Authors Note: Thanks to all my reviewers, especially Piscean Wisdom – sorry I've been holding back on the interaction between Jess and Luke, I hope this chapter makes up for it! Happy Reading: )
Chapter Twelve
An awkward silence filled the car. Jess twisted in her seat pulling at a strand of her long copper coloured hair that had gotten tangled up in the seat belt. Caleb drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while Luke just stared out through the window blankly.
Someone had better say something soon, Jess thought to herself. One more moment of silence and I'll scream. She gave one last hard tug on her hair and it came free. She flicked it over her shoulder, rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes, pretending she was somewhere else, anywhere else.
'Oh Jess,' Luke's voice cut through the silence. 'I'm sorry about last night but something came up.'
'Don't worry about it,' Jess replied.
'Maybe we could meet up tonight,' he twisted around in his seat turning to look at her through the gap between him and Caleb. His glittering green eyes looked straight into hers, his eyebrows raised hopefully. Jess's stomach did a somersault. This was exactly what she'd been dreading; alone time with her former husband.
The thought was so ridiculous that it brought a short, unexpected laugh to her lips. Luke frowned.
'What' s so funny?' Caleb asked.
Jess waved a hand dismissively. 'Oh nothing,' she replied. 'I'm just remembering a joke Dora told me earlier.'
'Right,' Caleb said, his eyes still on the road. The tone of his voice told Jess that he was getting slightly annoyed with her.
'So...You, me,' Luke continued. 'This essay, we work on it tonight? Yes or no?'
Jess gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and forced a smile. 'Sure,' she said. They had to do this sooner or later. Jess figured the best thing to do would be to just get it over and done with.
000
Later that evening Jess was pacing her room nervously. She glanced at the clock on her bedside cabinet. Luke would be arriving any second. Was it too late to call and cancel? No, she couldn't do that even if she wanted to, she didn't have his number. Apart from her the house was empty. Tally had gone out with Petra, and her father was over at Diandra's helping her fix a burst pipe.
She flopped down on her bed and pulled a pillow over her face. 'Relax,' she ordered herself. 'Just relax. Maybe this won't be so terrible. Forget the fact that you've been having these weird dreams. Forget the fact that you knew all that stuff about him. Luke Maguire is nothing more than a fellow student who you happen to be working on an english assignment with. You can do this.'
Jess lay on her bed for a moment taking calming breaths. And then she heard it. The sound she'd been dreading. The doorbell.
000
This was it. Luke couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so nervous. He actually had butterflys. He hadn't had butterflys at the thought of seeing a girl since... since a long time ago. There was only one girl who could ever make him feel this way. He stood on Jess's porch, tugging at his shirt and running a hand over his hair.
He knew Jess wouldn't really notice if his clothes were creased, or if his hair was a little messy. She only had eyes for Caleb, but still... He wanted to look his best. Luke heard the sound of soft footsteps padding down the stairs. A second later a shadowy figure appeared in silohette against the glass on the door.
It opened with a click to reveal Jess standing in the doorway, a pleasant smile on her face. Luke knew it was fake, but after over three hundred years of living without any of her smiles at all he'd take what he could get and be glad of it.
'Hey Luke,' Jess said politely. 'Come in.' She stepped aside and gestured for him to enter.
'Nice house,' he noted as he gazed around the entrance hallway.
'Thanks,' Jess replied. 'Can I take your coat?' Luke nodded and began to shrug his coat off.
Jess took it and Luke watched her as she hung it up on a coat stand by the door. She really is beautiful, he thought to himself. Even with the tension she was fighting so hard to cover up clouding her face, she still looked like an angel to him. The way her hair fell around her in a mild disarray of copper waves, the way her dreamy blue eyes seemed to speak a language all of their own, the delicate curve of her cheek.
It was all so familiar, triggering a million memories made long ago. No one else had ever compared, not in all those years. Luke moved his attention to a painting on the wall before Jess turned back to him. The last thing he wanted to do was make her more uncomfortable than she already was, and gazing at her like a love sick puppy was not going to help matters.
'So, can I get you anything before we start?' Jess asked. 'A drink maybe?'
'Nah,' Luke replied. 'I'm fine. Thanks anyway.' She led him through to the dining room and motioned towards the chairs.
'Take a seat.' Seconds stretched into minutes as they sat opposite one another, neither of them said a word. Jess was routing around in her book bag, pulling out sheets of paper, text books and pens. Luke couldn't think of a way to break the ice. Should he just stick to the matter at hand and only talk about the assignment? He didn't really want to do that, he wanted to get to know Jess, but it was more than a little obvious that she did not want to get to know him. Was it really just because he was a vampire, he wondered. Was she really that prejudiced? He didn't think so.
A direct approach is what's needed here, he decidedSo she was a witch and he was a vampire - they were different - but there was something they had in common. 'So the Night World people around here,' he began. 'They don't seem that friendly, I mean they don't really stick together.'
Jess looked up from the pile of papers she was leafing through. 'You've been here a couple of weeks and already you think you've got us all worked out?'
'I was just making an observation,' he replied. 'I mean, that's just the way things seem to me.' Jess took the top off a highlighter and began marking out passages on the page of notes in front of her.
'The vampires,' she said without looking at him, 'Keep themselves to themselves. But the witches, well we're a lot closer. So are the shapeshifters.'
'But none of you mix with each other?' Luke asked.
'There's no need to,' Jess replied. 'It's not like we have anything in common.'
'How do you know if you don't even try to get to know each other?' Luke noticed a cloud of irritation roll over Jess's face, her shoulders stiffening.
