Dominion (25 page)

He shook his head. “I knew nothing about this because if I did, I’d have brought a suit, too.”

I wasn’t in a mood to party, so I said, “I’m sorry I—”

Tristan cut me off and said, “I think a pool party is what we all need—to live for a moment.”

I wanted to say no, and I tried to, but they all started chanting, “Come on, come on!” until I accepted.

After school, Ben picked us all up and drove to my house. When we entered the enclosure surrounding the indoor swimming pool, Morgan brought in more food and drinks than we could ever finish. Music already blasted from the speakers. I figured Morgan knew whether she liked it or not, we were going to make noise, so she might as well start it.

Jake and Danny jumped right into the pool. Sarah started talking about how she needed to approach the water with grace or her hair would be a mess. I sat laughing as Tristan tried to reason with Sarah to give a swim cap a chance. It took awhile, but Tristan won, and Sarah decided to wear a cap. She stepped into the pool shortly after that, and it didn’t take long for her to start chasing Danny and Jake because they splashed her.

“
Abby, aren’t you going in the water?” Tristan asked.

“
No, I’m fine.” I stood and walked toward the refreshment table for a soda. When I turned around, Tristan was behind me. Being that close to him caused my heart to race.

“
Why not? It looks like fun.”

“
Then why aren’t you swimming?” I asked. “You can take off your shirt and just jump in.” Worst suggestion I ever made, because the moment the words came out, Tristan pulled his shirt over his head.

“
That’s…” I wanted to say I didn’t mean it literally, but the words wouldn’t come out. My eyes were locked on his body. My face felt warm, and my heart rate flew out of control. For a second, I imagined tracing my fingers along his hard stomach, feeling the heat of his ripped body, and…

Oh, my God!

“
I don’t like water,” I mumbled, spouting out the first thing that came to mind, and Tristan laughed. “I meant I don’t feel like swimming.”

He took the soda from my hand and put it back on the table. “You sure about that?” He then took my hand and pulled me toward the pool.

“
I’m as sure as—”

The rest of my words never came out. Tristan and I hit the water. I tried to hold my breath, but I quickly resurfaced, gasping for air.

“
Tristan!” I smacked him on the chest. “That was so—” I realized my hand was still on his chest, and he was still holding my shoulders from helping me swim to the surface.

And then I started chanting in my head:
He’s just a friend. He’s just a friend. He’s just a friend. He’s just a…

“
Tristan, don’t you know pool water isn’t good for the hair!” Sarah saved me as she rushed over.

When Tristan turned to her, I pulled away from him and found my breath. When my eyes met his again, I could almost swear I saw a smile of satisfaction tugging his lips, as if he were happy that I reacted to him the way I did.

BROKEN ANGEL

“
Silence makes me want to scream.

Screaming makes me angry.

Anger makes me feel lonely.

Loneliness makes me want to fell in love.

But love leads to a broken heart,

and a broken heart screams until there’s only silence.”

Melody Manful

š›

I
spent Saturday with Tristan, talking about places we’d been and things we’d seen. Later that day, we joined my friends for pizza. Sarah went on and on about her
Tristan likes me
theory, and although I kept telling her Tristan and I were just friends, she didn’t believe it.

When I came home, my mother asked me about Tristan, too, and thanks to Sarah, who kept texting me about him, my mother had something to base her suspicions on. I told her like I told Sarah, that Tristan was just a friend, but she didn’t believe it. She kept telling me how I lit up when I talked about Tristan. I couldn’t tell either Sarah or my mother what was in my heart, so I decided to let them carry on with their theory.

Sunday was all about my mother and me. We spent the entire day together. We cooked, watched a movie, and read some news about us on the gossip sites and laughed at the ridiculous rumors. It took some time, but it finally seemed as if the deaths of my father and Felix were now fading aches, and my mother and I were a functioning family again.

When Monday morning arrived, I felt all right. I hadn’t thought of Gideon once during the whole weekend, so I knew I could put him and his angel world out of my mind—possibly forever.

“
Napoleon not only—” Mr. Bernard started, but he was distracted by the class door creaking open.

I didn’t have to look at the door to know who stood behind it, because my heart started pounding. Even though he had been far from my mind, my body still reacted wildly to his close proximity.

“
Mr. Chase,” Mr. Bernard said, looking at his watch, “you’re late.”

I wished a million other people stood at that door other than Gideon.

“
Traffic,” Gideon answered. I refused to look at the door and see him.

“
See me after class,” Mr. Bernard said, and then he continued teaching.

I didn’t move my eyes away from my desk during classes that morning. I forced myself to think about anything but Gideon. When the bell rung for lunch, I started packing my books and supplies to get ready for the next class.

“
Gideon,” I heard Jake calling, “man, where have you been?” he asked. “We missed you.”

“
I took a sick day,” Gideon responded.

“
It was more like a sick
week
,” Sarah said, and still I refused to look at them.

I could feel Tristan, who was sitting beside me, looking at me. I knew he wanted to say something from the way he stared, but he didn’t.

“
Lunch time! People, are you coming?” Danny asked.

Tristan stood and walked over to my friends. I was sure they were gathered together with Gideon. I kept my eyes focused on my hands as I finished packing my bag.

“
Abby, you coming?” Jake asked from beside me.

I looked at him. “Hmm…actually, I’m not feeling so well. I’m going to call Ben to come take me home,” I said and took out my phone and dialed Ben.

