“Do you think he’d mind if I saw you to the door?”
I’m about to come undone at the thought as he pulls me into a bear hug. I wriggle to free myself.
“No, Vuk, not tonight. Maybe some other time. I don’t feel like arguing with Jeff so soon after his return.”
“I think tonight would be the right night.”.
“No. Some other time.”
His expression remains calm, but his eyes flash bright yellow and his body stiffens slightly.
“You’re not the only one trapped in this situation. We both are. Remember? You and me, forever.” His face is an inch from mine and his blazing breath burns my lips and brings a flush of warmth to my icy cheeks.
“I’m not kidding.”
“Nor am I.”
At the door, I grip his shoulders, trying to show an outer strength I don’t feel inside. But I melt when I feel his fingers run through my hair, to my face, which he pulls in towards his. I wasn’t expecting this. Is Vuk still hoping that something will happen between us? On campus, far from any other interference, we are inseparable, but this is one subject that never comes up. My breath is short. He slides his hand down my back and pulls me into his rock-hard chest. Even through his sweater, I can feel his scorching body heat. A hot flush runs through me, I shiver with excitement. The best thing to do would be to let go of his, but, as if reading my thoughts, his hand skillfully clamps onto mine to immobilize it. He probably doesn’t even realize I’m using all my strength to try to free it.
“Restless today, huh?”
I’m about to make a clever joke, but his face is closer to mine than I anticipated and his golden green eyes burn so intensely that they take the words right out of my mouth. I sense the scent of his lips.
I can’t even remember the witty remark that was on the tip of my tongue. I can barely even remember where we are or what my name is. I try to wriggle free but feel his soft, smooth lips, so delicate, plant a kiss on my cheek. Then I feel a smile spreading on his face.
“Ah, Stella.” Vuk sighs in that hoarse voice dripping with disappointment. Then a short, guttural laugh. His eyes are burning with the passion that he has long since learnt to keep in check. With a crooked smile on his face, he releases his grip on me.
“I’m glad you promised to behave yourself,” I finally manage to say, excitement still surging through my body after Vuk’s kiss. I can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever stop these grand gestures to get what he wants.
“Just imagine what I would have done if I hadn’t made that promise,” he replies cheekily.
“I don’t even want to think about it! Maybe you’d better get back to the pickup before Jeff …” I walk off, my nerves on edge.
“If you really want me to,” murmurs Vuk.
“That would be best, I can’t think straight.”
A noise cuts through the air. It’s Jeff clearing his throat noisily behind us. I blush as I turn to see Jeff standing in the doorway, holding the door open. Vuk looks at him too.
“Welcome home, Ella May.” he says, in a sincere tone. Maybe he really missed me while I was gone.
“Wow!” I exclaim. “Did you really come all the way to the door to meet me?”
He leans on the door frame, his arms crossed. The expression on his face tells me he doesn’t like my little joke.
“How was school?” he asks patiently.
“Boring. Too many professors.”
He bursts out laughing. Then his eyes reluctantly look in Vuk’s direction.
“I’m glad you guys had fun,” he says sarcastically.
“Got loads of study time in this afternoon, too,” adds Vuk, as he lets go of my hand to allow me to go inside.
“We did,” I say to Jeff. “I didn’t drive my car to school, so Vuk gave me a ride home.”
“So I see,” says Jeff sharply.
They stare at each other, neither of them moving. I clear the knot out of my throat.
“You’re both so quiet!” I say. “Something wrong?”
Neither answers. Jeff turns his eyes from Vuk and pulls me in close to him for an unexpected hug.
“I’m not feeling great,” he answers, then looks at Vuk questioningly. “And what are you still doing here?”
“I just wanted to see Stella to the door, to make sure she got home safe and sound,” he replies smoothly.
“Right. Thanks. I hope giving her a ride didn’t put you out.”
“No trouble, it was my pleasure, don’t worry about it.”
“Good, but I’ll take care of her now.”
Embarrassed, I don’t move. My eyes meet Jeff’s, then the ground. I glance at Vuk, and his eyes blaze bright green when they catch mine.
“Going to class tomorrow?”
I’m surprised by the question.
“Of course I’m going. Why wouldn’t I?” Maybe he’s scared Donn will keep me at home behind lock and key.
“Dunno. Just wondering.” He wanders down the steps in silence.
