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“What’s wrong with us dating?” he asked, and
I rubbed my eyes with my fingers in an effort to stave off the
headache that was coming.

“We’re not dating,” I snarled at him and
refused to be swayed by the hurt look on his face. “And it’s the
whole ‘Amazon Jane’ thing that’s driving me crazy. Did you ever
think about how I would feel or what it would be like for me to
suddenly have the label of an aggressive heavy hitter? Or how about
the whole ‘possessive’ thing? People are moving away from me like
I’m infected with something, and that really, really hurts when I
know I’ve done nothing to deserve being treated like that!”

“They see you as the hero you are,” he
argued, his eyebrows furrowed.

“They do not!” I cried. “You just don’t get
it, do you? Some people might think I’m a hero for what I did,
which, by the way, wasn’t all that much, but the fact that my
classmates are now all convinced that I’ll break their faces in for
looking at me wrong hurts. And then you have the girls all thinking
I’m some kind of monster. I’ve had no less than twelve girls come
up and ask me about our relationship status and if I minded if they
talked to you. It was almost like some kind of courage test. ‘Who’s
brave enough to talk to Jane?’ I never wanted attention drawn to me
in the first place! But what really, and truly upsets me about all
of this is that you used it to keep your fangirls from bothering
you without taking into consideration just how it would affect
me.”

Akira remained silent through my tirade and
his face softened from hurt anger to compassion with a little shame
thrown in. By this point the classroom had filled up with everyone
except Mr. Miller, and they were all staring at the drama that
unfolded right in front of them. Great, I had just added more fuel
to the rumor mill. Reality TV had nothing on my life.

“I’m really sorry, Jane,” Akira said softly.
“You’re right, I didn’t think about how you would feel, and I
didn’t think that everyone would treat you the way they have. But
you’re wrong when you say I only used what happened and your part
in it to keep the other girls away.”

“I am, am I?” I growled, not caring who was
watching and just wanting the day to be over with so I could go
home and hide under the covers of my bed for the rest of my
life.

“Yes, you are,” he said with a nod. “I’ll
admit, I didn’t expect to get mobbed by girls last week, so it was
a nice side perk that they stayed away, but it wasn’t the reason I
talked about what you did. I wanted everyone to see the wonderfully
strong, compassionate warrior that isn’t afraid to go up against
someone five times her size and strength in defense of her friends.
That’s something special that you just don’t see every day.”

He reached out and gently dragged a fingertip
down my cheek in a move that had carbonated water doing the shimmy
and shake in my stomach. I stuttered when I heard a few catcalls
and comments of “yeah, right they’re not dating”.

“W-we are NOT dating,” I yelled and threw my
hands in the air.

“Yet,” Akira grinned.

“No, no, not happening,” I argued. “There is
no ‘yet’, there will not be a ‘yet’.”

“I notice that you’re not using the word
‘never’,” Akira teased, that maddening twinkle back in his
eyes.

“Ugh,” I grumbled, and was saved from further
embarrassment and public discussion of our non-existent
“relationship” by the appearance of Mr. Miller.

Everyone turned their attention to him as he
began to write out his notes on the board, but I heard someone pat
Akira on the back and a male voice say, “good luck, buddy” to which
Akira gave a cheerful thanks. I dropped my head onto the table and
groaned. Akira’s chuckle choked off with a grunt of pain when I
kicked him. From the sound of it, I managed to hit him in the same
place that I had kicked him earlier.
Good
.

Class passed at its usual snail like pace,
and when the bell finally signaled release, Akira leaned over and
murmured, “Dellar and I have worked out a rough time line for our
plan. Can you swing by Maria’s on your way home, or do you have to
work tonight?”

“I don’t go back to Mr. Baker’s until
tomorrow night,” I said as the hair on my arms stood up at the
mention of finally having an idea for when we were going to try to
lure out the
Gaki
. “So that won’t be a problem. It’ll give
me a chance to drop off some homework for her.”

“Good. I want to make absolutely sure that
you’re committed, Jane. No hesitation, even though Maria doesn’t
like it and I’m really unhappy with you putting yourself into
danger like this.”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried,” I
admitted. “But I won’t change my mind. This thing needs to be
stopped.”

