Aftermath (24 page)

“There are people
after you, Adriana. People are finding out about you thanks to the
Boudreaux. Pretty soon it won’t just be one diving accident here
and there. It will come at you full force.”

“What do you have
against them?” I studied her. “And yes, the dive accident. Where
were you then?”

“You have to know I
would never truly let anything happen to you. Luke was there.”

“Oh, so they are only
good enough when it comes to protecting me?” I scoffed mockingly.

“Think about how you
felt underwater that night. Scared. Helpless. Hoping for a savior?”

My forehead creased as
I thought about it. She was right. I felt defenseless. And I hated
it.

“You will never have
to feel that way again.”

I looked away, running
my fingers across the leaves of the nearest fern. “I’m not sure.”
I couldn’t stay angry with her forever. But in a way I was not yet
ready to forgive her, either.

“I could help you and
you could help me.”

I looked at her, her
brown eyes looking surprisingly vulnerable. “Help
you
?”
How would I be able to help her?

“You could help me be
a mother again…”

My heart leaped. How
long had I wished to hear that? A sliver of hope started to form
inside me. I could live with her and still go to school and see
Hayden. We could even ride to school together in the mornings—

“…and stay away
from the Boudreauxes.”

Wait, what? “What
makes you think I’d want that?”

“I’m just trying to
do what’s best for you.”

Just when I thought we
were on the same page… just when I thought things were starting to
mend…“I am
so
tired of arguing about this. Hayden was here
for me when you weren’t. I love him and I won’t abandon him.”

She looked at me with
the same amount of stubbornness I was giving her. “But will he not
abandon you?”

I sucked in a breath,
gasping like I had just been punched in the stomach. I blinked fast
to try to hold back angry tears. I thought of a million retorts but
instead I just turned on my heel and walked away. Rachel hadn’t
stopped me.

I furiously looked
around the lobby for Hayden. He had been acting so cold to me and now
he had disappeared?
“But will he not abandon you?”
My
mother’s words haunted me. I finally went back into the courtyard
and leaned against a pillar in defeat. I hung my head but refused to
shed any tears over the argument with my mother—Rachel.
When had
I started to refer to her as otherwise?

“It’s your party,
you can cry if you want to,” a surprisingly gentle voice beckoned
me.

A gasp escaped me and a
smile tugged on my lips. “What are you doing here?” My eyes lit
up at the sight of Luke in a tux. He was cleaned up, his hat gone and
his hair charmingly slicked. With his hat not casting shadows over
his eyes, they looked incredibly bright. Flecks of emerald swirled
with a honey brown.

“I am hoping your
dance card isn’t full.” He gave me a brilliant, boyish smile.

I snorted.
If I
could only find my date.
Then I remembered I didn’t want him
here. “You promised me you wouldn’t be here.”

“And
you
promised me that we could be friends and yet you ignore me. I figured
this was the only way to get you to talk to me.” He was still
playful.

Luke.
I gave a
little sigh.
Stop having a crush on him!
I ordered myself
harshly. But like before, just as I was feeling lonely and about to
lose it, he was there for me.

He looked down at me in
a way that made me hold my breath. “One dance. And then I’ll
leave.”

I looked around the
courtyard and into the lobby one last time. My mouth twisted as I
thought about it; Hayden was still nowhere to be found.

I shook my head, “I
can’t.”

His smile fell. “Can’t
or won’t?”

“Both.”
Where
was Hayden to whisk me away?

“Stop looking for
Hayden, he’s not here,” Luke couldn’t hide the irritation in
his voice.

“What do you mean
he’s not here?”

“I saw him rushing
out of here before I came.”

My throat tightened.
“He wouldn’t leave me here.” He must have had a very good
reason.

“I don’t care what
you are, Ana. My feelings for you haven’t changed since I found out
what/who you are.”

“I wish everyone
would just stop telling me how to feel!” My fists were in balls at
my side. I was annoyed that the things my mother and now Luke were
feeding me contradicted what I knew about Hayden. I knew him, I
trusted him. I was tired of doubting it and tired of the struggle
between what I saw and how I felt. Because even though I knew Hayden
loved me, his actions said otherwise.

