Unfortunately, as soon as Jane saw him, she locked her lasers on him. Naturally, he ignored her, but she almost tripped over herself trying to get up after him. Milo managed to assure her that Peter was completely off limits, but that probably only made her want him more. Still, she seemed to realize that she wasn’t up to getting a new suitor just yet, so she let him go without chasing him down.
Jane downed about ten Red Bull, then went upstairs. Mae was reluctant to let her out of her sight, but Mae needed to eat and shower herself. I finally convinced her that Jane would be safe in my hands, even though I was starting to feel a bit of thirst myself. Jane wasn’t that appetizing because she didn’t have very healthy blood, and what she did have was tainted by another vampire’s scent. Still, I knew I’d have to eat before I went to bed.
“So, I don’t really understand,” Jane said. She was strolling through my closet, looking for clothes to borrow since I stupidly hadn’t thought to stop and pick her up. Fortunately, I had a new and approved wardrobe, and for the first time in our friendship, I had clothes that she actually approved of.
“What’s not to understand about clothes?” I sat down on the small bench by the shoe rack.
It was overwhelming being in this room, surrounded by all of Jack’s things. I had to go in here every day to get clothes, but I hurried out as quickly as I could. Now it was all Converse and tee shirts, so I lay back on the bench so I could stare up at the ceiling instead of his clothing.
“Half of this closet are Jack’s things,” Jane touched one of his shirts. “But nobody’s made any mention of him since I’ve been here. Where is he?”
“I don’t know.” My phone was in my hand, and I looked down at the screen, willing him to call me.
Of course, he didn’t. I hadn’t tried calling or texting him today, but I was hoping that give him some space would make him come home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Jane had moved on to leafing through my clothes, and she looked at me sharply. “Aren’t you two like in love or something ridiculous like that?”
“Something like that,” I muttered and lay my phone facedown on my belly, so it couldn’t taunt me anymore. “We got in a fight, and he left.”
“What’d you fight about? Who left the lid off the toothpaste?” Jane asked dryly.
She had never been much for modesty, so when she found something she liked, she just took off her top. She’d been wearing an oversized tee shirt, and she had kicked off the pants a long time ago. While she straightened out my dress to put it on, she stood there, dressed only in an lime green panties, but at least they were bikini cut and not a thong. Her spine stood out rigidly, but I looked away before I could think too much of it.
“No. It was a little more serious than that,” I sighed. Peter’s emerald eyes flashed in my mind, and I shook my head.
“I can’t imagine you doing anything serious,” she said absently. Her focus was on her reflection in the mirror, modeling the strapless cocktail she’d slipped on. Even though I had lost weight, so had she, so my clothes were still too big on her. I’d say they were too short too, since Jane was still two inches taller than me and the hem fell way above her knee, but that was probably just right for her. “What do you think of the dress?”
“It’s great,” I lied. For once, I’d look better in something than she did. Her shoulder blades stuck out like wings, and the top was made for a larger chest, so it was drooping weird in the front.
“Do you have any heels to go with these?” Jane turned, admiring herself from a different angle in the mirror. “Every good dress needs a good shoe.”
“Somewhere, probably. Dig around.” I gestured to the expansive shoe racks.
“So what did you do that made Prince Charming run away?” Jane wasn’t quite ready to dig for shoes yet, and instead returned to the task of stealing my clothes.
“Kissed Peter.” I closed my eyes and grimaced.
Instantly after I said it, I don’t know why I told her the truth. It wasn’t something I was proud of, and it would probably be better for me if she never found out. But since it had happened, I hadn’t really been able to talk to anyone about it. Milo had said very little on the subject, mostly because he’d been too wrapped up in Bobby drama, and Mae and Ezra had never mentioned it. Besides that, Jane was really the only friend I had.
Everyone else was family. Or Bobby.
“What?” Jane wheeled on me, her eyes wide. She was interested in what I saying for the first time.
