Someone Who Likes to Party

 

Chapter Ten

 

I sit, open mouthed, staring at Chase. He watches me quietly, as if expecting me to have a mental breakdown. I kind of have to agree with his look. I may just do that.

And then it hits me.

“Oh!” I say loudly, grinning at Chase. “You’re joking!” Of course he is. Despite my really (really) creepy dreams, I highly doubt anyone wants to kill me. I’m so freaking innocent, it just wouldn’t be right. Like punishing a puppy. It’s just not okay.

Unless, of course, said puppy chooses to relieve himself in your new—expensive—shoes, and the of course, it’s a whole different story. But still. I’m innocent.

Chase looks uncomfortable. “Skye…I’m um, not joking?” Chase says, clearly not at ease. I blink at him, the smiles sliding off my face like ice cream on pavement.

“What?” I say stupidly, as if I didn’t hear him. Yeah, Skye, maybe if he repeats himself you’ll be able to comprehend it. Not.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Chase says, holding up his hand quickly as soon as she sees me blinking into space, my eyes filling with worry. And he does know I overreact, so no wonder he’s trying so hard to keep me calm. “There’s nothing to worry about.” He says, meaning to comfort me. I try not to roll my eyes.

“Those were Jimmy Carnell’s famous last words.” I say, mostly to myself. Chase can’t help but to look confused.

“Who’s Jimmy Carnell?” He asks me, a slight crease in between his eyebrows.

“He’s that kid who decided to swallow a firework, you know, the one with the tongue ring?” Chase still looks confused. I sigh. “Right before he swallowed the firework he told his friends there was nothing to worry about. And then boom.”

I wrinkle my nose at Jimmy Carnell. It’s sad and so, so gross. But stupid, very stupid.

“Don’t give me that look, Chase. I saw it on the news.” I say proudly. Chase is still looking at me like I’ve grown a third eye.

I groan, frustrated. “The point, Chase, is that those are just words. Someone wants too off me! There’s got to be something to worry about!” I frown at Chase. He no longer looks confused, just slightly exasperated.

“I should have guessed you would overreact.” He says to himself, grumbling. I glare at him as he gets up from the couch and begins to walk away. I jump up after him and whirl him around. Well, maybe not so much me whirling him around, but him whirling himself around at my attempt to.

“You can’t just pop in here and say ‘oh, guess what Skye? Someone wants to kill you! But really, there’s nothing to worry about!’ And then get mad at me for reacting!” I say, my voice raising. I jab a finger in his hard chest, the effect not being what I wished. He doesn’t even look like he notices it.

“There is nothing to worry about, though!” Chase says angrily. “Do you know, Skye, what kind of house your living in?”

I pause, stumped. “A big one?” I guess, taking a shot in the dark.

“No…” Chase says. “You’re living in a house home to a family of Full-Talents. That’s never happened before in the history of Talents, and for you to even worry about us not being able to keep you safe is ridiculous. Do you remember when you first came here?” Chase asks me. I nod and he continues. “Remember when you were standing outside of my car, thinking you were in the presence of a crazy person, when all of a sudden a house pops up out of nowhere and you were thinking you were the crazy one?”

I nod again, remembering how at first there was just a clearing near the lake. A large clearing, which I had been curious about. And then all of a sudden, a house just…appeared. It was like it had grown from the ground in a matter of seconds. I remember freaking out after that, and then the images in my head, the nightmares of sorts, started. Chase goes on.

“I want to explain that to you.” He tells me. “You already know that my Talent involves controlling minds. But you don’t know what my brother’s Talents are. When you do, you might feel a little better about staying here. Brody is a Protector. He can do all kinds of things, like shielding himself—or others—from things like bullets, even. What he mainly can do though, is protects those that he loves from harm. Which is why, he had shielded our house from outsider’s eyes. That’s why when you first came here, you couldn’t see anything. But as soon as Brody dropped the shield, you could. Brody’s Talent is really difficult to explain though, and I’m probably not the best person to try and do that. I’ll tell you a little bit about Logan’s Talent, and then I’ll stop talking.” He smiles slightly and then continues. “Logan is a Remover. He can remove memories from anybody’s mind. Any type of memory and length of memory, anything that you may have seen or heard— anything—can be erased from your mind. Don’t freak out, Skye.” He says, seeing my face. “You’ve met Logan. Does he really seem like the type of guy that would walk up to you and erase your whole life for no reason? The thing is, when Logan removes the memories, they stay with him forever. Which isn’t exactly something anybody would want. Having said that, Logan can also give memories back to people. Say he erases a memory from somebody’s mind, and a year later they want it back, he can do that. He can give it back. But it still stays with him. The memory, I mean.” Chase runs out of breath and takes a break from talking. I think things over.

