So this one is pretty long but I just couldn't separate this one into more than one chapter. Thanks for everyone's support; it really means a lot that there's someone else out there enjoying this story. Keep the reviews coming; it brightens my day when I see that someone took the time to comment. I sadly do not own Strange Angels.

Watchn', I keep waiting, still anticipating love

Never hesitatin' to become the fated ones

Turnin' every turn to some secret place to hide

Watchn' in slow motion as you turn to me and say, my love

Take my breath away

~Take my breath away~Berlin

Once I was done having my little emotional fit, I decided that a nice, steaming hot shower was just what I needed to clear my thoughts. When I came out of the shower, Nat was already waiting for me inside my bedroom. She had insisted that she would help me get ready for tonight. I reluctantly agreed and judging by what she had in her hands, I was already regretting it. She was carrying a whole train case full of make-up. Now I've come a long way in the wardrobe department, but make-up was a whole other ball game. The most she could ever get out of me was powder, lip gloss, and mascara. I honestly didn't even think I needed that. After all, I am svetocha. My complexion was near perfection now. Putting on make-up just seemed like a huge waste of time. Pointing at her train case, I told her "I never agreed to that."

"Oh silly Dru, of course you did. You should've known I would pull out all the stops for tonight, and especially after what happened between you and your blue-eyed boy today." She giggled and I my jaw dropped all the way to the floor. "What? You didn't think anybody wouldn't notice the two of you holding hands when we came back from shopping. Girl it's the biggest gossip on campus. Now sit. We don't have all day. Bobby and Dibs will be here shortly."

I begrudgingly sat down with a loud thumpon the vanity chair. I resisted the urge to pull away as she applied what she called 'the smoke effect' on my eyes. As she worked the knots out of my hair, I felt a sudden chill creep down my spine. My eyes gazed over to the window. It was open, but not far enough for someone to climb through it. That's weird. I asked "where you hot or something?"

"Huh?" she murmured.

I jerked my head over to the window for her to see what I was talking about.

"No." She said with a puzzled expression. Then she looked even more confused when she asked me "has that been there the whole time?" She pointed over to the nightstand that was nestled between my bed and the window.

Now it was my turn to look bemused. Lying on my nightstand, next to my water glass, was a single dahlia. I'm not an expert on flowers. As a matter of fact, I could barely tell you the difference between a rose and a tulip. However, I knew that this flower had to have come from Christophe, which meant this had to be a dahlia. It was the most enchanting, exotic, and vivacious flower I had ever seen. The golden stamen was surrounded by deep purple petals that peeked with white tips. I felt my smile widen as I walked over to pick up the flower. I was almost afraid to touch it, feeling as if I did it would disappear, that maybe this was all in my imagination. But it couldn't be, because Nat had seen it too. I picked it up and let its sweet, aromatic scent entice my senses.

I turned to Nat and asked her "can you find me small vase for this?" She raised her eyebrows at me and had a broad smile plastered on her face. With a quick nod of her head, she turned and left the room. In the meantime, I placed the dahlia in my water glass and then headed over to my closet to get dressed.

I grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and a black camisole. The camisole was a little voluptuous due to its plunging neckline, but I figured this would be a nice compromise as opposed to only wearing a bra under the top I bought earlier. I finished off the look with the shoes I bought to match my shirt.

I stood in the mirror for a while wondering where the girl I used to be was. I know she had to still be under there, under all the make-up and the new clothes, but where? I had changed so much. Gone was the girl who stayed at home while her dad went out chasing monsters. Sure, I helped him find the monsters, but I was never in the immediate action. Now, it seemed like I was always the cause of the action. Yeah, these last few months of peace have been a sweet intermission, but that's all it was, an intermission. It's just a matter of time before the next monsters come striking at my door. But am I really worth it? Am I not a monster that my dad would've hunted down? Am I worth all the chaos my existence brings to this world? I want to be worth it. I want to be someone that mom, dad, and Grams would be proud of. And with a certainty that I didn't know I had, I made up my mind to become someone that everyone could be proud of. Not just Grams, mom and dad; but for all the djamphir, the wolfen, and future svetocha.

