Death's Dilemma (DHAD #2) (12 page)

“I didn’t know I’d been promoted.”

“Being a Demon is not a promotion up here.”

“Up here? How am I even up here, Trevor?”

“It has to lead back to your mother. She had to be Guardian, and not some half-human half-Guardian who hadn’t developed their powers. Only Guardians who have their gifts can make it up here. And since we know you’re only half of something from my realm, I’d bet since you’re able to come here, you’re related to one of those Angels that Alicia told me about. I don’t think someone who was half guardian could make it up here.”

Chapter Eighteen

Are you Ready for some football?

“You look Grumpy,” Myah pouted. “You guys should be happy to see me.”

“Hi.”

“Come on, if anyone should be grumpy, it’s me. Due to me being a klutz, I had to miss the entire spirit week. I couldn’t walk without it hurting ‘til yesterday.” If she knew the truth, she’d be much more than grumpy. She was right though; I was on edge. Trevor completely avoided me all day yesterday, or it could have been me as I went straight to my room when we got home from school on Thursday. Every time I did have to get up and wander about the house though, I’d watch my back in case he changed his mind about telling other people about our little run in. Which, then, started the paranoid cycle that wasn’t helped by the continuous news feed about what happened at the fair over the weekend. Too many coincidences seemed to be lining up. First, Reapers come after me, then, a random Demon shows up at the fair. Were they setups?

“Let’s all whip those frowns off of our faces and enjoy this football game!” Myah complained.

“Before we head up to our seats though, let’s go under the bleachers so we can see what they were able to get done on the float without us.” She started to laugh. Lacie called her on Monday and said we dropped out of the float because it wasn’t the same without her. Lacie and I followed her under the bleachers where four, cloaked floats sat.

“Why are they here?” I asked, and she looked at me like I was stupid.

“They judge them at half time. DUH. They’ll bring them out onto the field and announce a winner. Now, are you ready?” she asked, and we nodded.

“Ba Ba Bum!” Myah called as she took off the tarp and revealed the seniors’ float. It looked like a giant, golden turd. No way were we winning this one. I was so glad we had been on home and school only restrictions; I wanted no credit for this thing. “I know, right,” Myah laughed along with me. “They thought, because the dance was masquerade themed, that a lot of movies have masks, and from there, they came up with a giant Oscar.” She rolled her eyes. “It looks terrible, but who cares. At least we have something to burn at your house after the football game.”

“Our house?” I asked.

“Yes, didn’t Lacie tell you? She volunteered your house to burn the float at. ”

“Must have slipped her mind,” I said, knowing it was a lie.

I walked up the bleachers and looked around at the entire student body. Many of the female students, like Lacie and I, were wearing a player’s jersey. Myah guided us to our seats. Lacie took the seat next to her, and I plopped down on Lacie’s other side.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Myah exclaimed. “Last game of the year, and we each have a jersey. If you told me this last year, I would have thought you were crazy. But New Year, new friends, new experiences right?!”

“Yeah, super exciting,” I tried to say without sounding sarcastic, but Myah’s eye roll told me I’d failed.

“Who’s are you wearing anyways, Cendall. I know Lacie’s, hell everyone knows Lacie’s— Mr. QB. With only being at the school a few months, that’s impressive.” She winked at Lacie.

“I’m wearing Cameron’s.”

“Oh really.”

“Yes, do you have an issue with that?”

“No, he’s cute but so socially awkward. At least he’ll make a good photograph if you go to the dance with him.”

“He’s not going to the dance. In the morning, he and his family are leaving for vacation.”

“So who are you going to bring?”

“No one.”

“Oh,” was all she said before abandoning the topic and questioning Lacie all about Mr. QB.

The game started with a long speech that had most of the bleachers in tears. It was a memorial for Chad and get well wishes for those students who were still recovering in the hospital. Unlike the others in the stands, hearing it just angered me more. If they only knew the truth of what happened. Why he had died? It was my fault, as they were after me. If the crowd knew that, would they allow me to be here? Lacie wrapped her arm around me, and I watched a tear leave her check.

