Rock Bottom (Dragon Within #4) (14 page)

    
Brandy
dropped her gaze back to the book. “I’m fine.” She fiddled with the buttons on
her shirt. A shirt which hung much too loosely from her frame. Brandy had
always been supermodel thin, but not in that hollowed out kind of way. She
didn’t look exactly anorexic right then either, but I definitely saw bones
protruding where no bones had protruded before.

    
“You are
not fine.” I walked over to the couch. “Are you sick? You look sick.”

    
“I’m not
sick. I...” She shook her head in that I-have-no-words kind of way. And if
you’ve been paying any attention at all, then you should know speechless was
not a word typically associated with Brandy
LeVine
.

    
Something
was definitely wrong here and I felt like the worst kind of person for not
noticing right away. “What’s going on? You know you can talk to me about
anything.”

    
“Can I?”
The words hit me almost as hard as the cold accusation in her eyes. “The last
time I tried talking to you, you blew up in my face.”

    
I winced.
“I know. And I’m sorry. It was a bad day, not that it’s any excuse. But I
promise to listen better this time.” I sat down beside her.

    
“You seem
happy,” she said. “I’m glad for that. You’re where you belong, I suppose. You,
Derek, Stephanie, Hannah, you’re all where you belong. And even Curtis seems to
fit in as well as if he too were a... a dragon. But where does that leave me?
I’ve tried to understand. I’ve asked all the questions. I know it’s all real.
But it still makes no sense to me. This world we’ve fallen into makes no sense.
It’s not logical.” Her voice cracked.

    
“Brandy,
I...” But the knot in my throat was too tight for me to say any of the
unhelpful things people usually say in a situation like this. I put my arms
around her and hugged her. She felt so brittle I was almost afraid if I
squeezed too hard she might shatter.

    
For a
minute I didn’t know whether or not she was going to hug me back. And then she
did, laying her head on my shoulder and letting out this horrible tired kind of
sigh. In her own way, Brandy had been through as much since this all started as
I had. Maybe more. And it was breaking her. My rock. I’d had a glimpse of that
a time or two, but I refused to believe it. I always thought she could bounce
right back from anything. To realize I was wrong shook me to my core.

    
Smart,
sharp tongued Brandy
LeVine
was not going to crumble
away to nothing because of me. I couldn’t let that happen. “You should go
home.” Saying those words was like tearing a hole in my own heart.

    
Even
though I hadn’t spent much time with her since coming to the bunker, I took a
certain comfort from knowing she was there. My rock in a world gone mad. But to
make her stay for no reason but to make me feel better would have been to take
myself to new heights of selfishness.

    
“How
would Megara feel about that?” she asked, her voice muffled against my shirt.

    
“I don’t
care. If she won’t open the door for you, I’ll blast it down. I can do
that.”
 

    
Brandy
pulled away slightly and gave me the strangest look. “Listen to you. You aren’t
the girl who used to come crying to me for every little trouble.”

    
“I guess
I’m growing up. Maybe even,” my next words were hard to say, but not as hard to
imagine as they would have been a month or two ago, “growing away from you.
That doesn’t mean I don’t still love you. I do. You’re my best friend. One of
the most important people in my life. I need you here. It would break my heart
to lose you. But I don’t want you to stay if it’s making you miserable.”

    
“I think
that may be the most mature thing I have ever heard you say.” Brandy shook her
head. “I’m not going to leave you. My behavior last week was irrational. I’ve
been upset. This situation is most trying. And yet, I couldn’t possibly go.
This may not have occurred to you, but I need you too.”

    
My mouth
fell open. “You do? I kind of figured I was this weight around your neck.
You’re always having to clean up all my messes. I’d think you’d be happy to be
rid of me.”

    
Brandy pursed
her lips. “I’m loathe to say this, and ask you not to repeat it, but Hannah was
not entirely incorrect as to the cause behind my ill mood. Though most of it
stems from my concern for you, part of it does come from the alteration to our
relationship. Our dynamic is shifting and I’m having some difficulty catching
my balance. Change is no easy thing for me.”

