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Maybe. I’m sure I’ll be tired of it in a few hours, but there’s something nice about it.
He grinned at me, dimples denting his cheeks. It’s okay to like where you came from.
I couldn’t help but smile back. It was the dimples. They got me every time.
I poked a finger in one of the dents and he laughed. Just relax for now, he said and I shifted in the seat to lean against him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, drawing me closer to his warmth. We’ll be there soon enough, but being calm and centered will only help. Especially if Samantha’s powers are anything like yours. Or how they were before I bit you.
Fair enough.
At some point during the drive, I nodded off to sleep, waking only as we jerked to a stop.
“This is it,” the driver said, pointing out the passenger side window.
I rubbed my eyes as I tried to fully wake up.
You were really out, Dastien said. I’m glad you got some rest.
Me, too. I feel like I could sleep for a million more years. I miss anything?
Not really. But we’re here. Dastien nodded toward the window.
There was nothing to make this apartment building stand out from the others in the area. The street was filled with similar two story buildings—tandem parking spaces took up the bottom stories and top stories broken into units. This particular one was painted a fading light pink with mint green accents that had yellowed over the years of sun and pollution.
Claudia checked her watch. “I checked into Holy Ghost’s site and it says—”
“Wait.” Chris perked up. “What’s Holy Ghost?”
“It’s the private Catholic school that Samantha goes to.” She shrugged. “As I was saying, the school’s site says that it got out thirty minutes ago. It should take about that long for her to walk home. So, we should be here just in time to meet her.”
“Does she know we’re coming?” I asked.
“No. I was worried if I called or emailed, she’d disappear for the night. So, we’re surprising her.”
Great. Sounded like Samantha was going to be a dream to work with.
I got out of the car to stretch my legs, and the others followed. Adrian and Chris were shoving each other, laughing about something. Claudia and Lucas cuddled together, leaning against the car. Dastien stood off to the side, letting me take everything in. Giving me the space he knew I needed and would never ask for.
As I turned to take in where we were exactly, I spotted a girl coming up the road. She wore a blue, gray, and white plaid skirt. A white button down was untucked, its long sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her brown hair—almost the exact shade of mine—was piled up into a messy knot on her head. But it wasn’t those things that stood out to me.
It was the silver skull earbuds that glinted in the sun. The way she side-stepped anyone who came close to her and looked like she was stepping over some things I couldn’t see. She kept her head down as she walked. Sunglasses shaded her eyes from me but from her hunched stance, she couldn’t be staring at anything else but the ground.
I stood in the center of the sidewalk, waiting as she approached.
When she was a few feet away from me, she stumbled back a few steps and froze. Slowly, she pulled the earbuds out, and draped the wire behind her neck. “Whatever your question is, the answer is no. I’m not fixing that.” She motioned her hand up and down at me, as if my whole mojo was in need of fixing.
She was pretty spot on for not even touching me. Whatever power she had, it wasn’t smalltime.
Claudia’s footsteps sounded against the pavement as she moved closer. “Prima?”
Samantha pulled her sunglasses off, squinting at Claudia. “Do I know you?”
“It’s me, Samantha. Claudia.”
Samatha’s eyebrows raised. “Wow!” She looked Claudia over, and then took in the guys. “Seriously, cuz? Why in the hell would you get mixed up with them?”
“They’re good people,” Claudia said, and she didn’t even mumble. I wanted to give her a big high five for sticking up for herself, but I figured Samantha wouldn’t appreciate it.
Samantha’s gaze went back to her cousin, and her brows furrowed as if she were seriously considering whether or not that were true. “They’re trouble.”
