Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One) (29 page)

“Because you make me a better man,” he said, gazing into my eyes.

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to me to kiss him.  I could feel his lip quiver as I caught him by surprise.  I had finally caught him off guard.

“I should get to class,” I said to him with a pouty look on my face.

“I’ll be at your house at five tonight.  I’ll try to learn some wrestling moves,” he said while lightly laughing.

“You better,” I said, laughing back.

I gave him a hug and started walking to class.  I ran into Tawny on the way and we talked while walking to math.

“So, I see you and James are cozy again,” she said, smiling.

“Yeah, it’s going pretty good,” I said, trying to contain my excitement.

“You two are really great together.  I bet you’ll end up getting married.”

“I sure do hope so.”

We walked into Mr. Oliveri’s class and took our seats.  The class flew by quickly with no problems.  We had a pop quiz that everybody groaned about, but I knew I aced it.  The formulas were floating around my head as if I had mastered them completely.  I knew I would get a great grade.

I impatiently rushed through the rest of the day.  All I wanted to do was get home and get ready for James.  I wanted him to be blown away when I came down those stairs.  I wanted him to think I was the most beautiful girl in the world. 

I got home to my mom starting to prepare dinner.

“You’re cooking already?” I asked her.

“Of course, dear.  I want to make a nice big meal and I had to start now to be done in time.”

“I told you not to make a lot of food.  I don’t want to upset him.”

“I’m sorry, dear, I forgot.”

“Whatever,” I said as I stormed upstairs.

It made sense that this night was already ruined before it started.  I went upstairs and started getting ready.  I was determined to do my hair, makeup and nails to blow him away.  I wanted to look like a person he had never seen before.  I wanted to take his breath away.

As I was finishing getting ready, I could hear a knock at the door downstairs.  I looked at the clock to see it was already five.  I quickly finished my hair and went down the stairs to see James standing at the landing with my parents.  He looked up at me coming down, and I could see the look in his eyes.  He was smitten with me.  I succeeded in taking his breath away.

“You look beautiful,” he said in awe.

“Thank you.  You look handsome,” I said, trying to hold back my gigantic smile.

“James, this is my father Arnold and my mother Katherine.”

“Nice to meet you both,” he said as he went to shake their hands.

I panicked but looked to see he was wearing gloves.  After shaking their hands, he casually took them off.  He really had thought of everything to make this night go great.

“Juliet, I need a little help setting up.  Could you please help me?” my mother asked.

I went in the kitchen and left James with my father in the living room.  I could overhear them talking about wrestling and how the season was going.  James didn’t avoid any questions asked and actually surprised me.  He knew about wrestling and I could tell by the conversation that my father was falling in love with him as he vibrantly talked with James.

“Time for dinner,” I told them as I waited in the doorway.

My father and James both stood up, laughing, and walked to the kitchen.  James smiled at me as he walked in.  Nothing could ruin this night and this dinner.  I knew everything was going to turn out all right.

We sat down to a ton of food on the table.  I felt a little nervous, but James tapped his foot against mine and smiled.  He could tell I was nervous and he was nonverbally telling me not to be. 

We all put some food on our plates, but James had more meat than anything else.

“A man that loves his meat,” my father said.  “You’re a man after my own heart,” he said, laughing.

James politely laughed as my mother started asking him questions.

“So James, do you live close by?” she asked.

“I live about a half hour away,” he replied.

“Oh my, that is far.  Do you drive to school then?”

“Yes I do.  It’s a long drive, but the education I receive is worth it.”

My parents looked at each in approval.  They were impressed that such a well put-together boy was there and that I had landed somebody like him.  I could tell they approved of the person he was.  If only they really knew.

“How is your season going?” my mother asked.

“It’s going well.  We are doing a great job.  Everybody pitches in and does their very best.  Hopefully we will make state this year and we can bring home the trophy.”

“Oh, I hope you do.  We will have to come to one of your matches sometime.”

James and I both casually looked at each other with a look of caution.  We didn’t want the conversation to progress any further in that direction.  If they showed up to a match and asked where he was, we could be looking at doing a lot of damage control.

Dinner progressed without a hitch after that mishap.  James ate some food, although not all of it.  I could tell that it disgusted him to eat it all, but he did it for me.  He wanted to blend in and not give any suspicion to anybody about who he was.

“Do you want any more, James?” my mother asked with a smile.

“Oh, no thank you, Mrs. LaVoe.  I have to watch my weight,” he politely said.

“Such a dedicated boy,” my mother said as she started clearing the table.

“Come on, James, let’s let the women clean up while we go talk sports,” my father said as he motioned for James to follow him.

I winked at James and started to help my mother clean up the table.

“James sure is a nice boy,” my mother said as we were cleaning the dishes.

“Yeah, he’s great,” I replied with a smile.

“Do you see this going anywhere serious?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” I replied nonchalantly.

In reality I was ready to marry James now.  I would drop everything and marry that boy if he asked me.  I was ready to devote my life to him and be the perfect wife I had always dreamt I could be.  It was just a matter of time before I could make this dream happen.

After my mother and I were done washing dishes, we walked into the living room to join the boys.  My father was laughing and having a great time talking to James.  He had no inkling at all that a vampire was sitting in his living room.  If only he realized they were normal people, maybe he wouldn’t try hunting and killing them.

We sat there laughing and talking about school and life before it started getting late.

“I should probably get going soon,” James said. 

“Yeah, it’s getting late and you still have to drive home,” I replied.

“James, you are welcome here any time,” my father said with a huge grin on his face.

“Thank you, Mr. LaVoe, I had a great time.”

“Please, call me Arnold!” my father exclaimed with excitement.

James was like the son he never had, and he only knew him for a couple hours.

I got up to walk James to the door.  He shook my parents’ hands as they stood with their arms around each other, smiling like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Just as James was putting his jacket and gloves on, there was a knock on the front door.

“Who could that be at this hour?” asked my father.

I opened the door and was speechless.  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I stood in complete shock as my parents nudged in to see who was at the door.

It was Marcus.  He was at my front door and he was a different person.  He was changed.  He looked human. 

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Book Two, Homecoming, is located here:

Homecoming Book Two