    
“You’ve
been through a lot,” I said. “I got so wrapped up in my own stuff, I forgot
about more than Curtis’ birthday. I’m sorry. I want to fix this. I want us to
be good friends again. Tell me what I need to do.”

    
“Don’t
let Curtis know you forgot his birthday. That would be a nice start,” she said.
“It’s a pity he can't have a party.”

    
That
sparked an idea. I bounced off the couch. “Hold that thought. And if anybody
comes back, keep them here.” I started for the door.

    
“What are
you going to do?”

   
“Wait and
see.” I grinned at her over my shoulder before leaving the room.

    
It took
almost no effort for me to find someone who could point me to where Luka lived
with his family. I only hoped Curtis wasn’t already there, or that the two of
them weren’t off somewhere together. I could probably have gotten Jonah to help
me out instead, but I thought it would mean more to my cousin if it was Luka.

    
When I
got to his door, I found myself hit with a bad case of nerves. I didn’t know
Luka very well. I wasn’t even sure he and Curtis were still hanging out. Which
just went to further prove how I’d been ignoring my friends.
      

    
I stood
there for a good five minutes going back and forth in my head, before I finally
decided to take a chance and knock on the door. The worst Luka could do was
tell me to get lost. When the door opened I was greeted by the most beautiful
little girl I have ever seen. She looked up at me with these big chocolate
brown eyes. I swear, she was like a living doll.

    
“Hi,
there sweetie,” I said. “Is your brother here?”

    
“Uh huh.”
She wandered off, leaving the door open. I thought about following her, but was
afraid that would be way too intrusive. I opted to hang out in the hall
instead, waiting to see if she actually went to get Luka.

    
Luka did
come to the door, looking a little uncertain until he saw it was me. “Oh, hey.
Abigail, right? All
Baily
would say is a lady was at
the door for me. We keep telling her she needs to ask who it is, but she always
forgets. You need something?”

    
“Are you
still hanging out with my cousin?”

    
“Yeah.”
He said the word with a hint of hesitation. “Why?”

    
“Today is
his birthday. He’s turning fifteen and I’d like to do something special for
him. I know it can’t be much, considering where we are, but I was hoping you
might have some ideas.”

    
Luka
grinned. “Sure. We manage to do birthdays around here. Give me an hour and keep
him out of the cafeteria.”

    
“I can
handle that.” Though I didn’t have the slightest idea where my cousin was at
the moment. “Thanks, Luka. This will mean a lot to him.”

    
“He
didn’t tell me about his birthday or I’d have been on it already.”

    
“Yeah,
well, Curtis is kind of shy.”

    
He gave
me this little lopsided smile. “I noticed.”

    
I started
to ask him a question, then stopped myself. It wasn’t any of my business to
ask. But Curtis was like my little brother, even though, in all truth, we
weren’t even really cousins. I was adopted, after all. Not that finding it out
had my changed my feelings for him one bit.

    
“Do
you... Oh god, I can’t believe I’m really asking you this. Do you like Curtis?”

    
“Sure.
He’s cool.”

    
“No. I
mean...” I cleared my throat. “Do you
like
him?”

    
Luka
leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah.”

    
“So are
you guys... a couple? I don’t mean to be butting into your business, I barely
even know you. I just... I...”

    
“You’re
looking out for him,” Luka said. “I get that. We’re not together. I’d like us
to be and I’m pretty sure he would to, but he’s not ready to admit it. I figure
he’s never had a boyfriend.”

    
I shook
my head. “I shouldn’t say this to you. Curtis would kill me. But I want him to
be happy. He’s never going to make the first move. If you like him then you’re
going to have to give him a push. Take that as a bit of sisterly advice.”

    
“Okay.”

    
“See you
in about an hour.”

    
Heading
back to my room, I felt some of my guilt for forgetting Curtis’ birthday start
to lift. I was trying to make it up to him and that counts for something.
Right?

