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When I woke up the next morning, Draven was gone. I had missed a golden opportunity last night to get some more questions out of him. He came in right when I was falling asleep and instead of me fighting it off to talk to him, I gave in to the exhaustion and was instantly snoring. I didn’t even know if he would be back tonight, but I assumed that he would and I could hit him up then.
The sound of my phone ringing “Barracuda” threw me back into reality. I needed to get ready for school and get myself into the first distraction I could. I checked the caller id as a number I was unfamiliar with popped up on the screen. I decided to answer though I normally would just let it go to voicemail.
“This is Callie,” I said as perky as I could manage.
“Hey it’s Cole,” he said nervously.
“Oh, hey,” I said wishing I hadn’t answered after all. “How did you get my number?” I reached up to touch the spot where the coldness had been on my neck, but everything still felt normal.
When he spoke next, he sounded completely remorseful. “Zilla gave it to me. I hope that didn’t cross any boundaries, but I really just wanted to apologize for the other night.”
“No need for apologies,” I said getting upset. “I completely understand it’s my fault for acting all crazy.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he said frustrated. “Listen Callie, it wasn’t you at all, it was me. I hadn’t realized that it was almost past my curfew and didn’t want to be late.”
“Really?” I asked hopeful.
“Really,” he said confirming it. “Anyway, how would you feel about going on a date with me this weekend to make up for it? Saturday maybe?”
Even though he had ditched me at my own party, there was some remote part of me that still wanted to go out on the date with him, badly. But I also couldn’t deny the small voice telling me to decline. Not only was I planning on cornering Draven to get more information, but I felt like if I were alone with Cole I might do something reckless. I think the silence gave away my uncertainty.
“Oh I see,” he said sounding miserable. “I thought we had a connection or something, but I understand. It’s no problem. I should let you go now. See you around.”
“No, wait,” I replied desperately, “I was just thinking of a way to rearrange my schedule, but I can’t. That doesn’t mean no, it just means I’m unavailable this weekend. How about next weekend?” With Thanksgiving this week, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get away. Plus it seemed like a logical solution so I could have time to think. “In the meantime you’ll see us at Destiny’s Café on Wednesday this week and Thursday next week and I can set aside some time both days for us to chat.”
“I really wanted to see you this weekend, but I’m flexible. If that’s the only time you have available, I’ll take it. I’m just going to throw this out there though, your house is as good a place as any, so if you wanted me to come over there instead, I could.”
“While that’s very flattering, since this would technically be our first real date, I doubt my parents would consent to that.”
“I love parents and I already met yours, what could be the harm in it?”
“I know,” I said scrambling for words, “but coming to my house for a one on one dinner with them is different than you being at my birthday party.”
“Is there a real reason you won’t you invite me over or do you just not want to see me?”
“To be completely honest it’s because I’m not even sure how to define us, if we are anything at all.”
“You mean you’d rather bring your boyfriend,” he replied sarcastically.
“Yes, except I don’t have one,” I said dryly. Why was I antagonizing this situation? I liked him yes, and felt some sort of connection, but when the rest of my gut is telling me to back off, why is my brain doing the opposite?
“I think we should talk about that when I see you again then.”
“It’s a date,” I said smiling. “I will see you at Destiny’s. Have a good day, bye.”
“Until next we shall meet.” I put the phone back down on the bed and laughed at his corny line. What a dork.
Now what? I had almost a full day still until Draven returned and nothing to do but go to school. I went through the motions, pulling on a Juliette Lewis t-shirt, faded pair of jeans and matching flip-flops. I struggled to get into the bathroom and caught my reflection in the mirror. My face was pale and there were dark circles under my eyes. I looked like I got hit by a mac truck and then backed over again. I smoothed some concealer near the bruise-colored knots under my bottom lashes and dusted it with some powder. It wasn’t my finest work, but it definitely lightened it up.
I flung my hair up into a loose ponytail and added a matching hair band, a pair of silver hoop earrings and stretchy bracelets. Now all I had to do was head downstairs, grab breakfast, and wait for my ride. That left a lot of time for contemplation. The first thought that came to mind was, why me? I’ve been attacked multiple times now by some weird creature with haunting purple eyes and razor sharp teeth. Not to mention the ghost who appeared out of thin air with no explanation and is now helping me. Oh, and don’t even get me started on guy troubles. I wished I could run away and never look back. Maybe find some nice place out of the country to hide. Wishful thinking.
The next few days went by the same, Draven never showed and I didn’t run into any Asemas. To pass the time I tried to make a list of things I wanted to ask Draven the next time he came around. Where was he anyway? And why hadn’t anything else happened yet? Were things going to go back to normal now? I hoped so, but with my luck who knows what was in store for me.
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