Paradox - Progeny Of Innocence (bk2) (Paradox series) (26 page)

"That must have been one hell of a dream you were having."

"I wasn’t dreaming. I mean. I don’t know. I can’t remember," she lied. "How long have I been here?" she asked.

He smiled. "Long enough to miss math... How are you feeling now, Grace?"

"Fine," she replied. Another lie. "What are you doing here anyway, where is Angela?"

"I’m sure she will be here soon. Would you like me to go?"

"Yes, no … you can stay until Angela gets here if you like."

He sat down on the chair beside the bed.

"So, you go to this school now?" she asked.

"I do."

"Miss Rafael, Ambrosia, said your dad is in the Army."

"Yes, he is," River said. "What does your father do?"

Grace shook her head. "Nothing. Not anymore. He died when I was little."

"Oh, I’m sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. Me, too," Grace said, lowering her head and fidgeting with her fingers. "So, how is your job going, anyway? We haven't had pizza for a while," she said. They sat and just talked, and Grace realized how easy it was to talk to him. How much she enjoyed it.

He shrugged. "It's okay. It's a job … and you get to meet a ton of nice people, like you for-"

"Grace, are you okay?" Joshua asked rushing through the doorway toward her. A few moments later, Angela walked in behind him.

"I’m fine. This is Riley, you know, from history class."

Joshua put out his hand, "nice to meet you, you sick, too?" he asked, only taking his eyes off Grace for a moment.

Riley gripped the offered hand and shook it. "No. Not at all. Nice to meet you, Josh. And you are?" he asked, looking from Joshua to Angela.

"Angela Oaks. Nice to meet you, Riley. Thank you so much for sitting with Grace," she said studying him, noting the slightest of peaks to the top of his ears. Angela did that a lot, studied people as though they were bugs under a microscope. "I'm a friend of Holly's," she said after a moment.

Joshua and Grace both looked at Angela. Joshua looked overly interested while Grace was more surprised. Angela had never mentioned a Holly before.

"Yes," Riley nodded, "I know." Angela gave him a quick smile.

"Well," Riley said. "I can see that I am no longer needed here, so nice talking with you, Grace," he said, turning toward her. "I’m sure we will bump into each other again soon. Make sure you order pizza this week, okay?"

Grace smiled. "I'll be sure to do that. And thanks for waiting with me."

Riley nodded and slipped out of the room as Joshua and Angela sat down on the edge of her bed, waiting for her to elaborate.

"Really, guys, there's nothing to tell. He's just the pizza boy," she said, standing up. "Let's get out of here, I’m starving." Grace grabbed her bag from Joshua and threw it over her shoulder. "And who is this Holly and how-" Grace paused, remembering her dream. "I just had the most vivid dream. I was in Germany, and I could speak fluent German. And the really funny thing is that I could understand everything that was being said. Actually, I've had this dream a few times. I had it again just the other night… there were angels falling out of the sky, with blazing arrows…" she frowned at the fleeting memory, and then dismissed it. "Anyway, what do you guys know about the Benedictine nuns?" she asked seriously, leaving out the parts of the dream that included the Riley clone.

"Benedictine nuns?" Joshua repeated, gawking at Grace as though she had just said the most ridiculous thing. "Now you are really starting to worry me."

"According to the Wikipedia online encyclopedia," Angela began, "the word Benedictine refers to followers of the Order of Saint Benedict. These people generally lead a life in an abbey, and follow the rule of Benedict of Nursia. Benedict lived in the sixth century. He made a number of rules, called the Rule of St Benedict, that these people follow. Pax meaning peace and ora et labora meaning pray and work. Most Benedictines are part of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, or the Anglican Church. Officially, the order is known as Ordo Sancti Benedicti."

Joshua exhaled a breath and looked from Angela to Grace. "Well, I hope you're happy, Grace? Now look what you've started!"

Grace grinned. "Yeah, you think I would know better by now, wouldn't you. Let’s just go get something to eat. Orlando eggs Benedict," she added. "That's what I feel like eating."

Joshua shook his head. "Oh, why do you torment her by saying things like that, Grace?"

"Ordo, Sancti, Benedicti." Angela pronounced the words very slowly, correcting her.

Grace swung her arm around Angela’s shoulders, "Okay, Angela, whatever, let's go," she said, forgetting all about her dream, and Riley, for now.

"So who are you going to go as?" Clair asked Grace, as she flopped down in the oversized purple beanbag next to Sonndra. Grace shrugged and crossed her legs under herself on the foot of her bed.

"Careful!" Sonndra said to Clair, picking up the bottle of nail varnish before it spilled on the bedroom carpet. She put the bottle on the other side of the beanbag and started applying another coat of varnish to Amber's toenails.

Amber was sitting on the bed next to Grace, and said, "Jackson and I are going as Romeo and Juliet. Oh, I really like that color, Sonndra. Do you want me to paint yours now?" She lifted her foot to admire the bronze nail varnish on her toes.

"Juliette," Grace murmured, deep in thought.

"What's that?" Amber asked, frowning at Grace.

Grace shook her head. "It's nothing, just thinking out loud."

Sonndra heaved herself out of the beanbag. "Sure, swap places," she said to Amber. "I'll have the same color, it's really nice." Sonndra made herself comfortable on the end of the bed. Andrew and I are going as Robin Hood and Maid Marian," she said, waiting for Amber.

"I thought I might go as a medieval wench," Clair said, pulling her knees up under her chin.

"Actually, you'd make a good wench," Amber said, settling in next to Clair on the beanbag. Sonndra and Grace shot Amber a look. "What? No, I didn’t mean that in a nasty way." She turned around to look at Clair with an apologetic look on her face. "I really didn't, Clair, honest," she said, putting Sonndra's foot up on a pillow.

