Eternally Yours (13 page)

“What should we do the rest of the night?” I ask, looking at everyone.

“Duh, party!” Kaia exclaims. “I snuck some
Angel
spark in my suitcase. My older sister gave it to me as a goodbye present!” She smiles mischievously.

I cross my arms. “Oh gods, you don't know what you've gotten yourself into, Wraith.” Poor guy.

“Excuse me!” she says with a false attitude. “I don't know why you're such a wet blanket, Alexia, but you better dry off!”

Embarrassed for Gabriel to think I'm a 'wet blanket', I rush to defend myself with something witty and fail miserably. “I am not a wet blanket. I'm just respectful of the rules. You know, the ones that say you aren't supposed to drink
Angel
spark until you're twenty one?”

“Now, now ladies. Settle down. We've only been with you two for like thirty minutes and at this rate I'm going to need two bottles of
Angel
spark,” Wraith jokes and Gabriel bursts out laughing.

“I know how you two can settle this,” Gabriel says seriously. “You can kiss and make up!” The boys both die of laughter. Kaia smiles and shakes her head like she doesn’t know what to do with them, and I’m still standing here feeling like I’ve missed the punch line.

So help me, gods. Shadow is not nearly this irritating. But don't think about him or what he's doing with Lilith right now.

--Pop--

I am the unfortunate figure in the room that just got splattered with
Angel
spark fizz. Yes, that’s me. Lovely.

Kaia takes a giant swig of the highly alcoholic, highly forbidden drink and passes it to Wraith. He also takes a giant swig, and then one more to chase it. On around the circle it goes to Gabriel who grabs it from Wraith and offers it to me. He tisks at Wraith shaking his finger. “Ladies first,” he says.

“Ah...” I try to decide what I should do, surely not the right thing, especially after my record so far today. “Hand it here,” I huff. Peer pressure is a bitch.

“I knew you'd see things my way, eventually,” Kaia says, satisfied.

Instead of acknowledging her I tilt my head back and gulp. One. Two. Three. I wish counting to three didn’t remind me of Shadow. Why does everything remind me of him? Why do I think about him so much? I don't even know the guy that well and he has me wrapped around his finger. Does he feel it too?

“Dang girl, slow down! You trying to get yourself sick?” Gabriel asks. “Either that or you’ve done this before,” he looks at me suspiciously.

I feel like I have swallowed acid. My tongue burns and the putrid drink burns down my throat. Why would anyone drink this stuff for fun?

“Ugg! This stuff's poison!” I screech.

Laughs erupt around the room. “I guess that answers my question,” Gabriel replies. He tips the despicable bottle back and swallows four giant swigs. “Whew!” he yells and squinting an eye and scrunching up his face. “Stuff's strong, that's for sure!” He pounds a fist into his chest. I’m not sure why.

“Stop hogging the good stuff; hand it here,” Kaia demands.

Kaia starts round two and my head is spinning by the time it gets back to me, so I refuse it. I feel warm and tingly, and a lot less inhibited. My tongue and throat are no longer raw from the ‘acid’; instead they feel numb, just like the rest of my body. This stuff works really well. If I'm feeling this way from a few sips, I worry for my friends. They may be crawling to their beds after this and passing out. 

After a few minutes the noise level in our condo has increased significantly and it's mostly from laughter. My friends, I guess Wraith and Gabriel are now my friends, are acting pretty stupid, swaying on their feet and laughing at each other’s stupid jokes. I decide to go to my room and shut the doors. Gabriel doesn't seem to notice when I walk off but Kaia shakes her head at me disappointingly. She's acting really strange lately, like she's mad at me or something. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow and see what's going on, I decide.