“Then don’t think,”
his hand slipped into mine as he pulled me to the dance floor, “just
feel.” He pulled me flush up against his body and it was the
closest we’d been since our kiss.

“Luke…” I
protested as one of his hands entwined with mine while the other slid
to the small of my back.

“Just one dance,”
he shushed me, “and then I’ll leave.”

I looked around me, to
the balcony this time. One dance would be harmless. I had yet to
sense Christine and Mr. Christian wouldn’t be here. My abilities as
a Hunter weren’t developed yet. Those dreams were probably just a
fluke. For the first time in a while, I had hope.

“Just one dance, then
I have to find Nikki and Marie.”

He looked down at me
with a triumphant smile that was dripping with pure male
satisfaction.

My fingers dug into his
shoulders and he twirled me with him.

A blush spread across
my cheeks as I clumsily stepped on his feet. “Sorry. I’m not a
very good dancer.”

“You don’t have to
be. All you need is a really great lead. Luckily, I am.”

A laugh escaped my lips
as he continued to lead us.

“It’s good to see
you smiling and laughing. I haven’t seen that Ana for a while.”

Consequently my smile
fell. “Yeah, well, there’s kind of a lot going on in my life.”

He tried to start
talking again, but I cut him off, afraid of where this was going.
“Did you want to talk or did you want to dance?”

“Both.” He gave me
that crooked, playful smile again. “The best part of dancing is,”
then he leaned in to whisper in my ear, “that you can do this.”

I tried to pull back,
to put space between us but he held me in place with an unrelenting
grip.

“You can talk
intimately, whisper seductive things into your partner’s ear
without the room suspecting a thing. You have an excuse to touch each
other, to be close, to have your bodies move in unison. And it’s
all wrapped up in a socially acceptable package.”

I swallowed. “Or
dancing can be a performance, an act if you will. Giving the ability
of the dancer to be someone else if not just for the length of a
song. It’s also a courtesy, one that when asked of properly should
not be refused. Much like a handshake. But when it’s over, you part
your ways, leaving behind any connection you had with it.”

I felt his deep laugh
against my body. “But much like other things… you never forget
your first dance.”

I realized he was
right. This was my first dance. And it was supposed to be with
Hayden. It was supposed to be
our
first dance. I felt cold as
Luke finally released me and stepped back. I looked up at him, my
forehead puckered in confusion until I realized the song had ended
and our dance was over.

I smoothed out my dress
and took a deep breath. “You got what you wanted, now go.”

I could tell Luke was
stung, probably by the coldness in my tone. “I’ll go,” he
looked at me sideways. “But I am far from having gotten what I
wanted.”

I exhaled a breath of
relief when he easily walked away. I turned to go find my friends
when I came face-to-face with Nikki. “Oh hey, I was just going to
look for you.”

“Found ya first, I
was just waiting for you to finish your dance.” She waggled her
eyebrows at me.

“What? Stop, no. It’s
not even like that.” I had to change the subject. “Where’s your
date?”

I followed Nikki off
the dance floor. “Ugh, don’t even get me started. I should have
just come alone. He left me and has been dancing with that Bethany
from my calculus class ever since!”

“Seriously?”

“Never should have
came with a freshman…”

I wrapped an arm around
her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Even though she tried to use
humor to cover her hurt feelings, her eyes looked sad. “Screw ‘em.”

Nikki lifted up an
imaginary cup in her hand, “Screw ‘em,” she said with a nod.

“Where’s Marie?”

“She was swept off
into the night by a mysterious gentleman.”

“Really?” Nikki and
I were smiling at each other, excited for Marie and anticipating
hearing all about the new guy.

The music died down and
we turned toward the DJ. One of the teachers was in front holding up
his arms and directing everyone back into the lobby for hors
d'oeuvres and the coronation. Nikki gripped my arms and squealed. I
smiled, tried to be excited with her but the fact was that even
though I was surrounded by a hundred people, I still felt out of
place; I felt lonely.

“Why, aren’t you
just a sight for sore eyes!”