“What about your mom?” I ask. Chase looks at me.

“She’s a Healer, which means she can heal any cut, bruise, or injury that she—or anyone else—has. She can also stop aging, which is why, when you meet her, she’ll look very…young for her age. She also works at the Company, so she stays in a house there. She visits often, though. And, as you probably know, my brothers and I live here. Brody is twenty one years old and Logan is twenty. So they are perfectly capable of helping me guard you.” Chase says.

“How old are you?” I ask, Chase, realizing that Brody had said he was the youngest, so to my surprise, he has to be younger than twenty.

Chase grins. “Eighteen.” I nod, knowing I look a little surprised. I mean, really. Then I pause before saying,

“I need to go somewhere.”

Chase looks at me curiously, his eyebrows rising. “Where?” I shrug, trying to look nonchalant.

“Somewhere,” I say vaguely. Chase looks like the last thing he’ll be doing is giving in to my wants. “Oh, come on. I feel like I’m in a nicely upholstered prison!”

Chase laughs at that and gets up from the couch. “It’s not safe for you to go out by yourself.” He says, completely serious. I groan in frustration.

“Then you can come with me!” I say, realization dawning on me. Chase looks unhappy.

“Where exactly is it that you want to go?” He asks me intently. I feel a flush warm my skin.

“A party,” I say cautiously. I look at Chase, who rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, that’ll be fun.” He says sarcastically. I frown and get up from the couch.

“It will be! I promise. I just…I need to get out of here. There’s been too much talk serious things. I need to go do something mindless.” I pause, realizing how that sounds. “But not dangerous.” I add.

Chase doesn’t look convinced. “Brody and Logan are coming too, than.” He says finally, reluctantly. A grin lights up my face.

“Thank you, Chase! Thank you!” I say, completely happy. I lean in, and without thinking, kiss him on his cheek. I pull back, surprised by what I just did and feel another flush warming my face. “Sorry.” I mumble, and then back away quickly, towards the door, stumbling over a remote on the ground. Smooth, Skye. Way to make a graceful exit.

I get out into the hall, thinking about Chase’s expressionless face when I kissed him on the cheek. I feel the flush stay on my face as I remember his distrustful eyes, his shadowed face—all angular cheekbones and strong jaw.

I wander through the halls before I come across Logan. “Logan!” I say excitedly. He turns around, a box in his hands, looking surprised to see me.

“Hey, Skye. Good news?” He asks me, noticing my expression. I grin.

“We’re going to a party!” I tell him. Logan looks perturbed.

“A party?” He says before adding, “that’s more Brody’s scene.”

I wave my hand absentmindedly. “Well, he’s coming too of course. And Chase. And you!” I say, still grinning.

Logan smiles faintly. “You are way too happy of an individual.” He tells me.

“Right?” I say, the grin still on my face. “Go comb your hair,” I tell Logan in a sisterly way, comfortable with saying it even though I haven’t known him that way. It was that way with all the brothers—I felt as though I’ve known them forever.

Logan reaches up to touch his hair, mocking hurt. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

I roll my eyes dramatically. “It’s just so…blah.” I say, grinning at him. He’s smiling at me now, as if I’m the first girl who has ever told him something negative about his appearance. I honestly probably am.

“Blah?” He repeats, questioning my word choice. I nod.

“Yeah, it could be so much better. I can fix it for you if you want. And you need to change too,” I say, noticing his black button-down shirt and black pants. “We’re going to a party, not a funeral.”

Logan bursts out laughing, the sound deep and happy. “You really are something else, Skye.” He says and then adds, “Okay, let’s go make me presentable.”

On our way to Logan’s room we pass Brody, who is drinking milk out of the carton and eating a piece of pizza. It never ceases to amaze me how much guys eat.

“Brody! We’re going to a party!” I say, exited again. Brody lowers the milk and grins at me.

“Finally, someone who likes to party!” He says happily. Logan and I continue on our way to his room and reach it shortly, where I proceed to fix his hair and pick out party clothes for him. Logan and I joke around, and talk about really random things until it starts to get dark out, and then we realize that if we’re going we should probably leave sooner than later. I’m having so much fun with Logan that I find myself able to forget about him being a Remover and that if anything should go wrong in my life, Logan could wipe out every memory I have with the blink of an eye.

I am officially insane. I’m living in a house with three gorgeous guys who all have Full-Talents strong enough to cause me harm, and all I want to do is go to a party with them. I don’t want to run away and hide in a bat-cave like any other sane girl, but no, I want to party. I am. So. Screwed. Up.

Reviews

[Anya]

hehe.... yet again, another awesome chapter! can't wait to read the next one...