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"Ew!" she exclaimed. "Gross! I'm going to be scarred for life now because of you."
Simon just laughed, looking at me innocently. "What? I was talking about coats. You need a heavier coat with all this snow."
I rolled my eyes but I couldn't contain my smile, happy that things were back to normal between us.
Simon obligingly took us to the mall and we ended up having a fun time. I tried on a few coats at Simon's insistence but refused to let him buy one for me, insisting that I had a heavier coat that I just never wore, which was true. We mostly just watched Kendra buy clothes, holding hands and stealing kisses when she wasn't around.
It was almost dinnertime by the time we got back since we had stopped at the grocery store so that I could buy ingredients for tonight. Simon and Kendra dropped me off at my apartment and I immediately started cooking.
"Something smells amazing," Sarah announced when she got home a few minutes later. She walked into the kitchen, her cheeks flushed from the cold.
"I'm making linguine with shrimp."
Sarah's eyes lit up. "Have I ever told you that you're the best roommate ever?"
I grinned and nodded towards the empty salad bowl. "I could use some help with your specialty."
"Sure, let me just take off my coat."
Sarah returned to the kitchen after shedding her coat and got to work on cutting up vegetables.
"Simon and Kendra are coming over for dinner. So is Neal."
Sarah raised her eyebrows. "Does Simon know?"
I nodded. "We agreed that I wouldn't hang out with Neal without him. To be on the safe side in case his vardoger rears its ugly head." I didn't mention how scared Simon had seemed that he would lose me to Neal. He had seemed so vulnerable and it made me feel protective, even though I knew Sarah wouldn't judge him.
"I think that's a good idea." Sarah looked up from the cutting board with a wide smile. "I talked to Jenny tonight. She and Marcus are officially a couple."
"That's awesome!" I made a mental note to call Jenny. I didn't want everything that was happening in my life to start causing distance in my friendships.
I listened to Sarah chatter on about how Jenny and Marcus' date had gone, which led up to their first kiss and decision to be exclusive. It was refreshing to have something happy to concentrate on.
Dinner that night turned out much better than I expected. Grant, Jenny and Marcus joined us and it was nice to have everyone together again. Simon made an effort to not be overtly hostile to Neal and it was a step in the right direction. Neal was charming and wasn't overly attentive to me, which in turn made Simon more relaxed. Neal humored Kendra's attentions on him, her crush on him obviously growing.
I pulled Neal away at one point and mentioned that I had decided not to write a song for Simon's Christmas present because I had thought of another idea. I didn't want to have a reason to see him without Simon. I stuttered when Neal asked me what the new idea was and I blathered on about it being a secret. Neal seemed more amused than anything else.
I was shocked when Simon invited Neal to play basketball with him the next afternoon, along with Grant and Marcus. They routinely played in the indoor courts and Sarah, Jenny and I sometimes went along to watch them play.
I was even more surprised when Neal agreed. Kendra and I decided that we would go along to watch them. Sarah and Jenny were disappointed that they couldn't join us because of class.
All in all, it was a successful dinner and I was grateful for the calm before the storm.
Chapter Twenty-One
I woke up with a scream reverberating inside my head. My breaths were shallow and I struggled to get enough air in my lungs. The sheets on the bed beneath me were soaked with my sweat and my pillow was damp from my tears. The memory of what I had just witnessed was burned on my mind. The fear gradually left me, replaced with a growing sense of urgency. I had just witnessed Neal's soul leaving his body, becoming an empty shell for his vardoger to overtake. That meant that it was going to happen today. Today I was either going to save Neal or watch him be killed by his vardoger. I grasped the iridium coin that never left my neck, drawing strength from the cool metal. I had stashed the palladium coin in my dresser when I got back from Connecticut. I didn't understand its properties and how it affected the power of my iridium, but I wasn't taking a chance with an unknown factor so I kept it hidden away.
I checked my alarm clock and was surprised to see that it was already seven o'clock in the morning. I had to stick like glue to Neal today, regardless of whether he thought I was a weirdo because of it. I picked up my cell phone from my bedside table. My first thought was to call Simon.
"Hello?" he answered groggily.
"Simon, it's me."
"Caitlin!" Simon sounded instantly alert when he recognized my voice. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. Well, not yet. I'm sorry to call you so early but I had a vision of Neal being overtaken by his vardoger. It's going to happen today."
"Are you sure?"
