Soul (Chaos #1)

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

I hopped from one foot to the other, my hands shoved inside my sleeves in a vain attempt to warm them. "Come on, Zoe."

She strolled after me, expertly applying eyeliner with one hand, her compact in the other. "I'm moving."

"Why couldn't you have done that before you left the house?"

"I did. Now I'm doing it again." She paused to stick her tongue out at me.

"Very mature."

"'Tis why we're such a good match. They'll wait for us. Relax."

"I don't care about them waiting," I said, running back to her and dragging her alongside me. "I care about getting in from the cold. It's going to snow. I just know it."

"It's not that cold. You know what we should do for the summer? Become holiday reps somewhere scorching. Drink all day, get a nice tan. It's like getting paid to go on holiday."

"I don't think that's exactly how it works. Besides, I'm going to ask for full-time work at the supermarket."

She stopped walking to stare at me. "Not again! You hate working there. Why don't you look for something less soul-destroying?"

"There are no jobs out there right now. I'm lucky to have this one." I shrugged."I need the money for college. And to get out of the house."

"That is definitely still the plan, right? No freaking out and giving up?"

She knew me too well; hence the concern. School had always been tough, and I was struggling with college. But if I gave up, my dad would have the biggest I-told-you-so smirk on his face. I had to push through it to have a reason to be proud of myself.

"No running.I'm a good girl now, don't you know?"

"I kind of like that colour on you." She put away the mirror and eyeliner and linked arms with me. As we walked, she bumped her hip against mine."So please don't self-sabotage."

"Moi? Never." I grinned. "So are we on again or off again?"

Her lips curled upward. "Very much on again. I was going to wait until we met up with the girls, but fuck it. You should be the first to know."

"Know what? Oh, Jesus, you're not pregnant, are you?"

She thumped my shoulder. "You don't have to look so disgusted! No, idiot, I'm engaged!"

I frowned at her bare finger.

"Well, he hasn't actually bought a ring yet, but after our argument the other night, he totally proposed."

"Darren? You're actually going to marry Darren and live with him for the rest of your life?"

She made a weird sound. "Hold up a second. Nobody's talking marriage. Just,like, a commitment to be engaged for a very long time."

"Right." I disengaged from her grip and thought about it. "So what you're saying is, you bitched at him, and he proposed an engagement to shut you up. With no ring or any intention to get married?"

"Well, when you say it like that..."

I sighed with relief. "Thank feck for that. Plenty of time to talk you out of it."

"That's just mean."

"Nobody appreciates honesty around here. Seriously, Zoe, he's a loser. I can't wait for you to grow out of him."

She snorted."You're such a judgemental bitch sometimes, Cara."

Grinning, I followed her to the coffee shop where we had arranged to meet our friends. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on her. After all, the only male I had been interested in lately had wings. At least she was in love with a human.