Blue Sacrifice (Blue Davison) (14 page)

“Oh, the chill,” Amira said, appearing from the
kitchen. “I’ll have Clare fix you hot chocolate.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Lacey said, taking off her jacket.

After I thanked Amira, she pulled me into a hug.
“It’s such a cold season and the chill never ends. Our house is warm though and
you are always welcome.”

Hugging her tightly, I was desperate for the
warmth she offered.

“How much blood did she lose?” Yousef asked Lacey
as he appeared from the family room. Wearing dark pajamas and a black robe the
color of his thick head of hair, Yousef leaned down to hear Lacey. Whatever she
said, he frowned and shook his head. “Oh, she needs something full of iron.
Clare,” he called out, “please put on steaks.”

At nearly nine at night, I frowned at the thought
of cooking food, let alone steaks. Yousef walked to where Amira stood with an
arm around me.

“I had an accident as a boy and lost a
considerable amount of blood,” he said, patting my head. “My father cooked me a
large steak and made it all better.”

“You don’t have to…”

“Oh, hush,” Amira told me. “We know how Gretchen
doesn’t feed you.”

“I eat at her food truck a lot.”

“What did you have for dinner?” Tyson asked, appearing
with Alyssa.

With all of them staring at me, I just shrugged.
“A Hot Pocket.”

Amira and Yousef shared a disapproving frown then Amira
disappeared to retrieve our hot chocolates. As Lacey watched me, Tyson hugged his
sister, making her frown.

“Get off me, old man.”

“I can’t help myself, child.”

Grinning, she slapped at his stomach. “You’re
getting a gut.”

“Soon I will be as wide in my front as you are in
your back.”

Alyssa laughed. “Wide load.”

Yousef rolled his eyes then snapped at his
children. “Lacey, find Blue something warm to wear while Clare cooks the
steaks. We will all sit down to a nice meal and watch a little television. I
have hundreds of
Seinfeld
episodes on DVR to choose from.”

Lacey and I laughed because her father was a huge
Seinfeld
fan. Rumor had it he was in mourning after the show ended. For weeks!

Upstairs in her large powder blue room, Lacey
changed into comfy power blue flannel pajamas and gave me an identical pair.
Now we were twins.

“No whining about wearing blue,” she warned,
making me smile.

“I really appreciate you coming for me tonight.”

Grabbing my shoulders, Lacey stared into my eyes
like she was hoping to hypnotize me. “You need to stop trying to die, Blue. All
of the signs say stop, but you won’t listen.”

Even nodding, I thought to Abby, Mrs. Felix, and
the woman shot this afternoon. Lives had been harmed by my cowardice, but Lacey
didn’t care. She wanted her best friend to stick around.

In the hallway, I saw a demon from the Assad
massacre digging in her eye socket with a knife. She was no more than eight and
her youthful giggle sent a shudder through me.

“Ignore them,” Lacey ordered as she glared at the
unseen demon. “Screw yourself.”

Taking my hand, she pulled me downstairs and into
the family room where Yousef looked through his many
Seinfeld
episodes.
Tyson stood at the large windows, staring into the darkness, before turning
when Lacey and I entered. Smiling faintly, he said nothing before sitting in a
chair nearby.

“The steaks are on the way,” Amira said, appearing
with a tray full of hot chocolates and tea for Yousef. “Clare’s cooking up a
quick rice to go with it.”

Between the nearby roaring fire and drinking the
hot chocolate, I warmed quickly. Everyone sat around the room while Yousef
chose the first episode. Next to me, Lacey looked tired and grumpy, but she
took my hand in hers once I was done with the drink. Resting my head against
her shoulder, I watched the
Seinfeld
episode until Clare arrived with
the food.

All together in the family room, we laughed and
enjoyed a late supper while I ignored the demons which attempted to distract
from the happiness. Soon my belly was full and the area where the doctor numbed
my wrist throbbed. Amira noticed how I cradled my arm and returned with Tylenol.

