I was praying that the anguish for Dorothy's bland food had sufficiently been communicated through the bond. I was desperate for a better dinner tonight. Literally anything would be better than what I had been subjected to lately.

Just in case though, I also sent Jill a few texts hinting at it throughout the day. Sydney typically took care of the food on Jill's feeding day but I didn't really want to bother her directly. Besides, I don't tend to communicate with her outside of when she's here for the feedings. She probably wouldn't want someone like me texting her.

I could smell the pizza as soon as they opened the door.

YES!

When Eddie entered the room with a few boxes in his hands, I jumped up from the couch to meet him halfway.

This is the best day I've had in Palm Springs to date.

"Jailbait, you're a saint. A goddess, even." I told her as I grabbed a box. I didn't even care what toppings it had.

Hopefully not pineapple, though.

"Hey," Sydney responded. "I'm the one who paid for them."

I tried not to laugh. There was just something funny to me about Sydney wanting credit for making me- a vampire- ecstatic about dinner.

I looked at her and gave her a nod. "You're okay too, Sage."

There it is. She almost rolled her eyes at me.

She seemed to do that a lot… and I kind of looked forward to it. It was fun trying to anticipate what I could do next to get her to react like that. It made the purple streak in her aura shine just a little bit brighter every time she did it.

Clarence and Lee joined, and I was keeping my eyes on Lee sitting next to Jill when I looked over at Sydney and saw her eyes widen. She was looking at the latest arrival to this little pizza party and everyone's least favorite alchemist: Keith.

God, just looking at the way he styled his hair you could tell he was bad news. Well, bad news for an alchemist which is still not too bad compared to what others can get into.

"What are you doing here?" Sydney asked him. Her aura dimmed, her posture changed, there was strain in her voice. She had seemed so much more relaxed just a few seconds ago.

Although Keith probably had this effect on everyone he encountered, it bothered me that this was Sydney's reaction to him. Maybe there was some unspoken history there, too. She always seemed tense around him.

Keith winked at her as he responded. He was acting pleasant and even friendly towards everyone. A complete contrast to the last time I heard him speak. He was talking down to Sydney and being an ass. I wondered what game he was playing.

Eddie came to sit next to me.

"You need to stop bugging Jill so much with texts about stupid things."

"My texts are never stupid." I feigned offense.

"I'm serious. You're distracting her and worrying her, when she already had plenty to worry about at school."

Keith had sat near Sydney and I wondered how he was acting when he thought no one could hear.

"What do you mean? Is everything okay? Is she still taking that PE class in the sun?"

Keith seemed to still be pretending to be your friendly neighborhood alchemist. I wondered if he could tell how uncomfortable he was making Sydney. Or if he even cared. Hell, maybe he enjoyed it.

Eddie's mood darkened. "Yes. Sydney's working on it, though. But Jill really shouldn't need to be worried about things like what you are having for dinner. It's already bad enough that she's stuck with having to feel it through the bond at random times during the day."

"Which you know I can't help." I sighed. "We're trying to figure out how to block each other. No luck yet."

Sydney finally glanced my way and I gave her a questioning look. Hopefully conveying that I meant to ask 'what the hell is Keith up to?' since she knows I witnessed his outburst yesterday.

She shrugged in response. She's just as lost as I am.

I glanced at Keith again.

Well, two can play at that game.