Flutter (21 page)

Holy cow! Do you see that?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty intense,” I agreed.

While I hated it when they showed sharks attacking
things like seals or whales (although, strangely, I never minded
watching sharks bite people), I did think there was something
beautiful and awe inspiring about the power and grace of
sharks.

“You know, sharks are the only natural enemy vampires
have,” he said, his eyes still locked on the television screen.

“Yeah, Ezra told me that,” I said. “But I don’t know
if they’re really a ‘natural’ enemy. I mean, how many vampires live
in the water?”

“That’s true.” The attack footage ended, and it was
just sharks swimming about the ocean, not hurting anything, but
Jack kept watching it. “If you stripped away any humanity or real
consciousness from us, that’s what we’d be. They’re just pure
muscle and perfectly designed killing machines. Of course, they
have more teeth than us, so they’re much better at it.” The show
went to commercial, and he gave me an easy smile before going to
back to the business with his tie.

“You really like sharks?” I asked,
even though I knew the answer. We’d watched
Jaws
four times last summer, and he’d
even made me watch the sequel that was supposed to be in 3-D
and
Jaws: The Revenge
because (and I quote) “this time it’s personal.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Let’s go to the zoo tomorrow,” I suggested. “They
have sharks down in the aquarium so we don’t have to worry about
the sun. It won’t be super exciting, but it’d be nice to get out of
the house for awhile.”

“Yeah, sure. That sounds good,” he smiled at me.

His smile was so wonderful, and I felt this painful
tug inside of me. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around
his chest, resting my head on his back between his shoulders
blades, and hugged him. I just wanted to be close to him.

“What’s that for?” He stopped with his tie and put
his arms over mine, and he sounded a little concerned. “Are you
okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just miss you, that’s all.” I did
miss him, a lot, and I had a bit of guilt thrown on top, but he
couldn’t know about that. “I feel like we haven’t spent any time
together lately.”

“We just watched an entire season
of
Futurama
together last night,” Jack laughed, and I could hear it
vibrating through his back. Delighted shivers ran through me, and I
squeezed him tighter to me. He loosened my arms and turned so he
could face me. “But I guess I can never really spend enough time
with you.”

He kissed me softly, and my heart swelled happily. Of
course, I couldn’t completely enjoy the moment, because I couldn’t
help but think about Peter’s kiss, and how different it felt. Jack
must’ve felt it because he pulled away and looked at me, his blue
eyes filled with worry.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I lowered my eyes. “I’m just a
little shaken up from today.”

“You’ll get the hang of it. It just takes time,” he
assured me. His concern made me feel even guiltier, so I walked
back away from him and sat on the bed. The distance helped
some.

“How come Milo got the hang of it so quickly?” I
asked.

“It just depends on the person, I guess,” Jack
shrugged and turned back to the mirror. “It took me way, way longer
than it took him, but I’m a slower learner, apparently.”

Jack kept practicing his knots, and while he
eventually managed something that looked semi-professional, he
never got it down the way he would’ve liked. I sat on the bed,
watching Shark Week and chatting with him, but the night seemed to
end too quickly. I was not ready for him to go when he started
yawning, but he’d insist he’d see me very soon.

Even though I’d just eaten, I made sure to eat again
before I went to bed. If I was going to spend the afternoon around
people, I wanted to be prepared. I was really excited about going
to the zoo, so I woke up early and got ready. Jack came up to check
on me just as I pulled on my shoes.

“Ready?” Jack grinned at me.

“Always. Are you sure you are?” I eyed up his outfit,
which was his standard uniform. Shorts, two-toned neon Converse,
and a Boba Fett tee shirt.

“What’s wrong with this?” He glanced down at his
clothes.

“Nothing, except it’s the end of October, and it’s
like fifty degrees and we’re going to be outside. Plus, the sun is
out.” I had chosen jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a fashionable
scarf that I had looped around my neck. Even though we enjoyed the
cold, people didn’t, and we were supposed to look like people.

“I’ll be fine, and it’s not that cold,” he shrugged.
“Come on. Let’s go. I wanna see the otters before it gets too
dark.”

