Midnight Fire - Rise of the Dark Angel - Book One (8 page)

             
She looked over to the other table and
observed
Jessica, who was looking just as miserable as she was. Jessica looked up and their eyes collided. There was no more menace in either of their expressions
but
there was a lot of regret
, at least on Phoenix’s part
.

             
“It was my fault
,
Dr. Light,” Jessica mumbled. Phoenix looked at her in shock. She would never i
n a million years think she’
d say that. She was thinking
maybe she’
d judged
Jessica
too harshly.

             
“It takes two to fight
,
Jessica
but
I appreciate you standing up and being honest,”
Dr. Light
said
and Phoenix realized Jessica was still playing
a
game. She looked over at the girl and narrowed he
r eyes behind her father’s back
and Jessica winked at her.

             
She wanted to come off the table and start ripping her hair out again. Jessica knew how to manipulate people and Phoenix
needed to remember that
or the girl was going to do some real damage eventually.
             

             
“I’
m sorry
,
D
addy.
I don’t know what happened. One minute we
were joking around and laughing
and then all the sudden we were rolling around on the floor. I think we were trying to play like the guys do
but
you kn
ow girls. W
e couldn’t handle it
and things got out of hand. I’
ll
never do something
like that again,” Phoenix said
with a humble expression. Her father’s face
softened immediately, as she’
d hoped it would.

             
“Okay
, P
rincess, I’
m proud of you for accepting you
made a wrong choice
. Now, can you
girls
go back to being friends?” he asked
while looking
at both
of them
. Jessica was glaring daggers at Phoenix when no one was watching
but
it was like she had
built
in radar because the second an adult pair of e
yes turned on her
she looked like an angel.

             
“I adore Phoenix and want this all put behind me,” Jessica spoke up, which caused
Larry
to nod.

             
“I think Jessica is so smart and
I
can forget this ever happened,” Phoenix agreed. When the adults turned away she brought her hand to her head and acted as if she was shooting herself. She was going to have to get a whole lot better at acting, because the queen over there was a pro.

             
“I think you girls will be fine. Luckily, you didn’t do any permanent damage to each other
but
you’
ll be sore and swollen for a few days. Tak
e today off
from
your chores. I’
ll let the other’s know. Why don’t you both go rest for a while,” he told them before stepping out the doors.

             
“This is so far fr
om over,” Jessica hissed at her
as soon as they were alone.

             
“I don’t know
what
you mean
,
Jessica.
I’m sorry it happened and I f
orgive you,” Phoenix mocked her
and topped it off with a wink.
She could see Jessica wanted to jump off the table and throttle her
but
was to
o
scared of getting caught. She finally
hopped
down and stomped
from
the room.

             
Phoenix
got
down slowly, feeling the aches her father warned her about
,
and then
headed down the hallway
toward
her room. A nap sounded
perfect
.
She was just reaching her door
when her best friend came out of nowhere.

             
“You have to tell me every single amazing detail, especially how it felt when your fist connected with that deceiving
witch's
face,” Sadie said with
happiness
.

             
“She
told me to stay away from Brian
and I wanted to hit her right at
the
table
but
I managed to walk away
.
Then
she followed me into the hall
. I warned her to back off
but
she wouldn’t
so we ended up in a
fist fight. I have to admit
it felt pretty good to slug her in the face. I hope it swells
to the size of a watermelon
,” Phoenix told her.

             
“You’
re my hero,” Sadie said with a full blown laugh. She told Sadie
about every moment of the fight
,
then
they laid there talking for a long time.
All too soon it was time for lunch
so they headed for the
dining hall
. Jessica was nowhere to be seen.

             
The girls grabbed their trays and sat down at a table, where they were quickly joi
ned by several other kids who’
d heard about the fight. They all wanted detail
s
, even those who were supposedly Jessica’s best friends.

