“Fine.” Chloe clenched her jaw. “As a member of the prom court, I will have a lot of other responsibilities that night, and I need someone to tune my band’s guitars.”
“No, Lilith will not—” Cam started.
“What are you doing here?” Lilith spun around, noticing Cam.
Cam started to speak, but Chloe cut him off. “Lilith already confided in me that she wasn’t going to prom. I assume it’s because no guy wants to go with her, and she’s afraid she’ll look pathetic if she shows up without a date. I’m doing her a favor. She still gets to have the prom experience, but she doesn’t have to look like such a loser.”
Cam felt his body tense. He wanted to wreck this girl, but he held himself back for Lilith’s sake and watched her face for the burst of fury Chloe’s words should have incited. He waited. They all did.
“This is boring,” June said, checking her phone.
Lilith looked at her feet for several seconds. When she looked back up at Chloe, her expression was clear and calm.
“I can’t,” Lilith said.
Chloe frowned. “You can’t, or you won’t?”
“I signed up for the battle,” Lilith said. “My band is called Revenge.”
Chloe’s head shot to the left, where her friend Teresa stood. “Did you know about this?”
Teresa’s shoulder twitched in a shrug. “They’re not competition. Relax.”
“Don’t tell me to relax,” Chloe barked. “It’s your job to keep me updated on all prom developments.” She blinked rapidly, turning back to Lilith. “Well, whatever, you can still play in your own ‘band.’ This would just be for extra cash.” She smiled, stretching her arm around Lilith’s shoulder. “What do you say?”
“What’s it pay?” Lilith asked, and Cam suddenly understood why Lilith was even entertaining Chloe’s request. Her family needed all the extra money they could get, for Bruce.
Chloe thought a moment. “A hundred bucks.”
“And what would I have to do?” Lilith asked.
“Just come to our practices and make sure my guitar’s in tune and the strings are fresh,” Chloe said. “I have Bar Method today, but we have practice at my house tomorrow after school.”
You’re better than this, Cam wanted to say. You’re too talented to be Chloe’s roadie.
“I’ll pass,” Lilith said.
“You’re saying no?” Chloe asked.
“You’re my competition,” Lilith said. “I need to focus on my music so we can beat you guys at the battle.”
Chloe narrowed her eyes. “I’m going to squash every single one of your precious little dreams.” She glanced over her left shoulder, then her right. “Girls? Let’s go.”
As the Perceived Slights filed off behind their leader, Cam tried to hide his smile. Just when Cam was feeling the strain of having to fend off Lucifer’s tricks, Lilith had unwittingly stood up to the devil on her own.
“What?” Lilith asked. “Why are you smirking at me?”
Cam shook his head. “I’m not.”
She nodded toward the front doors of the school. “You coming to homeroom?”
“Nah,” he said, letting his smile bust out. “I’m in too good a mood to go to class.”
“Must be nice,” Lilith said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I’m trying this turn-over-a-new-leaf thing at school, getting to class on time and all that.”
“That’s great,” Cam said. “I’m glad.”
“What will you do all day?”
Cam gazed at the sky, where black smoke from the hills climbed toward a pale gray sun. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Yeah, right.” Lilith lingered before him, and Cam relished the quiet moment, trying not to hope for more. He restrained himself from touching her, and instead admired the slight slope of her nose, the cowlick that made her hair swoop up a little on the right.
“Lilith—” he started to say.
“I got your note,” she said. “Those flowers. That desk. I’ve never been given a desk before. Very original.”
Cam chuckled.
“But the note—” Lilith started to say.
“I meant it,” Cam said quickly. “In case that’s what you were going to ask. I don’t expect anything in return, but I meant it. Every word.”
She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide, her lips parted. He’d seen that look before. It was burned into his memory from the very first time they ever kissed.
Cam closed his eyes and he was back there, holding her on the banks of the Jordan River, feeling her warmth against his skin, drawing his lips toward hers. Oh, that kiss. There was no deeper ecstasy. Her lips were feather soft one minute, hungry with passion the next. He never knew what to expect from her, and he delighted in each surprise.
He needed another kiss. He wanted her now, again, always.
He opened his eyes. She was still there, gazing at him, as if three thousand years hadn’t passed. Was she feeling it, too? How could she not? He leaned in. He reached to cup the back of her head. She opened her mouth—
And the bell rang.
Lilith jumped back. “I can’t be late. I gotta go.”