Dead!

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Despite all of the chaos, I still had to go to work again the next day. I hadn't gotten much sleep, so I was exhausted when I began the walk to the Celestial Post's office. I loved photography, but I wasn't in the mood for it that day. I knew that we would probably have to do another article about the demon attacks, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

My morning was brightened considerably when I spotted Adam replanting some flowers along the sidewalk. He looked up and smiled when he saw me. "Hey Ivy," Adam said. "What's up?"

Adam was just wearing a T-shirt and shorts, but he looked as good as ever. "Hi Adam," I said. "I'm just on my way to work. What are you doing?"

"Replanting these daffodils," Adam said. "I swear that those demons have zero respect for all of the hard work that we put into making Heaven beautiful."

I nodded. "You did work hard on all of that," I said. "It's not fair that they're destroying all of it."

"They're undoing all of the work that I've done," Adam said. "I'm honestly surprised that the demons attacked again so soon after the last one. From what I've heard, they usually wait a little longer."

"The first attack was only a few weeks ago," I said. "That's not very long to wait."

"Well, what can we say? Demons are impatient," Adam said. "My grandmother always said that patience is a virtue, and virtue is clearly something that demons lack."

"We're lucky that nobody's been taken so far though," I said.

"That's true," Adam said. "I read online about demon attacks in other places, and a lot of the time, people get taken. I'm glad that hasn't happened to us."

"Me too," I said. "Although I wouldn't mind if Maya got taken."

"Is she really that bad?" Adam said.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "She's horrible. She won't stop writing this stupid fanfiction, and she has the worst music taste."

"She doesn't sound that bad to me," Adam said. "I knew plenty of people who were much worse than her in life."

"You don't understand," I said. "Maya is a terrible person."

"Ivy, there are much worse people out there than your roommate. To you, Maya is simply annoying. Other people may find her interesting. Also, there are a lot of people out there who are willing to do terrible things. I knew a boy in high school who was aggressive and got into fights with everyone that he met. He was much worse than your friend."

"I guess maybe there are people out there who are worse than Maya," I said. Like the people that you used to call your friends, I thought, but I didn't want to think about what Chloe had said the night before. I didn't want to think about how Caroline might be one of those people that Adam had mentioned.

"Exactly, so you shouldn't complain about Maya," Adam said. "She seems kind of cool."

"Maya's not cool at all," I said.

"This is a pointless argument," Adam said. "What else is new?"

"Other than the demon attacks?" I said. "Not much." I desperately wanted to tell Adam about my second encounter with Jordan, but I doubted that he would understand. Adam would argue that Jordan was manipulating me, just like Samantha did. I couldn't risk having Adam know about Jordan. He would be so mad at me if he knew, and I didn't want to lose my friendship with Adam.

"Are you sure?" Adam asked. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"I'm sure," I said. You shouldn't lie to him, I told myself. Adam won't trust you if he finds out that you're lying to him, and you want Adam to trust you, don't you? I ignored those thoughts and kept talking. "What's new with you?"

"Not much," Adam said. "I've been practicing the piano a lot."

"I'd love to hear you play sometime," I said.

"Ivy, I'm not that good," Adam said. "You'd be disappointed if you heard me play."

"I'm sure you're wonderful," I said.

"No, I'm really not," Adam insisted.

"I'd still like to hear you," I said.

"Maybe some other time," Adam said. "I still have to work."

"Oh okay," I said. "Maybe I should go then. You need to keep working."

"You can stay a little longer, Ivy," Adam said as he picked up another daffodil. "Sometimes it gets lonely out here."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.

"Sure," Adam said as he began to dig a hole. "Could you get that flower from over there?" I got the flower and carefully carried it over to Adam. "Thanks Ivy," he said.

"You're welcome," I replied.

I watched as he gently placed the flower into the ground and evened out the dirt around the plant. "I'm probably going to have to fix up more of the work that I did last week," Adam mumbled. "As I said, those demons have no respect for plant life."

"They have no respect for anything, Adam," I said.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just glad that I'm here instead of in Hell. I've met so many great people here," Adam said. "Like you. I love having you here."

I smiled. "Thanks Adam," I said.

"You're welcome Ivy," he said as he went to get another flower. I took a quick look at all of the flowers that Adam had planted. The bright yellow flowers swayed gently in the wind, and I realized just how much love and care Adam had put into his precious plants. Adam had found something that he was truly passionate about, and I loved that about him. Now that I thought about it, I realized that there were a lot of things that I loved about Adam Corrigan, one of which was the goofy smile that he was giving me at that very moment.

"Adam, I have to go," I said. "I'm already late for work."

"Okay Ivy," Adam said. "See you later."

I headed off to the Cedar Creek Celestial Post's office, but I wished that I could have spent more time with Adam. Then again, what would Jordan think? I just felt so conflicted. Maybe some time at work will calm my nerves, I thought as I pushed open the door and prepared myself for another day of photography.