The beginning of the school year always sucks. I've tried to convince Matthew that it would be beneficial for me to just stop going and go to college now or get a job, something that would get me out of this mundane day to day crap that high school brings. Human teenagers are really annoying. They are overly worried about what other people are doing and what people think about them. It's really annoying considering I can care less what people think about me and what they are doing.

Dee is a nervous mess trying to get ready to go back. She's always been so desperate to have friends beyond the Thompsons, I guess that's why she took to Katy so quickly. Katy really isn't like any other human that I've met. She doesn't care about what other people think about her. She seems to be comfortable with who she is and what she is doing, and she's kind, even to someone like me.

A few days before school was set to start Dee was fluttering through the house trying to get herself together. She and Katy are going shopping for school supplies, which annoys the hell out of me. Since the Arum attack, Katy has a stronger trace than she did after I scared the bear. So now not only do I have to take care of Dee, I have to play babysitter for the human.

"Daemon, we will be fine. Its daylight and you said you got rid of the Arum, so there's nothing to worry about," Dee complains. "Besides I can take care of myself."

"Dee, you've never had to defend yourself before."

She scowls, "You are not coming with us. We will be fine. I have my obsidian, we'll be fine."

"All right. But if there are any problems or if you see anyone that looks suspicious you call me immediately."

"Fine." She tries to sound annoyed, but she smiles warmly at me and hugs me tight. "I'll see you later. I'll tell Katy you say hi."

"That is unnecessary," I growl.

"Trust me, it's not." She smiles and dances out of the room toward the door. "I'll buy you a new notebook, not that you'll use it."

I scowl as she slams the door behind her and I watch as she dashes across the driveway toward where Katy is standing and waiting by Dee's car. Katy immediately smiles brightly at Dee as she approaches, they stand and talk for a moment. Katy looks over toward the house and scowls a bit before they climb into the car and pull down the driveway.

I heave a deep breath because every instinct in me tells me I shouldn't have let them go alone. Instead of dwelling on what could happen, I decide it would be best to try to sit and relax.

About thirty minutes later, my phone rings.

"Daemon, do you want to meet me at Smoke Hole?" Ash asks. "It's been so long since we hung out together."

"Ash, I saw you a few days ago. I thought you were going to the colony for a while."

"I decided I didn't want to go. I hate going there and dealing with their superior attitudes. Besides I thought you'd miss me too much."

"Ash, we aren't together. There's no reason that I would miss you and there's no reason for us to constantly hang out."

"Daemon, there's no reason to be so growly with me. It's not a date, you can invite Dee too."

"Dee's out with the neighbor."

"What?! Are you serious? Daemon, Adam says she's glowing like a freaking Christmas tree. Why is Dee still hanging around that girl? I thought you had this under control," Ash shrieks in my ear.

"It is none of your business, and it is under control. Now do you want to go get food or not?" I ask. "Otherwise I'm going back to watching the History channel and learning about ghosts of the past."

"Yeah, I'll meet you there," she huffs.

I know that there is going to be problems with Ash, she has little tolerance for humans and after what happened with Bethany and Dawson, she wants nothing to do with them. She and her brothers wanted to blame Bethany for hanging around Dawson, they didn't see that it was Dawson pursuing Bethany, not the other way around. Of course now they blame Katy for not leaving Dee alone, as did I. Why she can't just take a hint and go away, I don't know. Then again, if I would have left her alone she wouldn't have gotten the original trace and therefore wouldn't have been attacked by the Arum. So is that her fault or mine. I'm beginning to understand Dawson's attraction to Bethany and understand why he would have done something to heal her if she were injured.

I drive to Smoke Hole and immediately see Dee's car in the parking lot, that means she and Katy have stopped here to eat. That also means that Ash will be face to face with Katy, which could be very dangerous. Instead of waiting outside for Ash, I go inside to find my sister and Katy finishing up their food. Dee has a virtual buffet in front of her, while Katy has only one plate.

Dee looks up at me and I see her mutter a word to Katy. Suddenly Katy turns around and we lock eyes for just a moment. She's beautiful and I'm nothing but a dick toward her, but that's just how I have to be even though everything in me is drawn to her.

I walk over to their table and attempt to put on my normal cocky swagger that seems to irritate and thrill Katy at the same time.

"Hello, sis."

Dee looks up at me and smiles while Katy just sinks down into the booth, seemingly trying to blend in with the fabric of the cushions. Her brown hair shining at the crown of her head. But then I see her slink lower and try to subtly slide her bandaged arm below the table.

"Hey there," Dee says smiling. "What are you doing here today?"