“
You’re sick?” Sarah asked. She put her hand on my forehead as if trying to measure my temperature. “But, you were fine before.”

“
And now I’m sick,” I pulled my school bag over my shoulder. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” With my head bowed, I rushed out of the classroom.

When I stepped outside, Tristan was already there.

“
You don’t have to leave. He won’t hurt you. I won’t allow him to,” he assured me.

Answering him would mean talking about Gideon, which I didn’t want to do, so I said nothing and stared at my feet. Tristan walked with me outside and stood beside me until Ben pulled up to the curb. Tristan waved as the limo drove away with me tucked safely inside.

When I entered my room, Tristan was there, too. He didn’t say a word, and I said nothing in return. To make myself busy, I decided to do some of the homework I’d missed from the days I wasn’t in school.

I reached into my bag, and when I saw my history book, memories of Gideon came rushing into my head. I remembered the first time he addressed me and how annoyed and scared I was of him.

I found myself smiling at that memory, and when I realized what I was doing, I became angry with myself. I threw the book across the room. It hit a portrait of my mother and me, knocking it down. I crossed the room to pick it up.

The frame was cracked. I placed it back on my night table, beside the rose Gideon gave me. Thanks to Tristan, the rose was still as beautiful as it was the day it was given to me.

When I saw the rose, I became angrier. I was angry at Gideon for making me trust him and at the way he hurt me. I grabbed my bedside clock, clutching it tightly in my fingers.

“
Abigail, stop!” Tristan shouted, taking the clock away from me. When I looked around me, everything that had been on my table was on the floor, and the glass covering a picture frame of my parents and me was shattered.

“
Just leave me alone!” I reached for the vase holding the rose and dropped it on the floor. The vase shattered into a handful of pieces, and then I reached for the perfect rose. With frenzied fingers, I started tearing it into pieces.

“
Abigail!” Tristan pushed me away from the pieces of the rose and vase on the floor. “Calm down,” he said, looking straight into my eyes. “You’re fine.”

“
No, I’m not!” I shouted, pushing away from him. “I’m not fine. I hate myself!”

“
You hate yourself?” His voice was full of surprise.

“
Yes, I hate myself.” My heart beat like a violent drum inside me. “I ruin everything. I just can’t get anything right. I killed my father. And it’s because of me that those innocent people were killed the day of the concert. Gideon was trying to kill
me
and—”

“
You didn’t hurt those people,” Tristan said quietly.

But everything happening around me seemed to be my fault. If I hadn’t sneaked out to that concert, those people would still be alive. If I hadn’t shouted in the car, my father would still be alive.

“
Because Gideon said he killed them?” I asked, annoyed. Shivers ran through my body at the mention of his name. “Then why do I feel like this? I’m supposed to hate him. Believe me, I’ve tried to hate him, but…I can’t.”

“
But I thought you said—”

I cut him off. “I know what I said at the graveyard.” I remembered the pain from that terrible storm after I called Gideon a killer and a murderer and said I never wanted to see him again because I hated him.

“
Then why are you—?”

I couldn’t let him finish. “I don’t hate him, Tristan!” I shouted, finally letting go of the terrible secret that seemed to burn a hole in my chest. I wanted to hate Gideon—I thought I did—but I didn’t. I couldn’t. All the anger I felt was for me, not for him. “I tried to hate him and pretend that he didn’t exist. I tried to tell myself to forget him, that he’s a monster.” With every word I said, I inched closer and closer to the point of no return. “I did everything I could, but I don’t hate Gideon…I’m in love with him.”

KRYPTONITE

*Gideon*

“
I swear it! I didn’t do it!

Falling in love was all him!

It was my stupid heart! He did it all on his own!”

Melody Manful

š›

I
 
knew now how it felt to be lonely.

Seriously, why weren’t evil people born with an immune button so they could shut out the feelings they didn’t want?

“
So what have you got to say for yourself?” Valoel seemed to be everywhere nowadays. Right now, she was staring me down like a schoolteacher. “Why are you doing this—killing every single creature you see here in Grands?” She shook her head sadly. “Do you really think you can get over Abigail by taking innocent souls?”

I frowned and flew out my window without answering her. She could have my room, just like I had given Earth to Abigail. They could have everything I had. I just wanted my life back, my normal life—the life I had that made me not care, the life that didn’t make me long for a human, especially one who hated me.

Yes, I knew how it felt to be lonely. To feel like if I were to yell in front of a crowd, they wouldn’t hear me. I hated that feeling, but I couldn’t get rid of it. Falling in love was one of the most ridiculous experiences that had ever happened to me.

Wait a minute…it was the
only
ridiculous thing that had ever happened to me.

“
I’m guessing you’re not going to answer me,” Valoel said from beside me.

“
Stop following me!” I stopped flying. I may not have known where I was going, but I was one hundred percent sure it didn’t involve my little sister.

It had been two weeks since I last saw Abigail. I did go back to school today, but it didn’t count because I didn’t even get to see her face due to the fact that she fled upon my arrival. I didn’t blame her for telling me to leave her alone or for not wanting anything to do with me, because in spite of everything, my actions led to her father’s death. I went to Earth this morning to tell Abigail that I loved her.

Yes, I said it. Sue me!

But now it seemed like it had been a bad idea.

“
It wasn’t a bad idea,” Valoel said. “I’m sure she misses you.”

“
She hates me,” I whispered. “She faked being sick and left school today because of me. If that’s not hate, I don’t know what is.”