Eden (19 page)

20

I woke up around nine the next morning.  Rolling out of bed, I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a shower.  The hot water woke me up completely and by the time I got dressed, I was alert and ready to face the day.

Heading downstairs, I was greeted by the aroma of bacon and eggs.  My mother was cooking breakfast?  She only made breakfast on special days; did I forget a birthday or something?  Entering the kitchen, my parents were seated at the table.

“Good morning,” my mother beamed.

“Good morning,” I returned, “what’s up with the breakfast?”

“Can’t a mother cook for her family?” she asked with mock insult, “I want to make sure my loved ones start the day right.”

My father smirked, “She’s just jealous because Eden cooks for you all the time.”

My mother threw an irritated look at my father, “Don’t pay any attention to him and enjoy your breakfast.”

Filling my plate with bacon and eggs I couldn’t help but compare this to Eden’s breakfast yesterday.  There really was no comparison, while my mother’s food was good; Eden’s was amazing.

“I forgot to thank you,” I said to my mom between mouthfuls, “for letting me take Eden to see the fireworks last night.”

“No problem,” my mother assured me, “she is such a nice girl.”

“Thanks Mom,” I said, blushing.

“So what are your plans for today?” my father asked.

“I was going to see the guys this morning and meet up with Eden in the afternoon,” I told him.

“She’s got you on a short leash,” my father laughed.

“Can you blame me?” I laughed back, thinking of Eden’s beauty.

My father started to reply, but I could see my mother shoot him a dirty look and he thought better of it.

“I’m not the only one on a short leash,” I said laughing harder.

It made my mother laugh, too.  I figured that I had better get out of there fast, before my father could recover.  I grabbed my cell phone and ran out the front door.  Heading down my front lawn, I dialed Matt’s number; he picked up on the second ring.

“What’s up?” he asked in greeting.

“I was just wondering how you guys are doing,” I asked in a cautious tone.

“You mean about the whole Eden incident?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “I just wanted to make sure that you guys are cool with it.”

“We’re cool,” he reassured me, “what she can do doesn’t change who she is.”

“I’m glad,” I said in relief, “I was afraid that you guys would act all strange around Eden.”

“We certainly aren’t going to pick any fights with her,” he laughed, “but other than that, everything’s ok.”

“Great,” I said, “What are you guys doing today?”

“I’m heading over to Kyle’s,” Matt said, “Drake’s already there.  He is hooked on ‘20 to Life.’  I think Kyle is sick of it already.”

“I’ll meet you there,” I said.

“Ok,” he answered, “see you later.”

After I ended the call, I dialed Eden’s number.

“Good morning, handsome,” she answered in a cheerful voice.

“Hi, beautiful,” I countered, “I’m heading over to Kyle’s right now, can I come over afterwards?”

“Sure,” she said, “I don’t have any plans today; we can have a late lunch if you want.”

“That sounds great,” I said honestly, “I’ll call you later.”

“Good luck,” she said before hanging up.

Minutes later I was knocking on Kyle’s front door.  Kyle answered the door, “Hey what’s up?” he asked.

“Nothing, I just heard that you guys were hanging out today,” I told him, entering the house.

“Yeah, they’re in my room,” Kyle called as he closed the door.  Entering Kyle’s room, Drake and Matt both looked up.

“Yo,” Matt called, turning his attention quickly back to the game they were playing.

Drake grunted a greeting as if his concentration couldn’t be broken for even a second.  I waited until they were done with their game before I asked the question that had been nagging me since last night.

“Are you guys really cool with Eden?” I asked in a low voice.

Matt, of course, was the first to answer, “I have no problem with it.  It’s kind of cool, actually,” he said smiling, “You’ll grow old but she will pretty much stay the same.  If you guys are together for a long time, it could look pretty perverted.”

“What the?” Drake broke in, “I didn’t think of that.  That’s going too far, she’ll always be as hot as she is now even when you are an old turd?  It’s just not fair!”

We all laughed at that.

“I’m cool with it,” Kyle said when the laughter died down; “It will take some getting used to, though.”

“I know,” I admitted, “it’s a lot to deal with.”

“Dude, is it even safe?” Drake broke in again.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“You saw what she did,” he pointed out, “she’s super strong, she could snap you in two without even thinking about it.  What if she gets mad at you or something?”

“I’m sure that she can control herself,” I told him.

“How can you be sure?” he reasoned, “She said so herself that she doesn’t have a lot of experience dealing with humans; one slip and you could be gonzo.”

It was a valid point, but one that I didn’t care to think about.  I would gladly take the chance of injury in order to be with Eden, but I never thought of how the people that cared about me would take it.

