Angel Evolution (10 page)

T
aylor’s last class before lunch seemed to drag on and on, and eventually she and Sam distracted themselves by writing notes to each other, just like they used to do in high school. Naturally, Sam started the chain:

Sam: what r u thinking about?

Tay: lunch, u?

Sam: me 2!! can’t wait 4 pizzas.

Tay: not what i meant.

Sam: ??

Tay: not sure i can go.

Sam: why not?

Tay: i have this thing…

Sam: u have 2 go, need u 2 b my wingman.

Tay: u will b fine.

Sam: no really u need 2 come, M & J can’t come so it will b me, my hot guy and ur hot guy…2 weird!!

Tay: not sure G can come either.

Sam: why not?

Tay: not sure, just said he might not come.

Sam: i will drag u if i have 2!

Taylor couldn’t come up with a good excuse not to go to lunch so she resigned herself to the coming storm. If Sam really did like Chris, which she seemed to, then he and Gabriel would cross paths sooner or later anyway. It might as well happen sooner to get it over with. She wasn’t stupid enough to just let it happen though; a little warning to all parties might go a long way. Despite the professor’s rules against use of cell phones in the lecture hall, Taylor eased her phone to the top of her backpack, just far enough so she could see the screen while leaving it half hidden. She typed a brief text message to Chris first:

this is taylor, what the hell r u doing? i know WHAT u r and coming 2 lunch is a bad idea.

She waited in anticipation for a response. She was rewarded a few minutes later with a soft buzzing as a text message was received:

Chris: hi taylor, so nice 2 hear from u. what am i exactly? why such a bad idea?

Tay: stop being a child! u r a demon and my bf is an angel. bad idea!

Chris: i appreciate ur concern, but we r both big boys and can handle ourselves.

Tay: so stubborn…whatever, don’t say i didn’t warn u.

Chris: i won’t, see u at lunch.

Next, Taylor texted Gabriel:

Tay: hi G, wanted 2 give u a head’s up that sam is bringing a “friend” 2 lunch

Gabe: the more the merrier, why did u think i needed 2 know?

Tay: he is NOT human

Gabe: ahh, i c

Tay: r u sure u should go?

Gabe: wouldn’t miss it

Tay: why r boys so frustrating?

Gabe: DNA

Let them work it out
, Taylor thought. They would be in a public place so nothing really bad could happen, right?

W
hen their professor finally dismissed the class, both girls were starving and more than ready for lunch. They arrived at the pizza shop almost ten minutes early and grabbed a table before the lunch crowd arrived in full. Sam ordered three large pizzas for the four of them despite Taylor’s objections that it was way too much food. Sam countered with the fact that there would be two large boys that would likely eat a pie each so they could just split the third.

In their childhood, Taylor and Samantha had been to many birthday parties together, many of which had included pizza as part of the festivities. As long as she could remember, they had had the same affinity for mushroom pizza, so Sam ordered one of those and, assuming the boys would want meat, ordered a pepperoni and a meatlovers for them to share.

Taylor saw Gabriel approaching across the courtyard. He was hard to miss given that he seemed to soak up every ray of sun and shine it back out. Sam didn’t seem to notice. He walked confidently towards the shop, but every now and then his eyes darted warily from side to side, as if he was expecting a sneak attack from the demon.

Entering the shop, he spotted them in their corner booth and a big smile crossed his celebrity-like face.

“How was class?” he asked, sliding into the booth beside Taylor. He put his arm around her, but she reached back and pried if off, which elicited a frown from Gabriel.

Sam said, “Not bad, but it got a bit slow there at the end. By the time it was twelve, all I was thinking about was cheese, crust, and mushrooms. I actually started gnawing on Taylor’s arm.”

“At first it kind of hurt, but then it felt kind of good, like a massage,” Taylor replied, ignoring Gabriel’s frown.

Upon hearing Taylor’s comment, his frown turned to laughter and soon it became contagious, with all of them laughing so hard they had to hold their stomachs. Sam had made the mistake of taking a sip of her Diet Coke after she spoke and now she looked like she might spew it out. That only made them laugh harder until she was finally able to swallow the brown liquid with a loud gulp.

Shortly thereafter, the first pizza was served and Taylor started to wonder whether Christopher would chicken out. She kept it to herself, but Sam—never the quiet one—voiced what they were both thinking.

“Do you think I got stood up?” she asked.

Taylor feigned concern for a second and then said, “Only if all of the planets are in alignment and a giant meteor is about to collide with the earth, causing Armageddon.” Taylor changed from joking to serious in an instant as she touched her friend’s arm and said, “I wouldn’t worry about it, Sam, no one has ever stood you up and they would have to be crazy to do so.” In her mind she hoped that maybe Christopher Lyon
was
crazy enough.

“Aww, thanks, Tay. And you were spot on with that one, he’s heading across the Square right now!”

Gabriel and Taylor turned to look through the glass window, and sure enough, there was a dark figure moving towards the restaurant.

“Game on,” Gabriel said under his breath. Taylor kicked him under the table, but he just grinned. It had felt like she had kicked a telephone pole.

Christopher walked in with his usual easy smile. Locating the group in the corner, he slid into the booth next to Sam. Taylor noticed how strange it was to see Gabriel and Christopher together—one sucking the light out of the room and the other contributing to the light. Demon and Angel. Dark and Light. Evil and Good. Beautiful and Beautiful. Taylor nearly laughed out loud at her thoughts. At least they had something in common: they were both uncommonly handsome.

Settling in to her role, Sam started the conversation. “Chris, meet Gabriel. Gabriel…this is Christopher.”

“I think I’ve seen you around, it’s very nice to meet you,” Chris said.

