Tale of Life (Essence Series #2) (12 page)

Breccan looked at the price tag and his eyes widened in shock.

“But I don’t like the color,” Calloway said quickly.

Beatrice sighed then grabbed another suit. “This one will look great on you,” she said. “And it will highlight the color of my dress.”

Calloway wiped the sweat from his forehead. They all looked the same to him.

Breccan crept behind her and grabbed the tag, discreetly checking the price. Suddenly, Breccan shook his head vigorously, out of Beatrice’s view. Beatrice continued to stare at Calloway, oblivious to Breccan’s silent warning, and waited for Calloway to respond.

“No,” Calloway said.

“
No
?”

“I mean, I just don’t like it.”

“And why not?” she asked. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s just,” he stumbled. “I don’t like the material.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Then which one
do you like
?”

Calloway looked around the store, seeing a sea of identical suits on every rack. “The one I rented,” he said apprehensively.

Beatrice glared at him.

Easton picked at her nails while she waited, holding her tongue as Calloway commanded, and waited for their shopping spree to end. “Clearly, this is going to take a while,” she said. “I’m going to get my dress. I’ll meet you when I’m done.” She turned on her heel and left the store.

Beatrice was still staring at Calloway, waiting for him to decide. She started to tap her foot against the tile floor, impatient for Calloway to make his selection. “Well?”

Calloway walked between the racks and began his search for the cheapest suit he could find. He glanced at the tags when Beatrice wasn’t looking and felt nauseated when he saw the price—he kept searching. Finally, he found a suit with the cheapest price possible—six-hundred dollars—
and it was on sale
. “This one,” Calloway said triumphantly.

Beatrice stared at the suit for a while. “I guess that will work.”

“It’s black,” Breccan said. “And it looks just like the one you picked out.”

“No, it’s different,” she said.

For the first time, Calloway agreed with Breccan—they did look identical.

“Now let’s get a tie,” she said. She walked over to the tie display and grabbed the one she wanted, a bright pink tie, the color of Pepto-Bismol, and walked to the register. Calloway didn’t get a chance to look at the price, but he didn’t stress about it. How expensive could such a small piece of material cost?

The employee scanned the suit and tie and the total appeared on the screen. “Your total is seven-hundred and twenty-nine dollars.”

Calloway felt his heart lurch—the tie was almost one-hundred dollars. He didn’t reach for his wallet and stood there, staring at the man behind the counter in shock, still processing the total. Breccan was shaking his head slightly, trying to convince his cousin not to do it, but then Calloway opened his wallet and handed over the cash with a heavy heart.

Beatrice smiled triumphantly as they walked out of the store, elated the Calloway had obeyed her command like a guard dog. When she was out of earshot, Breccan leaned toward Calloway.

“Just return it after the dance,” he whispered.

“I have to take the tags off,” Calloway breathed, keeping his voice down. “If Beatrice won’t let me wear a rented suit to the dance, do you think she will let me keep the tags on?”

Breccan sighed. “Good point.”

Easton left a department store and walked toward them, carrying a large bag over her shoulder. She stopped when she reached them. “Look what I got,” she said as she displayed the dress. “It’s pretty, huh?”

Breccan shrugged. “Sure.”

“I got in on sale, too,” Easton said. “It was twenty bucks.”

Calloway wished that’s how much his suit cost.

Easton looked at Calloway. Her voice suddenly turned cold and the warmth in her voice was nonexistent. “So, what did you get?”

Calloway pulled out his suit and showed it to her.

“That’s very nice,” she said. The price tang twirled on the string and her eyes widened when she saw the total. She shook her head and pressed her lips together tightly, forcing back the angry retort she had for him. Calloway thought she was going to explode. Her face changed to a tomato red and her eyes were larger than he had ever seen them. “Let’s go,” she snapped. “We are done for the day.”

Easton didn’t speak until they dropped off Beatrice at her home, which was a two story mansion on the upper side of town. There were expensive cars in the driveway and the front yard was as big as Calloway’s neighborhood. Calloway walked her to the door then sprinted back to the car before he was seen by anyone, not wanting to meet her rich, sophisticated parents when he looked so casual in his school clothes. What would their twenty butlers think?

As soon as he returned to the car Easton exploded.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SPENT SIX-HUNDRED DOLLARS ON A SUIT!”

Breccan covered his ears and leaned away from her. “The tie was seventy-five.”

Easton slammed her foot on the gas pedal and sped down the street, leaving Beatrice’s mansion in the far distance as she drove to the Headquarters. “I don’t understand you, Calloway!” she yelled. “You worked so hard just to spend all that money on a suit that you are never going to wear again?”

“I’ll wear it again,” Calloway said.

“To your funeral!” she snapped.

Calloway leaned further back into the seat. He was just as upset that he had to spend so much money on one night. That didn’t even include dinner or the corsage, or the money he spent on the tickets, which was an additional one-hundred dollars.

Easton slammed on the breaks when she reached the Headquarters, but she didn’t move from her seat. “I dislike her because of her petty needs and superficial desires but now I hate
you
, Calloway. You let her get away with whatever she wants, let her walk all over you, and you don’t do anything about it. And you want to know why you let her?”

Calloway met her gaze in the rearview mirror but he didn’t respond to her question.

“It’s because you know she’ll leave you. If you don’t give the girl what she wants, she’ll bolt. Face it, Calloway. You would rather be with someone who doesn’t love you than be alone.”

