ideas.
"Oh no you don't buddy," Gabriel said as he started bolting the wood into place as a support for the desk. "I've already got all of that planned. Go on, get out of here for the day and have some fun."
Devon was perplexed by Gabriel's suggestion. Fun? It had been so long that he had forgotten what that word meant. Gabriel must have noticed the blank look on his face. "Okay, or you can start painting and I'll set Vitaliy and his friends on you when they get home from school. They'll make sure you have fun."
Devon wasn't so sure of that, but he was game to try. He grabbed some supplies and started painting one of the bare walls. It never hurt to try something new, right?
~*~
India looked desperately around to room for something to throw, but nothing came readily to mind. It wasn't that she cared about anything there, but it was just another thing to get yelled at for. Then again, she'd already been bitched at enough that one more thing wouldn't make any difference. With a sigh, she dropped onto the bed and hugged a pillow to her chest. On a thought, she held the pillow over her face and screamed as loudly as she could. Well, it let some of the frustration out. She screamed again, but the futility of it frustrated her even further. Her parents had somehow found out about her conversation with Vitaliy's brother and had blown up as soon as she had walked in the door last night. Then, as she was walking out this morning, her mother saw that it was Jack picking her up. There had been a long standing feud between her family and Jack's. She had been forbidden from even speaking to him, let alone dating. Her father probably would have been okay with it, but her mother was livid. In the last ten minutes she had been grounded, forbidden from going to school, and had her powers bound until her mother could convene a witch's council. Things were not looking up.
Too bad she wasn't lucky like Sarah Vida and have a friend that would let her sneak out. Sarah had been a good friend and hunting partner until she'd been forced to change schools. Now Sarah was a leech; the ultimate betrayal. No matter what, India knew that she'd take death over leech-dom anytime. In order to relieve some tension, she went through some exercises. It was very strange to have to function without her powers. She would have to do something to redeem herself and not loose them for the rest of her life. Killing the nest of leeches that were infesting the town would probably do the trick. Revenge would be so sweet.
~*~
End Part V
Sorry for the short update (again). I have a bunch of ideas for the next parts though (I will finish this story-line one day, I promise!). Keep reading and please let me know what you think. Yeah, I'm not too good to beg for reviews. So: clickie clickie!
