Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. I had a 6 week summer school course plus work which took up the majority of my time. I know a lot of you are wondering how Dimitri fits into this story. And what he is. Well this chapter will shed a little light on that. But just a little bit, not too much yet. I know someone asked if the seer's handbook is a real book. I just made it up, but I google searched it and apparently it is a real book. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter, tell me what you think and I'll try to respond back to your questions. Tell me your theories about this story and the demons, I like reading about them.

Dimitri looked at me in shock. I would too if someone who was supposed to know nothing knew the most important thing.

"You've seen the book. No wait, scratch that, you had the book with you and you didn't think to grab it."

"It's not my book, it's Christians. He has it. I saw it in one of his shelves." Well I only took a very brief glance at the book.

"So you've read it." He asked hopefully. My face fell, "You haven't read it have you?"

"No. I only saw it briefly. I think Christian's keeping it from me. I only saw it by chance." I confessed.

"Wow, great friend you have there." He bit out. I glared at him. I didn't like the back hand comment he threw towards Christian.

"He's the best actually. And he has his reasons. That's why he doesn't show it to me." I defended. Christian was acting secretive and mysterious, but he was still my best friend. I wasn't going to let anyone insult him.

"Really and what would that reason be?"

"I, umm, he." Dimitri had a victorious look in his eyes when he saw I couldn't answer. I felt my ears burn hot; I hated to loose.

"He didn't tell you did he." He smirked.

"Well, no." I sagged. I hated how Dimitri looked so self-assured. I wanted to club him over the head with my back pack. "Fine, I'll get the book." I bit out.

"How?"

I was actually planning on sneaking in through Christian's window in the middle of the night, but suddenly admitting that to Dimitri didn't seem like a good idea.

"I'm going to ask him for it." I lied.

"You're lying."

"What?" How did he know?

"You're lying." He repeated. "An innocent girl like you can't lie properly; you always get this guilty look in your eyes when you do it."

"I've been told I'm a good liar. I can fool almost anyone."

"Almost being the optimal word. Anyways, how are you really going to get the book?"

"I was going to sneak into his room." I mumbled.

"Sneak into his room?" He asked surprised. "Have you no respect? No decency what so over…. I like it. I think I'll join you."

"Excuse me, I don't need you to come with me, I could do it myself." I huffed. Who did he think he was; my bodyguard.

"I wasn't asking. I was telling you that I am coming with you." His eyes were hard; his grip around the wheel tightened. He wasn't going to let me say no. I looked out the window hoping to defuse my anger with some nature.

"Why do you even want to come, anyway?"He pulled the car off of the interstate and into the gravel path beside it. He turned off the engine and twisted in his seat to face me directly. There were trees all around the interstate, all gold leaves and browning. The forest was thick on both sides of it. It looked like we were in the middle of a forest wonderland. I wouldn't be surprised if Bambi showed up.

"Why? Do you really have to ask me that?"

I looked at him as if to say, yeah.

"Fine, I'm going because I am not about to let you go out, alone, especially at night." He looked angry. His nostrils were flared, and his handsome face looked a little scary.

"How do you know I'm going at night?"

"What time does anyone go when they're sneaking into someone's house? At night of course, no one sneaks in in broad daylight. That would be stupid."

"It still doesn't mean that you have to come. The neighborhood I live in is calm. Nothing's going to happen to me if I simply walk a couple of blocks, in the dark."

"Walk? Now I'm really going." He reached up and tangled his fingers through his thick hair. At one point looking like he was tugging at it in frustration. "How could you even think about going alone, at night, and to make everything worse, walking. Didn't I just tell you the danger you are in. You think I am going to let you out of my sight."

"I don't need your protection. Plus you haven't even told me anything about this. You just warn me, but what is it that is apparently trying to get me?" I asked between clenched teeth.

"Do you really want me to say it?" His voice had gotten scary low. His eyes challenging.