He gazed at me for a few more seconds,
nodded, and got to his feet. I heard a couple of the guys tease him
about how, for ‘not dating’, we seemed rather lovey-dovey while
some of the girls shot me envious glances that I ignored. I focused
completely on the knowledge that we were going to finalize our plan
after school as I made my way to my final class. My muscles started
to tense, my stomach cramped and I noticed I had started to pant
slightly. I concentrated and forced my muscles to relax one by one
and regained control of my breathing. It wouldn’t do anyone any
good if I worked myself into a panic attack before we had even
gotten our plans hashed out beyond ‘hey, I’m going to be bait!’ but
human nature dictated that I wouldn’t be able to not think about
it, so the last bit of school seemed to drag on for an
eternity.

When the last bell finally rang, I wasted no
time in going to each of Maria’s teachers to gather up her
assignments. I bumped into Jeff and Ryan as I was exiting the last
classroom.

“Hey there, Amazon Jane!” Jeff said and
smirked.

“Ugh, don’t start,” I snorted and handed him
the pile of papers I was carrying so that I could swing my book bag
off my shoulders and put them inside.

“Can’t help it, it’s all over school and just
keeps growing,” Ryan commented.

“I know and it’s annoying. The only reason
it’s become such a big deal is because of Maria’s disappearance and
all that crap.”

“Yeah, probably. Your little tirade in the
hallway and in Mr. Miller’s classroom certainly didn’t help things,
either. Everyone is now placing bets on just when you and Akira
will announce that you’re officially dating.”

“Oh god, I want to kill him for that,” I
grumbled. I slung my bag onto my back and staggered sideways
slightly from the weight. Maybe Akira had a point about my bag
being a ‘lethal weapon’, and it was time to give serious thought to
a rolling backpack.

“I’m sure you do, but really. You’ve provided
the school with enough amusement and entertainment to last for
several months! This is a very good thing because it will keep
people from trying to kill each other when the SAT and midterms
roll around,” Jeff said.

“I have a feeling that nothing will prevent
that from happening,” I quipped as we walked towards the front
doors. “It’s tradition.”

“True,” Ryan agreed while Jeff nodded.

“Where are you off to, anyway?” Jeff asked.
“Jessica mentioned maybe getting everyone together and having a fun
night at Joe’s to celebrate your triumphant return.”

“I’d love to,” I said after I kicked him for
the ‘triumphant’ comment, “but I have to get these assignments to
Maria.”

Ryan stopped in the hallway and grabbed my
arm. “You’ve seen her?”

I looked at his hand on my arm, then at him.
He grinned, released my arm and I said, “Yeah. She called me over
yesterday and we had a really long talk. It was good, we’re back on
good terms, and she thinks she’s getting over the mono but still
doesn’t want to take any chances. Especially after what happened
last week.”

“Maybe we should go with you,” Ryan said
thoughtfully, and I sucked in a breath. “It’s been so long since
we’ve all seen Maria, it would be good to hang out with her
again.”

“Um, not a good idea,” I said and desperately
searched for a plausible reason to keep them from coming with me.
“I think everyone showing up out of the blue would be too much for
her right now, you know? After all, she’s not fully recovered yet,
and you don’t want to wear her out to the point that she has
another relapse, do you?”

“And it is Tuesday,” Jeff said, unknowingly
coming to my rescue. “We didn’t take that into consideration when
we were discussing hanging out at Joe’s. Homework, man, it’s
killing us all.”

“Yeah,” Ryan said slowly. “Maybe this
weekend?”

“I’ll get back to you on that, I don’t know
what my work schedule is going to be, but I’ll mention it to Maria
when I see her. Would do her good to have something to look forward
to,” I said. “And speaking of, I need to go. See ya’ll
tomorrow!”

I waved as I dumped my bag into the backseat
of my car. That would have been a fun little gathering if they had
insisted on coming with me. I could just see it, more fuel for the
‘Team Akira’ fire and a TON of awkward questions about Dellar and
his rather, erm, interesting appearance. Add in the discussion on
how to trap and destroy a supernatural being that actually eats
human souls, and you have a recipe for the funny farm.