My thoughts were interrupted when Nat came back in my room with a slender yellow glass vase. I was still standing in front of the mirror gazing at myself. Not that I'm conceded, just pondering whether or not I should change. She gave me an approving nod as she came to stand by me. She said "Girl, we'll have them both graveling at our feet."

I let out a much needed laugh. I wasn't so sure about myself, but she was so gorgeous. She had two small braids in the front of her hair that tied together in the back securing the rest of her wavy locks away from her face. Her face had a special faint glow around her cheeks and temple. She played up her wonderful eyes with her favorite shade of dark purple, giving her a similar smoke effect that she had given me, but with color. She wore a short sleeved, tunic sweater in the same shade of purple and fastened the sweater with a thin black belt around her waistline. The hem of the sweater came just below her butt cheeks where it met a pair of black leggings. My favorite part of her outfit was her black knee high UGG boots. "You do look pretty hot!"

"Awe Dru, I hate to tell you this but I really don't play on that team."

Then we both busted out laughing as hard as we could. I was so grateful to have her as a friend. She's just about the only person that can keep me from wandering too far inside my thoughts.

"Hey what's so funny?" Shanks said as he swept into the room.

"Bobby, did you ever hear of this great invention called knocking? You can't just walk into a girl's room whenever you want." Nat scalded as she went close the door behind Dibs and Shanks.

Shanks chuckled and said with a little too much enthusiasm "Ah Dru's not a real g-", he trailed off because his gaze caught sight of Dru. "Wow, Dru! U look" smack.

"Be careful with what comes out of your mouth next" Nat scowled.

He began again, "Well, I'm just not used to seeing you…" he looked back at Nat who had an 'I dare you' look on her face, "with so much make-up on."

"Thanks…I think" I said.

As they all settled in on the couch, I heard murmuring going on outside the door. I peeked my head out the door to find Carter and Mason along with Jaxon and Eli. Carter and Mason were two of the wolfen Christophe had recruited to help me in my sparring classes. Jaxon and Eli were djamphir, two of Zeke's best friends. They all stopped talking as I stepped out into the hallway. Please, oh please, can we not just have one night without the two species tearing each other's throats out? I asked "Is there a problem out here?" I didn't mean for it to come out as if I were a parent trying to control my children. But really, sometimes they leave me with no choice.

They all looked down at their feet as if my words really did make them feel ashamed of themselves. Mason was the first to speak. "No we won't. We were just explaining the rules of the game tonight."

"The game?" I asked with a confused expression on my face.

Carter replied "Yeah, seeing as how they usually aren't here when we are, we thought they might not understand how we decide who plays who when it comes to video games."

Then Jaxon spoke up and said "Then we were explaining our own set of rules."

I didn't believe this bullshit, but I chose to ignore it. As long as they behaved inside, we wouldn't have any problems. "Yeah, whatever. Look guys, for me, please just get along for this one night. It's all I'm asking."

And as if they had all rehearsed it, they said in unison "you got it Dru, best behavior."

I rolled my eyes at them and ushered them in. I've got to do something about all this hostility between djamphir and wolfen. Before I closed the door, I heard Benjamin chuckling to himself. When I glanced at his direction he stopped, looked at me, and with a wide grin on his face he asked "You sure about this. Things could get nasty between them."

"Yeah I'm sure." Before I went back into my room I asked, "Ben, are you sure you don't want to come in? You're just as much of a friend to me as these guys are and Christophe will be here too so you know you won't feel uncomfortable."

He cocked his eyebrow at me in amusement but he said "No thanks, Dru. I'm just fine where I'm at." Then he winked at me.