    
My plan
was to get Brandy to help me hunt Curtis down and bring him back to our room so
he couldn’t stumble across whatever Luka was going to be doing. But I didn’t
have to worry about it, because my cousin was already there. Sitting at the
kitchen table messing around with his laptop.

    
Brandy
looked up from her book and raised her brow. I nodded. She went back to
reading. No matter how far apart we might have drifted, we could still talk to
each other without saying a word.

    
“Hey,
there.” I sat in the chair opposite Curtis. “What are you doing?”
 

    
“Nothing.” He shut the computer down. “Why are you done with training
already?”

    
“I asked
Megara to cut it short so I could have dinner with you. It is your birthday,
after all.”

    
Curtis
stared silently back at me for a moment. “Brandy told you, huh?”

    
Heat
crawled into my cheeks. “I am so sorry I forgot.” I laid my hand over his on
the table. “Are you mad at me?”

    
He
shrugged. “You have a lot on your mind.”

    
Not an
answer to my question. “That’s no excuse. I’ve been doing a poor job at being a
friend. I know that. But like I told Brandy earlier, that’s going to change. I
promise. I’ve been way too wrapped up in this whole dragon thing, and it’s past
time for me to step it down a little. It’s not worth losing my friends over.
It’s not worth forgetting important things like my cousin’s birthday.” I
squeezed his hand. “You know I love you, right?”

    
“Yeah.
Yeah.” He smiled. “I love you too.”

    
“Okay
then. Brandy, would you round up the gang and we’ll meet you in the cafeteria
in a bit?” What I was really asking was if she’d give me and Curtis some alone
time.

    
And of
course, she got that. I swear sometimes it was like she could read my mind.
“All right.” She put the book aside and left.

    
I sat
back in the chair. “Well, we don’t have a TV to watch, so how about you show me
the movie you’ve been working on.”

    
“This is
my
birthday and I think you owe me something for forgetting.” He unplugged the
camcorder from the laptop and turned it around toward me. “I haven’t gotten any
footage of you in a long time. The camera demands to know all your secrets.”

    
I
laughed. “What secrets?”

    
“Come on,
Abby.” His expression turned serious. “Maybe you've got the others fooled
thinking you’re spending all your time training with Megara, but not me.

    
“Every
day, it’s like you’re two different people. You meet us at lunch and you’re
spaced out half the time, but you’re happy. Then at night you’re all tense and
upset. And then this past week, you’ve been completely avoiding us. But every
time I see you around, there’s this little smile. Something’s going on. The
camera demands answers.”

    
“I
thought when you turned fifteen you might transform from this weird little nerd
into a regular guy,” I said teasingly.

    
“I’m not
the ugly duckling. Besides, I like being a weird little nerd. And we’re not
changing the subject. Secrets, now. Inquiring minds want to know.”

    
I started
to talk. I didn’t mean to give away much, just enough to satisfy him, but once
I got started it was like I couldn’t stop. I told him everything. The words
poured out of me like a river. And you know what? It felt incredible. I hadn’t
even realized how all the secrets and lies and sneaking around were weighing
down on me until I let it all go.

    
“Wow.”
Curtis set the camcorder down on the table. “It’s like you’ve been living a
double life. How does Zack feel about you hanging out with Jonah?”

    
“He
doesn’t like it, but it’s not for him to say who I can and can’t be friends
with.”

    
“But you
and Jonah, you’re not... You know. Are you?”

    
I sighed.
“You too? Why is it if two people hang out alone everybody automatically
assumes they’re doing something they shouldn't be? Zack is a major pain. We
fight all the time about the stupidest things. He makes me crazy. Jonah is so
sweet and calm and patient. It would make way more sense for me to be into him.
But I’m not. Zack owns my heart. There’s no room in there for anybody else.”

    
“Oh,
man.” Curtis rolled his eyes. “You’re such a girl.”

    
“No
kidding.” I laughed. “So, how does it feel to be fifteen?”