Static (10 page)

What other changes could take place by then? There
was a lot of power swirling around in me; I could feel it nudging
at me, taunting me, egging me on to do things I didn't want to. I
cringed to think about the damage I could do to myself and to
others in that short period of time.

Chapter 11

For the rest of the week, I went about my business,
going to school, hanging at the pool hall, going home, without any
incident. I did manage to avoid Jamie though. Well, the truth was,
he managed to avoid me. He did everything possible, arriving at
school early, running down the halls without making eye contact,
even getting a job after school, to not have to be around me.

Chloe had asked what was up with us, but I couldn't
tell her the truth. It would sound way too strange, plus she had a
secret crush on Jamie and it would kill her if she knew I had my
lips to his, it wouldn't matter to her that it wasn't sexual.
Instead, I just told her we had an argument and Jamie was being an
ass about it. Thankfully, she believed that.

For three days, I didn't sleepwalk, stick to the
ceiling, leak tar from my eyes, or suck the life out of anyone. And
I had no late night or bathroom visits from Trevor. Life seemed
surprisingly normal. I could almost believe that the past week and
a half had been a dream. Almost.

During the down time, I did a bunch of research on
incubi and cambions. There wasn't a ton of information to be had
but what I did find out was that incubi and succubi were pretty
much demons—demons that literally sucked the living energy from
people using sex. They were also related closely to nightmares.
That didn't surprise me in the least with the dreams I'd been
having.

I was unable to discover too much about what kind of
powers incubi possessed, the information was pretty vague on
anything in that area. A couple of things were listed like shape
shifting, entering people's homes with invitation (sounded a lot
like vampires, maybe they were related on the supernatural family
tree) and they fed on sexual energy, possibly causing sickness in
their victims.

I didn't read anything about the things I was going
through. No mention of floating, or seeing things differently, like
people's auras and finding them surprisingly delicious. But maybe
that shape shifting ability had something to do with how Trevor had
been able to show up at my home and in the bathroom without me
seeing him, and how I'd been able to go from my bedroom to downtown
without thinking. The bum had said I had appeared out of the
shadows. Maybe I did.

I also read about a legend that likened incubi to
fallen angels. By the perfect pale appearance of Thane and the rest
of the band, that story didn't surprise me in the least. Every
single one of them had an alluring quality that transcended simple
beauty. They were completely ethereal in their darkness.

One thing I did discover that I thought was pretty
cool—Merlin, the sorcerer from the Arthurian legends, was a
cambion. His father was said to be an incubus. I remembered a
really old movie called Excalibur that my tenth grade English
teacher made us watch. It was a cool movie, what I could remember
of it anyway. Merlin rocked. So, I guess if this is what I was
turning into, I couldn't complain too much. It could've been worse.
I could be turning into a zombie. The stench of decaying flesh
would be a killer, and I imagine it would've put a big dent into my
dating opportunities.

Not that I had many opportunities. They just sort of
cropped up now and then, like now for instance.

I was working the till at the Starbucks close to my
house—I worked here Friday nights and on the weekends—and Josh
Kirby was ordering a banana chocolate blend Vivanno and asking me
out all at the same time.

"You want to do what?" I fumbled his change and it
rolled over the counter and dropped onto the floor.

He smiled as he bent to pick it up. After he shoved
it into his jeans pocket, he repeated his question. "I want to take
you out tomorrow night? Do you have plans or something?"

"No, no plans." I shook my head. "But why do you want
to take
me
out?
Me
? This person?" I emphasized,
pointing at my scrawny chest, now covered in a green Starbucks
apron.

He laughed, and I found I rather liked the sound. It
was deep. It reminded me of the strong warm roasted coffee I was
surrounded by. Dark and rich.

"Why are you so surprised?"

I frowned at him. "Ah, hello, because we've gone to
school together for the past two years and you haven't ever talked
to me. Ever. You actually do a damn good job of ignoring me."

"Well, I was stupid."

"And you're not now?" I couldn't stop my lips from
curling into a grin.

Smiling, he shook his head. "Nope."