I whipped around at the
sound of the warm, southern drawl. “Mr. Christian!” With
realization, all the blood drained from my face. “Mr. Christian…”

He wrapped his arms
around me in a hug and pressed a scratchy kiss to my cheek as I stood
there paralyzed in fear. Why was Mr. Christian here? He wasn’t
supposed to be here.

“What— are you
doing here?” I realized that was the third time I'd asked that
question to someone tonight.

“You ain’t happy to
see me?” He laughed heartily, “I’m teasin’. Didn’t your dad
tell ya?”

“Tell me what?”

He put his arm around
me, “the school called him looking for volunteers to help out with
this but he had to watch Brittany last minute so he asked if I could
come for him. Since you have been saving my behind at the dive shop,
I thought this was the least I could do to repay you. Besides, I
didn’t want to miss seeing you in dress.”

“Hi, I’m Nikki,
Ana’s friend.” Nikki saved me by cutting in and taking over with
her mega-watt smile and relaxed charm.

While Mr. Christian and
Nikki talked, I studied him in horror. His face was lit up in
innocent joy. He'd even cleaned up, wearing a brown suit and suede
shoes. He had a
“Hi, I’m Christian”
name tag on his
chest. Written underneath his name in bold, taunting letters read
“volunteer”.

No, no. This was
fine. It would be okay.
I nodded to myself. Luke had left. I
would send Mr. Christian away, it
will
be fine.

“Let’s go, I want
to get a good table.” Nikki tried to rush us into the lobby.

“Wait!” I
inappropriately cried out, then managed to prevent my hand from
clamping over my mouth at the outburst. “I mean. Mr. Christian—you
don’t have to stay, really its fine. It looks like they have more
than enough volunteers helping out.” I put my hand around his back
and tried to move him toward the other exit.

“Aw, I don’t mind,
sweetheart. It looks like a good time anyhow.”

Okay, so he wasn’t
leaving with any subtleness.

“Yes, and you have to
stay and see Ana crowned Queen.”

I groaned internally
but refrained from shooting Nikki a look since she didn’t know what
had happened in my dream.

Christian turned to me
looking at me with a renewed brightness in his eyes. His mouth was
popped open in a silent gasp. “Now I wouldn’t miss that for the
world! Your dad didn’t tell me nothin’ about that.”

I brushed it off and
tried to move him along. “Oh, it’s nothing really. Nothing is for
certain. Besides, it’s going to be boring. A lot of waiting around
and long speeches.”

“I don’t mind
really, thanks for looking out for me though.” And then he
immediately started walking to the lobby with Nikki.

I hesitated, out of
shock, and then struggled to keep up.
This couldn’t be
happening.
“Mr. Christian, I don’t really think it’s a good
idea.”

Nikki looked at me
quizzically over her shoulder. I tried to warn her but Mr. Christian
ignored my protests and held out an arm for Nikki to link with.

I took a deep breath to
calm my rising panic. What could I do? I couldn’t physically force
him to leave.
But Hayden could…
I looked around for him,
knowing he could help me. I wiped my forehead with my hand when I
still couldn’t find him. I began to feel a little dizzy.
Marie!
I remembered Marie’s newly discovered powers and hoped she could
help. I walked around the room this time, zig-zagging through the
students waiting to enter the lobby. Why was it that everyone who
could help me was missing?

A pang shot through my
heart at the realization that Hayden had left me alone. Defeated, I
walked in with everyone else, spotting Mr. Christian and Nikki at a
table with three other students. I kept watching the room even as I
sat. Luke had left. That was the only thing I was relying on.

I tried to return the
smile Mr. Christian gave me as the lights dimmed in the lobby and the
principal took the stage. After introductions, we had several
performances and traditional dancers float by us as we ate. I picked
at my dessert, too worried sick to be able to stomach anything. I
watched Nikki laugh and Mr. Christian talk to the other staff member
at our table, enjoying himself. I kept watching the room, miserably.
But as the minutes ticked by I began to relax, wondering if what I
really dreamt was right. What if it didn’t have anything to do with
predicting the future? My mother had said my abilities were slowly
coming back. What if I just had a regular nightmare? With everything
going on with Luke and my roller coaster of emotions, it was
completely possible.