Alternative Lifestyles

Jack was mid-jump when I burst into my room. I snatched his ankle, flipping him horizontal. He crashed down hard to my bed and rolled off onto the floor.

And laughed.

"Let's do that again! But this time I'll jump even higher."

"No! No, you won't! What are you doing here?"

He sat up on the floor and shrugged. "I was bored."

"I don't care! I'm not your babysitter!"

His blue eyes twinkled. Honestly, whose eyes actually twinkle? Then his face crumpled, his lower lip jutting out. He blinked his ridiculously long eyelashes at me. "I thought we were friends."

"Oh, knock it off."

"Come on." He jumped up and grabbed my hand. "Let's do something fun."

"I can't! I have to work, and then I have a date."

"Frying-pan boy again? I thought you guys broke up."

"No! Why would we break up?"

Jack shrugged. "Dunno. He didn't seem thrilled last time I saw him. Whatever, though. I wanted to check and make sure you were okay. Looks like you are, although I still say he's boring. Can he take you to see krakens?"

"No way! Really? Those are real? I've always wanted to-" I stopped, taking a deep breath. "Seriously. I'm busy. With my boyfriend." This time I thought I saw a flash of something genuine in his disappointed expression. Great. Another person I was letting down. I knew where he was coming from, though. If all he had to choose from were the Center and the Faerie Realms, well, he deserved a friend. "Can I take a rain check? Weekends are busy for me."

He shrugged, his perma smile back in all its dimpled glory. "You'd probably figure out a way to nearly get killed, anyway."

Arianna cleared her throat loudly from the doorway. I'd charged in right past her without explaining, and no doubt I'd have to do so now. Problem was figuring out what to explain.

"Oh, umm, Arianna, this is Jack. He, uh, well, what did he tell you?"

She rolled her eyes, the kohl-rimmed, chocolate brown glamour ones mimicking the actions of her milky white corpse eyes. "He said he was here to inspect the beds. I figured he was one of your old friends."

"No, he's not-well, kind of. He's not a faerie, he's human, but, uh-" I hadn't told Arianna about my new arrangement with IPCA. Lend was already mad enough about it; I didn't want my roommate being annoyed with me, too.

"Jack." He flashed her his most melt-worthy grin and stuck out a hand. "Definitely human, but-" he took her hand and pressed his lips to it "-I might be willing to try out an alternate lifestyle if it meant getting to know you better."

"Umm, eew?" Arianna pulled back her hand, her face disgusted but a smile tugging at one corner of her mouth. "Eternal life is bad enough without giving it to pests like you."

He sighed heavily. "Girls are mean. At least faeries simply kill you if they don't want you around." He put a hand on the wall, leaning against it and tapping his foot impatiently.

"Where are you going?" I asked, feeling guilty for not being able to hang out with him.

"To find a faerie to kill me, of course." He winked at us, then pretended to fall straight through when the faerie door opened. Even Arianna laughed as the door closed behind him.

"Where did you find that one?"

"I have no idea. I'm a magnet for crazies, I guess."

"They must be able to sense a kindred spirit."

"You're one to talk. Don't you have more hordes of the undead to lead in a glorious revolution?"

"Zombies, not undead. There's a fine distinction. And no. Right now I'm scouting new talent. The glorious revolution comes tomorrow."

"Good luck with that. Hey, you want to hang out? Lend's here the whole weekend."

She shrugged. She'd been more and more withdrawn lately. But, short of a faerie apocalypse, I definitely wouldn't bail on her this time. "Sure. Yeah. Easton Heights marathon?" Bonus to that was, since Arianna didn't sleep, we could watch DVDs the entire night, which meant I didn't have to be apart from Lend at all. Excellent plan in my book.

I nodded and smiled enthusiastically. "Party!"

"Lend'll whine."

"He's cute when he whines."

"There's something wrong with you," she said.

There were a lot of things wrong with me, but loving Lend was definitely not one of them.

"Oh, hey," she said, pointing to some thick folders on the desk. "I ordered materials from a few other DC schools."

"Why?"

"Backup plan. You know, just in case."

I scowled. You'd think she was the one sneaking around with Raquel. "I don't need a backup plan."

She rolled her eyes again. "Don't be an idiot. Sometimes things don't work out. You should always give yourself options. You're lucky you have them."

"I don't need options. I'll see you later." I shut the door behind myself rather louder than was necessary.

When I got downstairs I ducked into the kitchen to find Nona and Grnlllll standing next to each other and leaning over something on Nona's arm. I squinted my eyes, sure I was seeing it wrong. It looked like they were talking to some sort of glowing orange gecko or salamander, which couldn't be right.

