Mundahlia (The Mundahlian Era, #1) (28 page)

“Maybe entering a relationship so soon was a bad idea,” Vienna smiled once I’d returned from the bathroom. She had finished eating an expensive meal in a flashy restaurant, but it was what she wanted. “I mean come on, she seems a little too—I dunno—attached.”

“Exactly! Thank you!” I agreed. It was the truth. I mean, who does that, especially after barely starting to date.

I took a sip of my drink and cringed. It was too sweet. “Uh, excuse me,” I said to our passing waiter. “Are you sure this is sweet tea?”

“Yes sir.” He said. “Why? Would you like me to bring you another drink.”

“Um, Yea—”

“Oh, Jett!” Vienna laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re turning into one of those people who can’t tolerate sweet things anymore.”

I looked to her and smiled awkwardly.

“Another drink, sir?” The waiter asked again.

I looked down at the drink. “Uh, no thank you. I guess I’m fine.”

“Anyway,” Vienna continued once the waiter excused himself. “I’m sure she’s a nice girl, Jett—but you have to keep your options open. You’re still so young and full of energy to be settling down now. And plus, she’s not like us. She’ll die off much faster than someone like you—or me.”

“Yeah.” On the ride yesterday, and today—here at the restaurant, I got to fully understand her. She was nicer than I expected. I don’t know why the rest of my family didn’t warm up to her—she is an angel. She just gets me in ways no one could, not even Rini. It’s like she knows everything I’m thinking, and knows exactly what to say. There was something about her that messed with my head and made me feel funny.

“All I’m saying—,” she moved her hand on top of mine. “—is that
you
deserve better. You’re handsome, you’re a gentleman. You deserve more than what you have and you are never going to get it if you keep
settling
for what you are given. Why settle for fast food when you can have fine cuisine?”

The same waiter came over holding a black tablet with the receipt tucked in it. “The bill,” he said. “I’ll be your cashier when you’re ready.”

“Oh, I’ll get it,” Vienna said, getting her purse from the back of her chair. “Nicolas gave me some human money this morning.”

“Oh no,” I protested, reaching in my pocket for my wallet. “I got it. We should probably get going anyway. I think I made Rini mad or something.”

“Oh my goodness! Thank you so much! See what I mean by how you are a gentleman? We are definitely going to be the
best
of friends.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Guilt began to consume me. I hadn’t even offered to pay for Rini on our date. I wanted to kick myself now. I didn’t even bother to stop her when she set her money down. I was having such a great time, I guess I didn’t know what to do. Maybe that’s why Rini had a faint smile when we left the restaurant. As if she was only saying that she would pay for herself to be nice and make the offer, but half-expecting me to ask her not to, like I’d done just now with Vienna.
Shit!

Yet again, I didn’t feel right. It felt as though my stomach was acting up like it’d done yesterday when I kept burping up the bad taco I’d had for breakfast. But just as quickly as the stomach pain came, it was gone, and I felt much better.

“It most certainly
is
something. It shows how you truly are an exceptional man. Rini must be the luckiest girl in the world to have you. A girl would do
anything
to get a guy like you.” She smiled at me, twirling a strand of her dark hair, and I couldn’t help but smile back. There was something about her that just made me feel—different. All day she’d been telling me what a great guy I was. It felt nice to be appreciated. Really nice.

“Oh, yeah!” she exclaimed as though a lightbulb had flickered on over her head. “You still have to show me the lake!”

“I will, I promise,” I said as the waiter carried the money off. “It’ll be the first thing when we get back.”



Rini

25

“I am pissed off! He is so going to get it as soon as he gets home. Here I am worrying about him, trying to make sure that he was safe and didn’t get into a car accident or get killed some other way, and he tells me to leave him alone!
Ugh!”
I was pacing furiously around the living room after going through every emotional cycle there was. I just finished the depressed cycle and was now burning through the rage cycle.

“Why are you storming around the room like you’re going to throw something?” said Sarah.

“Because I am!”

