Page 66 of Treasured Secrets
I shook my head. "You don't know my mom very well. I can hear her now. 'Making friends is never easy. Arisianna, dear, you have to kill them with kindness. Things are never easy in life, so you need to learn the best way to fight your own battles now.' The list of wiser-than-thou quotes goes on and on."
He laughed slightly at my impersonation before he spoke. "She doesn't realize mean girls have risen to a whole new level these days, huh?"
I just sighed. It felt odd talking about girl politics with an immortal who probably had far worse things to deal with. I felt childish, but I couldn't help it. Despite the fact I was a little mature for my age, I was indeed still seventeen. I deserved to act like it on occasion.
"No. And I don't want to tell her either. Everyone has enough to worry about. I can deal with a few nasty comments if everyone else can deal with keeping the world safe."
Fine. Maybe it was harder to be a selfish teen than I thought. I felt petty for letting Elaina and her bitch patrol get under my skin.
He laughed a little harder, possibly poking fun of my miniscule problems. "How very noble of you." Then he opened the door to his jeep. He saw me eyeing it skeptically.
"I put your crest in it. Everett will be following us as well. You're safe."
Oddly enough, I did feel safe with him. I barely knew him, but I felt protected. I'd seen him use his fire recreationally, and I could only imagine how much of a threat it would be if the need arose.
I climbed in the jeep and he shut the door for me. As soon as he opened the door on his side, I asked him a question that was bugging me.
"How old are you? Or... how old were you when you transformed?"
"Transformed?" he asked, grinning.
I flushed. "Whatever it's called," I grumbled.
He chuckled lightly to himself.
"Nineteen. I was one of the youngest ever to transform, until your friend Tallis came along."
I winced noticeably at the mention of Tallis's name, but I tried to recover before he noticed.
"So, you didn't have too many years to explore the mortal side of life?"
He laughed a little. "Judging by the way you're dreading this party - an event that is supposed to be fun - it doesn't seem as though I missed out on too much."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure your high school years were just fine. All a guy has to do is look good and sound cool. It’s not as easy for the girls."
I heard him snickering before he responded. "Is that your way of telling me that you find me attractive?"
I could feel my face suddenly beaming red again, and I started stammering in an effort to recover from my blabbering fiasco.
"That's not… I was just saying… Oh forget it. I think you know what you look like."
I slumped lower in my seat as his laughter roared free. How did my foot get that wedged in my mouth?
"Yes, I do know what I look like. I just wasn't sure if you'd noticed. I'm looking forward to this party a little more now that I know you have. We might break a few of Gear's rules."
He winked at me and such an adorably cocky grin perked up. I just shook my head before lowering it in embarrassment.
We pulled up to the house shortly after, much to my relief. I wasn't even sure whose house it was. All I knew was the address and the time to be there. Maybe I'd get lucky and Elaina wouldn't even be there.
There were people everywhere, which meant Miss Socialite Alpha Hyena was probably somewhere within the mix. My nerves balled up. I really didn't want to do this.
Most of the people looked like strangers. Were we at the wrong place? That would be perfect.
Jared hopped out and walked around to my side to open the door.
"Well, it's now or never." Then he held out his hand to take mine.
I took a deep breath as I got out. I saw two of the girls that usually followed Elaina around, making this all too real. My stomach started twisting up with knots. I had already been embarrassed in front of Tallis numerous times, and it would be nice if Jared didn't have to witness the same events he had.
