Chapter 201
The end of October and the beginning of November seemed to drag on like an old man accompanying his wife to the beauty parlor. No matter how desperately I wanted time to move along, it continued at a pace that would make snails seem speedy.
No one at school had anything negative to say about me again, though, at least not where I could hear them. Liam showed up with a real nice shiner the Monday after Holt’s party, and he tried to tell everyone he ran into a doorknob, but it didn’t matter because there were enough witnesses to know the truth. Brandon had managed to erase or replace any memory of my fangs from Liam’s mind, so at least he didn’t go around telling everyone he thought I was a Vampire. And on Halloween, when Lucy insisted it would be great for me to actually go as a Vampire and use my real fangs, I said no thanks and stayed at home passing out candy to little kids, dressed like my former self, a high school student who desperately wanted to escape Shenandoah.
I talked to Brandon every evening after school, and sometimes before school, and sometimes during lunch. I wanted my IAC so badly so that I could tell him stuff as soon as it happened, like when my history teacher, Mrs. Schwartz, choked on her Diet Coke, and her dentures fell out on the table. It just wasn’t as funny when I explained it two hours later. My mom continued to give me a little leash at a time, and so long as I didn’t hang myself with it, she said eventually I would be able to go back to Kansas City—but her and dad were going with me the first time, no matter what argument I made.
That first time finally came around the week of Thanksgiving. We had an entire week off from school, which was awesome, and my dad decided to take the whole week off from work, so Cadence and Aaron flew up to pick us up the Sunday before the holiday, and we would be there for the entire week. I was completely pumped. I hoped to talk them in to letting me get my IAC while I was there, and while it was super hard not to ask ahead of time, I was confident if I got Christian to approve it before I asked my sister, she’d have to say yes. And I thought I could sweet talk Christian enough to make him even present it as if it was his idea. He seemed a little starved for female attention, after all. Luckily, I know a lot about the Revolutionary War. I’d just have to find the right opportunity away from Cadence.
The airplane Aaron flew this time was slightly bigger than the last one, and it was nice to spread out a little bit. Brandon came with them, which was totally cool. I think we drove my parents nuts talking the whole time, but the cabin was separate from the rest of the plane, so my sister and Aaron couldn’t hear us except for the few times that Cadence came back to check on us. It only took a little over an hour. I’ve seriously been traveling the wrong way my whole life.
Once we reached headquarters, Aaron drove us over to the apartment buildings in an SUV. Cadence explained that her apartment was being remodeled for some reason I didn’t understand, since it seemed like they’d just remodeled her apartment about a year ago, so we would be staying in the same room Mom and Dad had stayed in the last time they were here. Since my parents wanted to see the gym set up, Cadence and Aaron took them over there, and I decided now was the perfect time to implement my plan—Operation Snake Eye. Sounds better than Operation IAC, don’t you think?
As soon as the door shut behind them, I turned to Brandon. “Where’s Christian?”
“Nice to have a chance to speak with you alone as well,” he said, that crooked grin on his face that usually made me want to smack him. Now wasn’t that different.
“Seriously, I need to talk to him, and I don’t know how much time we have.”
He was sitting on the other side of the sofa from me, a good two feet away, something I think was supposed to be for my mother’s benefit. In fact, Cadence had actually been sitting between us before she’d left for the tour. “What are you thinking? Maybe he’ll put your IAC in without your sister knowing?”
“No, of course not,” I said, rolling my eyes at him. “Wait—do you think that’s a possibility?”
“Not even a little bit,” he replied, shaking his head so that his mass of curls, which he’d recently let grow out a bit, shook around on top. “What were you planning then?”
“Well, I thought I should go talk to him on my own, see if he has one ready to pop in. Think maybe he’d talk to Cadence for me?”
“I don’t know,” Brandon admitted, folding his arms. “I don’t think Cadence is going to be your biggest problem, though. I think your parents might not really want you to have that yet. It’ll be the final straw—no going back.”
“There’s no going back now,” I reminded him. I knew I didn’t have to, though. “My mom seems okay with a lot more than I expected. She let me stay here with you.”
“Your mom seems to trust me a little bit more than most moms would,” he nodded. “I guess it’s just my southern charm.”
I rolled my eyes. “Anywho… where is he?”
He sighed, like he knew there was no point in arguing with me. “Give me a sec.” He must’ve been talking to Christian on the IAC. His eyes darted around for a second, and then he said, “All right, he’s in his office. Let’s go.”
