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He stroked the top of my thumb with his. “Is this okay?” he whispered. I loved that he actually sounded nervous.
I snuggled into his side more, squeezing his hand and laying my head on his shoulder. “Yeah. ” I smiled so big I thought my face would break. “It's okay. ” He let out a relieved breath and rested his head on the top of mine.
When the movie was almost over (best movie ever--no idea what it was, though, didn't really care) Lend's dad came into the room. I quickly lifted up my head, but Lend didn't move. After a second of taking in the scene, David smiled. “I'm headed to bed. Don't stay up too late, it's a school night. ”
“Okay, Dad, good night. ”
“Good night,” I added. That had gone well. I put my head back on Lend's shoulder, never wanting the movie to end.
I guess Lend felt the same way, because when the credits rolled he said, “Want to watch another one?”
“Yeah!” Did I ever.
He picked another movie, then pulled a throw blanket from the side of the couch and put it over our legs. The last few weeks had been so strange, so scary, that this little piece of wonderful normal was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Halfway into the movie my eyes drifted shut. When I opened them the light in the room was different. I couldn't put my finger on it until I realized it was brighter, warmer--and not coming from the TV. I lifted my head. Vivian was sitting in the armchair, watching the movie. Her golden sphere of flames floated tantalizingly behind her.
“What are you doing?” I hissed. I looked over at Lend; he was staring at the TV, oblivious. Then I glared at Vivian again. “You shouldn't be here!”
She rolled her eyes, slouching down and propping her feet on the coffee table. “Relax, I'm not. ”
I frowned. “Oh. I'm asleep. ”
“Duh?”
“This is so stupid. You aren't real. ”
She raised her eyebrows. “I'm not? Ouch. Here I thought we were finally connecting. ”
“You're just my brain trying to make sense of everything that happened. ”
“Wow. Okay. ” She smiled, a mischievous glint in her pale eyes. “How about I prove it to you? You still have that phone thingie from IPCA?”
“I don't know. ” I didn't like where this was going.
“Find it, take a look at your messages. ”
Nerves gnawed at my stomach. This was ridiculous--it was a dream. “If you were real, I'd be totally scared right now. ”
“Why?”
“Because you're crazy and you run around killing people?”
“I don't kill people. ”
“You killed Lish and Jacques and all those vamps!”
“Yeah, last time I checked--not people. ”
“Whatever. And can you move your stupid glowy thing? It hurts my eyes. ” Truth was, I just wanted to look at it. If Lend's hand hadn't been firmly anchoring me to the couch, I would have gone over to it already.
She laughed. “You're so weird. Didn't you already get more?”
“No! I don't want any. ” My eyes lingering on the brilliant mass probably gave away the lie.
“Well, you're brighter than you were before. I thought you figured it out. ”
I looked down. My shirt was gone, and I was sitting there in my bra. Sure enough, my heart was even brighter. “That's weird,” I said, both about the missing shirt and the brighter flames. I looked at Lend, panicked about my near nudity, but he was still staring at the TV. I turned back to Vivian. “I didn't do anything. And I know Reth hasn't been around. ”