I turn to Jeff, trying to find the right words to say to placate the situation.
“I’m glad you finally met up again with Vuk,” is all I manage to come up with.
“I think you know what I think about that.” he jokes. I decide to take throw caution to the wind. I race down the steps and grab Vuk’s arm.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner tonight? You don’t look like someone who wants to go home right now.”
“You’re right. And I did promise to help you with some economics homework, right?”
I smile and Jeff sighs, resigned to the fact. He rolls his eyes and heads back to the sofa to continue watching the game.
Vuk and I settle in at the kitchen table to go over the homework. Vuk finishes his in a few minutes, while I struggle with the calculations until, exhausted, I decide it’s time to prepare dinner. Vuk gives me a hand, every now and then grimacing at the vegetarian ingredients I’m using. Fruit and vegetables make him slightly nauseous. I’m preparing chicken wings with onions for my dad and myself. It’s one of my mom’s recipes that always brings a smile to Jeff’s face. I’ll serve a couple of raw wings for Vuk, to satisfy his wolf-like appetite.
Tonight will be as if I went hunting
for
him. It may not be a freshly-killed deer, but I’m sure he’ll like it. From the parlor, I can hear a new game starting on the set, but despite my father’s love for all things sport, I doubt he’s really paying attention. It’s always fun to watch Vuk trying to handle a knife and fork, I guess he’s more used to using his hands and teeth when he’s hunting. It might be easier that way, since I wouldn’t have to do dishes at the end of dinner. He apologizes for not eating the vegetable side dish, explaining that he’s on a high protein diet to build his body mass.
Jeff seems puzzled, but I’m not allowed to explain. The rule say that normal people––humans like me––cannot come into contact with the secret world inhabited by the myths and monsters that exist around us. That world brings a whole heap of problems with it, and I have no intention of dragging my father into it with me.
After having wolfed down three helpings, Jeff throws his chair back, satisfied, and pats his full belly. Vuk finished his plateful in a single gulp, it seems. They were both so intent on shoveling down their food that neither spoke a word during the whole meal.
“That was great, Stella, thanks,” says a grateful Vuk.
“I’m glad you liked it.” I brim with pride, feeling like an expert hunter.
“How was work, Jeff?” I ask.
“A long day, busy. I played golf with an investor almost all afternoon. I played ten holes,” he boasts. “Ah, I spoke to Scott on the phone today, too.”
“You and Scott are bigger gossips than two little old ladies. Isn’t it enough seeing him at the bar every night?”
“Old college buddy habits die hard,” he explains with a laugh. “He’s organized a little gathering this evening to watch the playoffs after the show. Wanna’ come?”
“Um …”
I don’t even bother to extend the invitation to Vuk; I know that there’s not much love lost between him and Tyler. I noticed it the other night at the party. They behaved like little kids, acting as if the other one was invisible, except when I took refuge in the storeroom with Vuk. They were throwing daggers at each other.
It was weird that Tyler came to see if everything was ok. I wonder why. As if he had feared that Vuk could put me in danger somehow.
“That wasn’t an answer, Ella May.” Jeff says. I keep my eyes firmly fixed on the morsels of meat left on my plate, then I look at him.
“Sure, Jeff. Yeah, I’d love to come. Anyway, I’ll be there with you guys anyway.” I take a stab at the cold meat with my fork. It has hardened to the point that I could use it as a defense weapon.
“You and Tyler used to be inseparable, but now…” Jeff trails off.
“But now what?” I ask, glancing furtively at Vuk. “Will you get to the point, Jeff?” He holds up his hands in surrender.
“Look, don’t get upset, but …”
“Why should I get upset?”
“Well … this is about Jason, and Vuk too.”
“Excellent,” I mumble.
My father raises a finger to silence me.
“Scott is a family friend, Stella,” he says in his most paternal tone. “And you and Tyler were very, very close friends when you were kids.”
“Myco … ” I sigh, smiling. “I know.”
“And you don’t miss him?” asks Jeff. “You were always so excited after spending a day with him when you were little”
“I’m happy now, too…” I whisper through clenched teeth. I raise my head. “Sure, I missed him. A lot.” I don’t dare look at Vuk. My throat tightens so much I can barely breathe.
