Summer of Love

Autumn arrived, Halloween was only a day away and I was having an odd battle within myself. Cian confused me to no end. Ever since that day at school, which I remember perfectly, when he had held me while I had my breakdown...something inside of me had shifted. Something had changed, but I wasn’t entirely sure what it was. Oh, we still fought like usual, but there was something else there. Now, whenever I found myself around him and he teased me like always, I found myself blushing like a school girl in love for the first time. I didn’t like him. I couldn’t...I mean, look at him.

He had been true to his word since that day and always appeared at work for the usual tea and different desserts he ordered. At the end of the day, he waited outside the shop and accompanied me home, annoying me all the way. In the mornings, we walked together with Cyrus and I discovered both of them were pretty good friends. No matter where I went, he always seemed to be there and for some reason that bothered me, a part of me didn’t seem to mind.

However, from the closeness we had shared that day in the hallway, he had never come that close to me again unless it was to hit me over the head or deliver a poke. What confused me was that sometimes I wish he would. Did I like him?

I poked the prongs of my plastic fork into the weird jello thing they served in the cafeteria today, and Sara sighed with annoyance.

“Will you just eat the damn thing already?” she hissed and I looked up at her from across the table, seeing the eyes of everyone on me and I straightened with a sheepish expression.

“Sorry, I’ve just been out of it lately,” I admitted nervously and set down my fork, not the least bit interested in the sickly looking jello.

Sara narrowed her eyes. “Are you still bothered by what happened?” she asked quietly.

I frowned and wondered if I really was. My dreams had been screwed up lately, reliving that night in alley and the scenario of what would have happened if Cian hadn’t been there. Then there were the dreams I had of Cian. For a guy I hated, I should be freaking out over having dreams about him, but...there was something safe about him.

I turned and smiled. “No, I’m okay. It’s in the past and everything turned out well enough.”

She didn’t seem satisfied with my answer, but dropped the subject while keeping an eye on me along with the others. Cian walked over with his hands in his pockets, that usual stoic expression on his face and towered over me. His eyes examined me carefully for a moment before lifting his gaze and grinning at the others.

“It’s Halloween tomorrow. Anyone going to this dumb dance the school’s hosting?” he asked, sliding into a seat next to Jack who grinned.

“Sara and I are going. She’s been looking forward to the dance since the beginning of the month,” he said, turning his smile to his girlfriend who blushed.

“Oh darling, you are so sweet,” she swooned; her eyes were extra sparkly and I glowered. Sometimes it annoyed me that all of my friends had somebody and I was left alone.

“Fox and I are going as well,” Hannah said softly with a loving smile up at her protector and Fox remained passive, those his eyes spoke louder than words when he gazed down at her upturned face.

Everyone turned to look at me and I sighed, lowering my forehead on the tabletop. “There’s no point in me going when I don’t have a date.”

“But it’s Halloween, you don’t need a date,” Sara said with a raised eyebrow, her expression worried and I heaved a sigh.

Cian snorted with a wolfish grin. “Just think, you don’t have to dress up either.”

I lifted my head to glare at him and he chuckled evilly while the others watched on with smiles. Slowly things were turning back to normal, but inside butterflies scattered around and an annoying blush crept into my cheeks.

I looked away and rested my head on my folded arms. “It would be nice though, to have a date for a change.”

I was such a killjoy. My friends looked at me with pity and I almost couldn’t stand it. Maybe I needed to start going on blind dates, though I can imagine what would happen. The guy would walk in, we’d have lunch and going to leave, I’d stand up; he’d see my height, make an excuse and never call me again. Back to drawing board.

“Well, students from the neighbouring school are going to be there too. Big events like this, the council gets everyone together to mingle,” Fox said, ever the smart one and I lifted my head with hope. That meant Jordan might be there.

I fell into a dreamy state and sighed happily while Cian watched me carefully from the corner of his eye. Sara elbowed me and I blinked.

“What’s got you so happy all of a sudden?” she asked slyly with that evil little grin of hers and I blushed furiously and waved my hands in front of me.

“N-nothing! We should go shopping for costumes!” I said hurriedly for a topic change and sighed with relief when her eyes lit up and she talked excitedly about it with Hannah.

“It’s settled!” Sara said out of the blue. “We’ll go shopping this weekend!”

I sighed, resting my cheek on the palm of my hand but couldn’t stop smiling.