"Okay, suit yourself. Just have an extra guard or two out here tonight just in case we need to break a fight up."

He nodded as I walked back into my room. It was starting to get pretty crowded. Even though my room is relatively large compared to others in the schola, it was feeling pretty small with all the testosterone in here and to think we were still missing some people. I asked the guys "Hey where is everyone else?"

"Zeke and Brayden are on their way. For some reason Zeke was acting like a girl claiming he had nothing to wear," Eli said laughing under his breath, "and Brayden was burning a CD so we just took off without them."

Then Mason spoke up "Austin was in the sparring room with Christophe. They were looking at some new weapon. I just called him and he said he'll be up in five."

"Oh, ok." I stood there watching everyone for a minute. Jaxon, Carter and Shanks were all arguing about which video game to play first. Shanks wanted to play Call of Duty but the other two wanted to play something called Diablo. The others were settling down on the couch and were already munching on the chips and sandwiches Nat had brought over. I was about to head over on my place on the couch when I heard the tap, tap, tap on the door. Judging by the softness of the taps, I knew it was Christophe.

My heart beat sped up as I made my way over to open the door. When I opened it, Christophe stood in the middle of the door frame. In my peripheral, I could see Austin, Brayden, and Zeke standing behind him. I also noticed their gazes trailing me from top to bottom, but I didn't pay them any attention. My eyes were focused on Christophe's piercing blue eyes just as his were fixated on mine.

That's one of the reasons I love him. Whenever he looks at me, it's as if he's looking through me directly to my soul. We just stood like that for a few moments. I managed to utter a soft "hi" and so did he. Then my focused was broken as Zeke shoved his way past Christophe and embraced me in a tight hug. As I pulled away, I noticed Christophe had an amused facial expression. I just smiled back at him. Then Brayden came up to me and said "Damn Dru, I think I wanna hug too!" I laughed as he lifted me off my feet, spun me around and hugged me.

Christophe was already moving over to sit on the couch, when Zeke made a b-line to sit on the cushion next to my favorite seat. Christophe didn't seem fazed one bit, he just kept walking towards the couch and sat in the only open spot left to sit. For a brief moment, the whole room went silent while they all stared at Christophe. I had to fight back the smile that threatened to come out on my face. Christophe just looked more confused than I've ever seen him look. He asked, "Did I miss something?"

Naturally, Zeke was the one who offered the answer. In a cocky tone, he said "Dru is the only one that sits there."

Christophe, with a bemused smile, simply cocked his eyebrow. Even though his words were directed back at Zeke, he turned to face me and said "She can still sit here… in my lap of course." Just as quickly as Zeke's smile disappeared off his face, a smile and a blush appeared on mine.

But I soon composed myself, and said "Its fine. I'm pretty sure you guys can make room for me."

Everyone other than Christophe, since he was already in the corner, shifted over to right to make space for me. It wasn't a tight fit, but there was only about two inches on each side of me. To my left was Christophe. He wasn't touching me, but his arm was resting over my shoulder on the top of the cushion. To my right was Zeke. He, however, let his hand fill the small gap between us and a few times he would softly stroke my thigh with his knuckles. The first time he did it I ignored it, thinking surely he didn't mean to do it. But that was my mistake, because he kept doing it.

Christophe finally noticed, and even though he wasn't touching me, I could still feel him tense whenever it happened. I tried to ignore Zeke's caresses. But when I realized he just wasn't going to stop, I closed the gap between me and Christophe. I didn't have to look, but I knew Christophe had a victory smile on his face. He rewarded himself by positioning himself at an angle where he was sitting more on his right hip. He pulled me closer to him, planting a kiss on the top of my head. Now I was in the same sitting position as him with my back resting on his chest. He lowered his arm to wrap it around my stomach. I sighed, breathing in the scent of warm baked apple pies. This felt so natural. It was as if we'd known each other our whole lives. We didn't have to speak; we didn't need to because our body language said it all.