“You kissed Peter? That really incredibly foxy guy I saw earlier? You kissed him? I mean, I didn’t even realize that was an option!”
“It’s not.” I shook my head. “It was just a stupid mistake. I don’t even really know why I did it.”
“I do. That boy is irresistible.” Jane looked wistful thinking of him. “If I were you, I’d say good riddance to Jack and move onto this other boy.”
“I don’t want to move on to him!” Too late, I realized that telling Jane was a really bad idea.
I sat up and shook my head again. “I love Jack, and I want to be with him. Peter was an accident.”
“Okay. Fine, I believe you,” Jane said dubiously. She kept staring at me though, chewing her lip.
“So… does that mean he’s single?”
“Jane!” I groaned. “Peter is bad news! And you need to stay away from vampires for awhile!
Look what they’ve done you.”
“Yeah,” Jane shrugged, “but look what they’ve done to you.” She had a point. Vampires were literally sucking the life out of her, but me, they had given immortality, beauty, power, and money.
In fairness, those were all things that Jane already had, except for the immortality part.
“But I’m still miserable. So there.” I stuck my tongue out at her, and she shook her head.
“Oh, Alice, you’ll always be miserable no matter what you have.” Jane turned back to my clothes, picking out something hot pink and skimpy that I had never worn. “That’s your lot in life.”
“Maybe,” I exhaled resignedly. “But what’s yours?”
“My lot in life is looking beautiful.” She held the dress up in front of her and looked at herself in the mirror. “Do you have any accessories?”
Sure, Jane was irritating and self-absorbed, but it was oddly comforting having her around. I always knew exactly what I was getting with her. Despite myself, I actually sort of enjoyed her. For at least an hour I spent with her, I didn’t check my phone at all to see if I missed a call from Jack. I didn’t forget about him, exactly. The dull ache in my chest wouldn’t let me, but I wasn’t quite as obsessive as I had been.
After Jane went to bed, I went downstairs to get something to eat. The slow burning was starting to spread from my stomach, and soon it was going to be gnawing all over me. Jane didn’t entice me at all, but Bobby was starting to, so it was time to eat. I gulped down the bag of blood, then went back to my room and curled up in bed.
I was having a dream about this incredible warmth growing inside me. It wasn’t a burning, like a fire, but something different and more wonderful. Like a bright white light spreading out over me, until it became so much I couldn’t stand it, and I opened my eyes. When I woke up, my breath was ragged, but the feeling from the dream hadn’t entirely dissipated. I sat up, and I nearly screamed because someone was standing at the end of my bed, but when I realized who it was, I couldn’t even speak.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jack said quietly.
I couldn’t breathe. My body was delighted, but it was always thrilled whenever Jack was in my proximity, no matter what else was happening. By the expression on his face, this was not a happy reunion.
He was pensive and his lips were pressed tightly together. The more alert I became, the more his emotions washed over me, and they were nothing pleasant either. Mostly, he felt nervous and hurt, and I didn’t blame him. After apologizing for waking me, Jack just stood there, arms crossed over his chest and stared at me. I sat up farther in bed and tried to think of something to say, but my mouth refused to work. The past few days I had only been thinking about what I would say to him if he came back, and here he was, and I was speechless.
“I have to admit, I was a little surprised I didn’t find you in Peter’s room,” Jack said finally.
His words were cutting, and all the more so because they were from him. He never said things to hurt people, but he wanted to hurt me now. I deserved it, so I couldn’t even muster any ounce of anger. I just wanted to cry and beg forgiveness.
“I was never with him.” My mouth worked numbly, and my heart hammered in my chest.
“What happened was a stupid mistake. It didn’t mean anything.”
“What exactly did happen?” Jack’s normally soft blue eyes were like ice, and they pierced straight through me. He had never looked at me like that, but he had never been so angry with me before.
“I don’t know.” All the rehearsed speeches I had explaining the kiss completely vanished. I had nothing except a blank expression.