“Oh yeah? Are you sure about that?”
“Well, actually, no. But I can’t imagine that she’d hate you. You seem very . . . uh . . . nice.”
He swallowed hard, and I could see his large Adam’s apple move up and down. “Okay, she might not hate me, but she . . . she doesn’t love me.”
“Is this what you guys were talking about earlier? Your crush on Janie?”
He let out a shuddery sigh. “It’s not a crush. It’s a deep, passionate love that fills my soul and keeps me from thinking about anything or anyone else.”
“Okay. If you say so.”
“I write her poems all the time. But she doesn’t seem to care.”
I nodded slowly. “I got to read one of them yesterday. It was . . . lovely.”
He took a deep breath of the cold night air and braced a hand against the wall he’d just bashed his head against. “Thank you. They’re from the heart. My heart tells me what I should write.”
“Well, maybe she just needs more time.”
He sniffed loudly and shook his head. “No. It’s over. She’ll never love me. I may as well throw myself off a bridge.”
“Trust me, not the way to go. Listen, sometimes people just don’t connect. Sometimes one feels something when the other doesn’t, and that’s just the way it is.” I thought about Thierry and a lump formed in my throat. “You can’t force something unless both people want it to happen. You need to realize that, accept it, and move on, because I’m sure the perfect girl for you is just waiting.”
He blinked at me. “Look, I’m not into vampires.”
I stared at him for a second and then sighed. “Why does everybody think I’m coming on to them this week?”
He shrugged his big shoulders. “I would understand if you’re attracted to me. I mean, I am your protector. Chicks think that’s kind of hot.”
“Protector. Right. Except for five minutes ago when I almost died because you needed some fresh air.
But I’m over it.” I pressed my lips together. “Yeah, so very attracted. But shucks, you’re not into vamps.
I guess I’ll have to accept that.”
“Tell Janie if you see her, that I . . . I had to go.”
“Where are you going now?” I asked his now-turned back, quickly moving away from me down the street. My voice sounded a bit pitchy. “Hey, aren’t you on the clock? We need a ride home!”
He didn’t turn around. I could have sworn I saw a Kleenex tucked up his sleeve.
I walked out of the alley to meet George and Amy, but heard a voice from the shadows.
“We messed up,” Janie said. “Sorry.”
I turned to face her.
“What?”
“I said we messed up. I’ll understand if you want to fire us.”
I crossed my arms. “Let’s not get carried away. I don’t want to fire you. It’s just that it wasn’t only me tonight. My friends were in danger. This is serious.”
“I know.” She looked away, then after a moment turned back to me. “By the way, you don’t need to give Lenny relationship advice, you know.”
“He was upset. I figured that since I’m still breathing, I’d give him a few words of dubious wisdom.”
She shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”
“I just want to go to sleep,” I said. “Are you going to give us a ride home?”
She nodded. “Let’s go.”
I studied her for a moment. “Can I trust you, Janie?”
She tensed. “Of course you can, Sarah. Completely.”
I smiled at her, then walked toward Amy and George, our lives in the hands of somebody who my gut was telling me was a big fat liar.
Amy insisted that she be dropped off at her house, which was fine, and then George and I went home. I didn’t invite Janie inside. We got severely drunk on Moonshine. It didn’t help me forget my problems.
But it did make the room spin around long enough that I finally fell onto my mattress and into blissful unconsciousness.
I woke up with a mouth full of cotton. Literally. It seemed that I had chewed into my pillow during the night and was now surrounded by feathers. Oral fixation. Now with more dangerous teeth. Not a good combination.
I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. Ugh.
Moonshine not only got vampires drunk without the necessity of being a chaser to blood, but it seemed that it also gave vampires hangovers. Big hangovers. My head felt about the size of a hot-air balloon. On fire.
I needed water. I crawled out of bed, noticing that I was wearing George’s old, oversized Duran Duran
“Simon Forever!” T-shirt as nightwear, and opened the door to my room.
I heard knocking. I stopped in place and listened. Yes, definitely knocking.
“Oh, for the love of all that is holy!” I heard George cry out from his bedroom. “Would somebody make it stop! The noise! Make it stop!”
Good to know I wasn’t alone on the Moonshine pain experience.
I grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door, looking blearily out into the bright sunshine.
At Thierry.
He frowned. “Sarah? Are you all right?”
I rubbed my eyes, suddenly realizing how lousy I must look. I felt my hair, which had turned into one large brown tangle.