"Yes?" I said it like a question, suddenly unsure.

"Demon." The simple word held so much meaning to me. I had studied demons the past five years of my life; though mostly I looked through the information as a disbeliever. Now suddenly the word demon was something to be taken seriously? It was no longer a word in a book. It was a word chosen to describe where my life was heading; into the grasps of a demon.

"Demon. You mean like actual horns popping out, straight out of hell demon."

His face cracked a smile finding my comment amusing. "Well not exactly a horn and tail. There not that obvious; they'll just be covered in flames from head to toe." My eyes popped out in shock. "Or maybe they'll just look like average normal people, blending into our society." He finished.

"Average normal people?" I asked.

He nodded.

"You are telling me a demon—and I really can't believe I'm using this word in a serious context—can sneak up on me at any time without me knowing."

"Exactly." He replied, his voice sounded bored. "Still want to take that walk at night." He teased.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass."

"I knew you would see it my way." He put his hands behind his head and looked ahead, closing his eyes peacefully. "The ladies always see it my way."

I shoved him, hard, with my hand, but it didn't appear to affect him. He didn't even move an inch. He was way stronger than Christian. Christian would have easily been pushed against his car door had I done it to him.

"Was that supposed to do something to me?" His eyes were still closed. "Because you failed."

"Thank you for stating the obvious." The ass hat was pushing his limits.

"You're welcome; anyways we should really get to work." He opened his eyes and stretched his arms out in front of him. The muscles in his arms flexed when he moved them. He grinned when he caught me staring.

I quickly snapped my head away from him, embarrassed at having been caught. "So, you're going to teach me this whole seer business." I said to change the subject.

"Yes, but we need to go outside. We have very limited space in here."

"But you said they could be listening—"

"Yes, yes, I know what I said." He interrupted. "But that was only when we were in town. Their ears can only hear so far." Now everything made sense. No wonder he brought me here; it was a good half an hour away from town. We were surrounded by wilderness; the big trees of the forest were ahead of us.

Many people came from all over to camp here. I loved the peace you felt when you were surrounded by nothing but trees. I would come here to hike or to get away from my life whenever I could. The forest was a beautiful place to get lost for a couple of hours and think.

As soon as we got out of his car I reached for his sleeve and pulled him through the trees—away from the interstate. "Come on," I called. The trees were so tall and each had different color leaves they were a clash of yellow, brown, and green all mixed together. The ground was littered in fallen leaves and with each step we took a crunching sound would explode from the bottoms of our feet.

I lead him deeper into the forest; it became darker the further we went. The trees seemed to multiply; they were bunched up together, the branches creating a tangled mossy shield that kept the sunlight from making and appearance.

"You seem to know your way around the forest." He stated. We had been walking in silence for a couple of minutes; both lost in our thoughts.

The cool air whipped lose strands of hair around my face. The breeze was fresh; it smelled like thick nectar and lilac. "Yeah, I come here sometimes to think."

"Alone?" I nodded. "You are definitely tempting fate. What am I going to do with you?" He looked upset.

"Does that bother you?"

"It would bother me more if it didn't go with you. But you are just the type of girl who would be doing things out of the norm. You're different; girls wouldn't normally go through forest by themselves. You seem to enjoy it. That's rare. Where I came from the woman would never go into the forest. They would stay at home while their husbands or fathers went in the forest for wood or to hunt."

"True, but we did leave those customs like two hundred years ago. Unless you were raised in some backwards town."

"Actually my town just discovered that the Earth is round, not flat, can you believe that."

"Shocking," I replied dryly.

"Anyways we should stop here; if we go any further we might fall of the end of the Earth." He said, stopping me in the middle of the uneven dirt trail. We had come to some sort of clearing. The large moss covered trees created a big looming shadow over us. The dirt had no other plants growing out of it; most likely the lack of sunshine didn't allow any other plants to grow here.

