Love and Angels

eighteen

Kass

Saying goodbye to Laney so soon after they let her out of the hospital almost had me missing the boat for the Senior Trip. Each year, the senior class goes on a four-day cruise. It wasn't cheap, and my parents would have been mad if I'd showed up back home with Laney this afternoon and pissed their money away. They probably would've understood since Laney has only been out of the hospital for a little over a week, but they wouldn't have been happy about it, especially since Laney has returned to school and is almost completely healed.

I know what happens on this cruise; it happens every year. The entire class gets wasted. We'll be in international waters in just a few hours, and everyone will start downing alcohol. The teachers turn a blind eye to it, hoping we'll "get it out of our system" before prom and graduation next month. It doesn't work.

"Hey, man!" Geo slaps me on the shoulder as he walks over. "Renee said you almost missed the boat," he laughs.

I smile. "I couldn't leave without giving my girl a proper kiss." Despite our protestations, Laney made the trip down to wave me off.

Geo smiles wide. "That's what they make hotel rooms for. Renee and I came up last night and spent the evening and morning together."

"Laney's parents aren't letting her out of their sight right now," I tell him, and he nods in understanding.

"I get it. I'm worried about her, too, man," he smiles. "I think Renee has a girls' weekend planned for them."

"Your girlfriend is pretty awesome," I tell him with a smile and he gets a big cheesy grin on his face.

***

I shouldn't have had that last shot. I probably could've done without the three before it, too. I groan, and my head lolls to the side. There's a weight on my lap, and I vaguely wonder how Laney got on the boat.

A high-pitched voice whispers in my ear; I can't make out the words, just that they are seductive. I pull back from the voice that I know isn't Laney's. Squinting, I can make out the dyed blonde hair belonging to Sasha.

She smiles and leans in close. Her lips touch mine and I jerk back. A light flashes just before my back hits the floor. I'm still sitting in the chair and the edge of it digs into my back. Sasha is on top of me, and I struggle to get her off as I stand. That was not okay.

"What... the fuck?" I slur and Sasha giggles. "Thisss isn' funny," I tell her, and the words feel strange on my tongue. I smack my lips, and Sasha steps closer.

"Get away!" I yell, stumbling back over the chair, falling on top of it again in a heap.

Her brows draw together. "I thought you wanted this," she challenges, much too clearly for a drunk girl.

I shake my head, and the room spins. "Don't want... you," I get out just before the edge of my vision starts to darken.

"Up you go," Geo coaxes, coming into view. He holds his hand out to me, and I try to take it but miss his hand a few times. He chuckles, and I vaguely wonder why he isn't as wasted as I am.

"Did you see... that bitch tried to do?" I ask him, and he looks at me in confusion, trying to muddle through my incomplete sentences.

"Yeah, I saw, and so did everyone else," he grits out.

I pull up short, and he loses his grip. I sway into a wall. When did we get to a hallway?

"Wha's wrong with you?" I ask.

"You fucking kissed her, in front of everyone!" he yells. "The Kass I know never would've done that to Laney."

"I didn't kiss 'er," I argue, but he shakes his head, grabbing on to me and dragging me further down the hallway and closer to our room.

"It sure as hell looked like you did."

"She kiss me. I pulled back," I try to reason with him through my drunkenness.

He looks at me for a moment, as if he's trying to decide whether or not he believes me.

"That why you fell?"

I nod, then groan when my stomach lurches. Geo's eyes go wide and he releases me, hopping out of the way barely quick enough to avoid the stream of vomit flowing from my mouth.

He gags as the smell hits his nostrils and turns away as I finish emptying the contents of my stomach.

"C'mon," he groans, hefting me up. "You're getting in the shower. I'm not sleeping in the same room as that stench."

I glare at him—or at least I attempt to—and he laughs at me. Finally, after stopping for one more hurl fest, we make it to the room.

Geo drags me to the shower, turns it on full blast and shoves me into it. If I wasn't used to the beatings from practice, I'd probably bruise from where my side hits the tub. Cabinet doors slam as Geo looks for something. He comes back with a pair of rubber gloves. Why they keep rubber gloves in each room, I have no idea. He yanks my shirt over my head and throws it into a dirty laundry bag.

"Up," he urges, and helps me to stand. I sway into the tile wall of the shower when he lets go of me. "Can you take your jeans off?"

I fiddle with the button for a minute but can't get the damn thing undone.

"Fuck," Geo mutters. "You better not fucking remember this. No one better find out I undressed my best friend." He shakes his head as he unbuttons my pants. "You got vomit everywhere." He glares at me. "You," he points in my face, "are never drinking again! Never!"

I slip on the floor as he tugs the pants from under me. I go down hard but manage to not hit my head or break anything. Geo sighs. "Sorry, man."

"Thanks," I groan out, feeling marginally less drunk now that the water is beginning to cool. Geo looks at my pathetic ass lying in the tub for a long moment before he speaks.

"Think you can wash yourself? Because that's where I draw the line."

"Getting me naked wasn't where you drew the line?"

He flips me off. "You're not naked." The towel plops on top of the closed toilet lid before he leaves me to myself.

What the hell was I thinking? I haven't gotten drunk like that since before we moved last year. My tolerance is a lot lower than it used to be, that's for sure. I just hope Laney doesn't hear about that damn kiss. At least not before I get the opportunity to explain.

***

Ryder watches from outside the window of Laney's house. He could go inside but he always feels unwelcome—like a ghost moving around in their house, unwanted.

"How is the girl?"

Ryder startles and falls into the window, elbow first. The window cracks but doesn't shatter. He stares at Laney for a moment, wondering if she'd heard anything. She isn't supposed to think her house is haunted.

The Arch sighs. "Are you really this clumsy? Or is it just when one of us are around?"

Ryder's cheeks darken and he looks to the ground, rubbing his elbow.

"Fine. How is the girl? Is she ready?"

Ryder's head snaps up and he shakes it back and forth vigorously.

"No."

"Why not?" the Arch yells.

"Her mental status would be compromised."

The Arch nods his head as if he should've expected this. "Keep an eye on her and try not to leave her side," he commands. "The other girl does not need to suspect our presence, not yet."

"How do we—" Ryder turns around and the Arch is gone. "They always leave right as I need to ask a question," he grumbles in dissatisfaction.

"I really hope her keepers keep her from ascending." He sighs, knowing keepers aren't the best angels out there.

Ryder turns back to watch Laney. She hasn't moved a muscle, probably hasn't even blinked.

Kass better not fuck this up, Ryder thinks.