Keepers of the Flame (Trilogy Bundle) (8 page)

“Perfect,” she stated in satisfaction.

Even I had to admit that it was perfect. I looked lovely and not too formal. It was a first date and we were going to a fancy restaurant, still I did not want to look too dressed up.

“I like it,” I said with a pleased smile. My smile faded slightly as I looked at my hair, caught in its usual ponytail. Hmmm, what to do with the hair?

“You need to do something about your hair, you can't go in a ponytail,” Katrina pointed out.

“Actually, I can. Ponytails are very hip right now,” I said just to be contrary.

She delicately rolled her eyes at me. “Does anyone even use the word
hip
these days? You're the teenager, Lu. Try to keep up with the times. Now sit down,” she ordered.

I sighed as I obediently sat on the stool at the dressing table. I knew it was pointless to argue. Katrina in her take-charge mode was impossible to resist. Besides, I knew next to nothing about hair and makeup and stuff and I figured there was no harm trusting a woman who had decades of experience in that stuff. I should have known better.

She stood beside me and tilted her head from side to side, making small
hmmm
sounds. She placed both hands on her hips and walked from my right hand side to my left hand side. After a few moments of that, I began to fidget. How hard could it be anyway?

“Stay still, girl. I'm trying to create a masterpiece here.”

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. When she was satisfied, she stood behind me and waved her index finger in an air circle. My long tresses of hair suddenly rearranged themselves into a topknot at the back of my head. There were tendrils escaping from each side and it all looked very sophisticated. I looked at my reflection and thought that if I ever wanted a career as a poster girl, I probably could do well there. Or a porn star. I shook my head to loosen the topknot and it came undone.

“It's too much,” I said.

“You're right. It's for an older woman.” She pursed her lips and studied my reflection again, and then a smile lit her face. “I've got it!”

I sat still as she moved her finger again and the hair arranged itself into a simple French braid. It was fantastic! The beauty of the hair was the simplicity. The braid began from the left side of my head and ended at my nape. It was then curled into a bun just at the nape. It was a classy take on my usual ponytail.

“Oh Katrina, I love it!” I jumped up and gave her a tight hug.

She hugged me back and I could see the soft sheen of tears in her eyes. “You're so beautiful. You remind me of your Mom when she married your Dad. She was so beautiful and I think I fell in love with her afresh. I miss them so much.”

I hugged her again but didn't say anything. I lost my Mom and Dad and my little sister when I was thirteen, and it's not something I liked talking about. Actually, I didn't talk about it, period.

“Thank you, Grandma,” I said softly.

She stood up straight and directed a mock frown at me. “Do I look like a grandma to you?”

I laughed as I shook my head. It was a long-standing joke between us. “You don't even look like anybody's mother,” I teased.

“Oh just get ready! I have things to do.”

I heard her laughter as she disappeared from my room. I stood in front of the mirror once again, this time with a huge smile on my face. I was going to have fun that night and I was
not
going to allow thoughts of Dylan to get in the way.

I was ready for my date and was sitting in my room, waiting for Claire to pick me up. Since it was a first date, I'd arranged a double date with Claire and her boyfriend, Jason. Jason was my second best friend and I knew I would be comfortable with them present.

I'd just read a message from Claire telling me they were leaving her home when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and felt my heart skip a beat when I saw Dylan's name. I wondered why he was calling as he usually didn't call till the end of the month. I took a deep breath and put the phone to my ear.

“Hi.”

“Hey, how are you?”

His voice gave me goose bumps and they in turn made me irritated. I should be immune to his voice by now. “I'm fine. What's up?” I tried to sound casual.

“Nothing much, I was just thinking of you and decided to call.”

Wow!
I held the phone away from me and stared at it. He was thinking about me? Better still, he admitted it? This was huge.

“Ah, ummm... okay.” Great. The guy told me he was thinking of me and I'd turned into a bumbling idiot. How perfect. I stood up and began to pace around while I gathered my thoughts. “How are you?”

“I'm fine, I guess.” I could almost see him shrug. “My mom called today.”

I walked to my bed and sat down. I knew this was huge. He hadn't spoken with his parents in like forever. “How did it go?” I asked softly.

“The usual. She wanted to know when I was coming home.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her I was never coming home.”

I remained silent. I didn't know what to say to him. There he was with a complete family - mother, father, and siblings - and he deliberately refused to keep in touch with them. I would give anything, and I mean literally
anything
to have my family back.

“You're not saying anything.”

“Well, they're your family. I guess you know best.” I was unconvinced but I didn't think I had the right to tell him what to do.

“You have no idea what they've put me through.” He was sounding defensive and that was the last thing I wanted. Still, I felt I needed to speak out.

“I'm sure I don't know, because you've never shared that part of yourself with me. But I do know I would give anything to have my family, issues and all. What if they're all killed tomorrow? Will you still tell yourself you're justified in keeping away from them?”