Trying to hide the annoyance of Katy's wariness and Dee's probing question, I smile. "I'm hungry. This is where people come to eat, isn't it." I watch Katy trying to burrow into the back of the booth. Where's the girl that challenged me when I pissed her off. Or the girl that swore that no matter what I did, she was going to be Dee's friend. I hate that I've quenched her fire and caused her to turn into herself instead of holding her head high. I hate knowing that it's my fault that this spitfire is behaving so cautiously around me. Trying to draw her into a conversation or fight or anything to get her to come out of herself again, I address her.

"That is, except you, who must come here to play with her food."

I watched her stiffen and put on a fake smile for me. But as soon as our eyes met once more, the smile was gone, replaced by desire, want, and something else that I wasn't sure that I wanted to acknowledge. That fire that I love, lit up after a moment.

"Yeah, see my mom normally takes me to Chuck E. Cheese's for dinner so I'm a little out of my element. Missing the all pen and all."

Dee snorts at Katy's smart ass comment, "Isn't she great?"

Maintaining my annoyed posture I scowl at Dee, even though I love that the fireball is still there and willing to challenge me. I look over at Dee and back at Katy. "Just lovely," I say as stiffly as I can while crossing my arms in a guarded posture. Addressing Katy once more, "How's your arm?"

She shouldn't be in a cast, I know I healed her arm, but I guess it's just a precaution on her mother's part.

Surprise at my question passed across her face. Then a look of annoyance and exhaustion replace the surprise. "It's better. It's okay. Thank you…" she says, but I cut her off. I don't want her to thank me. If it weren't for me in the first place that Arum would never have found her in the first place. It's my fault she was attacked, I should have been watching her better.

"Don't," I tell her, running my hand through my hair. My attempt to assuage my annoyance at myself comes off as callous. Attempting to keep things as light as I can I decide to comment on her other injuries. "Your face looks a lot better, by the way."

Unconsciously she raises her hand and touches her cheek. "Well… thank, I think." Instead of making her feel better, I've only succeed in annoying her more. Maybe it's for the best. She and Dee make eye contact and Dee smirks at a face that Katy makes at her.

"Are you going to join us? We were just about finished," Dee says smiling. I guess this is my cue to walk away now.

"No, thank you," I snort, not because of Dee or Katy but because I could just hear Ash's mouth now if I made her sit here with them. She'd be fine if it was just Dee, but she would do everything she could to chase Kat away. There's a part of me that just can't let that happen, even though I know it would be for the best.

"Well, that's too bad," Dee says with a smirk.

Suddenly an annoying voice sounds behind me. Sometimes I wish she would just get the hint and stop acting like we're together when we're in public. Why must she always act like we're the perfect couple or something?

"Daemon, you're here already!" Her voice full of cheer and excitement. Ash is always that actress. She has to put on a show for everyone. I personally am sick of playing the part of her boyfriend, I'm also sick of playing the part of the aloof, uncouth high school senior. That guy that makes the girls swoon and the guy's guy that makes the boys want to emulate. I especially don't want to pretend to be anything to Ash anymore.

Ash comes up to me and kisses my cheek and wraps her arm around mine, showing everyone looking that she thinks she owns me, controls me. Little does she know that will never happen again. I'm done playing her games, I'm just biding my time before I let her know that I have no intention on being her baby daddy. I'm going to college and getting the hell out of this place. The problem is, the girl sitting in front of me with my sister. Just her presence distracts me and makes me want to take notice of the world around me.

Glancing down at Dee and Katy, I notice Dee flinch at Ash's voice. Dee has never really liked being forced to be around Ash. She thinks Ash is too fake and pretends too much. We all have to pretend some, but not the way Ash does. My eyes then find Katy, and she looks totally uncomfortable. But there's something else there too, annoyance or maybe even jealousy. God I hope it's jealousy, not that I can do anything about it. I need to stick with my plan and keep my distance.

"Hey, Dee, how are you doing?"

Dee's shoulders squared and she tried to look impassive, but I could tell she was annoyed with Ash's presence.

"Great Ash, how have you been?"

"I've been really good." She nudged me with her shoulder like she was suggesting something. Little does she know that Dee knows that I don't want to be with her and she knows that I've been staying away and looking into colleges in Colorado. Katy's look of annoyance turned into something else, she almost looked ill.

"I thought you were leaving again?" Dee asked. She knew Ash was supposed to be at the colony, spending time there with the others. She tended to want to spend more time with the colony lately where Dee and I much prefer our privacy and being secluded from the others. It relieves us from having to pretend even more than we do with the humans.

Dee continued, "With your brothers and coming back when school starts?"

