My Soul to Keep

CHAPTER 18



Clarisse offered to drive me the rest of the way home, but I wanted to walk. Changing back into my human form had been easier than I thought. She seemed, for lack of a better word, weird after our encounter with the Chosen. I didn't know what it meant, nor did I ask.

I opened the front door of my empty house and went up to my room. I thought about playing video games, but flopped down on my bed and picked up my phone instead. I dialed Jessie's number without thinking about it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Jessie, it's me, Connor." I'm sure it sounded more like, "Hijessieitsmeconnor," but what can I say? I was nervous. Even talking to her on the phone caused me to break out in sweats and chills.

"Slow down, Skippy. Take a deep breath. Did you make it home okay?"

"Yes? Why?"

"Well, with the day you had, I just wanted to make sure. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a weird day is all."

"You could say that again!"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a weird day is all…" I waited for it.

"Smart ass."

I laughed into the phone. "Jessie…" I swallowed and took a big lungful of air to help build up my courage.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, if you're not busy…"

"Deep breaths, what is it?"

"Would you go to the Halloween dance with me?" There I said it. Now I just had to wait for the inevitable no.

"Well, jeez." My heart sank. "You see Jeremy already asked me…"

My room started spinning. I could feel heat climb into my face and I'm sure if I looked, my eyes would be glowing red. "He what?"

"Yeah, he already asked. At lunch."

"Oh. Okay." I wanted to throw up.

"It's a good thing I said no, huh? I hoped you'd ask me so I told him I already made plans. I'm glad you finally did. That could have been a little embarrassing."

"You said no?"

"Of course I did. I want to go with you!"

My heart started beating again and the nausea dissipated on a cloud of rainbows and puppy dogs. I don't think I'd ever been happier than right there and then. It's amazing what a simple yes can do. I was still going to skin Jeremy and hang his carcass in the center of town, but I was happy. "Great! Thank you, Jessie."

"For what?"

"For saying no to Jeremy and being patient while I built up my courage. For being you. For putting up with all the strange stuff that's been going on. And most of all for saying yes to me."

"You're welcome. Pick me up at eight."

"I will."

"What are you going as?" Her question caught me a little off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"It's a costume dance. What costume are you wearing? I'll see what I can do to match…"

"A demon," popped out of my mouth. I didn't even hesitate.

"Sweet! I'll go as an angel!"

I pictured her in fluffy white wings and a flimsy outfit. I know the Chosen are our mortal enemies, but I won't lie. The image in my head "worked". I imagine Jessie would look good in anything. Or nothing…I dropped that line of thought as soon as it started.

"Connor?"

"Huh?"

"You okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Was just picturing you dressed up as an angel."

"Is that okay?"

"You have no idea how perfect that sounds."

* * *

The sound of the front door opening broke me out of my Jessie themed daydream. I sat up and headed downstairs to see which of my rents arrived home first.

Instead I found Caelyn had come in and sat on the couch with Shannon. Not eight foot tall, silvery eyed Shannon, just plain old captain of the cheerleading squad Shannon. I smiled at her and my sister. I didn't particularly like the idea of one of the Chosen hanging out with my sister but I couldn't exactly bash the smile off the winged freaks face with Caelyn sitting there.

"Evening, ladies," I said with as much sugar as I could muster.

"What do you want?" My sister stared at me with disgust.

"Nothing, I'm a little hungry, I was gonna head to the mall for pretzels. Would you care to join me?" I snickered at the thought. This was kind of fun.

"Did you start taking drugs? Why the hell would we go to the mall with you?"

"Sure," Shannon said at the same time.

I don't know who looked more shocked, me or my sister.

"What?" Caelyn spoke first.

"I'm hungry, too. Come on, we can take my car," Shannon said, leaving little room for argument.

This was bad. Very bad. I didn't know what her game was, but if she thought I would get into a car with her, her self-righteous attitude had made her crazy.

"Fine," Caelyn said and threw her arms in the air, "but I'm riding shotgun."

I tried to think of an excuse. Shannon must have seen the wheels turning in my head. She jumped off the couch like a normal teenage girl and grabbed my arm.

"Come on, this will be fun," she said and started dragging me to the front door. I thought about kicking and screaming, but figured it wouldn't help.

"Great. Thanks for the ride," I managed to say. I took one last look at my house, figuring it might be the last time I saw it.

Thank God the drive took less than five minutes. The whole ride over in Shannon's little convertible HHR was the most uncomfortable I've ever been. She and my sister chatted about school and boys the whole time in the front, while I expected Shannon to turn around and skewer me like a piece of beef in the back of the car. I should have offered to ride in the trunk. That would have made me and my sister happy.

We parked, and I made a mental note that the Chosen and Fallen have one thing in common, good parking places. It was less than fifty feet to the glass entrance of the mall.

"What do you think, Connor?" Shannon's voice broke me from my thoughts.

"About what?"

"Weren't you paying attention? We were discussing possible Halloween costumes. I was thinking about going as winged creature of light."

"You mean an angel?" I tried not to sound incredulous.

"Yes, an angel. What are you going as?"

"I was thinking about going as a winged creature of darkness." I gave her my best attempt at an evil smile. She stiffened and returned the smile I'd been attempting.

"Good, we can go as mortal enemies then. Be sure to save at least one dance for me."

"Oh, I will. What are you going as brat?" I turned my attention to Caelyn. She stood there with one hand on her hip, taking turns looking at Shannon and me.

