I leaned in for one last kiss, resting my palms against his chest, his strong arms wrapped around my waist, feeling his heart beating beneath my fingertips.
I rested my forehead against his. "No matter what happens today, I'll still love you," I whispered, wishing there was some other spell I could do to somehow magically make this day easier for him.
We stood there in silence for a moment longer, both of us trying not to think or worry.
I wanted to stay with him in the parking lot. I'd gotten spoiled, used to being with him all the time. Maybe it was because he carried some of my blood within himself now, or maybe it was because I could read his thoughts as easily as my own. Whatever the reason, over the past five months, he had become like an extension of my own body, so much so that sometimes when we held hands I could no longer tell where his hand ended and mine began. All I knew was that when I was with him I felt warmer, almost human again. And when we were apart, I felt cold and every bit the inhuman hybrid I really was.
But it was time to return to reality, whether I was ready for it or not.
So I took a deep breath then forced myself to step away from him, hating the feel of his arms loosening around me and then their complete absence. The moment we no longer touched, I could already feel my body losing the tiny amount of heat it always managed to generate from direct contact between our skin, setting me up for a long day of hiding shivers I wasn't supposed to have in the humid, late, East Texas spring.
As I crossed the parking lot and headed for Charmers practice, trying to resist the urge to rub the growing chill from my arms, I looked back over my shoulder at Tristan and said, "See you for lunch? I've got chem class second period today. Maybe you could pick me up outside it?"
One corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile as he said, "It's a date."
The third f loor of the sports and arts building-where the Charmers' dance room, storage closets and director's office were located-had a great second set of stairs that led down to the left side of the school theater's stage. This backstage access between the f loors allowed the dancers and stage crew to easily run up and down the stairs during shows without having to be seen in the second f loor foyer where audience members might be. It was also the most direct route for me this morning. Two weeks before a Spring Show usually meant the Charmers would still be working out the kinks in each show number's choreography and transitions, which meant frequent rewinding and fast-forwarding to specific parts in each song. The theater's built-in sound system was harder to do this kind of stuff on, so I figured we would probably still be using the portable sound system for a few more days.
The sophomore managers were running even later than I was, judging by the fact that the sound system and trainer's bag were still in the director's office. By the time I retrieved the equipment and brought it down the backstage stairs, most of the Charmers had already arrived and gathered to stretch in the two aisles that cut through the auditorium's seating, and the sophomore managers were just strolling in through the main auditorium doors.
The familiar dusty smells of paint and freshly sanded wooden props made me sigh and smile. Now here was a silver lining to having to come back to Jacksonville. While football season came in a close second, Spring Show season was my absolute favorite time of the Charmers performance year. I was lucky that we'd returned in time for me to help with it. Normally Spring Show happened a few weeks earlier in the year. But this year for some reason the director had pushed the show back, and we still had two more weeks of rehearsals left. Maybe there had been some scheduling conf lict for use of the theater?
I slipped through the wing's shadows and along the side of the center stage, stopping at its front edge, or apron, to set down the sound system. Immediately several people gasped and whispered my name, and all conversation in the auditorium died.
I froze and looked up to find forty-plus dancers equally frozen in midstretch, their eyes blinking fast as they openly stared at me.
That's when I realized I was on stage, both literally and figuratively.
And though the theater was silent, their thoughts were anything but.
Oh. My. God. She actually had the nerve to come back?
Miss Savannah's back! Oh, thank God. If I had to listen to Mrs. Daniels rip the soph managers apart one more time...
Oh, boy. Miss Savannah's back. I wonder if Tristan's back, too. If he is, just wait till Miss Bethany sees him. That'll be a show!
I forced my suddenly stiff legs to carry me down the short f light of stairs off the side of the stage and into the audience area, then around to the front edge of the stage so I could finish setting up the sound system. This also gave me a reason to keep my back to everyone and hide my face so they wouldn't see me react to the thoughts that kept washing over me in wave after wave. After five blissful months of having to listen to only Dad's and Tristan's thoughts, I'd forgotten just how loud a bunch of humans thinking fast and furiously could be. I'd have to reschool my face not to show anything.
And still their thoughts kept coming.
Miss Savannah's back! Just in time, too, 'cuz I was totally considering quitting this team. Bad enough having to fetch crap constantly, much less get yelled at every single day. Just because I haven't had as much practice working the music like Miss Savannah has doesn't mean I deserve to be made to feel like crap about it...
Wow. Look at her...you can't even tell she was ever pregnant. I wonder who's watching the baby? Or maybe she gave it up for adoption? Maybe Tristan found out it was Ron Abernathy's and made her give it up?
Whoa. Gone away for five months to secretly have Ron's baby? That was the rumor behind my disappearance? I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
I pressed a shaky hand to my forehead as it started to pound. Normally I would have dreaded listening to the sniping thoughts of the Clann. But right now, I would have given anything to have a descendant's mind to listen to and drown out the humans' thoughts instead. At least the descendants all knew the real reason behind our absence. Unfortunately no descendant had made the dance team in the past couple of years. Maybe they preferred being on the cheer team. Or maybe they were just avoiding me.
I took a deep breath. Focus, Sav. Just think about what you're here to do. The gossip will die down eventually.
"Miss Savannah!"
I turned around just in time to be wrapped in a tight hug.
Mrs. Daniels leaned back, gripping my shoulders, her face lit up. "Oh, thank G-" She glanced sideways at a nearby sophomore manager. "I mean, I'm so happy you're back! You are back for good now, aren't you?" Her eyes turned a little panicky.