"Changed my mind," Ash looked at me and just about made me feel violated with just her look. I've only slept with her a few, and it will never happen again. She got way too possessive and much too clingy.

Dee scowled, looking at me, giving me an angered look. "Hmm, interesting." She shifted her eyes from me, then back to Ash. Then she turned her attention to Katy who was still looking a little sick and annoyed. "Oh, how rude of me. Ash, this is Katy. She's new to our exciting little town."

Katy gave a halfhearted smile. Not like the few genuine smiles that I've seen on her, which light up her face and make my heart do weird things in my chest. She lowered her eyes slightly after looking up at Ash, clearly uncomfortable with her presence.

Ash scowled at the introduction and released my arm, stepping back. "This is her?"

Katy looked to Dee and I growled deep in my throat just for Ash to ear. She looked up at me "I can't do this, Daemon. Maybe you guys can be okay with this, but I'm not. This is wrong."

I've explained that Dee pursued a friendship with Katy and although none of the others seemed thrilled with the situation, no one questioned my decision. They know better than to question my decisions once they are made, especially after everything with Dawson.

Sighing and placing enough annoyance in my voice for Ash to hear I say, "Ash…"

She frowned at me, "No."

"Ash, you don't even know her," Dee complained. "You're being ridiculous."

Everyone around us, Luxen and human, stopped dead and didn't speak. The silence enveloping us was uncomfortable and unnerving.

Surprisingly Katy's whole demeanor changed. Just like the day I confronted her when she and Dee were gardening, she scowled and showed her annoyance. She also showed that she wasn't going to just lie down and be treated like crap. I found her complete change to be quite sexy and completely intoxicating. I love that this girl won't back down.

"I'm sorry, but did I do something?" Katy asked.

Ash stared down at Katy and scowled. "Yeah, how about breathing, for starters?"

Shit, this is all my fault. She knows me and she knows that I'm infatuated with this human girl. She knows that this girl threatens everything Ash has always thought about what our futures would look like. Graduating high school, settling down and having kids. She thinks we are getting married right out of high school like so many of our kind. But little does she know that even if Katy wasn't here, I still wasn't going to give her what she wanted. Yeah, she's good for a good time now, but as a wife, forever? No way in hell am I dealing with that. She's more like family than anything. I just wish she could see that instead of waiting for something that will never happen.

Kat's face turns completely red and her eyes bore into Ash with a fire I've only seen when she confronts me. It's sexy and so alluring. "Excuse me?" Katy asks.

"You heard me," Ash snaps at her. And suddenly I realize that I need to stop this before Ash does something that she shouldn't do in public. I can feel the energy coming off of her in waves, making the hair on my arms stand. Ash turns toward me with a look of betrayal and fury in her eyes. "Is this why everything is going to shit in a handbasket? Why my brothers are running around the country…"

I glare at her and snatch her arm to stop her, "That's enough," I growl. I pull her toward me, "There's a McDonald's down the street. We'll get you a happy meal. Maybe that'll make you happier."

I start to pull Ash toward the door and can her Katy ask, "What's going to shit?"

Ash whips around before I can stop her and glares, "Everything is going to shit."

I sigh and try to steer Ask away again. "Well, this was fun." I give my sister a look that says we'll talk about this later and say, "I'll see you at home."

I drag Ash out of the restaurant and pull her toward my SUV. Damn, what the hell am I going to do about this shit?

"What the Hell Daemon?" she asks. "That's what you want? A human? That human?"

"Ash, she has nothing to do with what is happening with the Arum or why your brothers are out looking for more of them," I insist.

"You aren't answering my question Daemon. Is she want you want? Really? I'm prettier than her. I can give you a real life, a family. She can't give you any of that."

I scowl and glare at her. "Who says I want that. You assume, the elders assume that I will just marry you as soon as we graduate and pump out some kids. But what if that's not what I want?" I snap. "I'm sick of fitting into everyone's perfect little cookie cutter. I want my own fucking life. I want to make my own fucking decisions. And those decisions have nothing to do with you or any of the others. They also don't have anything to do with the human."

Tears streaming down Ash's face, she looks at me with sorrow. She's never really been told no before. Females in our community usually get what they want because the males outnumber them two to one. So for her to hear that her first choice in mate doesn't want her, it must horrify her.

"Fine Daemon, screw you. I don't need this shit. I'm going home." She gets out of my car and in a flash, she's gone.

I lean my head onto my steering wheel and close my eyes, trying to clear my thoughts and figure out what I need to do. I stay there for a long time, not sure what is happening and why people would think that it really has anything to do with Katy. Yeah, she has a trace on her from the attack, but the Luxen have to realize that I couldn't just let her get killed. It has nothing to do with anything else. Nothing.