I go the huge master bathroom to brush my teeth, and I stop when I see my reflection in the brightly lit gold mirrors. It's a blurry representation of a brunette with light blue eyes. I rub my eyes with my fists and try to refocus but it's no use. That stupid
Angel
spark has messed with my entire body. I dim the light because it's starting to make my sensitive eyes water. I search the bathroom drawers for a toothbrush. Bingo! In the drawers to the right there are two toothbrushes, one is pink and one is blue. How stereotypical is that? Just because I'm in the mood, I pick the blue one up and use it, leaving Gabriel with the pink one. I smile to myself for a job well done. After brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth of that awful drink, I go to the closet to find some pajamas. I look through all of the hanging clothes, the folded clothes, and the ones in the drawers. No! Surely this is not happening to me on top of everything else today. All these tiny little translucent, lacy things are not nightgowns. I stand here dumbfounded. I can't decide if this means that I'm sleeping in my jeans or something else I haven't come up with yet. I pick up the least provocative one that I can find. It's black with lace trimmings, but at least it's not see-through. It's got spaghetti straps and it seems long enough to reach my thighs. Maybe. This is the one I will grudgingly wear, I decide. However, something in the back of the drawer reflects the light as I am about to step into the lacy scrap of material and I do a double take. It's hot pink and black with embellishments that look like diamonds. Ooh pretty. I pull out the sparkly material from the back of the drawer. It's a bikini top with a very risqué, small bottom piece. There is no way I would ever even dare to wear this, but I hold it out in front of me, appraising it. The door opens swiftly, startling me and I whip my head to
wards the offender. Gabriel sto
ps with one foot mid-air, eyes locked on the sparkly little scrap of an outfit I have held up.

“Uh, sorry--” he stumbles on words, scratching his head, “I should've knocked... I didn't mean-- I didn't know--” he clears his throat. Splotches of red are showing up on his neck and cheeks. I'm not sure if it's because he's got
Angel
spark in his system or because of what he sees me holding.

“Oh, no. It's fine.” I dismiss the silly thought with a swat of my hand. “No. I wasn't- this is not something I would wear. I was wondering whose- well what it was doing in here.” I turn and stuff it back in the tiny drawer. I would lock it and throw away the key if I could, but there is no lock.

“It's fine if you were, or whatever,” he coughs. “Fine either way.”

“I bet so,” I smile, jokingly.

He grins so wide he shows dimples I've never seen and looks down. He shoves his hands in his pockets and shrugs his shoulders. “So apparently Wraith and Kaia are going to bed, I guess it's late.”

“Yeah I think so, my eyes are so heavy right now it feels like lead weights are tied to them,” I say.

He looks at the bed and then darts his glance somewhere else, seeming
embarrassed
. “Well, I guess we'll go to bed then, my head is spinning like a top.”

I can tell he's buzzed because he laughs like a dork after everything we say. I nod my head and hold up the black nightgown I have balled in my fist. “I'm just going to change into some pajamas.”

“Alright, sounds good,” he replies.

After I come out of the bathroom, he is standing next to the bed in a pair of black cotton pants with a white,
angel
emblem sewn on the pocket. He folds the comforter and sheet back and smiles sweetly at me. Now that we're away from people again, I have a sneaking suspicion that he's going to be that sweet Gabriel from the Arrangement Ceremony. I walk lightly over to the opposite side of the bed and slide in, pulling the covers back as I lay my head on an unfamiliar pillow. He punches the side of his pillow to fluff it a few times as I try to reposition my head for a comfortable spot.

“Here,” he says offering me his fluffed pillow.

I lift my head up to switch with him. “Thanks, Gabriel.”

He nods. “You can call me Gabe if you want to. It's what my family calls me.”

“Oh, okay. Gabe,” I smile.

He slides in bed next to me and neither of us says anything. The only sound in the room is the sound of our breathing. I try desperately to breathe quietly but no matter what I try it’s just too quiet in here to work. He turns the reading lamp on his bed-stand off and we lay in blessed darkness. I shut my eyes and relax because it feels so good to finally lie down and rest my body. When I open my eyes again they have adjusted and I can see fairly well thanks to the pale moonlight streaming in through the curtains.