He was silent for so long that I feared I'd crossed an invisible line. Finally he spoke. “I hear you Lu, but you don't understand.”

I sighed into the phone. His life was so intensely private, and even though we were friends there was so much about him I was not privy to. I'd hoped he would have come to trust me some more by now, but obviously I was hoping in vain. “You're right and I'm sorry for butting in.”

“What are you doing now?” He asked changing the subject.

“I'm sitting on my bed waiting for Claire to come pick me up.”

“Oh, are you guys hanging out?”

“Not really. I have a date so we're making it a double date.” I had been strangely reluctant to tell him about the date, even though I had no idea why. It wasn't as though we were dating or anything like that.

“You have a date?” he asked quietly.

“Um, yeah.” I jiggled my legs nervously and stilled them instantly. I wasn't going to apologize for having a life!

“I see.”

We were both silent then. I heard a beep and knew it was an incoming call. Checking the phone, I saw Claire's number flashing.

“I have to go now, Dylan. Claire's here.”

“Okay. Have fun.”

He was gone before I could even respond. I frowned at the phone. What on earth was that about? He'd sounded upset, but that was just wishful thinking on my part. He was fine with our being friends and even if it killed me, I was determined to be fine with it too.

I put the phone back to my ear as it began to ring again.

“Where on earth are you?”

That was Claire, straight to the point and no-nonsense. I smiled into the phone as I slipped my feet into the black sandals I'd picked out for the evening. “I'm coming, I'm coming. I'll be down in a sec.”

“Fine, but don't keep us waiting.”

I cut the phone and slipped it into the tiny black purse I had waiting. I took a final glance at my reflection and satisfied with what I saw, I closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them, I was standing in the living room, for Katrina's inspection.

She blew a kiss at me as I flew out the front door. I wasn't going to think about Dylan for one night.

***

I lay on my bed and stared out the sky roof, at the stars. The night had been an unmitigated disaster, for me anyway. I know everyone else had fun and everyone else thought I'd had fun. But I had not been able to get my mind off the conversation I'd had earlier with Dylan and it's abrupt termination. I kept turning the conversation around and around in my mind and my only surprise was that no one else seemed to notice how distracted I'd been.

Keenan Jones, my date, had been okay. He was tall, with wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was really good-looking and if he seemed a bit too aware of the fact, no one could blame him. He was not as muscular as Dylan but he was fit and in good shape. In short, there wasn't a single thing wrong with him. Except that he was not Dylan.

This was what I couldn't stand about my non relationship with him. Just as I was getting my life on an even keel and trying to get over not being with him, he would call and it would be back to square one. I would obsess about every word he spoke and look for hidden nuances even in the silence. It was driving me crazy!

“I can't go on like this.” I muttered to myself. I needed to take control of my life. “I am a woman and I need a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” I stated firmly, rolling onto my tummy. Then I frowned. What did that phrase mean, anyway? I mean, we all knew a fish does not need a bicycle. Fishes didn't even
think
about bicycles. I got the general principle of it. If a fish didn't need a bicycle, then I didn't need a man. All well and good. But what did one do when one had to live with those creatures in one's life? The men, not the bicycles.

“Oh hell, who needs men anyway,” I grumbled.

I was fed up. Fed up with my feelings for Dylan. Fed up with him keeping his distance. I might have even considered asking him out, but how could I have done that when all we had were sparse phone conversations? What was the point anyway? He had stayed away for eight months. Eight whole months!

“This is pointless.” I struggled to sit up and stared out at the stars again. I was a nocturnal being, made to sleep during the day. That, at least hadn't changed. But because I'd had to get used to doing things the mortal way I needed to sleep at night. Some vampires opted for vampire night school for their kids, but my parents had wanted me to be as normal as possible, considering.

I'd had a busy day, but I knew there was no way I was going to get any sleep. Dylan's phone call had put paid to that. Besides, I'd rather be out there anyway. I got out of bed and slipped my feet into comfortable, fluffy bedroom slippers. They were forest green and I absolutely adored them. It was early April, so I picked up a small blanket. Armed with that, I slowly drifted up into the air until I went through the sky roof. I moved towards my favorite spot near the ledge and froze. Someone had already beat me to it.

I felt her presence even before she made a move. I'd been sitting at that spot for the past thirty minutes, listening to her mumble and grumble in her room. She was so cute, she made me smile. I heard her move hesitantly until she was standing beside me. Silently, I made space for her and she sank down next to me.

“Hi.”

That was pure Luanne, I thought to myself. There was no
what are you doing here?
No
why didn't you tell me you were coming.
Just plain
Hi.
She would wait until I told her what was on my mind, or not. It was one of the reasons I liked talking to her. She didn't badger me with questions I couldn't answer, didn't judge me. She was just there, ready to listen. Except for earlier that day when she'd let her disapproval of the way I dealt with my family show. That had been unexpected.