“I’m not worried about it,” I assured him, “After all if she slipped up, she would be exposed that would be worse to her than anything else.”

“But who would connect your death with her?” Drake argued, “Especially if your head was ripped off or something, police would just assume it was an animal.”

“Well, you guys know about Eden now,” I pointed out.

“Great,” Drake sighed, “so if she kills you, she will have to kill all of us in order to get

away with it; is that supposed to make us feel better?”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion,” Matt laughed, “I don’t think Eden is going to slip up and kill anyone.”

“How can you know that?” Drake all but screamed.

“You’re just jealous,” Matt broke in, “If you were the one dating an eternally hot super girl, there would be no problem.”

“Well, if it was me, I’d take my chances,” Drake admitted, “but I’m not going to gamble my life if I get nothing out of it.”

“You selfish son of a…” Matt started before Kyle broke them up.

“It’s not really up to us,” Kyle pointed out, stepping in between Matt and Drake, “If Tom likes this girl and is willing to accept the risk, that’s his decision.  The fact that we know her secret doesn’t mean anything.”

“Until she tries to kill us to cover her tracks,” Drake interrupted.

“And what would stop her from doing that if Tom breaks up with her now?” Kyle countered, “If she is going to kill anyone, it won’t make a difference; would you rather die sooner or later?”

“I’d rather not die at all,” Drake shot back.

“This whole argument is moot,” I interrupted, “Eden’s not going to kill anyone.”

“Then why are you here?” Drake accused.

“I’m here because you guys are my best friends,” I stated flatly, “and I would like you all to be cool with this.”

“I’m cool with it,” Matt said, “I’m not afraid that Eden will kill anyone.”

“Me either,” agreed Kyle, “she seems really nice.”

“I’m not,” Drake argued, “but I guess that doesn’t matter to the rest of you, so I have no choice but to accept it.”

“I just want you guys to still be my friends,” I said.

“Of course we’ll still be your friends,” Drake muttered, “but I’m warning you right now, if you two have a fight, I’m taking off and visiting my father in Florida.”

“I’ll try not to reveal your whereabouts when Eden is choking me.” Matt promised.

“Dude, you saw how strong her grip is,” Drake laughed, “If she choked you your head would fly off.”

“Not as far as your head would,” Matt pointed out.

“Why is that?” Drake asked.

“Because your head is lighter,” Matt laughed, “there’s no brain, so of course it would fly further.”

“You’re sick,” Drake said seriously.

“And you’re stupid,” Matt countered.

“Well now that that’s settled,” Kyle sighed, “can we get back to playing ‘20 to Life’?”

Drake quickly snatched up the controller from the floor, “My ups,” he challenged, pressing the start button.

“You won’t have to worry about little girls killing you,” Matt challenged grabbing the other controller, “because I am going to snipe your ass to death right now.”

“Bring it, Long,” Drake laughed.

Looking at my friends I could see that everything would be fine.  Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they all accepted Eden like I knew they would.

After a few hours of video games, I left to meet up with Eden for a late lunch.  I still had money left over from yesterday since we were forced to leave the fair early, maybe I could use that money to take her out to eat.  Taking out my cell phone, I gave her a call.

“How did everything go?” Eden asked, picking up after the first ring.

I still couldn’t get used to the fact that Eden could move so fast that she could have been anywhere in the house and still pick up the phone before the second ring.

“Everything went perfect,” I told her, leaving out the little part about Drake, “There is nothing to worry about; they’ll keep your secret.”

“I wasn’t worried about that,” she admitted, “I didn’t want you to lose your friends.”  Eden stopped for a second as if she didn’t like the way her statement sounded and laughed, “What I meant to say was that I didn’t want your friends to be afraid to see you anymore.”

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her laughing, “They’ve been my friends for years.  It would take more than a super-strong immortal to get between us.”

“Well that’s good to know,” she laughed back.

“Bee-tee-dubs,” I broke in, bee-tee-dubs being the abbreviation of ‘by the way’, “I’m on your front porch.”

“Be right there,” she sang as she disconnected that call.  I barely had enough time to snap my cell phone closed before Eden was at the door with her jacket in hand.

“Where are we off to?” she asked.

“I’m feeling a ‘Shack Attack’ coming on,” I joked, quoting the famous slogan of the Fish Shack, a local fast food restaurant that sold fish sandwiches, of course.

“Sounds good,” Eden agreed, “If you treat for lunch, I’ll make dinner.”

“That’s a deal that I can’t pass up,” I agreed.