But he did eventually break the silence, he whispered in my ear "I knew I could get you into my lap." Even though I was smiling, I nudged him in the stomach with my elbow. He responded by tightening his grip on me. I could've stayed in his arms forever.

We did stay like that for a couple of hours at least. That is until Nat made a big announcement saying "I'm bored. I'm tired of watching you stupid boys playing your stupid games. Can't we watch a movie or play a game or something that we could all enjoy?"

Austin asked "What kind of game did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, just something." She replied.

Brayden suggested "How about truth or dare?"

Jaxon snorted and commented "Aren't we a little too old for a kids game?"

Then I chimed in "I like truth or dare. Besides, the way you guys' brains function we could end up in doing God knows what."

"Well I'm in." Dibs said.

"Me too." Eli called out.

Everyone else simultaneously all agreed to join the game. A few of the boys helped push the sofa back so that we could all gather around in a circle on the floor. Christophe stayed to my left and Zeke was still on my right, but this time there was enough space between Zeke and I that I didn't cling to Christophe. However, Christophe still sat close to me with his body turned towards me, one arm propped up on his bent knee and the other arm balancing him behind me.

"Okay so here are the rules of the game." Brayden said. "The first and only rule is you have to do the dare or the truth. No backing out and no free passes. Any questions?"

"Yeah," Mason said, "Wasn't somebody supposed to get alcohol?"

I sheepishly responded, "Sorry, we got caught." A few people glared at Christophe, but nobody said anything to him. They knew he was the one who would've caught me. But since he was at the top of the order with me and technically their boss, they would never cross him.

"Oh no worries," Jaxon said, "I got some back in my room. Be right back."

Christophe turned to me and whispered "Benjamin has yours if you want it."

But I shook my head and whispered back, "Save it for later, but thanks."

When Jaxon came back, he brought with him two bottles of Jim Bean. I liked this kid more and more. I got up and fixed myself a Jim and coke. I offered one to Christophe and to my surprise he took it. I took a sip and for a brief moment, as the burn traveled down my throat, I forgot about where I was. I closed my eyes and imagined that I was back in the last house me and my father were in together. I missed him so much. I can't believe he's really gone. I kept thinking that he'd be back for me any day now, but he's not. He's never going to come back for me. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I hurriedly brushed it off my face, hoping that nobody would notice, but it was too late.

Christophe cupped my cheek and turned my head towards him. He asked "Milna, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just… I was just thinking about my dad, but I'm okay, really."

The look in his eyes told me that he knew I was lying, but he wasn't going to push the subject. Instead he just said "Okay" and started rubbing the small of my back in a soothing gesture. It was comforting, especially knowing that he wasn't going to push me to talk about it. That's one of the things I liked most about him. True to his word, he never pushes me or pries. He's just simply there, always when I needed him the most.

"Okay, so who wants to go first?" Nat asked.

"Oh I so have a good one." Austin said. "The question is who is going to be my target? Let's see, I think I'll go with…Shanks."

I heard Shanks mumble "This cannot be good."

"Shanks, truth or dare?"

"Let's just get this over with…dare."

"Your dare is the boomerang dare. For the rest of the game, you have to perform any dare you challenge another player too. And remember, you can't back out on any dares. So in order to complete this dare, you must challenge another player to a dare."

"Fine." Shanks said all too excitedly. "I'm not a chicken and I'll gladly accept your challenge." Then he turned to face me and asked "Dru, truth or dare?"

I know better to take a dare from Shanks. That boy's mind is so twisted it isn't even funny. So I said "Truth."

"Hmm... I so expected you to be the dare type. Oh well, what is your favorite physical attribute?"

That's easy. Since I became svetocha, I've been obsessed with all my new curves. My hips were shapely and my breasts were fuller. So I wasn't embarrassed or hesitant to say "My curves."

But then Mason had to comment "I think we all can agree with that."

