Once I was alone, I hopped in the car, jerked out my cell and started speed dialing. I tried Summer’s phone and got no answer. I tried Aisha’s phone and got no answer. Then I tried them both again. And again. And again.
When it became glaringly obvious that redial wasn’t going to magically make them pick up the phone, I started the car and headed home. On the way, more than ever, I wished that I had some way of reaching Bo. I had questions, concerns, doubts. I needed to feel that amazing buzz of his closeness, to let it drown out everything but Bo and the overwhelming feelings that I had for him.
I drove to the house, hoping that Mom and Dad would be asleep. And, much to my relief, they were. Dad would be tired from his flight and Mom would be fighting an addiction. Both led very fatiguing lives, but in two totally different ways.
********
The next morning I woke with my cell phone plastered to my face where I’d slept on it. I’d apparently fallen asleep between my every-ten-minute calls to Summer and Aisha. At least I’d gotten hold of Minty, though. He’d spoken to nearly everyone he’d seen at the party and they were all fine. Except Summer, Aisha and Drew of course. He’d asked if I’d gone to the hospital. I didn’t want to lie, so I told him that I’d come home and that my injury wasn’t as bad as we’d thought, certainly nothing worthy of a trip to the ER.
And that was the truth. As soon as I’d crept past my parents, I’d gone straight to my bathroom to assess the damage. My sweater was shredded, but my skin, though deeply scratched in four long gashes, wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. In fact, it looked to have already begun healing. It didn’t even bother my sleep (obviously, since I’d slept with a phone as my pillow).
Before I sat up in the bed, I sniffed. For the first time in weeks, I couldn’t smell Bo. I could only assume he hadn’t visited me, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. Since my unwanted female vampire visitor, I’d been keeping my window closed. Unfortunately, that barred Bo from entry as well, unless of course he wanted to break it, which he would only do if I was in imminent danger.
Unbidden, Lucius’s story popped into my head. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d found that mate that was somewhere out there, waiting to rescue him. With a growl in my throat and an ache in my chest, I pushed that thought aside and dialed Summer for the zillionth time.
Still no answer. Same with Aisha. I wasn’t going to call Drew, of course.
I’d be avoiding him like the plague in the future.
I was lying in bed, debating on how best to spend my day when my phone chirped. I nearly dropped it in my haste to answer. I didn’t even check the caller ID; I just hit the button and said hello.
“Ridley, the nicest, sweetest, prettiest girl in the whole school. How are you, my friend?”
It was Savannah on the other end of the line, laying it on thick. That could only mean one thing.
“Uh-oh. What are you getting ready to ask me to do?”
Her last idea had involved breaking into the marina, stealing a boat and launching a lantern out onto the water to honor her dead mother, a felony that never happened because we were accosted by vampires en route.
“Oh, come on. It’s nothing that bad.”
“That bad?”
“Well, I don’t think it’s bad at all.”
I sighed. “Alright, spill. What is it?”
“I want you to go with me to the Halloween dance tonight. Since we are both, like, almost widows, I think we should go together. I think it would be fun, and we both need to get out and do something carefree.”
I couldn’t argue that point. I needed some fun. And some “carefree.” I could barely remember what that felt like. Anymore, my life was consumed with an aching need and an ever-growing hole in my heart. And sprinkled between those two were spots of fear and depression, frustration and loneliness. My life had been no picnic since I’d met Bo. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I couldn’t even think of giving him up.
As if on cue, my chest squeezed at the haunting prospect of losing him to someone he couldn’t deny, someone he’d be bound to in a way that he’d never be bound to me.
Like I’d done a hundred times already, I refused to let my mind travel that path. Instead, I did the unthinkable. I agreed to go with Savannah.
“I’ll go. You’re right, we need some fun.”
“Really? You will?” Savannah squealed.
I couldn’t help but smile as I held the phone at arm’s length. “Yes, but I’d like to have some small amount of hearing left so that I can enjoy the music,” I teased.
“Oh, sorry. I just figured you’d say no.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes you look so sad when I see you. I thought maybe I remind you of Bo,” she confessed soberly.
I hated that she saw me that way. I hated that she thought that. I hated that my misery without Bo was so perceptible.
“No, you don’t. And, who knows? Maybe you’ll see a whole different Ridley tonight.”
“R-eally? ‘Cause you know I can’t see a thing, right?”
Even though it was simply Savannah’s way, to make fun of her infirmity, I still felt the heat rush to my cheeks. It made me feel wretched when she did.
“Then maybe I’ll have to do something fun that you can hear. How ‘bout that?”
“Ooo, like what? Burp the alphabet? Fart The Star Spangled Banner?”
That actually coaxed a laugh out of me. “You’re insane, you know that?”
“Oh, come on. You wouldn’t have me any other way.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.”
“Ok, so pick me up at eight? Or do you want me to drive?”
“No! No, I’ll take care of the driving. You just worry about getting dressed.
Don’t be wearin’ a Bride of Frankenstein head with a Smurf body.”
“Listen to Ridley, finally catching on.”
“Ha ha.”
“Seriously,” Savannah said, her voice turning solemn. “I don’t want anyone to see me differently, to treat me differently. I can make fun of myself because it’s healthier than letting it eat away at me. So I do.”
“I know, Savannah. It just feels…wrong.”
“Well, I guess you’re just going to have to get over that.”
With an exaggerated sigh, I agreed. “Yep, I guess I will.”
“Alrighty then, eight o’clock?”