Dimitri perched himself on a boulder—probably spotting it before we stopped—and looked towards me, completely relaxed. He no longer had the pains of the world written on his face; like the forest air cleared them out of his face. He looked younger, more carefree.

"Are you ready?" He asked me, his tone mocking but there was a seriousness to his question.

"Yes." I breathed out. There was nothing else in the world I would want to hear. Only this.

His eyes cut me like glass. There was so much in them, so much pain lashed out in that one look. "You asked for it." He laughed cruelly.

"I already told you that a demons after you. But do you know why?" I shook my head.

"It's because of what you see. Demons always have something up there sleeve. A plan, but seers are two steps ahead of them. They know where a demons going to be before the demon himself knows. They could easily set up a trap and the demon will walk right into it without even knowing. There is nothing a demon is more afraid of than a seer. That's why they want to wipe them all out. No seer's equals no problems for demons."

"How do you know so much about demons? Are you a demon hunter?" I asked.

"Demon Hunter." He said trying the word out. "I guess you could say that I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"I've killed demons, so I guess I am qualified to be called a demon hunter."

So that's what he was. He was always so aloof and mysterious; able to move quickly and sneak up on people. Dimitri was a hunter, it made sense.

He took a deep breath. His voice was more solemn when he continued. "Unfortunately you don't know how to be a seer yet. You're easy pick-ins for demons. They'll want to finish you before you get the strength to finish them."

"That alone should have you running." He looked at me cautiously. "But you are not going to run are you?" I shook my head. "I didn't think so. You should be." He warned.

"Why should I?"

"Because demons aren't to be taken lightly. They trick you, their filled with deception. It's easy to fall into one of their traps. Like going into the witches castle, they do not need to come after you, they make you come to them."

"And why would I go into the witches castle?" I challenged. If demons weren't going to take me by force I was relatively certain that I wouldn't go bouncing into their trap.

He looked at me like if I was so innocent; like a child. "You honestly have no idea what you're up against, none. Someone doesn't go into the witches castle knowing it's the witches castle. They go in thinking it's some freaking wonderland. Point being is that when you go in, you won't know it's a freaking trap, you'll never see it coming. You'll believe whatever they want you to believe until it's too late."

I shivered a little. He noticed."Finally, you are showing some self-awareness. Do you finally see the big picture, anything could be a trap."

"How?" I croaked out.

"Because you'll never suspect who they are. They won't let you suspect. By the time you figure it out it's too late. Which is why you can't be wandering around, alone. You are practically calling them to you."

"Well, it's never happened before." I argued though I already knew I was going to lose. His face was set in fury, talking about these demons ignited him. I could tell there was something in his fury, a pain he was trying to mask with anger. They had done something to him, something horrible. I could see it all over his face.

"What did they do to you?" I asked. He gave me a questioning look.

"These demons, what did they do to you? They hurt you deeply didn't they?"

He looked shocked, his eyes startled that I had figured it out. I could tell that he was a person who suffered in silence; he wasn't one to talk to people about his pains.

"Why do you ask me that?"

"Because I could see it on your face; your pain. You hide it behind your attitude but I could see it, it's so clear to me now. I see you now, really see you."

"You don't know anything." The pain in his voice ate at my heart. Dimitri was kind of a jerk, but he was also funny and kind. He didn't deserve whatever they did to him.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to overstep my boundaries. You obviously don't want to talk about it. Sorry I brought it up." He wasn't ready to talk about it, I could see that. But maybe someday he would.

He collected himself before he dived again into the "lesson". I knew he wasn't going to acknowledge what I just figured out. I expected it. Dimitri wasn't one to admit weakness.

"So demons," he said lamely. "As I said before, they're going to look like normal people. They might be your… neighbors." I could tell he was having a hard time getting it out. His face had that pained look to it again. "They can even be… your schoolmates, a teacher, a….a friend." He was breathing hard. He hunched down on the boulder to collect his breath. His hand against his chest seemed to be pushing down on his heart.

