"Can do."
Neither of us spoke the rest of the way home, because that seemed like the safest bet. I was hurt, angry, and disappointed in both of us, and he felt pretty much the same. When he finally pulled up in front of my apartment, he sighed and turned to me.
"Look, Alice, I don"t want you to go home mad."
"Neither do I," I admitted reluctantly. "So. Fix it."
"Okay," Jack laughed quietly. "Since you can"t turn right away anyway, I can stop rushing Milo.
That means that I can put less time into getting him ready, and I can make more time for you. You won"t feel so shut out."
"Thank you. That"s all I really wanted. Just to be a part of your lives." I bit my lip and looked at him gratefully.
"I don"t know if this helps any, but I really, really wanna kiss you right now," Jack said with a sad smile.
"And yeah, I really did wanna see your purple thong."
"I don"t know how that helps," I smiled. It stung a little, because I knew it couldn"t happen, but it made me feel better knowing that he still wanted it to.
"Yeah, I guess it doesn"t really." He pushed a hair off of my forehead, and he looked at me intently. When he breathed in deeply, his eyes went wistful. "Go. Before I give in."
"Okay," I nodded and opened the car door.
"I"ll call you. Tomorrow. I promise," he rea.s.sured me as I got out.
75.
Jack waited outside until I was safely in the apartment. When I went into my bedroom, I looked out the window, and he was still waiting outside. I watched him for a few minutes, but then he finally pulled away.
Chapter 12.
After sleeping fitfully, an interruption by my phone usually didn"t please me, but it wasn"t just any ringtone playing. It was "Time Warp," Jack"s ringtone, and there were few things that sounded sweeter first thing in the morning. When I rolled and picked up my phone, I found a rather cryptic text message that sent a nervous shiver through me.
Text me as soon as you get this. That was all it said.
Naturally, I started a.s.suming all the worst things the world. Like Milo had gone on a rampage, or Mae had developed vampire cancer or something.. While it always seemed like a good idea to put off hearing bad news, it was far worse letting my mind reel with all the possible disasters that could"ve transpired.
What"s wrong? Is everything okay? I responded quickly. Once I sent it, I realized how redundant it was, but I didn"t really care. Besides, Jack tended to be vague so it was always better if I asked as many questions as possible. Nothing. Everything"s great. I just wanted to get you here as soon as possible. Jack replied almost instantly, giving me less time to worry.
Why? Did something happen? I texted back hurriedly and sat up in bed.
The sun hadn"t fully set yet, and reddish light streamed in through a gap in my curtains. He was up rather early, at least for him in the summer. Something had to have happened to awake him so early, and he wanted me over there. My mind raced, trying to figure out what it could be and why Jack wouldn"t tell me immediately.
Peter. That had to be it. Peter had come back. I couldn"t really decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, and while Jack would definitely think it was a bad thing, he wouldn"t know how I would feel about it. So he"d tell me things cryptically, because nothing was wrong exactly, but it wasn"t right. And I wondered how Peter would respond to Milo, the vampire. They"d never actually met before, but after his severe aversion to me, I couldn"t imagine that he"d really care for Milo. I couldn"t imagine that he"d really care for anything.
Jack still hadn"t replied, so I hopped out of bed and started searching through my room for something to wear. It didn"t really make sense, but I wanted to look good if Peter came back.
Well, it kind of made sense, since technically, he was my intended. Kind of. I think. I really, really don"t understand vampire biology, and I hadn"t gotten far enough in Peter"s book to really understand him either.
I had picked out and discarded three shirts on my bedroom floor when my phone started to ring.
Not like text message ring tone, but actual incoming call ringing, and my heart skipped a beat. If he was actually calling me on the phone, it had to be bad news.
"Jack? What"s going on?" I demanded breathlessly when I picked up the phone.
"You"re totally freaking out right now," Jack laughed. I was mid-heart attack by then, and he laughed.
76.
"Why is that funny?" I hissed, but just hearing him laugh made my nerves settle down.