Of course, I was beginning to think that I
was already living there, giving the past two weeks. Still, I had
my best friend back and things couldn’t be all bad, right?

I figured if I kept telling myself that, then
I’d eventually begin to believe it. Truth of the matter was, my
entire stomach and throat were in knots thinking about what we were
getting ready to discuss, and I convulsively swallowed as bile
climbed up my throat.

I didn’t think I would ever feel safe again
until that thing was dealt with. I just wished, despite my
insistence on being bait, that neither Maria nor I had to be
involved at all. I wanted my friend to remain safe, and figured she
had been through enough as it was, but Fate, it seemed, was having
fun making her, and by association, me, her punching bags. Go
figure.

Chapter Fifteen

“Our teachers are such sadists,” Maria moaned
when I dumped the latest workload on her lap. “It’s not my fault
I’ve been laid up this long, but they don’t care, they just keep
piling more and more homework on poor little me.”

“Poor little you still wants to go to
college,” I reminded her with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she groused as she
sorted through the pages for a moment before she sighed and set
them on her desk. “Would you mind taking my completed assignments
back with you tomorrow?”

“No problem,” I said. “Just as long as it
doesn’t weigh over five pounds. My bag is kind of heavy, you
know.”

“I keep telling you,” Akira said as he
entered the room and caused my heart to leap into my throat, “that
your bag could be classified a lethal weapon.”

“It’s not that bad!” I insisted yet
again.

“Have you forgotten that you nearly broke my
arm swinging it at me?”

Maria’s eyes almost popped out of her head.
“You almost broke his arm?”

“He was stalking me!”

“I was not stalking you, I was trying to
catch up so that I could talk to you,” Akira argued.

“You could have at least called out or
something,” I groused.

“No, I couldn’t because I was in my raven
form and had just become human again when you swung at me,” he
replied.

“Oh yeah,” I said and rubbed the back of my
neck.

“Good thing I had shifted before you hit my
raven form with that dead weight,” Akira shuddered. “Would have
flattened me.”

“Would give new meaning to the phrase ‘watch
the birdie’,” Maria quipped, and I snorted.

“How are you today, Maria,” Akira asked as he
settled down on the floor, his long legs stretched out in front of
him.

“Doing all right, I guess,” Maria replied. “I
had another split blank out last night. Mom said she woke up to
find me standing at the foot of her bed staring at her. She talked
to me for a bit, and I ‘came to’ in the middle of our conversation
with no idea what was going on or how I wound up in Mom’s bedroom.
She chalked it up to sleep walking and just told me to go back to
bed.”

“That’s kind of creepy,” I said and rubbed my
arms as a shiver crept down my spine.

“You’re telling me,” Maria groused. “I’m
ready for it to end. This is no way to live, er, exist. Not knowing
what my body is doing when I’m not in control is terrifying. What
if that thing tried to attack my Mom while controlling my
body?”

“I don’t think it would,” Akira said. “It’s
weak and incomplete, and it doesn’t have full possession of your
body, only partial, which affords some protection to those around
you.”

“I hope so,” Maria sighed, glanced at me and
grinned. “By the way, I’m betting on you, Akira.”

“Huh?”

“Ryan called me shortly before Jane got here
and told me ALL about the latest gossip in school,” she said with a
gleam in her eye that I always dreaded to see.

“You traitor,” I groaned and dropped my face
into my hands.

“Aw, come on, it’s entertaining! And I think
you’ve finally met your match in Akira,” Maria gloated.

“I’m confused,” Akira said and I stared at
him.

“Seriously?” I asked, and he nodded, his face
earnest.

“Thanks to a particular conversation that
happened in Mr. Miller’s class, the student body is now taking bets
on how long it’ll be before you and Jane are officially dating,”
Maria explained while I hid my face again. “The odds are almost
fifty-fifty right now, but I have to admit that you have a slight
advantage on the betting field, Akira.”

“Gambling is illegal if you’re underage,” I
muttered.

“The odds are in my favor?” Akira asked, his
voice a little too pleased.