"Hmm, I think the verdict is still out on that
one."

The lady behind Josh sniffed. "Can I order
please?"

Josh glanced behind him. "Just one more minute,
okay?"

The woman shook her head, clearly miffed beyond
reason, but she didn't say anything else. Maybe Josh had charmed
her. I know he was starting to charm me.

He cocked his brow. "So, will you go out with me?
Please."

Biting my lip, I looked at him. Really, really looked
at him. I noticed he had freckles dotting the bridge of his nose,
and his smile was crooked, but sexy as hell. And there was a
certain spark in his gaze that I'd never seen before. He was
looking at me like I was the cat's meow. Maybe this cambion thing
was doing something else to me. Making me irresistible to guys.
Perfect, untouchable guys like Josh.

"Yeah, why not?" I finally said.

"Awesome." He literally bounced on his feet. "I'll
pick you up at say, seven thirty. What's your address?"

I wrote down my address on one of the Starbuck's
business cards and slid it across the counter to Josh. Still
grinning, he picked it up, glanced at it, and then slid it into his
pant's pocket. "I'll see you tomorrow." He winked at me, then
taking his Vivanno, he left the store.

I watched him leave, shock gluing my feet to the
floor and my gaze to the door. I had a date with Josh Kirby, high
school golden boy. What the heck was I going to wear?

"Can I order now?" The angry lady glared at me.

I smiled at her. Nothing could get me down now.
"Sure, what would you like?"

***

"You have a date?" My mom's mouth gaped open, the
phone cradled on her shoulder. She'd been just about to order
Chinese when I informed her that I was going out.

I nodded, feeling sheepish. The way she said it, it
was like she never thought I'd ever have a date. That it was an
anomaly. "Don't sound so surprised."

"With who?"

"Josh Kirby."

She arched one brow and set the phone down. "Do I
know him?"

"No."

"He goes to your school though, right? He's not an
older guy, I hope."

"Yes, Mom, he's a senior at Boise."

I could see the relief on her face and in the way her
shoulders sagged. I think she harbored this fear that I would one
day run off with a much older man. Sort of like what she did when
she met my father, who was seven years older than she was.

"Is he new? I've just never heard you mention him
before."

I smiled and shrugged. "He's new to me."

She laughed at that.

Kyle shuffled into the kitchen to open the
refrigerator door. "What's funny?"

Mom shook her head. "Nothing."

He looked from her to me, and then put his head back
into the fridge. "What's for supper?"

"I'm ordering Chinese. It'll just be me and you
tonight, buddy. Salem has a date."

Kyle bumped his head as he pulled it out to gawk at
me. "You have a date?"

I sneered at him. "Yes, I have a date. So what?"

"It's just weird, is all. I didn't think you
dated."

"I've had boyfriends before."

"I know, I just don't ever remember any of them
taking you out on a ‘date' before." He shrugged, then went back
to inspect the contents of the refrigerator.

"What time are you going out?" Mom asked.

"At six."

She glanced at the clock on the wall. "That's in an
hour." She frowned at me. "You're not wearing that are you?"

I glanced down at my plain white t-shirt and dark
wash jeans—about the only pair I owned that didn't have holes in
them—and nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Without a word, she grabbed my arm and pulled me down
the hall to her bedroom. When I saw where she was going, I started
to back peddle.

"Mom, nothing you own is going to look good on me. I
hate pink. Unless its neon and has skulls on it." I collapsed on
her bed and covered my face in her pillow.

"Not everything I own is pink. I was cool once too,
you know."

I heard her as she opened her closet door and started
to rummage through the hangers. The snap of plastic hangers being
pushed to the side one by one echoed around the room.

Finally, she must've found something decent, because
it landed on my back. She must've thrown it at me.

"Try that on."

Reaching around, I pulled the silky blouse off my
back and held it up to my eyes. It was a dainty baby-doll camisole
with spaghetti straps in a pretty teal color. Frowning, I slid off
the bed, stripped off my t-shirt and slid the thing over my head.
Pouting, I allowed my mom to direct me to her floor length mirror
on the back of her bedroom door to see what it looked like on.

