Pangaia: Agendas (Year One: Fall)

Chapter Twenty-Four - Cheyenne

 Retail therapy always hit the spot. Cheyenne may not have been a girly girl, but spending money on whatever she wanted was fun. She didn't hesitate to splurge on new makeup and hair things, as well as books and music. For the first time in her life, she didn't have to worry about a price tag. Her real parents were wealthy, and she was under instructions to buy whatever she liked for the dance.

The afternoon was a success overall. The entire time she felt like she was out with her sisters. Mrs. Orinda didn't feel like an adult chaperone but one of the group. The only real disappointment of the day was she didn't feel satisfied with her dress.

Simple and black, it was elegant with an empire waist and a skirt which flowed just past her knees and what Halyn called "sassy straps". Cute, sure, but she'd been hoping for something more distinguished and unique. She wanted to prove herself worthy of being a Divine. More importantly, she wanted Denver and the twins to notice.

Upon returning to their dorm, exhaustion caught up with her.

The days passed quickly and yet nowhere near fast enough. Feeling tired was a nice change instead of the constant eagerness which put her on edge and left her restless. In two weeks she'd be seeing her parents for the first time, and she couldn't wait.

Every day that passed Halyn marked it on the calendar with a thick black X. There were still too many white boxes to go until they reached the last box filled with pink hearts.

She hung the dress up in her closet. Her feet were throbbing, as were her arms. They had walked everywhere in the town with all of their bags. Nothing sounded better than a nap. Cheyenne curled up on her bed and reached over for one of her school books to help pass the time until she fell asleep.

A quiet knock from the window interrupted her. Though it was better described as a constant tapping, gentle but persistent.

At first she thought it was only the wind, blowing the leaves around roughly against the walls of the dorm. It wouldn't stop though.

She got up from her bed to see what was causing such a disturbance and gasped at the sight of Lucien tapping delicately with his index finger on the glass. Once he finally had her attention, he smiled and waved for her to come closer.

Why am I doing this? She wondered as she found herself moving closer.

She stood in front of the window and stared at him. Something seemed different than the first time they'd met. His grey eyes sparkled with a silver shine and his skin was more tan and healthy in appearance. If she thought he was handsome before, he was even more so now. She had to stop herself from thinking about it in case he was conveniently reading her mind. The last thing she needed to give him was an ego boost or make him think she wanted to go with him.

Being attractive didn't stop him from being dangerous.

"Can I come in?" he asked, his voice muffled by the glass.

He made sure to use hand gestures to illustrate this desire. The smile on his face was warm, inviting even, and he had an innocence about him. He was being so cute it was hard to remind herself he was evil.

At least, she was pretty sure he was? Everything she knew about demons suggested they were nothing but bad. Unless he was more like Mr. Thantos? Maybe he still had some good left in him too? Or maybe he was only trying to manipulate her.

Cheyenne shook her head and folded her arms in front of her. Whatever he had to say, he could say through the glass.

"Please?"

She moved and opened the window a crack. "You can talk to me through there."

"Well enough, though I mostly wanted to see you."