So naturally my cheeks fired up. Everyone was staring at me with a look of desire then, that is expect for Nat, Shanks, Dibs and Christophe. Nat was looking at Shanks daring him to comment. Dibs just looked embarrassed himself and stared down at the floor. Christophe, however, was staring at all the other boys daring them to say anything else. Great, it's hard enough to be one of the only two girls at the schola, but then my big mouth had to go and point out a particular feature that separates me from the guys. Desperate to get out of the situation, I stood up and announced "I'm gonna get another drink." Because God knows I'm going to need another one.

When I came back, it was my turn to select someone. "Hmm, let's see…" I think a little payback is in order "Mason, sweetheart, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Your dare will be to tell…Eli your biggest turn off using a seductive voice."

He glared his eyes at me and smiled. Since Jaxon was sitting between Eli and Mason, he leaned back so Mason could complete his dare. Mason leaned over Jaxon legs, looked Eli straight in the eyes, and said in a very convincing seduction voice "Baby, do you know how much I hate it when you think your shit don't stink?" For a moment, I couldn't tell if Eli took that as a direct insult considering Eli is djamphir and Mason is wolfen or if he was just too stunned to laugh. Then a smile quirked up on his face and everyone started laughing.

My laugh was interrupted by Mason saying "Dru, truth or dare."

Okay, so he obviously wants to try and one up on me, but I wasn't going to let him get the best of me. "Dare."

"I dare you to kiss anyone in this circle."

I mean seriously, that was his comeback. I looked around to find my prey. There were a couple of obvious choices to avoid: Christophe, because that's would some people would've expected; Nat, because she's a girl; Shanks, because he's Nat's boy toy; Zeke, because that would give him too much false hope; which left Eli, Jaxon, Brayden, Mason, Austin, Carter, and Dibs. Hmm…Dibs, he's just about the only one who wouldn't take it as more than friendship would allow. So I asked "My choice and I can kiss him anywhere I choose?"

"Yes and yes."

So I stood up and walked around the circle until I was standing behind Dibs. I heard gasps and Dibs looked up at me, eyes widen, and cheeks already flushed. He asked "M..M..Me?"

I nodded with a smile, bent down and kissed him on the side of his neck. When I reached back to my spot in the circle, Christophe just looked at me with a bemused smile on his face and asked "I have to ask why Dibs?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

He just smiled and nodded. I decided to go the safe route this time and asked "Nat, truth or dare?"

She perked up and said "Dare."

"Bite another player's fingernail."

"Okay…everyone show me your hands. I'm not choosing someone before I see how clean their hands are." Surprisingly everyone did as she asked. Of course; Dibs, being the medic he is, had the cleanest hands of us all so she took his index finger and bit the end of his nail off. I have to say it was pretty gross. "Alright, that's over with. Christophe, truth or dare?" He naturally selected dare. Then Nat turned to my direction and winked at me. Cheerfully she said "I'll be right back." She came back with a paper plate full of cheese puffs. I just looked at her with curious eyes. Then she said "Christophe, you are going to give me push-ups. For every push-up you are to eat one cheese puff. Oh and you have to do it shirtless."

He shrugged and pulled of his shirt. Okay, so I was definitely going to enjoy watching this. He walked over to a space clear enough to stretch out on the floor. He got into the push-up position and Nat laid the plate of cheese puffs under his face. Nat and I stood there watching him with our heads cocked to the side. I bit my lip harder and harder every time his arms bent to lower himself. Christophe wasn't bulky by any means, but the guy had clear muscle definition. Watching his biceps and triceps stretch and pull made me want to end the party right now so that he and I could be alone. The temptation increased halfway through the dare when he took it up a notch and was doing one-arm push-ups. That made me bite down on my lip so hard that I tasted copper in my mouth. Oh no! I had to get out of here before the smell hit anyone else. I rushed to my bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind me.