“Yeah, I think we’ve
bumped
into each other before,” Gabriel replied. He added, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

Both of their eyebrows were lowered into scowls that were bordering on glares. Their faces certainly didn’t match the cordiality of their words. This was one of those numerous times when having Sam around was invaluable. She would almost certainly keep the conversation light and moving.

On cue, Sam said, “So, Chris…Taylor said she met you near the freshman dorms, so I assume this is your first year, too?”

Taylor glanced at Gabriel when Sam said this to see if he reacted to the fact that she had already met Christopher and had failed to tell him. And she couldn’t pretend to be ignorant as to his nature, because she had warned him about Chris coming to lunch, so Gabriel would know that she knew he was a demon. Gabriel glanced at her, but maintained his poker face. He was either unsurprised or hiding it well.

“That’s right. I haven’t decided on my major yet, so I may be here awhile.” He chuckled. “Although that is not necessarily a bad thing as college is pretty cool so far.”

Taylor said, “I thought you were Pre-Med?” Gabriel winced, as if by speaking to the demon she had caused him physical pain.

“That’s what I’m planning, but it’s supposed to be pretty tough,” Chris said.

“Wow, you want to be a doctor?” Sam exclaimed. Gabriel’s frown deepened and Taylor kicked his tree-trunk-like leg again.

Ignoring Taylor, Gabriel said, “I hear that 75% of first year Pre-Med students switch majors.”

“I think I can handle it,” Chris said.

Sam seemed to sense the change in mood and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “Tay and I were just saying how awesome it is to finally have some freedom. It’s not bad having a meal plan either. Did you know we can use our meal cards to eat anywhere on campus?” Sam said.

“Yeah, that’s sweet,” Chris said. “I’m going to try to limit myself to pizza only once per week. The campus Creamery’s a different story though, I may be hitting that up on a daily basis,” he laughed.

“Tay and I have already been there about ten times so we may be joining you!” Sam said.

Gabriel remained silent, intently watching the exchange between Sam and Chris. Taylor hoped he would stay quiet for the rest of lunch; in his current mood he could only cause problems by speaking. Chris and Sam were clearly hitting it off and it was better to just let nature take its course.
Her best friend and the demon—how nice
, she thought.

The other two pizzas arrived and the conversation slowed as everyone dove in. Sighs of “mmm, this is good,” and “that hits the spot,” was the extent of the speaking for a few minutes. After two or three slices the girls were nearly full and it became an eating contest between the two boys. Each pizza had ten slices and after Taylor and Sam only finished off half of their pizza there were 25 slices to split between Gabriel and Chris. Both guys were big eaters and 12 slices each later there was only one left.

“You can have it, Chris,” Gabriel offered. There was a twinge of forced politeness in his voice.

“Oh no, it’s all yours, my
friend
,” Chris replied coolly.

“No, that’s okay, I’m full,” Gabriel countered, clearly trying to show he was the better man.

“Oh cool,” Chris said, grabbing the pizza and devouring it in three massive bites.

The girls giggled as Gabriel rolled his eyes and mumbled, “That’s mature,” under his breath. Chris grinned widely and rubbed his belly, causing the girls to laugh even more.

With the pizza gone and afternoon classes beginning shortly, each eater swiped their meal cards for a fourth of the cost of the pizza and then exited into the Square.

“Chris, can I speak to you for a minute?” Gabriel asked. Taylor warned Gabriel off with her eyes, but he ignored her and said, “See you ladies later.” He tried to kiss Taylor on the cheek, but she dodged it.

Chris waited patiently.

Feeling like she had no control over anything, Taylor stalked off with Sam, who was smiling after her first “date” with Chris.

After the girls were far enough away, Gabriel said in a hushed tone, “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

“Wow, I’m not sure what you are talking about considering I just met you,” Chris said playfully.

Gabriel was not amused. “I thought I made it clear when I was cleaning the dirt with your face that you should stay away from Taylor. Do you need me to make it clearer?”

Chris continued to look amused. “First of all, if I remember correctly and I think I do, you said to stay away from ‘the girl’, which could have meant a lot of different girls so I wasn’t sure exactly who you meant. Second, I was there to hang out with Sam anyway and Taylor just happened to be there, too. And third, I can hang out with whomever I choose; it
is
college, our chance to be free.”

Gabriel glared at him, looking like he was ready to pounce.

Chris continued: “If you are planning on spending much time with Taylor, you had better get used to me being around, because I like Sam and I hope to be spending a lot of time with her. Plus, I need to keep an eye on you. I wouldn’t want you to do anything with ‘the girl’ that you would regret later.”

Unexpectedly, Gabriel’s face softened, his eyes relaxed, and he said, “Look, Chris, I think we got off on the wrong foot. We both know that we are born as natural enemies, but now that we are at the same college just trying to have a good time, let’s just forget about all of this and start over.”

The demon’s amusement gave way to annoyance. He said, “Coming from the one that brutally attacked me when I wasn’t ready for it, I think I’ll assume that was a lie. I know exactly what you are doing and why you are doing it. You have no interest in Taylor. You are trying to use the girl and I am trying to stop you. And I will.”

Chris expected an explosion of rage from Gabriel and maybe even a challenge to go settle this now, but instead he got something completely different.

Gabriel’s face remained passive. “Look, man. I didn’t expect to, but I actually do care about Taylor. I swear that’s the truth.” Gabriel’s face projected the innocence of a child.

“I’d like to believe you,” Chris said. “I really would. I would like to believe that there is even the tiniest bit of good within the angel race, but it is going to take more than just words for you to prove it.”

“I will prove it,” Gabriel said. He turned and walked away.