I Knew Her As August

ten: lesson one

No one knew how to explain what had happened at the ceremony when they returned home. The queen ended up turning on the human news station to judge it for herself. The middle-aged news anchor told a humorous story of how the crowd became intoxicated by the Angel King's surprising charm and good looks. He suggested the reasoning for the Angels to have hidden away for so many years was to protect the human race from itself and its inability to deny a beautiful face.

Nicki laughed out loud, but her mother didn't find it amusing. She sent Nicki to her room while the adults figured out their next steps in this publicity hazard.

Normally she would have argued, but she was too tired and all she wanted was to lay down in bed and sleep. She climbed the long stairs to her room and closed the door. Stumbling, she shimmied out of her clothes and switched them for an old t-shirt with a pink teddy bear on it. Her head barely hit the pillow before she drifted off into a dream about a bird singing to a crowd of roaring lions.

When she opened her eyes again, it was raining outside. Her bedroom walls were dark, the shadows watching her quietly. One shadow couldn't hold her tongue though, speaking out from a lounge chair in the corner.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Conrad smirked, her eyes glowing in the dark. Nicki jolted upright and frantically tried to maintain her bed head.

"Conrad, what are you doing here?" Nicki asked, her voice shrill.

"Sorry to barge in like this, I was trying to beat the rain. And then I couldn't help watching you sleep. It's like seeing the behind the scenes of a fantasy movie," Conrad said. She lifted herself off the chair and came to sit on the end of Nicki's plush bed, feeling the white comforter in her fingers.

"I passed out, I forgot I told you to meet me here." Nicki stretched out her arms, rubbing her tired joints as her mind tried to wake up.

"Would you like me to leave?" Conrad hesitated.

"No! Of course not," Nicki rushed, a bit too eagerly. She cleared her throat and jumped out of bed, the cold air brushing against her bare legs. She padded over to her closet, seeing Conrad watch her in the mirror.

"Let me just put some pants on," Nicki muttered, throwing on an old pair of blue jeans roughly.

"Don't restrain yourself for my benefit. You know I don't care," Conrad breathed, sprawling across the bed to make herself comfortable. Nicki paused but the pants were already half-way up her thighs so she figured she'd just leave them on. She buttoned them closed and returned to the bed to sit next to Conrad.

"Teach me how to talk to men," Nicki blurted out, her mouth moving quicker than her head.

Conrad gave her a wicked smile.

"Easy, tiger. Men aren't just a book you can memorize and recite. One minute it's Shakespeare, then next thing you know Beevus and Butthead are running the show." Conrad rolled her eyes. Nicki laughed but she was already lost.

Conrad hopped off the bed and twirled around the room, observing Nicki's belongings. Nothing in the room gave hint that a secret dominatrix lived there, or even a girl that had had her first kiss. A pink dollhouse sat in the corner next to Nicki's extensive collection of stuffed animals. Nicki made a mental note to find a place to hide those.

Conrad paused at the neatly organized closet and fingered through the clothes with interest. After the seventh floor-length dress, Conrad gave up trying to find something sexy for Nicki to wear.

"Okay, rule number one for talking to men. Learn their game and play it with them," Conrad called out, still digging inside the closet. "And if I were to make a guess, I'd say Wyatt Omen likes his women in lace."