“Not your fault,” she mouthed. I swear, sometimes that girl had mind powers beyond her realm. It almost made me not angry with her for not sharing that we’d be burning the golden turd at our house. At the end of the speech, everyone clapped, and it was followed by the national anthem.

This game of football was actually much more intriguing than I’d originally thought. We’d learned about it because it was said to be “America’s most popular sport” but I’d never really gotten the point until now. The energy of the crowd alone was enough to affect anyone.

In the last play before half time, Cameron was thrown the ball. “RUN, CAMERON!” I yelled. This would make it a tie game.

“I thought you weren’t into being here. Clearly, I was wrong,” Myah said, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with her. I didn’t know what came over me, but this was actually fun to watch. It sort of reminded me of the Reaping back home, except instead of trying to take the other’s soul, you tried to get this pig skin. And you got a whole team to do it. A team Reaping event would have been fun.

***

“Ready to go?” Myah asked after they announced the sophomore class had won best float. No shocker there, considering it looked like a Mona Lisa next to our metallic turd.

“The game’s not over yet, and we’re tied after that touchdown Cameron scored,” I spit out, and she gave me a disgusted look. “Who cares? We have to go make the jungle juice, and pick up beer.”

“What?”

“Jungle juice and beer. Did you think this was going to be a dry party?”

“You’re not old enough,” I said as I followed Lacie and Myah down the bleachers.

“So what?”

“And since when do you drink?”

“Since tonight. I’ve tried it before, but you can’t have a party without it. I got a recipe online for the jungle juice, and my crazy aunt said she’ll get everything for us. She’s on her way to pick us up now. Then, she’ll take us to the store to get whatever we want.”

“I don’t think I like… wait, I thought we were going to burn that thing. If we leave now, how will it get to the house?” I asked, hoping this would be our reason to stay. I wanted to see how it ended.

“The guys will bring it after the game’s over.”

“But…”

“It’ll be fine. Let’s go,” Lacie said.

When we got to the car, Myah jumped in. I waited until she shut her door to turn to Lacie.

“I’m not going to get drunk, so before you decide to lecture me, I thought I’d let you know that. This is normal for a party, so don’t freak out. Remember, just one more day and then we’re boring, and I’ll never get to see any of these people again.” She started to tear up. I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it. After our next location was secure, we’d leave immediately. No goodbyes.

Chapter Nineteen

Party Down

“Have fun tonight ladies!” Myah’s aunt giggled as she dropped us off. Like Myah had said, she bought us everything we wanted. She only made us pay for the fruit, but the cost was listening to her “in my day” stories, days she seemed to still be stuck in if she was buying for minors, but I didn’t want to upset Lacie, so I held my tongue.

“Lacie and I will go make the jungle juice. Cendall, can you move the keg?”

“Don’t look at me like that. I saw you during weightlifting in gym class.” I smirked.

I waited until they were in the house to port the keg to the back yard. To my surprise, most of it was already set up. Trevor was there putting out more tables and chairs.

“A party? Seriously?”

“So you’re done avoiding me?” he asked.

“I wasn’t avoiding you, I just.”

“Wanted to keep your distance in case I changed my mind.”

“Maybe.”

“And yes, she asked a while ago. The rules we agreed on said that she could go to school and home. This is still technically our home, and all the wards are still up, so the party is on.”

“Whatever, you know they’re drinking right?” I asked

“Oh no, seniors drinking their senior year? I’ve never heard of that before,” he mocked, as Myah approached.

“Have a cup of this. It’ll help you relax,” Myah said as she handed me a cup of juice.

“Relax?”

“Yes, you look like my dad when he first caught me kissing a boy. The football team is on their way with the float.”

I looked down at the glass which had fruit floating at the top of it. This must have been what they made inside. I’d never drank before, but then, I’d never been to a party either. To my surprise, it tasted just like strawberry Kool-Aid. It couldn’t be that strong then.

One by one students, started piling in the back yard, and before I knew it, there had to be at least a hundred people there, but still no float.