"Dru," it was Nat, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Before I could answer, Christophe was already there "Dru, kochana, what is it?"

"It's nothing really. I just…it's stupid. I'll be out in a minute." I grabbed a clean washcloth and dampened it to remove the blood still left on my lips. By now, the aspect had already healed it so all I needed to do was clean the stain it left behind. Oh God, how could I be so stupid. Now what was I going to say for my sudden need to use the bathroom. I took a deep breath and unlocked the door. As soon as I did, Christophe came rushing in and shut the door behind him. When he reached me, he cupped my head in one hand and wrapped the other around my waist.

"Milna, what happened?" He was still shirtless and it took all my effort not to reopen my tiny wound.

I blushed as I told him the truth. "I uhh… bit my lip a little too hard."

Then he smiled at me. "You did huh?" He began to trace my bottom lip with his thumb. "I don't see any bite marks."

"It already healed. Like I said, it was nothing. I just didn't want anyone to get blood thirsty out there, you know."

His thumb was still tracing the bottom of my lip, and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. But he didn't, instead he released me and said "They are probably waiting on us."

Shakily I said "Yeah, probably."

We rejoined the rest of the group back at the circle. Then Christophe said "I guess it's my turn to choose a victim. Austin, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"What kind of music would you say you were embarrassed to listen too?"

"Well currently, I'd guess I'd have to say Enya."

The whole room chuckled and true to his word, he was really embarrassed. Then in order to direct the attention elsewhere, he said, "Dru, truth or dare?"

What the hell? Is this pick on Dru night? But instead of showing how annoyed I was, I smiled and said "Truth."

"What was the last thing you lied about?"

Okay, so this was a good one. I had no clue. I honestly always try to tell the truth. I had to sit there for a while before it hit me. I said "He's my friend." Obviously no one knew what I was talking about and it was clear from the expressions on their face. Everyone, that is, except for Dibs. I had forgotten he was there. I looked over to him and the shock on his face said it all. He honestly looked like he had tears in his eyes.

Someone said "Would you care to elaborate on that?"

But I couldn't, I wouldn't. Instead Dibs said "Dru…I…I…wa…want you to be happy, but he's my friend too. He's going to be devastated if he finds out." And the whole room went silent.

I didn't mean too, I didn't want to, but as soon as he said it my temper flared. "Well he's not going to find out because he hasn't even bothered to call or text or even email me since he's been gone."

"But he still loves you, you know that right?"

I sighed. I knew this wasn't going to end well if I let my temper get the best of me. I knew Dibs meant well, but I couldn't help but get so angry whenever I think about how Graves just left and I haven't heard from him since. Hoping I could smooth things over I said "I know, but things change. I've changed and I can't honestly say that if he were to walk through that door right now that I would still feel the same way about him." And as soon as I said it, I knew that was the truth. I also realized this was the first time I've admitted it out loud and I just admitted it in front of everyone. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but in this case it didn't.

The room stayed silent until I said "Any way, subject change, Jaxon truth or dare?

"Truth"

"What is the stupidest thing you've ever done in front of a crowd?"

"Play truth or dare."

Apparently I'm the only one who thought that was funny because I'm the only one laughing. But my laughter ended because Jaxon said "Truth or dare Dru-girl."

"Come on, is everyone just going to go after me?"

"Pretty much."

"Fine, I'll go with dare this time."

His mouth quirked up in a sly smile and I knew I chose wrong this time. He said "You are to put on a blindfold and cover your nose with it as well. Everyone other than Nat will stand in a circle around you. You're going to spin around until you're dizzy. When you stop spinning, whoever you are standing in front of will step forward. By touch alone you are to figure out who is standing in front of you. You get one chance to get it right. If you get it wrong…he gets to kiss you anywhere and anyway he wants."