She took a step away, “Hopefully it’s not me. Just chill, Rini.” Word of advice people—when a person is furious, do not tell them to “calm down” or “chill” it only enrages them more.

My hands and teeth were clenched. Mark and Del were in the kitchen finishing the cake and Martin was bouncing Kaylee in his arms. Max was glued to Sarah’s side, and Ray was—Ah, who gives an eff, I’m mad!

Sarah strode over and shoved me down onto a seat. “Good. Now that you are sitting—breath in and out.”

I did as ordered. I took a deep breath, held it and then exhaled.

“Good,” she said. “In-and-out.”

It seemed to work, my hands and teeth unclenched and I opened my eyes.
God, I’m making a scene!
I don’t like that.

Then I heard two small thuds of a car doors closing. It was
them
, I knew it. I could here his voice from behind the screen door. The voices trailed to the side of the house and disappeared around the corner.

“Rini,” Sarah said, holding my shoulders down. “Remember, it’s nothing. It is absolutely nothing.”

“Nothing, my
ass!
” I stormed out of the cabin and down the steps. A trail of footsteps followed behind me. I guess Sarah and Max wanted to see the show. I turned the corner and spotted them standing at the edge, their faces turned toward the water as Jett motioned his hand in the air, explaining the scenery to her. The abnormally skinny girl let out a laugh—it was eerily familiar. She was too close to Jett, and at the moments sight of her hand brushing his arm I hastened my stride into nearly a sprint. The footsteps behind me stopped as though getting the hint that I was about to tackle someone if there wasn’t a proper explanation why she was all over
my
man.

As I approached and got within feet away from them, they both turned. That was when I got struck by the face of someone sinister and foul. Vera. She’d dyed her hair dark, like mine. And she wore less fashionable clothes than she usually wears.

“What the hell are
you
doing here?” I asked her in an affirmative voice.
Keep your cool Rini, no reason to gouge her eyes out—yet.

I heard the a gasp from one of the witnesses peeking over the corner of the cabin. Sarah.

“Excuse me?” she smiled a noticeably forced smile.

“Rini?” Jett was puzzled at my sudden appearance.

“I said, what the hell are
you
doing here!” They both looked at each other then back to me, the enraged girl—waiting to explode. “I have nothing to say to
you
right now.” My attention was now on Jett, who still stayed at Vera/Vienna’s side.

“Sorry, I was busy,” Jett said, as if it weren’t a big deal.
Geez, where have I heard that before?
“I told you.”

“Hello, I’m Vienna,” Vera greeted in too nice of a tone and extended her hand. She couldn’t even think of another name that didn’t start with the same letter as her real one to go incognito as.

I smacked her hand away, “Bullshit Vera, what are you doing here?”

“Rini, don’t be rude,” Jett added, closing the closeness of us two by standing in the middle. “She’s just a new friend that’s come to live with us, that’s all!”

“Ha!” I exclaimed. What was Vera doing here and calling herself Vienna? And why was she acting nice all of a sudden? My hands were balled into fists, my face grew hot, and I could feel my heart thumping in my ears. I turned back to “Vienna”, who had a dumfound smile across her face. Clearly, of a satisfied nature.

“Look,
bitch
!” I spat. “You better stay away from this family because I care about them, and if this is one of your pathetic little games, you can cut the crap and get the hell out of here!” I didn’t care to censor myself. I was an enraged teen. And “golly, gosh, darn it!” didn’t seem to suffice. She remained unmoved. “Get out of here
stick
!” I pointed to the dirt road.

“Please don’t call me
stick
, it really offends healthy people like myself.” she said, sounding like the victim yet at the same time getting her knife in with a calm voice.

“Oh honey, I am
not
calling you a stick because you’re freakishly thin. I’m calling you
stick
because it seems as though you go about your days acting like you have a
stick
up your ass!”

“
Jay
, I’m getting scared,” Vera backed into Jett’s arms. “
Please
do something. Control her, or something.”

“It’s all right
Vee,
she’s just acting out,” he said.

Vee?! Acting out?! Jay?!
“Since when the hell were you on a nickname basis with each other?”