This wasn't what he'd wanted, he hadn't intended to turn this into an arguement, but there was something about Jess that made him think the only thing they would ever do was argue. A few moments passed and Luke realised she wasn't going to answer his last question. Time to try a different tactic. 'How's your arm?' he asked.
'It's healing,' she replied. 'I went to see my aunt and she mixed me a balm that would speed things along.' She shoved a piece of paper in his direction. 'Here, these are the points you need to cover in your part of the essay. Can you handle them?'
Luke looked down at the paper and skimmed through the words. 'Sure, no problem.'
'You must have learnt a lot during your lifetime,' Jess said, still not looking at him.
'Not really,' he replied.
'Not really?' she repeated. This time she did look at him, one eyebrow arched questioningly. 'You're the oldest vampire I've ever met by a mile, and you're saying in all those years you haven't learnt anything?'
'I didn't say I hadn't learnt anything,' he replied. 'It's just that what I have learnt doesn't really amount to much.'
'So what have you being doing all this time?' Jess asked.
'You mean you're interested?'
'I'm curious. I mean you're old. Like really, really old. And here you are working on a high school essay with a seventeen year old girl. Shouldn't a vampire your age be...wealthy? Powerful?'
'I'm not interested in that stuff,' he replied honestly. 'With the very rare exception most wealthy, powerful vampires are corrupt.'
Jess made a sound of derision. 'All vampires are corrupt, Luke. Regardless of how much money or power they have.'
'That's not true,' Luke said shaking his head seriously.
'Well I think it is,' Jess replied.
'Well you don't know what your talking about!' Luke snapped. He hadn't meant to speak so harshly but he couldn't help but feel the things she were saying were a direct attack on him. And that hurt. Jess reached for a book and began reading. Luke could tell that she was trying to hide the fact that his little outburst had shocked her.
'What?' he said. 'You didn't expect me to defend my kind?' he asked her.
Jess shrugged her shoulders, eyes fixed on the book infront of her. 'All the vampires I've ever met are selfish and ruthless, they're willing to do whatever it takes to get what they want. They don't even give a second thought to the consequences. They just don't care.'
'And so you automatically assume that I'm the same?' Luke asked looking at her intently. Was he fighting a losing battle here? It seemed that way. Jess had some deeply entrenched views when it came to vampires. Did he expect to just wander into her life and for all those conceptions to dissolve?
Jess closed the book and looked at him. 'I'm sorry if I've offended you,' she began. 'But what reason have I got to think you're any different?'
Luke smiled sadly. 'None I guess,' he replied. 'But you don't even know me. And you're not willing to give me a chance. Seems to me the only reason for that is because I'm a vampire.' He shrugged before adding. 'I thought better of you.'
Jess's jaw dropped open and a disbelieving laugh bubbled out of her mouth. 'What! You thought better of me! You may be hundreds of years older than I am Luke but that doesn't give you the right to patronise me!'
Luke raised his hands up defensively. 'You hate vampires, I get it. Maybe I shouldn't take it so personally.'
'Well maybe you should!' Jess said jumping to her feet. 'Maybe I don't need to get to know you! Maybe I've already got you figured out!'
'Perhaps that true,' he said calmly relaxing back in his seat. 'After all, you did know all that stuff about me, about how I became a vampire.' He waited for her reaction. If there was ever going to be a time to find out if she did remember him, then maybe this was the best one he was going to get. Apprehension swept across her face as she looked down at him, searching for a reply.
'I'm a witch, Luke,' she said finally. 'I have certain powers. I can sense things.'
'That's one explanation I guess,' he said quietly, shifting his gaze from her to the carpet.
'And I suppose you have another one?' her reply was quick and angry. He looked back up at her and knew that she'd instantly regretted saying it.
'Haven't you?' he asked earnestly. Jess looked very uncomfortable, her eyes were teary and her lower lip trembled. In that moment Luke realized, without a doubt, that she knew. She remembered. The silence stretched for what seemed like an eternity. Finally Jess found her voice.
'Why did you come here Luke?' she asked in a whisper.
'Well I didn't come for a fight,' he said shaking his head and getting to his feet. "I came to work on this stupid essay but seeing as you can't stand being in the same room as me I guess I should go.'
He began to walk to the door when Jess's voice stopped him. 'That's not what I meant,' she said. 'Why did you come to this town?'
Luke turned to look back at her. They both knew what was going on but neither of them would say it.
'Truthfully? I don't know. But I've been around long enough to know that everything happens for a reason.' Tears began to slide down Jess' s face and Luke had to fight back the urge to go and comfort her. Somehow he didn't think she'd appreciate it.
'I'm sorry we can't be friends,' Jess said quietly.
'It's not just the fact that I'm a vampire is it?' They stood on opposite sides of the room staring at one another sadly.
Jess shook her head. 'No. No, it's not. I just... I'm... This is too weird.' It sounded as though she'd said the last four words to herself, but Luke didn't have to ask what she was talking about.
'I didn't mean to make things difficult for you,' Luke told her. 'I wasn't expecting this either.' He watched her as she bowed her head and stared at the floor, desperately hoping she would say something to reassure him. It became clear to him that she wasn't going to. 'We can do our separate parts of the essay on our own,' he said finally. Jess nodded.
'I guess I'll see you at school.' Without another word he turned and walked out of the room.
A few seconds later Jess heard the front door open and close quietly. He was finally gone. Her tears flowed uncontrollably. Wasn't that what she'd wanted? For him to leave? Well, now he had. So why did she want him to come back?
