Chapter 9 - Part 1

It was yet another boring day at Clarence's but I was trying to stay busy instead of just being in a constant drunken stupor. However, limiting my consumption of alcohol had me in an unsurprisingly bad mood.

I still couldn't fully wrap my head around Jill not only having access to my thoughts and feelings, but also to my physical health. It seemed that if something could affect me in any way, it had the potential to affect her too. Which really put a damper on the majority of my coping mechanisms.

I tried to shake my head of all the over-thinking and re-arranged the balls on the pool table for yet another solitary round.

I wasn't trying to be ungrateful; I had the ability to bring someone back to life. Saving Jill was worth all of it and I would do it again if I had to.

I heard the front door open and assumed it was Lee, so I was very surprised to see Sydney walk into the room a few minutes later as I was lining up for a shot.

"Oh. It's you." I said, my bad mood painfully obvious.

She seemed to perk up at the challenge in my voice.

Interesting. But not interesting enough to take my attention away from the pool table.

That, and I knew she was definitely not here for a social visit. Especially not by herself.

Actually, I realized that she seemed more relaxed and composed than a typical alchemist would be in a room alone with a vampire.

"You were expecting someone else?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. I hid my smile and feigned focus on the game at hand.

She made a big show of looking around the room. "Am I interrupting your social calendar? I don't want to keep you from the mob of fans beating down your door."

Sarcasm I can do.

"Hey, a guy can hope. I mean, it's not impossible that a car full of scantily clad sorority girls might break down outside and need my help." I answered as I moved around the pool table to line up for another shot.

I could've sworn I saw a smirk on her face before she responded.

"That's true. Maybe I can put a sign out front that says, 'ATTENTION ALL GIRLS: FREE HELP HERE.'"

That got my attention.

I stood and faced her before responding. It was hard not to smile, and I realized that it was because I actually enjoyed going toe to toe with Sydney. It was an unexpected challenge.

What was expected was the fact that she kept a good mask to hide her emotions; so I tried to take a quick look at her aura. All I saw was the bright, unsurprising yellow that intellectuals share. Her aura was brighter than I expected, though.

"'ATTENTION ALL HOT GIRLS.'" It was an important correction for me to make.

She almost rolled her eyes but instead her lips tilted upward at the corners ever so slightly.

"Right. That's an important distinction."

As I faced her I noticed that this time, she decided to change out of her school uniform before her visit.

I had given her grief about it the last time she was here.

Speaking of her outfit, I don't think I had ever seen her in jeans before. Especially not in ones that were that fitted. Or in a top that came so surprisingly close to showing off some cleavage.

Jesus, I need to get back out into the world!

I couldn't help what came out of my mouth next. Not that I really wanted to censor myself.

"Speaking of hot," I said as I pointed at her with the pool stick. "I like that uniform."

I was just being honest.

She finally cracked and rolled her eyes. I realized that going back and forth with Sydney had actually helped my bad mood.

See? All I need is some interpersonal interactions in my everyday life!

She quickly got back to being all business.

"Are you the only one here?" She asked, quickly glancing at the pool table behind me where it was obvious I had been playing by myself.

I tried not to focus on what that must've looked like to her. Pathetic? Sad?

"Nah. Clarence is around doing… I don't know. Old man stuff. And I think Lee's fixing that lock before he heads to L.A."

Mentioning Lee reminded me of seeing him trying to fix the lock with his bare hands yesterday. I was still laughing about it when I went to bed last night.

"It's kind of funny. He seems upset that he needs to use tools. He keeps thinking the strength of his own hands should be more than enough."

I'm not sure what kind of reaction I had been expecting from Sydney. I was frankly just enjoying being able to speak to someone else.

What I definitely did not expect was for Sydney to give me a genuine smile. She looked like she was enjoying indulging me with this conversation. I was taken aback and momentarily distracted.

"I don't suppose you offered to help?" She asked me; her yellow aura shining around her.

I responded after a pause that I hope she didn't notice, while I walked back around the pool table to line up another shot. I wanted a distraction. "Sage, these hands don't do manual labor."

After I sank yet another ball, I looked back up and noticed her still watching me with that damn smile.

I surprised both of us by asking, "You want to play?"

She looked taken aback, which I assumed came from her having never played pool before. Especially not with a vampire.

"What? With you?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes. "No, with Clarence." I said, deadpan.

She looked stunned and confused to have been asked to play with Clarence.

Come on, Sage! I thought you could keep up with my banter.

I sighed. "Yes, of course with me."

"No." She answered immediately. "I need to talk to you about Jill."

Jill. Of course.