I didn't know what was going on. I rushed to help him but as soon as I got near him he collected himself. His breathing was normal, he gave me a reassuring smile.

"Dimitri…"

"It's nothing." His tone was final. I really hoped I didn't cause this discomfort with the question.

"Fine." I huffed. "So why do demons come here anyways. Isn't hell good enough for them?"

"Isn't it obvious? Nobody likes hell. Not even demons. What demons want is to take over this world so that they won't have to be stuck in hell for eternity. They like this world because they're free to do whatever they want without the hell fire constantly burning their skin off. And in order to take over this world they need to fight for it. They need a war. And they need people on their side. So that's what they do. They come to get followers. They don't get them forcibly; they convince them to join, promising the world to them. And once you become a follower its hard to back out. They need followers so when the final fight comes they'll have people on their sides. Your job is to postpone the war as long as possible. Give people a chance of real life.

"And how exactly do I stop the demons if I don't even know how to be a proper seer?" I asked. He gave me a serious look and something clicked.

"The book! That's why you wanted me to find it"

"Well that was one of the reasons, not entirely all of it, but it would make teaching you easier."

"What about the book I have? Wouldn't that work?" I adjusted the weight of my backpack, only now realizing what I had inside.

"Not quite as much as you would think. It only has a very scanty section of what you need, but I guess we could give it a try. It's better than nothing."

"Well, I wouldn't say it's nothing. There were some things in there that I didn't quite get." And by things I meant the ritual. I wonder what Dimitri thought of them.

I flipped open the book and took him to the page that has been haunting me these past two days. "I need help on this." I asked pointing to the scripture about the demon and the shadow. But most importantly I pointed out the ritual.

He winced when he read it. "I guess these books do have something useful in them." He laughed uncomfortably. "That's a summoning ritual." I nodded. "And I know you know what a demon is but do you know about his shadow?"

No I didn't know anything about a shadow. Except maybe for the one in my dream. "No." I told him.

He scratched the back of his neck trying to come up with the words. "Well a shadow is like a demons puppet. They were once human but they cut a deal with a demon and sold their soul to them. Now whenever a demon wants them to do something all they have to do is pull a string and they obey."

"So demons are the puppeteers. And the shadows have no choice; they have to obey to their commands?" I asked.

"Yes."

"How sad, to not even have control of your own life. Who would sell their soul for that?" I said to know one in particular.

"Desperate men." He answered. "Men who have starving families; men who would do anything to keep them alive so they strike a deal with a demon. A life time supply of food and shelter for their soul." He seemed to be somewhere else; his eyes were glassy. I knew that behind them he was reliving this. Dimitri might not have told me what caused his pain, but I was beginning to think it was about his family. He spoke with longing when he mentioned families. He missed them.

"You miss them, don't you? Your family." His face became stone again, I couldn't read it. It was like he went back to being the old Dimitri from before. I think I really put my foot into it this time.

"We should probably stop our lesson for today." He answered harshly. "We could pick this up again tomorrow." I exhaled in relief. Tomorrow. He was still going to teach me more. I didn't realize how worried I was that he was going to stop teaching me till he said those words.

Dimitri led the way back, this time. We didn't talk, it didn't look like he wanted to make conversation; he was still stone faced.

It wasn't until his car came into view when I stopped him. "Dimitri, are you mad at me?"

He whipped his face towards me, "what, no why would you think that?" He looked confused and…. sincere?

"Because you haven't talked to me since we started walking. And because you look mad." His face softened and his eyes took on a regretful tint.

"I am sorry for making you think that." He apologized. "I wasn't mad at you. I was mad at myself for overreacting back there. I was afraid about what you said; about what you figured out. I am sorry for taking that out on you." He was letting me inside, briefly. He was confirming what I had figured out; the demons had harmed him deeply. I wonder if one day he'll tell me exactly what they did. But for now, I knew that was the only thing I was going to get.