"Cause you"re so paranoid!" Jack continued laughing. "Milo told me you would freak out if I just told you to text me without an explanation." I heard Milo say something in the background, and Jack laughed harder. "Yeah, she is. I think she"s getting p.i.s.sed now, though."
"Good call." But I really wasn"t getting p.i.s.sed. Mildly irritated because I didn"t know what was going on, but generally I was just happy that apparently nothing horrible had happened, and Jack had called me.
"Sorry." He suppressed his laughter, but I didn"t mind that much. It sounded too wonderful for me to really get mad at him. "We just had a big night of fun planned, and I wanted you to get over here so you can get ready."
"A big night?" I crinkled my brow, but there was definite elation mixed with it. Jack had promised that he would make more time for me, and he was already sticking to it.
"Yeah. We"re going out," he said mischievously.
"Out? " I echoed.
The last time Jack and I had actually gone out anywhere, we went to Valley Fair like a month and a half ago. It was this big amus.e.m.e.nt park in Shakopee, and it closed at midnight but we didn"t get there until almost ten. Still, it was a Sat.u.r.day night and the park was pretty packed. We hardly had to wait in line for anything, though, because everyone and their brother offered to let Jack go in front of them, and by a.s.sociation, me too.
That sounds like an awesome perk, but after this chick wearing only a bikini top and Daisy Dukes tried to steal my seat next to him on the Wild Thing, I kind of freaked out and said I was never going in public with him again. I couldn"t stand hot girls and the occasional gay guy throwing themselves at him.
"Don"t sound so nervous. It"s not gonna be like Valley Fair. I promise." He did sound convincing, but that was coming for the guy that barely even noticed people throwing themselves at him anymore. For having super heightened senses, he could be pretty oblivious.
"Okay?" I said reluctantly, because that was the only thing I could really do.
"Awesome. So I"ll pick you up in like ten minutes."
"No, wait! I"m still in my pajamas and everything!" I caught a glance at myself in the mirror. My dark hair was a total mess, and I was just wearing girl boxers and a wife beater. There was nowhere that I knew of where this would be a good look.
"No, Mae has some clothes for you. You"re getting ready here. Trust me," Jack insisted wickedly.
"It"s better this way."
"What is going on?!" I asked, completely baffled.
"Just be outside in ten minutes."
"Jack!" I shouted but I was talking to a dead phone. He"d hung up. It"d been decided. And if I wasn"t downstairs in eleven minutes, he"d probably come up and get me.
Working quickly, I slipped a bra under my wife beater, since I didn"t really have time to find another outfit. I ran a brush through my hair as quickly as I possibly could. It was still a ridiculous 77 mess, so I pulled it back in a messy bun, slipped on my flip-flops, and ran downstairs, just in time to see Jack pulling up out front.
"You know, I don"t think you"ll even need Mae"s clothes," Jack grinned and turned down the Beastie Boys when I got in the car. "You look smoking hot in that. I mean, are those even shorts?
Or just slightly long underwear?"
"They"re pajamas!" I blushed and struggled to pull down the boxers so they covered my legs better.
"You slept over at my house lots of times, and you never wore those shorts." He had started driving and was trying to pretend like he was watching the road, but I could see him appraising me out of the corner of his eye.
"You"re house is cold! I have to wear warm pajamas!" Pulling down my wife beater more, I was trying to cover myself up, but I was failing miserably. "My house is like ten million degrees. And I wanted to put on real clothes, but you didn"t give me enough time, so this is all your fault."
"Hey, I am not complaining," Jack laughed. "And I"m definitely turning the thermostat up the next time you stay over."
"Oh will you stop looking at me like that!" I rolled my eyes at him. "You"ve seen me in a bikini before! Get over it! Its pajamas!" I completely gave up and just sighed. "I"m fully clothed!"
"Sorry!" Jack smirked. "Sorry. You"re right. Sorry. You look nice is all."
"Whatever," I looked down at myself.