I was pleasantly surprised.

"That color is radiant against your skin, Salem." My
mom beamed behind me, as if I'd just taken my first steps all over
again.

But she was right. The teal color looked really good
on me. It brought out the green in my eyes.

Getting into the spirit of the occasion, she tucked
the hair behind my ears and smoothed out my bangs so they hung over
only one eye. She smiled at me in the mirror. "You're gorgeous,
honey."

I smiled back. Although gorgeous might've been a
strong word, I did look pretty damn good. Uber fine, would be my
choice of words. I even was able to fill out the chemise pretty
well considering I was barely pushing a B cup. Everything hung just
right emphasizing my attributes, my pale skin, the slim line of my
flat waist. I'd even date me.

I smoothed my hands down the silk of the blouse.
"Thanks, Mom. It's perfect."

She beamed at me again, and then pressed a kiss to my
cheek. "You're welcome."

***

Josh arrived at exactly six o'clock. Which I found
extremely odd for a guy. I'd never met one in my life who'd ever
been on time.

I didn't know what to expect when I opened the door,
but it definitely wasn't the clutch of white daises he held in his
hand.

I looked at them, unsure of exactly what to do.
Thankfully, Mom came to the rescue again and saved my ass from
looking too dorky.

She took them from my hand. "These are lovely. I'll
put them in a vase for you, Salem."

"Okay." I smiled nervously at Josh. "Thank you for
the flowers."

"You're welcome." He held out his hand for me. "Shall
we go?"

Everything felt so surreal I was unsure of what to
do. I'd never had a normal guy come to my home to take me out, or
bring me flowers, or be nice and polite to my mom when she
introduced herself. It was uber strange. Weirdly enough, I really
liked it. It made me feel special. I hadn't felt special since my
tenth birthday party where I begged my mom for a Disney Princess
party. I'd dressed up as Snow White and had my pictures taken. An
8X10 framed picture still hung on my mom's bedroom wall.

My mom handed me my white jean jacket and my bag
before Josh could pull me out of the house. I smiled at her, and
then followed him down the walkway to the sleek-looking, black,
sports car parked along the curb.

He opened the passenger door for me, and I slid into
the butter soft leather seat. The inside of the car even smelled
nice—that spicy mouth-watering scent that clung to Josh.

When he slid into the car and started the engine, I
asked, "So, where are we going?"

He just smiled, pushed in a JT CD—yes, God forbid,
Justin Timberlake—and gunned it. I laughed despite myself and
settled in for the ride.

Chapter 12

The first place Josh took me was the movie theater
which was okay with me. It would provide a couple of hours where I
didn't have to say anything coherent. It was hard being witty all
the time. It was exhausting actually to have to think of every
little thing that came out of my mouth.

Josh wanted to see some raunchy teen comedy, with too
much sex, drug and alcohol usage, and wall to wall f-bombs. I
agreed, although I wasn't too thrilled to see it. I'd rather have
seen the newest horror flick. By the end of the movie though, after
the popcorn, pop, candy, and an hour and a half of belly-busting
laughter, I was enjoying myself.

Back in the car, I tried to relax more. Josh was just
a guy. And he'd shown an interest in me, so obviously I had
something going on. I didn't usually have esteem issues, but being
with the golden boy in his hot expensive car made me feel a bit
self-conscious.

"Did you like the movie?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, it was funnier than I expected."

"You were laughing pretty good." He smiled. "I heard
you snort a couple of times."

"I did not snort."

He chuckled. "Yeah, you did." He held up two fingers.
"Twice."

I laughed but I could feel my cheeks redden. I dipped
my head trying to hide my embarrassment.

"I thought it was very cute." Josh reached across the
front seat and played with the tip of my hair hanging just above my
breast. "I liked it."

I wasn't sure what to say after that. Nerves were
zinging through me like electricity. There were butterflies in my
stomach doing some cheesy break dancing. So I just blurted out the
first thing that came to my mind.