"It's alright, you don't have to apologize. I get it; you don't feel comfortable enough to tell me something so private." I told him.

"It's not that—"

"Stop, Dimitri, I would do the same thing. If I had something as serious as you seem to have under your belt. I wouldn't be telling you either. I would hide it too, so really it was unfair of me to ask. Maybe you'll tell me one day, okay."

"Sure, when you're safe I'll tell you." I didn't get his comment, but I had no time to ask. He was looking at me so intensely, like if keeping me safe was the most important thing in the world. I couldn't help but feel consumed by his look. I felt a couple of butterflies flutter in my stomach, which was stupid. Sure Dimitri had flirted with me, but he seemed to have a flirty personality. He probably does this on a daily basis with the girls he talks to.

"We should… go." I barely got out. I was sure he could see the hot flush on my face. His smirk proved it. The sensitive Dimitri seemed to disappear; he was back to his cocky self.

"Sure, Rose, you do seem like you're getting a bit hot. I am sure the air conditioner will clear that red flush. Or maybe being in that enclosed car with me will bring it back." He winked. My cheeks burned brighter than ever, damn him.

"If you think I am flushing because of you, you're wrong." I pointed at him with my pointer finger. "You are just an arrogant bastard who thinks because a girl's red in the cheeks it has to be about him. Well it's not, my cheeks always get this way."

"Well you're feisty aren't you? But you are wrong about two things. First, I am not an arrogant bastard, and second," he ticked off with his fingers and took a step closer to me, "your cheeks just got redder the second I got closer." My breath hitched up, he was close, too close to me. Our bodies were almost touching. My heart beat sped up, and then he started to lean down. He was going to kiss me, I thought. My eyes fluttered close and I tensed in anticipation. I felt his breath right against my mouth, it was minty like peppermint.

"So I'll do you a favor." Dimitri whispered, his lips barely brushing mine when he spoke. "I'll save you from kissing an arrogant bastard." And just as quickly his heat was gone. I opened my eyes and saw him walking towards his car—away from me.

That arrogant bastard. "Are you coming?" He called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I grumbled.

The car ride back to town was a bit awkward. I was still embarrassed over having been made a fool. Now he probably thinks I wanted to kiss him. Which I kind of did but not because I like him? It was more because I wanted to know what it felt like to kiss a boy. At least that's what I told myself.

"Why are you so quiet?" He asked. We were just starting to arrive in the outskirts of town. The houses were coming into view; the trees thinning.

I looked out the window, refusing to look at him. "Just thinking," I answered.

"Really, it wouldn't happen to be about me would it?" I snorted. Of course he would think that, but if I was being honest it was.

"Why do you think everything's about you?" I told him.

His eyes lit up. "So that's what all this silence is about, because I didn't kiss you."

"No," I said a little too quickly. He didn't look convinced.

"Hell, if that's the problem I'll pull over and give you a smooch right now."

"I don't want you to kiss me. As a matter of fact you did me a favor because you're right, I definitely do not want to kiss an egotistical, thinks he's better than everyone, bastard like you." I was so mad, by all accords I should be breathing fire.

He looked at me quizzically. "You should get pissed off more often. It makes you look…." He thought about it for a second. "Pretty good," he finished.

"As opposed to when I am not mad and look awful."I bit back. Really what else should I expect, he's Dimitri. He has about a hundred hot chicks falling over him each day. Girls that look like supermodels when compared next to me.

"That's not what I meant." He said; voice serious. "You let them get to you; all the girls from school with their so called beauty. But they're not. They have all that crap on their face that is supposed to make them look pretty but they look fake. They wear these short little minis to call guys attention but all I see is a pathetic sap that tries too hard." He finally turned his head in my direction. "Don't you see, you're real. You are not fake; you don't try to look pretty. You look like yourself and that makes you beautiful."

My breath sped up. Dimitri thinks I'm beautiful? I didn't know what to say, it was the first time anyone called me beautiful. What do you answer to that, thank you? It seemed kind of stupid to say that though.

