Chapter Thirteen
I know I saw the rest of the Sons' mouths hanging open when Reid and I walked into school hand in hand on Monday morning. I wasn't surprised, because as far as they knew, Reid and I were still mortal enemies. Or immortal or immortal-ish. Whatever we were. I think Caleb may have been the most shocked, though. Pogue seemed almost a little disappointed, but he would never admit that and I would never point that out to Reid.
My first two AP classes went by rather slowly, as usual, but I was glad. I wasn't ready for lunch, or, well, I wasn't really ready to face the game of 20 questions I knew I was about to play. I walked into the cafeteria and quickly got my food. Then was the dilemma of where to sit. Luckily the rest of my group wasn't in there, so I didn't have to decide whether or not to sit with them. I sat at an empty table near the back of the cafeteria and pulled out a book. I jumped at the sound of lunch trays clattering down on both sides of me. I looked to my left to see a smiling Sarah and Reid was on my right. I gave him a confused look and nodded my head towards Sarah. He leaned in to kiss my cheek and whispered "later" in my ear. We were quickly joined by Caleb, Pogue and Ashley, and Tyler.
"So," Tyler was the first to begin the game, "What's the deal with you and Reid?" I shrugged.
"There's not really a deal. We're just not going to label it this time." I looked at Reid and he nodded, signaling that he agreed.
"But I'm going with her to see her mom in Virginia over Winter Break." A collective gasp was heard around the table. Reid and I exchanged glances and laughed.
"You two are going to kill each other," Pogue said.
"Probably," I replied. The subject was soon dropped as everything went back to normal. Or as normal as it ever was with all of us. Lunch ended too soon, but the smile didn't drop from my face as Pogue walked me to our Spanish III class.
"Karli, what really happened with you and Reid?" he asked on the way there. I blew out a breath and raised my eyebrows.
"I went to Emmett Bridge really late Saturday night and he showed up there."
"Continue."
"We just, you know, talked it out. Then I was shivering and starving so we went back to his house and he fed me."
"Warm you up, too?" That was a total innuendo.
"No, Pogue. He was really cool and non-touchy feely. If anything, I was more aggressive than he was."
"I just don't understand how you can just forgive him for everything he's put you through, Karli."
"He apologized to me." Pogue stopped walking and his eyes got wide.
"He what?" I laughed at his reaction and grabbed his arm to keep him walking by my side.
"He apologized. He said he was sorry and that he shouldn't have done that to me whether we were dating or not because friends didn't do that to friends."
"Well, I'll be damned."
"We are. We're witches, remember?" We both let out a loud laugh and walked into the classroom. The class went quickly, and before I knew it, I was sandwiched between Reid and Caleb in our Pre-Cal class. Reid kept trying to hold my hand, but I kept putting my hand on his thigh. He'd grab my hand and put it on the tabletop, his on top of it. He'd smirk at me and I'd just smile back.
He told me the reason that Sarah was all of a sudden cool with me was because of Caleb. Instead of checking on me at the Colony House, he'd taken her home and had explained his side of the story. Reid said that Caleb had told her that he loved me like he loved the others, and when he saw me again after so long he questioned how deep those feelings really were. He thought he was over me until Reid's little announcement, but in the end, Sarah beat me out. Reid told me that Caleb had told Sarah that he really did love her and wanted to be with her, but he still wanted to be friends with me. I also found out that Caleb had told Sarah that they'd be over if she ever made him chose me or her. And strangely enough, I was okay with all of it.
: x : x : x :
The Friday before Winter Break, Reid skipped his last class of the day so that we could go to the downtown pet store. I was nervous about the next week, and I was glad to have a task to concentrate on to get my mind off of things. Well, let me clarify that. It wasn't that I was nervous about spending the week with Reid, or even that I was spending the week with my mother. It was a mixture of the two, and once we got down there, I was stuck between them for a whole week. I was terrified.
