Brown bounced past us and into the room. She plucked the bag of chips from Kates' hands and settled on our couch.
"Your boyfriend doesn't like me. Is that going to be a problem?" Kates smirked as Emily followed everyone else inside. She lounged back on our couch.
"What. Huh? No. I don't even like you."
Kates quirked an eyebrow up and winked at me. 'That was easier than I thought. Your holy roommate barely put up a fight.'
I looked away and stood there. What do I do next?
'Don't pretend you can't hear me. I know you can. I can't hear you, only human and all, but seriously. Emmykins folded like a rag. What's up with that? Where'd her backbone go?"
She had a backbone, but I'd snapped it in two. Manipulation and guilt could confuse almost anyone. When Kates started sending her thoughts to me again, I closed my eyes and blocked her. I already felt bad about lying to Emily and I'd only been back for five minutes. How had I kept up the lie before?
"Davy?" Brown had stopped her chattering. "Are you okay? Your aura looks green."
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
The afternoon was strained in my room. Emily wanted to murder Kates. Kates enjoyed fueling that fire and Brown was confused by everything. Her eyes were wide as she studied me at moments, and then studied th
e tension between my roommate and best friend. After awhile, she threw her hands up in surrender and announced we should go drinking.
To my surprise, the other two jumped on board.
Kates suggested a vampire bar, but since I still didn't know if Emily knew they were real, I vetoed that suggestion. Then Emily suggested a werewolf bar and Kates shot that down. The truce was Brown's idea.
"What's the name of it?" Kates narrowed her eyes.
"Bosom's."
Emily's eyebrows shot up and I asked, "Like boobs?"
"No, like…well…yeah. It's all about sisterly love and stuff." The more we stared at her, the more uncertain Brown became. She was staring at her shoes by the end of that statement.
"It sounds like a witch bar," Kates said in a flat voice.
"It's not a witch bar." But Brown was busy inspecting anything around us. No eye contact.
"Wait!" Emily held up a hand and skirted from the room. She was back within minutes with a full grin on her face. "I asked the girl across the hall and she recommended a place called Barbwire?"
"Sold," Kates sighed.
I surged to my feet. "I'm good with that one."
Brown frowned. "Where is that place?"
"It doesn't matter. That's where we're going." Kates raked her up and down. "You need a wardrobe change."
She looked down. "What are you talking about? I think I look good."
"For a witch." Kates bent into her own bag and started rummaging around.
"I am a witch."
I couldn't help but watch Emily through their exchange. She had seemed uneasy about the witch stuff before I disappeared, but now she didn't blink an eye. I started to wonder if she knew more about the supernatural than she was letting on.
"Not tonight you are. If you hang out with me, you gotta look good. None of this stuff." She waved a hand up and down Brown's figure.
Brown looked down at herself. "What do you mean?"