“Finally,” Myah called from beside me, and I watched the football team emerge from the side of the house with our giant turd float. “Here, hold this. I’m going to go get some gasoline,” she said as she handed me another full glass of jungle juice. I’d already drank the first one she gave me; she could get another one. I took a sip as the guys brought the float to the center of the yard where a small blaze danced in a makeshift fire pit. They maneuvered the metallic mass over the small fire and then let the thing slam down on top of it. The fire went out immediately, and everyone started laughing. Then, one by one, students started coming up the thing and beating it with whatever was in their hands. Some used sticks while others just punched it.

“Is this suppose to be like a grown up piñata?” I asked Lacie as she came up next to me with a large stick in her hand. “Sort of, I don’t know, but come on. It’ll be fun.”

“I don’t have anything to hit it with.”

“Really?” She said as she pointed to my boots. Ah yes, there was that. I pulled it out and let it elongate. We approached the turd, and Lacie struck first. She hit one of the arms hard enough that it bent backwards, and crowd hollered in approval. If they liked that, they’d really love this. I jumped in the air and slashed at the head of float. It popped off in one, clean swipe, and everyone started to cheer. Myah then jumped on top of the thing and started pouring gasoline on it. She leapt to the ground, yelled for everyone to back us, and tossed a match as she quickly ran away from the mass.

Whoosh!

In seconds, the mound erupted into an inferno.

“Where did you find that thing?” Cameron asked as his eyes went wide in awe when I walked over to him.

“Oh, it was in the shed.”

“It looks like something from a horror movie that slices and dices people.” Only a few so far.

“Nope, Lacie’s dad must use it for something.”

“Can I touch it?”

“It’s pretty sharp. I’m going to go put it away.”

“Maybe her dad’s really a hit man instead of a plastic surgeon,” Cameron laughed, and I chuckled along. I ran to the shed and placed it back in my boot. When I returned, the float was sitting in ashes, and Cameron was alone at the fire pit.

“Where did everyone go?” I asked

“Inside to play flip cup. Have you kissed someone before?”

“Yes.” Where was this heading?

“How many people?”

“Three.”

“What was it like?”

“I don’t really think about it much.” I was only reminded of every time I saw Trevor’s face.

“I’ve kissed a girl once. It was terrible though. She laughed at me afterwards.”

“I’m sorry she laughed at you. I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. She just wasn’t the one you were supposed to be kissing.” Please don’t let this lead to where I think it’s leading. Last time I’d had a discussion with a boy about kissing, before I knew it, I had made out with three boys in a twenty-four hour time frame.

“Yeah, I think it’s just females in general I’m not supposed to be kissing,” he said and put his hand over his mouth like it just slipped out.

“I meant…I meant…Listen, I had some shots on the way over here,” he started stuttering.

“It’s okay. Don’t freak out.” Thank god. I really wasn’t ready for a make out with a friend déjà vu.

“Do you want to go play survivor flip cup with everyone?” he asked, and I nodded my head. I had no idea what the game was, but if it was competitive, I was down.

We walked inside to the kitchen table where a ton of people were lined up on each side. I watched for a minute but quickly grabbed onto the concept. Drink what’s inside the cup, then flip it to land on the side you drink from. Once you successfully finished your drink and flipped the cup, the person next to you went and so on until your entire team finished, hopefully faster than the opposing team. Slowest one from the losing team gets voted off each time until there is only one person on each team.

“We want in,” Cameron shouted, and we went on the same side.

***

I looked up at the clock as the game finally started to dwindle down. Our game was now down to two people on each side, with Cameron and me being the last on our side. While Lacie and Myah were on the other. I felt myself begin to sway and found my hand reaching for the table for balance. Winning had been fun, but it came at the cost of me being at least ten cups deep in jungle juice. I, however, refused to lose.

“Okay last game, and then we’ve got to call it a night. Some of us have dancing to do tomorrow!” Lacie called.

“Oh because I know that’s on the top of your priority list,” Cameron laughed. “One, two, three…” Cameron called, and he and Myah tapped their cups, threw the drink back, and began to flip. Cameron got it on the second try, and I threw my drink back. I placed the cup on the table, and with one flip, the game was over. We cheered in victory, and Cameron went to give me a high five but missed and fell to the floor. In the process, as he slipped in a puddle of spilled juice, he slurred out, “I think it’s sleepy time.” He laughed, and I had to agree as I had to put my hand on the wall to steady myself as I helped him up.