"Yeah, I know. I didn’t think you did. It's these two," Clair said, looking from Grace to Sonndra, "they think I'm still hung up on Jackson. But I'm not. That's ancient history. You guys make a good couple. And besides, I've already got my eye on someone new." They all looked at Clair, waiting. "Not telling," she said. "I don't want to jinx it."

"What about Zach, who's he going as?" Sonndra asked.

"The whole footy team is going as Knights Templar. Plus they are security for the night, so they will be easy to spot if they are all dressed the same."

"That's a good idea," Sonndra said. "Zach will look amazing done up as a knight." Clair nodded enthusiastically.

"What about Guinevere? You could go as Guinevere," Amber suggested to Grace.

"Guinevere, hmm, I don't mind that idea. But wouldn't everyone expect me to be going with someone? Like a King Arthur or a Lancelot, for example?" Grace let out a sigh. She still hadn't heard from Damon, and he had been avoiding her at school now, too. A few times she had seen him with Emily, the new girl, and Grace wondered if she was the reason why Damon hadn't ever called her back. Perhaps he liked Emily more. She was pretty, and smart, and she hadn't stood up and embarrassed Damon in front of the whole class by kissing him on the mouth. She'd also heard gossip, but she wasn't going to pay any attention to that. She still shivered just thinking about it. What if the gossip was true? What if Damon and Emily were more than just friends? That would mean everything he had said to her was a lie.

As though reading her mind Sonndra said, "You still like Damon Draco, don't you? Well, forget him. If he doesn’t realize how special you are, then he doesn’t deserve you."

"That's right, and there are a ton of single people going on Saturday night. Me included," Clair said. "And even Guinevere was single before she met her King Arthur and the dashing Lancelot."

"I suppose," Grace said, trying to sound optimistic. "Alright, I'll go as Guinevere. Who needs to go as a couple anyway?"

"Right on, sister," Clair said, giving her a high-five. "Who is Angela going as?"

"Where's Angela tonight anyway?" Sonndra asked, leaning down to study her toenails. "This really is a nice color."

Amber nodded. "It's almost the same beautiful color as your skin. I envy you so much, never having to worry about getting a tan…"

"Angela is going as Joan of Arc, and Joshua is going as a knight, Sir Lionel. Lancelot's cousin. Angela doesn’t really get into the whole girly sleepover thing. And her Mom and Dad are home tonight and-" a knock sounded on the front door. "That'll be the pizza," Grace said, scrambling to her feet.

"Oh great, I'm starving," Clair said, heaving herself out of the beanbag to follow Grace down the hallway. "Come on, you two," she said to Amber and Sonndra over her shoulder, "hurry up, or you'll miss out."

"What movies are we watching tonight?" Amber asked as she shoved her feet into a pair of rabbit’s ear slippers.

"New Moon, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Transformers – Revenge Of The Fallen. If we can stay awake that long," Sonndra said, dragging the oversized beanbag down the hall behind her.

Grace grabbed the money for the pizzas off the kitchen counter and opened the door, a huge smile spreading across her face. "I was hoping it would be you," she said, stretching out her hand to give Riley the money.

"I've been keeping an eye out for a delivery in this area for the last few days," he said, grinning. "Where can I put these for you?" He raised the three pizza boxes resting on his arms.

"Oh yes, just in the lounge room over here would be great, thanks."

"No problems. You extra hungry, or are you feeding an army tonight?" Riley asked, following Grace into the house. "Oh, I see. An army of hungry women," he said as he spotted Amber, Clair and Sonndra curled up in front of the television.

"Feel free to join us," Clair said in a sultry, flirtatious voice.

"Oh, I would love to, really," he said. "But I have to get back to work. Enjoy the pizzas, and your movies, girls," he said smiling. "Um, Grace, I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

"Sure," she said, walking him to the door.

"Well, if you haven't got a date Saturday night for the Medieval Ball, I was wondering if you might like to go with me."

The smile slipped from Grace's face. "Well I was kind of hoping that… can we go as just friends, not as a date? Would that be okay? I'm just not sure where my head is at the moment. I know that's a pretty lame-"

"That would be great. Going as just friends would be perfect, really," he said, reassuring her. But inside, he felt a twinge of disappointment. He wanted to be more than just friends. She deserved to be happy. And he wanted to be the one who made her happy. To hell with Damon Draco, he'd had his chance, and he'd blown it. "So, shall I pick you up?" he asked.

"How about we meet there, say eight o'clock outside B Block?"

"Oh, one more thing," he asked. "Who are you going as?"

"Guinevere," she said smiling, and feeling a little embarrassed at the same time.

"Well then, would you mind if I went as King Arthur?"

"That would be fine," she said, smiling again.

"So then, eight o'clock tomorrow night it is. Enjoy your evening, Grace. Bye, girls," he called over his shoulder as he left.

Amber, Clair and Sonndra started to giggle. "Well it looks like someone has just found her King Arthur after all," Sonndra said, passing one of the pizza boxes to Amber.

"Yes, well. I guess I can cross Riley off my list," Clair said, biting into a piece of pizza.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Clair. But it's not really like that; we're just going as friends…"

Clair huffed. "Don't worry about it, really. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. Now, what movie should we watch first?" she said changing the subject.

"New Moon," they all answered in unison.

"It's already in the machine ready to go, switch off the big light while you're up, Grace," Amber said, making herself comfortable on the sofa next to Clair. Sonndra wiggled herself into the beanbag like a bird preparing to nest.

Grace flicked the light switch off and dragged another beanbag over to the coffee table. "Help yourself to the garlic bread," she said, grabbing a piece for herself.

"Okay, push play, Amber," Clair said with a mouthful of pizza.