“Rini, you need to calm down. You’re overreacting!” Jett held his stance beside her—hand out, keeping Vera/Vienna safe from my clutches. He was acting like I was some wild animal waiting for the perfect moment to go in for the kill. Which really, I was.

“Jett, she’s lying to you! Her name’s Vera. I go to school with her, you have to believe me!” I cried. “She’s in the news. She’s been missing for the past few days!”

“Rini, stop it!” he stammered, sending a drop of spit from his mouth pummeling to the floor. “Her name is Vienna, she’s from
my
land of Mundahlia, and she’s just searching for a safe place to stay after barely escaping with her life, and I’ll be
damned
if you have
any
input on this situation. You are
not
family! You get
no
say in anything we decide to do!” Ouch—again! He sucked on his lip, trying to suck back the hurtful words he’d spilled, but it was too late—they were already airborne. I was a ticking time bomb now, waiting to explode.

Tick.

“Rini, are you all right?” Jett continued, trying a calmer approach. “You’re acting crazy.”

Tick
.

Vera/Vienna grabbed Jett’s hand and took it into hers. He didn’t move it, or at least make the effort to either. “See this is exactly what you’re getting with her Jett. You’re settling for
this
,” she pointed to me as if I were nothing but a creature or other object. “Maybe we should go inside and let her cool off a bit. I wouldn’t want her lashing out at you—or me.” She tiptoed up to meet his ear and whispered something I couldn’t make out. Jett’s eyes moved to me, and he grinned. As though she’d said something bad about me, and he laughed along with her.

Tick-Tick-Tick-Boom!

I lunged toward her, shoving Jett aside. Their hands broke free and I pushed her off the edge. Vera/Vienna grabbed ahold of my shirt and took me down with her. By the fabric of our shirts, Jett caught us both before we hit the water. I could feel the coolness rising from the freezing lake brush against my face. The moss and dirt-filled scent wafted inches away from my nose. I managed to get a firm grip of his arm and turn myself around to face him.

“Pull me up!” Vera/Vienna cried. “
Jett! Pull me up!!
”

“Jett,
babe
,
please don’t drop me.” It was already chilly, so the water was probably ice cold.

“I can’t swim, Jett!” Vera/Vienna whined. “I’m going to drown!”

“Jett please!” I said, looking into his eyes. He was too caught up in his mind, making a decision. He’d have to drop one of us to pull the other up. “Jett?” I said again. “Please, baby.”

Vera ordered almost controlling, “Jett! Choose me over her! Pick me up and let her fall!”

His mind was made up in that very instant. And with a short, “I’m sorry, Rini,” he let go of me, and pulled Vera/Vienna back onto the dock. The frigid water rushed over my face, stinging all the bare parts of my body. Still in shock, water filled my mouth. In a rush of panic, I swallowed some of the green, algae infused liquid. It tasted like dirt and felt slimy. I was cold. It was as though I were trapped in a freezer, slowly turning into ice. I needed to feel warm again, immediately.

When I surfaced, Jett was leaning over with his hand stretched out for me. “Give me your hands so I can pull you up,” he said.

I looked at him a long while, directly into his eyes. I could see him do the same.
Where was the romance that was there just days before?
I was searching into his eyes for it. The kind and flirtatious side he had shown me. The side I had so eloquently fallen for and wanted more of.
May I collect you,
I recalled him saying into my mouth the very first night we kissed.
“It’s okay. I’m yours, remember?”
I remember saying to him when he’d read Ray’s little note and gotten angry. Only a short time together, but it felt longer than that. Like ages, wrapped up into a few days.
“Need help?”
were the first words he’d ever uttered when I first met him. And yet, there I was, teetering over the edge—in need of his help. And he chose to let me go, and instead help the girl that appeared to brainwash him or stroke his ego enough to make him think I wasn’t good enough for him. The very thing that bothered me the most over these passed days. That I just wasn’t good enough to get someone like him. Where did my Jett go?

“She didn’t know how to swim. Besides, it might of helped you cool down a bit, now come on!” he said aggressively. My Jett—was gone.