“Can I ask you something?” His voice is very quiet.

“Of course,” I whisper.

“Do you think you'll be happy-” he pauses, “with me?”

Shocked, I take a moment to fumble through my thoughts. After putting something that may resemble a complete sentence together in my head, I turn to look at him.

“I don't know. I think you're great, Gabe. I know I am extremely lucky, in the words of your father, to be vowed to you. Even you know how popular you are,” I smile. “So it's nothing against you, but I’ve always thought that all of these rules and how they control us are unfair. I wonder what it would be like if it wasn't forced. Do you ever wonder what it would be like if-- if we chose?” My voice started out normal but by the end of my question it was barely a whisper.

He turns onto his side to look at me. “Yes, I have wondered that since Dad started the domain,” he says, eyes wide.

“Really?” I ask, shocked. “If even the
Overlord
’s son wonders about it then I am sure
angel
s everywhere have thought about it. Unfortunately, nothing is going to happen unless we all come together.”

“Yeah, but that'll never happen. The risks are too great and we'd never find enough
Angel
s to stand with us because they’re all too scared. I doubt they even feel that way anyways. Honestly, I thought I was the only rebellious one,” he winks.

I smile without showing my teeth because he just has this really sweet look on his face. His elbow is propping his head up and the light coming in the window behind him makes it looks like a halo around his head. Gabe is a great example of a perfect
angel
. Everything about him screams “
angel
”, so it’s kind of funny to me that this is happening. I snort finding it mildly funny and ironic.

“What’s so funny?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I say, unconvincingly. I can’t stop smiling.

“You know, I can already tell when you’re lying,” he smirks.

“Well I guess that’s kind of a good thing since
angel
s
aren’t supposed to lie.”

“Just because we aren’t supposed to doesn’t mean it’s right. We aren’t supposed to do a lot of things that we’ve already done,” he smiles showing straight white teeth now. “See if you can tell if this is the truth or not…” he pauses and I nod. “I told my dad he better put me with the smartest
angel
in the Domain.”

“Hmm,” I think on it for a second. “False,” I say confidently.

His eyebrows draw down. “How did you know?” he asks.

“Well, honestly it’s because I think you seem to care more about looks than wits.”

He looks at me for a second not saying anything. “Well I can tell you think highly of me.” His voice has an undertone of sarcasm.

“It’s not that I don’t. I just don’t guess I know you well enough. So what did you ask your dad then?”

“I didn’t ask him anything, I just left it to chance,” he says, numbly.

His tone suggests he doesn’t want to talk about it anymore so I don’t. We lay here facing each other but avoiding each other’s gaze. Just as I’m starting to feel uncomfortable he asks me another question.

“Okay, here’s another one: I was hoping to be vowed to
Angel
ina.”

I visualize all of the girls that follow him around like lost puppies and only one stands out. I think she’s beautiful and I’ve caught his gaze lingering on her more than a few times. “True,” I say pretty sure I’m correct. I am also acting like I’m not jealous about it, and I’m not sure if I’m doing a good job or not. Neither am I sure if I really am jealous or not.

“Definitely not true,” he says, seeming disgusted.

I cock my eyebrow, not believing his gusto in that remark. I want to point out all the times I’ve noticed him staring at her, but I don’t want him to know I was watching him like he was watching her.

“Okay, well then who?” I ask. I’m genuinely curious to know.

Either he doesn’t want to tell me or he is deciding whether or not to, but I know he has an answer. He thinks he knows me so well in such a short time but I know him too. He looks sideways when he is thinking but he will look you in the eyes if he knows something. Right now he keeps his eyes locked on mine. I grow more and more curious by the second and just as I want to grab onto his shoulders and shake the answer out of him he speaks.

“You.”

::Crickets chirping outside::

I swallow and wonder if he hears it, because it sure is loud to my ears. His hand drifts to my cheek and he tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear.