Milayna's Angel (23 page)

“Xavier—”

“C’mon, Milayna. Just friends. We can even
invite the other group members.”

“Um…” I looked up at the ceiling, drumming my
pen against my lower lip. “I guess if it’s a group thing—minus
Chay, of course.”

As it turned out, the other group members all
had plans Friday night that didn’t involve babysitting Xavier and
me on our non-date, date.

“Come on, Muriel, you have to go,” I pleaded
on the way home from school.

“Sorry. Drew and I have plans.”

I flopped back in the car’s seat and folded
my arms over my chest.

I knew this was a bad idea.

Muriel glanced at me before making a right
turn into our subdivision. “Why don’t you want to go out with him
anyway?”

He’s not Chay.

“Not ready to date yet,” I muttered.

“Pssh, you should get ready. Xavier is nice,
sexy, funny, sexy, smart and, oh yeah, sexy as hell. Besides, if
you didn’t want to go out with him, why’d you say you would?”

“I thought you’d have my back. It was
supposed to be a group thing.”

“Sorry, chick, not this time,” Muriel said
with a sympathetic smile. Or maybe it was a pitying smile. At the
time, I didn’t care. I was trying to figure out a way to get out of
going with Xavier on Friday.

***

The clenching in my stomach started after
dinner. I was hoping it was just the fish my mom force fed me, but
I knew better. The pain grew, traveling up my body and lodging in
my throat. It was like a tumor, growing and growing until I thought
it’d punch through my skin. Then, just when I thought I couldn’t
stand it any longer, my head started to pound. It throbbed with
each beat of my heart, my vision blurring with each
contraction.

I waited for the images to begin. As soon as
the vision played out, the pain would go away and I could finish my
stupid calculus homework.

My house. Screaming. My brother,
bloodied.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I scrambled off
the bed. I stood with my back against the wall, my eyes moving back
and forth as the vision’s images zoomed past them.

My mother crying. A man sitting in the living
room. His back is to me. He laughs.

My heart stuttered, and the pain in my chest
grew sharp, stabbing. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

My father begging, pleading. The man throws
his head back with a loud laugh. The smell of sulfur hangs heavy in
the air. It clogs my nostrils. I feel it filling my lungs like sand
with each breath I take.

I concentrated so hard on the images in my
head, trying to make sense of them, to figure out who the
mysterious man sitting in my parent’s living room was, I almost
missed the sound. Just a whisper, really.

I’m coming for them, Milayna.

I screamed.

“Milayna!” my dad yelled.

“I’m okay… just stubbed my toe. It’s fine.” I
wasn’t sure why I lied, but it felt like the thing to do at the
time. How could I explain a vision to my parents I didn’t
understand myself? It would only upset them.

Padding into my bathroom, I splashed some
cold water on my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My
green eyes were dull, filled with confusion and something else.

Fear.

***

Friday. I’d hoped it wouldn’t come.

“We’re still good for tonight right? No cold
feet?”

I smiled at Xavier. “Yes, we’re good for
tonight.” I couldn’t hurt his feelings.

He let out a breath. “Good.”

Word of our date quickly made its way around
school. I could hear people talking about it in the hallway. Girls
were jealous, calling me skanky and slutty. I felt like I should be
wearing a scarlet letter across my chest. Boys were happy. One less
fish to compete against in the high-school dating pool. And Xavier
was a big fish.

“I can’t believe you’re going through with
this.” Jen eyed Xavier across the room. “I mean, you just broke up
with Chay.”

“Actually, he broke up with me. Big
difference. Besides, it’s not a real date.”

“So why go?”

I don’t know. I guess ‘cuz I want to, and
maybe I want to make Chay a little jealous.

I shrugged a shoulder. Jen smirked like she’d
heard my thoughts. “He’s not the jealous type, you know.”

“Who?”

“Chay.”

I snorted. “You’d be surprised what Chay
Roberts is and isn’t.”

The day went by in a blur. Classes ran into
each other. Lunch sped by at lightning-fast speed and before I knew
it, Muriel and I were driving home from school.

“He’s pissed, you know,” Muriel told me.