I made sure to almost eliminate my daily drinking, I tried to keep myself occupied so that I wouldn't really think of Rose, I tried to stay well-fed, and refrained from going to bed too late.

What else do I need to do? Immediately, I felt bad for my bitter thoughts.

In case you can hear me: Sorry, Jailbait. I'm just tired, frustrated and too sober for my liking.

I took a quiet steadying breath before responding, but I couldn't manage to keep some of the bitterness out of my voice.

I continued my game as I responded. "She wasn't sick today."

I could hear the frown in Sydney's voice. "No. Well not in the same way. She got sick out in the sun during PE. I'm going to see Keith after this to see if we can get a medical excuse."

Even the mention of Keith's name threatened to bring my bad mood back. I looked up briefly and noticed Sydney's frown. She seemed lost in thought for a second before she continued. I immediately focused back on my game.

"But that's not why I'm here. There's a guy who likes Jill - a human guy."

Not surprising, Jill's a sweet girl. "Have Castile rough him up." I'm sure Eddie would actually even enjoy doing it.

She leaned against the wall and sighed.

Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen her this relaxed. And, has her aura always been this bright?

She watched carefully for my reaction. "That's the thing. I asked him to. Well, not rough him up, exactly. It's Eddie's roommate. I asked Eddie to tell him to back off and make up some reason for staying away from Jil - like that she's too young."

I was half paying attention to my game because I could see Sydney's aura darkening as she spoke. She was really uncomfortable with the idea of Jill and a human dating, which was the most alchemist reaction I'd seen from her since she got here.

"You understand why it's important, right? No Moroi and human dating?" There was a plea in her voice. She wanted all of us to be on the same page.

But we are not. I don't think Jill should give that human boy the time of day, but mostly for her protection.

I'm not sure why, but I wanted her to remain in comfortable ignorance regarding our real stance: that Moroi and human dating is frowned upon but not forbidden. After all, dhampirs came from somewhere.

Fearing that she may be able to sense my real thoughts, I kept my attention on the pool table as I responded in the most casual voice I could muster. "Yup. I'm with you there, Sage."

I had meant to try to come up with a better nickname for her but 'Sage' had quickly grown on me.

"But I still don't see the problem." I finished, giving her a quick glance before my next shot.

She seemed a bit relieved at my response. "Eddie won't do it. He says he doesn't think Jill should be denied the chance to date and go to dances. That it's okay if she and Micah hang out, so long as it doesn't get serious."

I was too surprised by Eddie's stance to hide my emotions. I no longer cared about pretending to be aloof, and stood up straight to look at her. "That is weird. I mean, I get the logic, and there's something to it. She shouldn't be forced into isolation while she's here. I'm just surprised Castile came up with it."

Then again, I shouldn't have been too surprised because Eddie seems like he would do anything for Jill. And not just because he's her guardian.

"Yeah, but that's a hard concept to live by. Where do you draw the 'casual' line? Honestly, I get this feeling Eddie just didn't want to confront Micah - the roommate. Which is crazy, because Eddie doesn't seem like the type to be afraid of anything. What is there about Micah that would make Eddie so uneasy?"

It was the most I had heard her speak at one time, and I could tell she was genuinely curious about Eddie's behavior. To be fair, I was too.

"Is Micah some big, hulking guy?"

"No. He's built, I guess. Good at sports. Really friendly and easygoing - not the type you'd have to be afraid would turn on you if you warned him away from your sister."

Family drama was definitely not something I had signed for. Sounded like this Micah guy was a non-threat.

"Then you can talk to him. Or just talk to Jailbait and explain things to her." I said as I knocked the last ball in.

I finished my game and solved a family issue all at the same time. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself for that.

Sydney seemed relieved. "That was my plan. I just wanted to make sure you'd back me. Jill listens to you, and I thought it'd be easier if she knew you agreed with me. Not that I even know how she feels. For all I know, this is all overkill."

It dawned on me that Jill might have been privy to this entire conversation.

"Can't hurt to be too careful with her." I told Sydney, hoping it would appease her. "And I'll let her know how I feel about it."

We're still not sure when she gets pulled into my head, but if she hadn't already heard this entire conversation then I'd make sure to bring it up next time I saw her. Her safety came before her desire to date or go to dances.

Satisfied, I turned to see Sydney seemingly still lost in her thoughts.

I knew just the thing to get her out of her own head.

"Now will you play a round with me?"

She was starting to turn me down again when Lee walked in. I resented his presence for a few seconds because I was pretty sure that I could have convinced Sydney to play with me, which would have been a one-in-a-lifetime experience.