Rise of the Moon (Moonlit Series Book 1) (4 page)

Chapter 5: Evelyn

I took a slow drink of water, placing the glass carefully back on the table. My hands quivered slightly, and I snuck them under the table onto my lap, shaking them out inconspicuously. Almost two weeks –and hundreds of text messages –later and I was still nervous about this date… especially since he seemed to be pulling out all the stops to impress me.

“Everything okay?” Shayne asked, setting his fork down.

“It’s great,” I pulled my hands out from underneath the table and picked up my own fork. I pushed the chicken around on my plate, wishing I’d ordered something a little smaller now. “It’s just… I, uh, don’t really go on dates that often. Between you and me, I’m a little nervous.”

“Don’t be,” he smiled, an easy smile that managed to ease a bit of my anxiety.

“Well, when you said dinner, I thought you meant, like, a burger joint or something,” I forced a laugh. I waved a hand over the table between us, currently occupied by a bread basket and our meals. “I wasn’t expecting all… this.”

“Is it too much?” he asked.

“No,” I said quickly, then paused. I reached up to touch my hair, a braid that came over my shoulder, following it to the tip of the braid before switching my fork from one hand to the other and picking up my knife. “Well, maybe. I wasn’t expecting a date like this until I was, like, twenty-six.”

“We can calm things down afterwards with a movie,” he suggested.

“I’d like that,” the corners of my mouth twitched. “It’ll help this feel a little more awkward teenager, less awkward adult.”

“You’re funny,” he leaned with his elbows onto the table. “I feel like I could talk to you for hours.”

“And we’re at plain awkward,” I felt my face go red. “Thank you, though.”

“You act like you never get compliments,” he commented. “It’s refreshing, you know.”

“I do get them… from my mom and my best friend. From my teachers,” I shook my head.

“You’re telling me that a girl like you has no… suitors,” he didn’t look like he believed me.

“Suitors,” I laughed. “No. No suitors. I’m afraid you’ve only seen one side of me so far, and it’s the squeamish little girl side of me. I have a side that bites the head off of most people if they overstep my boundaries.”

“I don’t believe you,” he grinned.

“That’s probably for the better,” I replied. “Or else I’m pretty sure I’d scare you away.”

“I’d like to see you try,” he dared.

“I’m sure the time will come on its own,” I told him, reaching for a bun. “In the meantime, can we just gush about how delicious these rolls are?”

“They’re very good,” he agreed.

“My mom makes bread for Christmas and Easter,” I said, finishing the transition in our conversation. “And I always thought that was my favourite kind of bread, but these are up there.”

“So is bread your favourite food?” he asked.

“I do love my bread,” I nodded. “But I wouldn’t call it my favourite.”

“Then what is?”

I pressed my lips together, thinking harder than I probably should have needed to. It sounded like a simple question, but I’ve always had troubles when it came to ‘favourite’ questions. I didn’t have a specific colour I liked, or a drink I preferred. Hell, I didn’t even know whether I liked cats or dogs better. But if I had to make a choice –“Oranges.”

“Oranges,” he looked surprised.

“Yeah,” I took another sip of water. “Oranges, mandarins, clementines… Maybe I can say citrus fruits? Oh, but not grapefruit. I’ve… just always enjoyed them, or anything that has them in it..”

“The best reason for it to be your favourite,” he nodded.

“You?” I asked. “What’s your favourite food?”

“I can’t think of a particular food,” he admitted. “But my favourite drink is my mother’s hot chocolate. She used to make it all the time for me as a child, but not so much anymore.”

“Can’t you just ask her to make you some?”

“I wish it were that easy,” he gave a half-hearted smile.

“She’s not –”

“Dead? No,” he chuckled. “She’s alive and well.”

“That’s right. New York. I forgot. And here I thought this was going to get very uncomfortable for a moment,” I smiled sheepishly. “And she doesn’t make it for you when you visit?”

“That’s where things get complicated,” he mirrored my half-hearted smile. “Perhaps we’ll save it for a later date.”

“Ah, sure,” I pushed my chicken around with my fork. Conversation, conversation. “For a high end place, their chicken’s a little dry.”

Shayne laughed loudly, drawing attention from the other tables. I felt my face heat up, and I shrunk a little into my seat.

“Let’s go, then,” he wiped his mouth and set his napkin aside.

“No, you went through all this trouble,” I protested.

“Let’s go,” he repeated. “We’ll get you a burger instead, or something.”

“You say that after I’ve stuffed my face with all those bread rolls,” I shook my head. “It’s fine, Shayne. Really. The chicken’s good. The appetizer was delicious. And that’s saying a lot, since I’ve never liked shrimp. Nor mixing seafood with land-food.”

He chuckled again. “If you’re positive.”

“Thank you.” And I meant it. Shayne was too good to be true. He was funny, considerate, polite. And he was interested in me.

*              *              *

When I got home, I was in the best mood I’d ever been in, better than I could ever remember. I was ecstatic. I felt like the girls Maddie and I made fun of for being head over heels for a boy. In all honesty, I never thought I’d be in this position. I never thought a guy could genuinely seem to like me as anything more than a friend. But this… this was promising. I would not be forever single like I anticipated.

Or maybe I was getting my hopes too high. Maybe this was all too good to be true.

This had to be too good to be true. Things like this just didn’t happen to me.

“How was the date?” my mother poked her head into my room, checking in on me.

“It was…. Good. Unexpectedly good. He took me to dinner, we went and saw a movie. It was good. We have another date planned already.”

“Well, I’m glad you had a good time,” she smiled. “Just remember to keep in touch. You know how I get worried.”

Boy, did I –“Well, I’m home safe and sound. That’s all that matters, right?”