The sun wouldn’t be out for much longer, but I
couldn’t stand being in it for that long anyhow. If we were going
to the zoo, there were a few animals that Jack wanted to see while
we had the chance. He was telling me about how he refused to
compromise on the prairie dogs as we went down the stairs, but then
I saw Peter and completely tuned out.

- 21 –

It might seem pretty weird that I lived in the same
house as Peter, directly across the hall, but I had managed to
avoid him since we kissed. The reason for that is that I hadn’t
left Jack’s room. I didn’t want to see Peter, and that was part of
my logic behind the zoo trip.

Unfortunately, when we descended the steps into the
living room, Peter happened to be standing right there. He wasn’t
looking at us, but my initial reaction was to panic anyway.

“Something wrong?” Jack asked.

“No, I’m fine,” I shook my head and hurriedly pushed
my feelings away.

Ezra hung a new giant flat screen TV on the wall, and
Peter and Bobby supervised in some way. I’m not sure what was wrong
with the old flat screen, although I would lean towards nothing.
Peter stood a few feet back from where Ezra held the TV up, and
Bobby was sprawled out on the couch, popping some of the
bubble-wrap that had come with the new television. The cardboard
box was on the floor by his feet, along with the “old” TV.

“What’s going on?” I asked, even though I didn’t
really want to say anything. I wanted to rush out of the room
before Peter had a chance to look at me or Jack, but that would
seem odd.

“Ezra bought a new TV,” Bobby answered, watching as
Ezra handled a TV that would be too big and too heavy for any one
man to deal with alone.

“Is it straight?” Ezra held onto the bottom of it and
took a step back to look at it. “It better be since I have all the
wires hooked up already.”

“Yeah, it’s straight,” Peter said, and just hearing
his voice made my pulse change.

“What was wrong with the old TV?” I asked to distract
myself.

“Nothing.” Ezra stepped back further into the room so
he could admire his handy work. “Jack and I just went to Best Buy
this morning, and this TV is way better than the last one.”

“You went to Best Buy?” I cocked an eyebrow at Jack.
“How early did you get up?”

“Early enough,” Jack shrugged. “Ezra was going to the
store and asked if I wanted to come with, and like I would pass up
a trip to Best Buy?”

“I don’t see how this TV is any different than the
one we had before,” Peter said, echoing my thoughts. “It isn’t even
bigger, is it?”

“It’s not about being bigger!” Jack walked away from
me, closer to the TV so he could explain all the merits of it. His
lingo instantly got technical, which was silly since Peter probably
knew less about technology than I did. Ezra and Jack were the ones
who were obsessed with all things new and electric.

“It just looks like a television to me,” Peter said
when Jack finished explaining how awesome it was.

Jack scoffed loudly, and this time, even Ezra
defended his purchase. At that point, they were mostly talking to
themselves, and Peter looked back at me. Just briefly, and I looked
away almost instantly, but his eyes still caught me. It shouldn’t
even be possible for eyes to be that green, and I shouldn’t be
thinking about how stunningly attractive they were.

At least he played it cool better than me. If Jack
and Ezra weren’t so damn excited about their new gadget, I’m sure
they would’ve noticed how frazzled I acted. When I looked away from
Peter, he went over to them to pretend to be interested in it.

Bobby sat in the chair, swinging his feet over the
edge, and he looked more entertained by the bubble wrap than he did
the TV. Milo was missing, which was strange, because he loved this
kind of thing. He should be in here gushing all over the TV
too.

“Where’s Milo?” I asked Bobby, since nobody else
would listen to me unless I used the words “HD” or “plasma.”

“Helping Mae with the laundry,” Bobby said and popped
another bubble.

I was tempted to steal the bubble wrap from him, but
I had my chance to escape, so I took it. Jack wouldn’t be ready to
go for at least another ten or fifteen minutes, and I’d rather
spend that time waiting somewhere Peter wasn’t. At least Jack was
too distracted to notice me slipping away.