“Who?” I already knew the answer.

She sighed. “Chay.”

“Well, he gave up the right to be mad. What
do you think, Muriel, am I making a huge mistake?”

“Probably, but what fun would life be if we
didn’t take a risk or two?”

“So if it were you and Drew, you’d go?”

“In a friggin’ heartbeat.”

Chay texted me after school. My finger
hovered over the read message button. Did I want to know what he
had to say? Yes. I pressed the button, biting my lower lip as I
waited for the message to display.

Chay:
You’re going out with him?

I could almost hear the accusation in his
voice.

Me:
Is there a reason I shouldn’t?

I prayed he would say yes. That there was a
reason I shouldn’t go out with Xavier. I wanted him to tell me it
was all a big mistake. He didn’t mean what he said. He did love
me.

Chay:
No. No reason.

I tossed my phone onto my bed and walked into
the bathroom to get ready for my non-date with Xavier.

The doorbell rang at exactly six o’clock. I
plodded down the stairs to the foyer. Plastering on a smile, I
opened the door. All I saw was a gigantic bouquet of red roses, and
then Xavier peered around them, wearing a dimpled grin.

“Hi. And before you say anything, I know this
isn’t a date. So these flowers are just for a friend of mine.”

“Thank you.” I smiled and took the enormous
bouquet from him. “Geez, how many are there?”

“You can count them later. C’mon, we’ll be
late for the movie.”

“Lemme get my jacket.” I carried the roses
into the kitchen. Their sweet smell surrounded me like a cloud, and
I breathed them in. “Mom? Would you please put these in water for
me? Xavier and I are going to be late for the movie if we don’t
leave.”

“Sure. Wow, look at them all.”

“I know.” I giggled.

And that was how our non-date, date
started—me giggling like a little girl over some flowers. And it
only got better from there. Xavier was easy to be with. Our
non-date lacked the tension I was expecting. It was effortless.

“Where are we going?”

The spring days were getting longer and the
last of the day’s sun streamed through the window, making Xavier’s
black hair shine. I tried not to look. It wasn’t like we were on a
date. I shouldn’t care about his hair or how it looked in the sun.
Maddeningly enough, I kept looking. Even more so, he knew it. I
could tell by the way his lips pursed as he tried to hide his
grin.

“I found a little movie theater downtown.
It’s pretty cool. I thought you’d like it.” He glanced at me before
turning his gaze back to the road.

It was an older movie theater that had been
restored. It had a glowing marquee with lights trailing around it.
Neon lights decorated the front, framing vintage movie posters.

“It’s so cool.” I looked up at the lighted
marquee. It was so bright it overshadowed the streetlights.

“Yeah, it is. It reminds me of the movie
theaters in the ‘50s and ‘60s. What do you want to see? They’ve got
a wide range of films playing. You can choose from any four of
them.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it’s cool, but there aren’t
very many screens. Not like the new multi-screen theaters.” I
walked the length of the theater front and looked at the posters.
The four movies playing were in art-deco frames between vintage
movie posters. Eight art-deco frames lit the front of the theater.
It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. “I love this.” I
looked at Xavier over my shoulder.

He smiled. “Good. I thought you would. So
what’s it gonna be? A comedy, romance, or horror?”

“Ugh, I have enough horror in my life. I
could use some comedy.”

After the movie, we went to a little bistro
down the road from the theater. Xavier and I sat at a little table
nestled in the corner of the restaurant. There was a candle in the
middle of the table next to a vase of fresh flowers. That was nice.
Not many places had fresh flowers on the table. Usually they were
plastic and covered in dust and greasy grime. But the little
restaurant was nicely decorated, with lots of little touches that
made it casual, but elegant.

The lighting was low, but not too dark that
you had to squint to see. The table was covered in a linen
tablecloth, no paper placemats. There were fabric napkins instead
of paper, and the tables were spaced nicely so you weren’t bumping
elbows with the people next to you. It would have been romantic if
we were on a real date, which we weren’t. A fact I found I had to
keep reminding myself of throughout the night.