Having everyone take care of me, I chose to
embrace the warmth of this family. Gone now was the fear I felt at my house and
the horror at watching my blood spill like my mother’s had years ago. Safe with
the Zandis, I rested my head on the couch next to Lacey who cuddled with a pillow.

On the other sofa, Amira and Yousef sat, holding
hands and laughing together. Alyssa was curled up in a chair next to Tyson who
glanced at me regularly. His smile warmed me even more and I fell to sleep watching
him.

Waking as Tyson lifted me off of the couch, I
started to protest, but he shushed me.

“Rest, Bluebell. I’m just taking you to Lacey’s
room,” he whispered.

I saw how most of the lights were off now with
only Amira and Yousef remaining in the family room. Lacey was heading upstairs
with Alyssa. While I considered insisting Tyson put me down, instead I rested
my head on his shoulder and smiled at him. He returned my smile as he brought
me to Lacey’s room where I cuddled in her big fluffy bed. After Tyson left us,
she and I pulled the covers up high to distract from the demons. I never said
they were around, but Lacey knew. Just as she knew how despite my bad luck at
suicide this evening, I would try again.

Waking the next morning at eight, I freaked at the
idea of being late to school. Lacey muttered something next to me, but I
couldn’t understand. Finally she took the pillow from over her face and looked
at me through half open lids.

“We’ll be late. No worries. I already texted your
boy-toy. Go back to sleep for a little while longer.”

“You texted Flynn?”

“I didn’t want him going all psycho boyfriend on
you. I sense he’s the possessive type. Anyway I sent him a text on your phone
when I went pee a few hours ago.”

Grabbing my phone, I checked what she texted.
Smiling, I set the phone back down.

“You called him Fruit of the Loom?”

“I wasn’t fully awake and all my brain cells were
focused on aiming my pee. Now let me sleep for another thirty minutes then
we’ll shower, eat, and go to school.”

Pulling the blankets over us, I closed my eyes.
While I didn’t sleep, I might have dozed before I felt Lacey squirming around
in bed. Stretching, she sighed forty to fifty times then threw the blankets off
of her.

“Another wonderful day awaits us,” she said
unenthusiastically.

Knowing she would shower first, I waited in bed. I
also ignored the demon in the corner playing with something I didn’t recognize.
Then again, I was never good at anatomy.

Once Lacey was done, I took my shower then dressed
in the pastel clothes she left for me. In the kitchen, we found Alyssa still in
her pink pajamas while Tyson was dressed for the office. I momentarily admired
how Tyson’s strong chest filled out his dark blue dress shirt. He might have
felt my gaze on him because he glanced up from the newspaper and grinned at me.
I shared his smile, hoping he didn’t realize how much I admired the view.

Nearby Yousef was in his office, talking loudly in
Hebrew while Amira spoke in Persian in the family room. They were both so loud
they were forced to nearly yell to be heard over each other. Finally Yousef
winked at his wife and shut the office door.

Grinning, I couldn’t believe the breakfast Clare
laid out for me. I dug in quickly, unwilling to waste a bite.

“I think Bluebell could get used to living like a Zandi,”
Alyssa said, smiling at Tyson who sipped his coffee and gave her a little grin.

“I like how easy she is to boss around,” Lacey
said, shoving a mini blueberry muffin into her mouth. “She’d be the best sister
I ever had.”

Alyssa gave Lacey the stink eye then walked from
the room as if deeply offended.

“What a princess,” Lacey said, shoving a second
muffin into her mouth before downing a glass of milk.

“How is your wrist?” Tyson asked, ignoring his
sisters.

“A little sore, but not bad.”

“You should take more pain medicine before
school.”

“Or we could stay home,” Lacey suggested.

“Go learn,” Amira called out, having the mom
ability to hear from long distances.

“Yes, child, go learn,” Tyson said. “I wouldn’t
mind a sister who could help with the business.”