Down the hall, between the den and the main bathroom
was the laundry room, filled with two sets of super powered washers
and dryers. Seven people lived in the house, and that amounted to a
lot of laundry. I tried to do mine and Jack’s, but Mae somehow
always got to it before I did. She was magic that way. The laundry
room had several racks with hangers.

Most of Jack’s overflow clothes ended up down here,
hanging on racks. His suits were in plastic bags, all neatly
pressed, and they stayed down here to keep them from getting
smooshed and wrinkled in our closet. The room was filled with the
clean scent of clothes, but I could still smell us on them,
especially Jack. No matter how many times they were washed, clothes
managed to maintain some of their owner’s smell.

On one wall were the machines themselves, one set
dark blue, and the other a weird orange. Apparently, the days of
ordinary white machines were gone. Milo sat on one of the washing
machines, watching as Mae pulled towels out of the dryer and folded
them. I’m sure he offered to help, but she refused. She thought it
was her duty to do everything for us.

Milo was dressed and looked good, except he’d painted
his toenails, and I blamed Bobby for that. Mae, on the other hand,
still wore her pajamas, and I hadn’t seen in her in real clothes in
days. Her hair was up, but it was more of a rat’s nest than a
bun.

“How’s it going?” I asked, trying for casual instead
of concerned. When I walked in the room, Milo gave me a wary look,
and Mae barely glanced back at me.

“I’m going to have to buy new towels,” Mae said. The
usual warmth of her British accent sounded stogy and commandeering,
but that was better than sobbing. “You leave the towels in your
room for so long they smell of mildew, and I just can’t get it
out.”

“Sorry. I’m working on it,” I said. Jack and I were
the messiest ones in the house, unless Bobby turned out to be
inordinately dirty.

“I didn’t say it was your fault.” Mae was nearly
snapping at me, and she folded towels in an angry huff.

I’m pretty sure Mae loves doing laundry. I’ve seen
her folding and washing things, and it’s like meditation for her.
That was not how she did laundry today.

“Bobby and I always make sure to take our towels
down,” Milo told her, and I glared him.

“Why is Bobby doing his laundry here, anyway?” I
asked, and I realized I had missed very crucial facts about him.
“Doesn’t he have like an apartment or a job or something?”

“He’s in art school and lives in a dorm,” Milo
answered, matching my glare.

“Of course he is.” When I thought about it, Bobby
really had art student written all over him. “So, does he ever go
to school or anything? Why is here all the time?”

“He goes when he feels like it,” Milo said. “And
staying here is better than staying at a dorm, and I want him
here.”

“Our house has always been open to anyone who needs
it.” Mae sounded irritated by that as she folded a towel. “Anyone
that’s ever needed a place, be they vampire or not, has always had
a place. You wouldn’t believe how many people have stayed with us
over the years. Ezra has always had an open door policy. To
anyone.

“Literally, anyone,” she went on. She put the folded
towel in the basket and just leaned on it for a minute, as if she
was too suddenly too weary to go on. “Except for my family. Except
for what matters to me.”

“Mae, you know that’s not what it’s about,” Milo said
gently. He tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she snapped
back into motion and pulled a towel out of the dryer. “And you have
us here. Don’t forget that. We’re your family, too.”

“You know that I adore you, but…” She held a towel to
her chest and trailed off.

“Have you made a decision yet?” I asked carefully.
“About what you’re going to do?” As far as I knew, she still had
her heart set on turning her great-granddaughter, and Ezra hadn’t
changed his either.

“No.” Mae closed her eyes and shook her head. “Maybe.
I don’t know.” She rubbed her forehead and smiled sadly at Milo. “I
mean, if I left, you could all handle doing your laundry, couldn’t
you?”

“We don’t want you to stay because of laundry,” Milo
said, looking appalled. “You’re the heart of the family. I don’t
know what would happen if you went away.”

“I know that, love.” She touched his leg gently. She
went back to folding laundry, but more like the normal way she did.
“I have time to think. There’s still time.”

“Alice!” Jack called from down the hall. “Alice?
Where are you? Are you ready?”

“I should go.” I nodded back to the door. “We’re
going to the zoo today.”