"Okay, that doesn't sound so bad. I'll go get a scarf." When I returned with the scarf, everyone was already standing waiting on me. I slipped into the middle of the circle and tried to memorize every little detail of each guy. I concentrated on the cuts of their hair, whether or not they had any facial hair, the width of their shoulder blades, how much taller they were compared to me, and the type of clothing they had on.

"Okay, I'm ready." Nat came over and helped with my blindfold. I felt so stupid spinning around in circles. I don't think he realized that I'd have to spin for hours before I would get dizzy. All my training does come useful from time to time. So after about ten or so turns, I just stopped.

When the guy that I stopped in front of stepped up closer to me, the first thing I did was place my hands on each of his shoulders. I slid them down his biceps and all the way down to his hands. I had to force back a smile. I knew those arms and those hands by heart. In fact, those same arms where wrapped around me not too long ago. But I didn't want anyone to know I knew who it was already, so I brought my hands back up to his hair. I ran my fingers through them, pretending to feel the length, but I was really just enjoying myself. I had to force myself to stop and bring them down to his face. I traced his cheekbones and jaw line with my fingertips. By now, I had made up my mind that I wanted to kiss him and I couldn't wait any longer. So I decided to throw the game asked "Is this Brayden?"

I knew I was wrong, but Brayden confirmed by saying "sorry sweetheart."

I still acted like I didn't know though. "Oh God, please tell me it's not Shanks."

I heard Shanks respond "Hey that really hurts me Dru."

I laughed and said "I knew it wasn't you, I just wanted to rile you up."

Then I heard someone say "Well what are you waiting for? Kiss her, she guessed wrong."

Since I was still blindfolded, I asked "Um, am I not going to see who gets to kiss me?"

Jaxon said "Nope, let it be a surprise."

Then Christophe wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tilted my head up. My heart was beating in anticipation. When his lips brushed mine, I felt my knees ready to give out. But before they had a chance too, Christophe pulled away. It was over too soon. So I asked him "Is that all you got Chris?" and I lifted my blindfold to see him smiling down at me.

"You little devil. You knew it was me."

I gave him the most innocent look I could come up with.

He said "No, that's not all I got, but that's all your getting…for now at least."

Then he released me and I turned to see the door that led out to the hallway slam hard. I looked around to see who had left and it took me a minute to notice Zeke wasn't there anymore. I asked "Where did Zeke go?"

Eli responded "I don't know. He just got up and left."

Then Brayden said "He's just a little jealous. Give him time to cool off. Anyway, the fireworks are going to start in about forty-five minutes. Why don't we go ahead and get to the terrace so we can grab a good spot?"

The terrace was actually a flat part on the roof of the schola. It would take us about twenty minutes to get up there at normal speed, two minutes if we ran. I had a feeling that nobody was going to be running, but I slipped on some more comfortable shoes just in case. When I stepped into the hallway, Christophe was waiting for me with my mother's quilt. I swear he thinks of everything. It would've never dawned on me to bring something to sit on; after all we are going to be sitting on the roof.

He held my hand all the way up to the roof and when we reached the top he made sure we were sitting away from everyone else. We were lying down on the blanket wrapped in each other's arms when he asked in a soft voice "Can we have that talk now?" I nodded. He asked "I guess the only question I have, the only question I've ever had is do I have a chance now?"

I sat up on my elbow so that I could look straight into his eyes when I said "Yes." Then he cupped his hand behind my neck and brought my head down towards his. I could feel his warm breath on my lips, causing them to part slightly. When our lips met I felt an explosion of intense desire hit me. The kiss that started off soft and slow was now in an uncontrollable heat of passion. Somewhere in the distance I could hear fireworks exploding in the air. I couldn't tell if it was midnight already or just my imagination getting the best of me in heat of the moment. All I knew for certain was that I never wanted this kiss to end.

So what did you guys think? This isn't the end of my story, just the end of the beginning of Dru and Christophe. I still have tons more to write, with a few new story angles and surprises. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more ;)