“No way. If Alyssa gets to sit on her butt all
day, there’s no way I’m working.”

Grinning, Tyson finished his coffee. “Have a good
day, Bluebell. You too, child.”

“I wish you well, old man. Beware of scammers who
prey on the elderly.”

Laughing, Tyson gave one final glance at me then
disappeared from the kitchen. Soon Lacey decided she couldn’t fill her stomach
with more mini muffins. After finding a jacket fitting of my new pastel
wardrobe, she grabbed her keys and hurried us outside.

“I’m glad I’m skipping Abby’s class,” Lacey
announced. “I might never share a room with the bitch again.”

“I like how you can hold grudges. It’s one of your
many skills.”

“I know. I have so many it can be difficult to
remember them all. Thank you for reminding me of that one.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“Will you spend the night at my house again?”

“I said I would work at Gretchen’s food truck on
Tuesdays and last I checked it was Tuesday.”

“Screw her.”

“Be nice.”

“No. The whole town is cranky. I want to be cranky
too.”

Rolling my eyes, I watched the town speed by as
Lacey hauled ass to school. We arrived before second period and just after she
would endure Abby. While I was a little upset to have missed Calculus because I
wanted to see if I aced Friday’s test, I figured the teacher probably hadn’t
graded it anyway. All of the teachers were behind on their work, as if they
spent the whole weekend keeping up with the drama.

The next few classes provided very little in the
ways of educational opportunities. Twice the teachers broke into screaming
matches with students. Three times students yelled at each other. One teacher
spent the whole time on the phone, dealing with an incident at his house overnight.

By lunch, I was bored, annoyed, and edgy. My
mother followed me everywhere, telling me how shitty a person I was to allow so
many to suffer. She even stood over the toilet stall and called me a selfish
bitch. It wasn’t a pleasant morning.

Flynn wasn’t around when Lacey and I went through
the line for lunch, but he arrived soon after at our table outside. Smiling
warmly, he looked me over as if checking for an illness which might explain why
I was late for school. When he found none, he rewarded me with a kiss.

“He seems like a sloppy kisser,” Lacey commented,
thereby ending my embrace with Flynn.

For his part, Flynn just smiled at Lacey then took
my hand. Bumping my bandaged wrist and causing me to wince in pain, he frowned.
After pulling back my jacket and sweater sleeves, he studied the bandage then
his green eyes focused on my face.

Saying nothing, Flynn took his seat and stared at
his tray. After joining him, I felt awkward because I once again wanted to
explain, but couldn’t. Instead I leaned over and rested my cheek against his
shoulder then looked up at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

Choosing not to answer, I could see how angry he
was. Besides I wasn’t in the mood to talk. I ate my lunch while Lacey picked at
her food and watched us. The glimmer of merriment in her eyes told me she
wanted Flynn to be short term. I wasn’t sure what other kind of term he could
be since I planned to die by the weekend.

Once I had finished eating and tossed my trash, I
returned to the table where Flynn stared at the nearby woods. His expression
was downcast and I wanted to make things better between us. I really wanted to
blurt out the truth, but whenever I imagined saying the words, I realized how
crazy they would sound to an outsider.

Instead of explaining, I stood behind Flynn and
placed my hands on his shoulders and began to massage. Lacey immediately
frowned at me, knowing how good my massages were. While she clearly wanted the
tiff between me and Flynn to last longer, I worked at his shoulders and neck,
occasionally leaning down to kiss his throat just under the ear.

“I really am sorry,” I whispered.

Flynn glanced back at me and I saw genuine hurt in
his eyes. Underneath the disappointment and worry, I spotted a lustful guy who
wanted more than a massage. Grinning at his lust, I kissed his jaw then let my
lips travel to his. Our kiss was short lived though.

“You’re such a whore.”

Looking up towards the voice, I assumed it was
Lacey, but she was glaring behind me. Turning around, I found Emily with an
expression full of rage and disgust.