My Blood Approves (16 page)

“
What could possibly scare
me off after all I’ve seen with you?” I insisted
incredulously.

“
There are still parts of
me you don’t know.” He kept his voice even, but it sounded more
like an ominous warning. He gave me a sidelong glance to see how
I’d responded, so I tried to look brave, but he could tell that
he’d rattled me. “It’s about more than just trusting me, or even
trusting my family. It’s about who you are.”

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?” By now, I was getting frightened and confused, and I just
wished he could be straight with me, for once.

“‘
When you dance with the
devil, the devil doesn’t change. The devil changes you.’” The way
Jack said it, it didn’t sound like it came directly from him. He
was quoting someone, so I took a stab in the dark.

“
What? Is that like Dylan
Thomas you’re using to confuse me?”

“
No, it’s Joaquin Phoenix,
and I’m not trying to confuse you. I’m just trying to prepare you.”
For some reason, that sent chills down my spine, and I really
wondered what he had in store for me.

“
You didn’t answer my
question,” I told him when I finally found the will to speak. We’d
already pulled up in front of my building, and I knew he wouldn’t
answer anyway.

“
We don’t want anything
with you.” He bit his lip and looked over at me. “We just want you
to be one of us.”

- 10 -

“
What does that mean?” I
know I looked terrified despite my best efforts, but he just smiled
at me.

“
I answered your question.”
He nodded at my building. “Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you
tomorrow.”

“
Yeah, right, like I can
sleep after that,” I muttered opening the door. “When did you get
so damn ominous? Were you watching Vincent Price last night or
something?”

Jack just laughed, and I got out of the
Jeep. When he drove off, I stayed outside for a minute, letting the
cold air seep into my skin. My whole life was changing. I could
feel it. Everything about me was going to be different, and I had
no idea what I was going to become.

For the first time ever, I woke up before
Milo but not by choice. I had been dreaming something about Peter’s
emerald eyes and gnashing teeth, but by the time I woke up in a
cold sweat, I couldn’t really put it together.

My heart pounded horribly and my head was
swimming. It had taken forever for me to fall asleep last night,
and I couldn’t shake the feeling of impending doom.

They wanted me to be one of them? What kind
of horror movie crap was that? Did they expect me to marry into the
family (and if so, was I supposed to marry Jack… or Peter?)

Or was it something more horrific, like they
were in a cult or something? Was I expected to be some kind of
virgin sacrifice?

While taking a shower, I tried to wash away
my trepidation. Despite all the unusual and sometimes frightening
occurrences, I couldn’t imagine that Jack would ever hurt me. Mae
and Ezra seemed sincere in their unexplained affection for me, and
even Peter had shown a reluctance to hurt me.

All of it reminded me of a story I had read
once. A young rather unattractive girl climbed a mountain and
accidentally stumbled into a village of the most beautiful people
she’d ever seen.

Everyone in the entire town was absolutely
perfect and amazing, but since everyone looked that way, they had
grown bored with it. Being perfect was ordinary, but all the things
about her that made her ugly in her old life made her stand out as
beautiful and revered. Everyone fell in love with her and had sex
with her, and eventually she died of exhaustion and depression.

The story had some kind of moral about how
everyone used her for the way she looked, and being liked for the
way you looked is worse than not being liked at all.

That wasn’t what stood out to me about it
now. Jack and his family were flawless, and I was just ordinary and
boring. Maybe they spent too much time keeping to themselves, and
my general homeliness was new and refreshing for them. It was the
only explanation I had for why they’d want me around.

But then, how exactly would I go about
becoming one of them? And why would they even want me to? Just what
the hell did he even mean by “one of them?” One of them what?

By the time I got out of the shower, I had
used up all the hot water. I muttered an apology to Milo, but he
shrugged and said he didn’t mind cold showers.

Going to school had never seemed so much
like a chore, but at least it was Friday. I could stay out as late
as I wanted tonight, and I would spend every second of the night
interrogating Jack if that’s what it took. I wouldn’t stop until he
told me everything.

The day went by surprisingly fast, but that
was in a large part because I slept my first three hours. Over my
lunch break, I text messaged Jack and asked him when we were going
to hang out.

Even though he usually responded to me
within seconds, he didn’t this time, but that’s what I had mostly
expected since he stayed up all hours of the night. Still, I
couldn’t help but check my phone every ten minutes and feel a
twinge of disappointment that he hadn’t answered.

When I got home, I turned
the TV onto old
Speed Racer
cartoon reruns, but I didn’t even really pay
attention to it. My phone was on my lap with the volume turned up
full blast, and I kept bouncing my foot anxiously up and down. I
crossed my arms tightly over my chest to keep from biting my nails,
but it was a very hard battle.

“
Are you going over to
Jack’s tonight?” Milo sat on the couch, absently watching the
cartoon. He glanced over at me, and even in my distracted frame of
mind, I noticed the pained expression on his face.

“
Probably.” Then I looked
down at my phone and sighed. “Maybe not.”

“
I could make us supper if
you stayed in,” Milo offered hopefully.

Even though his voice had already changed,
his face still carried all that baby fat that made him look like a
little boy, and I couldn’t wait for him to grow out of that. Then
it wouldn’t hurt so much when I broke his heart.

I really had been neglecting him a lot
lately, and it had to be horrible sitting in this tiny apartment
all by himself night after night. But I had to get to the bottom of
things with Jack.

“
That’s a nice idea, but
not tonight.” I let him down as gently as I could, but his face
crumbled anyway, and he looked away. “Maybe we can another day this
weekend.”