"You're… beautiful too." Idiot. It would have been better if I stuck with the thank you.

"Yeah; word of advice. Don't call a man beautiful. Say ravishingly sexy or handsome, it sounds better." He looked at me expectantly. "Well go on say it." He wants me to say it, now.

"Why? And better yet, who do you think you are to boss me around." He gave me a mischievous smile as he turned the corner. With a shock I realized that we were on my street. How did we get here so fast?

"Isn't that your house?" He pointed to the little yellow two story house that was indeed mine and parked in front of my driveway. "Why don't I go in there and have a lovely chat with your parents. I could tell them all about our undying love, maybe have them invite me for dinner—"

"Stop!" I covered his mouth with my hand; I was surprised I actually did it. Dimitri was bringing out a whole new side of me. "Fine, you're ravishingly sexy, handsome, yummy, delicious, and all of the above. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." He mumbled from underneath my hand.

"Good." I took my hand away from his mouth and got out of the car. It was three o clock. Mia would be coming home soon. I didn't want her to catch me with Dimitri.

As I turned to walk away I heard his window slide down. "Rose." He called. I turned around and caught the smug look on his face. "So you think I am delicious."

"Uhh, just get out of here." Please before I die of mortification.

"Will do RoRo." He said as he drove away. I nearly tripped. How the hell did he hear about that nickname?

"Don't call me RoRo!" I yelled. I think I heard him laugh but that might have been a trick of the wind.

You're going to be the death of me Dimitri, I thought, before I turned around and went inside.

"Well you're early." My mother said as I came inside. "And where's Mia, she usually comes in before you do."

"She's…coming, soon." I hope. "She got held up with her friends, you know how they always talk after school."

"Then how did you get here." She asked suspiciously before her face lit up with recognition. "Oh, I see. You must have had a very nice ride home with that boy. What was his name?"

There was no use denying it, "Dimitri, his name is Dimitri."

"Dimitri, well that's a nice name." She looked ready to burst. "Sweetie tell me the truth, is Dimitri your boyfriend?"

"Uhh, no. Not really, he was just being nice, you know. Because I was waiting for a long time and Mia wasn't hurrying up so he asked if I wanted a ride. Really it was just a matter of kindness." Please don't figure out that I am lying. I don't know how my mother would react if she knew that I ditched.

"Really, a boy gives you a ride home out of the kindness of his heart. Sounds more like this boy has a crush on you. If I were you I would go right ahead, nose dive in. I didn't get much of a look but from what little I saw he looked like a handsome young man. You should go for it sweetie, if you want I could even call his parents and arrange a date—"

"No!" Please, anything but that. Nothing would be more embarrassing than your mom setting you up on a date.

"Well, you've got to do something." She huffed exasperated. "There's not a big line out there for you." So that's what she was getting at, because this might be my only shot for a boyfriend, because there's no way in hell a boy would look at me. My mom knows that. All these years she's tried to encourage me, telling me that there were plenty of boys out there who'll want me. But seeing the desperation in her face now, makes it clear that she herself didn't believe all the crap she was feeding me. She knew that there was something wrong with me. I repelled the human race away from me. She probably thought it was a miracle that finally a boy—that wasn't Christian—was able to be close to me. Someone who apparently liked me.

Something snapped inside me. I wanted to tell my mom everything, all that I had bottle up inside me. She knew more about me than she let on. I always thought she was deluding herself into thinking I was normal. But now I know she only did that to make me feel better. Because the truth is that she was right, no man would ever look my way. The only guy in the world who had made flirty comments and acted like he sort of liked me was Dimitri and he…he…

My voice was so hoarse when I spoke I hardly recognize it. "Mom, Dimitri doesn't like me. He didn't even want to kiss me today. He left me with my lips puckered up like a fool." And then everything I felt started spilling out. "I bet no one ever left Mia with her lips puckered. You don't know how horrible I felt knowing that I was tricked into believing he would want to kiss me. His breath was all over me, it smelled so good. What if mine smelt bad? How could I believe that Dimitri would want to kiss me when he has an army of woman behind him? Women who are made of plastic, and then he tried to make me feel better by saying I was beautiful but I know that if it was any of those plastics, he would of kissed them. But not me, never me. I can't believe I almost let him have my first kiss." I was a blubbering fool, my words so incoherent because I was spitting them out so fast.

