Holiday was right. It was a stupid thing to think about now. Stupid thing for Mrs. Parker to bring up, too. Kylie wasn't even seventeen. She didn't sit around and fantasize about getting married. Her dream with Lucas was a steamy make-out session, not going to a preacher to exchange vows. But stupid or not, Kylie knew she wasn't finished thinking about it.
"There she is!" a feminine voice called out, and without a doubt Kylie knew it was Sara.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, while her mom grabbed a soda, Kylie sat with Sara, feeling as if everyone in the dining hall watched and listened. Because everyone had been talking about her latest superpower gift of healing her old best friend, Kylie knew all the campers were guessing this was Sara. It wasn't that she was ashamed of healing Sara; Kylie just didn't like being the center of attention.
Sara still looked thin, but everything from the shine of her brown hair to her complexion said she was okay. Sara kept glancing around at everyone and asking who was who.
"Is that your roommate?" She pointed to Miranda, sitting with her family.
"Yes," Kylie said. "I'll introduce you to her later."
"Where's the other one? The grumpy one?"
Della, across the room, shot Kylie a smirk. "She's over there," Kylie said, and pointed.
Because Della was still glancing at them, Sara waved. "She looks like a b with an itch."
Kylie's mouth dropped. "She's not. She's one of my..." Kylie almost said best friends, but she realized how awkward that might be. Sara used to be Kylie's best friend. "She's one of my good friends here."
"I remember you saying-"
"That was a long time ago," Kylie insisted, and hoped Sara shut up before Della got her feelings hurt.
"So, you're feeling better now?" Kylie tossed out the first thing she could think of to change the subject. But from the sparkle in Sara's eyes, Kylie realized it was the wrong question. Obviously, Sara was dying to bring up the whole "you healed me" topic.
"I think you know the answer to that better than I do," Sara said.
"Know the answer to what?" Her mom sat down next to Kylie.
"Nothing," Kylie said.
Sara let her gaze move around the room again. "Who's the hot black-haired guy who keeps staring at you?"
Kylie looked in the direction that Sara nodded. So did her mom. Lucas was staring at her, and he smiled. His grandmother must have left, because he sat alone. Then, as if he saw their gaze as an invitation to join them, he started over.
No. No. Panic stirred in Kylie's gut. At first, Kylie didn't understand why she didn't want Lucas to meet Sara. Then she remembered that Sara had always been the biggest flirt. Kylie didn't want Sara making a play for Lucas. Not so much because she worried Lucas would respond to it, but because Kylie didn't want Lucas thinking Sara was a party girl.
Old life meets new life, and Kylie didn't want either to look unappealing.
She picked up her glass of water and drank just to have something to do with her hands.
"You must be Sara." Lucas extended his hand.
Sara slipped her hand into Lucas's. "That's me. And you are?"
"Lucas Parker, Kylie's boyfriend."
Boyfriend? Kylie's breath caught. The water slipping down her throat went down the wrong pipe. She started coughing so hard, the sound bounced around the high beams of the dining hall. If that wasn't bad enough, her mom, who'd been sipping on a diet soda, did the same thing.
Crap! If there was one person in the dining hall who hadn't already stared at them, they did now.
Holiday walked over, studying Kylie and her mom as they both worked on getting air into their lungs. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," Kylie managed to say, and felt some water drip from her nose. Oh, wasn't that just lovely. She wiped it away.
"How about we get some fresh air?" Holiday asked. "Why don't we take Sara and your mom to your cabin?"
"Yeah," Kylie said, and they all stood up.
Lucas seemed to sense he'd done something wrong, and he looked at her in confusion. "Well, I'll let you four go. I'll see you later."
Kylie nodded.
Lucas looked at her mom. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Galen."
"You too," her mom said, and looked at Kylie with all kinds of parental concerns that involved boyfriends and the unspoken word ... sex.
They hadn't gotten out of the dining hall before her mom leaned in. "Boyfriend? What have you not been telling me?"
Just great, Kylie thought. Now her mom would probably start mailing her the sex pamphlets.
Sara leaned in and whispered in her other ear, "He's hot."
"I know," Kylie whispered back.
"Not hot like good-looking. I mean hot like you were that day you touched me."
Kylie didn't know what to say to that. When they got to the door of the dining hall, Kylie reached for the knob, but the door swung open first and nearly knocked her down. She jumped back.
Derek and his mom came inside. Derek's gaze shot to Kylie and his eyes tightened as if her nearness hurt him. Then a look of concern filled his eyes when he noticed Sara.
"Look, Derek! It's Kylie!" Mrs. Lakes almost shouted, and again Kylie felt everyone in the room staring at her.
Without any advance warning, Kylie became locked in an embrace with Mrs. Lakes. Thankfully, she was a fast hugger.
Derek looked at Sara. "You must be Sara."
"That's me," Sara answered with her flirty smile. "Who are you?"
"This is Derek," Kylie said, and made quick introductions, which included her mom.
Mrs. Lakes waved her hand back and forth between Kylie and Derek. "I think they're sweet on each other. Isn't it cute?"
Several gasps came from the crowd behind them, probably the vampires listening in. Kylie felt her cheeks break out in embarrassment.
"Mom!" Derek rolled his eyes.
"I'm just saying the truth, honey. She's all you talk about."
Derek's face turned bright red.
Kylie's mom arched an eyebrow and eyed Kylie as if to say she would be certain to send those sex pamphlets now.
Sara chuckled.
And Kylie just wanted to die. Right there, right then. Especially when she looked back and saw Lucas taking it all in and frowning.