I shouldn't have been surprised when Jesse didn't show up.
In fact, I really should have expected it.
Even though he seemed like he'd done a 180 on answering my questions and helping me out, there was no way he would have changed his mind so quickly.
I wasn't feeling too great, and I didn't know who to confide in. Who could I even trust in this town? Who really was who they said they were?
And everything felt wrong. I'd been feeling uncomfortable for a while, but after that morning, the conversation where a few lines became less blurred, while more showed themselves, the world was spinning.
I waited at Misty's for an hour, double, triple-texting Jesse but with no response. His mother wasn't there either. He acted like he would help me figure out my magic, at least that much, but of course not.
He was probably getting high at the park again, not even bothered with my life spiraling out of control. I thought, with the gun and everything that happened, he'd at least want to help to keep me from ruining the peace.
Whatever the arrangement between witches and vampires was, it seemed serious. He'd made it sound like it was important to educate me, then dipped.
Dick.
I sat at the bar alone, mixed up, and uncomfortable. Sipping on my whisky, I tried to convince myself to wait it out more. The electric feeling came into my hands and I remembered to breathe.
I visualized it sinking back into my anxious body, and felt it return.
Maybe I can figure it out by myself. If Jesse won't help, I'll figure it out.
And as for the vampires, I could just let it be. I'll ignore them.
But my dad, he's an ex hunter, whatever that means. He kept secrets from me. My mother, too. Everyone's lying. How could I forget that?
How could I just let that be?
As much as I want life to go back to normal, to pretend this never happened, I'm the one who took it this far. I should have walked away when Jesse told me to.
But I'm stupid, and stubborn, and now nothing will ever be the same.
Whatever. No use getting upset about it now. I'll drink, and then I'll go home and try to catch back up on my school work. Yeah. Maybe something mundane will ease this tension.
I sipped my drink again, lightly swishing it in the glass. I at least felt physically better. I was clean, wearing makeup, dressed okay, and just altogether better. My thoughts were that if I dressed better, my emotional state might improve.
That may have been true in some ways, but I was still shaken from the fact that I had slept for almost two days, missed my classes, pulled a gun on someone I didn't know, vampire or not, and all of that after the incident in the alley. That happened in what, a week?
I should have just left it alone.
But there's no time for "should have's".
I just have to push forward now, if I can just figure out which way is forward...
"Blair, drinking alone isn't a good look for you."
I turned to my right and was pleasantly surprised to see my sister's face. She looked ages better, her eyes sparkling and her skin brighter. I guessed the rest did her well.
"Hey, Rose, what are you doing here?"
She wasn't much of a drinker. I knew that much. She wouldn't so much as drink a single glass of wine before she was on the floor.
"I'm meeting someone. What about you?"
She smiled and I noticed the pink lipstick she was wearing. My sister hardly wore makeup other than mascara. She wasn't just meeting someone, it was a date.
I drank just a bit more of the dark liquid. It burned my tongue, tingling on the way down. It was starting to work, finally.
"I was supposed to meet Jesse, but I guess he bailed."
She laughed, making it clear what her response was before she said it. I shook my head, clarifying it certainly was not in the way she'd imagined.
"He's like, almost four years younger than me. He can't even drink, Rosie.
Were kind of..."
Friends? That's not exactly the right word.
"We hang out and stuff. He needs an older figure in his life."
I mean, not a total lie. But at this point, who needs who is debatable.
She giggled and asked the bartender for a mixed drink.
"Well what about that cutie? She's been eyeing you since I sat down." She nodded to my left before receiving her drink.
She sipped it as I glanced over. I sighed in realization of who it was.
Carmen Calhoun, 24 years old. Beautiful and tall, green eyes that just pierce you with one look, and a body I used to say I'd kill to touch.
Also, not coincidentally, my ex-girlfriend.
I rolled my eyes and turned back to my glass, and then to my sister. She stirred her drink surreptitiously with her straw, and I narrowed my eyes.
"She decided she's "not gay", remember?" I scoffed as the words left my mouth.
Rose simply giggled in response.
This was a nice, short break. A little distraction from the freight train of supernatural problems barreling towards me. It was good to pretend to worry about my ex, drink with my sister, just forget about it.
But my sister was meeting someone I had met previously. A woman, tall and with an odd aura. A woman that, not two days ago, I had pulled a gun on after following me out of the bar.
I looked away as she sat beside her.
A jumbled up mix of emotions boiled up inside of me. The buzzing returned. It was so present I could almost hear the humming it gave off.
I could feel it tickling me, sparks licking against my hand and threatening to become visible.
She's a vampire. She's dangerous.
She can't date my sister.
She can't.
What if she hurts her?
What if she bites her?
What if...?
I made eye contact with the woman, who blushed and turned away. She gripped her jeans and crossed her legs, squeezing so hard her knuckles turned white.
Is she...scared of me?