Fighting history (Threequel to 'Lucky 13')

Chapter 26: Bad news

Emily's POV

"So, who's J?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's none of your business, Julian."

He seemed taken back by my reaction. So much so, that I started wondering if I had been too harsh on him. I knew I was defensive regarding Jennifer, but that's because it's a secret and I don't want to lose her. And would Julian understand? I'm unsure...

I sighed. "I'm sorry," I looked away. "I just have - "

"A lot on your mind," He nodded. "So I've heard," He took another bite from his sandwich before looking at me. "Who's this J? Is everything ok? You're not in trouble, are you?"

"I'm fine," I smiled at him. "J is..." I looked away for a bit, deciding if and what I should tell Julian. "J is my girlfriend," I finally said. "Our relationship is pretty new, so..."

He nodded. "She's shy?"

"Yeah," I nodded, I could use that to hide the relationship. "It's also the reason why we don't really hang out during school time."

"I understand," He then looked at me and smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks," I smiled too. "So," I looked at him then, smirking. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He got red immediately. "What? Me?" He looked down, blushing even more. "No, I..." He gulped. "No."

I chuckled. "The person that gets to be your partner, will be the luckiest person on earth."

He kept looking down. "You think so?"

"Of course," I smiled at him. "You're the best."

"Thanks," He looked away, taking another bite of his sandwich. "She's a lucky girl," He swallowed his food. "Your girlfriend."

I smiled a bit. "Thanks."

He nodded. "I hope things are going to be alright for you two."

I looked at him then. "What do you mean?"

"Well," He looked at me. "She needs to talk to you, it's important..." He gave me a look. "That usually means bad news, doesn't it?"

I looked away then, thinking about what he had said. Was talking about something important bad news? I mean, in the tv series or books I read it usually is serious, but not necessarily bad news...

"So I hope things will be alright."

I looked at him, smiling a bit, though it was rather forced. "Yeah, me too."

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The whole day I had been thinking about what Julian had said. Would Jennifer tell me bad news? If so, what would be that bad news?

The only bad news I could think about would be her breaking up with me. But why? Why would she suddenly break up with me? I think we're doing alright, we're getting there... Or maybe it's my race? Maybe she can't live with the thought that I'll soon be part of my kind?

I sighed as I closed my locker. I then looked at the door of her office. I walked to it and knocked on it, I had prepared myself to have my heart broken. It couldn't be anything else.

I entered and saw her preparing her bag to go home. I gulped. "Hey."

She looked up at me. "We have to go." She walked past me and hurried out of her office.

I was a bit confused by that but decided to follow her nonetheless. She led us to her car. "Jen, I - "

"Get in," She entered her car and immediately started the engine. She drove us out to the look-out. Once there, she stopped the engine and sighed. She looked at me. "We're safe."

I raised an eyebrow. "Safe? What do you mean?"

She sighed as she looked at the town. "Tonight will be a real war zone in our town."

I looked at the town too, trying to find what she was looking for. "A war zone?"

She nodded. "The CAT will go in every house to cleanse it from them," She looked at me. "They'll use a special technique to lure them and to then murder them."

I gulped. "What technique?"

"BB."

I raised my eyebrows. "BB?"

She nodded. "Blood Bait."

"What is that?"

She looked at the town again. "It's very easy: the CAT soldiers will create a pool of blood to draw them. When they are feasting on the blood, the hidden soldiers can shoot them and kill them."

I gulped.

She looked at me. "I didn't want that technique to work on you," She reached for my hand. "So I had to take you out of town."

I looked from her back to the town. So many of my people would die... I can't let that happen. "I have to call my zaezzes." I took my phone, dialing her number.

"What is zaezzes?"

I smiled as I heard her mispronounce it. "My second mother," I looked at her. "The one that's part of them."

Jennifer nodded, seemingly understanding it.

I looked at the town again, waiting for zaezzes to answer the phone. "Zaezzes," I said, relieved. "You need to put a curfew for tonight, urgently."

"Why? What's going on?"

"The CAT is planning on using a new technique which involves using blood as bait," I looked away, outside the window. "They can kill hundreds with that technique."

I heard zaezzes gulp, she was clearly worried. "Ok, I'll deal with it," She was talking to someone, probably aunt Esmee. "How do you know about this?"

I looked at Jennifer then, smiling. "My girlfriend told me."

"Well, thank her," Zaezzes paused. "She will have saved our people."

"I will," I looked away again, to the town. "I love you."

"I love you too, hianag."

I hung up and looked at Jennifer. "Thanks for telling me, zaezzes said to thank you too."

"You're welcome," She smiled but soon that smile turned into a frown. "Why did you have to inform your zaezzes about this? I mean, what can she do?"

I gulped, I didn't stop to think about how this must've looked to her. "I wanted to tell her so she can be save," I said to which Jennifer nodded, though I could see she wasn't entirely convinced. "I can't lose my family."

"I understand."

I looked at her and noticed she had taken off her seat belt. She got out of the car and walked to the trunk of her car. I undid my seat belt and got out as well. "What are you doing?"

She looked at me. "Taking out our bed for the night," She took out a few cloths. She placed them down and then started setting up a very small tent. "There, that'll do." She smiled proudly at her work.

I walked to the little tent. "Will we both fit in there?"

She looked at me. "Probably not," She then wrapped her arms around me. "I guess you'll have to lay on top of me."

I smirked as I wrapped my arms around her. I saw what she was getting at. "And it might be hot in that tiny tent..."

"Yes," She nodded, playing along just fine. "We'll have to sleep naked."

"Perfect."

She smiled as she pulled me with her into the little tent.