Thankfully, I had thought to shave my legs yesterday while I was getting ready, so they were still pretty smooth. But since I had been nocturnal all summer long, my skin had barely seen the sun. I was pale over, but even more so on my legs. When I looked over at Jack, decked out in a tee shirt with the Batman symbol on it and d.i.c.kies shorts, revealing his flawless, tanned skin, I just groaned. The kicker of it was that I was paler than a vampire.
"What?" Jack looked quizzically at my scowl.
"You"re tan!" I scoffed. "I"m like Casper over here, and you look like you spent the summer at the beach."
"Sorry." He tried not to laugh, but he couldn"t help it. "You have a really rough life, Alice."
"Where are we going anyway?" I tried to change the subject.
"My house," Jack quipped.
"After that."
"Oh, you"ll see." His smile was definitely wicked, and I wondered what exactly I had in store for me.
When we got to his house, he had still refused to give away any clues. Instead, he merely turned up the stereo, and he was singing "Sabotage" when he walked to the house. As expected, Matilda ran to greet us, and Jack shouted that we were home, so Mae followed quickly after the dog.
"Oh, Jack, you didn"t even give her time to get dressed?" Mae scolded him and wrapped her arms around me to shield me from the instant cold of their house.
78.
"She"s just gonna change anyway," he shrugged.
"She doesn"t need to freeze until she does!" Mae insisted, already leading me away from him.
She was taking me through this, back towards her room, where I"d presumably get ready. Milo, who"d been in the living room, saw us pa.s.sing by and ran out to greet us with a gleam in his eye.
If I wasn"t mistaken, he looked even better than he did the last time that I saw him, and he was taller too. The change was still taking its full effect on him.
"Has he told you where we"re going yet?" Milo was positively bubbling with excitement. His clothes were fancier than any I"d ever seen him wear before, with fitted jeans and revealing dress shirt. Wherever he was going, he was going to look good.
"No." I nervously looked to Mae for help, and she smiled thinly at me.
"You"re going to a club," she allowed, and Jack scoffed behind us.
"It"s supposed to be a surprise!" Jack complained.
"Oh, quit, it still is," Mae shook her head at him.
"Like a dance club?" I was definitely confused.
As far as I knew, Jack wasn"t that into dance clubs, and while I didn"t hate them, they weren"t the greatest thing ever. It wouldn"t really be that exciting for me to go to one. Plus, I didn"t see how a club could turn out any better than Valley Fair. If anything, a room full of drunk, s.l.u.tty girls would be way, way worse.
"I don"t know if I really approve of the idea, but Ezra"s not here to talk him out of it, so here we are." Without really answering my question, Mae had gone back to steering me away from the boys to her room.
"Why don"t you go ahead and hop in the shower, and when you get out, we"ll pick out some clothes." I must"ve looked nervous because she stroked my hair rea.s.suringly. "You"ll have fun tonight. I"m sure of it."
Smiling, she left me alone in her bedroom. I was confused, but I did as I was told. I went to the adjoining bathroom and took a shower. They had a million amazing shampoos and body washes, and they always made my hair and skin feel amazing afterwards. I didn"t understand why they needed so many beauty products since they were already perfect anyway, and it wasn"t like they really needed the age fight moisturizers or skin cleansers. They were flawless. But I suppose if I had money and I was a fancy sort of girl, like Mae was, I"d probably buy them and use them simply because I could.
Wrapping myself in a big fluffy robe Mae had left for me, I opened the bedroom door to find Mae already there. Her bed, which had been neatly made but otherwise empty prior to my shower, was now completely covered in clothes. On closer inspection, many of them still had the tags on, and since they all looked to be about my size (which had to be at least two sizes bigger than Mae), I couldn"t help but wonder if they"d been purchased specifically for me.
"Is there anything you really like?" Mae looked at the clothes with a puzzled, serious look on her face, like she was having trouble making a really important decision.
"Well... they all look really nice." That was an understatement. Everything in my apartment probably cost less than half of these clothes, but that wasn"t the point. "What exactly am I getting dressed up for? It might help me pick something out."