“That isn’t true,” Calloway argued. “I know she cares about me. She wouldn’t be talking me to begin with if she didn’t. She is one of the most popular girls in school and she still dates me, even though it hurts her reputation. So how can that be true? I admit she is being superficial about prom but this night is important to her.”

Easton threw her door open and marched to the building. “That doesn’t excuse her behavior!” she yelled. “You could have rented a suit and the night wouldn’t be any different—it wouldn’t change
anything
. She is being an unreasonable, selfish—”

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Calloway interrupted.

“I give up!” she hissed. “I used to admire you for seeing the good people when there was none; for doing the right thing when you had absolutely no reason to, but now I realize what you really are—
stupid
.” She opened the library door and stormed inside, leaving Breccan and Calloway standing outside.

Calloway sighed. “I have such a headache right now.”

Breccan wasn’t listening. “Maybe I shouldn’t go to prom with her…”

Calloway rolled his eyes and walked inside. When he set his backpack on the table, Easton was glaring at him with relentless rage. “Look,” he said. “Let’s drop the subject for now. We have more important things to worry about.”

“I want you to take back that suit,” she said.

“No.”

“Yes,” she snapped. “Just do this for me. Take it back and rent the other one. I
know
that she won’t even notice it isn’t the same suit. I’m a girl and I can’t tell.”

“I can’t tell either,” Breccan said.

Calloway shook his head. “I feel horrible for lying to her.”

Her eyes shined like flames. “And she should feel horrible for making you spend six-hundred dollars! I thought you were smart, Calloway. Why are you so oblivious?”

“It’s important to her,” he said.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she snapped. “She knows how poor you are!”

“Thanks,” Breccan said.

Easton ignored him. “I can’t believe she has the audacity and the selfishness to even request you to do something as ludicrous as this. The world doesn’t revolve around her, Calloway.”

“You forget about everything she’s done for me,” Calloway argued.

Easton, who was so frustrated that she thought she might punch Calloway, ran her hands through her hair frantically. “Like
what
?”

“Well, for one, she has put up with the two of you for several months.”

“How commendable,” Easton hissed. “She let you be tortured for months, letting Hawk embarrass you with McDonald’s gift cards, and now it’s even? She totally made up for everything?” She opened the Kirin Book and looked at the page. “People don’t change, Calloway. Beatrice is only with you for protection against Hawk until she finds someone better.” She met his gaze with an intense look. “She will break your heart, she will betray you, and when that day comes you’re on your own, Calloway. You will receive no sympathy from me or Breccan.”

“I won’t need any,” Calloway snapped. “Beatrice won’t do that.”

Easton held up her hand. “I’m done with this,” she said. “I’ve tried to help you but it’s been a pointless effort. I love you, Calloway. You are my best friend, and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt, but you are giving me no choice. I give up.”

She flipped through the pages without meeting his gaze. The room became silent and the tension started to rise like the heat on a summer day. Calloway stared at her, wanting to say something to dissipate the anger they both felt, but nothing useful came to mind. Breccan tried to clear the air.

He cleared his throat. “So, what’s the plan?”

Easton sighed. “I think we should use the portal once prom is over,” she said. “So, we should prepare for the crossover.”

“How?” Calloway asked. “We don’t know what to expect. Any solidified plan could unravel once we arrive.”

“A plan is still better than no plan,” she argued. “For instance, I think we should wear the cloaks we have uncovered from the bodies. That way they won’t recognize us.”

“But we already established that they could see the essence inside us,” Breccan said, leaning over the table. “They will immediately know if we are human.”

“It’s likely but we still might have a chance,” she said. “There could be people who live on that plane that have an essence—we aren’t sure.”

“It’s possible, “Calloway said. “But I find it unlikely.”

“Well, a cloak is better than no cloak,” she said. “We may as well try.”

Calloway nodded. “Okay.”

“I guess,” Breccan said.

“And we have to stay together—
always
—we do not separate for any reason,” Easton said. “If one person stays behind we
all
stay behind.”

Calloway, who never would abandon one of his friends, disagreed with that statement. “No,” he said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, nor do we understand their interest in me. If I am captured, you are to return without me. I mean it, Easton. I don’t want you to risk your life.”

Easton stared at him. “We stay together,” she said firmly.

“Then I’m not going,” Calloway said. “Promise me, or the deal is off. I will travel through the portal alone, at a time that you are completely unaware of, and do the mission on my own if I must.”

Easton stared at him. “We can’t abandon you.”

“If it comes down to it, you will. It’s better if you return to this plane and notify the White Wing. They are more likely to successfully rescue me than the two of you—no offense.”

“I don’t know,” she said apprehensively.

“Promise me,” he said.

Easton and Breccan looked at each other for a moment, silently communicating with each other. It was evident that the Hara-Kirs were interested in Calloway in a unique way, but the Hara-Kirs would kill them without hesitation. Also, Calloway was stronger than both of them, and therefore, more likely to survive on his own.

Calloway waited for their vow, their word that they wouldn’t stay behind if something happened to him. He couldn’t travel to the other side without this knowledge, that his friends wouldn’t risk their lives and immortality for him.

Easton sighed. “We promise.”

Heartbreak

Calloway was annoyed he had to spend so much money on a single outfit, one suit that he would only wear again to his wedding and funeral, if it still fit, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. That is what Beatrice wanted and he would give that to her—he wanted to make her happy. Yes, it would be easier if what made her happy was something simple—like a rented suit—but that wasn’t realistic. Beatrice knew what she wanted and Calloway wanted to be the one to give it to her.