Water and Fire

Chapter 7

Brian, with his feet on the table and a cigarette in his mouth, stared at Lena, who was sitting at the other side. He had been staring at her like this ever since he had lit this cigarette, as if he was still waiting for her to tell him to throw it away.

She wouldn't. She had promised not to do so, not today. On all the other days she would have grabbed the cigarette and would have put it in the dustbin, telling him that he couldn't smoke in the house. But today she just let him.

"So, let's go over this again..." Brian placed his feet on the ground again and he leaned on the table to close the gap between him and Lena a little. "You've skipped classes today and once in a while you'll play with my cigarettes." He had repeated the sentence over and over, knowing that Lena couldn't lie.

She had to.

In one hour his parents would arrive and they had to believe that Lena was Maria's best friend. They had to believe that Brian wasn't only trying to corrupt Maria into a lifestyle that would ruin her life forever. They had to believe that he was trying to ruin her too.

Two birds, one stone.

"I don't know if I can say that I've skipped classes." Lena bent her head and she felt her cheeks heating up.

"Lena!" Brian raised his voice a little and she could see the vein in his neck beating. "It's only a small little lie and it's going to save your damn life!"

Lena couldn't help but smile a little.

For some reason Brian was more worried about her life than she was.

"It's just..." Lena shrugged her shoulders and she leaned back in her chair. She had already broken the most important rule ever, why was it so hard to break another rule? "I always start to stutter when I lie. Everyone notices!"

Brian sighed and he rolled his eyes.

Lena had lost count of how many cigarettes he had been smoking in the last hour. She was actually surprised that he had not started to cough or worse.

Although, he probably had a high tolerance for everything that was supposed to be bad for him. "My parents will be here in an hour. They're more experienced, older and wiser than I am." Brian tried to stay calm, but his muscles tensed and his fingers were curled up to form fists. "I needed twenty-four hours to figure out what you were. My parents could do this within a blink of an eye." He had not told her what would happen if his parents would find out what she was.

Deep down, Lena already knew the answer. During the last week Lena and Brian had found out that angels and demons weren't that different.

He had been told to come back to hell when he met an angel.

She had been told to come back to heaven when she met a demon. She had been a straight A student.

He had failed every test he had taken. He had lost track of the truth, forgot everything he had said and was always late.

She never lied, never broke a promise, never missed an appointment. She was good at being perfect.

He was good at being a failure.

And they both were exactly what they were supposed to be. Apart from the fact that they had not told anyone that they had met each other.

"Maybe I should just go to my room and stay there for the day." Lena swallowed and she looked at Brian's hand grabbing hers.

He knew that she felt uncomfortable when he did that. But it had not stopped him from doing it. "No, you're not gonna lock yourself up!" Brian raised his voice again and he swallowed, realizing that he was more panicked about this whole thing than Lena was. "My parents want to meet my roommates, okay?"