It was worse than a nightmare, but I wasn’t in the sharing mood. I wasn’t even sure if my voice sounded normal. I just hoped that I hadn’t wet my pants. Then I sniffed the aroma of coffee and quickly saw her mug beside her. “What is that?”
“Huh?” Emily sounded like a zombie, sluggish and nearly catatonic.
“You have coffee?”
She looked at it, but pushed it away. “You can have it. I’m not feeling all that great.” Her cheeks pinked and she ducked her head in shame. Oh, my very sheltered roommate.
“What are you doing all day today?” I asked when I finally got the energy to get out of bed and grab the mug. The mug warmed my hands, which was good. They were sickly cold and covered in sweat, but my pants didn’t smell so I knew I hadn’t messed myself.
“I think I’m sick. I’m just going to stay in and watch movies all day. You?”
“I’m huh…” I was dumbfounded. Emily never took sick days, even when she was sick enough to be admitted to a hospital.
She coughed. “I’m supposed to work at the hotline booth at the convention today. Do you think you could fill in for me?”
I was completely speechless. Me. Hotline. Convention. Not happening. “I quit, remember?”
“You still have to make that official with Mr. Moser so you didn’t. Besides, I’m supposed to work with Adam today.”
“Sold!” I was a whore. Not really, but now that I knew Kates was safe I could ge
t back to my first objective: Adam. After what he’d witnessed last night, I knew I had damage control to do.
“Besides, I don’t want to take the chance that I’ll see Luke at the convention. I look awful today.”
I looked at her, horrified. It was a good thing she wasn’t looking back otherwise she would’ve seen the guilt that I had branded on my entire face. Oh god. With everything that had happened last night, I’d almost forgotten about Emily’s ramblings. She’d been in an altered state, but the truth came out and I knew she had a thing for him.
“Hey, Emily…” Really? What was I going to say? ‘Don’t like Luke Roane because he’s a vampire and he’s a dick? Don’t like him because he hunts other vampires and kills them? Or maybe… don’t like him because I kissed him in front of Adam and Luke Roane knows that I’m empathic?’ I’m sure they’d all go over well.
“What?” Emily asked, impatient.
“Uh… nothing. I’ll go to the convention for you.”
“I know.” She made it sound like it’d been inevitable. “You gotta be there in twenty minutes.”
That’s when I looked at the clock and thought my heart stopped beating. It was 1:39. I hit the ground running.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Our school held a volunteer convention on the main lawn of the campus. It was surrounded by brick buildings and a few ponds on three sides. Statues were displayed randomly over the lawn, but I knew it wasn’t by accident when the crisis hotline booth was placed next to the angel statue. She was in gray stone, her two eyes watched wherever you went, and her tight curls were in dire need of a new perm. The wings had been sculpted to arch upwards as if she were about to push into the air and fly away.
She freaked me out.
I dropped into one of the vacant seats behind our table and announced when someone sat beside me, “I named her Eileen.”
“Uh… okay.”
Did my ears detect? I looked and was rewarded. Emily had sweetened the pot with Adam, but I hadn’t let myself hope. Now, I did.
Adam looked refreshing in a soft blue sweater and a pair of tan corduroys. Both molded to his tall form while his chestnut curls accentuated his yummy almond eyes. I almost wanted to eat him. If I’d been a vampire, I might’ve ignored the decree.
“You named her Eileen?” He smiled and ducked his head. “Uh… oh… kay. Um, where’s Emily? I’m not complaining or anything, but I thought I had the afternoon block with her.”
“Emily’s sick.” I turned and stared at Eileen for a moment. Was it my imagination or did she seem to grow before me?
“Oh. Okay. So… um… you and that guy, huh?”
Just like that, Eileen lost her appeal. I closed my eyes and cleared my throat. I knew I had damage control to do, but I hadn’t known it would start this soon. The need to deceive was itching and so I itched it. “He has a girlfriend that was there. They had a tiff and he wanted to make her jealous. I didn’t want to… I wanted to tell you, but then all of the sudden she was in front of the club and I kissed him. I know, I know. It wasn’t smart of me or anything, but when a friend asks for a favor who am I to say no?” I held my breath. When I saw the instant relief flash in those adorable almond eyes, I expelled it.