It was the first time in years I had let my insecurities out and to make it worse it was in front of my mother. Her sympathetic eyes snapped me out of my slumber. What the hell was I doing? Going crazy for some guy that doesn't deserve it. I swore to myself that I would never be one of those girls who went crazy or cried for a man. And I intended to keep my promise. I quickly collected myself and sucked in a deep breath. Why was I worrying anyways, because Dimitri didn't want to kiss me, or because he called me beautiful? No one had ever called me beautiful before.

I choked down whatever caused my initial tirade. I transformed from the blubbering mess back to Rose; and Rose defiantly didn't worry about something this stupid.

"Sweetie are you okay." My mother patted me on the back before she began to rub soothing circles. Why was everyone doing that?

"I'm fine mom. I don't even know where all that came from. It was stupid and it won't happen again." I promised.

"Sweet heart, this wasn't a sign of weakness. You can't just bottle everything inside or else it'll all explode out. I don't think this was all just about the kiss, I think only part of it was that. You build up a lot of things inside you and it was let out" She lifted my chin up and looked at me in a way that only moms do. It's a look that says I love you but I'm the boss so do as I say. "If you ever need to talk about something feel free to come to me. You can even cry on my shoulder if you have to." She smiled sympathetically.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I had a feeling I might actually take her up on her offer. This outburst was scary and I felt like I still had a lot more bottled up in me that could be let out on any moment of frustration. I needed to talk to someone, anyone, and right now the two people in the world I most trusted—Christian and Dimitri—are people I didn't feel like talking to at the moment.

"Mom." I told her seriously. I was about to tell her the gist of everything that's been going on with me. Not the whole truth because she might stick me into a mental hospital and label me mentally disturbed."Have you ever had dreams, so frightfully real, that you start to believe that it might actually be happening?" I asked her.

"Oh sweetie, is this what it's all about. Bad dreams." She gave a soft laugh and that's how I know she doesn't get it. She'll never get what I am talking about. Dreams are dreams, they aren't reality, but she hasn't felt what I felt so she'll never get it. She'll never get me.

"Forget it, you're right, it's just bad dreams. I wasn't able to sleep well last night because of it and the sleepiness sort of got to me. I think that's what caused my outburst. I made a small thing burst into a large one because I was stressed from lack of sleep." My lie came more smoothly than ever. I was getting better at it.

"See I told you, if you talk it out you'll find the problem." She smiled, dimpling the same way Mia does. Her silky hair whipped around us as she reached out to hug me. Her warmth was comforting but in no way did it help.

The creaking of the door alerted us that someone came in. We quickly separate and were met by Mia's curious eyes. I knew that it was weird for her to find us hugging. I am not one to hug people.

"What's going on here?" Mia looked back and forth between mom and I. Her eyes were suspicious.

"Oh, nothing, I just wanted to hug my dear daughter, it's been too long." My mother waved off casually. She was keeping our little talk a secret. I was kind of worried that she was going to go blab about it. Sometimes that mouth of hers starts telling other peoples secrets.

Mia still looked suspicious. "Well I need to talk to Rose, privately." She said to no one in particular. "I'll just go to my room. Rose." Mia turned towards me. "Come with me to my room so we could talk." That's weird. Mia never wants to just talk with me. We live to ignore each other.

She walked up the stairs and I followed behind her. I was kind of hungry—I hadn't eaten lunch—and I was really hoping to take a trip to the kitchen soon.