“Exactly,” exclaims Jeff. “I don’t like it that you sacrifice all your other friendships to spend all your time with Vuk and Jason. You’ve got other friends. Or at least you did.”
“I don’t know what gets into your head sometimes!” I retort.
“Maybe I talked it over with Scott today.”
Vuk’s jaws tense, his face darkens.
“The way you’re talking it’s as if there are two factions that represent Good and Evil,” I say. “But ‘us and them would be a good definition too, right?” I stare squarely at Jeff. “The Good guys are Jamie, Tess, her boyfriend Seth, and Eliot. Vuk is the polar opposite, part of ‘them.’ And Jason is in the same category, too, obviously. What is this? As soon as he comes back, you shove him on the same black list as Vuk, and the boundary lines are set?”
“Just tell me, when is the last time you spoke to Jamie Keats?” Jeff challenges.
“Yesterday in class,” I answer instantly. She seems to have forgiven my lapse into crazyville after Jason’s departure and the night of the full moon. But sometimes she seems to assume a kind of anti-Stella stance.
“I mean when you’re not on campus,” points out Jeff.
“Ok, I get it,” I say. “Don’t worry. Tonight my friends are coming to see the show, on Friday I’ll be seeing Tess to go over some notes from classes I missed, and I’m going out with Jamie at the weekend.”
“Good,” replies Jeff, satisfied. He beams and breathes a sigh of relief. He pushes his chair away from the table and stretches, then places his plate in the kitchen sink and takes his usual place in front of the television. He already seems to be in a better mood; he doesn’t even make an effort to be rude to Vuk. I know him. He’s pleased with himself about having brought up Tyler and Scott at dinner. He wanted to make sure Vuk knows his place, stressing the point that he is certainly not considered a family friend.
Before I can turn on the faucet to wash the dishes, Vuk comes up from behind, slipping his arm around my waist. With a dishcloth in hand, he offers to dry the dishes. We go through the motions in silence for a few moments, me washing, him drying. When we finish up, we make a dash for the door.
“Where are you going?” calls Jeff, looking at Vuk suspiciously.
“I’m going to work. Scott and Tyler will be expecting me,” I say offhand, placing emphasis on the second name. “Is that a problem? If you like, I can wait for you, we can go together.”
“No, you go ahead,” he replies. “Scott is coming by to give me a ride to the bar. I’ll see you there.”
“Ok. If you need me, I’ll just be a few miles away, you know where to find me,” I smile. “Don’t come too late.”
“I won’t.”
Vuk says goodbye to Jeff with a polite wave of his hand, then strides to the table by the entrance and throws me the keys to the pickup.
“See you later,” I call out as I head to the door.
Jeff sighs apprehensively but chooses not to say anything. I was sure he’d pick up the conversation where we left off once we were alone. Who knows what he’s got in store for me tonight after he gets home from work. Vuk must be unnerved by Jeff’s behavior.
“Shall we go out?”
I scowl at him. He’s not even slightly bothered by Jeff’s words.
“I think we need to have a little chat first.” I wait until we’re on the other side of the pickup, wanting to be out of sight from Jeff’s prying eyes before starting this conversation.
“What the hell has gotten into you?” I ask.
“I know you wanted me to get better acquainted with your father, far from the commotion at the party, and I just made things happen.”
I nod.
“Obviously, you were too scared to talk to Jeff, so I had to do something and walk you right to your front door so I could meet him.” He says. I feel like I’m being talked to as if I were a kid again. I press my lips together to avoid screaming at him. I don’t want to argue with Vuk.
“You had to step in and do something? You can’t imagine what he’s going to put me through when I get home later!”
“You talk as if I fed you to the wolves,” he says with a hint of irony. “You’ve been through worse. And you’re in no danger.”
“I told you I didn’t want to argue with Jeff.”
“And you didn’t!” he retorts, irritated.
“But I’ll have to later.”
“Well that’s not my fault,” he says. “And no one’s forcing you to.”
I mumble something back, defeated. He doesn’t seem to notice. So I keep staring at him in silence, hoping that my eyes will clearly transmit everything that my mouth can’t manage to say.
Vuk breathes a resigned sigh, then smiles, his voice is again soft and tender.
“What do you wanna do tonight?”
“I have to work.”
“Let’s go to the bar then. I haven’t seen Scott since the party; I bet he’ll be happy to see me.”