“You’re right,” she answered. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said, trying not to sigh as I reached for the nearest book.
Jurassic Park
, by Michael Crichton. One of my favourite non-supernatural books. I’d reread it at least five times in the two years I’d owned it. Each time, I understood just that much more of the scientific jargon. I had to thank my biology teachers for that, I guess.

When I glanced up, my mother was gone. I heard her next door in my sister’s room. I let the sigh go, getting up and closing my door before returning to lounge on my bed. I opened the book, to the part where they realized that they needed to change how the system counted the animals. It was one of my favourite parts, but I wasn’t really interested in reading right then.

I laid the book on my stomach and sighed again, running a hand through my hair. I had taken the braid out, and the waves were very soft. As much as I had enjoyed myself tonight, I couldn’t say that it’d been perfect. Or was I just second guessing myself? I just… It felt like something was missing. Maybe it was my lack of faith in myself.

“I’m home!” Maddie called into the house from the front door. I heard her footsteps on the stairs and after a moment she was in my room, falling onto my bed beside me.

“Welcome, welcome,” I greeted, sitting up and resting my cheek on my knee. “What are you doing here so late?”

“I was thinking I’d sleep over tonight. Is that cool? My little sister is having a sleep over tonight, and I just didn’t want to be stuck with a bunch of twelve year olds. What’s wrong?” she asked, rolling onto her stomach.

“Nothing,” I told her. I didn’t want to tell her about Shayne or the date we had just had. I mean, yes, she was my best friend, and I loved her, but if she met him… I don’t know where I would stand in his books anymore. “Just a little tired. And yeah, that’s cool.”

“And here I thought you’d be more excited to see me,” she sighed, getting up. She picked up her bag, which she had dropped by the door the moment she’d entered my room. Maddie closed my door before opening up her purse and pulling out a bottle of rum. “Look what I brought. So what have you been up to tonight? I know you were out –I called earlier and your mom said you’d be back around ten.”

If it were any other guy I’d have told her the moment she was stepped into the house. Why was this one different? And I
guess
a part of me wanted her to know. I was an awful liar. And she’d find out eventually. And let’s face it –I barely knew where I stood with Shayne as it was. What difference did it make?

“Really want to know?” I asked, taking a sip when she passed it my way. It was probably the only sip I was going to take all night –and she knew it.

“Well, duh,” she rolled her eyes.

“I went on a date.”

“A date?” she looked up from the bottle immediately. A grin crept widely across her face as she placed her elbow on my desk and leaned her chin into her hand. “Do tell, my friend, do tell.”

“It was with the guy that moved into that old house down the street,” I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing as she raised her eyebrows at me. I tossed my pillow at her, “Stop that. Anyway, he was really sweet. A real gentleman, if I had to describe him. He took me to a restaurant –not, like, Wendy’s or anything. Like a legitimate place. I had to use a fork
and
a knife.”

“Mm, so he’s rich,” she giggled. Well, I had guessed that when I heard he had a butler. “Go on.”

“Oh, Maddie,” I scooted to the end of my bed. “He was nice to talk to. I mean, we had our awkward moments, a lot of them, but he kept the conversation afloat, and smooth, and he laughed at my outrageously nerdy jokes.”

“My little girl is growing up so fast,” Maddie wiped a mock tear away.

“I’m older than you are,” I snorted.

“Yeah, well, my point remains the same. Do you think it’ll get serious? You and –what’s his name?”

“Shayne,” I told her. “Shayne Van Owen.”

“Van Owen,” she murmured, closing her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

“The name just sounds really familiar,” she shook her head. “But I don’t know from where. Maybe I read it in a magazine.”

“Hmm,” was all I said. Well, his father was in politics. It was possible. Maybe I should google him and see what pops up –though that really wasn’t my style. We sat in silence. “It really was a good night. But I don’t know if it will last. I’m scared I’m going to get all excited, and at the end of it all, he’s just going to want to be friends.”

“Well, in that case, I still think you should confess to Evan,” she told me.

Maddie probably didn’t realize how much I admired her ability to wear her heart on her sleeve, to tell a person how much she cares about them. I wanted to be that way, but I could never push myself past whatever wall I had created mentally. I blamed it on the three boys I
had
confessed my feelings to growing up. Each time I’d spent all my time with these boys, to the point where I had been
so
sure that they had liked me. But then each and every one of them had shot me down. No wonder I had issues when it came to Evan.

“I can’t ruin that friendship,” I shook my head. “Evan means a lot to me, and if he’s not interested, I can’t lose him as a friend. I can’t have things awkward between us.”

“But, if you really think about it, how often are you going to talk to him after we’re out of high school?” Maddie pointed out. She put the lid back on the bottle, though it wouldn’t be long until it was off again.

“That’s still so long from now, and I’d have to see him every day until the end of the semester,” I sighed. “Besides, things look more promising with Shayne than with Evan at this point.”

“Well, I haven’t met Shayne, so I can’t really judge. All I know is that you and Evan would be cute together,” she closed my laptop. “So, is it true what they say?”

“What do they say?”

“That, ahem,” she mock cleared her throat, “‘the boys that moved into the old house are vampires?’”

“Maddie, what are you spreading around the school now?” I asked.

“It wasn’t me,” she said defensively. “This time, anyway. I swear.”

“No, it’s not true. I mean, he has fangs, but I wouldn’t say he’s a vampire,” I rolled my eyes.

“Bummer,” she sighed.

“If he were a vampire, I’d give him to you in a heartbeat,” I muttered. “Because it would mean that there’s a werewolf out there with my name on him.”

“That’s true,” she agreed. She slid her fingers down to the base of the bottle, tapping her fingers against it before taking it in a solid grip, opening it and bringing it, not for the last time, to her lips, “Well, I suppose I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”