“
You’re gonna be out all
night with Jack.” Milo tried to keep it matter-of-fact, but there
was a bitter edge. “It’s the weekend, and you’re seventeen. I
really shouldn’t expect any different. And pretty soon, you’ll be
out on your own and have your own life and all that. I should just
get used to it now.”

“
Come on, Milo. You know
you’ll always be a part of my life.” Before I had met Jack, I
would’ve said that with a 100% certainty. Milo was my brother and a
huge part of my life, and nothing that could change
that.

At least that’s what I thought until Jack
had half-warned/half-promised me that my life was going to change,
that I was going to change. There might be somewhere that I went
that Milo couldn’t follow. As much as it would kill me to leave him
behind, the thought of life without Jack and Peter sounded
worse.

“
Whatever you say,” Milo
replied, and he was completely unconvinced. Maybe it was starting
to show on my face, that I already had one foot out the
door.

I considered arguing with him more about it,
but what was the point? Things were changing, and we both felt it.
I didn’t want to lie to Milo, so we sat in silence, watching the
TV. I expected him to get up and go in another room, or at least
somewhere else to mourn my impending absence, but he stayed out
there with me.

When my phone finally jingled Jack’s ring
tone, my heart skipped a beat and I jumped at it, but Milo just
rolled his eyes.

When do you wanna hang
out?
Jack texted me.

As soon as possible.

You know what I think
would be fun? Why don’t you bring Milo with?
Jack messaged back, and I felt a wave of conflicting emotions
run over me.

Bringing him along would definitely satiate
my guilt, but it would also mean even less alone time with Jack
where I could drill him for answers. Plus, I still hadn’t figured
out what they wanted with me, let alone what they could possibly
want with Milo. But he would like them, especially Mae.

Finally, I decided that there was only one
way to make a decision.

“
Milo, do you wanna come
with me to Jack’s tonight?” I tried hard not to sound reluctant
about asking him, and I even smiled when I turned to look at him,
trying to make the offer sound somewhat enticing.

“
What do you mean?” His
eyes lit up and his voice raised an octave, but he wanted to make
sure he understood what was transpiring before he agreed to
it.

“
Just go
over to Jack’s house and hang out. He has
Guitar Hero
and stuff .” That would
be an added bonus for Jack. He’d have someone to play video games
with him that didn’t get irritated by it or totally suck at
it.

“
Do you really want me to?”
Milo hesitated, and I smiled reassuringly at him.

“
Yeah, of course I do.” I
wanted to be around him, but I wasn’t sure that this was the best
idea.

But it was the best idea I could come up
with, and nothing bad had happened to me when I’d been with Jack.
In fact, he’d saved my life twice. There shouldn’t be anything to
worry about. So why was I worried?

“
Then okay. Yeah. That’d be
great.” Milo jumped up and ran into his room to change his clothes.
He still had that crush on Jack to contend with, and I’m sure he’d
forget all about it once he met Peter and Ezra.

He’s in. When are you
picking us up?
I replied to
Jack.

Five minutes. I’m already
on my way.
That was Jack for you, not
being psychic.

“
You better hurry!” I
shouted at Milo and went into the bathroom to fix my makeup. The
clothes I was wearing would have to do, but at least I wouldn’t go
there with smudged eyeliner. “He’s gonna be here in five
minutes!”

“
Ready!” Milo responded a
second later. I peeked out the bathroom door to see him wearing
almost the exact same outfit he was before – a long sleeved white
shirt with a green polo over it and a pair of jeans.

“
You’re sure you want to
come with?” I asked him, once I had finished getting
ready.

We walked out of the apartment, and Milo
doubled check to make sure the door was locked and that he had his
house keys in his pocket, something that I never did.

“
Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
Then Milo shot a nervous look at me. “Do you not want me
to?”

“
No, that’s not what I
meant!” I said quickly and smiled at him. “Of course I want you to
come with.” I pushed the call button for the elevator and turned
back to him. “There’s just a few things you have to know before we
go.”

“
Okay?” Milo raised an
eyebrow at me, but I thought it’d be best if he were prepared. The
elevator doors sprung open and we stepped inside. Thankfully, we
were alone, because I would feel silly saying this stuff in front
of complete strangers.

“
First, his brothers are
really hot. I mean, like movie star hot, except even hotter. I know
that you think Jack is amazing, but his brothers blow him out of
the water.” I looked over to gauge his response, but for the most
part, he just looked skeptical.

“
Second, his family is
super rich. One of their cars easily costs twice as much as Mom
makes in a year, and they have five of them and this super fancy
house. It’s really intimidating.”

“
Like how rich?” Milo
started to look nervous, so my point was getting through. “Like
Bill Gates rich?”

“
I don’t know. I didn’t
ask.” I hadn’t asked Jack about that one thing. Their wealth was
inconsequential to me.

“
Well what do they do for
money then?” Naturally, Milo wanted to know all the practical
reasons for everything. I had always meant to ask Jack what they
did, but something else always sidetracked me.

“
I didn’t ask that either,”
I sighed, and the elevators opened to the lobby.

“
Is there anything else I
should know about them?” Milo asked as we walked out.

“
Um, Jack drives super
fast, but he’s perfectly safe.” I pushed open the glass doors that
led outside.

“
Really?” Milo wrinkled his
nose. “Like how fast?”

“
You’ll probably see,” I
told him offhandedly, and then hurried over to Jack’s Jeep and
jumped inside before Milo could ask anything more about
it.

As soon as I realized what I’d done, it
dawned on me why Jack had invited Milo along; he knew I wouldn’t
say anything in front of Milo. Jack was trying to get off the hook
about last night.

Someday, I’d probably have to tell Milo
everything, but that day definitely wasn’t today. Maybe when I had
the answers myself, and I could actually explain everything. Until
then, I didn’t feel like letting that much out in the open.