Then again, Nona was a tree. So pretty much nothing she did was weird. Or everything was. There really wasn't a standard for normal here.

"Hey, Nona?"

She straightened, pulling her arm protectively behind her back with a stern look. I frowned, wondering if I wasn't supposed to see that, or if she was just pissed at me for not working much anymore. "You need me on tables or register today?"

"Neither, Evie. Thank you. You may go."

"O-kay . . ." There was definitely a strange vibe there. Between her hushed conversations with Grnlllll and meeting up with Reth, Nona was seriously creeping me out. And there was this certain way she watched me when she thought I wasn't paying attention-like she was just, I don't know, waiting. For something.

I was pretty sure I didn't want to know what.

As I walked through the diner to go out, I swear every pair of eyes in there, not a single one of which were human, watched me. Fighting off a shudder, I pulled out my phone to call Lend for a ride. No way I was walking outside under the open sky today.

My head drifted dangerously close to my desk. The even, smooth slab of plastic faux wood was inviting, and the even, smooth drone of my English teacher's voice in the background seemed to have hit on a previously undiscovered cure for insomnia.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this bored. If only I were officially accepted to Georgetown. Then I could relax. Right now I couldn't afford any more slipups, just in case they checked on my grades.

Which was why I was doing yet another extra-credit fun run during lunch today for Miss Lynn. "Fun run" indeed, what a misnomer. That'd be like saying "calm gremlin" or "pleasant hag." Or "entertaining history textbook." It was my third fun run this week, and I was positive I was sacrificing years off my already shortened life for a bleeping grade. Still, at least running was so exhausting I couldn't be bored. Unlike right now.

I stifled a yawn. I wanted something-anything-to happen. Maybe Lend would come and rescue me again, and we could go on another magical date and get over the tension that still seemed to linger between us in the quiet moments. Resting my head on my fist, I stared at the door.

What if a zombie came in, reeking of death and decay? He'd totally go for the Vicious Redhead Soccer Girl sitting right by the door. I could take a zombie. That ruler on the teacher's desk looked like a sharp edge, and how cool would my classmates think I was? Especially if I had Tasey.

I sighed, leaning my head back and staring up at the ceiling. It would never work. No ruler would be sharp enough. Besides which, I never bring Tasey to school. And even if I saved everyone in the class, I'd probably still be expelled due to the school's zero tolerance policy on violence.

I'd just have to live without the everlasting appreciation and admiration of my classmates. Truth was, most of them barely noticed me. They had their established cliques, and while they were friendly enough, I didn't socialize with anyone outside school. Part of that wasn't my fault, what with all the time I spent working at the diner and devoting my weekends to Lend.

But if I were being honest, mostly it was because, as much as I wanted to, I didn't fit in here. Their dramas revolved around who was going out with who and who said what to who and who got in where and so on and so forth. My dramas mostly involved whats-as in, What on earth is that horrible creature about to rip out my throat?

Or at least they used to. I'd been on edge all week. Raquel hadn't needed me for anything, which left way too much time to stress about everything. There was nowhere I could go where I felt safe or calm. The diner was all paranormals, and even though Nona acted the same as always, I got the creeps every time she looked at me now. Arianna was like my own personal poltergeist, always home, always infecting the apartment with her moods. Outside made me too nervous-the breeze that followed me everywhere, constantly having to watch the sky for sylphs and the crowds for faeries. I had nowhere to go that was mine.

It was like Jack said: I was homeless.

But right now I was just bored. So, maybe a stray vampire came to the school and . . .

A paper slapped down on my desk and it took me several seconds to realize what I was looking at. My test. My last test! My test with a-

No, that couldn't be right.

I stared in disbelief at the letter gracing the front page. C+? C+? Didn't he know how much time I spent studying for this stupid, pointless test? Didn't he know I'd spent half the night before taking it battling the forces of evil? Didn't he know I needed to get into Georgefreakingtown?

The C+ sat there, mocking me. It was probably a good thing I didn't have Tasey in my bag, or I would have burned that heinous letter right off the page. Class was over before I could register any parting instructions the teacher gave us, and Carlee was standing next to my desk.

"A C+? Nice!"

"Nice doesn't get me into Georgetown," I moaned, perilously close to tears. Please, please let them check my transcripts before my new grades were posted.

"You'll get in for sure! You're so smart. Don't worry." She put her arm around my shoulders as we walked together to lunch. "Let's talk about happy things. What should I be for Halloween? I can't decide between a sexy vampire or a sexy fairy. I've got a whole tub of glitter body gel for either costume, if you want to be the one I'm not!"

Faeries and vampires were glittery now?

Honestly.