Disclaimer: All of the original and familiar characters are property of Meg Cabot and her series The Mediator, but the plot and new faces are property of me.

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Chapter 14

On the ride home, I call up CeeCee.

"CeeCee!" I yell when she finally answers.

"Suze!" She replies with sarcasm in her voice.

"Hey, I was wondering, oh queen of Google, if you would be so kind to look up something for me."

"I will if you promise not to call me the queen of Google again," CeeCee says and I can hear her smiling into the phone.

"Deal. Okay, I need you to find any swords or daggers in Christian history."

"Sure, no problem…I'll print out some stuff and then bring it to the Coffee Clutch when we get together tonight. What did we say, eight-ish?"

"Yeah, I'll be there! Thanks a million, CeeCee." We hang up and I drive right to my house, and make sure that Jesse isn't there before I pull up into the driveway. When the car is safely back in the garage, I bound upstairs to enroll the help of Doc.

I find him in his room, but I knock first before entering.

"Come on in," he says. I open the door to find his eyes gazing at me just over a big book on J. Edger Hoover. I try not to grimace. "Hey Suze."

"Hey David!" I say while sitting down on his desk chair. "Hey, I was wondering if you knew anything about magical or spiritual weapons."

"Like what?" He asks while putting his finger in his book to mark his page.

"Well, like a religious dagger, that sends people to hell when they are cut with it. But the catch is only certain kind of people can see it."

"You mean your kind of people?"

"Yes," I say.

"Well I don't know of anything offhand, but I can look some stuff up for you in the ancient texts department of the downtown library if you want."

"Sure that would be great! Do you want to go now?" I ask getting up and heading for the door.

"Actually, Suze, in about thirty minutes, I'm going to a movie with a friend."

"A friend?" I ask astonished.

"Well, a friend that is a girl," David says a blush cross his face.

"And do you like this girl?"

"Yes," he says quietly.

"Does she like you?"

"As a friend at the most," David says disappointment filling his tone.

"Well, the way I see it is that she is already out with you, so you don't have to worry about if she likes you or not, because she didn't have to go to the movies with you."

David smiles at that and thanks me. Before I leave he assures me that he'll get Andy to drop him off at the library after the movie. I thank him and then leave and go to my room for some peace and quiet.

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After lying down on my bed for only a moment, the phone rings, I decided to pick it up.

"Hello?" I ask while looking down at my toenails, which I decided need a little color.

"Suze!" It's CeeCee. "You have to come over, right now, I have found something that'll interest you. You could bring over Jesse too, if you want."

"Nah, I'll be over in a few. Thanks! Bye!"

"Bye," CeeCee Says and then hangs up. I am out of my room before I can even looking the mirror. I run down to the kitchen to tell Andy where I'm going.

"I'm going over to CeeCee's," I say while poking my head into the kitchen. A wonderful smell hits my nose, and my stomach reminds me that I haven't had anything to eat today.

"Are you sure you don't want something to eat first? Knowing you, Suze, your day has been so busy that you haven't even given any thought to food."

I stare at Andy wondering how the hell he knew. "Well, if you can give me something to go it would be greatly appreciated," I say while stepping into the kitchen and sitting on the stool while I watch Andy whip around the kitchen at lightning speed.

"So, what did Jesse want?" Andy asks.

"We had a fight and he just wanted to reconcile."

"From what he told me, you didn't let him…" Andy looks over his shoulder at me and I shiver at the thought of this morning and last night.

"Well, I don't know, I guess I haven't been able to forgive him in my heart yet."

"Do you think you can forgive him, Suze?" Andy asks while re-heating some soup for me.

"I don't know," I say quietly while biting my lip and clutching my hands.

"Well, for what it's worth, when I talked to him this morning over breakfast, he hardly ate anything and he looked really—broken. Suze, Jesse is the type of man who loves hard and not often. You need to be able to love him back, because he has taken a chance with you, and I think you need to let him love you." Andy sets the bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup in front of me on the bar and I whiff the smell, but I find myself not hungry anymore.

"I'm sorry, Andy…I have to go." I get up quickly and am out of the kitchen before you can wink an eye. I am breathing heavily when I get into the car. I am starting up the engine when Dopey comes out and yells at me.

"I need the car!" He yelled to me while I was pulling out of the garage.

I stop the car and sigh. "Well, I'm already in it, Brad…so, I can drop you off somewhere, but I'm keeping the car."

He huffed then jumped in and huffed again.

"So where are you off too?"

"None of your business." Brad said stubbornly.

"Well, then how do you suppose I drive you there, silly?" I ask in a mocking tone.

Brad huffed again and then reluctantly told me the arcade. I just smiled and nodded while I backed up the driveway. Brad could be so childish sometimes…but he was good for one thing, taking my mind off of other things that were making me ache all over.