             
They
told
Phoenix
she
did
n’
t look t
o
o
bad
, as she only had some scratches and
bruising
on her body and nothing on her face. Jessica had
n’
t managed
to punch back very hard
, which Phoenix was sure
disappointed
her
.

             
“I have
to run.
I’
m o
n kitchen clean-up,” Sadie said
and
trotted off.

             
“Hey Phoenix, can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?” Brian asked. She instan
tly agreed. Heck, Brian could’
ve asked her to
jump off a bridge with him
and she most likely would’
ve. They
walked down one of the hallways
and fo
und a private spot. He sat down
,
patting
the seat next to him.

             
“Your brother
told me some things last night
and I wanted to
talk
with
you
about it
. I
don’t know how to approach this so I’
m just going to say it, okay?” he started. Phoenix nodded at him, starting to get worried by the tone of his voice.

             
“I’
ve known you now for over six years and I love you to pieces,” he said and Phoenix’s heart swelled.

             
“I love yo
u like John loves you,” he said
and waited
for that to sink in
. Phoenix’s heart fell, as
it
hit her
. She quickly looked down
and her cheeks heated
with
embarrassment. She started to get up, not wanting to sit there any longer.

             
“Hey, please don’t be upset. I had no clue you had a crush on me. Honestly, I love you to
death, I’
d die for you. I’
m sorry if I ever did anything that led you to believe there was something else. When yo
ur brother told me how you felt
and
Jessica was harassing you
, I was mortified. N
ot that
you care about me
but
because
I’
d been such a jerk,” h
e said. He reached for her chin
and forced her to look at him.

             
When a
tear fell down Phoenix’s
cheek
he groaned as if he was in pain
and pulled her into his arms. He kept repeating, ‘please don’t cry’ over and over again, while rubbing her back.

             
“I think you really beli
eve you have a crush on me
because we’
ve been around each other for
so long
,
but
if you thought abou
t it you’
d realize you love me like a
sibling
,” he told her. Phoenix was thinking that was
an impossibility
. She was crushed there was no chance of them being a couple.

             
“Come on kiddo, you have to talk to me,” Brian begged her.

             
“I
…
I don’t
know what to say. I’
m sorry,” she finally managed to get past her
choked
throat.

             
“You have no
thing to be sorry about
.
I’
m not letting you leave
until I know for sure you’
r
e going to be okay
and we’
re going
to
still be as close as we’
ve always
been.
I
t would kill me to lose you,” he told her. Phoenix sat
silent
ly
for several minutes
,
while
he waited patiently.

             
She was devastated
but
how could she be completely upset. He wa
s telling her he loved her
an
d would always be there for her
and he obviously meant
it
.
He hadn’
t tried to play her
when
he found out how she
felt. He
immediately sought her out to talk.

             
“Do you like someone else?”
She
finally got brave enough to ask.

             
“No, there’
s no one in my life right now
a
nd if or when that happens, I’
ll talk to you, okay?
I remember when I was in the
seventh grade I
was head over heels for a girl
and she didn’t even
know
I exis
ted. When she finally found out
,
she actually laughed at me
and I was
devastated
. I
would never try to hurt someone
like she hurt me. I know th
at was an insanely long time ago
but
I’
ll
never forget how I felt when it happened,” he told her.

             
His confession made her feel better. She knew h
e’
d eventually fall in love
and it would
crush her
but
at the same time
she’
d always have him in
her life as a friend. Wasn’t i
t much better than possibly having a short romance and then losing him forever
,
over bitter feelings? She finally relaxed and hugged him
back,
glad he had
n’
t let her leave.

             
“That’s my girl. We’
re going to be okay, right?” he asked her.

             
“Yes, thanks for be
ing honest with me. I think I’
ll love you forever
,
though,” she said
with
a little sigh.

             
“I’
ll love you forever too
and honestly,
you’
ll realize soon I’
m not that great,” he told her with a smile, which did its trick and made her laugh.