"What's going on? Are you going to the dance together?"

Shannon and I laughed simultaneously. "Of course not! I'm sure your brother already has a date!" She looked at me. "You're probably going with that skeez, Claire. Aren't you?" She looked at me triumphantly.

"No, I'm not. We're just friends. I have another date."

We headed for the mall entrance. "Yeah, right. You can't bring Jeremy to a dance and call him your date," my sister said.

"I'm not. I'm going with Jessie." I almost ran into the back of my sister and her "friend". To say they stopped short would be an understatement. I almost heard their tennis shoes squeak to a stop on the tarmac. "What?"

"You need to stay away from her, Connor," Shannon said levelly. She almost sounded concerned. I tilted my head as I looked at her.

"It figures only a blind girl would go with you."

I balled my fists and turned on my sister. Shannon did the same. She beat me to the punch, so to speak.

"Apologize right now!" I could hear the venom in Shannon's voice and I actually felt worried for the brat.

"Relax! I was kidding. Jessie is nice. Too nice for the likes of him," she said by way of apology. Shannon seemed to shimmer for a moment as she calmed herself. Caelyn blinked twice and shook her head.

I ignored both of them, walked around them, and into the warmth of the mall. I heard the door open behind me and heard Caelyn whisper, "Do you like my brother?"

"Don't be silly, Cae. It bothers me when people use the less fortunate as the brunt of a joke."

"What's a brunt?"

I laughed and got in line at the pretzel shop.

I ordered two for myself and asked my sister and Shannon if they wanted anything. Shannon said yes. My sister looked at me funny. I paid and handed Shannon hers. She devoured them faster than I did. I guess she didn't have to worry about excessive carbohydrates either. We both finished and licked our fingers and laughed at my sister's disgusted look. When she thought we weren't looking, I caught her pinching herself. No, little sister. You haven't fallen into an alternate universe.

"You guys ready to go?" I wanted this to be over in the worst way.

"Almost. I just need to pick up a few things while we're here. Come on, Connor, I'd like your opinion if you don't mind," Shannon said musically. Too musically. Something was wrong.

"Uh, sure?"

She smiled and grabbed my hand and pulled. Caelyn looked like she wanted to throw up. I know I did.

We started heading toward the west entrance. I rarely came down this end of the mall. The bookstores, the pretzel shop, and the Game Stop were all on the other end of the mall where we came in. The only thing down here was some of the higher end department stores and…

My stomach started to churn. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise! I just need the finishing touches for my costume. I'd really like your opinion."

Please, God, no. Please, please, please, please.

Sure enough, Angelique's Closet loomed on the horizon. I thought about faking a stomach illness. Or a broken leg. Or a ruptured spleen, a whale sighting, or a rabid pterodactyl attack. My mouth wouldn't work and my legs refused to stop working. By the time we reached the entrance, my stomach felt like I wouldn't need to fake an illness. Maybe Clarisse isn't working.

No such luck. She looked up from the counter as the three of us entered the store.

"Help me," I mouthed. She started laughing.

"Well if it isn't Connor, his brat sister, and the wicked witch of the west. Are you three off to see the wizard?"

The store manager spun on her heel and stared at Clarisse. "Miss Awl, that kind of behavior is unaccep–"

Clarisse stared at her for a moment. The store manager stopped what she was saying and started folding tiny bits of cloth I assumed were underwear. Jedi mind tricks.

"What do you want, Shanria?"

"It's Shannon, Claire. What I want is some lingerie to go underneath my costume for the dance."

Claire stepped out from behind the counter and went over to one of the drawers closest to the register. "I have just the thing." Without looking, she reached in and pulled out a set of ruffled, atrocious looking granny panties. Actually, I don't even think my grandmother would have worn them. Too conservative.

"I hope these will be to your liking…"

"Har har har. Very funny, Clarisse…I mean, Claire."

I glanced over at my sister and she had a dull look on her face. I guess they didn't want the human in on this exchange. That was fine by me. "Ladies, are we almost done? I really need to get home."

"Don't be rude, Connor," Shannon snapped. "You broke bread with me, now you must be my friend."

"You what?" Clarisse didn't sound too happy.

"What do you mean I broke bread with you? What the hell does that mean?"

"What did you do, Connor?" Clarisse rounded on me.

"Nothing! We got to the mall, I had some pretzels and we came here."

Clarisse looked at Shannon for an explanation.

"It's simple. I was at his house with his sister. He asked me to share bread with him. We ventured forth to the mall where he willingly shared a meal of bread with me. It's done. We're allies."

"Huh?" I looked from Shannon to Clarisse and back again.

Clarisse sighed. "You bought her a pretzel didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with anything? I was kidding when I asked them to the mall. I didn't expect them to say yes."

"It has everything to do with everything. You fought. You drew first blood. Now, because you offered to break bread with her, that means you respect her enough to forgive her. You also have pledged your allegiance to her! You consider yourself to be allies! Connor you are a moron."

"Well how the hell was I supposed to know? You never tell me anything until it's too late!"

"You're right. It is my fault. I'm sorry."

Shannon and I stared at her waiting for the punch-line. It didn't come. "What did you say?"

"I said it was my fault and that I'm sorry. I've been doing that a lot lately with you. Don't worry. We just have to wait until you piss her off enough to attack you. Then the treaty you just made will be null and void."

"Oh, goody. Is that all…"