Mia's room was a fluffy pink wonder land. Her bed had a light pink comforter layered with millions of pillows varying in darker shades of pink. She made a big fit when she was young stomping her feet and screaming to the top of her lungs till my father conceded her wish and put pink carpeting and painted her room bubble gum pink. It was too pink, every time I enter this room I feel like I was trapped inside a pink cotton candy.

"Ok, what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked.

Mia paced around her room before she answered. "Are you and Dimitri together?"

"No." I replied quickly.

She looked at the pink nail polish of her fingernails—pretending she didn't care—but I saw a muscle in her jaw twitch. "You two ditched today didn't you." She finally looked up at me but there was something different in her eyes. They didn't look reproachful, it was more like resignation. "You don't have to answer that, I know you did."

"And you're not mad?"

"No. He seems more your type anyway. I mean Dimitri's cute, real cute, but he's kind of like you. Speaks his mind, doesn't care what he looks like but he pulls it off. And he doesn't care about hanging out with us cool people. I should have seen it before. Dimitri's not my type of guy. Even if I did manage to snag him, we would have nothing in common." She smiled timidly. "Plus, he has a thing for my little sister."

"What…no Dimitri doesn't like me." I said quickly. "He has a hoard of women after him. He can choose whoever he wants."

"And he chose you." Mia finished. "Now, I am going to tell you something I've never said before." She took a deep breath; I could tell what she was about to say was hard for her. "You're actually really pretty, did you know that. And, even though it pains me to admit it, you have a rocking body. I wish I had your curves." She frowned when she looked down at her own body. "Dimitri would be a fool not to like you. Fortunately he isn't a fool because he does like you. As for the hoard of women, I can guarantee you he's never looked at them once. His eyes are only for you."

This was the first time Mia had complemented me on anything. It made me feel like I had the old Mia back, the one from when we were kids. She used to be my best friend, and I really missed her.

"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say, but that felt like enough. She made me feel better. Besides she gave me the most important thing back, my friend.

"Just don't get all sappy with me. And don't tell anyone I said those complements, got that." She warned halfheartedly. I could tell a change had happened within her. The way she looked at me was different. She was looking at me like a sister instead of the person she had to live with. It reminded me of the way Natalie looked at me the last day I saw her. She hadn't talked to me since the sixth grade but that day she came right to me. She looked at me the same way she did when we were eleven, like a friend. The words she whispered to me that day are ones I would never forget. She trusted me with a secret, a secret she told no one else but me.

"Mia," I needed to think fast, "can I borrow the car keys." I had been putting it off for too long. I needed to find that dingy old room quickly. I needed to find it for Natalie.

"Why?" Mia never likes it when I use our car. She believed that as the oldest it should be hers not us.

"I need to check something out. It's for a school project." I lied quickly. I was really getting into the habit of lying.

"School, huh. What class?" She didn't believe me, it was clear on her dolled up face; she knew I was spewing bullshit.

"For environmental science." I didn't know why I kept lying; I wasn't convincing her. Maybe I wasn't as good at lying as I thought.

"Really then, mind if I go with you and "help out" with your project." She crossed her arms and waited for me to answer. A victorious look crossed her face when she thought I was going to fess up. But suddenly, having her next to me while I searched in the cemetery didn't seem like a bad idea. The truth was I was kind of freaked out about going in the cemetery, alone.

"Sure," I gave her my toothy smile, "I would love for you to come help me." Her mouth opened in shock. She was really betting on me backing out. Her face looked comical, her jaw was nearly to the floor and her eyes were bug eyed and twitching. Mia wasn't one to "help out". She was made to look cute and blow air kisses.

"Wh…where are we going?" She stuttered out, horrified at having weaseled herself into doing work.

I watched carefully her expression before I let loose the big one. "Oh where just going to go take a nice quiet trip to the cemetery." I had to cover my ears from the high pitch squeal she let out.