The staff was helpful, a little too much so
when it came to Xavier. The waitress couldn’t get to him fast
enough. Not that I could blame her, even though it irritated me. He
leaned back casually in his chair, his long legs stretched in front
of him as he waited for our orders. He looked, well, unbelievably
gorgeous, a thought that pricked me with guilt. I shouldn’t be
thinking about him like that. I was still in love with Chay. It
wasn’t fair to either one of them for me to be teetering on the
fence… I’d almost forgotten Chay didn’t want me on his side of the
fence so there was nothing to be guilty about, after all.

After dinner, when we’d gotten into Xavier’s
car, he turned to me. “Milayna…” He cupped my face in his hands and
grazed his lips over mine. They were firm and moist, and it felt
good right down to the tips of my toes. He started to pull away and
I wrapped my hand behind his neck, pulling him to me. His thumb
caressed my cheek as his full lips moved over mine, his tongue
dipping between my lips, sending jolts of electricity through
me.

Oh, this is so wrong.

Xavier lifted his head and grinned ruefully.
“Sorry. I know this wasn’t supposed to be a real date, but I just
wanted you to know how that felt. I’m sure your idiot ex-boyfriend
is going to realize what a colossal mistake he’s made and want you
back. And you’ll go because you love him—anyone can see that. But I
had to do that just once.”

Silently, I listened to Xavier’s apology. I
agreed with everything he said. I did say it wasn’t a real date. I
probably would go back to Chay if he asked me. And… I wanted to
know what it felt like to kiss Xavier as much as he wanted to know
how it felt to kiss me. And kissing him felt damn good.

I reached out and touched his lips gently,
lightly. My fingertips glided over them, skimming their outline.
His body shuddered in response, his lips parted slightly, and the
tip of his tongue moistened them as my fingers trailed across.

Xavier plunged his hands in my hair and
pulled my mouth to him. I fisted my hand in the front of his
jacket. Our mouths moved against each other’s, caressing, tasting,
craving more. He kissed me long and deep. My breathing was quick
and combined with the scent of his cologne, my head swam. He felt
different. He tasted different. He smelled different. And, oh, he
touched me differently, but so, so good. He and Chay were like oil
and water. I wasn’t sure which he was, but I could feel myself
drowning in him. And, God help me, I didn’t want to be saved.

He grazed his lips softly over mine one last
time before lifting his head. Untangling his hands from my hair, he
softly trailed a finger down the side of my face and across my
collarbone. I shivered.

“You’re amazing,” he whispered.

***

“What are you doing here?” I asked as soon as
I climbed out of Xavier’s car at home.

“He doesn’t open your door for you,” Chay
mocked.

“Just answer the damn question, Chay.”

“Well, while you two were out partying, we
were here dealing with a bunch of Evils. Hope you had a great time,
by the way.”

“We did.” I smiled.

“What’d they want?” Xavier asked Chay, who
glared at him without answering.

“They didn’t say,” my dad answered. “They
asked for Milayna. When they found out she wasn’t here, they took
off.”

“So they wanted her.” Xavier took a step
toward me.

My dad nodded, rocking backward on his heels.
“Or at least to scare her.”

18

“So?” Muriel asked. She’d called right after
she saw Xavier’s car leave.

“It was nice.”

“A date with hottie and you say it was
nice
?” She chuckled.

“No, I had a really good time. It’s
just—”

“It wasn’t Chay,” she finished.

“Yeah, something like that.” I sighed in
frustration. “He’s being such an ass. What’s up with him?”

“Dunno. So did he kiss you?”

“Who? Chay?”

“Geez, Milayna, you have Chay on the brain.
No! Xavier,” Muriel practically yelled.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, now we’re gettin’ somewhere. Did you
kiss him back?”

I sighed loudly. “Yes.”

“And?”

“It was good,” I admitted begrudgingly.

“Are you going to see him again?”

“Gads, Muriel, what is this? Twenty
questions?” I flopped backward on my bed.

Muriel was unfazed. “Are ya?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything about
it. Besides, it was kind of awkward coming home and seeing my
ex-boyfriend having a powwow with my dad.”