"You okay?" I jumped at the sound of Reid's voice.
"Yeah," I managed to squeak out.
"Really, because you don't sound it. Or look it, are you sure you're alright?" Oh, what the hell.
"I'm nervous." He gave a small laugh.
"It's just a dog, Karli, they're more scared of you than you are of them. Unless it's a big dog like--"
"No, Reid, I mean, about next week."
"Oh. And, um, what exactly are you nervous about?" He was choosing his words carefully; something I never thought I'd see from Reid.
"Everything. Are we sure that this is a good idea?"
"Karlissa, if you've changed your mind about me going, that's totally fine. I mean, I'd rather be with you than without you, but if you're uncomfortable--"
"Oh, no, it's not that I don't want you to go. I'm just nervous about it."
"Well," he began, pulling into a parking place and cutting the engine, "I promise to be on my best behavior, and if you decide you want to leave at anytime, we'll leave. I'm on your side in all of this, Karli. I think you keep forgetting that." I nodded. I did kind of keep forgetting that. I was worried that we were going to get down there and Reid was going to see the condition my mother was in and blame it all on me. I decided to tell him that. "Babe, listen. I understand what you did and why you did it. I haven't judged you because of it, either. I'm not going to. But, if anything, I think you did the right thing. It wasn't going to benefit either of you for you to stay down there and end up resenting her."
"Who the hell are you, and what have you done with Reid Garwin?" His laughter filled the tiny space of the truck.
"Get out of the car." I did as he'd said and he met me at the front of the truck, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the front door of the pet store. We walked in there and I was immediately in heaven. I was a complete animal lover, and had always wanted a dog but had never had one.
"Aw, Reid, look at this one." I held up a solid white Chihuahua and watched him grimace.
"Yeah, it's great." I gave him a look before breaking out into a smile. I put the puppy down and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him. He pulled me closer by the waist and just looked in my eyes after we'd ended the kiss. "What about a Cocker Spaniel?"
"Like Lady from Lady and the Tramp?"
"Yeah."
"God, that cartoon dog was gorgeous. And so elegant and classy."
"You should see them in real life," a strange voice said. I turned around to be greeted by a large man with some serious muttonchops. "If you'll follow me, I'd love to show you my pride and joy." He lead us to a huge low-table type thing that had glass sides all around. Inside those glass walls were the most adorable puppies I'd ever seen ever.
"How precious!" I squealed, allowing my inner girl out.
"Why are they your pride and joy?" Reid asked, looking up at Muttonchops. Ole' Muttons smiled and clapped Reid on the shoulder.
"Most of the dogs in here I buy from other breeders, but not these babies. Nope, these are the products of yours truly." Products. Creepy.
"May I?" I asked, my arms halfway in the box.
"Oh, of course, please do." I looked around before deciding to pick up the solid light brown one that was in the middle of the group. She really did look like Lady, and that only made me confident that she was the one. She was warm between my breasts as I balanced her against my chest, securing her there with my hand.
"Hello, beautiful," I said to her, smiling as her little jaw spread with a yawn. "Reid, this is the one for my mom. Even my her coldhearted-ness cannot resist this adorable little thing." Reid laughed and Muttonchops raised an eyebrow. I stayed silent.
"I think that while we're here we should get me a Great Dane." I threw him a look and Muttons laughed.
"Strong dog, a great dog of choice." He turned to me. "What about you, little lady? What would yours be?" I smiled and lowered my eyes.
"An all-white Siberian Husky. They are the embodiment of beauty. I've always wanted one, but my mom never really let me have a pet as a child."
"That's a shame because they are animals are amazing creatures. They can teach a child a lot about loving and nurturing." I was a little shocked to hear such intelligence coming from Muttons. "If you would join me at the front, I'd be glad to ring you up." With a wink at me, he turned on his heel and trotted to the front of the store.
"I like him," I muttered, and Reid nodded and threw an arm around my shoulders.